Mickayla Miller
News Editor

The Pennsylvania State System for Higher Education, otherwise known as PASSHE, and the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, otherwise known as APSCUF, could not reach an agreement on their negotiations, leaving the potential strike to turn into a reality.

With eight hours remaining before the proposed strike time, the prior news embargo was lifted. Neither side came to a definite conclusion. Within minutes of PASSHE’s press release, the APSCUF website crashed.

The two sides were able to come together on a number of issues, according to a PASSHE press release.

Two things that were being disputed as of Tuesday night were healthcare coverage and salary. State System spokesperson Kenn Marshall said the disputes came from the idea that the union wanted a higher salary than that of other State System faculty.

How can they argue that faculty members should be treated better than … our campus police and security officers, who protect our students from harm while they are away from home; or better than our other valuable campus employees, who provide a variety of vital student services?” Marshall asked.

As the potential strike date loomed closer, University President John Anderson, Provost Vilas Prabhu and Vice President for Student Enrollment and Affairs Brian Hazlett took to an open forum to address any questions students may have had.

APSCUF, the teacher’s union, has not been on strike since its inception, so the open forum did not provide any past examples to go off of; many people have been left in the dark about the matter.

Hazlett, Anderson and Prabhu offered an open forum for students to visit, and over 100 students showed up to learn the then-potential way of handling the strike if it were to happen.

Professors and other instructors were required to submit their formal agreement for striking, and the list of professors and classes cancelled will be posted on Millersville’s home page.

The university is still open; students are expected to be in class if their teacher is not protesting, according to the Millersville website. Residence halls and dining halls are open, too. For the most part, everything will remain normal for students, with the exclusion of attending some classes.

As for how this will impact financial aid, Hazlett, Anderson and Prabhu did not have a definitive answer on the matter. Academic inquiries can be submitted to a student’s respective dean of school, as professors who are striking will be unable to use their school-given emails.

Desire2Learn will still be up; according to Prabhu, it’s the student’s and staff’s responsibility to make up the work they missed. The idea is not to push back graduation, or push back the date of winter break.
Due to the pressing matter of this situation, The Snapper will post updates regularly. Stay tuned.