New Contract Approved for State System Faculty

HARRISBURG – Faculty members at Lock Haven University and the rest of the State System of Higher Education schools have a new four-year contract after approval Wednesday from the PSSHE board.

Per the agreement, there will be no pay increase during the current school year but there will be in years two, three and four.

According to the agreement, tenure and tenure-track faculty not at the top of the system’s pay scale will see their pay advance one step on a 13-step ladder in years two, three and four. Those atop the ladder will be due annual cash payments of 2.5 percent in the same years.

System chancellor Daniel Greenstein put the cost to the system at $21.9 million dollars over the four years, about half the additional cost compared to the most recent contract.

Kenneth Mash, president of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, said, “We recognize the financial constraints the system is under at the moment.” He termed the accord a fair deal for the system which has seen a nearly 20 percent drop in enrollment over the last decade.

Talks had been ongoing since spring and a tentative agreement had been reached in September.