Penn State has urged apparel company Nike (NKE) "to play a positive role in assisting" workers who were laid off from two factories in Honduras, university spokesman Geoff Rushton said Wednesday.

The two factories, known Hugger De Honduras and Vision Tex, served as subcontractors for Nike and manufactured Penn State-branded goods, among other branded products, according to the Worker Rights Consortium.

Both factories closed about 16 months ago, but it's not clear that workers there have received the roughly $2 million that they are owed in mandated severance pay, according to an article posted at www.insidehighered.com.

Already, two universities -- Cornell and the University of Wisconsin at Madison -- have decided to end their Nike licensing agreements as a result of the matter, Inside Higher Ed reported.

Like Penn State, the University of Wisconsin is a Big Ten school. Both have had substantial agreements with Nike for years.

"While Nike has offered training and vocational programs, the company insists the (workers' severance) payments are the responsibility of the subcontractors" in Honduras, the Inside Higher Ed article reads. "That position, however, runs afoul of many university codes of conduct -- including Cornell's, which holds licensees responsible for the actions of subcontractors, ... ."

Rushton said Wednesday that he was looking into Penn State's licensing code of conduct and how it might apply to the Nike situation in Honduras.

"Penn State is continuing to monitor the issue and receive updates from the Fair Labor Association, Worker Rights Consortium and the Collegiate Licensing Company, our licensing agent," Rushton wrote in an e-mail message. "We have also spoken with Nike representatives directly.

"We are continuing to encourage Nike to work with the WRC, FLA, worker representation and others to resolve these issues in the best interest of the workers," Rushton wrote.

He said he understands that Nike contracted two factories, Anvil and New Holland, "which in turn subcontracted Vision Tex and Hugger factories in Honduras."

Nike indicated that it made full payment to Anvil and New Holland, Rushton wrote. Anvil and New Holland indicated "they had paid Vision Tex and Hugger in full," he went on.

Rushton said he believes Nike has had ongoing discussions with representatives of the workers who lost their jobs.

Penn State-branded merchandise is manufactured in dozens of factories around the world, according to a Worker Rights Consortium database. The Washington, D.C.-based group, of which Penn State is a member, monitors working conditions globally to combat sweatshops and preserve workers' rights.

StateCollege.com will post additional details in this developing story as they become available.