Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker won last night’s recall election despite union organizations from across the U.S. advocating for his recall. Walker had been serving as Wisconsin’s governor since January 2011. What does Walker’s win say about the future of collective bargaining rights for other states’ workers?

Walker faced public scrutiny after his effort to balance Wisconsin’s budget met extreme disapproval from the citizens of Wisconsin. He passed Senate Bill 11 which clearly states: “this bill limits the right to collectively bargain for all employees who are not public safety employees (general employees) to the subject of base wages.” The collective bargaining rights Walker took away from employees and unions prompted the recall election.

Last week, Gov. Corbett released a new video, "Ask the Governor: Tuition Truth," where he again spoke out in favor of slashing the budget for Pennsylvania's state-owned and state-related universities. APSCUF Vice President Dr. Kenneth Mash, also a professor at East Stroudsburg University, felt compelled to respond. Below you'll find his video.

We’d like to give a special thanks to Alizah Thornton, a senior from Clarion University and our new summer intern, for writing this blog. Welcome aboard, Alizah!

Harrisburg, Pa – Sen. Jake Corman spoke regarding the budget and the importance of the state-owned and state-related colleges and universities at the Pennsylvania Press Club luncheon Monday, May 21.

YPSILANTI, Mich. - This weekend the Campaign for the Future of Higher Education (CFHE) met and spent most of Saturday discussing funding & its effects on students. The result was the following statement: that centered on the restricting of access at community colleges & Maria Maisto & Esther Merves spoke about the next report, which focuses on contingency, with the catch-phrase "Who is this Professor Staff?"

We were all surprised yesterday morning to learn that Dr. Angelo Armenti, the longest tenured university president in the state system, was no longer president at California University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Armenti’s departure comes in the aftermath of some damaging headlines, which may best be summarized in this Post-Gazette article.

The APSCUF and the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) negotiation teams met today at Cheyney University. The APSCUF team presented a proposal for a comprehensive, interim two-year agreement. The proposal is within the framework of the economic terms which the Commonwealth accepted with other bargaining units. A response from PASSHE is due within 30 days.

It’s the end of the spring semester 2012. Few of us would have foreseen so little progress on either the faculty or coaches contract. So, we are sitting here looking at another summer without closure on a deal.

That lack of closure leads to this piece of advice: plan accordingly. I’m not revealing much by telling you the longer we go without a negotiated agreement, the more painful reaching such an agreement is likely to become. No one wants a confrontation and potential conflagration, but the status quo will only hold for so long.

On Wednesday the Pennsylvania Senate passed SB 1466, the General Appropriations Act, which includes the full restoration of funding to the State System of Higher Education. The bill passed 39-8, and now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration.

The Senate budget proposal spends $27.6 billion – approximately $500 million more than Governor Corbett’s initial proposal – and restores the governor’s deep cuts to higher education institutions. While the legislation maintains funding for all state-owned, state-related and community colleges at current-year levels, the funding restorations come with the caveat that the state-owned and state-related universities will not increase tuition above the rate of inflation.

The Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously passed a Senate GOP budget proposal this morning that restores funding to all state-owned, state-related and community colleges back to current-year levels. Next step for this version of the budget will be a full Senate vote, which could come as early as tomorrow (Wednesday, May 9).

For background on the Senate GOP budget proposal, check out Monday’s story from the Harrisburg Patriot-News.