UUP Cortland Chapter

UUP Cortland chapter leaders thank our wonderful members who answered the call to action Thursday, March 1. At every campus across the state, UUP members urged SUNY to agree to a fair contract, and Cortland members played their part in getting that message across. Check out the Twitter postings and the news story at

 https://twitter.com/search?q=%23respectuup&src=typd

 http://uupinfo.org/communications/uupdate/2018/180301.php.

At both entrances to the campus, morning, noon, and late afternoon demonstrations drew attention and positive responses from passerby on foot and in vehicles. Dozens of handmade signs created by our members on Tuesday during the Union Matters meeting gave voice to our grassroots demand that SUNY treat us with respect and give us a contract now.  Professional staff, faculty, and students took a moment out of their busy day to contribute their names to hundreds of individually signed postcards that have been taken to Albany for delivery to SUNY Administration.  Media coverage included local newspapers, television, and radio.

Our members ROCK! We want to hear your story about the Day of Action. Please reply to our message with a sentence that we can print in our next newsletter issue.

We demand RESPECT from SUNY. Respecting us
is a prerequisite for respecting our students, because
our working conditions are our students’ learning conditions.
http://uupinfo.org/communications/audio/ArethaFranklinRespect.mp3

Join our demonstration tomorrow.
7:45-8:45 a.m.
12:30-1:30 p.m.
3:45-4:45 pm.

Locations:
Corner of Graham Ave. & Gerhart Dr. next to Miller Building;
Corner of Broadway Ave. & Pashley Dr. next to Whitaker.

Stop by for any length of time.
Bring a friend. Take pictures to post.
Use the hashtag #RespectUUP.
Pick up a postcard to send to the chancellor.
Feel good about standing up for a fair contract.

Thanks to all who created handmade signs for us to carry.
Thanks to all who have promised to take part tomorrow.
You can still sign up if you want us to know you’ll be there:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7XPMLNR

Anne Wiegard at 607-351-1404 or anne.wiegard@newfacultymajority.info.
Bekkie Bryan at rbryan@uupmail.org.
Joe Westbrook at jrpwestbrook@yahoo.com.
Dan Harms at danharms@earthlink.net.
Jen Drake at jenduup@gmail.com.

Do not forward this message to a .edu email address or duplicate it using campus equipment.

Join UUP in New York City on Saturday, Feb. 24 to show our solidarity and stand up against Janus v. AFSCME, a case that threatens our ability to come together as a strong union. Book a roundtrip seat on a union bus from Syracuse.

The Working People’s Day of Action rally is an urgent call for change and occurs only two days before the U.S. Supreme Court will hear Janus. The corporate CEOs and wealthy special interest groups that filed this case are deliberately trying to tilt the power away from the working class. It’s up to us to fight back!

Please register using this link and spread the word on your campus to join us at the Working People’s Day of Action on Feb. 24 at Foley Square, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.:  https://goo.gl/forms/1IuxxpCmE48Cxur52

Travel expenses will not be reimbursed for this event, but seats for UUP members on CSEA buses from our area are still available. There are 20 seats left! CSEA will run roundtrip buses to NYC, with pickup details to be announced. There will be NO COST for union members to participate. The bus will leave from the CSEA Region 5 office: 6595 Kirkville Rd, East Syracuse. We plan to depart at 5 a.m. and return in the evening.

To reserve your spot on the CSEA bus, please RSVP with CSEA Region Political Coordinator Josh Schick at (315) 433-0050.

Attached please find a flier promoting a free screening of the documentary, “Backpack Full of Cash”.  This screening event is scheduled on Thursday, February 8, at the Cinemapolis, 120 East Green Street, Ithaca.  NYSUT members, family, friends, and community members are welcome to attend.  Please contact NYSUT Political Action Coordinators Dave Ritchie should you have any questions.  His contact information is listed on the flier.

Cortland UUP chapter Treasurer Kevin Pristash reports that our members have generously contributed $180 to the Operation Agua campaign, an effort led by a partnership composed of non-profit organizations that include AFT, AFSME, the Seafarers International Union, the Hispanic Federation, and TOTE Maritime.

“To date, Operation Agua has raised $1.5 million—halfway to its initial goal—to purchase and distribute 100,000 individual water filtration systems for households and classrooms, and to install large-capacity clean-water devices to a network of nonprofit organizations, union offices, schools and other community-based groups to provide stable and reliable sources of safe water.” (AFT Media Affairs Press Release, Dec. 21, 2017)

The money our chapter raised will purchase six of the $30 water purification devices that are being provided to classrooms or to families for home use. For more information about Operation Agua, please visit this link:

https://www.aft.org/operation-agua/about.

Thanks to all who signed the Fair Contract Petition!

Despite December 1 through 15th being the busiest two weeks of the semester, UUP was able to collect 364 signatures from members. These signatures come from every Professional unit and Academic department at the college and include

• Faculty Senate officers and college-wide committee chairs;
• UUP members who are also members of many influential community organizations;
• many award-winning faculty and staff of long service;
• and a number of more recently hired employees we hope to retain.

Everyone expressed full support for the cited proposals, and some cited their frustration with the hardships resulting from having to work without a contract.

On Monday, December 18th, Chapter President Joe Westbrook presented and discussed the petition with Campus President Erik Bitterbaum, reviewing the priority proposals that UUP has argued for during negotiations over the past year. Joe felt that everyone who signed the petition was speaking alongside him as he asked President Bitterbaum to urge Chancellor Johnson to support UUP’s reasonable proposals.

A fair contract will serve the interests of SUNY as well as UUP. At the end of their meeting, President Bitterbaum said he would tell the Chancellor that he supports a fair and equitable contract for UUP when he sees her at an event  late in the week before Christmas.

Thanks to all the UUP Cortland members who attended our Union Matters “Contract Forum” on November 14th and stood up to signify their support for the proposals that the UUP Negotiations Team has presented to the State of New York. The chapter is currently asking all Cortland faculty and staff to sign the “United for a Fair Contract” petition.  Look for someone carrying a clipboard in a hallway near you or stop by the chapter office!

Dear Cortland UUP Members,

I’m sharing the memo below with our colleagues for their action by submitting comments. The deadline for submitting comments on SUNY’s Micro-Credentialing Task Force Report and Recommendations is Wed., Nov. 8. The memo below was sent to campuses last month and includes the email address to respond to with comments. I expect many have already seen the memo through campus channels. By circulating it again, please consider this as a “last call” from me to participate in this review process.

Regards,
Jamie Dangler, PhD
Vice President for Academics
United University Professions
1-800-342-4206; jdangler@uupmail.org

Memorandum

To:   Campus Presidents and Chief Academic Officers 

From:   Grace Wang, Interim Provost and Vice Chancellor for Research & Economic Development

Subject:   Comment Period Open: Micro-credentialing Task Force Report & Recommendations

I am very pleased to open a comment period on the recommendations of the SUNY Micro-Credentialing Task Force as included in the attached report. My thanks to the Task Force members, which included representative campus presidents, provosts, faculty governance, student governance, registrars, business officers, institutional researchers, and continuing education officers. The Task Force worked collaboratively to understand the still evolving landscape of micro-credentials and to develop recommendations that help to position SUNY as a leader in this space.

The Task Force recognizes the potential of micro-credentials to: enable campuses to more quickly respond to student need and industry demand; establish new academic/industry partnerships; motivate students to persist toward academic and career goals; and bridge non-credit and credit-bearing coursework and experiences. You will see that the Task Force has recommended a definition for micro-credentials at SUNY and a path moving forward that recognizes the role of faculty in ensuring quality credentials and that is designed to give campuses maximum flexibility in designing a wide-range of micro-credentials to meet student interests and industry needs.

Please provide your feedback via e-mail to: provost@suny.edu by Wednesday, November 8, 2017. If you have any questions in the interim, please contact: Associate Provost Fred Hildebrand at: Fred.Hildebrand@suny.edu.

President, University Faculty Senate

President, Faculty Council of Community Colleges

President, SUNY Student Assembly

Campus Registrars

Campus Business Officers

Institutional Research Directors

Continuing Education Directors

Campus Governance Leaders