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THE
Clarion Call CLARION UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1913
MARCH 7, 2013
VOL. 99 ED. 17
Clarion APSCUF faculty vote on contract Alizah Thornton NEWS EDITOR
CLARION, Pa. - The contract negotiations between the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties may soon be coming an end. The faculty at the 14 PASSHE institutions, in-
cluding Clarion University, took a contract ratification vote this week from March 4-6. The votes from the universities will be sent to the state APSCUF office in Harrisburg, Pa. to be tallied. On Feb. 3, PASSHE and APSCUF reached a tentative framework regarding the contract agreement between the
two organizations. The entire APSCUF membership takes a ratification vote on the tentative agreement. Once the faculty at the universities vote on the agreement, if the vote is positive, the agreement is then voted on by the PASSHE Board of Governors before it is finalized. “So long as both the
faculty union and Board of Governors vote to accept the tentative agreement, the negotiations are essentially concluded,” PASSHE’s Media Relations Manager Kenn Marshall said. PASSHE and APSCUF have been negotiating nearly two years. “We have been very successful in rejecting
nearly all the items we did not want in the new contract,” Clarion APSCUF President Jamie Phillips said. “We have ensured that temporary faculty will not be paid less or paid on a different pay schedule from full-time faculty … distance education will not be mandatory for faculty … no faculty will
have changes to their annuitant health care coverage … [and] faculty compensation will be in accord with the pattern that was set by the governor two years ago for the rest of the state bargaining units,” Phillips said. Once passed, the new contract will be effective immediately and will last through June 30, 2015.
Professors discuss benefits of sabbaticals Alizah Thornton NEWS EDITOR
CLARION, Pa. – Visiting scholar Sergio Madero shared his sabbatical experience at Clarion along with Clarion’s Professor of Administrative Science Miguel OlivasLujan during the final Faculty Author Series on Wednesday, March 6. Their presentation “Two Perspectives of a Sabbatical Leave” focused on the process, rewards, advantages, challenges and experience of taking a sabbatical leave. A sabbatical is a period of time when professors or people from other organizations, public or private, are granted a period of time off from their regular position while receiving a varying amount of their normal pay to conduct research, learn new skills in the area of work or participate in activities related to their academic discipline. Madero is a professor from Monterrey Institute of Technology located in
Nicole Caratelli / The Clarion Call
Sergio Madero presents his experience on his sabbatical at Clarion University. Madero comes from the Monterrey Institute of Technology in Monterrey, Mexico. Madero is on sabbatical for one year at Clarion University. Monterrey, Mexico. The school is also referred to the Mexican MIT. Madero is a visiting scholar for one year at Clarion University and works closely with Olivas-Lujan, a professor in the College of Business Administration and Madero’s host. Madero at has primarily focused on
conducting research at the university, but he has had experience interacting with the faculty and staff at Clarion University, as well as students upon sitting in on some of Olivas’ classes. “I like Clarion,” Madero said. Madero is from Monterrey city that has a popula-
tion of nearly four million people, according Monterrey Tech’s website. Madero said he enjoys being in a different place, spending time with his family here, and getting to know a different university and geographical environment. Madero specializes in
Human Resource Management and compensation in the workplace. He said he would like to expand and learn other areas of competition, and flexibility in the work environment. Some of the advantages to the sabbatical experience were being able
take a pause in his professional career, living in and adapting to another culture, strengthening his relationships with faculty here and from his home country and learning the process for applying for a sabbatical position in another country. The process for applying for a sabbatical involves many steps. The process Madero went through to apply is similar to that of Clarion’s. Madero with the help of Olivas-Lujan, Clarion University’s Office of Social Equity and Office of International Programs was able to successfully bring Madero to the university. Madero is the first visiting scholar from another country on a J-1 Visa to come to Clarion University. “Coordination of both parties is necessary in defining and planning of the program,” Madero said. The process involves a series of letters between both universities confirming the research goals and objectives by the applicant.
University to lease bookstore to outside company Alex Krach STAFF WRITER
CLARION, Pa. - Clarion University’s bookstore recently sent out requests for bid proposals to companies that lease bookstores. “[This means that the bookstore] will not be run from within [the university],” said Wendy Turnipseed, manager of the campus bookstore. “It will be run by…someone like Barnes & Noble or Follett or Nebraska.” Barnes & Noble leases approximately 700 campus bookstores nationwide, which include Yale, Indiana University, Georgia Tech, the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard. This is a little under 100 less than Follett Higher Education Group, which manages more than 930 bookstores nationwide. Follett is a family owned business that has been operating for 140 years. Nebraska, on the oth-
er hand, has 300 stores across the country. None of the companies has responded to the RFB. “[The RFB] is not that far along,” Turnipseed said. “It was not decided all that long ago. We’ve known for maybe a week and a half.” The university made the decision to lease the bookstore to an outside company after sales started to drop. Turnipseed stated that the internet and online bookstores, such as Amazon, are largely the cause. “We’ve tried to bring in the kiosk, and we’ve tried to have rental programs online,” Turnipseed said, “but you can’t compete with a giant like Amazon. Competition has made it difficult to survive as a free-standing bookstore…Our clothing and our apparel and our supply sales were affected this year by the fact that refunds were delayed. We defi-
nitely saw an impact from that. It’s certainly no one’s fault.” If no one bids, the bookstore’s future is up in the air, she said. Much like the store’s future, the full-time employees’ future in the bookstore is also unknown. Although the university would not relinquish all of its authority to the company, as someone within the university’s administration would oversee the university’s and the company’s contract, the university would lose the ability to hire employees. “There have been assurances made that there will at least be some people who will be eligible to reapply for their jobs with the new organization, Turnipseed said. “We honestly don’t know. Some people may be able to stay here in maybe a different capacity, but there are no guarantees.”
Brittany Harger / The Clarion Call
A student enters the bookstore in the Gemmell Student Center. Due to the uncertainty and the current loss in sales, one part-time position was eliminated, and some of the fulltime positions are going into retirement. “There’s not a person here who’s worked for less than 10 years full time. I personally have been here 27 years full time. The leaser will
make the decision on who stays and who goes,” Turnipseed said. Additionally, the implementation of an outside organization could have an impact on students and faculty in various departments. “I think there will be fewer choices for students,” Turnipseed said, “It’s not just the relation-
THIS WEEK’S EDITION
Inside
INDEX
UAB hosts annual fashion show. FEATURES PAGE 5
Clarion students attend Comm Prom. ENTERTAINMENT PAGE 9
Women’s basketball drops out of playoffs. SPORTS PAGE 12
News Opinion Features Classifieds Puzzles & Comics Arts & Entertainment Sports Standings
ships ... it’s a lot of the relationships we have with the other departments, like the relationship Karen (Kolhagen) has with the secretaries who make sure that we get the book orders so that we can be compliant with what the state requires. I think that’s really the big thing.”
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