About 80% of Wright State classes held today without issue, 40% of represented faculty committed to working

A Wright State University survey of Dayton Campus classes and AAUP-WSU members indicates that approximately 40 percent of faculty are teaching or will teach their classes. This number is up from an anticipated 33 percent of faculty members on Jan. 21. The administration is receiving information that this number will continue to increase.

At the Lake Campus, 53 percent of represented faculty are teaching or will teach their classes. The administration has also received information that the Lake Campus number will continue to increase.

“Wright State University is committed to providing our students with a high-quality, affordable education,” said Wright State President Cheryl B. Schrader. “This is our contract with students and it is nonnegotiable.”

Due to faculty who chose to work and supplementary efforts by the administration and staff, about 80 percent of Wright State classes were held without issue. In addition, classes offered in the School of Professional Psychology and the Boonshoft School of Medicine, which are completely unaffected by the strike because they have no bargaining faculty members, also went on without issue.

At the Lake Campus, 99 percent of classes are being held without issue.

“I know our students feel they are caught in the middle today. While many classes went on as normal, some also experienced disruptions. In those circumstances, our students exercised great patience and respect as we knew they would. I thank them for their patience and positive attitude as we continue to assess our coverage requirements based on faculty attendance,” said Schrader.

Across campus, it is clear Wright State students followed the university’s directions to go to class. Students should continue to attend class in accordance with their regular class schedule or complete class assignments as directed. Students will receive an email to their wright.edu address if there is a change to their class schedule.

“Our staff is working hard under uncertain circumstances to fulfill our obligations to students,” said Schrader. “Students should know we are working hard to prevent disruptions from continuing. We ask them to please contact their department chairs to report any further class schedule disruptions.”

In some cases today, students attended class, but no professor came to class despite indicating to the university that they would be there. In those cases, the appropriate academic department was contacted. In some cases, students in those classes were given alternate assignments or dismissed.

Wright State University continues to work to mitigate further class disruptions.

“I want to thank the faculty members who were in the classroom today despite some of their colleagues choosing not to work. We value all of our faculty and look forward to operating with our full complement of faculty members,” said Schrader.