n Official Publication of United University Professions The Nation’s Largest Higher Education Union Working For You THET Winter/Spring 2019 Taking on the TAP gap— Page 7 ALSO INSIDE: 8—Union helps members 10—UUP members give back 12—Delegates vote with their student debt at home and abroad to eliminate one DA THE Voice Volume 46, Number 2 The VOICE is the official publication of United HATthisS issue INSIDE University Professions (UUP), bargaining agent for W ’ the more than 35,000 academic and professional employees of the State University of New York. Contact UUP at P.O. Box 15143, Albany, New 8 UUP responds to members’ York 12212-5143. Telephone (518) 640-6600 or COvER PhOtO BY toll-free at (800) 342-4206. UUP’s Internet site KAREN L. MAttisON call for help with student debt is www.uupinfo.org. UUP is Local 2190 of UUP held its first student Debt Clinic for about the American Federation of Teachers (AFL-CIO) and is affiliated with NYSUT and the National a dozen Albany-area UUPers and their families, Education Association. and trained leaders to hold clinics at chapters Close the gap around the state. 7—UUP goes all out to encourage UUP STATEWIDE OFFICERS state lawmakers to close the tAP FREDERICK E. KOWAL gap, which has reached $65 mil- 10 Making a difference President lion at sUNY. UUP members are integral parts of their campus, neighborhood and global communities. THOMAS J. TUCKER FolloW UUP 12 Delegates make tough decisions Vice President for Professionals on FAcebook, Delegates agree to eliminate one Delegate Assembly, which was one of the 13 constitutional TWiTTer AnD amendments they debated in early February. JAMIE F. DANGLER inSTAgrAm! Vice President for Academics Go to www.UUPinfo.org ALSO: to sign up today. 3 to the point JERI O’BRYAN-LOSEE Secretary-Treasurer 15 spotlight shines on UUPers 16 Member spotlight LETTERS POLICY 17 snapshots from the chapters THOMAS C. HOEY The Voice welcomes timely letters 18 Fourteen members earn distinguished ranks Membership Development Officer about university and union issues, 20 Labor notes politics and other events relevant to 22 Members-only benefits UUP’s concerns. All letters are sub- 23 two new benefits offered to union members ject to editing for length, accuracy UUP MEDIA RELATIONS and clarity. Please type or email AND PUBLICATIONS your letters, limit them to 300 words, MICHAEL LISI and include your name and daytime Director of Media Relations and Publications phone number for verification. KAREN L. MATTISON Unsigned letters will not be Associate Dir. of Media Relations and Publications published. DARRYL MCGRATH Email letters to UUP Director of Communications Specialist Media Relations and Publications ANGELL M. VILLAFAÑE Communications/Research Assistant Mike Lisi at [email protected] or send them to his attention at: The VOICE is a member of the American Federation The Voice, United University of Teachers Communicators Network and the Professions, P.O. Box 15143, International Labor Communications Association. Albany, New York 12212-5143. THE VOICE WINTER/SPRING 2019 2 To the Point Moret’s tough to getthan time just a union Their stories are similar; most with Assembly Speaker wouldn’t be in college without Carl Heastie. the EOP. All will quickly tell you If you’re lucky, you that these programs have changed might be able to buttonhole their lives. him for a minute or two while The Speaker knows this. He’s Ihe’s walking between meetings seen it, firsthand. in the halls of the Capitol. He’s And that’s why he told EOP the Speaker and his time is in students that the Legislature demand, especially in early would do all it could to restore March when legislators are $12.3 million in cuts to EOP, hard at work putting together EOC and the ATTAIN Labs made the new state budget. by the governor in his 2019-20 But the Speaker made time Executive Budget. In their one- March 6 for more than 150 stu- house bills, the Assembly funded dents enrolled in SUNY’s Edu- and increased dollars to the pro- cational Opportunity Program, grams, while the newly Demo- who came to Albany March 6 cratic-led Senate restored the as part of UUP’s annual governor’s cuts. EOP/EOC advocacy day. The 2019-20 state budget had A former EOP counselor at KAREN L. MATTISON not been finalized at the time this Stony Brook University, the issue of The Voice went to print. Speaker spent about 20 min- PRESIDENT FRED KOWAL SHARES HIS THOUGHTS WITH DELEGATES However, I am hopeful that the AT THE 2019 WINTER DELEGATE ASSEMBLY IN ALBANY. utes talking to the students, governor and the Legislature will stressing the importance agree to restore and boost funding SUNY’s opportunity pro- to these important programs. grams—the EOP, SUNY’s Educational is higher than the national average. Of the But the Speaker was confident, and he Opportunity Centers and the ATTAIN students who graduate, 72 percent are shared that confidence with students. Labs (a network of technology laborato- still employed in New York. “I look at all these faces and the intelli- ries across the state set in rural and low- Sonny Hostin, co-host of ABC’s talk gence that I see, and I just can’t imagine income areas) and telling them that show “The View,” and MSNBC anchor where all of you will be 10 years from lawmakers want to see these programs Kendis Gibson are EOP grads. So are As- now because of the opportunity you were succeed. sembly members Latoya Joyner, Latrice given,” he said. “We’re doing this for a “It’s going to be a tough budget,” the Walker, and Victor Pichardo. reason, because we want you all to go on Speaker said, “but this is always at the Yet, despite its many successes, the and be successful.” top of our list.” EOP only has enough funding each year The Speaker has been an incredible Why? Because SUNY’s opportunity to accept 20 percent of the 15,000 quali- ally for EOP, a man whose word is his programs have a history of successes. fied applicants who sign up for the pro- bond. He means what he says. And when SUNY’s EOP is one of the nation’s old- gram. That’s why UUP has made it he says that SUNY’s opportunity pro- est and largest opportunity programs, a priority, year after year, to strongly grams are a priority for the Legislature, which serves some of the highest-need advocate for EOP, the EOCs and the believe him. students—a majority of whom come from ATTAIN Labs. I do, and so do the students who lis- households with an annual income of And that’s why so many EOP students tened to him speak from the heart at the $25,000 or less. Many EOP students are were at the Capitol March 6. Each year, Capitol that March day. the first in their families to attend college. UUP invites students and faculty from And most graduate. Since its inception SUNY’s opportunity programs—offered 52 years ago, the program has graduated at 48 of SUNY’s 64 campuses—to more than 75,000 students. The EOP six- Albany to meet with lawmakers and tell year graduation rate is 73 percent, which them how necessary these programs are. WINTER/SPRING 2019 THE VOICE 3 Cover story CarpeMembers seize every diem opportunity to advocate BY DARRYL MCGRATH UP members threw every- thing they had this budget season into an all-out effort to secure funds for SUNY’s campuses and hospitals that were not just adequate, but sustainable. UTheir efforts included strong turnouts at three Albany advocacy events; produc- tive Albany meetings with lawmakers who recognize the value of a SUNY education; and in-district meetings with legislators, including many who are newly elected and passionate about public education. MICHAEL LISI “Our members have really responded in UUP EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBER KIM HARTSHORN OF PLATTSBURGH, LEFT, TALKS WITH QUEENS this very challenging academic year,” DEMOCRATIC ASSEMBLYMEMBER MICHAEL DENDEKKER DURING A FEB. 12 ADVOCACY DAY IN ALBANY. UUP President Fred Kowal said. “At UUP ADVOCATES DISCUSSED THE UNION’S LEGISLATIVE AGENDA IN SEVERAL MEETINGS WITH LAWMAKERS. many campuses, they have taken the ini- tiative, by acting as political coordinators, chapter leaders and committee members, the Excelsior Scholarship Program, a UUP Stony Brook Chapter member as a or simply as activist members concerned where tuition is frozen at the level it was contingent academic, and a Long Island about the future of SUNY and willing to when the student entered college. Again, Democrat whose district includes Stony give of their time and effort to their campuses must make up the difference. Brook, didn’t mince words in a meeting union.” The so-called “TAP Gap” is expected to with UUP members at the statewide SUNY faces $700 million in flat fund- be at least $65 million in the coming year. Feb. 12 Advocacy Day. ing for its four-year campuses, and the A decade ago, it didn’t even exist. The “Both of my children are graduates loss of the $87 million state hospital sub- state’s new DREAM Act, which opens of Stony Brook, so I know from my sidy in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s original state financial aid programs to undocu- own family this institution is vital,” budget proposal. Several SUNY cam- mented immigrants who were brought to Englebright said. “We’re the largest of puses face multi-million-dollar budget the United States as minors, could in- the SUNY campuses, so this is worth shortfalls, the long-range result of fund- crease the unfunded costs.