UUP says state university system is worth its weight in gold

After constructing its legislative program for 2002, the union has built on recent opportunities to convey its political message that — after years of underfunding — New York state must keep SUNY strong.

Phillip Smith, UUP’s statewide vice president for academics, delivered testimony at a SUNY Board of Trustees hearing in Manhattan late last year that emphasized the University’s prominence in the education of democratic citizens, economic development, technological innovation and public health.

“UUP’s 26,000 members understand the severity of the economic problems that confront our state,” he said. “At the same time, they also know that our state university is a vital resource. …”

Facing disaster, “our highly skilled and hard-working academic and professional faculty again demonstrated SUNY’s significance to New York,” Smith said, noting that many UUPers were involved in relief efforts following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Among numerous other activities, University hospital employees assisted with casualties, while faculty from Binghamton, Empire State College and Farmingdale identified victims, treated the injured and counseled rescuers.

“Without question, SUNY is an essential resource for New York state and a great investment” and UUP’s agenda will seek to keep the University strong, Smith testified.

Meanwhile, UUP President William Scheuerman responded immediately to media reports that some SUNY campus administrators blamed collective bargaining costs for budgetary shortages they anticipate on their campuses.

Several SUNY campus presidents and a college manager reportedly told newspapers in Western New York that they will face shortfalls on their campuses in the 2002-03 fiscal year because of negotiated salary increases. “Collective-bargaining costs are only one of many financial commitments that campus presidents must meet; the real problem is years of chronic underfunding,” Scheuerman said in a letter published in the Dec. 9, 2001, edition of the Buffalo News.

“Had the SUNY trustees acted like true stewards and advocated for adequate support for the system in the past, campus presidents would not be seeking a scapegoat for their problems today,” he said.

“Upcoming salary increases for faculty at SUNY’s state-operated campuses are based on a contract negotiated by United University Professions and the state, which both parties agreed was fair and reasonable,” Scheuerman wrote to the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester.

Moreover, the “current discussion ignores the fact that SUNY faculty recently experienced a four-year period without raises,” he said. “Let’s stop blaming faculty for getting long-overdue increases and do something constructive — like asking the trustees to advocate for the funding needed to support our great University.”

UUP will continue to emphasize the issue of SUNY’s chronic underfunding with lawmakers as the 2002 legislative session gets under way, Scheuerman said.

— Lisa Feldman Reich