UUP Cortland Chapter

Dear UUP members,

Our UUP Cortland Chapter will soon conduct elections for professional employee representatives on two important campus committees established under Appendix A-28 of the UUP-New York State Agreement: the College Review Panel and the Committee on Professional Evaluation.
We will elect three members to the seven-member College Review Panel and three members to the Committee on Professional Evaluation.

The College Review Panel plays an important role in the contractual process available to professional employees who have been denied a promotion or salary increase. The Panel reviews appeals and makes recommendations to the College President. Its work provides professional employees with an important peer voice in decisions that can directly affect their careers and compensation.
The Committee on Professional Evaluation reviews appeals involving final unsatisfactory performance evaluations and makes recommendations to the College President. This committee also provides an important layer of peer review and helps ensure that the contractual evaluation process is followed fairly.

Both committees have done excellent and thoughtful work in recent years. Their members have carefully reviewed cases, applied the provisions of our agreement, and helped protect the contractual rights of professional employees.
You do not need prior experience with Appendix A-28 to serve. Training will be provided. For those elected to the College Review Panel, returning members will also be available to provide guidance and continuity.

If you are interested in standing for election to either committee, please complete the Microsoft Form below by Friday, September 25, 2026.

(Professional Employee Representative Nomination Form)

The form will ask for your contact information, the committee or committees you are interested in, and a short biography and statement explaining why you would like to serve. Those materials will be shared with professional employees as part of the election.

After the submission deadline, eligible professional employees will receive information about the candidates and instructions for voting.

Serving on one of these committees is an important way to support your colleagues, strengthen the professional voice on campus, and help ensure that the protections contained in our contract work as intended. Please consider putting your name forward.

In solidarity,

Justin Neretich

Dear UUP Members:

We welcome articles and letters submitted by UUP members of the SUNY Cortland Community.
Please share your thoughts with us – we want to hear from you!
Opinions expressed in The Cortland Cause are those of the individuals and are neither endorsed by nor represent the views of UUP. Please note: The Cortland Cause will generally not print anonymous submissions.
“We reserve the right to edit submissions for grammar, space limitations, accuracy, etc., and to request changes to submissions, whether prior to or after publication.”
UUP will be finalizing our next issue of The Cortland Cause on Thursday, October 8, 2026.
If you are interested in submitting an article, photo, or other piece, please send it to Cortland@uupmail.org and our newsletter editor at Jaclyn.pittsley@cortland.edu no later than 5pm, Thursday, __October 1, 2026__________________.
Please visit https://uuphost.org/cortland/ to see previous issues of our Award-Winning newsletter.

Monthly Communication Highlights
UUP Cortland Chapter | September 2026                     Website: https://uuphost.org/cortland/

September Schedule of Events: 

Meetings:
Monday, September 14, 2026:     Members’ Forum & Executive Board Meeting
Monday, September 21, 2026:     L/M Meeting
Monday, September 28, 2026:     Executive Officers’ Meeting

Open Houses:

Wednesday, September 16, 2026: 9:30am – 11:30am, Chapter Office, 001 Moffett Ctr.
Tuesday, September 29, 2026: 12:30pm -2:30pm, Chapter Office, 001 Moffett Center

Labor Day Parade:

Monday, September 7, 2026: 10:00am, March in the Labor Day Parade at the NYS Fairgrounds. join your UUP colleagues and other labor union members to march in the Annual New York State Fair Labor Day Parade. Family Hour starts at 10:00a.m. Meet up with the other UUP members behind the Expo Center at 10:00am for a brief rally and picture taking and then join in the march. Please RSVP to reserve your free entry tickets.

UUP Fall Kickoff Picnic:
Thursday, September 3^rd:  3:00pm – 6pm at Yaman Park, Kennedy Pkwy off Route 13 in Cortland. Please RSVP here.

Delegate Assembly

The Fall UUP Delegate Assembly is on October 9th & 10^th at the Albany Hilton in Albany, NY.  Registration is open to seated delegates. It closes on Monday, August 31^st.

The UUP Benefit Trust Fund is pleased to announce active UUP-represented
employees will have the option to choose between two dental PPO plans:

• Delta Dental PPO
• MetLife Dental PPO (new)

To help you make an informed decision, we invite you to attend an upcoming webinar where we will:

• Review both dental plan options
• Discuss key considerations for evaluating provider networks to support your plan selection
• Walk through the open enrollment process, taking place September 1 – October 31, 2026
• Answer your questions during a live Q&A session

Please register today for an Informational webinar to learn about your dental plan options: https://forms.gle/dCQfxTbcEW8Nc6CK8

UUP 101 – Who is UUP?

The webinar will be held on:
Wednesday, September 16 from 5:00pm -6:30pm
To join the discussion, please register using the link below.
https://forms.gle/R1gVWbKzxWPMnNaW9

Members Only Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Clinics on the following dates:
Wednesday, September 9^th from 5:00pm to 6:30pm via zoom
Wednesday, September 30^th from 11:30am – 1:00pm via zoom

To attend one of the virtual Members Only Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Clinics, you must pre-register here: http://go.aft.org/StudentDebtClinicRSVP. From the “student debt clinic” drop down menu, please select the UUP clinic that you are interested in attending – they are labeled “UUP [Virtual Student Debt Clinic] [date] [time].” In the affiliate field, type in the full name of our local (United University Professions), and it will autofill after a few keystrokes.

Registration is first-come, first-serve, and we must cap attendance for a single clinic at 125 participants to ensure that we are able to provide maximum assistance to attendees. Registration will close 48 hours prior to the virtual clinic. Webinar login information will be provided prior to the clinic to all who register.

Retirement Benefits Workshops Part 1 & 2:
The pre-retirement webinar workshops, part 1 – (Healthcare/Medicare) and part 2 – (Union Benefits: dental/vision) will take place online on
Tuesday, September 22^nd  at 7:00pm for part 1 https://forms.gle/4PSoAjmaQo5t7VCi8
Thursday September 24^th at 7:00pm for part 2. https://forms.gle/4PSoAjmaQo5t7VCi8
You can also register online www.uupinfo.org using the calendar

Know Your Negotiated Benefits:
There will be an online webinar on Tuesday, September 15^th at Noon.
Please register:  https://forms.gle/Vwh1A1TEyXx59UtB9

The UUP Statewide office is CLOSED on Labor Day