Slippery Rock University recently earned a great distinction in six different areas as a “Great College to Work For.” Five out of the six areas in which SRU earned distinction are part of the APSCUF collective bargaining agreement.
Jason Hilton, the vice president of APSCUF at SRU, said that he is proud to work for a university where the senior management and the union can work so well together. He said the faculty members seem genuinely happy to work at SRU and that they feel inspired by their students.
“When you look at SRU’s awards, five of them are related to our collective bargaining agreement,” Hilton said. “That means that these achievements are based on things that PASSHE, the state and APSCUF actually agree on.”
He said that one of those categories is “Compensation and Benefits,” while another is the “Tenure Clarity and Process.”
“APSCUF works really hard with the state in order to negotiate those items,” Hilton said.
Hilton said that the thing that sets Slippery Rock University apart compared to other institutions in PASSHE is the working relationship that SRU has with the senior administration.
“The shared governance approach that we have contributes to a lot of things like ‘Collaborative Governance,’ which is a category we got recognized for,” Hilton said. “The faculty and senior administration work together on that, and the ‘Professional and Career Development Programs’ are also developed in conjunction.”
Hilton said that another category that SRU was recognized for was the “Teaching Environment” acknowledgement and that it too was an effort that APSCUF and the senior administration worked on together. He said the teaching environment is the push for high quality teaching practices in the classrooms, and it is something they all agree on.
“The nice thing is that these two groups have worked together for years, from our last president and this president,” Hilton said. “President Behre continues the shared governance process.”
Hilton said that the way APSCUF negotiates with the state really underpins the factors for receiving this award.
“I wanted to make sure APSCUF was also acknowledged for the role we play in the shared governance model in earning an achievement like that,” Hilton said. “It is unique in a college setting for the union and management to be on the same side. The fact that we work so well together and have for so long is the formula that goes into us receiving these recognitions.”
