Election begins: Monday, October 5 at 9:00 a.m.
Election ends: Friday, October 9 at 3:00 p.m.

How to Vote:
The election will be held electronically through a third-party vendor, TrueBallot. Members will receive links to their ballot via the email address they’ve provided PSFA. If you do not have a personal email, please take a few minutes to create one for union communications or you will not receive a ballot. Select your preferred candidate or candidates and submit your electronic ballot. Some candidates are running unopposed, but their units will still receive ballots to vote for them. The elected candidates will be announced later this month. If you do not receive a ballot: Any member who does not receive a ballot, please email SEIU 668 Operations Director at SEIU Local 668, Kaitlyn Gutshall, at kaitlyn.gutshall@seiu668.org.

If you vote in the units for Liberal Arts or University College, please select two candidates.

In brief:
You will receive an email from TrueBallot to your personal (non-psu) email address.
You will vote for candidates within your unit.
Liberal Arts and University College elect two candidates.
Units in which candidates run unopposed will still receive ballots.
The elected Negotiating Team Members will be announced later this month.

Who Can Vote:
Members and provisional members are eligible to vote in our union’s elections. Membership is determined by whether you signed a complete card. If you are unsure of your membership status or would like to become a member, complete a digital card on our website here: https://www.pennstatefacultyalliance.org/sign-up/

Negotiating Team Nominees and Statements by Unit

Arts and Architecture

Marissa Baez
Title: Adjunct Lecturer
Statement:
Marissa Alise Baez was born 1997 Houston, Texas. Based in State College, PA. Baez is a multidisciplinary artist interested in memory, ephemerality, identity, and the body. They studied Sculpture at Texas Woman’s University and graduated with a BFA in May 2019. Baez graduated with an MFA at Penn State School of Visual Arts in 2021. Baez has exhibited and attended residencies nationally and internationally including Mexico, Texas, Pennsylvania, Washington, Germany, New York, Massachusetts, and California. Currently, they work at Penn State University teaching Sculpture, Foundations, and First-year Seminar.

I am adjunct faculty in the school of visual arts, housed in arts and architecture. I am interested in being on the negotiations team to speak up on behalf of the adjunct. I have testified at the capital to state representatives advocating for the union, attended SEIU training in Harrisburg, and served as a vote captain.

Juan Giraldo:
Title: Assistant Teaching Professor
Statement:
Juan Giraldo is a first-generation immigrant, photographer, artist, and laborer currently based in State College, PA. He holds an MFA from Columbia College Chicago (2015) and a BFA from William Paterson University (2009). Giraldo is an Assistant Teaching Professor at Pennsylvania State University and has held adjunct teaching roles at New Jersey City University, County College of Morris, and William Paterson University. His professional museum and gallery background includes serving as Lead Art Handler and Preparator for the Paul Robeson Galleries at Rutgers University Newark and Exhibitions Coordinator/Preparator for the National Museum of Mexican Art. Informed by over two decades of experience as a dock worker, carpenter, and house painter, Giraldo’s artistic practice examines identity, dignity, and allegory. Through long-term photography projects, he focuses on the personal interior spaces, domesticity, and lived experiences of working-class people of color.

Keith Shapiro
Title: Associate Professor
Statement:
Keith Shapiro is a faculty member in the College of Arts and Architecture who has taught at Penn State for more than 30 years and served for many years in the University Faculty Senate. His experience includes university governance, faculty rights, policy, due process, and institutional decision-making, with service as chair of both Faculty Rights and Responsibilities and Committees and Rules, as well as on Senate Council. He has also helped develop and revise university policies affecting faculty. His long experience in Arts and Architecture gives him firsthand knowledge of disparities in resources, compensation, workload, and institutional support across colleges. As a member of the PSFA Organizing Committee, he brings deep institutional knowledge and a commitment to securing a fair first contract for faculty across campuses, ranks, and appointment types.

Agricultural Sciences

Leland Glenna
Title: Professor
Statement:
During my 21 years as a professor at Penn State, I have served three terms on faculty senate. In addition to being on the Senate’s Faculty Affairs and University Planning committees, I worked on the ad hoc committees that wrote the Penn State policy governing consensual relationships and revised the policy governing family leave. I have also served on several department- and college-level committees. I have been a supporter of unionizing efforts since I arrived at Penn State, including being involved in the effort that led to the establishment of the AAUP chapter in 2005. Through these experiences, I have regularly drawn on knowledge I gained from a course I took on negotiation theory and practice while in graduate school. When advocating for faculty, I will seek to distinguish between positions and interests of both the faculty and administrators and strive to find outcomes where interests can be aligned.

Mark Gagnon
Title: Teaching Professor
Statement:
My experience in management, entrepreneurship and sales will bring additional complimentary knowledge, skills and abilities to our negotiation. I have served in corporate and start-up roles in business development, sales, and marketing. I am a non-tenure track faculty member in Agricultural Sciences for 17 years. My home departments are Agricultural Economics, Sociology and Education and Agricultural Biological Engineering (graduate faculty). During this time, I have witnessed the loss of faculty agency and have had faculty mentors share similar experiences.
Faculty are the curators of the university, and I wish to see Penn State move in the direction of its land grant founding and focus on impact for student success, excellence in research and Extension (outreach). Penn State is an amazing institution and could be significantly better. My mission is to bring our collective faculty voice to the table so that we can all excel and create a better Penn State.

Smeal College of Business

Neil Fogarty
Title: Assistant Teaching Professor
Statement:
My name is Neil Fogarty. I am an Assistant Teaching professor in my 6th year here in Smeal and, for 3 years before that, I taught at 3 of our regional campuses. I also was an MBA student here years ago.

As a teacher of Management and as an attorney who has helped employees, I know how important it is for us faculty members to have a strong voice in the processes here, so I stepped-up and got active.

I was a GOTV Captain - the only one - for the unionization effort at Smeal. You may have received my emails and seen posters I drafted urging a yes vote for unionization.
Our work is just beginning. As you vote for our negotiating team, please vote for me and allow me to continue my enthusiastic, effective engagement helping you and our other colleagues here. Give Smeal a strong voice - please vote for me.

Communications

Michelle Rodino-Colocino
Title: Associate Professor
Statement:
I seek to represent my Bellisario College colleagues on PSFA-SEIU 668’s Negotiating Team to
win a strong historic first contract for Penn State faculty. As a member of PSFA’s University Park Organizing Committee, I’ve heard your most urgent concerns. As a PSFA negotiator, I’d bring 30+ years of organizing experience and worker advocacy. As a founding member and president of Penn State AAUP, I’ve organized with my colleagues to secure significant wins. Our fledgling chapter won nearly all demands to drop the 2013 “Wellness Plan” that would’ve increased costs and diminished coverage. The AAUP and social justice organizations trained me in winning contract language on academic freedom, shared governance, racial justice, financial literacy, equity, bridge funding, and bargaining for the common good (i.e., eliminating student debt). I understand disability, health, and gender justice are also important to faculty. I’m 100% committed to representing you and winning the strongest contract possible.

Sascha Meinrath
Title: Professor
Statement:
I nominate Sascha Meinrath to represent our college on the union negotiation team. In roughly ten years at Penn State, he has developed a strong understanding of how the university and our college work in practice. As a policy scholar and public-interest advocate, he is skilled at reading closely, interpreting complex language, and recognizing the implications of what may be left unsaid. He also brings experience working with unions at two previous institutions and familiarity with local union organizing through his wife’s past work as a union staff member. Sascha is generous with his time and genuinely cares about the concerns of faculty, staff, and students. His experience, judgment, and commitment to fairness would make him a thoughtful and effective representative.

Education
Leah P. Hollis
Title: Professor
Statement:
I would bring to the Negotiating Team years of experience with faculty advocacy, organizational dynamics, and higher education policy. My AAUP involvement includes serving as Secretary/Treasurer at my previous institution, participating in the AAUP Summer Institute, and working with AAUP-AFT representatives at Rutgers. I have also participated in extensive professional training, retreats, and faculty development focused on workplace issues, governance, and institutional accountability. As a researcher and consultant, I have worked with more than 350 colleges and universities through policy analysis, training, workshops, and organizational climate work. These experiences have taught me how organizations respond to pressure, how policy operates in practice, and how evidence, preparation, and collective voice can strengthen negotiation.

Adrienne Dixson
Title: Professor
Statement:
Dr. Dixson is a vetted scholar and educator. She has published extensively on issues related to diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and access. Her research, teaching, and service center matters of justice as they pertain to minoritized and marginalized communities. Her particular expertise is sorely needed in the negotiations process because one central goal is to generate a contract that protects the vulnerable from authoritarian governance. She's the person who can help us arrive successfully at that end. I recommend her without reservation.

Earth and Mineral Sciences

Tekin Ozdemir
Title: SCIA Operations Director
Statement:
I am the SCIA Operations Director at Penn State and am committed to supporting PSFA during this important contract preparation period. My background combines operational leadership, contract management, labor advocacy, and scientific expertise.

I hold an M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering. I have research and leadership experience in advanced materials and composite manufacturing and am currently expanding my expertise in silicon carbide technologies. I also have more than five years of experience managing contracts, procurement activities, vendor relationships, compliance requirements, and complex negotiations.

Before entering academia and research leadership, I worked in industrial manufacturing environments where I gained firsthand experience with workplace policies, labor-management relations, and employee advocacy. The largest team I managed consisted of more than 30 technicians. These experiences reinforced my commitment to fair treatment, transparency, and effective collective bargaining.

Joshua Inwood
Title: Professor
Statement:
This is a self-nomination. I worked with the organizing committee and was heavily involved in
organizing EMS. I am also the college’s ombudsperson for faculty and I have a sense of many of the issues tenure, teaching and research faculty face in their jobs and specifically how they are being squeezed to do more with less, especially as the administration is expanding at the leadership level both in terms of administrators but also in terms of their compensation in comparison with faculty. I am committed to ensuring that we create a union that works for every member and that begins with bargaining a contract that is fair and recognizes the important contributions that faculty make to the college, university and commonwealth. This includes compensation, but also health care and other benefits that contribute to faculty health and wellbeing.\

Engineering

Constantino Lagoa
Title: Professor
Statement:
Constantino was part of our union campaign since the very beginning and has been a thoughtful and dedicated leader throughout the process. He brings a unique perspective, knows the needs and challenges of his college extremely well, and has always been a strong advocate for its faculty. At the same time, he understands that our goal is to achieve fair working conditions for all Penn State faculty, and I believe he would be an outstanding member of the negotiating team.

Health and Human Development

Zachary Bigalke
Title: Assistant Teaching Professor
Statement:
I have been at Penn State for eight years — five as a graduate student and three so far
as a member of the Kinesiology faculty. I was involved in the department in the push to
collect signatures in the lead-up to the unionization vote, and I am passionate about
union protections after my time in SEIU Local 503 as a University of Oregon staff
member and later in the GTFF as a unionized graduate student in Eugene. I am excited
to help realize these protections for faculty across the Penn State community now that
we are in the push to bargain for our first contract!\

Information Sciences and Technology
No Candidate.

Liberal Arts x2

Sarah Townsend
Title: Associate Professor

Statement:
Those of us who have been at Penn State since at least 2020 have had ample
opportunity to observe Sarah’s organizational skills across campuses. The first negotiation will
set important precedents for future contracts, and we need a CLA faculty colleague with the
confidence and courage the position requires. I also believe it is especially important to have a
colleague from the humanities in this role, given the extent to which the humanities have been
misleadingly scapegoated within the university for broader budget pressures.

Kristy Ganoe
Title: Assistant Teaching Professor
Statement:
I began working towards establishing a faculty union shortly after learning that my department’s course caps are 150% of the best practice recommended by the National Coalition for Teachers of English while our salaries are 50% of the minimum suggested by the Modern Language Association. When I saw this, I did the math to figure out how much my students and the taxpayers pay for my labor. I will spare you the painful and embarrassing details but encourage you to calculate your own.
To help build the union, I worked with the organizing committee to study the institution and collect the perspectives of our colleagues with structures like the faculty survey and contract study group. I would be honored to continue to work to synthesize faculty perspectives so that our first contract will help build an institution that serves our students and society well.
I am excited to help compose a first contract.

Harvey Partica
Title: Assistant Teaching Professor
Statement:
Harvey and I joined the English Department in fall of 2022. The first memory I have of Harvey is him asking a seasoned colleague about unionization. I don’t know if there were conversations about unionizing at the time, but I associate Harvey as being part of the union before the union even existed as he has worked tirelessly with others to make a non-existent thing become reality. Harvey cares deeply about faculty working environments and pay, which is expressed in the impassioned way he speaks about the union, and through his continued involvement efforts. He serves on the Organizing Committee, the Liberal Arts Organizing Committee, and recently joined the Comms and Structure Committees. He was a vote captain during the union election last May and is a member of the nascent Contract Action Team. When I think of Harvey, I think “union” and trust him to negotiate for all faculty.

Kate Ragon
Title: Assistant Clinical Professor/Labor Education Coordinator
Statement:
I want to be part of our PSFA negotiation team to win all Penn State faculty a strong first contract! I have been organizing to build our union since spring of 2024 and have had conversations with colleagues in multiple colleges at UP, such that I feel I have a good sense of many of the issues that faculty face that may come up in bargaining. I was a member of the bargaining team (by virtue of being an elected officer) and led the organizing committee through two contract negotiation cycles when I was a graduate assistant at the University of Connecticut and member of GEU-UAW Local 6950. Additionally, I currently work for the Labor School, SLER's outreach program to the PA labor movement. As part of that work I regularly teach basic principles of collective bargaining and negotiations to union members across the Commonwealth.

Nursing

Nicole Moore
Title: Assistant Teaching Professor
Statement:
My name is Nicole Moore and I am currently a teaching-track faculty at the University Park campus. Prior to coming to UP, I held various roles both inside and outside academia, including floor nurse in maternal/child health and outpatient psychiatric/mental health, manager of a psychiatric clinic, teaching faculty at a small, liberal arts school, BSN program director, and department chair. While I have not had any former direct experience with being a member of a negotiations team, I have several connections with the labor movement, helping me to understand the process, and I believe that I can offer valuable perspective to the team on behalf of the College of Nursing.

Science

Derek Fox
Title: Associate Professor
Statement:
Derek has been at Penn State since 2005. He is in his third term on the faculty senate, serving on the Educational Equity and Campus Environment committee, and he is actively involved in PSFA. Derek was recommended by several of his colleagues and would bring the perspective of a tenure-line scientist to the negotiating committee. He has experience running a scientific lab and seeking and managing grants, and is familiar with the process of navigating Penn State's bureaucracy on both fronts. As a faculty member who has worked with postdocs, Derek can speak to the concerns of faculty whom the university is trying to exclude from the bargaining unit.

Law + School of International Affairs

Jonathan D'Silva
Title: Associate Clinical Professor
Statement:
I'm a practicing IP attorney with 21 years of private practice. I've been teaching at the law school since 2022. I do deal with a lot of contract and licensing for my clients in my practice and in the clinical work that I do through the IP Clinic - it's not employment law or employee contracts, but I may be able to issue spot and ask questions that others may not. I am also the co-Chair of the Faculty Governance group at the law school so I do have the ear of law faculty. I would be honored to continue to serve in any capacity. \

Libraries

Heather Page
Title: Assistant Librarian
Statement:
I am self-nominating to join the negotiating team. I joined the Organizing Committee in Fall 2023, soon after joining the faculty at Penn State, when dramatic unilateral changes to the university made it clear that the only effective route to support and protect myself and my colleagues was through unionization. My organizing work covered both the Fayette campus and all University Libraries locations. I am a direct contributor to the committees gathering faculty priorities and managing communications for PSFA, as well as a member of the impact bargaining team for faculty at closing campuses.
Becoming part of the unionization effort brought me into contact with colleagues I never would have had the opportunity to meet or work with outside of our union. I am committed to representing the interests of all faculty and work toward a contract that improves our lives.

Abington

Lila Naydan
Title: Professor
Statement:
I am eager to serve on the negotiating team because I want to negotiate an excellent first contract that reflects our democratically articulated values as a union. My experience of working as an adjunct at University Park and as a tenure-stream faculty member at Abington will inform my work, as will my past experiences with academic labor unions. I helped organize two unions; I engaged as an active member of two unions; I served as an elected Campus Co-Chair of LEO Michigan; and I served as co-editor of the LEO Michigan newsletter that provided bargaining updates to promote member engagement. I am committed to listening to diverse perspectives and bringing us together to win an excellent first contract, which, in my view, must involve increased security and pay increases for the most vulnerable faculty. Supporting the most vulnerable among us will help improve working conditions for everyone.

Nicole Stokes
Title: Professor
Statement:
I am interested because I have prior collective bargaining experience as faculty and union leadership at my two prior unionized campuses (AFT and AAUP). I am a tenured full professor and can have a voice to represent faculty who may be in more vulnerable statuses at Penn State than I am. I want us to have a more equitable and fair working experience at Penn State.

Altoona
Beth Seymour
Title: Teaching Professor
Statement:
It would be an honor to advocate for all faculty as Penn State Altoona’s member of the negotiating team. I have been a PSFA Organizing Committee member for five years, listening to and advocating for my colleagues, having seen firsthand the uneven treatment of faculty across the University. I have recent experience negotiating the union election and unit definition and am part of the current negotiations for impact bargaining. I have deep experience with the institution, having served on a variety of different University organizations, including both the Altoona Faculty and University Faculty Senates, being a past Chair of each. Having helped unionize graduate students at SUNY, I understand how a strong union can improve an institution. Working together we can win a strong contract, improve our working conditions, our students' learning conditions, change the culture at Penn State, bring transparency, accountability, fairness, and equity.

Joe Murgo
Title: Adjunct Instructor

Statement:
I think that I can be an important and dependable part of the negotiating team. I have taught as an adjunct at PSU Altoona for over two decades and have seen a lot of Penn State. I also have strong ties to my department at University Park. I have served 3 terms on the faculty senate representing our adjunct faculty. I have been outspoken to our Chancellor in the fact that adjuncts have been neglected for a long time at our campus. It's pretty much a decade since they have gotten any raise. That means our work has been devalued when compared to inflation and other employee raises.

Plus, after serving decades as a member of the media for the local TV stations for three of our campuses (including UP), I carry a certain amount of trust for not only the faculty, but also members of the administration.

Berks\

Colleen English
Title: Associate Professor

Statement:
I have been a strong supporter of our unionization efforts from the beginning, working alongside Berks colleagues to build support and engagement. My faculty leadership experiences have given me the opportunity to listen to and learn from faculty colleagues about their concerns and priorities and advocate for our shared interests. I currently serve as Program Chair for Kinesiology and previously served as the secretary, vice chair, and chair of the Berks Faculty Senate. As the Senate Chair, I led and participated in a variety of initiatives that required navigating complex issues, building consensus, and translating faculty concerns to administrators. As a member of the negotiating team, I will bring these experiences, as well as a commitment to listening to faculty priorities and representing these interests. I am committed to the preparation, collaboration, and advocacy needed to strengthen our collective faculty voice.\

Erie
Luciana Aronne
Title: Associate Teaching Professor

Statement:
I have been a part of PSFA since its inception and I would be honored to continue my work to
help our faculty obtain the best first contract possible. I have worked toward forming this union
by walking into offices and having many one-on-one conversations with faculty across all schools and disciplines on my campus. I have heard the personal stories and concerns faculty at my campus have and I will work very hard to make sure many of these concerns are addressed in our contract. Even before my work with PSFA, I have always been an advocate for Behrend’s part-time instructors and NTL’s, working with the administration to get longer contracts for NTL’s and better pay for our part-time faculty. This is a very important and exciting time for faculty at Penn State and it would be my privilege to serve them on the negotiating team.

Harrisburg
Marissa Harrison
Title: Professor
Statement:
I am in my 19th year at Penn State Harrisburg, and I have seen some things. Moreover, I have institutional memory and extensive knowledge of Penn State policy, gained through service on promotion and tenure committees and in leadership positions.
I am unafraid to speak up and call things out, and I do not back down easily. But I also know when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em, when to fight and when to negotiate. Effective representation requires both.
I am a Full Professor. I do not need a CV builder, and I have nothing left to prove. I want to ensure that the institution and students to which I have devoted my career are served with integrity and fairness, and that my indispensable, irreplaceable colleagues are treated fairly and equitably.
My colleagues have told me that I have a loud and firm voice. Let me use it for you.

Julio Palma
Title: Associate Professor

Statement:
My name is Julio Palma, and I would like to self-nominate to represent Penn State Harrisburg on the negotiating team.

Although I recently joined Penn State Harrisburg, I have been part of the Penn State system for the past ten years.

I have been involved in our union campaign from the very beginning and participated in the conversations that led us to organize with SEIU 668. Through both the organizing campaign and my service in the University Faculty Senate, I have worked with faculty from across Penn State and gained an appreciation for the different needs and challenges of our campuses, colleges, and faculty appointments.

If elected, I will listen to Harrisburg faculty, work to ensure their priorities are represented at the bargaining table, and advocate for the success of all Penn State faculty.

Great Valley + World Campus

Valerie Braman
Title: Adjunct Lecturer

Statement:
Valerie will bring tremendous experience and heart to the negotiation team - as a negotiator, as a labor educator and practitioner, and as an original leader in our unionization effort.

Valerie is a World Campus adjunct, and was previously an assistant clinical professor in Labor and Employment Relations. She teaches Bargaining, and has trained and coached union members, leaders, and staff. She has served on Faculty Senate and Faculty Rights and Responsibilities.

Val started as a teacher, and became active in her K-12 teachers’ union before joining the staff of AFT PA, serving as first chair (chief negotiator) in public sector, private sector, and higher education contract negotiations. She currently oversees bargaining and organizing campaigns for intern and resident physicians in large hospital systems across Pennsylvania and Delaware with CIR-SEIU.

Valerie is a strong voice for faculty and helps others find their voices. She approaches all things with care and compassion.

University College x2

David Livert
Title: Professor
Statement:
It would be an honor to serve our Faculty Alliance on the Negotiating Team. I would bring to the role my expertise as a social psychologist and, in particular, my work on intergroup conflict and dynamics. Over the years, I have applied many of these skills in my consultancy work with various for-profit and non-profit organizations. In addition to this scholarly activity, I work regularly with an NGO team at the United Nations and lead our team’s section on conflict resolution. In fact, I am currently authoring a book on conflict management for publication next year!

Andrea Adolph
Title: Associate Professor

Statement:
I have served on the PSFA Organizing Committee since 2024 and have contributed actively; this allows me a 360-degree perspective of PSFA and our affiliation with SEIU 668. I understand the complexities of the University, having served as an academic administrator for a decade. I have seen the latitude that University administration have with pay, benefits, workload, and disciplinary actions, all of which have created equity gaps across ranks, locations, and academic fields. Prior to working at Penn State, I was a faculty member at a unionized institution where I gained experience as a union representative and also served on the committee that set bargaining priorities. I have seen how a strong faculty union not only can benefit its members but can change the culture of an entire organization. Together, we can bring fairness and transparency to how we are rewarded for our labor and can engender a responsive workplace.

Pauline Thompson
Title: Professor
Statement:
I have worked in higher education for more than 30 years, across three countries and in universities with different approaches to faculty governance and union representation. I have been at Penn State for the past 14 years, serving on committees at the campus, college, and University levels, including extensive work with promotion and tenure. During the 2025–2026 academic year, I served as an Administrative Fellow working with the Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, which gave me a broader perspective on University policies, decision-making, and the challenges facing faculty across Penn State. I am interested in bringing this experience, along with my skills in listening, collaboration, communication, and navigating complex institutional issues, to the Negotiation Team. I would value the opportunity to contribute to building meaningful and sustainable improvements for Penn State faculty.

Cody Gee Sheridan Hmelar
Title: Adjunct InstructorStatement:
I am interested in serving on the PSFA Negotiating Team because I want to help build a strong
first contract that reflects the experiences and priorities of faculty across Penn State. As an
instructor of English and Ethnic Studies at Penn State New Kensington and other Penn State
campuses, I understand both the opportunities and challenges of working within a large,
complex university system. I am comfortable navigating institutional structures, working
collaboratively, and keeping sight of the larger goals behind detailed proposals and decisions.
My organizing experience with the Pitt Grad Union, including engagement with the bargaining
process, has given me experience thinking carefully about contract language and collective
priorities. I also serve on PSFA’s Organizing Committee, where I have worked to listen to faculty
concerns and build collective participation. I would bring that same preparation, discipline, and
collaborative approach to the Negotiating Team.