Despite what the anti-labor naysayers love to trumpet, it is evident that union members are quick to dip into their pockets or lend a hand to help those who find themselves in less fortunate situations.
Such was the case during the 2010 Winter DA in Albany, where delegates passed a resolution to support Haiti in its efforts to heal and rebuild following the Jan. 12 earthquake. The resolution also called on UUP to pass the hat—an effort that raised more than $1,700 in a matter of minutes. UUP added $1,000 to the donations collected, bringing the total to $2,755.16.
Delegates also acted on a number of other resolutions, including the following:
• Passed a resolution opposing the governor’s so-called Public Higher Education Empowerment and Innovation Act. It calls on UUP to emphasize the danger of establishing a differential tuition plan, through talking points, opinion pieces, letters to editors of mainstream and student newspapers, and face-to-face meetings with lawmakers.
• Adopted a resolution that makes reforming the current regressive state income tax structure a “priority” for the union’s annual legislative agenda, but not the “top priority.”
• OK’d a resolution that calls on UUP to work with all of the state’s public employee unions to fight the governor’s proposal to tax Medicare Part B payments.
• Passed a resolution that calls on UUP to do all in its power to maintain the same retiree health care coverage that is negotiated for active employees.
• Approved a resolution that reaffirms the union’s support for H.R. 676, a bill that promotes a single-payer approach to health care reform. The resolution to reaffirm will also be sent to the AFT to discuss during its annual convention in Seattle this summer. The AFT endorsed H.R. 676 during its 2008 convention.
• Passed a resolution to spread the word of a March 20 anti-war demonstration in Washington, D.C., backed by U.S. Labor Against the War.
• Adopted three special orders of business. The first congratulates Assemblymember Deborah Glick as the 2010 Friend of SUNY Award recipient. A second authorizes “all expenditures necessary” to battle allegations by the Commission on Public Integrity. The last expresses the union’s gratitude to Plattsburgh delegate Patricia Bentley and the other union members who worked on the successful campaign to elect Democrat Bill Owens to the U.S. House of Representatives for the 23rd Congressional District.
• Referred to the statewide Executive Board a resolution that would end UUP’s relationship with the American Association of University Professors.
• Referred to the Membership Committee a resolution to change the nomination procedures for the Fayez Samuel Award for Courageous Service by Part-time Academic and Professional Faculty.
For a complete list of all DA action,
go to www.uupinfo.org and click on DA/Conferences.
The parking lots are nearly empty. The sidewalks sport a light blanket of freshly fallen snow. The classrooms are quiet and vacant. It certainly looks like activity has ground to a halt on this SUNY campus during intersession.
But looks can be deceiving. In fact, professional members of UUP are hard at work keeping SUNY humming and making sure all is in readiness for the semester to come.
“The campus just doesn’t roll up the sidewalks when the last class dismisses,” said Cobleskill’s Director of Residential Life Ed Asselin. “Campus housing is a year-round adventure.”
Among the activities, at least one residence hall remains open to house international students, athletes and students employed at the campus. Training for student and professional staff is being finalized. Carpets are being shampooed and bathroom showers are being upgraded.
Asselin takes part in a critical incident management exercise in his role as assistant vice president for student development and collegiate life.
“This gives us a chance to assess our roles in a practice exercise—how we could respond to incidents like a water main break, a disease outbreak or a violent episode,” he explained.
Another residence professional, UUPer Kimberly Harvey of Geneseo, finds she’s very busy during breaks.
“I use the time that classes are not in session to review and reflect on the work I do as a student affairs practitioner,” said Harvey, Geneseo’s assistant director of residence life and coordinator of residential education. “This allows me to focus on planning ahead for the next academic semester and even academic year.”
That planning involves talking with colleagues about future programs for students. During the summer, Harvey juggles planning with coordinating a three-week training session for residence life staff members.
Calvin Gantt also is hard at work year-round at Geneseo. As the director for the Access Opportunity Program, he oversees a department that provides academic, social and emotional support to students who are the first in their family to go to college. Many of them have been in the U.S fewer than six years or are from underrepresented populations. Gantt works throughout the year to prepare for a summer program that acclimates the students to college.
“We provide these students with a comprehensive experience that will allow them to be better prepared for college,” Gantt explains.
During the winter break, Gantt and his department review more than 1,500 applications to the program and cull that pool to 100 students they admit.
At Delhi, students learning to be veterinary assistants train in a building about a mile from the main campus that is filled with cattle, goats, chickens and pigs. They learn how to handle them, draw blood and conduct diagnostic testing. But Sarah Burkdorf, an instructional support technician who maintains the Large Animal Teaching Facility, and her staff are responsible for the care and feeding of the animals when the students are not on campus.
“It is too hard to sell our animals and then go out and find animals to replace them,” Burkdorf said. “Not only are they safe to work with, but they’re also less likely to bring in disease if you have an established group.”
Besides taking care of the animals when classes aren’t in session, Burkdorf works to “fine tune” the program, as well as budgeting and planning.
At Delhi’s main campus, Assistant Director of Counseling Services Mary Wake tends to the mental health of students, including individual therapy, but that work doesn’t stop when students go home.
“Our students on break and their parents often phone or e-mail needing assistance,” Wake said. “We also tend to the needs of prospective students and their parents who want to know if we’ll be able to treat their children when they’re here.”
She also helps to plan and implement orientation for 1,000 new students, which takes place the weekend prior to the start of the fall semester. Wake said she gets a chance to re-evaluate the work her office performs while students are away.
“It allows for uninterrupted access to my colleagues so that we can more effectively work together to tackle other important tasks like assessment and program changes,” Wake said.
UUP professionals involved in records and technology realize their functions must be maintained and monitored year-round. Old Westbury Registrar Patricia Smith oversees the maintenance of the college’s student record systems, including grades, classroom and course scheduling, services that must be operated for the college to function.
And how could any campus operate without computers? Technical Support Associate Josephine Motyl helps keep Cobleskill up-to-speed technologically. As a software support specialist who manages computer network accounts and services for employees. Motyl said some of her most important work is best performed when the campus is quiet.
“Computer lab configurations and software installation is best done during breaks when interruption of network services is less obstructive,” she said.
The dedication displayed by these UUP professionals is evident. But it’s more apparent by their response to the question of whether they feel frustrated having to work when many others get a break. Not one of them felt the least bit frustrated.
Delhi’s Burkdorf summed up her feelings this way: “It comes with the territory. You can’t just turn the animals off. I am lucky to say that I love my job.”
The news reports of violence and chaos in Haiti in the aftermath of January’s devastating earthquake don’t tell the real story of what’s going on in Haiti.
To understand the earthquake’s true impact is to acquire an awareness of Haiti’s history, its vibrant culture and the resiliency of its proud people.
Five UAlbany professors, all of them UUPers, staged a Feb. 3 teach-in at the college to provide some perspective on the catastrophe, focusing on Haiti’s history, its art and spirituality, and listening to firsthand accounts of how Haitians are coping.
Nearly 300 students packed UAlbany’s Performance Arts Center Recital Hall to hear the lectures.
“We’re getting a very partial, confusing view of what’s going on in Haiti through news coverage,” said Eloise Briere, an associate professor in UAlbany’s department of languages, literatures and culture, and the event’s organizer. “If you know the Haitian people, those reports seem to be an unfair assessment.”
Briere, her husband Jean-Francois Briere, and three other UUPers—Charles Scholes, Glyne Griffith and Phyllis Galembo—took part in the event, which included comments from Fr. Joseph Philippe, a Haitian priest who was in Haiti when the earthquake hit.
Jean-Francois Briere is a professor and chair of the department of languages, literatures and culture. Scholes is a professor of chemistry; Griffith is an associate professor of English and chair of Latin American, Caribbean and U.S Latino Studies; Galembo is an art professor.
Galembo, also a photographer, has traveled to Haiti for almost two decades. She was awarded joint labor/management grants to help finance some of those trips, which resulted in her 1998 book, Vodou, Visions and Voice of Haiti.
“We want to let people who don’t know that much about Haiti to develop an appreciation for its arts and culture,” she said.
“I have many friends in Haiti and Haiti has been a friend to me. I want to help.”
Scholes talked about the earthquake’s impact on a school for the developmentally handicapped in Haiti where he volunteers. Jean-Francois Briere provided a historical overview of Haiti and France after 1804; his book, Haiti et la France: 1804-1848, was published in France in 2008. Griffith took issue with a Jan. 15 New York Times op-ed column about Haiti in his discussion, titled “The Underlying Tragedy: Imperialist Views from the U.S.
“I think the Haitian people are amazingly resilient and strong,” said Eloise Briere. “They threw off the most powerful army in the world, the French Army in 1804, and they did that when they were slaves, without the benefit of education and what it brings.”
More than 200,000 people were killed in the Jan. 12 earthquake, a catastrophic 7.0 magnitude event that hit 16 miles west of Port-au-Prince.
Following the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti, members of UUP, NYSUT and AFT opened their hearts and their wallets to assist Haiti on its road to recovery. But more help is needed.
To make a tax-deductible donation by mail, make checks payable to “NYSUT Disaster Relief Fund,” write “Haiti Relief” on the memo line, and mail to NYSUT, Attn: Jeff Lockwood, Accounting Department, 800 Troy-Schenectady Road, Latham, NY 12110.
To donate online using PayPal, go to http://www.nysut.org/cps/rde/xchg/nysut/hs.xsl/members_10889.htm and click on Make a Donation.
Meanwhile, UUP collected more than $2,700 during the recent Winter Delegate Assembly.
UUP is asking its NYSUT colleagues to vote on five UUP-sponsored resolutions during the 38th Annual Representative Assembly, scheduled for April 29-May 1 in Washington, D.C.
The resolutions submitted by UUP call on NYSUT to:
• Tell lawmakers that public higher education in New York state has suffered enough, and that NYSUT will consider withholding endorsements from lawmakers or candidates who support further budget cuts to SUNY and CUNY. This resolution is co-sponsored by Professional Staff Congress, the faculty union at CUNY;
• Urge lawmakers to oppose any SUNY flexibility legislation that would remove existing governmental oversight of University-related transactions and affiliations, and that NYSUT will consider withholding endorsements from lawmakers or candidates who support “flex” legislation;
• Stress to the Legislature the need to provide parity in funding mechanisms for New York’s higher education systems;
• Advocate for legislation to prevent the unilateral dimunition or elimination of any public sector retirees’ health insurance benefits; and
• Take the following positions on the war in Afghanistan: oppose further escalation of U.S. military forces; urge the immediate withdrawal of troops and contractors; and stress diplomacy and legal means to defeat terrorist conspiracies and networks.
In other action, eligible RA delegates will cast their ballots for NEA state director, and NEA alternate state director, to the NYSUT Board of Directors.
Labor finds new allies to push for clean energy jobs — Labor unions and environmental groups making up the Blue Green Alliance got a boost recently by joining forces with new partners—including retired generals and other veterans, farmers, business leaders and the faith community—to learn more about clean energy legislation in Congress and to visit their senators on Capitol Hill.
AFT activists from Florida, Ohio and West Virginia took part in the Clean Energy, Jobs and Security Forum in January, which featured panels on how creating green jobs will advance the nation’s security.
At the forum, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu described how China has become the world’s top producer of solar panels, electric cars and other green devices invented in the United States, and how our country needs to reverse that trend.
In a new twist for the alliance, two retired generals and other military leaders said they are organizing veterans in support of the energy bill, explaining how climate change and energy insecurity are increasing instability around the world.
AFT outlines new path for public education — In a major address Jan. 12 at the National Press Club, AFT President Randi Weingarten outlined a comprehensive reform plan that can help move public education from an industrial model to one that will better prepare students for today’s knowledge economy.
In her speech, “A New Path Forward: Four Approaches to Quality Teaching and Better Schools,” Weingarten laid out a new approach to teacher evaluation, saying that a strong teacher development and evaluation system is crucial to improving teaching, and is essential for a fair and efficient due process system.
Video and text of her complete speech, as well as multiple supporting documents, are available at www.aft.org.
UUPer Dawn Jones knows how important scholarships are to a struggling college kid trying to work her way through school.
She used to be that kid.
Jones, an associate professor of mathematics at SUNY Brockport, relied on scholarships and other aid to help her earn her undergraduate degree from SUNY Fredonia. As an instructor, she’s watched her share of full-time students take jobs to help them stay in school.
She wanted to help.
So 18 months ago, she and her husband, Mike, established their own scholarship. But the Jones’ scholarship is different than most scholarships at Brockport—or just about anywhere else for that matter.
For starters, the scholarship is open to students who take part in the college’s Tae Kwon Do Club. The Joneses are very involved with the club, which they started 10 years ago, and with tae kwon do; Dawn is a fourth-degree black belt and her husband is a fifth-degree black belt.
But what’s really unique is that the two are using their own money to fund the 18-month-old scholarship until they can collect enough donations to build up a $20,000 endowment that will cover payments in perpetuity. Last year, they reached into their wallets and handed out a $250 scholarship, and they plan to do the same this year.
“Most of our students in tae kwon do are working one job and attending college full time,” said Dawn. “When I started seeing
students taking two jobs because one wasn’t enough, that started to concern me.
“It’s also about paying it forward,” she continued. “I know that I would never have had the opportunity to go onto graduate school if I didn’t have assistance. I know the struggle students go through trying to fund an education, so anything we can do to make it easier for them to focus on education, we’ll do.”
There’s more. The Joneses started a tae kwon do youth and family program—open to alumni and community members—at the college eight years ago. In 2007, the couple launched Brockport’s one-credit beginner’s tae kwon do course, which they lead. They have begun writing an intermediate course that will earn students three hours of college credit.
Dawn said that she and her husband are hoping to have the scholarship’s $20,000 endowment in place over the next three years. They’ve held a number of fundraising events during the last two years. They have run a week-long tae kwon do black belt winter camp in February and collected donations from Brockport alumni and members of the World Martial Arts Association, a tae kwon do group to which they belong.
“All of the people in our tae kwon do club know the power of an education, especially a SUNY education,” she said.
The Joneses plan to continue their philanthropic ways once the tae kwon do scholarship is set. The couple is working on establishing a scholarship for students in the college’s department of recreation and leisure. They have also made a planned gift to the college in their wills.
“We need to look to the future,” she said. “SUNY is being cut at astronomical rates, so we’re hoping that we can help students out.”
Each year, SUNY and numerous academic and professional groups honor hundreds of UUP members for outstanding accomplishments in their disciplines, on campus and in their communities. The Voice is pleased to recognize three of these members.
• Eva Feder Kittay of Stony Brook University has been granted the rank of distinguished professor of philosophy. The distinguished professor designation is conferred on individuals who have achieved national or international prominence in a chosen field.
Kittay’s scholarly work ranges from metaphor to care ethics to feminism. Her book, Love’s Labor, creates an entire area of philosophical inquiry into disability, and most particularly cognitive disability.
Her contributions to disability studies and care ethics earned her the first-ever award given by the Institut Mensche, Ethik, und Wissenshaft, a bioethics and policy institute that has strong influence within the German government.
• Catherine Porter, a professor emerita of French at SUNY Cortland, was elected in December 2009 as president of the Modern Language Association of America (MLA), an international organization serving English and foreign language teachers.
An internationally recognized translator of scholarly works, Porter has been a reviewer of texts and translations for several university presses and reviewed translation grant proposals for the National Endowment for the Humanities. She has also translated 35 books.
• Linda Spear, a distinguished professor of psychology at Binghamton University, has been named to the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
The 15-member council oversees and approves the entire portfolio of research for the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health. The group decides on priority research areas and future funding for alcohol-related research throughout the United States.
Since 2004, Spear has served on the NIAAA’s Extramural Advisory Board, a board of alcohol experts charged with reviewing the entire research portfolio of the institute and recommending future research opportunities to the council. She will continue in that position as well.
UUP is now accepting nominations for three service awards for 2010: the Nina Mitchell Award for Distinguished Service; the Fayez Samuel Award for Courageous Service by Part-time Academic and Professional Faculty; and the Outstanding Active Retiree Award.
Mitchell award—This award recognizes UUPers who have served the union with distinction. Recipients’ service must reflect extensive and significant contributions to UUP at the chapter and statewide levels.
Nominations must come from a chapter executive board or the statewide Executive Board. The deadline is April 15.
The award is named after the late Nina Mitchell, a substance abuse counselor at Brooklyn HSC and former member of the UUP Executive Board.
Samuel award—This award recognizes part-timers who have served the union with courage and distinction, and whose service reflects contributions to UUP at the chapter or state level.
Nominations must come from a chapter executive board or the statewide Executive Board. The deadline is April 15.
The award is named after Fayez Samuel of Farmingdale, former chair of the Part-time Concerns Committee.
Retiree award—This award recognizes UUP retirees who have rendered outstanding volunteer service to their communities and have provided exemplary service to UUP and SUNY after retirement.
UUP’s Committee on Active Retired Membership reviews the nominations.
The deadline is April 15.
Nomination forms can be found on the UUP Web site at www.uupinfo.org.
Many professionals in SUNY normally work a professional obligation and are not tied to particular hours, although they work 37.5 to 40 hours a week depending on campus past practice.
These employees are classified as “exempt” and are not eligible to receive overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). However, they are entitled to compensatory time for service worked beyond their normal professional obligation as defined in the second type of compensatory time in Appendix A-29 of the Agreement between New York State and UUP.
Under the FLSA, professional employees whose professional obligation is directly tied to hours worked are classified as “nonexempt” and are eligible for overtime after working 40 hours. You must determine whether you are “exempt” or “nonexempt” to know which type of compensation you are entitled to receive. If you need help determining your category, contact your UUP chapter officers.
If you are “nonexempt” and work more than 40 hours in a week, those overtime hours are calculated at 1.5 times your normal hourly wage. Up to 240 hours of overtime can be banked. (Please note that because of the 1.5 times the hourly rate factor, you actually worked 160 hours in order to bank the 240 hours.)
After you have accumulated 240 hours in your bank, you must be paid for your overtime, which will show up in your bi-weekly paycheck. Other factors to keep in mind: You are paid for the hours accrued in this bank at the rate you are earning when you leave SUNY; and the campus may choose to pay you from the first overtime hour earned.
Whenever you are faced with an overtime situation, it is important to get your supervisor’s approval before working the extra hours. Your supervisor only has the option to approve or not approve the extra hours. If you are classified as “nonexempt,” according to the FLSA you cannot work overtime without the appropriate compensation.
All professionals who are “exempt” from earning overtime can earn compensatory time. Compensatory time has been around for a long time and it is defined in our contract (Appendix A-29). Comp time can be earned for performing your duties beyond your normal professional obligation and can be used at a mutually agreed upon time in the future. It is not accrued hour for hour or by any other factor.
For example, you normally work Monday through Friday. On Thursday, your supervisor asks you to work on Saturday. That is the time you should discuss how much compensatory time you will earn for the extra work. In this situation, your supervisor might offer you another day off in order to compensate you for working the extra time. A sample memo is included at the end of Appendix A-29 and can be used to document the compensatory time.
There are many different scenarios in which you can earn compensatory time.
Whatever it may be, you should get the compensation commitment before you do the extra work.
From time to time, members tell me that their supervisor says that overtime and comp time do not exist in SUNY. That is absolutely not true. They do exist, and there is contract language and federal law to prove it.
Contact your UUP chapter leaders if compensation for extra work is not acknowledged by your immediate supervisor.
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