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UUP honors unionists and SUNY students in Rochester

Albany, Oct. 6, 2003 - United University Professions (UUP) delegates honored five outstanding individuals from the SUNY community during the union's fall policy-making convention over the weekend in Rochester.
At the Fall 2003 Delegate Assembly of UUP -- the nation's largest higher education union -- two long-time UUP members received the union's highest award, the Nina Mitchell Award for Distinguished Service.

Established in honor of veteran unionist Nina Mitchell (1926-1988) of Brooklyn Health Sciences Center, the award recognizes UUPers who have served the union with distinction in a variety of statewide and chapter capacities. This year's winners were Thomas Corigliano of SUNY Plattsburgh and Harvey Inventasch of SUNY Cortland.

Corigliano, director of Plattsburgh's Extension Center at Adirondack Community College in Queensbury, was elected as UUP's first full-time statewide vice president for professionals in 1986, and served in that role until 1992. He was also statewide secretary from 1993-2001 and chaired the union's negotiations team and committee for its 1990-93 contract.

Active with the union's statewide and national affiliates -- New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) and American Federation of Teachers (AFT), respectively -- Corigliano also served as UUP chapter president in Plattsburgh from 1983 to 1986.

Inventasch, a founding member of UUP, is still a union activist even after retiring as a professor of education from SUNY Cortland in 1992. He currently chairs the statewide Retiree Legislation Action Group and was a longtime chair of the statewide Finance Committee.

Also active with NYSUT and the AFT, Inventasch served as his chapter's president from 1978 to 1982 and as a member of UUP's statewide Executive Board and its negotiations team and committee.

Delegates also recognized the exceptional service of unionist William Rock of SUNY Brockport, honoring him with the UUP Outstanding Active Retiree Award. The award is given to an individual who has rendered outstanding volunteer service -- after retirement -- to UUP, SUNY and the community.

Rock, who retired in 1995, continues his union activism through UUP's Committee on Active Retired Membership (COARM), its delegate assemblies and NYSUT representative assemblies. He is also an active fundraiser for SUNY colleges.

UUP delegates also recognized the scholastic and community achievements of two SUNY students, awarding Jonathan Senchyne of SUNY Geneseo and Amina Watkins of SUNY Albany with the union's Eugene P. Link College Scholarships.

These scholarships recognize SUNY undergraduates for exceptional academic achievements and commitment to leadership and community service, and are annual testimonials to the ideals of Eugene P. Link, a UUP founder and professor emeritus of history at SUNY Plattsburgh.

Senchyne, a senior majoring in English and secondary education, incorporated his intellectual curiosity and his commitment to trade unionism into the creation of Living Forge Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to the publication of literature from and about the Rust Belt. He and a friend developed a prototype of a literary magazine that includes well-known poets and inspirational poetry written by former unionized steelworkers.

Senchyne, who has a 3.78 grade-point average and hopes to teach literature and writing at the collegiate level, hails from Eden, Erie County.

Watkins is a biology major who plans to attend medical school. She volunteers with SUNY Albany's ambulance service, and has served as a CPR/first aid instructor with the Community Wellness Center in Yonkers (Westchester County), her hometown.

Among many other activities, Watkins is a member of her campus Multicultural Recruitment Program and is helping to raise funds to combat the growing AIDS epidemic in Africa.

A junior, Watkins has a 3.8 grade-point average.

Nearly 300 academic and professional delegates from across the state attended the two-day assembly.

UUP represents more then 34,000 academic and professional faculty on 29 New York State-operated campuses, and is an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO and New York State United Teachers (NYSUT).    

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