UUP President Phillip Smith summed up his first face-to-face meeting with new SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher as “a very good meeting.”

The two met Sept. 22 for an hour in the chancellor’s office at SUNY headquarters in Albany.

“We began to forge a positive and productive relationship,” Smith said.

“We pledged to work together in areas where we agree, and to work assiduously in areas where we have differences.”

The two had some preliminary discussions on the topic of campus flexibility, an issue that has raised great concern within UUP. Smith said the chancellor shares UUP’s view that accessibility and affordability should be high priorities for SUNY, and she agrees with UUP on the need to protect campus assets.

Smith believes Zimpher has an appreciation of collective bargaining, after the chancellor described her experiences with the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) when she was president at the University of Cincinnati. There, she adopted a cooperative attitude in discussions with AAUP, which represents faculty at UCincinnati.

Additionally, Smith thinks Zimpher will be a strong advocate for SUNY who can help the union appeal for more state support for the University.

“The chancellor agrees with UUP that New York state needs to take greater responsibility for its public universities,” he said.

Smith said he and the chancellor decided to meet again as needed.

— Donald Feldstein