Harrisburg Area Community College Education Association
Reading Between the Lines Project
This series is an educational project created by faculty at Harrisburg Area Community College. Its purpose is to equip members of our community with tools and language for interpreting a complex communication flow and complicated labor issues.
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The goal is civic and media literacy: Equipping students, employees, and community members to read critically, think independently, and engage responsibly with the messages that surround them. That’s democracy in action!
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This series reflects the values of higher education — transparency, inquiry, and dialogue — and aligns with our mission to foster informed, analytical thinkers who can navigate complex social and institutional contexts.
Welcome
We’re launching a new short course series here on our website, created to help our community better understand the current labor situation at HACC and to ensure everyone has access to the same information and tools. We invite you to join us
Chapter 1: The Contract in Plain Language
HACCEA full-time VP Christine Nowik talks the current state of contract negotiations with HACCEA's chief negotiator Amy Withrow and PSEA UniServ Adam Weber.
Chapter 2: Peculiar Things (FMLA)
Christine Nowik talks about the nuances of FMLA language in the contract and why paying attention to the details matters.
Chapter 3: Why We Teach in Prison
Alfred Siha shares why HACC faculty are teaching in the Camp Hill prison and shares some insights from his experience teaching our first cohort of students enrolled there over the past two semesters.
Chapter 4: Let's Talk about the Numbers
Math professor Allison Kraft talks about the numbers surrounding faculty pay negotiations with administration.
Chapter 5: Let's Talk about Grievances
HACCEA's chief negotiator Amy Withrow explains what grievances are and why having grievance clauses in the contract is crucial to maintaining educational standards in our learning spaces.
Chapter 6: Navigating the Noise
Adjunct faculty librarian Corrine Syster introduces the "Unionization at HACC" LibGuide and shares information literacy strategies to help navigate the sometimes contradictory information surrounding unions and negotiations.
Chapter 7: Using GenAI to Analyze Media
Dr. Christine Nowik uses generative AI as a tool to help us slow down and examine how real-world messages work. Whether it’s a social media post, a campus communication, or an institutional update, every text carries signals about power, credibility, and intention. AI can help us surface those patterns quickly, but the interpretation still belongs to us.
Faculty accepted the Pennsylvania fact-finder’s recommendation on October 15, 2024. The administration rejected it and has delayed a fair contract ever since.
The number below reflects a conservative estimate of public dollars spent on this delay, based on industry-standard legal fees, administrative labor costs, and enrollment impact during prolonged uncertainty. These are funds that could directly support instruction, student persistence, advising, and campus services.
Public money spent delaying a fair faculty contract:
$2,606,817
Methodology: This estimate uses $6,500 per day, a conservative figure based on higher-education labor counsel billing rates, administrative labor costs, and enrollment effects during prolonged instability. This calculation is intentionally cautious to avoid inflating costs.
Context: In April 2025, the College publicly announced a 2025–26 budget with a $275,000 projected deficit while raising tuition and fees. Investing in delay is a choice. Investing in student learning is also a choice.
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Add your name to the growing list of concerned students, families, community members, and legislators by signing this petition.
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Use this form to send a message to HACC leadership demanding a fair contract.
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