Delegates condemned the retrenchment of Nylink employees, voted to honor a defender of SUNY, and reflected on the failed Public Higher Education Empowerment and Innovation Act (PHEEIA) during the 2010 Fall Delegate Assembly.

Also, President Phil Smith appealed to delegates to energize their chapters to help elect candidates endorsed by New York State United Teachers in the November election.

More than 200 delegates attended the DA, held last month in Buffalo. Much of the DA’s business was condensed so delegates could participate in the One Nation march Oct. 2 in Washington, D.C.

Smith urged delegates to get their chapters involved in local phone banks and other election events. It is imperative to elect lawmakers who understand the importance of higher education in New York and properly funding and maintaining the integrity of SUNY, he said.

“This will be a tough year,” Smith said. “We all have to become active. We need you to get out there and get your folks involved.”

Delegates voted to register strong disapproval for the Nylink retrench-ments and expressed support for those employees and other System Adminis-tration workers who were furloughed.

Smith said there was no need for retrenchments at Nylink, or possible retrenchments at Brooklyn’s Downstate Medical Center, where 39 unionized employees received non-renewal notices in September. SUNY should use some of its nearly $600 million in reserves to alleviate those situations. Chancellor Nancy Zimpher has promised to use $147 million in reserves to make up for SUNY state aid budget cuts; SUNY had not done so as The Voice went to press.

Smith put little stock in a “framework” of a deal for PHEEIA announced by Senate Democrats when the state’s 2010-11 budget was passed Aug. 3.

The proposal, left out of the budget after strong opposition by UUP and key lawmakers like Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, would have essentially corporatized SUNY by allowing campuses to raise tuition and enter into contracts and leases without state oversight, if enacted.

“The framework is made out of tooth picks, if there is a framework,” he said.

Still, Smith predicted that the nebulous proposal will be back in some form.

“We plan to move ahead opposing parts of the plan we don’t like,” he said.

Delegates also approved a special order to honor Silver (D-Manhattan) with the Eugene P. Link Award for Outstanding Service. The Assembly speaker stood against PHEEIA despite extreme pressure from SUNY administration and Gov. David Paterson to include it in the spending plan.

“We didn’t know what a special friend he was until he spoke out for us this year,” said Nuala McGann Drescher of Buffalo State, who offered the measure. “We have a champion here.”

No date was set for Silver’s award ceremony, although the resolution dictated it must be held by April 2011.

During the fast-paced DA, delegates participated in back-to-back committee meetings, during which they tackled such topics as women’s rights, part-time and contingent affairs, equity and diversity, affirmative action, technology, and health care.

Delegates also:

• Honored Vicki Janik of Farming-dale and Larry Wittner of Albany as recipients of the Nina Mitchell Award for Distinguished Service.

• Honored Stephen Street of Buffalo State and Elena Eritta of Farmingdale as recipients of the Fayez Samuel Award for Courageous Service by Part-time Academic and Professional Faculty.

• Honored Henry Geerken of Cobleskill and Dave Peckham of Upstate Medical University as recipients of the Outstanding Active Retiree Award.

• Awarded three SUNY students—Christine Kirkpatrick and Stan McKay of Geneseo, and Katherine Raymond of Oswego—with UUP College Scholarships.

• Donated $757 in a special collection to benefit Buffalo area food banks.

— Michael Lisi