Most Wayne State University classes still met despite a one-day strike Sept.16 by the Wayne State chapter of the American Association of University Professors/American Federation of Teachers (AAUP/AFT).

Reports from the deans of WSU's 14 schools and colleges indicated the job action of the AAUP/AFT did not significantly impact operations at Wayne State today. The vast majority of classes - more than 80 percent - met as scheduled.

In many schools and colleges, including Business Administration, Engineering, Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions, all scheduled classes met. And in the College of Liberal Arts, which historically has been more supportive of the AAUP/AFT than most schools and colleges at WSU, significantly more than half the classes met as scheduled.

"This is not surprising given the fact that about 80 percent of our faculty choose not to belong to the union," said Provost Marilyn Williamson. "These numbers are in line with what we have experienced in prior years."

The union's bargaining unit comprises 1,687 faculty and academic staff members; 463, including 123 academic staff members, belong to the AAUP.

"I genuinely regret any interruption in the education of students here," said President Irvin D. Reid at a press conference this morning. "They have obviously come to us with the expectation that they will get an education, and we are doing everything possible to ensure, in spite of this interruption, that they are going to get that education."

To minimize the strike's impact on students, the university extended its registration deadline by two days through Wednesday, Sept. 22.

"Many of our students work or have family or other obligations," Reid said. "To register they set aside time to come down to Wayne, and we are going to do everything to make that possible for them to do without greater inconvenience."

In trying to resolve the remaining issues, the university asked for assistance in the negotiations from the Michigan Employee Relations Commission; mediator Micki Czerniak was sent by the commission.

Reid explained the rationale for bringing in the mediator, saying, "I want to assure faculty, staff and students that we take this process very seriously.

"I hope that (Czerniak) will facilitate continuing progress in the discussions between the AAUP/AFT and the university administration," he said.

"This is an inconvenience, obviously, and we have put a great deal of emphasis on trying to reach an agreement over the last several months," Reid said. "I think we're down to the wire now, and I hope that we can bring this to closure."

The president canceled travel plans in order to be available for talks if it becomes necessary, and expressed full confidence in the negotiating team.

"The administration's negotiating team fully understands the university's position and they are empowered to negotiate at the table through that framework. I have confidence that they will do that."

The university is offering a 13.7 percent increase over four years, a figure that Reid said is a "significant movement" from what was being reported in newspapers last week.

"I think this demonstrates that the university is very serious about and sensitive to the economic issues involved."

He described the atmosphere of the talks over the past several months as cordial, but said he is "disappointed that it got to the point of a job action."

Reid noted that while the economic environment generally is very good in the country, Wayne State did not get one of the larger increases from the state this past year.

"While we have been working very hard on the enrollment decline in the last six years - as a matter of fact we have now arrested that decline and turned it in a positive direction - we have had to spend some university resources to achieve that turnaround.

"My concern is that this strike does not impair that continuing improvement. I think that the faculty and students of this university will benefit if we can get back to normal operations as soon as possible."

So far there has been no response to the administration proposal to increase the compensation package, and no response to the administration proposal for a multiyear contract. The administration negotiating team has informed the mediator that they will be available to meet whenever the mediator requires.