Students were subsequently advised, beginning Thursday, to check a strike-update page on the university’s website to see which faculty members’ classes were canceled until further notice. Of the more than two dozen Millersville students interviewed by The Chronicle on Wednesday, not one reported having an instructor show up for class. “Participation in the strike is an individual faculty member’s decision,” he said, “so students should report to scheduled classes unless the university indicates otherwise.”īut the students who showed up for their classes generally found no one on hand to teach them. Anderson, the university’s president, said in a written statement that the campus and its various facilities, including dining halls, would remain open. Hundreds of students gathered in a campus courtyard to show their support for the strike, and a group carrying horns and drums entertained picketers with rollicking Dixieland jazz. “I’m hoping that the strike doesn’t extend for so long,” he said.Īt Millersville University, the faculty walkout began on an upbeat note, with about 70 picketers at each of three locations on campus. Swatt, who is the student-body president at the university, said he’s trying to keep up with his course work. He described the scene at his university as “organized chaos,” with faculty members holding protests at various spots outside of campus. He waited for his professors for the customary 15 minutes to see if they’d show up. Kathryn Morton, communications director for the union, the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, said the union would not fine or punish members who crossed picket lines.īrian Swatt, a sophomore studying political science at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, went to all his classes Wednesday. The test now is how well those contingency plans will work.Īcross the system on Wednesday, some students joined faculty members at the picket lines. But no one knows how long the strike will last or what the long-term implications will be.Ī spokesman for the university system, Kenn Marshall, said that after the near-misses of years past, the universities have “gotten pretty good at preparing” for strikes. The campuses remain open, and students have been encouraged to go to class just in case their professors decided not to strike. Now university leaders across the 14-campus system are scrambling to execute their strike-contingency plans, which include a wide range of activities to keep the system’s roughly 110,000 students engaged. The 14-campus system has had years to hone its strike-contingency plans, but those plans have never before been tested.