Over 2,200 letters have sent to President Cudd and the Board of Trustees with this link. PSU-AAUP leadership is recommending at the conclusion of your classes, giving students an opportunity to leave if they’re not interested in a bargaining date and then letting anyone who remains know that after 100 hours of bargaining, calling for mediation, 70+ hours of mediation, and the declaration of impasse, the Cudd administration is still refusing to settle a contract to avoid a strike. Asking students and their parents to email President Cudd and the Board of Trustees will help us settle our contract will be important if we’re to settle a contract before striking. If the administration forces us to strike, a broad student movement will help us win.
Read a selection of student comments from some of the 2,200+ letters here:
Dear President Cudd and Board of Trustees members,
I am paying almost $50,000 for my education. The School of Social Work has talented and tremendously inspiring faculty who are bringing up the next generations of social workers who will be tasked with helping solve some of our communities biggest crises. Yet I know my instructors are burnt out, over extended, and not always able to provide the quality education we deserve. Our class sizes are massive for a grad program, its hard to access instructors for mentorship without making them do unpaid labor, and the school must get so many students through the program with not enough resources - making the program feel often impersonal. I know that the School of Social Work is bringing in much needed money into PSU yet I don't believe the University is adequately resourcing the school to give students the level of education we deserve and are going into debt for. PSU should be investing in future social workers and faculty, not pumping large numbers of students through a grad program while spending its money on unnecessary construction projects that ultimately don't help our education. I stand with my teachers and I have no problem dropping classes next term so faculty can get a fair deal.
Dear President Cudd and Board of Trustees members,
As a student at PSU, I know, better than most, the high value of PSU-AAUP faculty. They have affected my life in a positive way that I will remember for the rest of my life. I have the utmost respect for them, and so should you. But my job there is easy - showing up to class and telling them just how great they are. You must keep sometimes difficult promises to ensure they live worthwhile lives under fair working conditions. The proposed cuts will break these promises, and worsen not only the lives and work of the faculty, but of every member of the PSU community they engage with.
And so, I give you a kind of warning: I stand whole-heartedly with PSU-AAUP, and fully support their right to strike if their fair demands are not met. With the support of students like myself and the wider community, this would be a struggle you are unlikely to win. Do the right thing and propose a contract everyone can be proud of.