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United University Professions
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The Voice
February 2000
Cover story: Part-time issues,
full-time concern
The number of full-time faculty lines at SUNY has dropped by more than 1,600 since the start of the 1993-1994 academic year, giving rise to a two-tiered system of faculty: a shrinking number of full-time, tenured or tenure-track faculty and a growing army of exploited, low-paid part-timers.
It's a complicated issue that raises concerns about educational quality, job security, academic freedom and fairness, and has UUP leaders working hard to find solutions.
"Nearly 40 percent of our 23,000 members are considered 'part-time' employees," said UUP President William Scheuerman, noting that the number of part-time teaching faculty on the 29 state-operated campuses has nearly doubled since 1993. UUP is pushing to improve the lot of the part-timers and to restore more full-time faculty lines, Scheuerman said.
While the union has made tremendous strides on behalf of part-timers in the last few contract agreements with the state, Scheuerman said, "many part-timers - not all - are still beset by low pay, poor or no benefits, a lack of office space and, on some campuses, a general lack of respect and appreciation for the important work they do.
"Part-timers are "an integral part of the educational process," allowing campuses to bring in experts from outside academe and allowing small departments to offer extra classes or electives, Scheuerman said. "But the proper role, the traditional role, of part-time faculty is to supplement and complement a robust department, not to displace it," he stressed.
UUP Treasurer Rowena Blackman-Stroud added: "UUP's position is that any university dedicated to educational excellence must be built upon a foundation of committed, accountable, permanent academic and professional faculty members."
UUP is not alone in this issue. Lawrence Gold, director of the AFT Higher Education Department, cites "the erosion of full-time, tenure-track faculty positions and their replacement by a growing, and exploited, army of part-time and other non-tenure-track faculty" as the "most dangerous trend in higher education today."
At least 43 percent of faculty nationwide are now part-time, up from 38 percent in 1987, according to a recent AFT report, "The Vanishing Professor." While the total number of full-time faculty grew by 49 percent between 1970 and 1995, the number of part-time faculty increased 266 percent during the same period, the report found. "At this rate, part-time faculty will outnumber full-time by the academic year 2001," the report predicted.
The decline in full-timers "flies in the face of enrollment trends," the AFT report said, noting that total college student enrollment grew 66 percent from 1970 to 1995, and is expected to increase sharply between 1997 and 2007.The report cited cuts in state funding, which prompted early retirements, and reductions in full-time faculty positions for problems at many universities - including SUNY.
Some of the AFT's findings include:
- At CUNY, full-time faculty declined by 21 percent between 1987 and 1997, while total student enrollment increased by 8.4 percent.
- At the University of California system of nine universities, only 20 percent of the faculty are full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty.
- At George Mason University, a large state university in Virginia, 230 of 749 full-time faculty are on non-tenure-track term contracts.
- Rutgers University lost 9 percent, or 240 of its full-time faculty, between 1985 and 1998, despite stable enrollments.
"It's obviously a trend across the country," said Eileen Landy, president of the UUP chapter at SUNY Old Westbury and chair of UUP's Part-time Concerns Committee. Landy noted that private industry went through a cycle of downsizing its workforce but has begun rehiring. Landy said she hopes state and SUNY leaders wise up as well, before the University is badly damaged.
"There isn't an easy solution," she said. "We are trying to work toward addressing these issues."
"The situation for part-timers is really desperate," said UUPer Mary Fakler, who has been a part-time English instructor at SUNY New Paltz for five years. "There are so many of us and we're really overworked and underpaid."
Fakler, a member of the New Paltz UUP chapter executive board, teaches two courses at New Paltz and two courses at nearby Mount Saint Mary College in an attempt to make a living. She earns less than $2,000 per course a semester.
And Fakler considers herself one of the lucky ones: She has pretty much been able to count on two courses each semester at New Paltz and has her own desk. In some departments, five part-timers may share one desk; many have no access to office space at all. Many of her colleagues often don't know until just before the semester starts if they have any job, and many must run from campus to campus, teaching a course here and another there, in an attempt to scrape together a living.
New Paltz has one of the highest percentages of part-time faculty in the SUNY system. Close to 49 percent of the academic faculty are part-timers and the numbers of part-time professionals are growing as well, said F. Glenn McNitt, UUP chapter president at New Paltz.
Some courses must be taught by part-timers with a very specific skill, McNitt said, but the campus has been steadily replacing full-time lines with part-timers. "Some 'part-timers' teach as many as four or five courses a semester," he said. "That should be a full-time position."
McNitt noted that part-time faculty want to be included in the life of the university by participating in department decisions, working on committees and advising students, but they are not being paid for such efforts. Many of the part-timers are young faculty, he said. "They bring an enthusiasm that we don't want to lose. ... We would like to see their contributions to the university rewarded."
At the same time, the university must restore full-time faculty lines to maintain the strength of the institution, McNitt said. "We shouldn't lose sight of the fact that a faculty that is largely part-time is one that cannot devote sufficient time to the development of the students and the curriculum," he said. "You need a faculty with a commitment to the university and a university with a commitment to the faculty."
McNitt and others say that, ideally, 80 percent of the faculty should be full-time. "You need some core that will provide that direction and an anchor to the university," he said.
David Kreh, president of the UUP chapter at SUNY Cortland, agrees. While Cortland campus President Judson Taylor has said he is committed to an 80-20 ratio, Kreh said he wants to see the university put its money where its mouth is.
"It's a factor of not enough resources from the state of New York," Kreh said, noting that state support for SUNY has been slashed over the years. "You can't run a quality University this way," he said. Ivan Steen, UUP chapter president at SUNY Albany, said the University has cut full-time lines simply to save money. "Rotten budgets lead to more part-timers," he said.
Part-timers do serve an important role within SUNY, but they are being exploited; they are hired and assigned courses in a haphazard manner, Steen said. "It's our concern that there be procedures, that (part-timers aren't) hired at whim," he said, adding that even salary levels vary among departments. UUP leaders are working to address all these issues and to bring more part-timers into the active ranks of the union, said Frederick Kowal, UUP's statewide membership development officer and president of the UUP chapter at SUNY Cobleskill. Better pay and benefits for part-timers improves the lives of part-time faculty - and takes away some of the financial incentive for the University to hire part-time over full-time in the first place, Kowal said.
New Paltz's McNitt, a member of UUP's statewide Executive Board, added: "It's going to be a dynamic next two or three years. The union's leaders are focused on this. We will not allow the destruction of the faculty."
UUP contract makes great strides for part-timers
For decades,
part-time academics
and professionals at the nation's colleges and universities have used
legislation, litigation and negotiation in their struggle to attain even
the most meager benefits. Their efforts - in state legislatures, before
the courts and at bargaining tables - are beginning to pay
off.
Nowhere is that more evident than in New York. At a time when workers
across the U.S. are being stripped of health coverage and other
long-standing benefits, UUP has managed to score a major victory:
year-round health insurance for the more than 5,300 part-time SUNY
employees represented by UUP.
Under the 1999-2003 contract agreement between UUP and the state,
eligible part-time professionals now qualify for a full 26 weeks of health
insurance coverage for every semester they work; part-time academics who
are both eligible for health insurance and teach the full academic year
now have year-round coverage.
"This is a real stride forward," said UUP Executive Board member
Eileen Landy, who served on the Negotiations Team during the last round of
talks. "We increased health insurance coverage for a whole group of people
who didn't have it. It reverses the trend of employee
givebacks."
In addition to ground-breaking health insurance benefits, UUP secured
the following for part-time employees:
"We really made inroads on behalf of part-timers, who have long been
exploited by SUNY and by colleges and universities across the country,"
said Landy, of Old Westbury. Landy recently became chair of the union's
statewide Part-time Concerns Committee, replacing Fayez Samuel of
Farmingdale who stepped down for personal reasons. "The groundwork for
success was laid in previous contract talks," she added. "All that hard
work has paid off."
Recognizing the need to continue moving forward on part-time issues,
policymakers to the union's Fall Delegate Assembly overwhelmingly
supported a resolution from the Part-time Concerns Committee that, among
other things, urged the union to prepare for part-timer issues in the next
round of negotiations.
That is precisely what the union is doing, according to Landy. "UUP
won't go backward," she said. "We achieved full health insurance coverage
for part-timers now. The foundation has been set for the next round of
gains."
UUP had scheduled its first briefing for unionists serving on campus
labor/management committees. The briefing will include background
information on the last two rounds of negotiations, a review of contract
language related to part-timers and strategies for local negotiations,
according to UUP Vice President for Professionals Thomas Matthews, who
served as the union's chief negotiator. Joining Matthews on the planning
committee are Landy, UUP Vice President for Academics Henry Steck and Tina
Kaplan, associate director of staff.
"Instead of individuals fighting for their rights, there is now a group
of people on each campus to focus on the shared concerns of part-timers,"
Landy asserted. "These committees will increase our information and enable
UUP to move in the appropriate direction on each campus, where the issues
are diverse. We will be better prepared when we get back to the
table."
While UUP has led the way nationally with its breakthrough contract,
other faculty unions are making their mark:
A day in the life of a part-timer: If it's Tuesday, it must be Albany
A day in the life
of a part-time
faculty member at SUNY is, well, anything but typical. It changes from
day to day and semester to semester, more fickle than the weather in the
Northeast.
There are many variations on working part time. This is the story of
one part-timer at SUNY Albany, UUPer Jill Hanifan. She's been teaching
classes in the English department at Albany for 13 years, and several days
before her interview with The Voice, she received a letter from
that department telling her that her services would not be needed next
year. The white letter rests lightly on the table, belying its actual
weight. The Albany position is important, not just because she has built
up a student following and likes the courses she teaches; not just because
this provides the bulk of her income; but because she is entitled to
benefits as a part-timer. Any part-timer teaching two courses a semester
for six consecutive semesters is entitled to benefits, she said, because
they shift from being "temporary" to "term." And this year, for the first
time, she said the new English department chair, Tom Cohen, made sure
part-timers received discretionary raises.
With this letter on the table in front of her, all of this vanishes.
It's not just a part-time disappointment.
"It's my job," she said simply.
Or maybe "jobs" is the more accurate term. Like most part-timers, her
employment is a patchwork of jobs to supplement jobs to supplement jobs.
Usually, she teaches two classes per semester at Albany, teaches a third
class at nearby Union College in Schenectady and does classroom visits as
part of a consulting job for a University in the High Schools program that
allows high school students to take college credits. She holds office
hours at both campuses. She is active in UUP. In conjunction with
full-time faculty members, she has supervised masters exams and honors
theses. The latter, she added, she did for free with students who picked
topics that intrigued her. "I do it for fun," she
said.
For someone who is staring at the end of her job, she uses the word
"fun" surprisingly often. It pops up like a carnival whack-a-mole in her
conversation. That's because Hanifan knows where her pulse is: She loves
literature, writing and teaching.
And poetry. She is, foremost, a poet. And that's why, after completing
her doctorate at Albany, she decided to teach part-time. She did not want
the tenure-track commitment of serving on committees, advising students,
running conferences and getting published in scholarly journals. Time and
energy for writing poetry are important to her. In her poetry classes, she
has students attend open mic sessions at local cafes. This semester, she
and a friend are also hosting a Sunday afternoon creative writing session
at a local cafe, open to the public. Free. "For fun," she
said.
For Hanifan, getting ready for each new semester goes something like
this: She generally reads at least four new books for each class and then
does research on critical theory to see what the critics say about the
novels. She crafts a syllabus. She will engage her students in deep
discussions about meaning, author, narrative and the layers in the text.
She will have them examine the message, the messenger and themselves
through what they read, so much that she will give them headaches. No
matter, she has an obvious following: Her classes often close after just
two days of registration. This is serious fun.
This is what a "typical" Tuesday is like for her this semester: She
sits at her desk and does preparation for the three SUNY Albany classes
she teaches this term. Then she will grade graduate
papers.
"At 4 o'clock, I will clean my desk and write a poem until 7:15, and
then go to my poetry workshop." The group has been meeting for 12 years.
The session will last until about 10:30 p.m.
Her first class on Wednesday is at 10 a.m., followed by another at noon
and then another at 2:30 p.m. Then she holds an office hour. At 3:30 p.m.
she drives to Schenectady, where she has an office hour from 4 to 5 p.m,
before teaching a class from 5 to 8:30 p.m.
Adjunct pay at SUNY Albany is $2,500 to $3,000 per class (at the
discretion of the department chair, who also decides what part-timers will
teach each semester.) Private colleges pay a little more. Three classes,
average, each semester. You do the math.
The English department at Albany, once staffed at 43 full-time
positions, plummeted to a low of 23, and only now has begun to rebuild the
full-time staff - hence the letter in front of her. The more full-time
positions that are replaced, the less work for part-timers such as
Hanifan. And many colleges and universities around the nation are known
for hiring from the outside, rather than promoting their own
part-timers.
Part-timers, she said, take the brunt of administrative shuffles and
budget changes.
"Part-timers are a buffer," she said. "The attitude is 'Fire them, not
us.' We're the ones who get fired when the budget's cut." She said
part-timers could use a lot more support from their colleagues in the
University.
She said she was recently told by a co-worker that part-timers are
"transient."
Her eyes get even bigger than usual. "Transient? I have not missed a
semester in 13 years. Full-time faculty take sabbaticals and leaves," she
said.
But then, there is the letter.
"Nobody listens to part-timers," she said. Part-timers cannot vote on
departmental decisions, have no say in the design of the curriculum -
despite the fact that five years ago, she said, 67 percent of the
undergraduate English courses at Albany were taught by adjuncts. "We're so
ghettoized," Hanifan said. "It's a kind of classism."
Governor proposes mixed financial bag for the University
At first blush,
the governor's
current fiscal plan for SUNY seems to rest on a fairly solid base that is
darkened by his failure to suggest solutions to some of UUP's key
concerns.
The 2000-2001 Executive Budget proposal, unveiled in mid-January,
includes $1.7 billion in operating funds for SUNY. This allotment appears
to cover negotiated faculty and staff salary increases for this year and
last, and provides some inflationary allowances for University campuses.
The proposal also allocates about $13 million for "priority initiatives"
(translation: RAM performance "reward" money). However, the governor did
not propose any funding for additional full-time faculty, nor did he offer
any resolution to the $116 million debt at the state university's three
teaching hospitals that was identified and disclosed last fall by state
Comptroller H. Carl McCall.
Other cuts that were identified include $77,000 for campus-based child
care services and $2.59 million for the Educational Opportunity Program
for disadvantaged students.
"This executive omission is a setback for SUNY," said UUP President
William Scheuerman, noting that, while last year's final budget contained
a $2.23 million legislative initiative that subsidized about 150 new
faculty lines, the governor's proposed budget fails to fund the new ground
the union had gained.
"We began to turn the corner last year toward restoring some of the
more than 1,000 full-time faculty lines lost at SUNY since the mid-90s,
and we will work with our supporters in the Legislature to continue the
trend this year," Scheuerman said.
"The good news is that since the governor has not proposed a tuition
increase or cuts in TAP, we'll be able to concentrate our lobbying efforts
this session on our primary objectives - a resolution to the hospital
fiscal shortfall and the continued restoration of full-time faculty
lines," he remarked.
UUP's legislative program also seeks support for SUNY's expanding
missions; the institution of a five-year operating plan; a permanent
cost-of-living adjustment for public retirees; and the restoration of
funds to the New York State Theatre Institute, to return all its UUPers to
12-month employment and to incorporate all levels of support advocated by
the union.
UUP committee bringing politics home
Prepared with
promotional tools
and the power of persuasion, UUP's Political Action Commit-tee is geared
up to bring the union's governmental issues to state legislators in their
own backyards.
"District lobbyists and state legislators talking about local problems
is the only way we can come up with solutions to the local issues,"
committee Chair Frederick Floss of Buffalo State said. "It's important for
legislators to know that the problems exist in their communities and not
just in Albany."
To help spread the word, campus political action coordinators and
chapter presidents have UUP's legislative brochure, "2000 Legislative
Program," on hand for volunteer lobbyists' visits to state lawmakers.
Political Action Committee members will use the brochures in their
district campaigns, while their Legislation Committee colleagues will
distribute the materials in Albany during "Tuesdays in 2000."Prepared by
the union's Legislation Committee, chaired by Patricia Bentley of
Plattsburgh, the tri-fold outlines UUP's legislative agenda for the
year.
One of this year's proposals seeks financial support for SUNY's
expanding missions. The plan requests increased state funding to assist,
among other undertakings, the University's transition to four-year
programs at its colleges of technology. According to Thomas Windt of
Canton, a longtime UUP activist, this agenda item symbolizes the union's
lobbying process at work.
"Members often wonder where UUP's legislative issues come from, and
this one came directly from the campuses," stated Windt, who has been
involved in the union's lobbying efforts since the early 1980s. Technology
campus members had expressed their concerns about receiving adequate
funding to effectively transition to four-year programs, Windt said. The
issue was processed through the union's Research Department to its
Legislation Committee and became a component of this year's political
program. "We were very pleased to see the proposal incorporated into this
year's legislative agenda," said Windt, Canton's political action
coordinator. UUP's VOTE/COPE campaign, coordinated by Eileen Landy of Old
Westbury, has been synchronized with NYSUT's political action drive and
now runs on a calendar-year schedule. Tina Marie Manning of Stony Brook
HSC leads the committee's voter registration and education efforts,
another major area of UUP's political action.
The Political Action Committee has also instituted a pilot program,
"Alliance for Excellence at SUNY." This new association will join
businesses, civic organizations, alumni and local families concerned about
SUNY's future with the Binghamton, Geneseo and Syracuse HSC chapters.
Other chapters will follow.
Comprised of members who believe that the University - as the key to
New York's future - must be supported to a level of excellence by the
state, the alliance is intended to establish a systematic approach to the
union's statewide coalition-building activities. "We need to expand our
sphere of influence to include alumni, community leaders and business
leaders in helping SUNY to maintain its position of authority," said
Phillip Smith, president of the Syracuse HSC chapter and co-chair of the
committee's Coalition Building Subcommittee.
2000 Friend of SUNY Award
Standing up
for SUNY:
University 'preservationist' honored for contributions
John Mather, an early SUNY administrator who went on to devote his life
to protecting the state university from what he saw as political attacks
from an extremist board of trustees, is this year's UUP Friend of SUNY
Award winner.
Mather was scheduled to be honored at UUP's Winter Delegate Assembly
late last month, just as The Voice was going to press. The union created
the Friend of SUNY Award in 1982 to show its appreciation for those who
are devoted to the state university and to the progressive development of
higher education in New York and the nation. Honorees are drawn from the
public as well as private sector.
Mather came out of retirement in 1995 to form the Preservation of the
State University of New York Association in response to massive cuts to
the SUNY budget. A former assistant to two SUNY chancellors and one-time
associate chancellor for public service, Mather attracted a broad,
bipartisan membership, including some other former high-ranking SUNY
administrators, labor and student leaders, faculty, business people and
government officials.
UUP was an active member of the association until its activities were
suspended last year when Mather fell ill.
In early 1998, the association adopted and distributed "The SUNY Magna
Carta" -- crafted by Mather -- which "asserts the need for continuance of
responsible governance of the State University of New York consistent with
the intent of the New York State Legislature in creating it in March
1948."A prolific writer whose background gave him instant credibility and
access to decision-makers across the nation, Mather has stood up to the
trustees on issues ranging from the Resource Allocation Methodology to
SUNY searches. He has testified at legislative hearings, conducted
countless interviews with the media and peppered SUNY System
Administration with letters, faxes and phone calls. And his message was
the same each time: Preserve SUNY's mission.
Mather has a vested interest in seeing that SUNY thrives. He served
SUNY chancellors from 1966 to 1976, considered the period of the
University's greatest development.
In 1978, Mather oversaw the conversion of the D&H Railroad Building
and the Old Federal Building in downtown Albany to the present State
University Plaza. In 1985, he was instrumental in the start-up of the New
York Small Business Development Center. He was also responsible for
negotiating the first undergraduate student exchange with the Soviets in
1974, and he brought the first U.S. theater company to Moscow that same
year.
Mather has been a member of various governmental and civic
organizations, including the New York African-American Institute, the
Governor's Task Force on Revitalized Area Development, the New York State
Economic Development Council and the National Association of Small
Business International Trade Educators.
"The work of no person better conforms with the statement of purpose of
this award than that of John Mather," said Ivan Steen, president of UUP's
Albany chapter, which nominated Mather. "John Mather has been distressed
by the direction in which (SUNY) is moving under its current
trustees."
UUP President William Scheuerman agreed: "John has been tireless in his
passionate defense of our University. His energy and commitment are only
matched by his love of SUNY, a SUNY he helped to develop into the great
university system we have today."
Grant mony is available
UUP members can
apply for any
number of grants funded through the state/UUP Joint Labor/Management
Committees.
For more information and applications, go to www.albany.net/~nysuup or
call Steven Moskowitz at (518) 457-1198.Professional Development:
Individual Development Awards are designed to assist eligible SUNY
employees in developing their full professional potential and in preparing
for advancement.
The maximum award is $1,000, or up to $5,000 if a replacement salary is
required.
The first round of awards covers the period from Sept. 1, 1999, to Aug.
31, 2000; the next will cover Sept. 1, 2000, to Aug. 31, 2001.
Applications are due in mid-March; actual deadlines are set by campus
professional development committees.
Employment: This fellowship program was designed for employees whose
services were terminated, who have been notified of retrenchment or who
are at high risk of retrenchment.
Award categories - ranging from tuition to relocation -- carry
different fund maximums. For tuition and fees, as an example, the maximum
award is $2,550 per semester or $213 per credit hour.
The application deadlines in each year of the contract are: fall
semester, July 1; spring semester, Oct. 1; and summer semester, March
1.Affirmative Action/Diversity: This joint committee makes awards in two
categories: Dr. Nuala McGann Drescher Affirmative Action Leaves and Grants
for Employees with Disabilities. The aim is to aid minorities, women,
persons with disabilities and Vietnam-era veterans in preparing for
permanent or continuing appointment, and to provide funds for employees
with disabilities to cover out-of-pocket costs for professional
work-related activities.
Individuals currently on leaves for spring 2000, who would have met the
criteria for this program, are eligible to apply for retroactive
consideration. Applications and supporting materials must be postmarked by
March 17, 2000.The deadline is April 14, 2000, for leaves occurring in
fall 2000, fall 2000/spring 2001, and fall 2000/spring 2001/summer
2001.The award period for employees with disabilities runs from July 2,
1999, to June 30, 2003. All applications must be postmarked by March 31,
2003. There is no limit on the number of applications that individuals may
submit for possible funding.
Safety and Health: Dr. Herbert N. Wright Memorial Safety and Health
Training awards provide up to $2,500 for employees who have safety, health
and environmental responsibilities.
Applications should be submitted at least 90 days prior to the
training; individuals may apply for more than one
award.
Technology: This joint committee is charged with identifying and
reviewing technology issues affecting employees' terms and conditions of
employment, and exploring issues related to the application of technology
to work performed by unit members.
This committee had not finalized its application procedures or
deadlines at Voice press time.
Campus Grants: Campus grants are available through all the joint
committees. They provide seed money for campus committee, group or
individual projects that meet the needs of employees or groups of
employees belonging to the UUP bargaining unit.
The first round of awards covers activities occurring between July 2,
1999, and June 30, 2001. Applications will be reviewed continuously, but
must be postmarked no later than the following deadlines: March 15, 2000;
May 15, 2000; and Sept. 30, 2000.
Candidate statements due March 17
Delegates to UUP's
2000 Spring
Delegate Assembly will elect three statewide officers and five Executive
Board members.
In addition to choosing board members, delegates will cast their
ballots for vice president for academics, vice president for professionals
and treasurer. Of the eight elected to these positions, five must be
professionals and one must be from a university center.
In accordance with DA policy, candidates running for statewide elective
positions may have statements printed in The Voice, which is mailed
to all members of the UUP bargaining unit.
The following provisions apply:
Statements will be mailed to bargaining unit members prior to the
Spring DA, set for May 12-13 at The Desmond in Albany.
A delegates-of-record mailing list is also available to candidates, who
may receive one copy each. Requests must be made in writing to David Kreh,
chair of the Elections and Credentials Committee, at the UUP
Administrative Office.
The list will be mailed to the candidate's address of record unless
otherwise specified in the request. Lists will not be sent by fax or
e-mail. Requests will be accepted until April 28.
New labor relations specialist on board
Longtime union
activist Edward
Giblin has become a UUP/NYSUT labor relations
specialist.
Giblin first joined the NYSUT labor relations staff in 1997, serving
nearly a dozen K-12 locals in Western New York. In January, Giblin took
over the higher education labor relations responsibilities at the Buffalo
HSC, Buffalo State and Fredonia chapters of UUP. He replaced Jan Moritz,
who retired after 20 years of NYSUT service. Giblin will continue to work
from NYSUT's Williamsville Regional Office.
"United University Professions is known to be an outstanding advocacy
organization," Giblin told The Voice. "I welcome the challenge of working
with UUP staff and membership."
Prior to joining NYSUT, Giblin spent nearly a decade as a field
representative for the statewide Public Employees Federation (PEF). He was
responsible for representing more than 20 PEF divisions, including
unionists at SUNY Buffalo. He has served as a field representative with
AFSCME Council 66 and as a field examiner with the National Labor
Relations Board, where he investigated unfair labor practices and helped
to conduct representation elections.
Giblin has extensive experience with negotiations, contract grievances,
disciplinary arbitrations, improper practice charges, Public Employment
Relations Board hearings and labor/management meetings. He has also
trained local union leaders and shop stewards.
A 1976 graduate of SUNY Buffalo with a bachelor of arts degree in
history, Giblin completed graduate work and teaching assistantships at
SUNY Buffalo and the New York State/Cornell University School of
Industrial and Labor Relations.
AFT developing standards for distance education
The AFT's effort
to develop
a serious set of standards for good practice in distance education is moving
forward.
As a first step in getting the project under way, the AFT Higher
Education Department has developed a survey for distance education
practitioners in its locals.
The goal for this phase of the project is to determine from the
technology users what they believe are the strengths and shortcomings of
distance education, according to Lawrence Gold, director of the AFT Higher
Education Department.
This survey will be sent to local presidents who, in turn, will forward
the questionnaire to a designated number of practitioners who use distance
education as part of their teaching responsibilities.
For further information about this new initiative, contact Gold at
(800) 238-1133 or lgold@aft.org
Meanwhile, the AFT Higher Education Issues Conference, scheduled for
April 14-16 in Washington, D.C., will focus on technology in higher
education, including discussions on bargaining challenges and competing
visions.
NYSUT expands to serve membership needs
The NYSUT Board of
Directors
in December approved the creation of two positions to provide expanded
services to locals and members.
The new positions are manager of gerontology services and manager of a
new Telecommunications Call Center.
The gerontologist will design, implement and manage the delivery of
social services to NYSUT retirees. Inservice members will eventually
receive these services. The gerontology manager will also need to
interface with community support services, social service providers, home
care agencies and mental health providers, among
others.
The new Call Center will greatly expand NYSUT's computerized phone bank
operation, by adding 15 calling stations in Albany to more than 50 already
used in regional offices. In addition to enhancing the union's political
action activities, the center will facilitate NYSUT's ability to contact
members and the general public on a variety of issues.
"Polling NYSUT's general membership on educational issues will greatly
enhance our ability to better serve members' interests," NYSUT Executive
Vice President Alan Lubin said.
Technology conference set for March 24
The second annual
conference on
teaching and technology -- Higher Education in an Electronic Age: Some
Legal Guidelines -- is set for Friday, March 24, at SUNY
Oneonta.
The conference will provide an opportunity to meet other educators,
administrators and technical staff who are interested in legal guidelines
for use of instructional technology, developing electronic courses and
learning about copyright and campus responsibilities for web pages, e-mail
and other electronic transmissions.
Among the speakers is UUPer Janet Nepkie, chair of the union's
statewide Technology in Higher Education Committee, who will discuss
intellectual property in academia.
The cost is $50, which includes lunch and a reception. Register by
e-mail at http://www.oneonta.edu/tltc/conference/copyright. For
information, contact Nepkie, conference coordinator, at (607) 436-3425, by
fax at (607) 436-2718 or by e-mail at nepkiej@oneonta.edu
Union victory: UUPer helps AFT to organize Puerto Rican K-12 teachers
Acting more like a
tourist
who was impressed with his first visit to an enchanting locale, Eugenio
Basualdo, an assistant professor of vocational technical education at SUNY
Oswego, came back from an AFT organizing drive in Puerto Rico enthused
and impressed about the campaign.
Basualdo has been to Puerto Rico many times as an educational
consultant. But a trip last fall marked the first time the
Spanish-speaking UUPer went as part of an AFT drive to win exclusive
representation for more than 37,000 teachers.
AFT was in the country trying to get the right to represent K-12
educators and post-secondary public institution educators. The
two-and-a-half-year effort concluded in October, when a resounding 73
percent of the eligible Puerto Rican teachers chose the AFT-affiliated
Federacion de Maestros de Puerto Rico. Basualdo, who is a native of Chile,
joined the AFT as a volunteer during the last few weeks of the
drive.
In the past, he explained, Puerto Ricans could join unions, but the
government did not recognize them and would not negotiate with them
(similar to New York state prior to the Taylor Law). When one of the
country's recent educational reforms included recognition of teacher
unions, AFT began its attempt to win the union representation vote. Its
competition was from the National Education Association and a Puerto Rican
union.
"AFT was very united," Basualdo said. "Everyone I met worked so hard.
We were up at 4 a.m. and in the schools by 6 to talk to the teachers. They
really knew their job. They had charts and teams. There was nothing left
to chance."
Basualdo's previous travel to Puerto Rico was for educational
consulting. As part of his work on fact-finding teams with K-12 schools
and vocational colleges seeking accreditation, Basualdo worked on a team
to make sure they were meeting the standards of the accrediting
agency.
His job with the AFT was to go out in the field to talk to teachers and
encourage them to vote. He participated in presentations about the
benefits of collective bargaining and helped analyze the results of
teacher surveys. The Oswego professor said his role with the SUNY system
helped him gain entrance to some of the Puerto Rican schools to talk to
teachers. Administrators wanted information from him on how the state
university prepares teachers.
In all, Basualdo said his particular AFT group covered more than half
of the island's 10 school districts. The main issues were salary and
safety; one school had a gas leak and the AFT brought attention to this
safety issue by calling a press conference and bringing in masks for the
students to wear.
Union members should be encouraged to take part in training for
organizing campaigns, he said, because "it makes you feel like part of the
union."
In the news
In memoriam:
Doris Knudsen, 74,
a former UUP Executive Board member and NYSUT field representative, died
Jan. 4.Knudsen, of Madison County, taught at SUNY Morrisville in the '70s.
She retired from the UUP board in 1977 to become a higher education field
representative. She retired from NYSUT in 1984.She was a board member of
the Madison County Office for the Aging, a member of her local hospital
auxiliary and an RSVP volunteer. She is survived by her husband, Robert,
and a brother.
Memorial contributions can be made to the Madison County Office for
the Aging, Box 250, Morrisville, N.Y. 13408.
Agriculture education: UUPer Terry Hughes, a professor of agriculture
at SUNY Cobleskill, has been elected vice president of the National
Council for Education's board of directors. The council is currently
involved in a long-range program to reshape the way agriculture will be
taught in 2020.
Winning relationships: Two UUP members working in the department of
psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences at SUNY Buffalo have been
recognized nationally for their research in the field of personal
relationships.
Assistant professor Joanna DaVila received the Young Investigator Award
from the Relationships Special Interest Group of the Society of
Experimental Social Psychology, while assistant professor Sandra Murray
received the New Contribution Award from the International Society for the
Study of Personal Relationships.
The sound of music: UUPer Charles Smith, an associate professor of
music and coordinator of the Music Theory Program at SUNY Buffalo, has
received the Outstanding Publication Award from the Society for Music
Theory.
The award recognizes Smith's article on Schenker's Formenlehre that
offers new solutions to the Viennese theorist's investigation of music
form and structure.
UUP ready to hand out tuition scholarships
The UUP Benefit
Trust Fund
Tuition Scholarship program is gearing up to make its first awards. The
program, which UUP negotiated in the 1999-2003 contract, began in the spring
2000 semester.
Applications will be available by the end of March and must be
submitted within 60 days of the conclusion of the
semester.
The following are the criteria to qualify for the
scholarship:
The dependent child must be enrolled and eligible in the UUP Benefit
Trust Fund at the time of the award. The scholarship is awarded at the
conclusion of the semester after the application and acceptable proof is
received. The proof must demonstrate the child successfully completed a
minimum of 12 undergraduate credit hours with at least a 2.0 grade-point
average for that semester. All credit hours must have been completed at a
state-operated SUNY school. For example, community colleges are not
state-operated and would not qualify.
After the application and all required documentation are received, the
scholarship award of $500 will be sent, payable to the student, to the
address on file with the UUP Benefit Trust Fund. An eligible dependent
child may receive the award for up to a maximum of eight
semesters.
As you can imagine, we have received many questions on the new UUP
Benefit Trust Fund Tuition Scholarship program. Some of the most commonly
asked questions follow, with their answers.
Q: How do I apply for the scholarship program?
A: Applications will be available by March 31. They can be obtained
from UUP chapter offices or by calling the Benefit Trust Fund at (800)
887-3863.
Q: What documentation must be sent with the
application?
A: A copy of your child's transcript from a state-operated SUNY school
showing at least 12 undergraduate credits and a 2.0 grade-point average
for that semester.
Q: My spouse and I are both UUP members. Will our child get
$1,000?
A: No, the scholarship is in the name of the student; therefore, only
one $500 scholarship will be awarded per eligible child, per
semester.
Q: My child is not covered under my health insurance program. Will he
be eligible?
A: Members eligible for Fund benefits can put eligible dependents on
their coverage for dental or vision benefits at no extra cost. To add a
dependent, call the Fund office and request a change-of-dependent
card.
Q: My child plans to take summer courses. Will these count toward the
scholarship?
A: If your child takes a full-time course load and meets other criteria
for the summer session, he or she would be eligible to apply for the
scholarship. The maximum number of scholarships issued is eight per child;
the summer-session scholarship will be applied toward that
maximum.
Q: My child takes college credit courses at the local high school and
at a state-operated SUNY school. Do those classes qualify toward the 12
credits?
A: If the child takes 12 undergrad credits at the state-operated SUNY
school, the classes will qualify. But if fewer than 12 credits are taken
at the college, and supplemented at the high school, they will not be
eligible.
Q: How long do I or my child have to apply?
A: The application and accompanying documentation may be sent by you or
your child. All information must be received at the Fund office within 60
days after the close of classes for the semester in which you are
applying.
Q: My child is 24 years old. Can he still qualify?
A: As long as your child is covered under the UUP Benefit Trust Fund on
the last day of classes for the semester (and meets all other
requirements), he or she will be eligible for the scholarship. Unmarried
dependent children can be covered under the UUP Benefit Trust Fund until
the end of the month they reach age 25, if they are full-time
students.
Q: Will the $500 be taxed?
A: The UUP Benefit Trust Fund trustees and their legal counsel filed a
request with the IRS to make the scholarship program tax free. The
trustees await a response from the IRS. Members will be advised as soon
as a ruling is made.
With violin comes verve
Roberta Guaspari
is, of course,
one of the lucky ones; not because she struck it rich or found the ideal
mate or the best house, but because she has a vision and a story. And now
her tale is being told on film, one way we pass on what we have to
give.
Guaspari, an alum of SUNY Fredonia, is the creator of the East Harlem
Violin Program and its parent corporation, Opus 118 Music Center. Her work
has been recognized on "Sunday Morning" and "Prime Time
Live," and is now a major motion picture, "Music of the Heart."
The music center was created in the aftermath of a budget storm that wiped
out music programs in the East Harlem schools where Guaspari taught. She
started her own not-for-profit organization to fund her salary and buy
violins in order to save the program.
Guaspari is a staunch believer in the arts and the lessons that playing
an instrument can teach about discipline, listening, practice and working
toward a long-term goal. Her inner-city students share her beliefs: There
is a lottery to get into her classes.
Former UUPer Homer Garretson, who retired from Fredonia, was Guaspari's
teacher and mentor when she was a student there. He worked at the Fredonia
School of Music from 1959 to 1987, where he served as a professor of
violin chamber music and music history.
Garretson recalls that Guaspari arrived on campus as an undergrad who
had never had a private lesson, but who was well coached and well
prepared. "She is a prime example of the viability of music in public
schools," he said. While some musicians vacillate between wanting to play
professionally or teach - and at Fredonia they can major in music
education or obtain a conservatory degree - he said Guaspari "never had
stars in her eyes" for being a performer. Instead, he said, "She always
had her eye on teaching. She came from a working-class family and knew
that, in order to make a living, she'd have to be teaching. We had a heck
of a time getting her to play in public."
Since then, Guaspari has played at Carnegie Hall with her students to
raise funds for their program. She has also played violin alongside Meryl
Streep, who portrays her in the movie. Streep took her role seriously; she
helped to advocate for the restoration of funding to the music programs at
the city's schools. "Anthropologists can't find a single culture on earth
that hasn't had music," Garretson said. "It's as much a part of us as
breathing. To negate it in public schools as a frill is a real
mistake."
Garretson marvels at the "impassioned speeches" Guaspari has given to
audiences on behalf of the importance of music and the arts for children.
"I had no idea she had that much courage," he said.The violin, it seems,
has given her verve.
As her mentor, Garretson came to know her well. The music professor had
small groups of students and also met, for one hour every week, with each
violinist, including Guaspari.
Guaspari has been back to Fredonia twice, once as a visiting lecturer
and again to share the stage with renowned violinist Isaac Stern, an early
supporter of her work, when he received an honorary doctorate
degree.
Having musical luminaries like Stern and Guaspari come to Fredonia is
one way in which the college is striving to spread the word about its
music program, according to UUPer Peter Schoenbach, a professor of music
and director of the School of Music.
In the last six years, he said, enrollment has increased from 300
undergraduates to more than 500, making Fredonia second to SUNY Potsdam's
Crane School of Music. The Fredonia music program employs about 75
full-time and part-time faculty, Schoenbach said. Degrees now include
music therapy and sound-recording technology. Public education was what
Guaspari knew, and that's what she has passed along to hundreds of
students. Not a privileged life, but the privilege of knowing an
instrument. (She once bought 50 violins with her own money.) Guaspari was
originally offered a music scholarship to a private college, but the funds
dried up. She chose Fredonia because SUNY was what she could afford.
Garretson is glad the college was here for her.
"The present administration seems a little inimical to SUNY. They don't
seem to want to foster a strong University," Garretson said of the SUNY
Board of Trustees. "If SUNY didn't exist, we wouldn't have a
Roberta."
The Last Word
Corporate
sellouts?
Businesses may be exerting too much influence on
curricula
At the UUP Fall Delegate Assembly in Buffalo, we examined the issue of
inappropriate influence by businesses on curricula, research findings and
university policies. These influences emanate from at least three sources:
business advisory councils (BAC), sponsors of research and contributors to
SUNY.
First, most schools and departments of business have BACs. These
councils are customarily composed of business friends of the university
who have volunteered to help raise funds, make suggestions about business
and accounting courses, guest lecture in classes of their expertise, and
provide "executives for a day" and internships for students. They also
provide consulting opportunities for business faculty. As helpful as a
BAC may be, there has always been a tension between faculty and the BACs.
That tension can be characterized as one where the businesspeople tend to
view education as training, and faculty view it as preparation for life.
Unfortunately, some businesspeople attempt to use their BAC positions to
encourage coursework that will help prepare students for employment only
in their particular industries. It is the role of business faculty to
ensure that coursework continues to be primarily of benefit to the
students and not individual businesses.
Second, business sponsors of university research tend to view such
research as proprietary. They believe, as is common in private consulting,
that the results of research belong to the ones who paid to have it done.
Consequently, they and they alone have the right to determine the
availability of the results. If the results are negative to the sponsor or
helpful to a competitor, the sponsor will insist on restricting that
information. One of the most difficult facets of conducting academic
business research is that such sponsored research is often unavailable to
legitimate scholars. It is unlikely that sponsors will, in advance,
approve of research results being made public at all. Such restrictions,
although common, are detrimental to the traditional role of university
research where the results are made public.
The third area of concern is when business contributors attempt to
influence university policies pertaining to freedom of inquiry, academic
freedom and freedom of speech. It's no secret that the business community
tends to be politically conservative, while faculty members tend to be
politically liberal. Those at the more extreme ends of the political
spectrum, despite their similarities, often try to ensure that their views
prevail and the other's view is minimized or ignored. Such extreme
political views appear to be the cause of the SUNY trustees' attempt to
dictate general education courses, the furor over artwork at the Brooklyn
Museum of Art and the conflict at New Paltz about a Women's Studies
conference.
Although these three influences may seem innocuous and even irrelevant
to many academicians, they can pose serious problems. At a Delegate
Assembly session presided over by UUP Vice President for Academics Henry
Steck, it became clear that most present were, at least, reluctantly
willing to accept corporate money for their departments and research.
Perhaps the day is not far off when we will have Prentice Hall English
departments, Sunoco geology departments, Lockheed engineering departments,
Yamaha departments of music, Monsato biology departments, Phizer chemistry
departments and whatever else the market can bear. (Perhaps a Ronald
McDonald System Administration building would be descriptively
factual.)
Clearly, academicians must guard against such intrusions into
university life. But, as public support for public higher education
continues to erode, monetary temptations from those with an agenda will
increase. It is thus even more important for us to maintain our union's
strength to fight unanticipated future battles, for only with UUP's vigor
and solidarity will we be able to defend the traditional standards of
academic excellence.
(Franklin Krohn, a distinguished service professor in the business
department at SUNY Fredonia, serves as UUP chapter vice president for
academics.)