UNITED UNIVERSITY PROFESSIONS The 2008 Fall Delegate Assembly was called to order by President Phillip H. Smith at 5:00 p.m., Friday, September 19, 2008 in the King Street Ballroom of the Desmond Hotel, Albany, New York. In Pre-Plenary Activities:
In the Friday evening Plenary Session, Delegates heard the report of President Phil Smith. Delegates also heard from NYSUT Executive Vice President Alan Lubin and NYSUT Director of Legislation Steve Allinger. At the Friday night dinner:
In the Saturday morning Plenary Session, Delegates heard the reports of Vice President for Academics Fred Floss, Vice President for Professionals John Marino, Secretary Eileen Landy, Treasurer Rowena Blackman-Stroud and Membership Development Officer Ed Quinn. Delegates took the following actions:
That the Delegate Assembly calls upon all chapters to establish a committee to accomplish the following objectives:
Whereas, diversity is a vital and necessary educational, economic, and social goal for New York State, the nation, and the entire world; and Whereas, UUP has played a vital leadership role in increasing diversity within the State University of New York in UUP’s successful advocacy for establishing the SUNY Office of Diversity and in creating other venues for addressing diversity; and Whereas, SUNY acknowledges the importance of this goal in its decision to create the Office of Diversity; and, Whereas, diversity must now continue to be a primary goal at local chapters; be it therefore Resolved, that UUP, its President, and its Executive Board strongly encourage all chapters to establish a UUP diversity/GLBTQ committee at their local campuses that will communicate about and advocate for diversity on their campuses and beyond.
Whereas, one fifth of the American population consists of people with disabilities; and Whereas, there are significant differences in disability policies of the two major presidential candidates affecting that population; therefore be it Resolved , that UUP widely distributes information that clearly defines these policy differences in order to allow voters to make an informed decision regarding disability issues; and be it further Resolved, that UUP work with its affiliates and use all possible forms of to distribute this information.
Whereas, the workforce has changed in recent years and few workers have stay-at-home spouses or partners to care for family members; and Whereas, workers often struggle to meet responsibilities for children, aging parents, and other relatives that depend on them for primary care; and Whereas, most workers in New York State do not have access to paid family leave and caring for family members can mean losing needed wages; and Whereas, UUP has been an active member of the New York State Paid Family Leave Coalition and has supported efforts to gain passage of paid family and medical leave legislation; and Whereas, The Working Families Time to Care Act would provide paid family and medical leave to New York State workers (maximum of $170 per week) for up to 12 weeks by expanding the state’s existing Temporary Disability Insurance program at a cost of $14 per worker per year, to be paid by workers; and Whereas, Passage of The Working Families Time to Care Act would put New York State among the first to adopt such legislation, along with California, Washington State, and New Jersey; and Whereas, Recent efforts to weaken the federal Family and Medical Leave Act reveal the importance of state-level legislation to secure paid family leave; and Whereas, passage of the Working Families Time to Care Act could be critical to UUP’s efforts to expand paid family leave provisions for our members therefore, be it Resolved, That UUP maintain active participation in the New York State Paid Family Leave Coalition; and be it Resolved, That UUP encourage The Working Families Time to Care Act by including it as a key component of its legislative agenda for 2008-09; and be it Resolved, That UUP designate a specific advocacy day in Albany to be focused on The Working Families Time to Care Act in order to mobilize members to participate in support of the act.
Whereas, UUP has a duty of fair representation of its members, and differential case investigation violates that duty; and, Whereas, the best protection from liability for the Union is practicing the best representation possible; and, Whereas, UUP has three grievance investigation forms copyrighted to the organization which can serve as prototypes; and, Whereas, these forms have been reviewed by several Labor Relations Specialists for content and format, and have been field tested for several years; and, Whereas, the Grievance Committee recognizes that undocumented information can be lost from the time the grievant is first interviewed; and, Whereas, the standardized transmission of information serves several key communication functions; and, Whereas, interviewing each grievant in the same sequence and format establishes consistency and completeness in representation; therefore be it Resolved, that the UUP Executive Board adopt a common Grievance Report Form packet for the union.
Resolved, UUP will file a Freedom of Information request to discover the end use of all Bundy Aid, and all state aid to private institutions of higher education.
Resolved, the UUP officers will explore ways and implement a program for UUP to use its resources and assets to ensure that DSH monies, which are crucial to the operations of our HSC’s, are maintained or increased.
Whereas, under the Defense of Marriage Act , Public Law 104-199, 110 Stat. 2419 the Federal Government may not treat same-sex relationships as marriages for any purpose, even if concluded or recognized by one of the states and this has resulted in discriminatory tax practices against persons in same-sex relationships; and Whereas, under the Defense of Marriage Act, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word ‘marriage’ means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word ‘spouse’ refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or wife; therefore be it Resolved, that the NYSUT Board of Directors be asked to present a resolution to the 2009 NYSUT RA calling for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act , Public Law 104-199, 110 Stat. 2419; and be it further Resolved, that the NYSUT Board of Directors be asked to work with its national affiliates to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act; and be it further Resolved, that once the Defense of Marriage Act is repealed , efforts be made to insure that all discriminatory interpretations of the IRS Code be eliminated with special attention to the imputed income for health benefits of persons in same-sex relationships.
Resolved, that the United University Professions Delegate Assembly commends Governor Paterson for issuing an Executive Order establishing a wise and fair policy that New York State agencies recognize same-sex marriages legally performed in other jurisdictions..
Whereas, the issues of Part-time and Term appointment members are becoming increasingly complex, and the strategies and priorities needed to address theseissues are increasingly urgent; therefore be it Resolved that the Part Time Concern Committee will hold a retreat for Part Time representatives and interested union members before the Winter DA in order to determine priorities, strategies, and develop appropriate action plans.
Whereas, it has become increasingly evident that on-line instruction by assuming a larger role in education has had an impact on traditional classroom instruction. It is time to address and quantify the problem. It must also be recognized that the individuals providing on-line instruction are also likely to be UUP members and treated accordingly. The increase in the utilization of on-line instruction has placed at risk the role of part-time faculty and professional staff, by reducing or eliminating traditional face-to-face instruction and classroom support, with the potential of a reduction or elimination of face-to-face classroom effort and faculty to instruct. Where face-to-face instruction is cancelled, reduced or eliminated, the student load in on-line classes increases. It would appear that the quantitative and qualitative evaluations of traditional classroom instruction and on-line instruction are neither standard nor uniform, and may even be non- existent. There is also the question as to using on-line technology as a means of increasing tuition without the corresponding academic requirements, such as “office hours.” Therefore, it is Resolved that UUP initiate a state-wide study, incorporating data from from AFT and NYSUT, of trends in the use of on-line instruction within baccalaureate programs at State University to determine possible impact on contractual benefits and its immediate and long-term effect on face-to-face instruction. This should extend to include professional employees involve in the support of classroom and instructional efforts. Among the issues to be addressed in the survey:
The 2008 Fall Delegate Assembly adjourned at 1:50 p.m. |
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