A Message from the Chapter President, May 2006:
Welcome Fritz! It’s so good to see you…
Is a turnaround possible for SUNY?
It’s early in the game, but we may be seeing the bare beginnings of better days ahead for SUNY, including our own beloved campus. At last we have a Potsdam College president whose values mirror our own, and who is ready to work with the UUP on issues of mutual concern. (One of our deans mentioned to me how refreshing it is to attend meetings and NOT hear it said that ‘the College is like any other business.’)
The members of the search committee have been properly recognized for the terrific job they did in recruiting a new college president. Potsdam UUP played an important role as well. Last fall we published a newsletter piece prepared by several members entitled ‘What Kind of President Do We Need?’ that helped define the parameters of the search and guide that process.
As a result of the truly exceptional efforts of UUP leadership and rank and file UUPers across the state, the bigger ‘needs based’ SUNY budget was passed by the state legislature over the outgoing Governor’s vetoes. According to what I’ve heard, SUNY will be getting $180 million more support next year. How much of that will come to Potsdam? We don’t know. We will work closely with President Schwaller on making sure that our fair share arrives here, and that it’s put to appropriate use — to hire more full-time faculty, raise the salaries of our professionals and academics, etc. — in short, to make this institution shine as brightly as everyone knows it should.
With a new governor in office next year, the composition of the SUNY Board of Trustees — long a nemesis of public higher education rather than an advocate — will also begin to change. My slogan has become ‘Fritz and Spitz in 2006.’
Workload
At an informal meeting last December, Potsdam UUP’s proposals for a reduced teaching load and for relief of other aspects of ‘workload creep’ were brought to administration. Our main proposal, to begin the process of moving to a 3-3 teaching load was rejected as premature. But in response to our pleadings, the Provost formed a workload task force with four individuals nominated by Potsdam UUP. These include David Curry, Victoria Klawitter, Kirk Dougherty and Peter Brouwer.
College administrators and deans have all voiced their support in principle for a reduced teaching load, to enhance faculty research and professional development. Next fall Potsdam UUP will call on all members to help make this a reality.
In the meantime, please send your testimonials on the workload issue to your UUP rep of choice, for posting on the page listed below. Reduced teaching load is only a beginning. With your help we want to address all sorts of workload-related problems, but you must make them known.
- Workload testimonials from faculty
- Summary results of workload survey of teaching faculty: See issue 10 of With The Ranks.
Sabbaticals
Progress, but…
In response to sustained pressure brought by Potsdam UUP, administration set aside funds this year to support the first sabbatical leaves at Crane in several years. This helped some of those in the ‘queue’ (sabbaticals approved, but deferred) that formed when ex-President Fallon announced the suspension of sabbaticals several years ago. That’s definite progress.
However, administration also found a way to ‘punish’ the union, blaming us for the denial of leaves this year to faculty members in the Arts & Sciences. Administration has yet to agree to a systematic solution to the problem. Apparently, it remains necessary to remind administration that sabbatical leaves are an important part of the academic tradition, a means of improving the quality of our faculty and curriculum, as well as a feature of our contract.
Professionals and Academics in Solidarity
Professionals represent half our collective strength, yet they have felt in many ways neglected. At a luncheon for Potsdam UUP professionals last month, plans were discussed to address professional issues more energetically.
Improving the communication between professionals in Raymond Hall and the academic buildings is a start. We need a unified effort to change the perception that UUP professionals in the administrative buildings are ‘them,’ or ‘not us.’
Workload is an issue for professionals as much as it is for teaching faculty. One factor that contributes to overwork for professionals is administration’s practice of leaving vacancies open. When our people stretch themselves to cover parts of other jobs, the quesiton of salary adjustments and revising job descriptions should come up. We are looking into developing a policy on this. (For instance, a policy might state that a reevaluation of salary would automatically happen when a position was left open for six months.) Your ideas are needed.
Speaking of salaries, some of our professional colleagues have salaries that are woefully low. Professionals and librarians have been passed over in the last couple of rounds of ‘pay equity’ raises, and Potsdam UUP needs to bring everyone into that process. It would help to have a new salary study, comparing professional salaries at Potsdam to statewide SUNY averages, as well as to national norms.
Potsdam UUP is one unit, and we must pull our ‘two halves’ together! The theme of our Spring Party is ‘Professionals and Academics United Together for a Better SUNY-Potsdam.’ That is meant as a way to start a solidarity movement on campus.
Technology
Management is intensifying its drive to increase the number of on-line course offerings. OK… But we are troubled by the apparent lack of concern with the issues (both educational and contractual) that will potentially arise. I’m personally disturbed by the seemingly cavalier attitude of management (at least so far) toward the need for some agreement to protect educational quality and legitimate faculty interests. The decision to increase on-line offerings represents a strategic choice that calls for a campus-wide dialogue on the subject — something that management has not recognized no need for.
Presently there is no upper limit on the overall proportion of courses that Potsdam could put online. Will it result in an increasing proportion of part time faculty at Potsdam (which already approaches 30%)? Is it consistent with Potsdam’s advertising our ‘personal involvement’ with students? How will the intellectual property of faculty be protected? We need an agreement to protect faculty interests, similar to those in existence at Canton and Plattsburgh. If you can you help formulate this, let us know.
Free Exchange
- Free Exchange, a coalition of groups that has come together to protect the free exchange of speech and ideas on campus.
