On Friday, APSCUF President Dr. Kenneth Mash announced a strike date of October 19 if no agreement can be made with the State System of Higher Education.

Major Pierce, a 23-year-old senior from West Chester majoring in Communications and Advertising, wondered how seniors who are ready to graduate next spring will be affected.

“How are seniors affected?” Pierce said. “We will be reimbursed for classes we paid for, but didn’t complete?”

Garrett Harris, a 19-year-old sophomore from Penn Hills majoring in Communications, also had questions about the financial implications.

“What are we going to do money-wise, with classes we are paying for?” Harris said. “The thought of no classes sounds good, but I’m still paying for the education, and I feel like I won’t be as prepared for the finals and just getting toward the end of the year will be hard.”

For 19-year-old Paige Livingston, a sophomore majoring in Communications, she wishes she knew more about the possible strike.

“I’m worried about paying for everything, and it going to waste,” Livingston said. “I feel like the university is keeping it under wraps, but I just hope it doesn’t happen.”

Eighteen-year-old Ashley Gruber, of Sugar Grove in Warren County, is considering majoring in psychology, but sees both sides of the issue.

“I totally understand why the staff is considering, and I support them, but personally — for me, it would mess up a lot of my academics and wouldn’t be as beneficial,” Gruber said.

With less than a month before a possible strike, time is running out for an agreement to be reached.

APSCUF said it hopes to negotiate with the SSHE in October and reach an agreement.

The union is concerned about further concessions in health care coverage as well as increasing the use of temporary faculty and allowing students to be taught by new graduate students instead of faculty with advanced degrees.

SSHE has touted a pay package that would raise faculty salaries by a combined $159 million over the life of the proposed contract.