Students, faculty and other supporters rally to protest HACC administration's reluctance to pass a contract. The rally took place at the Farm Show Complex parking lot in Harrisburg on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025.
Connor Hollinger / For LNP | LancasterOnline
Connor Hollinger / For LNP | LancasterOnline
Students, faculty and other supporters rally to protest HACC administration's reluctance to pass a contract. The rally took place at the Farm Show Complex parking lot in Harrisburg on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025.
HACC’s faculty members have a new contract following a unanimous vote by the central Pennsylvania community college’s board of trustees to approve a four-year collective bargaining agreement Tuesday night.
The 750-member union has been bargaining with the community college for three years after first unionizing in April 2022. HACC has five campuses including one in East Lampeter Township, where 100 of its faculty teach nearly 2,000 of the college’s 12,000 enrolled students.
“We look forward to moving past the negotiations stage with HACC administration and back to a place of stability and growth for the college, faculty and students,” said Amy Withrow, HACC Education Association’s chief negotiator and an English professor. “This first contract represents years of hard work on behalf of HACCEA members, and the willingness of the college to support and recognize the valuable work of their faculty.”
Only 6% of faculty voted against the agreement when the union ratified the contract Nov. 20. LNP | LancasterOnline obtained a copy of the contract Wednesday.
HACC’s media team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the contract approval but updated a page on its website dedicated to explaining the college’s negotiations with the faculty union.
The media team, which requires reporters to fill out a media request form rather than call or email staff, has repeatedly referred LNP | LancasterOnline to the website rather than respond directly to questions posed through the form.
“The contract marks a significant step forward in strengthening the college’s commitment to HACC students and academic excellence,” the college wrote in a statement on its website Tuesday.
The contract is retroactive to July 2025 which means the college will prorate faculty salaries to account for increases due them over the last five months.
In the first year, full-time faculty will receive a 9.28% increase and adjunct faculty will receive increases between 1.89% and 9.28% based on years of service, according to Withrow. All faculty will receive a 3% increase in the second, third and fourth years of the contract.
The contract also protects intellectual property owned by faculty, establishes just cause for discipline and discharge and adds a clear grievance procedure.
On a page of the HACC website dedicated to negotiation updates, the college said union demands in the contract cost $4.2 million per year and tuition for many students will increase. Tuition for the 2025-26 academic year ranges from $239.75 to $458 per credit hour.
Faculty agreed not to strike during the four-year term of the agreement.
Members of the union picketed for two days in November before pausing the strike to continue negotiations with the college.
During the strike, students arrived to their scheduled classes as college administrators had informed them a substitute plan was in place, according to information on the HACC union website, but only a handful of strike-impacted classes were held.
An email HACC sent to students Nov. 2 and posted to the college’s website states the college hired “qualified substitute instructors” to teach courses and evaluate assignments and that HACC would remain open with classes continuing as scheduled.
HACC’s media team did not respond to a question Wednesday on whether courses slated for the fall semester will be completed as scheduled.
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