Capitol corner: Putting a face on SUNY

From Brockport to Albany and Stony Brook, UUP political action leaders are crossing the state to coach members on how to advocate for SUNY in their communities.

The union is changing its approach to include more district advocacy, said UUP Political Action Chair Thomas Tucker, who is leading the union’s training sessions with Frederick Floss of Buffalo State.

Several dozen UUPers — including new activists and veterans — participated in recent sessions. “The mix is important,” said Tucker, of SUNY Buffalo. “The veterans tell their war stories to help the new advocates prepare for their meetings with lawmakers.”

Advocates were advised to tell their own SUNY stories to lawmakers to “put a face” on the University.

“Legislators want to hear personalized stories from members in their districts,” Tucker said. “They already know what the overall picture is at SUNY; they need to hear the individual stories of how budget shortfalls affect particular programs at campuses in their communities, so they can take the information to their leadership,” he said.

Candace Merbler, UUP chapter president at SUNY Albany, brought home the point during the Albany training session. “Because we’re local, remember that, when you visit your lawmaker in Albany, you are going to your representative as a constituent.”

UUP President William Scheuerman welcomed the new advocates at the Albany meeting. “It’s good to see fresh faces,” he said. “We need to get more people more actively involved in advocating for the University.”

Scheuerman discussed the difficult fiscal times ahead, as the state will confront a deficit projected to hit $8-$10 billion.

“We’re in for a tough budget time. We’re going to have to work harder this year to protect jobs and services for students,” he said, emphasizing that — while the governor and SUNY chancellor made a commitment to no faculty layoffs for budgetary reasons during the current academic year — SUNY gained no new full-time faculty lines last year.

Accordingly, the continued rebuilding of the University’s full-time academic and professional faculty is the cornerstone of UUP’s 2003 legislative program. Systemwide, SUNY has lost more than 1,000 full-time lines since the mid-1990s.

UUP has long advocated for the restoration of the lost lines, and the chronic shortage of full-timers at SUNY has become newsworthy beyond the union. The faculty shortage has led to the shrinking of required course offerings, which was recently reported as among the reasons two-thirds of University students are no longer graduating from four-year colleges in four years.

Scheuerman responded to the report in letters to the editors of the various newspapers that published the account: “While some progress has been made toward replacing the positions, the movement, like the graduation rates, is slow going.”

Scheuerman said: “It’s time for the state to stop shortchanging SUNY students and their families. The University must operate with a budget sufficient to staff its campuses with the faculty required to meet students’ basic educational needs.”

UUP’s legislative program also calls for full funding of campus budget priorities and developing a permanent solution to the fiscal problems at SUNY’s health science centers and NYSTI.

In addition to meeting with lawmakers in their home districts, UUP will continue to bring its message to legislators in Albany. This year, the union will expand its Albany advocacy days that focus on particular constituencies. Along with the traditional sessions for educational opportunity programs, health science centers, colleges of technology and the theater institute, UUP’s volunteer advocates will promote the university centers, four-year colleges, librarians and retirees.

The Albany activities are coordinated by UUP’s Legislation Committee, chaired by Patricia Bentley of SUNY Plattsburgh.

UUP has also combined its statewide political action and VOTE/COPE activities, which are divided among five regional coordinators. “Someone who understands political action understands the importance of VOTE/COPE,” Tucker said. VOTE/COPE is the nonpartisan, political action fund of NYSUT, UUP’s statewide affiliate.

The advocacy training included tips for delivering the union’s message and a mock session with a lawmaker. In Albany, James Clancy, chief of staff for Sen. Neil Breslin (D-Albany), played his boss listening to a pitch from UUPer Edward Blanchard, an Albany delegate. “It’s all about getting your message out, and informing the legislator as best as possible,” Clancy said.

“The training sessions held so far were extremely successful,” Tucker said. “We saw many new, young members, who we need to stress our legislative agenda and hit the union’s talking points.”

The Political Action Committee is planning additional meetings to train more advocates and is also available to support chapters’ local political action efforts, Tucker said. “We’re here to support members’ district activities, from VOTE/COPE drives to participation in local elections.”

A theme of the meetings was the union’s strength in numbers, and the importance of getting new people involved in UUP’s advocacy efforts.

“One of the great strengths of UUP and SUNY is that we’re everywhere,” Floss said. “We’re part of the community.”

— Lisa Feldman Reich