The Voice

McNitt

Public higher education rose to the fore in Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s 2008 State of the State address. In his annual address to both houses of the state Legislature Jan. 9, the governor called for the hiring of 2,000 more full-time faculty for SUNY and CUNY over the next five years, reflecting the recommendations of his Commission on Higher Education.

“If you want to participate in the innovation economy, a high school diploma is not always enough – you’re going to need a college diploma, or better yet, an advanced degree. We can’t strengthen our economy without the best colleges producing the best-prepared graduates,” the governor said. “That’s why our goal must be to make an outstanding higher education affordable for every New Yorker.”

The ranks of full-time faculty within New York state’s two public university systems would increase by 2,000 during the next five years. That is among the major recommendations contained in the preliminary report of the New York State Commission on Higher Education released Dec. 17.

UUP Acting President Frederick Floss said he found the commission’s report encouraging in regard to its call to hire more full-time faculty.

“The commission is on the right track in recognizing that hiring additional full-time faculty is vital to building an outstanding university system,” Floss said.

During a news conference at the Capitol where the preliminary report was officially presented, Gov. Eliot Spitzer termed the need to hire more full-time faculty at SUNY and CUNY as “a core proposal.”

UUP achieved its long sought-after goal of pension equity for its members, as the result of Gov. Eliot Spitzer signing the Optional Retirement Plan (ORP) pension equity bill into law.

UUP President William Scheuerman thanked UUP members who sent more than 4,000 faxes to the governor urging him to sign this bill.

“He heard us,” Scheuerman said.

The new law means that state employees who participate in an ORP with 10 years or more of state service will no longer be required to contribute 3 percent of their salary to their ORP retirement accounts. The effect of this new law is especially significant for UUP, since 64 percent of its members participate in an ORP, according to figures from SUNY.

Current employees with 10 years or more of service who are paying 3 percent to their ORP will see their contribution eliminated over the course of the next three years.

Beginning in 2008, New York state will pick up 1 percent of the 3 percent contribution each year on April 1, until the entire 3 percent is covered.

UUP is unparalleled in its ability to mobilize members to contact lawmakers — in person, by phone and via fax — on issues that would strengthen the state university for faculty and students. New York’s most prominent legislators have repeatedly stated that UUP is a leader in getting its message heard.

But there’s always room for improvement.

That was the message delivered by UUP Outreach Committee Co-chair Glenn McNitt during a recent two-day retreat in Lake George. It was there that McNitt told the new and returning committee members that the union can’t rest on its laurels.

The 2007 legislative session brought UUP members a step closer toward achieving pension equity.

For the second year in a row, both houses of the state Legislature passed the Optional Retirement Plan (ORP) pension equity bill. The legislation would have the state pick up, over a three-year period, the 3 percent pension contribution now paid by ORP members after 10 years of service.

The measure would put ORP members on par with public employees enrolled in the Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) and the Teachers’ Retire-ment System (TRS), who do not contribute to their pensions after 10 years of membership.

As The Voice went to press, the bill had just reached the governor’s desk.

Hospital issue healed

UUP’s extensive effort to keep Upstate Medical University (UMU) in Syracuse within SUNY led to an apparent affiliation agreement between UMU and neighboring Crouse Hospital.

The tentative agreement maintains UMU as part of the SUNY system while conforming to the recommendations of the Berger Commission regarding hospital capacity.

UUP has escalated its drive to keep Upstate Medical University in Syracuse part of SUNY by initiating a lawsuit.

Assemblyman Jack Quinn, left, and UUP statewide VOTE/COPE Coordinator Tom Tucker of SUNY Buffalo talk about how important SUNY-operated hospitals are to New York state during a recent Committee of 100 advocacy event hosted by NYSUT. Tucker was joined by hundreds of his K-12 union colleagues.

Weeks of traveling to Albany by UUPers, crowding into elevators packed like sardines, and knocking on the doors of dozens of state lawmakers have paid off for UUP in the form of a positive state budget.

“Last year’s budget that provided $148.8 million in additional funding for SUNY’s state-operated campuses was the best higher education budget in a generation,” said UUP President William Scheuer-man. “This year, we did even better.”