Union activists taking time out of their busy schedules to attend the Chapter Presidents and Vice Presidents meeting in August — 60.

Days gathered in meeting rooms at Fort William Henry in Lake George — 2.

Lessons learned and experiences shared — Countless.

It may sound like a TV commercial, but it’s actually the sentiment of UUP’s dedicated chapter leaders. They understand the importance of coming together to discuss campus issues, and to hear and share what works at other chapters facing similar situations.

One example: Empire State Chapter President Jay Gilbert said a lot of his newer colleagues were unaware of many contract provisions, and problems that could be easily resolved often were left to fester. A possible solution shared by the group was to have UUP/NYSUT labor relations specialists offer a workshop on contract issues and enforcement. Cortland Chapter President Lawrence Ashley jumped on board, going so far as to place a cell phone call to UUP/NYSUT Director of Staff Peter Martineau — who sat across the room — to schedule a workshop.

What made the August meeting unique were the break-out sessions, where chapter leaders met with their peers from similar campus types to outline their shared problems and to strategize on ways to solve them. It also provided the perfect opportunity to let the statewide officers know what’s on their members’ minds.

Before breaking into work groups, the leaders heard reports from statewide officers and discussed a number of topics affecting members, ranging from tenure and promotion, to discretionary salary increases, to retirement initiatives.

UUP President William Scheuerman updated participants on the status of UUP/NYSUT-supported legislation (see story on page 5), while Chief Negotiator and Vice President for Academics Frederick Floss reported on the status of negotiations (see story on page 9).

Participants split into four groups — health science centers; university centers; comprehensive colleges; and technology sector colleges — and then reported back to the full delegation.

Health science centers: Carol Braund of Upstate Medical University reported on the most pressing needs at the HSCs. Among them: nursing salaries, mandatory overtime and improper staffing.

“The inconsistencies in salaries on and between campuses is causing animosity among the nursing staff,” Braund said. “This is one of our top concerns.”

University centers: Darryl Wood of Binghamton said his colleagues are concerned about the distribution of discretionary salary increases (DSI) and part-timer issues, and strongly recommended UUP offer supervisors a number of workshops on contractual issues.

Also discussed: That UUP work should count. “What we do as unionists is actually part of our University service,” Wood said.

Comprehensive: John Delate of Purchase presented a list of issues addressed during the workgroup. Among them: salary compression; the exploitation of part-timer members; assessment; DSI; tenure review; and workload.

“It’s important we work with campus administrators to resolve these problems,” Delate reported.

Technology Sector Colleges: John Thomas Hogle of Morris-ville spoke for all UUPers at the Technology Sector Colleges when he said, “Salary inequity is our No. 1 concern.”

Despite the different concerns among campus types, most participants agreed the two-day session taught them valuable lessons.

Hailey Ruoff, a UUP delegate from SUNY Cortland, admitted she felt “isolated” when she first took over in June as chapter vice president for professionals. But she walked away from the meeting knowing she wasn’t in it alone.

“I now know that the problems we face at Cortland are happening all over,” Ruoff said. “It was an amazing experience to bounce ideas and best practices around.”

— Karen L. Mattison