Four earn Nina Mitchell Awards for Distinguished Service

Negotiator. Preservationist. Lobbyist. Fund-raiser. Advocate. These are just a few of the roles to which this year’s recipients of UUP’s Nina Mitchell Award for Distinguished Service have committed themselves — and for which they are being recognized.

The 2001 Mitchell award recipients are: David Kreh of SUNY Cortland, who retired in 2000 as an associate librarian; Michael Smiles, a professor in the department of biological technology at SUNY Farmingdale; Ivan Steen, an associate professor of history at SUNY Albany; and Edward VanDuzer, who retired from SUNY Brockport in 2000 as a lecturer of business and economics.

When UUPers hear the name David Kreh, two thoughts immediately come to mind: The union’s statewide Elections and Credentials Committee and the Negotiations Team. And the reason is clear. Kreh has served as elections chair since 1981 under three UUP presidents, and he was appointed to the last four Negotiations teams by two union presidents.

In their nomination letters, five longtime union leaders — two Mitchell award recipients among them — credited Kreh for his honesty, integrity and professionalism as both elections chair and as a committed negotiator. “He is scrupulously honest in following the written rule,” said Smiles of Farmingdale. “What this has resulted in is a process that is so clean and honest, that no one — not even his political adversaries — question the (election) procedures or outcome.”

Those qualities soon opened the door for Kreh to serve on his first Negotiations Team, for the 1988 contract between UUP and the state. In this role, Kreh not only proved to be an advocate for his fellow librarians, but for all UUPers throughout the University. His nominators noted his deep knowledge of the contract and his willingness to closely examine the issues; he was appointed to three more Negotiations teams in 1991, 1995 and 1999.

“I remember the role he played in helping the SUNY librarians achieve significant gains, including faculty status, through UUP negotiations with the state,” said Thomas Matthews of SUNY Geneseo, a former statewide vice president, chief negotiator and a 1993 Mitchell award winner. “Dave epitomizes what a good union activist is all about — always working for the greater good of the organization and its members.”

Since 1991, Kreh has been a delegate for UUP, NYSUT and AFT; he is also a member of the NYSUT and AFT Credentials committees.

At the chapter level, Kreh served as chapter president from 1999-2001, on the Grievance Committee from 1973-83 and as grievance chair from 1979-83. He was chapter vice president for academics from 1975-77 and benefits officer from 1974-86.

Smiles’ tireless enthusiasm and 20 years of activism are credited with winning him the respect of his colleagues and earning UUP numerous VOTE/COPE awards.

For more than two decades, Smiles has been a “chief rabble-rouser” for the union, according to Farmingdale Chapter President Barbara Maertz. He unleashed his distinguished UUP career on the picket line, where he and dozens of his colleagues expressed their dissatisfaction with stalled contract talks. Smiles went on to lead demonstrations and to organize motorcades until a new bargaining agreement was ratified.

Since those auspicious beginnings, he has served as chapter treasurer and on the chapter executive board, and he is credited with helping to start the department representative system at Farmingdale. Smiles served on the statewide Grievance Committee from 1987-92, when he first took over as chapter president. During the seven years he was at the helm, Farmingdale on four occasions received NYSUT’s annual VOTE/COPE award for 100 percent participation in the non-partisan political action fund.

Smiles was also instrumental in negotiating a campus-based faculty/staff “reinvestment agreement” that protected UUPers when Farmingdale was restructured into a four-year college. The result: salaries increased, contact hours decreased and seniority was protected. This chapter-level experience served him well on the statewide Negotiations Team for the 1995 contract. He was appointed as vice chair for negotiations for the 1999 bargaining agreement.

“Some 20 years ago ... Mike stated, ‘We only have one job and that is to do all we can for our members to ensure they receive the very best that UUP can offer,’” said Farmingdale UUPer Robert Reganse. “I have never seen him deviate or equivocate from that charge; he lives by it.”

Smiles continues to serve as chapter academic grievance chair on the labor/management team and as its VOTE/COPE coordinator. He is also a member of the statewide Executive Board and the New York State/UUP Joint Labor/Management Committee on Health Benefits, and he serves as a delegate to UUP and affiliate conventions.

Maertz characterized Smiles in this way: “Whether marching on the picket line or negotiating at the table, Mike represents the finest qualities of union activism.”

In their letter of nomination, members of the SUNY Albany chapter touted Steen as an innovator, a preservationist and an advocate for education and academic unionism. But, above all, he is deeply respected as an unwavering voice for UUP, the University and the students.

Steen spends countless hours delivering UUP’s message directly to lawmakers, writing letters to the editors of local newspapers and answering telephone inquiries from members, reporters and others seeking information about the union’s legislative goals. And Steen, according to several reports, does this all with patience, grace and clarity of purpose.

“Ivan’s extensive knowledge and profound sensitivity to the political issues facing the union have established him as a leading lobbyist for UUP from the Albany area,” said Albany Chapter President Candace Merbler. His “persuasive qualities and distinctive speaking abilities” are paramount in his ongoing role as a member of the statewide UUP Legislation Committee, to which he was first appointed in 1988, Merbler said. Steen also serves as chair of his chapter Legislation Committee and, since 1989, as a member of the NYSUT Committee of 100. He has served on NYSUT’s Political Action Committee for the last five years.

In his role as chapter president from 1989-2001, Steen established regular contact with NYSUT Election District 10 and helped to develop Albany Chapter Advance — an annual daylong meeting that has enabled Albany executive board members to review their progress and direction.

As chair of the union’s Ad Hoc Committee on UUP Archives, Steen worked tirelessly to preserve the history of UUP. The committee developed a records management plan for UUP, helped to establish the UUP Archives at SUNY Albany and was responsible for instituting and overseeing the production of the union’s oral history project. “Without (Steen’s) ingenuity and insight ... UUP records preservation would not have occurred and a substantial part of our union history would have been lost,” Merbler stressed.

Steen continues to serve as chapter VOTE/COPE coordinator and on its Membership Committee. At the statewide level, he is a UUP, NYSUT and AFT delegate, and he serves on the Link Scholarship Selection Committee and as UUP liaison to the Jewish Labor Committee.

In April, Steen received the SUNY Albany Chapter Service Award.

VanDuzer is hailed by his colleagues as a man of principle, integrity and competence. VanDuzer’s fellow UUPers recognize and appreciate his longstanding determination to serve the union — even if his actions put him in precarious positions with administrators.

His colleagues recall with admiration how, in 1983, VanDuzer fought for dozens of UUPers caught in a web of massive retrenchments as entire college departments were eliminated.

“Ed has exemplified civic virtue in his service to the members of the Brockport chapter and to the union at large,” said Brockport UUPer John Chasse. “He has willingly served when it imposed personal costs and when it involved personal risk.” Added UUPer Richard Castner, VanDuzer “almost single-handedly kept the local (UUP) chapter afloat.”

During the infamous retrenchments of 1983, VanDuzer embarked on his first of 16 years as chapter president, from which he took a brief hiatus from 1991-93 when he served as chapter vice president for academics. He was treasurer from 1979-83 and was vice president for membership the five years prior.

VanDuzer is credited with helping to establish a campus labor/management committee for professional development and with creating an invoice/ledger system to track chapter finances. He also co-chaired two outplacement workshops for SUNYwide retrenchees.

On the statewide level, VanDuzer from 1992-93 chaired the Membership Committee on which he continues to serve, and is a past member of the Legislation, Chapter Presidents and Negotiations committees. He serves as editor of the chapter newsletter, as chapter VOTE/COPE coordinator and as a UUP delegate.

“He has performed during this long period of service with distinction,” said UUPer William Rock. “His many efforts on behalf of teaching and non-teaching professionals have increased the visibility of UUP on our campus and the respect in which the organization is held.”

VanDuzer earned a Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in 1991.

Castner summed up VanDuzer’s contributions in this way: “Ed has wholeheartedly given himself to union affairs at the basic nitty-gritty, donkey-work level.”