THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

INTRODUCED BY DINNIMAN, ALLOWAY, GREENLEAF, EARLL AND MENSCH, AUGUST 2, 2011

SENATOR PICCOLA, EDUCATION, AS AMENDED, NOVEMBER 15, 2011   

AN ACT

Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An

act relating to the public school system, including certain

provisions applicable as well to private and parochial

schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the

laws relating thereto," in State System of Higher Education,

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providing for relations with private affiliated entities and

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for college year and classifications, leaves of absence and

faculty salaries in cases of sickness or death; and making

related repeals.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  The act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known

as the Public School Code of 1949, is amended by adding a 

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section sections to read:

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Section 2021-A.  Relations with Private Affiliated

Entities.--(a)  This section shall apply to the relationships

between the system or a State-owned university and affiliated

entities that are incorporated for the sole purpose of

benefiting the system or a State-owned university.

(b)  This section shall apply to an affiliated entity if the

affiliated entity exists for the sole purpose of benefiting the

system or a State-owned university. Affiliated entities may

raise and utilize nonpublic funds to benefit and promote the

system or a State-owned university.

(c)  System employes or officers may provide services to an

affiliated entity as an ex officio, nonvoting member of the

board of the affiliated entity as part of the mission of the

system or a State-owned university.

(d)  The system and State-owned universities may coordinate

and jointly engage in fundraising activities with an affiliated

entity in order to raise money for the affiliated entity if the

money is used to directly inure to the benefit of the system or

State-owned university for the purposes stated under this act.

(e)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the

provisions of the act of July 19, 1957 (P.L.1017, No.451), known

as the "State Adverse Interest Act," shall not apply to the

system, its institutions or employes of the system and its

institutions for actions undertaken in accordance with this

section.

(f)  Nothing in this section shall be construed as

authorizing or granting power to an affiliated entity to enter

into any transactions or any agreements on behalf of the system

or a State-owned university.

(g)  Neither the system nor a State-owned university shall be

responsible for the payment of any debts or satisfaction of any

obligations incurred by an affiliated entity.

(h)  Affiliated entities recognized under this article shall

not be considered instrumentalities or agencies of the

Commonwealth. The Commonwealth shall not have any ownership

interest in the corporation and all affiliated entities shall

continue to be considered private corporations.

(i)  Nothing in this section shall be construed to alter or

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affect the responsibilities or duties of affiliated entities as

required under the act of February 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3), known

as the "Right-to-Know Law."

Section 2022-A. College Year and Classifications; Leaves of

Absence; Faculty Salaries in Cases of Sickness or Death.--(a)

(1)  Each person, regardless of the date of appointment,

appointed to a position as an administrator or member of the

faculty of an institution within the classifications stated in

this section may be paid for services rendered during the

regular nine-month college year.

(2)  Each person employed for the full nine-month college

year may receive either twenty (20) or twenty-six (26) biweekly

salary payments.

(3)  In no case shall any faculty member receive more

compensation in twenty-six (26) pays than the faculty member

would have received in twenty (20) pays.

(4)  Each person employed during any period beyond the

regular nine-month college year shall be paid at the same rate

of compensation that the person received or would have been

entitled to receive during the regular college year.

(b)  The classifications under subsection (a) shall be as

follows:

(1)  Professor qualifications, an earned doctor's degree, at

least seven (7) years of teaching experience.

(2)  Associate professor qualifications, a minimum of an

earned doctor's degree or a master's degree plus forty (40)

semester hours of graduate credit or a total of seventy (70)

semester hours of graduate credit including a master's degree or

all course work completed toward a doctorate as certified by the

university where the work is being taken or equivalent

experience, at least five (5) years of teaching experience.

(3)  Assistant professor qualifications, a minimum of a

master's degree plus ten (10) semester hours of graduate credit

or equivalent experience.

(4)  Instructor qualifications, a minimum of a bachelor's

degree plus fifteen (15) semester hours of graduate credit.

(c)  The considerations for classifications under subsection

(b) shall be as follows:

(1)  Graduate degrees and preparation to meet the

classifications of this section must be earned in fields related

to the service rendered to the institution.

(2)  Upon the recommendation of the president of an

institution, the board may accept other education and experience

qualifications than those mandated in this section for temporary

appointments.

(d)  Eligibility for leaves of absence by members of faculty

of an institution shall be as follows:

(1)  Upon recommendation of the president of an institution,

a leave of absence for a period not to exceed eighteen (18)

college calendar weeks with full pay or a leave of absence for a

period not to exceed thirty-six (36) calendar weeks with half

pay, for restoration of health, study, travel or other

appropriate purposes, may be granted to any member of the

faculty who has completed seven (7) or more years of

satisfactory services as a faculty member of one (1) or more

institutions; Provided, that at least five (5) consecutive years

of such service shall have been rendered to the institution from

which the leave of absence is sought.

(2)  At the option of the faculty member, if the institution

operates on a system of units other than semesters, the faculty

member may be granted a period corresponding to one or more

units, within the previous restriction of total weeks.

(3)  Leaves of absence may be granted for any part of a

calendar year.

(4)  After completion of the requisite seven years, one leave

of absence shall be allowed for each additional seven years of

service upon recommendation and approval by the president of the

institution.

(5)  Leaves of absence shall be accumulated so that no

faculty member shall lose entitlement because of failure to use

a leave of absence, but no faculty member shall be entitled to

use more than thirty-six (36) weeks of accumulated leave in

succession.

(6)  The board may grant a leave of absence to other system

employes on the same basis as faculty members, as defined in

this act.

(e)  No leave of absence shall be granted unless the member

of the faculty of an institution agrees, in writing, to return

to the faculty member's employment with the institution for a

period of not less than one year immediately following the

expiration of the leave of absence; Provided: The president of

the institution, with the approval of the chancellor, may waive

the requirement to return to the institution if both agree that

it is in the best interest of the institution to waive the

requirement to return. The agreement to waive the requirement

must be in writing and signed.

(f)  (1)  No such leave of absence shall be considered a

termination or breach of the contract of employment and the

faculty member on leave of absence shall be returned to the same

position the faculty member occupied prior thereto.

(2)  Every employe, while on such leave of absence, shall be

considered to be in regular full-time daily attendance in the

position from which the leave of absence was taken during the

period of leave, for the purpose of determining the employe's

length of service and the right to receive increments.

(3)  Every person on leave of absence shall retain the right

to make contributions as a member of either the State Employees'

Retirement Fund or the Public School Employees' Retirement Fund

and continue the person's membership in whichever system the

person currently holds membership.

(g)  Each institution shall have the right to make such

policies as it may deem necessary to make sure that employes on

leave shall utilize such leave properly for the purpose for

which it was granted, requiring reports from the employe or

employes on leave in such manner as it may deem necessary.

(h)  The following shall apply to salaries of faculty members

of an institution in cases of sickness or death:

(1)  In any college year, whenever a faculty member is

prevented by illness or accidental injury from following the

faculty member's occupation, during the regular college year, or

at any other time when performing the faculty member's duties as

a faculty member, there shall be paid to the faculty member the

full salary to which the faculty member may be entitled as if

the faculty member were actually engaged in the performance of

duty for a period of fifteen (15) days. Sundays, holidays and

vacation periods shall not be counted as days lost.

(2)  Such leave of absence shall be cumulative from year to

year but shall not exceed ninety (90) days' leave of absence

with full pay in any one year.

(3)  Notwithstanding provisions of paragraphs (1) and (2), no

faculty member's salary shall be paid, if the accidental injury

is incurred while the faculty member is engaged in remunerative

work unrelated to school duties.

(4)  Until such time as a faculty member has accumulated

ninety (90) days' leave, the provisions of this section shall

not preclude the granting of additional sick leave by

administrative action.

(5)  Whenever a faculty member is absent from duty because of

a death in the immediate family of the faculty member, there

shall be no deduction in the salary of the faculty member for an

absence not in excess of three (3) days. Members of the

immediate family shall consist of father, mother, brother,

sister, son, daughter, husband, wife or parent-in-law and

include any near relative who resides in the same household or

any person with whom the faculty member resides.

(6)  All compensation required to be paid under the

provisions of this subsection shall be paid to the faculty

member in the same manner and at the same time the faculty

member would have received the faculty member's salary if

actually engaged in the performance of the faculty member's

duties.

(i)  Nothing in subsection (d), (e), (f) or (g) shall be

construed to prevent any faculty member on leave of absence from

receiving a grant for further study from an institution other

than the institution by which employed.

Section 2.  Repeals are as follows:

(1)  The General Assembly declares that the repeals under

paragraphs (2) and (3) are necessary to effectuate the

addition of section 2021-A sections 2021-A and 2022-A of the

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act.

(2)  The following acts are repealed:

(i)  The act of May 20, 1857 (P.L.581, No.619),

entitled "An act to provide for the Due Training of

Teachers for the Common Schools of the State."

(ii)  The act of April 15, 1859 (P.L.680, No.681),

entitled "A supplement to an act to provide for the due

training of Teachers for the Common Schools of the State,

passed on the twentieth of May, one thousand eight

hundred and fifty-seven."

(iii)  The act of January 18, 1952 (1951 P.L.2111,

No.600), entitled "An act to provide for minimum

compensation and increments for administrators and

members of the faculty of State Colleges; providing for

leaves of absence; imposing certain duties upon the

Boards of Trustees and Presidents of State Colleges and

the Superintendent of Public Instruction; and repealing

inconsistent laws."

(3)  The following acts or parts of acts are repealed to

the extent they are inconsistent with the addition of section

2021-A of the act:

(i)  The act of July 19, 1957 (P.L.1017, No.451),

known as the State Adverse Interest Act.

(ii)  65 Pa.C.S. § 1103(a).

Section 3.  The precedential effect of any arbitration award

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or opinion issued or pending prior to the effective date of this

section pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement authorized

by the act of July 23, 1970 (P.L.563, No.195), known as the

Public Employe Relations Act, shall not be diminished, altered

or in any manner limited by any repeal made in this act.

Section 3 4.  This act shall take effect in 60 days.

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