Excerpt from WHIO
In the three days since Wright State University’s faculty union went on strike there have been no attempts to negotiate by either side, signalling that an end to the stalemate may still be far off.
With no solution in sight, union president Martin Kich predicted Wednesday that it would be student complaints that eventually force a deal.
Though classes have continued during a strike, some have been combined, moved online or taught by a substitute. On Tuesday, it came to light that some classes were given “alternate assignments” or dismissed when faculty didn’t show up.
“What will bring them back to the table is the realization that this is creating much more damage than gutting our contract is worth,” Kich said.
Sixteen students have withdrawn since the start of the semester on Jan. 14, which is typical for the second half of the school year, a Wright State spokesman said.
The deadline for students to withdraw with a full refund is Friday, according to Wright State’s academic calender. Final enrollment numbers, including withdrawals, will be available after the 14th day of school on Feb. 1.
Staffing classes continued to be an issue on day two of the strike, with 86 percent of the classes that met Wednesday being held without any issue, according to the university. At Wright State’s Lake Campus in Celina, 99 percent of classes went on without any issue.
Around 43 percent of the 560 members of the Wright State Chapter of the American Association of University Professors have continued teaching during the strike, according to WSU. Classes offered in Wright State’s School of Professional Psychology and the Boonshoft School of Medicine were unaffected by the strike because they have no unionized faculty.
“The university is open and operating largely without issue thanks to the extraordinary efforts of our staff and faculty,” president Cheryl Schrader said in a prepared statement. “We are committed to providing our students with the high-quality and affordable education they expect from Wright State. I appreciate all of the efforts our entire community is doing to support Wright State.”
