The president of the faculty union at the State System of Higher Education told the Board of Governors at their meeting last week that APSCUF members are “just flat-out exhausted.” Dr. Kenneth Mash listed about a dozen reasons for the state of mind of the faculty, notably “the shifting priorities, the shuffling of departments, the changes to curriculum, the lack of appropriate technology, and consistently being asked to do more and more and more with less.”
Mash said morale is the lowest he’s ever seen in his career, asking that the State System give teachers at least one semester “without distractions, disappointments, and a push to do more with less…and pause the “’brilliant ideas’” and condescending lectures.
The State System academic year ends in less than a month. IUP’s commencement is May 10th.
MASH’S COMMENTS (https://www.apscuf.org/)
Chair Shapira, Interim Chancellor Fiorentino, governors, presidents, and guests,
I am Ken Mash, and I am president of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, the union that represents the faculty and coaches at our 14 great campuses.
Each semester, I do my best to visit all of the campuses, to meet with my colleagues, update them on what is happening in the Capitol and with the System, and to listen to their concerns. Those concerns vary by campus, but yet for the last couple of years there has been one consistent theme.
Governors, the faculty are just flat-out exhausted. Those at the consolidated campuses are exhausted from the shifting priorities, the shuffling of departments, the changes to curriculum, the lack of appropriate technology, and consistently being asked to do more and more and more with less.
Our faculty across the campuses are exhausted by ideas that do not seem fully thought through that emanate from the System. They are exhausted by the fact that their campus administrators also seem to not understand the dictates, or they perhaps seem to be engaged in an academic version of the children’s game “telephone” where the message gets changed just so slightly by each person who delivers it — until after some turns, the message is completely incomprehensible.
Our faculty are exhausted because of years of hiring freezes.
By the blame-shifting for drops in enrollments while they do not feel that they are being adequately supported.
By the expectation that as universities make cuts that they will pick up the slack. By the sense that all decisions are being driven by budgetary concerns without regard to pedagogy.
By the lack of accountability for some leadership, despite clear errors.
By the failure of some administrators to provide logical explanations for decisions.
By the levels of incompetence they too often encounter on their campuses.
By the cutbacks to student-support structures at their universities.
By the irrational combinations of disciplines into single departments.
By being asked to jump through hoops, jumping through those hoops, only to be told that the performance just wasn’t good enough.
I could add more, but that list is already quite long.
Governors, there is a lot going on in our nation. And there has been a lot going on on our campuses.
My colleagues are exhausted, and morale is at the lowest level it has been since I began my career some time ago.
As one of my APSCUF colleagues put it succinctly, we all need a break.
Can we not go one semester without distractions, disappointments, and a push to do more with less? Can we not pause the wave on our campuses? Can administrators in the System and at our Universities give our faculty, our coaches, and our staff colleagues a respite? Can we not pause for one semester the “brilliant ideas,” the lectures (which are too often condescending), and the demands for people to do more or to change what has already been changed countless times?
Yes, we need a break. We need that break not so that we can make our lives easier nor to ignore problems. We need that so that we can do our jobs adequately. We have soldiered on. But our main job is to educate our students. We need that break to ensure our students continue to get the highest quality education.
Thank you for your attention.
Comments