UUPers mounted an aggressive effort to secure passage of the union’s legislative agenda during a series of advocacy days in Albany.

UUPers knocked on the doors of no less than 60 state lawmakers combined during NYSUT Higher Education Advocacy Day Feb. 27, and University Center/Health Science Center/Optometry Advocacy Day March 6. On March 13, more than 40 UUPers returned to the Capitol for University College/EOP/EOC/Library/ Part-timer Advocacy Day, and visited 50 legislators.

“The next three weeks are crucial,” UUP President William Scheuerman told the union advocates of the task before them. “This is the year where we really have to turn the corner.”

UUP began turning that corner last year when it convinced state lawmakers to override the veto of then-Gov. George Pataki to add $25 million to the state budget to enable SUNY to hire more full-time faculty. This year, the emphasis was on maintaining that momentum.

Fredonia UUPers Ziya Arnavut, left and Tom Morrissey listen to Assemblyman Darrel Aubertine's response to their request for more funding for SUNY

Higher Ed Advocacy Day

UUPers wasted no time getting started on their initial advocacy day, emphasizing the need for an additional $35 million in this year’s state budget to hire as many as 350 more full-time faculty. They also forcefully spoke against the privatization of the three SUNY-operated hospitals in Brooklyn, Syracuse and Stony Brook, sparked by the recommendations of the Berger Commission.

“The Berger report was supposed to be about beds, not privatization,” UUP Vice President for Academics Frederick Floss told Assemblyman Darrel Aubertine.

UUP garnered support from many legislators. For example, Sen. Catherine Young said she realizes SUNY’s need for more full-time academic and professional faculty. The senator used a personal anecdote to reflect her support for additional resources for SUNY libraries.

“My daughter who attends Geneseo had to go to the University of Rochester because Geneseo’s library didn’t have what she needed,” Sen. Young observed.

SUNY Outreach Committee Chair Glenn McNitt of New Paltz pressed the need for additional subsidies for the SUNY hospitals and opposed privatizing them in his meeting with Sen. John Boniac. UUP seeks a $22 million increase in the state subsidy to the SUNY hospitals, $35 million to begin closing the hospitals’ annual operating deficits, and $5 million for Buffalo HSC. Boniac said he was impressed with UUP’s knowledge about hospitals, and made a pledge.

“The Legislature will be your ally,” Boniac said. “We will not let the state devastate the hospitals.”

The perils of privatization got a strong airing during a meeting with Assembly-man William Magnarelli.

“If we lose our burn unit and trauma center to privatization, where are our students going to get the training?” asked David Peckham of Upstate Medical University.

Univ. Ctr./HSC/Optometry Day

Nearly 20 UUPers from Brooklyn, including Chapter President and UUP Treasurer Rowena Blackman-Stroud, made the trip to Albany along with a

group from Upstate Medical to zero in on the needs of the SUNY hospitals. The Brooklyn delegation stressed the services it offers that could be lost to privatization, including its highly-regarded intensive care unit, as well as its three community health centers.

Upstate Chapter President Phillip Smith asked lawmakers to consider having Upstate assume control over neighboring Crouse Hospital in Syracuse. The Berger report had recommended the two hospitals merge, but become a private entity.

“It makes no sense to take a public institution and merge it with a private entity that’s in trouble,” Smith said, referring to Crouse’s financial difficulties. “The better fix is a quicker fix. Merge Crouse into SUNY,” he recommended.

“We could not run our fellowships at Upstate if we didn’t offer some of the specialized services we have now,” warned Mike Lyon of Upstate, referring to the anticipated loss of some expensive critical care health services if the hospital were privatized.

But the day didn’t belong exclusively to the hospitals. UUPers also advocated for additional full-time faculty for the next year, asking for a three-year plan that would increase the ranks of full-time faculty by 1,000.

Univ. College/EOP/EOC/Library/ Part-timer Advocacy Day

Nearly four dozen UUPers, many of whom came to advocate for the first time, arrived as lawmakers began to pass budget bills. Several stressed the need for more full-time faculty to decrease the reliance on part-time faculty.

“Part-timers are not as available to students because of their part-time

status,” Edward Wesnofske of Oneonta told Assemblyman David Townsend. “And part-timers are not paid to advise students.”

UUPers strongly made the case for more funds to support campus libraries. Ronald Foster of the Utica/Rome chapter said there’s not enough money to acquire all the books that students need.

“Libraries often get overlooked at the expense of spending on technology,” Mila Su of Plattsburgh claimed during a meeting with Assemblyman Joel Miller.         

A+ for advocacy

Based on the favorable response by state lawmakers, McNitt summed up the first three advocacy days as a smashing success.

“The reaction was overwhelmingly positive,” he said. “Everyone we spoke to is aware of the Berger Commission and its impact on SUNY, and I’m heartened by that.”

— Donald Feldstein