UUP’s annual advocacy activities at the Capitol in Albany accelerated this month, as UUP members returned to the Capitol and met with lawmakers to pursue the union’s 2008 Legislative Agenda. Among other things, the agenda calls for enough state funding to reach a point where 70 percent of SUNY’s faculty are full time at each state-operated campus.

“The ultimate goal of our Legislative Agenda is to continue leading SUNY down the road to becoming the greatest public university in the nation,” said

UUP Acting President Frederick Floss.

“Hiring more full-time faculty and protecting SUNY hospitals from any new privatization attempts are critical to getting us there.”

In addition to its call for additional full-time lines and the funds to pay for them, UUP’s agenda seeks to safeguard from privatization SUNY’s three teaching hospitals in Brooklyn, Stony Brook and Syracuse. It also calls for more state support for the hospitals, health science centers, four-year and technology colleges, and university centers.

Other priorities include safeguarding programs that promote student success and the full funding of SUNY’s multicultural initiatives.

“We’re also going to tell lawmakers that SUNY plays a significant role in the state’s economy, as well as for the communities surrounding its campuses,” Floss said. “The underfunding of SUNY that’s lasted for two decades must end.”

The highlight of UUP’s advocacy is the union’s Legislative Luncheon. The annual event — taking place this year Feb. 12 — brings together UUP members from across the state and dozens of state lawmakers.

Among those invited to speak are Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Assembly Majority Leader Ron Canestrari, Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith and Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco. Also invited are the chairs of the higher education committees in each house, Sen. Kenneth LaValle and Assemblywoman Deborah Glick.  

“Our Legislative Luncheon gives our members the chance to meet face-to-face with lawmakers from their home districts to drive home the importance of our agenda,” said UUP Outreach Committee Co-chair Glenn McNitt. “They appreciate being able to discuss the issues with their constituents.”

Copies of the agenda will be distributed to lawmakers and their staffs at the luncheon.   

UUP got a jump on its advocacy activities with a 30-second television advertisement aimed at persuading Gov. Eliot Spitzer to fully fund SUNY in his 2008-2009 Executive Budget proposal. The TV ad aired in the Capital Region during the weeks of Dec. 17 and Jan. 2, as the governor’s staff was putting together the state budget that was due for release Jan. 22.

Floss appeared in the ads, stressing that SUNY produces “well-trained graduates (who) become magnets for jobs … jobs that will revitalize Upstate New York.” He said for that process to continue, SUNY needs more faculty and more support for its students.

“We at SUNY are part of New York’s growth machine. All we need is more fuel,” Floss said at the conclusion of the TV ad.

UUP has another TV ad in the works, aimed at encouraging lawmakers to pass a state budget that boosts funding for the state university, including funds for additional full-time academic and professional faculty. That ad will likely begin airing in March, in the weeks leading up to final passage of the state budget, which is due each year by April 1.  

—    Donald Feldstein