New York can’t fix its budget woes on the backs of students and their parents. But that’s exactly what’s happening. The governor’s Executive Budget proposal again slams SUNY, this time to the tune of $153 million.

UUP knows that students and parents would be asked to pay more, and get less, if these cuts are enacted. That’s why the union is fighting back with a multifaceted public awareness campaign that includes a television ad, and a new proactive Web site that urge lawmakers to keep their promise of a quality, affordable college education for all New Yorkers.

Television ad

The 30-second TV ad—which features UUP members and SUNY students—was videotaped in January at various Capital District locations, including the UAlbany campus, a local diner and a homeowner’s kitchen. It hit the airwaves in major media markets—including Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, Long Island, New York City and Syracuse—in early February and continues this month. The union’s Communications Department produced the TV spot.

“The governor says he’ll keep cutting millions from the State University of New York,” the TV ad begins. “What do you say?”

Answering that question are a SUNY student, a worker, a business owner, and a parent:

“If tuition goes up, I’ll have to drop out. … Cuts hurt students.”

“I won’t be able to afford college for my kids. … Cuts hurt families.”

“To turn things around, we need a skilled, educated workforce. … Cuts hurt the economy.”

“Don’t deny our kids opportunity. … Cuts hurt our future.”

The final note: “We can’t afford to sacrifice our children’s future. Tell Albany to reject the cuts and save SUNY.”

Featured in the TV ad are UUPers James Pasquill and Karen McNeill of UAlbany, Ron Komora of the New York State Theatre Institute, and UUP Secretary Eileen Landy.

SaveSUNY.org

The television ad prompts viewers to visit SaveSUNY.org, UUP’s Web site designed specifically to educate students, citizens and lawmakers on the deep cuts to SUNY in the last two years. It encourages all New Yorkers to speak up for SUNY by signing an online petition and faxing letters urging lawmakers to reject Executive Budget proposals to cut SUNY funding.

In addition, UUP has placed banner ads that tease SaveSUNY.org on Web sites such as Syracuse.com, weather.com, CNN.com, PressConnects.com, BuffaloNews.com, Newsday.com and Facebook. The banner ads are “geotargeted” to New York state.

Ads will also appear on Google when people actively search for information about SUNY or UUP. The ads will prompt them to the SaveSUNY.org site.

Under the banner “Save SUNY: Don’t balance the budget on my future,” SaveSUNY.org features testimonials of students and parents who would be directly affected by the governor’s proposed cuts, as well as the TV ad and relevant news articles on the more than $400 million in cuts already imposed on SUNY. It also links people to UUP via Facebook and Twitter, and cross-links rally video and the TV ad to YouTube.

“The threats to the state university are urgent,” said UUP President Phillip Smith. “We will use every media outlet available to get our lawmakers to see that derailing public higher education is the wrong way to serve New Yorkers or to get the state’s economy back on track.”

— Karen L. Mattison

“The state of our union is strong,” UUP President Phillip Smith exclaimed as he began his hour-long address at the opening plenary session of the 2010 Winter Delegate Assembly. He pointed to the largest rally UUP had ever held (see related story, page 4), to the biggest turnout of members for a union advocacy day (Jan. 26 in Albany), and to chapters conducting meetings with state lawmakers in their home districts.

But Smith indicated UUP will need to muster every ounce of that strength to meet the challenges it faces.

“Our University is on the critical list,” Smith warned the nearly 400 delegates, observers and committee members attending the Winter DA, held Feb. 5-6 in Albany. He said the nearly $153 million cut for SUNY called for in the governor’s proposed budget represents 25 percent of the total amount of state agency reductions. But Smith cautioned that the hit to SUNY could directly impact members’ wallets.

The governor is looking to save $250 million through contract renegotiations, and SUNY’s share of that amount is $34.4 million. What does that mean for UUP?

“We don’t know what the governor has in mind,” Smith said, suggesting the administration may want to cancel the 4 percent contractual salary increases for this year or impose a pay lag. But Smith pledged the union will remain firm. “We will not negotiate on any of this,” he said.

Smith saved his strongest criticism for the governor’s proposed Public Higher Education Empowerment and Innovation Act, which he said could more accurately be referred to as the “Endangerment and Injury Act.”

“This bill is nothing more than a thinly veiled excuse for the state to walk away from funding public higher education,” he said, leaving SUNY to rely more heavily on tuition for revenue. The proposal would allow SUNY to raise tuition without legislative approval and permit campuses to set their own, varying tuition rates.

Smith took aim at the bill’s provisions to allow campuses to lease land and negotiate public/private partnerships with minimal oversight. Smith warned that no money would be generated by such deals, and that the staff working in new buildings resulting from such deals may not be UUP members.

“This bill is anti-labor. It will cut our throats. We can’t let it happen,” he said.

In an earlier address to chapter presidents and vice presidents, Smith took issue with the grandiose claims SUNY is making, such as the promise of 10,000 new faculty jobs.

“The stuff SUNY is putting out is just incredible,” he said. “People must understand that this proposal is not a panacea. We’re concerned about students who are trying to get their foot in the door to higher education.”

Smith told delegates that UUP is preparing a public awareness campaign to defeat the proposal.

The delegates gave a standing ovation to state Assembly Higher Education Committee Chair Deborah Glick, who has supported the union in its fight against A./S. 2020, a similar “flexibility” bill, last year. On hand to accept UUP’s Friend of SUNY Award, Glick pledged her opposition to the governor’s proposal.

“SUNY is a state university and it will remain a state university,” she said. “I pledge to you to do everything I can to minimize the damage. They will not stampede us into a wholesale privatization.”

Another long-time ally of UUP, AFT President Randi Weingarten, delivered an impassioned speech to the delegates. In her Friday dinner address, she saluted UUP as “a bastion of higher education organizing,” citing its growth from 3,500 members at its inception to 35,000 today.

Weingarten cautioned the delegates about a political backlash building against unions in the wake of high unemployment. She said that, more and more, the labor movement is being portrayed as a special interest because it protects its members’ jobs.

“If we don’t get out of this recession, think about what some of these folks will say about college professors. What do they do? How long do they teach?” she said.

Weingarten advised the delegates to take action before this happens.

“Say that students matter and students count. Do it more and more,” she recommended. “We’re successful because people know we care about the people we serve, not just the people we represent.”

Delegates also had a full menu of committee meetings during the two-day convention and took action on a number of resolutions.

More than 75 academics packed the Academics Delegates Meeting to hear from three Oneonta faculty members. Robert Compton, Hanfu Mi and Ho Hon Leung explained how faculty from different academic disciplines collaborated to put together a book titled, Imagining Globalization: Languages, Identities and Boundaries that explores the various aspects of globalization. Nine of the 12 authors of the book are from SUNY Oneonta. The discussion was moderated by Vice President for Academics Frederick Floss.

“This was a wonderful project done by wonderful colleagues,” said Leung, the book’s principal editor.

Meanwhile, the union’s new guide for professional employees was the main topic of discussion during the Professional Delegates Meeting. More than 75 professionals attended the meeting and took the opportunity to get answers on the handbook and issues such as permanent appointment from statewide Vice President for Professionals John Marino.

UUP also collected $1,920 through a silent auction to benefit the UUP College Scholarship Fund, which awards annual scholarships to SUNY?undergraduates.

— Donald Feldstein

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.

— Karen L. Mattison

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.”

— Donald Feldstein

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.

— Michael Lisi

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.”

— Michael Lisi