by Jaclyn Pittsley, President –

To say that it’s been a difficult semester is to understate just how challenging this fall 2020 semester has been. I will not patronize you or fob you off by saying that it has been otherwise. Everyone has been working around the clock to try and deliver the education our students need throughout this semester. We are all exhausted. We are all worried about the financial health of Cortland and SUNY. We are worried about our jobs. We are worried about enrollment. We are worried about our students. We are worried about the safety of our families and friends, and, of course, we are concerned about our own well-being.

We have been dealing with difficult issues:

• Our members in essential positions and areas have been working tirelessly throughout the pandemic to keep the college operating;

• Our members in information resources have gone above and beyond the call to establish and maintain technology to accommodate our new hybrid and online classroom modalities;

• Our members in the counseling center have been inundated with students who have serious issues related to isolation, fear about the pandemic, worry about sick family members and friends – all in addition to students’ more general needs for their mental health;

• Our members working in facilities have been establishing, checking, and re-checking protocol to keep buildings safe;

• Our members working as Residence Hall Directors have been available on a 24/7 basis, their effort indefatigable and their work ethic irreproachable to take care of students;

• Our members who are teaching students have been forced to pivot many times as they have striven to provide a quality learning experience in their courses;

• Our members working in the library have changed the culture of the library to accommodate the burgeoning needs of students for quiet, useful study spaces while maintaining social distancing, in addition to modifying all of the other services they offer;

• Several of our members have been volunteering to deliver meals and doing other work to help students who are in isolation and quarantine;

• All of our members have been managing issues of isolation, childcare, illness, (sometimes) tricky technology, and increased workload.

And our members have been facing a multitude of other issues that, while too plentiful to list here, are in need of real recognition and appreciation.

As your UUP Cortland Chapter President, I want to thank everyone, most sincerely, for every thing you have done, major and minor, acknowledged and unacknowledged, to keep our students healthy and as happy as possible in such a restricted environment.

If our members had not risen to the occasion and voluntarily gone above and beyond the call of duty, without compensation of any kind, then SUNY Cortland would not have operated as successfully as it has this fall.

Some of our members who have been working at Cortland for more than a decade, have no position in the winter/spring 2021 semester. They will have no classes to teach, no athletics to coach; they will have no health insurance, and they will be facing personal financial crises that I can hardly imagine, but with which I absolutely empathize.

Some of you are struggling to cope with loss of loved ones, whether from complications related to COVID 19, from other illnesses, catastrophes, or accidents. You have my thoughts and prayers.

UUP has worked very hard to be sensitive to the issues you have all been facing, the fear and frustration you have been feeling.

In order to insure that your voice is heard and that you are receiving all the assistance your union can offer, we have been holding both open house virtual meetings, and targeted membership meetings.  We want to thank our members who have participated in these meetings, as we need to be kept aware of your concerns so that we can continue to fight to maintain and, indeed, improve your terms and conditions of employment through our Labor Management meetings with the administration. If we are not informed, we cannot keep our dialogue with management progressing, and I thank you. Although most of our members are not comfortable visiting the UUP Chapter office, now located back in Moffett Room 001, our officers have been readily available using virtual platforms to meet and discuss individual issues and member needs.

We have been reaching out to our newly hired members and other non-members to continue to develop and increase our membership. We thank every member for remaining committed as a member of UUP, and we welcome new members every day. Please do consider signing up to be a member of your union, if you have not already done so. The benefits are immeasurable, and the downside nil. UUP is our union.

UUP has hosted an insightful Fall Membership meeting, at which we were able to have fellowship at a safe distance, and hear words of inspiration and friendship from our leaders statewide.

Our UUP Statewide affiliates have been working diligently with the Chancellor and in Labor Management meetings to keep us all safe with mandatory surveillance testing provided for free to UUP represented employees; they have worked to keep the aggregation of our scholarship, research, and work safe with the Agreement to Adjust the Tenure Clock; and they have worked to establish our ground-breaking Telecommuting Pilot Program to keep density on campuses at a minimum and prevent the spread of COVID 19.

I have personally met Chancellor Malatras, and I know he is aware of our concerns, and our issues, and he is in daily contact with our UUP President Fred Kowal to try and balance the needs of the campuses and our communities with the needs of those who live and work there.

The Cortland Community is facing financial meltdown as well, their businesses having not been patronized by the campus community. This has resulted in the loss of uncountable jobs and income. In an effort to assist the local community, UUP has conducted a food drive to benefit customers at Catholic Charities of Cortland County, from November 4-December 4. We have collected non-perishable food items, hygiene items, and unwrapped gifts to be donated before the end-of-year holiday season.

UUP wishes the Cortland Community well and will continue to support its citizens in any way we can.

What else can we do as we look ahead to the spring, when we know, as it has this semester, the campus will not be able to operate successfully in the spring if we do not continue our heroic work?

First, take a break! Management has been very receptive in conversations with UUP about taking some time over the winter break for self-care and recharging for the spring semester.

Second, reach out. Please reach out to your UUP leadership with issues and concerns. We are doing and will continue to do our best to communicate with our members and work to protect their jobs and their interests. We will continue to reach out to others who need us more than we need them.

Third, remember what is good. I will not bore you with platitudes, and sometimes, some days, there is nothing good.

But, other times, there is. For me, there is putting on the outfit I picked out the night before and taking extra care with makeup. There is the one day I get home before dark. There is hugging my niece, tickling my nephew, petting a cat, and chasing my dog around the yard.  There are my few close friends upon whom I rely, a lot these days, for solace and succor.

There is UUP, and the solidarity that binds us together. We will never stop fighting for you.

Be Safe,

Jaclyn Pittsley