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UUP President Phillip Smith has stressed the urgent need for UUP members to become active as advocates for the union, as UUP and SUNY face a massive budget crisis.
Members are answering the call, turning out at a series of advocacy training sessions across the state.
“We’re giving members the tools and knowledge they will need to effectively advocate for the University with their local legislators,” said Smith, who attended most of the sessions. “The dire situation SUNY finds itself in requires us to ban together to influence the outcome.”
Outreach Committee co-chair Glenn McNitt of New Paltz, who helped lead the training sessions, emphasized the current threat to SUNY and UUP is more severe and potentially devastating than any they’ve faced before.
“UUP has always taken its outreach activities seriously, but the barrier to being made whole again has never been so high before,” he said. “People are recognizing the crisis and want to do what they can to help in their region and in Albany.”
At each session, members learned advocacy skills and how to pull together faculty, students and local businesses to jointly advocate for SUNY. Some of the sessions had participants engage in a role-playing exercise, presenting issues and concerns during a simulated audience with a lawmaker. Chapter members were urged to hit the streets in their communities to speak with local business owners and ask them to post “SUNY is the solution” signs in their stores. The plan is to have chapters organize their own advocacy programs that include visits with state legislators in their district offices.
The dozen UUP members who attended the initial training session at Purchase put their new skills to work right away, by inviting local Assemblyman Adam Bradley (D-White Plains) to campus for a luncheon meeting.
“We advocated for Purchase and SUNY, and Assemblyman Bradley responded with a pledge of continued support for the SUNY mission,” Purchase Chapter President John Delate said.
Nearly two dozen UUPers took part in a training session in Syracuse, with members from the Upstate Medical, Cortland, Morrisville, Environmental Science & Forestry and Brockport chapters in attendance.
“The best thing I got from the training session had to do with what we can and should do as a local chapter,” Cortland Chapter Vice President for Academics Jamie Dangler said. “I’m more convinced that we should devote a ‘Union Matters’ session (Cortland’s monthly luncheon meeting for UUP members) to local advocacy and connecting with local business people.”
Over 40 members attended the training session in Buffalo. Many of those who participated had never done any outreach activities before.
“The outreach training emphasized the need for UUP and SUNY to act as one during this financial crisis,” said Buffalo State Chapter President Richard Stempniak.
At each venue, McNitt left the newly trained advocates with a clear charge.
“Step up for SUNY,” he said. “We’re the voice for SUNY and UUP members. Go out there and be effective advocates for SUNY and UUP.”
Smith is urging advocates to keep in mind what SUNY means to the state as a whole, including its technological advances.
“The MRI was invented at SUNY, and SUNY ranks among the top of all U.S. universities receiving the most patents for inventions,” Smith said. “If SUNY doesn’t have the funds it needs to attract and retain the best faculty, this talent for innovation will diminish.”
UUP’s outreach team also conducted training sessions in Lake Placid, Albany and Stony Brook in October.
— Donald Feldstein