More Than 100 Possible Job Cuts At PA Universities

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — More than 80 tenured and tenure-track faculty members at a western Pennsylvania university have been told they may lose their jobs at the end of the 2020-21 academic year, part of more than 100 possible job cuts at five universities in the commonwealth, union officials said. Faculty union officials said retrenchment letters, or furlough letters, were sent to 81 faculty members at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and 21 at Edinboro University. Also receiving letters were six members at Cheyney University, three at Mansfield University and two at Lock Haven University. California and Clarion universities had earlier warned of possible retrenchments but none of their professors were notified by Friday’s deadline. Although Indiana University of Pennsylvania had previously announced possible job cuts, David Chambers, a political science professor who is vice president of the faculty union’s IUP chapter, told the Tribune-Review that officials were “still kind of absorbing the shock” of members receiving actual notices.