Cover story:

SUNY rebuilds Investment in infrastructure felt on many campuses

If it’s scaffolding you’re looking at, then you’re probably looking at a SUNY campus. Across the state, there is college commotion galore, and it’s more than spring cleaning: It’s a scene of upturned dirt, power tools, bricks and beams, jackhammers and lumber in wait. Most of the new construction and rebuilding are the result of a five-year SUNY construction plan that was implemented three years ago.

Since most buildings are about 25 years old, it’s only natural that a state sweep would show the need for massive upgrades and changes. Unionists at many campuses herald the revitalized State University Construction Fund (SUCF) for providing the means for campuses to keep pace.

Witness the new academic buildings being built to accommodate changes in science and technology; the construction of a student union on a campus formerly without one; expanded stadiums and field houses for universities now with upper-division sports; and a plethora of upgrades to crumbling plazas, leaky roofs, mechanical systems and outdated facilities.

In the past, campuses had to submit annual funding requests for renovation and new construction. But, about three years ago, SUCF changed to a five-year funding method, giving campuses the green light for a long-term outlook. SUCF also supplied approximately 300 percent more money.

For the five-year grand plan now in progress, SUNY provided $1.4 billion in funding for 34 core (noncommunity college) campuses, said Michael Clemente, SUCF general manager.

Part of the money was for outright distribution; $100 million was set aside for campuses that could raise a percentage of funds themselves. If a university center, for example, raised 60 percent, then SUCF would contribute the remaining 40 percent. Smaller campuses had to raise 15 percent.

“We want to encourage campuses to raise money,” said Donald Dunn, SUCF president. “SUNY hadn’t had much of a history with fund raising.”

Of the total $1.4 billion tally, about 25 percent was earmarked for new construction, and a hefty 75 percent for necessary maintenance.

“SUNY was built and, for a long time, sufficient money was not available for critical maintenance,” Clemente said.

“We are reaching the point where systems are at the end of their useful life and need to be replaced,” said David Loveland, a UUPer who directs capital construction at SUNY Delhi. “This problem is throughout the SUNY system.”

SUCF also included $75 million for the three teaching hospitals.

Prior to deciding which campuses got how much money, SUCF marshaled a team of consultants that spent between six months and a year assessing the needs of the different campuses. Once a project receives funding, SUNY architects and engineers help start the designing process on campus. When building begins, a team of programmers, designers and construction workers work closely with each campus capital projects director, such as UUPer Karren Bee-Donohoe, director of capital projects at SUNY Binghamton.

“It’s a tremendous improvement over the previous system,” Bee-Donohoe said. “The current plan allows campuses to plan relationships between projects and to prioritize the needs of the campus.”

If Binghamton did a show-and-tell today, it would feature the addition to the university union and the brand new field house. Shortage of space was the dominant factor in choosing these projects first, Bee-Donohoe said. The enlarged union will include a bookstore, dining hall, offices and the student newspaper. The field house, being built next to the existing west gym, will include an indoor track, basketball arena, locker room and training facility classroom.

“Without the construction fund, we wouldn’t have this,” Bee-Donohoe said.

UUP Binghamton Chapter President Robert Pompi pointed out that many improvements are also being made internally. Internet access, laser discs, videotape projections and computer docking will now be available in lecture halls.

“They’re making a significant enhancement in the ability of faculty to teach,” said Pompi, an associate professor of physics.

In another part of the state, the construction fund is taking care of the $103 million tab at SUNY Purchase for a new academic building and renovations, according to Ken Gifford, assistant to the president for capital projects. The new academic support building, which will go to bid this fall, is to be located at the empty east end of the central plaza, which is also being redone with an urban design. Renovations are planned for the library, too.

Purchase is also remodeling its dance building in partnership with Long Island University, which is footing the bill in return for using classes at night for graduate students. During the day, new high-tech classrooms will be available for corporate training for those who rent the facility.

Taking advantage of the matching fund incentive, Purchase earned another $3 million to renovate its performing arts center; create a climate-controlled museum storage area; transform a child-care center from a temporary to permanent structure; create “smart” (high-tech) classrooms; and renovate the undergraduate theater to make space for new theater management degree students.

SUNY Brockport has put bounce back into its programs using SUCF money for capital projects. This spring, it paid $1.4 million for a downtown site to use as its MetroCenter classroom complex.

The downtown Rochester, off-campus location is a draw for graduate students who work full time, said UUP member Karla Linn Merrifield, director of marketing communications for Brockport.

Brockport is also using SUCF money to foot the $14 million bill to renovate its science academic building, which will open this fall with new classes and laboratories. In March, construction workers began renovating the food court, veranda, student club offices and the new entrance to the college union, which Merrifield said is “the hub” of the college.

At SUNY Delhi, upgrading both housing and academic buildings is a pressing need. Loveland illustrates this point with a “to do” list from the last three years that would make any homeowner pale: replacing office trailers with an addition; removing asbestos ductwork; installing new hoods in science labs; rehabilitating mechanical systems; and replacing a running track, tennis courts, roofs, doors, heating systems, elevator systems and the floor in the gym. The exterior plaza has also been replaced.

“We have done a lot of work in the last three years under (SUNY’s) five-year capital plan,” Loveland said. “However, we could easily double the amount that we received. Currently, we have more than $30 million of work that needs to be done. We will have to wait until the next capital plan to finance this work.”

The advent of the current five-year construction plan gave Delhi time to plan, according to Joseph Greenfield, Delhi chapter president. The campus, he said, has used that time to gather input from faculty and staff in surveys and at hearings.

One result evokes pride on campus: a sparkling, multiwindowed, two-story electrical technology academic building that was completed last year.

“We now have a high-tech, electrical facility to teach students the latest technology that meets industrial standards,” Greenfield said. That technology includes programmable logic controller computers — the kind that controls robotics.

Many more SUNY structures can be seen rising on the Albany campus, where “the university is in the middle of the largest expansion of its physical facilities since the uptown campus was built in the 1960s,” according to Mary Fiess, a UUPer and director of communications.

The state-funded, $120 million round of Albany’s building plan got off the ground with a $2.6 million university police department, which opened last summer. Around the bend is the $4.1 million fine arts studio, being constructed to house all sculpture and three-dimensional art. It will include individual studios and a media suite.

But the biggest building — in fact, it’s the largest new construction project in the SUNY system — is the $67 million life sciences research building on the SUNY Albany campus, which is expected to be completed in 2004. It will provide lab and support space for 39 research groups from biology, chemistry and bio-psychology. (See related story, Page 8.)

“UUP welcomes improvements and expansion of SUNY’s infrastructure,” said UUP President William Scheuerman. “Now, we ask SUNY officials and state lawmakers to give us the full-time faculty to fill those buildings.”

— Liza Frenette

Cover story

Residence life is changing

On the sleep side of all the rumble throughout SUNY, new and reconstructed residence halls are providing improved living arrangements for many students. At the same time, upgraded regulations aim to keep them safe.

Dorm construction is funded once SUNY identifies projects in need. Revenue bonds are issued by the state Dormitory Authority based on housing revenue from students on particular campuses.

At SUNY Purchase, the delivery of steel and concrete modular units earlier this year signaled construction of an $8.8 million, 180-bed residence hall. It will help offset Purchase’s current need to rent off-campus housing for its students, according to Ken Gifford, assistant to the president for capital projects. Another residence hall will be under construction next year.

UUPer Matthew Hawes, director of residential life at SUNY Delhi, said the college is outfitting residence halls with new furniture and stepping up physical maintenance. Resource rooms and faculty offices in some dorms are creating a living/learning environment. Delhi also has submitted to SUNY a $6 million proposal to construct a 150-bed suite-style residence hall.

Buffalo State increased the selections on its housing menu by converting a residence hall into 64 apartments — 20 of them reserved for families, particularly those with single parents. The draw of the family unit is enhanced by nearby day-care services, said UUPer Kris Kaufman, director of residence life.

At SUNY Brockport, campus officials hope to take one residence hall out of use for a year so it can be totally rehabilitated. Safety is also a concern.

“There’s definitely more awareness of safety issues,” said Brockport UUPer Marcia Betlem, residence hall director. Students have card access to the residence halls, which provides records of entry.

Safety standards for new or upgraded residence halls are more focused than ever since Gov. George Pataki appointed a statewide safety task force in February 2000, after three students died in a New Jersey dorm fire. In accordance with new state regulations, all new residence halls have to be outfitted with sprinklers, smoke detectors and announcing systems to direct alarms to campus police.

“All we’re trying to do now is raise student consciousness about fire safety,” said UUPer Michael Holland, director of residential life services at SUNY Cortland and an executive board member of the State University Residence Life and Housing Officers. “As far as I’m concerned, SUNY housing administrators have been acutely aware of these issues for many years.”

For example, hot pots, candles and microwaves have been prohibited in SUNY residence halls for years. New furniture has had to meet combustibility standards. Residence halls are stringently checked after fire alarms. On some SUNY campuses, all residence halls have to be smoke free, while others allow smoking in individual rooms but not in common areas. More can always be done, Holland said.

“We’re dealing with buildings built in the ’60s. It takes time and money to put in new systems,” Holland said. “We have alarms, but addressable systems (i.e., systems that can read smoke levels, pinpoint the room and trip the alarm) are more technologically advanced and cost more.”

— Liza Frenette

Cover story

Protesters call for union labor

In response to concerns about hiring nonunion contractors from outside the Albany area to construct a new life sciences building at SUNY Albany, UUP President William Scheuerman sent a letter to Karen Hitchcock, president of the university, telling her the practice was “unacceptable.”

The campus has helped to foster good labor/management relations in the past, Scheuerman said in the letter, but “recent events threaten that harmony and effective collaboration.”

Indeed, the harmony was broken when hundreds of protesters (at right) showed up at SUNY System Administration to protest the use of nonunion labor. A handful of lawmakers spoke in support of union workers.

That same day, UUP and other unions were asked to show solidarity with the laborers by calling Paul Stec, SUNY Albany’s vice president of finance and business, to urge the SUNY Construction Fund to negotiate a project labor agreement (PLA) with the Tri-Cities Building and Construction Trades Council for the construction of the life sciences building.

A PLA will ensure the project hires local, quality craftspeople, according to the call-to-action statement. PLAs have been used on public jobs throughout New York because they stabilize labor costs; they also allow construction managers to concentrate on controlling other costs and keep the project on schedule, according to the unionists. Development that undermines the standards of area workers is simply not in the community’s best interest, the statement read.

Northland Construction, project developer, has awarded only 3 percent of the project to union contractors from the community, according to the Tri-Cities Building and Construction Trades Council.

“I am sure you’ll agree this is unacceptable, especially on a campus that has a reputation as being both pro-community and pro-worker,” Scheuerman said in his letter to Hitchcock. “It appears that the SUNY Construction Fund’s selection of Northland violates the 1997 Executive Order signed by Gov. Pataki directing state agencies to consider the use of PLA for public construction projects.”

Michael Clemente, general manager of the SUNY Construction Fund, said: “Under law, we must take the low bidder, if they are qualified.” The contract cannot specify union or nonunion, he added.

— — Liza Frenette

2001 Spring DA

Scheuerman tops ticket: Delegates choose leaders, adopt budget

Delegates to UUP’s Spring Delegate Assembly showed their strong support for the direction the union is taking by returning to office President William Scheuerman and all other incumbent officers and Executive Board members.

The delegates elected a new statewide secretary, Eileen Landy of Old Westbury, and reelected Membership Development Officer Fred Kowal of Cobleskill. Landy will take over June 1 for Thomas Corigliano, who is stepping down from the post he has held since 1993.

Returned to the statewide Executive Board were Patricia Bentley of Plattsburgh, Albert Ermanovics of SUNY Buffalo, Frederick Floss of Buffalo State, Glenn McNitt of New Paltz and Michael Smiles of Farmingdale. Darryl Wood of Binghamton was elected to his first term on the statewide board.

In each of the nine uncontested races, delegates used a constitutional provision to direct the secretary to cast one vote in the name of the body. All terms are for two years.

Budget passes

Delegates unanimously adopted the union’s 2001-02 spending plan that includes new allocations for Web-related projects and for regional meetings to address part-time concerns.

The $5.6 million operating budget, which takes effect Sept. 1, “reflects the priorities of the organization,” said UUP Treasurer Rowena Blackman-Stroud. “Our fiscally strong position allows us to provide additional resources toward improving the terms and conditions of employment of our bargaining unit members and for new initiatives that will strengthen our union on both the state and chapter levels, such as chapter release time and legislative activities.”

In addition to enhancing release time for chapter leaders, the approved budget provides for additional training for UUP chapter employees and continues the union’s successful supplemental allocation program, which was first introduced in the 1998-99 fiscal year to help chapters finance internal organizing and membership development efforts.

Blackman-Stroud pointed out that, following the recommendation of the statewide Finance Committee, the spending plan now contains a separate section for legislative activities.

“We felt that a separate category was needed to better reflect our support and commitment to our legislative activities,” Blackman-Stroud added.

Words of wisdom

Delegates proved their commitment to UUP’s legislative priorities by writing letters and sending hundreds of faxes to lawmakers, asking them to support pension-equity legislation for employees in the state’s optional retirement programs (ORP).

Last spring, the Legislature passed and the governor signed legislation to eliminate the employee contribution in the Teachers’ Retirement and the Employees’ Retirement systems, once a participant attains 10 years of membership or service credit.

UUP seeks to “ensure the equitable treatment of all public retirement systems” and is asking lawmakers to approve similar provisions for the state’s ORP participants.

Faxes were also sent by delegates requesting lawmakers increase state aid to SUNY and CUNY and to remedy the multiyear deficits at SUNY’s three teaching hospitals.

— Karen L. Mattison

2001 Spring DA

Corporate ideology: Academics must reject this notion in favor of ‘civic’ model

Academicians must be willing to “break through” their own ideology of higher education if they hope to “reconstruct colleges and universities as models of economic democracy,” according to political scientist Clyde Barrow, director of UMass-Dartmouth’s Center for Policy Analysis.

In a candid conversation with more than 75 academic delegates to the union’s 2001 Spring DA in Albany, Barrow said professors may have “neutralized themselves culturally ... and paralyzed themselves politically” by not recognizing that the corporate model for higher education has a long-standing tradition in America. He said it has been more than a century since the corporate model was first pitched by education trailblazers and, with each resurgence by modern-day reformers, it becomes more imbedded in society’s thinking.

“We have all encountered the dominance of this corporate ‘reality’ in the never-ending admonition that ‘if only universities were run more like businesses’ we could do more educating with less money,” Barrow said. “The result is that microeconomics has come to dominate the administrative, financial and educational decisions of college and university administrators, boards of trustees, boards of higher education and state legislatures.”

SUNY New Paltz President Roger Bowen shared a similar view with delegates, but not before thanking UUP for “the support this union has given me during difficult times.” No stranger to controversy, Bowen has been recognized by UUP for his uncommon courage in championing free speech on his campus and earned the American Association of University Professors’ Alexander Meiklejohn Award for his defense of academic freedom.

In his keynote address, Bowen claimed “the corporate model, and the mentality it spawns, sees the academy as a social atavism sorely in need of massive remodeling.” He said it was only a matter of time before proponents of the corporate ideal — one in which “capital reigns supreme, supply and demand serve as the mechanism for who gets what, and success is measured in productivity levels and net income” — would infringe on the academy.

“It is my contention that the victory of the corporate model over the ‘traditional’ in higher ed has profound consequences, ones that open the door of the academy to political control,” Bowen said.

Similarly, Barrow said faculty must reject the corporate ideal and the academic ideal, which he argues is “an amalgam of myth, medieval tradition and wish fulfillment which is the ‘noble lie’ that convinces faculty they are sacred demi-gods ... entitled to special privileges within the world.” Instead, he pitches the “civic ideal” and suggests that the university immerse itself in the larger movement for economic democracy.

He added: “Professors must shift to a genuinely class-based, mass-based strategy ... and must ally themselves with the forces of democratization and economic justice by extending to others what they demand for themselves or they will be defeated within the university.”

— Karen L. Mattison

2001 Spring DA

ADA not safe from 11th Amendment rulings

Appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court will make a big difference when it comes to maintaining and securing the rights of public employees.

That’s the word from AFT In-house Counsel David Strom, who told delegates and members of the statewide Civil and Human Rights Committee at the Spring DA that recent Supreme Court decisions have expanded states’ immunity from damages under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). At the 2000 Fall DA in Buffalo, Strom warned UUPers that the nation’s highest court was using obscure 11th Amendment immunity provisions to overturn lower court rulings that awarded damages under federal Copyright, Trademark and Patent acts.

“By the same 5-4 margin that the Supreme Court has mustered in previous 11th Amendment decisions over the last five years, the majority held that Congress exceeded its authority under the U.S Constitution in applying the ADA to state employees,” Strom said. In one recent case, the court rejected a claim by registered nurse Patricia Garrett that the University of Alabama Hospital demoted her once she returned to work after treatment for breast cancer. The Supreme Court also granted a state immunity from a claim by Milton Ash, a security officer with chronic asthma. Ash filed a lawsuit when his state employer refused to enforce a no-smoking policy or to reassign him under the “reasonable accommodation” provisions of the ADA.

While ADA regulations still apply, the Supreme Court in the Ash case determined that there was no proven practice of discrimination and, therefore, Congress exceeded its authority by waiving a state’s immunity to lawsuits.

“This is an interesting analysis,” Strom said. “The court is saying that Congress can’t engage in preventative (measures), but must only ‘remedy’ the discrimination.”

There is some good news, Strom said. For example, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act “prohibits institutions that receive federal aid — including educational institutions — from discriminating against individuals with disabilities. ... To date, the statute appears secure from 11th Amendment challenge,” he said.

Strom added that collective bargaining language is still the most effective way to address issues of discrimination.

- Karen L. Mattison

NYSUT Representative Assembly:

UUP has influence

Anyone having doubts about the educational and political clout of UUP and its statewide affiliate, NYSUT, need look no further than the guest list to this year’s Representative Assembly. Coming to meet, greet and thank RA delegates and local presidents gathered in Rochester were: former President Bill Clinton; U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton; Gov. George Pataki; state Comptroller H. Carl McCall; Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver; Congresswoman Louise Slaughter; and a cavalcade of area lawmakers.

The nation’s 42nd president was honored with the union’s Albert Shanker Distinguished Service Award. In accepting the award, Clinton spoke few words about the legendary AFT president, but those words spoke volumes: “I loved Al Shanker.”

The former president concurred with his wife’s impassioned observations on the perilous state of education and on the Bush administration’s apparent failure to recognize the federal government’s role in it. Clinton said he hopes delegates “don’t get discouraged” and will “keep fighting for the children in the classrooms.”

Clinton pledged his continued support, adding: “We’re all in this together. ... We all do better when we help one another.”

Hillary Clinton also vowed to do her best to see that education doesn’t become the victim of bad budgeting and tax cuts for rich Americans. “I can’t tell you what a serious challenge this is,” she said. “We need your outrage. We need your voices.”

Meanwhile, the more than 1,600 delegates adopted 100-plus resolutions for the 460,000-member union — including three co-sponsored by UUP — and OK’d a constitutional amendment to increase NYSUT dues by 11 percent over the next two years.

The UUP resolutions call on NYSUT to: encourage the state’s public institutions of higher education to adopt AFT’s “Best Practices” policies for the delivery of online courses; seek legislation to require colleges to clearly designate — in publications and on transcripts — courses offered online; and lend moral and financial support to the workers’ living-wage campaign at Harvard University.

Delegates referred to the NYSUT Board of Directors (to be reviewed by the Higher Ed Council) a resolution calling for a task force to discuss subcontracting issues involved in college courses being offered in high schools.

Kudos to UUP

Several UUP chapters were honored for their exemplary contributions to NYSUT’s political action fund. Recognized for achieving the 100-percent award for contributions to VOTE/COPE totaling at least $10 per member were Brockport, Delhi, Farmingdale, Geneseo, NYSTI and Old Westbury. Earning 75-percent awards were New Paltz, Canton, ESF, Central Administration, Cortland, Fredonia, Potsdam, Stony Brook HSC and Alfred. Picking up 50-percent awards were Albany, Buffalo State, Cobleskill, Morrisville, Optometry, Binghamton, Brooklyn HSC, Maritime, Oneonta, Oswego, Plattsburgh, Utica/Rome and ESC.

UUP’s retiree newsletter earned an award of merit for general excellence in NYSUT’s annual journalism contest.

— Karen L. Mattison

AFT Higher Education Issues Conference

Ready and able: Higher ed unionists gain strength in midst of new challenges

Unionized faculty is well positioned to take on the challenges to public higher education posed by the new administration in Washington, D.C., according to AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.

Sweeney addressed 300 delegates — including about a dozen UUPers — to the AFT Higher Education Issues Conference held last month in San Francisco. He cited recent organizing victories in Michigan, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Vermont as a positive sign that labor can and will influence the Bush administration.

“What you are doing in organizing is setting a new standard in the American labor movement,” Sweeney said. “(President Bush) is hearing your footsteps and the footsteps of higher education unionists every day.”

According to the AFT, UUP’s national affiliate, higher education welcomed more than 4,000 new unionists as the result of the recent organizing wins.

“The AFT is showing the way when it comes to organizing professionals,” Sweeney added. “It’s the brightest fight, the brightest spot on the union horizon; we are acutely aware that professionals like yourselves are the most active and the most politically involved.”

Still, UUP President William Scheuerman, chair of the AFT’s Higher Education Program and Policy Council, warned delegates that labor must remain vigilant in light of recent actions by the Bush administration.

“We have our backs against the wall,” Scheuerman said. “The forces working against us are political and they’re economic.”

The Bush administration has added new challenges: a rollback of ergonomic regulations; threats to affirmative action and environmental safeguards; and attempts to restrict unions’ participation in the electoral process, Scheuerman said.

“We have to be up to the task to fight this offensive,” Scheuerman said.

Staff from AFT’s legislative and public affairs department agreed. During a detailed analysis of the situation on Capitol Hill, Charlotte Fraas, director of AFT’s Legislation Department, urged the academic and professional faculty to make their voices heard.

“Activism is a very important thing,” Fraas said. “The Bush administration is looking at the polls … and nothing moves a member of Congress the right way — moving in a progressive way — like hearing from a constituent.” Other issues and topics addressed during the three-day conference — “Gathering Steam: Advancing Academic Values, Quality and Professionalism” — included the overuse of part-time faculty, improving teacher quality, building labor solidarity, media relations and “overcoming the second-class citizen syndrome,” which was moderated by UUP Treasurer Rowena Blackman-Stroud.

Thomas Kriger, UUP’s director of research and legislation, was a presenter at a workshop that looked at for-profit providers of distance education.

— Frank Maurizio

Teacher education:

Final report raises some doubts

An 18-month study of teacher education in the state university system has resulted in a final report — but faculty members still have concerns about some of the study’s recommendations and how they were reached.

At issue is the report by the Provost’s Advisory Council on Teacher Education, which originated with a study on teacher preparation by the Rockefeller Institute of Government. The advisory council’s report went through several drafts before the final version was released last month. (The report is available online at http://www.sysadm.suny.edu/provost/initiatives/.)

“I have a lot of faith in some of the administrators on this team,’’ said UUPer Sheila Cohen, an associate professor of education at SUNY Cortland and one of many UUP Teacher Education Task Force members who reviewed the draft. “But I think this should have had more teacher input,’’ Cohen said.

An “action plan” on the report’s 10 recommendations will be completed within a month, said SUNY Provost Peter Salins in an interview with The Voice. The timeframes for actions will vary, he added, but the development of a SUNY Urban Teacher Education Center in New York City will get under way immediately.

“I think the report is the most complete and thoughtful reform of teacher education that has taken place, not only in SUNY, but in the country,’’ Salins said.

Faculty reviewers don’t entirely agree. While several laud parts of the report – including the focus on urban training – they say some recommendations ignore accepted professional practice or duplicate recommendations already under way through the state Education Department.

Of particular concern: recommendations that teacher candidates obtain combined bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and major in a “central content” area to be taught in the classroom.

Nancy Schniedewind, a professor of education at SUNY New Paltz, said UUP task force members vehemently object to the “central content” requirement, especially as it pertains to elementary education candidates. The recommendation would prevent elementary candidates from majoring in psychology or sociology — considered valid majors by many educators — and would force them to major in much narrower areas, such as mathematics or history, she said.

“The task force does not agree with limiting majors for elementary education candidates,” said UUPer Schniedewind, adding that neither private colleges nor the state Ed Department limit elementary education majors to central content areas. “No research is presented to suggest that this produces a more competent elementary education teacher.”

Task force members also reacted strongly to the recommendation for combined bachelor’s and master’s degree programs.

“It was the feeling of everyone on our committee that the value of teachers taking their master’s degree programs while they’re teaching enables them to integrate their knowledge and skills they’re learning to their teaching,’’ said Schniedewind.

The council’s recommendation for combined degree programs remains a central part of the report. But another recommendation that appeared in earlier drafts, which advocated “quality assurance” for SUNY teacher education programs, was revised after strong faculty criticism.

Many faculty members worried that quality-assurance statements would result in a backlash against teacher education programs and would lead the public to blame poor student performance on teacher education programs when, in fact, poor student performance can have many other causes.

In the final version, that recommendation states only that “actions should be taken to assure the continuing quality and improvement of teacher education.”

“It seems to have been substantially played down in the (final) report,’’ said Sandra Mathison, associate dean of the School of Education at SUNY Albany.

Salins would not discuss details of the report, but did say UUP’s input was “helpful.’’

Cohen said she had been especially concerned about the recommendation for quality-assurance statements because so many SUNY teacher ed programs are struggling to cope with limited resources. “If you want teachers to do well ... you have to have resources,’’ she said.

Mathison notes that portions of the report still don’t sit well with faculty. She cites the continued endorsement of teacher education programs for “career changers.” The report urges a SUNYwide program “to serve widely dispersed needs throughout the state.’’

Alternative education programs for career changers have never been wholeheartedly embraced by SUNY teacher education departments, Mathison said. She also questions how strongly the state Ed Department backs such programs.

“Frankly, I don’t think people at state Ed think this is going to dramatically change the supply of teachers,’’ she said.

Overall, however, Mathison says the report is “considerably more palatable’’ than the drafts. The report “does reflect some of the concerns,’’ she added.

— Darryl Campagna

Teacher ed recommendations

The following is a summary of the 10 recommendations in the final report by the Provost’s Advisory Council in Teacher Education. The full report can be viewed at http://www.sysadm.suny.edu/provost/initiatives/:

• Only majors or concentrations whose content or discipline constitutes a “central content” area to be taught in the classroom should be approved.
• The pedagogy curriculum should be based on tested and defensible theoretical frameworks.
• More extensive clinical experiences and greater integration of theoretical and clinical education for students preparing for teacher certification should be developed.
• Campuses should develop combined baccalaureate/master’s programs.
• An intense effort should be made to recruit and educate students in certification titles with teacher shortages and for districts with high needs.
• Effort should be undertaken to facilitate the transfer of community college students to state university baccalaureate programs leading to teacher certification.
• New programs should be developed for “career changers.”
• SUNY should establish an Urban Teacher Ed Center in New York City and support such efforts in other urban areas.
• Research should be undertaken on the performance of teacher education programs in preparing graduates to affect learning in the classroom.
• Actions should be taken to assure the continuing quality and improvement of teacher preparation.

Capitol corner:

UUP stays on message as budget talks stall

The state budget is late for the 17th consecutive year, but that’s not the only thing that has stayed the same in springtime around Albany.

From testifying before the SUNY Board of Trustees to participating in a daylong lobbying event at the Capitol, UUPers have been busy championing the union’s legislative causes, including pension equity and a resolution to the deficit at the beleaguered teaching hospitals.

John Marino, statewide vice president for professionals, delivered UUP’s testimony on the SUNY health science centers at a recent trustees’ hearing in Albany. He said the board’s 2001-02 budget request and the governor’s budget proposal “finally address the hospitals’ fiscal crisis, but they don’t provide enough funding to both pay down the existing deficit and to preserve the health science centers’ vital public health missions.”

Noting hospital administrators’ warnings that layoffs may be looming without additional funding through the state budget process, Marino said: “It is essential that the SUNY Board of Trustees works to resolve the teaching hospitals’ fiscal problems without permitting cuts in vital services or layoffs. At the same time …UUP adamantly opposes any threats to the hospitals’ public health missions, changes to our members’ status as SUNY employees, or layoffs and/or program cuts.”

This message was reinforced — and the hospitals’ connections to their communities were made — when dozens of UUPers from the HSCs and several statewide leaders met with lawmakers and staffers during the union’s Hospital Lobby Day in late April at the Capitol.

“We not only conduct research and educate students, but we fulfill the mission of caring for the indigent patients in our communities,” said Miriam Vincent of Brooklyn HSC in a meeting with Assemblyman Clarence Norman (D-Brooklyn).

This important service mission is becoming more and more difficult for the SUNY hospitals at Brooklyn, Stony Brook and Syracuse (Upstate Medical University) to accomplish, as care, not cost, is their bottom line. The health centers continue to respond to the communities’ changing needs, which have expanded while the service base has shrunk, explained Upstate UUPer Peter Kane.

“We’re taking on some programs at Upstate because, otherwise, the community would have unmet needs,” UUPer Kane said during a visit in Assemblyman Michael Bragman’s (D-Cicero) office.

“Much of this essential care, such as the treatments we do for cystic fibrosis and spina bifida patients, is very expensive,” Kane said. “Because these services are not money makers, the state must provide us with the financial support we need to continue operating.”

The volunteer lobbyists also called for legislative support from both houses for pension equity for state employees who are in optional retirement programs — like the many UUPers in TIAA-CREF. The Assembly budget resolution supported the state’s assumption of the 3 percent payment; state absorption remains an outstanding issue in the Senate.

“The state picked up the 3 percent for other state employees, and we should get it too,” said UUP President William Scheuerman in a morning briefing with the union’s volunteer lobbyists.

— Lisa Feldman Reich

UUP Leadership Institute:

Members work at improving the union

Bolstered by their experiences at a recent NYSUT-sponsored leadership workshop, a handful of up-and-coming UUP activists wanted to keep up the momentum. So, they asked for — and got — the follow-up training they believe is needed to build their union and its membership.

The result: UUP’s first-ever Leadership Institute was born.

“Meetings like (the NYSUT workshop) help people get excited about the union,” said UUPer Darryl Wood, who will take over as Binghamton chapter president on June 1. “But it occurred to me and the others there that we needed to do something to focus specifically on leadership training in higher education.”

Wood was one of seven UUP members to take advantage of the most recent Summer Leadership Institute sponsored by NYSUT and Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR). Twenty-three UUPers have successfully completed the training program since its inception in 1997, including three statewide officers and nearly half of the current Executive Board.

Wood and fellow NYSUT/ILR alum John Schmidt, UUP chapter president at Stony Brook, began to kick around a few ideas for what would eventually become the UUP Leadership Institute.

“While I did lots of talking on the subject, Darryl actually created a draft program and presented it to President (William) Scheuerman, who enthusiastically backed the idea,” Schmidt said. Scheuerman spoke with NYSUT President Thomas Hobart and ILR representatives, and directed UUP Membership Development Officer Fred Kowal to get additional input from NYSUT/ILR alums. Before long, Wood said he was in Albany to “hammer out the final details” of UUP’s Leadership Institute, which was held in late March in New Paltz.

“This is a real testament to UUP’s leadership,” Wood said. “Our leaders are open to change and to novel ideas. It’s hard for most leaders to take an idea that has never been tested — with no idea how things will turn out — and go forward with it anyway. A good leader is one who is willing to take the risk.”

The UUP institute brought together dozens of active members to brainstorm new ways to effectively build membership and to identify future leaders within the organization. About 75 new delegates and chapter officers, as well as NYSUT/ILR graduates, were invited to attend.

Facilitating the discussions were trade-union strategists Richard Hurd, ILR director and a professor of labor studies, and Sally Klingel, a senior associate at Programs for Employment and Workplace Systems at Cornell University.

Participants were divided into groups to discuss three topics: how to increase union involvement; how to expand the power of UUP; and how to more effectively meet the challenges presented by SUNY and the state. Each group was directed to identify specific barriers and assets, and to develop strategies that take advantage of the union’s strengths, while minimizing those things that impede progress.

UUP delegate Jacqnene Howard of SUNY Delhi appreciated the chance to network with other chapter leaders. “This (institute) gave me ideas I can use to get members active in the union,” she said. “I learned a lot by talking with people about their experiences — what works and what doesn’t on their campuses.”

Among the ideas presented were: increase emphasis on coalitions; connect with other SUNY unions; network more with NYSUT locals; increase outreach to members; and hold regional mini-conferences on a variety of relevant topics.

UUP Executive Board member Edward Quinn of SUNY Stony Brook, a NYSUT/ILR graduate and UUP Leadership Institute participant, said: “We got a good blueprint. ... The mix of newer members and experienced leaders gave us a well-rounded idea of how to effectively reach our members.”

— Karen L. Mattison

Organizing help for part-timers

Today’s part-time faculty are often called “Roads scholars,” underscoring their intellectual yet fleeting presence on any one campus as they travel from college to college to make a living. And, while part-timers play such a valuable role in enriching the University’s curriculum, they are further strained by academe’s overreliance on their services as the base of full-time faculty lines has eroded.

To highlight and help to rectify the plight of these colleagues — so many of whom do not benefit from solidarity with a union — UUP has initiated an organizing effort among nonunionized part-timers at public and private universities in the state.

Regional activities are under way in Western New York and the Capital District to empower all part-timers to accomplish collective bargaining. At a recent meeting in Buffalo, several UUPers joined with private college faculty on an organizing committee for a chapter of a national coalition to unionize nonpermanent or “contingent labor.” An amalgamation of organizations, the group would include a “pool of labor” available to all the area’s colleges, to “raise wages and benefits immediately and to end the assault on tenure caused by the exploitation of part-time faculty, ultimately,” said UUPer David Landrey of Buffalo State.

A steering committee — to coordinate the organizing of Albany-area adjunct

faculty — was recently formed by UUPers and nonunionized area faculty, said unionist James Collins of SUNY Albany.

“We’re trying to build a regional solidarity with part-time academic faculty, to improve their conditions, help form a model for organizing and educate full-timers about how their interests are affected in this effort,” Collins said.

SUNY’s abuse of part-timers led UUP to fight hard to improve the working conditions for its now more than 6,500 part-time members on 29 state-operated University campuses. The current contract includes, among other things, salary increases and a full 26 weeks of health insurance coverage for every semester part-timers work.

“We made real inroads and achieved one of the best salary and benefits packages in the country available for part-timers,” said William Scheuerman, UUP president. “There’s still more work to do, but we believe all part-time faculty should have similar gains.”

Ending SUNY’s overreliance on part-timers and promoting those who want them to the full-time positions it seeks to restore at the University are key points in UUP’s legislative agenda.

— Lisa Feldman Reich

SUNY to address student behavior concerns

When a profanity- and threat-spewing student recently confronted a SUNY Fredonia academic, he said he politely — but firmly — took the student’s shoulders and pointed him toward the classroom door.

And he nearly got disciplined for doing so.

Similar situations have played out at SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Oswego and at other campuses where the issue of students’ disruptive behavior has become a growing concern. UUP members, in some cases, fear that enforcing rules governing conduct in their classrooms could land them in hot water with administrators.

“Our members aren’t always sure how to handle unruly students,” said UUP President Scheuerman. “Students have a right to learn and teachers have a right to teach in a peaceful, enriching environment. Obviously, no learning can take place in a classroom where one or more students are disruptive, or worse.”

Incidents like the one in Fredonia prompted Scheuerman to write to SUNY Chancellor Robert King about student conduct. The letter led to a meeting with Scheuerman, King and administrative staff, and to a response that pleased UUP.

“The chancellor appears committed to ensuring a safe environment conducive to teaching and to learning,” Scheuerman said.

King, through the University’s standing Committee on Personal Safety, has called for an action plan to define and address the issues raised by Scheuerman. He also spoke to the SUNY Student Assembly about classroom behavior and is planning a Universitywide symposium on the issue for November.

William Murabito, executive director of the University Colleges of Technology, is working with the Committee on Personal Safety. He said each SUNY campus is required to have its own safety and behavior policy. The problem, according to Murabito and UUP officials, is that the campus policies are often not widely disseminated; faculty doesn’t always know what the policy is or how it’s implemented.

“We need the campus policies to be clear. We need to know about them. And we need proper training in them,” Scheuerman explained. “Faculty needs to know what it can and cannot do when a student becomes unruly or defiant.”

Murabito said a working group of the Committee on Personal Safety would address those concerns.

“The administration is as serious as UUP about dealing with disruptive students,” Murabito said. “The faculty has a job to do and the rights of other students can’t be abridged.”

— Frank Maurizio

Employment committee has money for enrollment-enhancement rograms

To provide assistance to SUNY campus academic departments experiencing declining student enrollments, the New York State/UUP Joint Labor/Management Committee on Employment is sponsoring a new Enrollment Enhancement Program.

A limited amount of funding has been allocated for this program, with the maximum award per campus set at $10,000.

Submitted proposals must provide:

• evidence of need, demonstrated by department enrollment figures that show a significant decline during the last year or longer;
• an itemized budget, preferably with evidence of campus financial contribution;
• a description of measurable results expected; and
• a campus joint labor/management endorsement.

Additional details will be available in June. At that time, application forms will be mailed to campuses and will also be available via the Internet at http://www.albany.net/~nysuup.

Educators debate pros, cons of online universities

Education leaders attending the national Education Writers Association (EWA) seminar in Phoenix aired differences of opinion about the impact of for-profit institutions on traditional higher education.

“If there’s any force capable of shaping higher education, it’s the University of Phoenix,” said EWA President Kit Lively, senior editor of The Chronicle of Higher Education, noting the college has 90,000 students in 20 states. It employs mostly part-time faculty and uses online education and nontraditional campuses.

The myth about the for-profit University of Phoenix, said its president, Laura Palmer Noone, is that “We are the 800-number blob that ate New York.” The reality, she said, is that students must be 23 to enroll and the average age of a student at the university is 34.

The hiring of the university’s 11,000 faculty, she said, is “one of the most widely misunderstood elements.” Faculty are not the “freeway fliers” who work part-time at various colleges, Noone said, but are professionally employed in other fields.

Arthur Levine, president of Teachers College at Columbia University, said some students seek alternative education because many colleges have not done well to meet students’ need for remediation, or the needs of international students. Money matters, too: Fewer than 4 percent of American families can afford a private education, he said. Older students often work and attend specialized colleges just to keep pace with their field and with technology.

Meanwhile, “higher education has been criticized in recent years like it’s never been criticized before,” Levine said. Government is demanding more accountability from colleges, while resources are decreasing. All of this led to the creation of more specialized, nontraditional, online colleges.

While acknowledging that traditional colleges have to change to adapt, Levine — when asked about the implications of a narrowly trained society — departed from his role as education observer to espouse traditional education.

“We don’t necessarily offer what people want, but we offer what we think they need,” he said. Americans live in a world that is ecologically, socially and financially fragile; where the danger of destruction grows larger each year, he said. People need to understand the implications of things, and this is what traditional colleges are best at providing, he said. As repositories of information, they have an important role in society. They discover, save and disseminate information; they are not just singularly focused on job training, he added.

Traditional colleges must meet changing needs not only to survive, Levine said, but to ensure that a campus experience is not just reserved for the best, brightest and most affluent —while others go to online institutions.

— Liza Frenette

On campus

Caving in: New Paltz UUP members save local historical site

Inside the cave, there are filters of light that illuminate parts of the dank walls. A pool of water is so still and clear that, while reflecting the earthen pillars, it gives the illusion that the cave is much higher and longer than it actually is. The image of depth is an illusion, but the water itself is not; people even paddle across it in boats.

Inside, it is easy to start wondering about this Widow Jane Cave, located in Rosendale near New Paltz. It seems like it could hold many dark secrets.

A group of UUPers from SUNY New Paltz has spent a lot of time, money and energy to bring this cave out of secrecy and to serve as ministers to the historical site. Enter Gayle Grunwald, Susan Lewis and Harriet Lettis, all of whom helped to forge the Century House Historical Society, located in a federal historic district that includes the Widow Jane Cave. The society is a not-for-profit educational organization chartered by the state Education Department.

The cave is named after Jane Snyder, whose family was active in the cement industry for nearly 150 years. The cave itself is man-made; it was created to mine limestone, the sole ingredient for natural cement. Presto: Rosendale Cement, one of about 18 natural cement works operating in the area, shipped from a slip on the property out to the D&H Canal and on to the world.

“This is the cement that built the infrastructure of America,” Grunwald said. Indeed, Rosendale cement was used to build the pedestal for the Statue of Liberty, the Washington Monument and Grand Central Depot, to name just a few. Visitors are reminded of these accomplishments when entering the Snyder Estate; the front gates are in the shape of the Brooklyn Bridge, also built with Rosendale cement.

Now the cave is used to record music and is home to harrowing Halloween parties and fundraisers such as dances, poetry readings and plays. So far, one music album has been recorded in the cave, by Tony Levin, Peter Gabriel’s bass player.

Nearly 20 acres of the site were put up for private sale in 1989, after being open to the public for almost 15 years. Grunwald, who is senior financial aid officer at New Paltz, and her husband, Dietrich Werner, sprang into action, purchasing the site. They acted as stewards until it could be transferred to an organization that would hold it in perpetuity for the public benefit. This goal was achieved and the site is now owned by the historical society.

“I realized it was a treasure,” Grunwald explained.

She teamed up with Lewis, a part-time history department faculty member, to establish a board. The organization received a charter, got the site and adjacent properties designated as an historic district, obtained funds and saved the site from being privately developed. There are now 200 members in the society, including board member Lettis, a senior programmer analyst at New Paltz and UUP chapter treasurer.

“This is a really unique property that needs to be available for public access,” Lewis said. “It’s about the history of the industrialization of this area.” Looking around the property, she seems to be impressed all over again with what drew her to this site: the historic Snyder home, the cave and the carriage house, which had just been repainted a glorious yellow color by volunteer work crews.

Now, Snyder’s personal belongings and other memorabilia from the cement industry are on display in the barn in an atmosphere more museum than hayseed. It is directly across from the carriage house, which is home to vintage carriages and sleighs.

Located on Route 213 in Rosendale, it is open May through October. For more information, call (845) 658-9900 or visit the Web at http://www.centuryhouse.org.

— Liza Frenette

UUPers in the news

Researchers awarded — Several UUPers were among the University’s top researchers recently honored for their major contributions to science and medicine.

The unionists were also praised by SUNY during a research recognition dinner for bringing prestige and honor to themselves and to the state university. The dinner was held at SUNY System Administration. A second recognition dinner will honor research in the arts and letters.

Scientists from the following UUP chapters were honored: Randall Barbour, professor of pathology, and Henri Begleiter, professor of psychiatry, Brooklyn HSC; Thomas Bilfinger, clinical professor of surgery, and Cristina Leske, professor and chair, department of community medicine, Stony Brook HSC; Lance Bosart, professor of earth and atmospheric sciences, and Timothy Lance, professor, math and statistics, Albany; Lawrence Fialkow, professor, computer science, New Paltz; James Hassett, professor, forest engineering, ESF; Bruce Holm, professor, pediatrics and pharmacology and toxicology, Buffalo HSC; Omowunmi Sadik, assistant professor, chemistry, Binghamton; Paul Stewart, research associate, Newborn and Infant Development Project, Oswego; and Ruth Weinstock, professor, medicine, Upstate Medical University.

Benefits:

Summer camp money is available

If you have a child attending summer day camp, you can get financial help. Really.

Through the Dependent Care Advantage Account (DCAAccount), you may be eligible to pay the cost of the summer day camp using pre-tax dollars, even if you didn’t sign up for the dependent account during the November enrollment period. That’s because the additional cost of a summer camp acts as a “change in status,” allowing you to enroll or change your current annual deduction mid-year.

Don’t forget the best part. UUP was successful in negotiating an employer contribution into the DCAAccount. The employer contribution is $200, $300 or $400, depending on salary.

Read on for answers to commonly asked questions and information about enrolling.

Q: What is meant by “change in status?”

A: If you go to http://www.flexspend.state.ny.us, you will see a list of changes allowed under IRS regulations. Sending your child to day camp probably means you are changing your care provider for the summer or are changing the rate paid for care. Either of these reasons qualifies as a change in status that will permit you to enroll now, even though the open enrollment period has ended. You can use the “Change in Status” form found on that site.

Q: Now that I plan to send my child to day camp, when should I enroll in the DCAAccount?

A: Don’t delay. Your form must be received before camp begins if you want to claim expenses beginning with the first day of camp. Your payroll deductions will begin within the following two pay periods. You will receive a confirmation letter that states the amount of the bi-weekly deduction and when it will take effect. Change in Status forms should be returned to the DCAAccount office.

Q: How do I save money using the DCAAccount for summer day camp?

A: You will save federal, state and Social Security taxes on the money you set aside from your salary to pay for day camp. The savings can add up to as much as 42 percent, depending on your tax situation.

Q: Where do my deductions go?

A: Your DCAAccount pre-tax deductions will be set up in a reimbursement account for you. Funds will accumulate until you send in claims for reimbursement. You can always check your account status by logging on to the secure Web site at http://www.flexspend.state.ny.us or by calling (800) 342-8017.

Q: When will the employer contribution be deposited in my account?

A: After you enroll in the DCAAccount, the employer contribution will be deposited in your account before your first payroll deduction is taken.

Q: How do I get my money?

A: Submit a reimbursement claim form (weekly or bi-weekly) after your child begins attending day camp. Claim forms can be mailed or faxed. The IRS has determined that reimbursement must be made after services are provided.

Q: What if I only want the employer contribution and don’t want any pre-tax salary deducted from my paycheck?

A: You may enroll just for the employer contribution if you wish. On the Change in Status form, check Start New Account. Where it says, “I wish to contribute $____,” fill in the amount of your employer contribution based on your salary: Below $35,000, the employer contribution is $400; $35,000-$55,000, $300; and more than $55,000, $200. (Note: Do not leave this line blank or put $0.)

— Gail Maloy, Director of Member Benefits and Services

The Last Word
Remaining unique: Empire State College continues to offer what most others can’t

At Empire State College, we always seem to be looking for new students, and there is the perception that we are in trouble if we are not finding new audiences and are not marketing ourselves properly. We are not alone in this perception. I have been involved in a number of discussions over the last few years, focusing on ways to identify and support adult learners in universities and in the world of work, with colleagues from the U.S. and Europe.

I believe that our experience has shown conclusively that finding new students is not a problem for this college. There are more adult students out there than we can ever hope to work with. The potential is huge, but we have never looked — nor should we now be looking — for mass-market penetration. That’s not us; that’s not what characterizes us.

Furthermore, we should never feel challenged by those institutions or organizations that seem on the surface to be our competitors. Since the potential out there for new students is so large, even if all universities woke up and started providing supportive and responsive programs for adults, there would still be no real competition. The “size of the market” and “competition” become issues only if we are in the teaching business, rather than the business of facilitating learning. If we are solely in the teaching business then, like every other teaching institution, we must line up our products on our shelf and sell them. Knowledge then becomes a commodity, and commodities are trades on the basis of price and brand-name competition. We would be in competition with every other similarly named organization, and we would have to compete by cost reduction and operational efficiency. I believe that the work difficulties that many of us have experienced over the last number of years are due to a perception that our college has moved us strongly in this direction.

However, given ESC’s extensive experience and success with mentor-mediated, professional-supported learning, I don’t think that “knowledge-as-commodity” is a good model for the way in which we should interact with adult learners, although provision of courses will always be part of the story. We should compete, if we must compete, on innovation. Building upon what we’ve already learned how to do so well, we should continue to explore and develop ways to help learners and groups of learners at a strategic level with their learning plans and activities, as well as at the building-block level of individual chunks of prepackaged knowledge. Our best strategies should be difficult to emulate by potential competitors; we must always be focused on what we can do that they can’t. Almost any public or private educational or quasi-educational organization this week or next week can offer weekend courses or run courses on the Web. What we have to focus on are those strategies and processes that add value at the highest level; that really express the nature of the institution of which we are so much a part.

One of the most significant questions for us to ask, therefore, is how Empire State College’s limited resources are being used collegewide and statewide, to support the processes that add value to the work that we do with adult learners. We all have felt increasing work pressure over the years. Speak with any of our colleagues anywhere in the state and you will undoubtedly hear about apparently endless increases in workload, about continuous reductions in resources and support for the work that we know how to do so well. Colleagues ask, “Why is the college limiting and constraining what we do best by resource starvation? Why do we always have to do more with less? Where are all of our resources going?”

I think we need to shift the discussion from marketing to brand management, publicly restating and then having ESC properly supporting what we do best, seen in the overall context of our challenges, our audiences and our services. We are a proven institution, with a clearly demonstrated track record. We have tens of thousand of successful graduates, a uniquely experienced and knowledgeable faculty and professional staff, and a solid list of proven competencies and processes unmatched elsewhere. When we describe what we do to people who are hearing about us for the first time, they are almost always fascinated, want to hear more, and begin to think about how this unique structure might fit in their own world.

Empire State College is not challenged by any difficulty in finding students. Our difficulties lie in managing our workloads, in obtaining and using the best learning resources for our adult students without having obstacles put in our way, and in finding time to capture our own learning in order to grow from it and share it with those who come after us.

(Jay Gilbert is a professor at Empire State College, where he serves as UUP chapter president. This article first ran in the October 2000 issue of the chapter newsletter.)

To the Point: The not-so-glamorous work we do

By William E. Scheuerman
UUP President

Over the years, my “To the Point” commentaries have usually focused on the dramatic struggles and events facing UUP. I’ve commented on the trustees’ plans to rethink SUNY, the annual state budget battles, the plight of our teaching hospitals, failed attempts to remove tenure, solidarity battles and so on. Now, I think the time has come to tell you a little about some of the less glamorous struggles we confront every day.

These “little” fights may often lack glamour, but they are not unimportant. A good example was our battle to protect our members at the College at Old Westbury from the pitfalls of what we call land-lease legislation, an issue that recently burst into the headlines of the downstate press.

Since the appointment of the “new” trustees, SUNY has sought to lease property to campus foundations and other not-for-profit companies, mainly to build new facilities. These land-lease bills — as they are called — are, at best, a mixed blessing. On the one hand, they encourage philanthropic donations and facilitate public/private relationships that could benefit SUNY. On the other, they provide SUNY with a method to potentially circumvent laws, regulations and public accountability. In effect, land-lease legislation could remove the newly created entity from public scrutiny.

At the College at Old Westbury, SUNY attempted to create a land-lease bill that would have permanently transferred Old Westbury property to a non-SUNY entity. In addition to circumventing the issues of public accountability and legislative oversight, if the bill had passed as written, it would have hurt future employees by forcing them to work outside the protections of labor laws. UUP is not necessarily opposed to land-lease laws, but we are opposed to legislation that undercuts our collective bargaining rights and removes SUNY entities from public scrutiny.

As early as October 1999, I met with the Faculty Senate at the College at Old Westbury and expressed to them our concern with SUNY’s plan. Our strategy was simple. Since both houses and the governor supported the land-lease bill, we couldn’t stop it. In fact, a former top aide to a key Assembly leader was then working for the College at Old Westbury. She was charged with piloting the legislation through the Assembly. So, UUP sought support to amend the bill to keep it from circumventing public accountability, including existing labor laws and regulations.

We convinced the Assembly Higher Education Committee to hold hearings on the issue. After presenting our case at these hearings, we worked with our friends in the Senate majority to gain passage of protective legislation. The legislation (1) states that any land lease by SUNY must be leased for purposes consistent with the College at Old Westbury mission; (2) mandates that all of UUP’s collective bargaining and Taylor Law protections apply to the new entity; and (3) requires all leases to adhere to prevailing wage laws, as well as laws applicable to women- and minority-owned businesses. Further, should any lease fail to follow these and other requirements, the land and buildings all immediately revert to SUNY. In all cases, the land and buildings revert to SUNY when the lease expires.

What effect did our efforts have? After two years, no projects have begun. And, because UUP worked to include a three-year sunset provision in the law, if no projects are started by next year, they won’t start at all. When the land-lease bill expires, SUNY will have to get a new bill passed before proceeding with any new projects. In other words, UUP’s efforts in conjunction with chapter leaders at the College at Old Westbury have maintained the integrity of our University.

Was the Old Westbury experience the only land-lease case at SUNY? No way! We’ve had tough land-lease issues throughout the University. But, in every case, we’ve protected our members and the public good.

No, we don’t talk a lot about these important, but less glamorous, issues; we just do our job.