If the faculty from Clarion University and the 13 other Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) schools go on strike this upcoming Oct. 19, our state of college students, teachers and facilitators will experience something Pennsylvania never has before.

We’ve gotten this far before; the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties (APSCUF) has authorized strikes three times in the past according to Clarion University Vice President for Student Affairs Susanne Fenske. However, many are agreeing that a potential strike has never seemed so imminent, and if no changes are made on the negotiating table between PASSHE and APSCUF during the first half of October, then faculty from the 14 schools will have the right to strike, effectively not teaching their classes if they so desire.

For almost all Clarion University students (and others around the state), this has begged answer to the question: What exactly happens if the faculty decides to go on strike?

For this, we look at recent national history, other schools throughout the country that have taken strikes weeks at a time with mixed results. One of the most prominent strikes in recent memory was when Eastern Michigan University elected to do it in 2006. Its two-week duration caused the conversation to move forward, admitting a third, neutral party into talks.

Sometimes, they’re mostly unsuccessful and exist only for symbolic value, reports Inside Higher Ed (https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/10/24/are-faculty-strikes-effective). A 2011 strike by the Cincinnati State Technical and Community College existed for one week before faculty resumed work without any changes in the negotiating situation and no new contract.

Sometimes, that symbolic value is what the faculty needs however. Andrew Ross, a professor in social and cultural analysis at New York University, suggests that when unions strike, they are better able to reach out to “stakeholders in a community” according to Inside Higher Ed.

In most strike situations, they rarely last more than a few weeks, usually running anywhere from two weeks to a few days. Faculty have been cited about being worried of disrupting term schedules in the past. Almost always, things work out so that the students of these strike-afflicted universities are impacted in small ways. Until that happens, it is a waiting game as students watch and other university and state members try to reach compromise.