State APSCUF headquarters in Harrisburg.

August 28 through September 1, 2008

CLICK HERE TO VIEW APSCUF'S 2008 GENERAL ELECTION ENDORSEMENT REFERENCE GUIDE

APSCUF President Steve Hicks appears in SECA Video

The State Employees Combined Appeal (SECA) is about to kick off its 2008-09 fundraising campaign.  APSCUF members are encouraged to support this great cause.  SECA has released its 2008 video, and State APSCUF President Steve Hicks is included in the presentation. Click here to view the SECA 2008 video!

APSCUF Office now closed until Tuesday, September 2.

ALTERNATIVE RETIREMENT PLAN ALERT

PASSHE has informed APSCUF that due to a regularly scheduled bidding process it has decided to drop MetLife as an alternative retirement plan (ARP) vendor.

Due to this change all faculty members who currently have retirement accounts with MetLife will have to change to another vendor. Each faculty member who is affected should be receiving a letter from PASSHE outlining the requirements to change vendors. If the faculty member fails to select a new vendor to replace MetLife by October 1, 2008, PASSHE will select the replacement vendor and any contributions already made or that will be made will go to the new vendor.

For more information, please contact your human resource office.

PROPORTION OF PROFESSORS HIRED AS COUPLES RISES, STUDY FINDS

The Chronicle of Higher Education reports thirty-six percent of professors at the nation's leading universities have partners who are also professors, and the proportion of faculty members who are hired as couples is on the rise. But even the nation's top research universities usually hire academic couples without written guidelines, raising questions about fairness and academic standards.

Those nuggets of information are among the findings in a hefty new report on academic couples by Stanford University's Michelle R. Clayman Institute for Gender Research, "Dual-Career Academic Couples: What Universities Need to Know." The institute's 98-page study—based on its 2006 survey of 9,043 faculty members at 13 top research universities—is one of the largest and most-detailed examinations yet of faculty couples. The 13 universities are not named in the report, but they are representative of the country's top research institutions, said Londa Schiebinger, director of the institute and a professor of the history of science at Stanford.

The report's authors wanted to study couples in academe because, they said, dealing with the so-called two-body problem—professors who have academic partners who want jobs at the same institution—is one of the most vexing issues in faculty hiring.

The practice is also controversial. The Stanford study found that 43 percent of the faculty members it questioned said hiring academic couples "prevents open competition." Nearly 45 percent said couples working in the same academic department create conflicts of interest, and nearly 30 percent said their departments had hired partners who were underqualified.

'BEHIND THE HEADLINES'

State APSCUF President Steve Hicks and Vice President Amy Walters were featured on a recent episode of Behind the Headlines, a television production of The Susquehanna Valley Center for Public Policy.

The two union officers focused attention on the state’s level of support to the 14 Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) universities, and note the significant economic impact of the schools.

“When the PASSHE was launched 25 years ago, the Commonwealth provided 63% of the funding necessary to operate the universities,” Hicks noted.“Today, that percentage stands in the neighborhood of 36-37%.  The state has to do a better job supporting its own institutions.All Pennsylvanians deserve access to a high quality public education at the lowest possible cost.”

Behind the Headlines is taped in Harrisburg and is a production of the Susquehanna Valley Center for Public Policy, a non-partisan, non profit public policy research organization based in Hershey. Charlie Greenawalt, Senior Fellow for the Center, Professor of Government at Millersville University, and political analyst on WHP TV in Harrisburg, is the program host.

Faculty and coaches are invited to watch current and past episodes of Behind the Headlines online at www.thevoiceofpa.net

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Blue Shield Claim Form, Authorization for Disclosure of Health Information Form now online!!!

APSCUF members can now download the Blue Shield Claim Form directly from the APSCUF web site! To acquire a Claim Form, click here!

To download the Authorization for Disclosure of Health Information form, click here!

Save money with Nationwide General Auto Insurance!

Are you interested in getting a Car Insurance quotation from Randy Engle, APSCUF's Nationwide Insurance Agent? If so, click here!

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PROPOSED REVISION TO THE REPORT FROM THE GOVERNOR'S TASK FORCE ON CLASS SIZE IN THE STATE SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Read the proposed revision to the report from the Governor's Task Force on Class Size in the PASSHE by clicking here. (Note: This posting has been present for many months. It has been kept on the site for reference purposes.)

STATE APSCUF NEWSLETTERS ONLINE!

APSCUF members can read current and past editions of the APSCUF Newsletter by visiting APSCUF on the web! Simply click on the "APSCUF In Print" link on the main APSCUF page and read the print edition of your choice! You can read the July, 2008 edition by clicking here.

RETIREMENT QUESTIONS? VISIT THE SERS, PSERS AND TIAA-CREF WEB SITES!

To visit the SERS web site, click here.

To visit the PSERS web site, click here.

To visit the TIAA-CREF web site, click here.

Important Retirement Information:

Are you retired or are you retiring prior to 7-1-08?

If so, click the link below!
http://www.apscuf.com/news/RETIRED-prior-7.1.08.pdf

Planning on retiring on or after 7-1-08?

If so, click the link below!
http://www.apscuf.com/news/Retire-on-or-after-7.1.08.pdf

Planning on retiring on or after 7-1-09? If so, click the link below!
http://www.apscuf.com/news/Retire-on-or-after-7.1.09.pdf

DO YOU NEED INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR STATE OR U.S. REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATORS? IF SO, USE THESE LINKS TO HELP!

Information about all Pennsylvania Representatives and Senators can be acquired via a web site maintained by the Commonwealth. To visit the site, click here.

Information about all United States of America Representatives can be obtained by clicking here.

Information about all United States of America Senators can be obtained by clicking here.

Finally, some higher education news briefs:

(Note: Many of the national and international higher education briefs originate with Academe Today, a service of the Chronicle of Higher Education. For further information about these briefs, email State APSCUF using the "E-mail APSCUF" link on the main web page):

* Scholar of Higher Education Named General Secretary of the AAUP:  Gary Rhoades, who directs the University of Arizona's Center for the Study of Higher Education, will take over the leadership of the nation's largest faculty association in January.

*  Purdue Punishes Professor Who Led Disputed Fusion Experiment:  The nuclear engineer has lost a named professorship and his mentor status with graduate students as a result of what the university called his "deplorable" actions.

*  Professors Use the Democratic Convention as a Teaching Tool:  Political scientists are turning the Democratic National Convention into a learning experience by bringing students along as volunteers, conducting research, and posting videos of interviews with participants.

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