Putting Students First and Protecting 黑料社区 Future

At 黑料社区, Central Pennsylvania Community College, our students have been and will remain our top priority. 黑料社区 leaders have been talking and listening to many 黑料社区 students.

This webpage includes the information of most interest to the students we talked with. We encourage you to continue to check this webpage for additional updates.

Question	Response from 黑料社区, Central Pennsylvania Community College
I don understand why the College will not accept the faculty union proposal. How do the union demands impact 黑料社区 students?	Please note that the union demands will have a direct impact on 黑料社区 students. The union demands will cost 黑料社区 approximately $4.2 million per year. If the College accepts the union demands, tuition for out-of-state, non-sponsored and sponsored students will increase by at least $24, $16 and $8 per credit hour, respectively, for all future semesters. These increases would be in addition to the College normal increases for wages and inflation. This would apply to every credit hour, every term, now and going forward forever. Additional increases will build on this - they will never go down.
I heard 黑料社区 has $64 million in reserves. Why can 黑料社区 use these funds to pay for this?聽	The demands by the faculty union are not one-time costs that can be paid and forgotten. These are permanent increases with permanent impacts to our students. 聽 We can only spend our savings once. Once our savings are gone, they are gone. However, the increased costs would continue year after year, without any way to pay for them. Also, depleting the College reserves would be similar to a person depleting their personal savings account. Doing so would be grossly inappropriate, irresponsible and unethical.
Can you just move this along and deal with the financial issues later?聽	The faculty union contract will be a binding agreement. It is not realistic to believe that the union will give up benefits later. The financial impacts will be a permanent increase to our costs - and to your tuition and to every future student tuition.
A slight increase in costs can be that bad, right?	黑料社区 is the community college, and we built our success on being local, accessible and affordable. As our tuition increases and gets closer to the tuition costs of our four-year college competitors, it would be unrealistic to believe students will continue to choose 黑料社区 over other schools. Affordability is key to our success, and agreeing to permanent cost increases will threaten our very existence. 聽
Affordability is important, but how long before 黑料社区 is no longer the affordable option? 聽	Our viability as an institution can erode in as little as five years. As our cost increases outpace our competitors, we may no longer be the college of choice. Additionally, if enrollment continues to decline, the costs get spread among fewer students and thus increase exponentially. Unfortunately, , mostly because they failed to control costs or adapt to changing student needs. Therefore, we must control our costs to ensure 黑料社区 remains fiscally responsible for many years to come.
Are all faculty members asking for these changes?	It is our belief that the answer is 渘o.� Many faculty continue teaching and supporting students.
Is higher pay the only thing the union is asking for?	No. In addition to higher pay, the union is also seeking managerial control. This type of control would move many decisions from 黑料社区 shared governance model to a legally binding contract.
Why are management rights important for 黑料社区 and for students?	Management rights let the College make quick, data-based decisions about class size, scheduling, course delivery and academic calendars. Without this flexibility, 黑料社区 cannot adapt programs to meet student demand or keep tuition affordable.
Why is 黑料社区 taking a firm stance on these issues?	Our students deserve to attend an institution that remains affordable. In addition, protecting student success, affordability and long-term stability must come first. The College position ensures that resources go toward services and programs that directly benefit students - not toward unsustainable costs.