Earlier this week, faculty at 14 universities owned by the State of Pennsylvania went on strike, and the impact of the walkout could extend beyond the classroom to the playing field.
After the State System of Higher Education and the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties failed to reach a contract agreement, members of the faculty – including athletic trainers – hit the picket line. Overall, the strike will impact 105,000 students and more than 5,000 faculty.
Coaches, who are also represented by the APSCUF, are contractually obligated to keep working as they have not yet set a strike date, Kathryn Morton, an APSCUF spokesperson told the Post-Gazette.
One of the impacted schools said through a spokesperson that it is planning to use graduate assistants who are certified and working under a doctor’s supervision as replacement athletic trainers while the faculty continues to strike.
“We are fortunate that the graduate assistants in our M.S. in Athletic Training program are licensed athletic trainers who can work under the supervision of the team physician,” California University of Pennsylvania spokesperson Christine Kindl told the Post-Gazette.
