Fall 2017
Good afternoon everyone, and welcome to the Fall Stated Meeting of the Faculty. I'm glad that you could come.
Before I begin, I'd like to acknowledge Professor Tammy Lewis. She has graciously offered to fulfill the role of "Secretary Pro Tempore" while Professor Namulundah Florence is on sabbatical. In addition to her service today, Tammy has willingly taken on the responsibility of facilitating the Strategic Planning process. I'll speak more about that later. It is my hope that all of you will have the opportunity to engage with Professor Lewis during the current academic year as the planning process unfolds. There will be multiple opportunities and ways for you to have input in the process. Stayed tuned for communications from Professor Lewis.
Now, I'd like to call on Professor Laura Rabin who will provide a report from the Committee on Review.
Standing Committee on Review
Professor Laura Rabin gave the report on behalf of the Committee on Review. She stated that the committee had reviewed the minutes of the meetings of the Faculty Council and found them to be in order.
Thank you, Laura.
And now, I'd like to ask Professor James Davis to give remarks from the PSC.
Remarks From Professor James Davis, PSC CUNY Chapter Chair, Brooklyn College
Thank you, President Anderson. Good afternoon everyone. I'd like to provide an update today on three developments.
One, our contract expires next month. The PSC bargaining team has been meeting to formulate demands and develop a strategy for achieving them. Nearly 9,000 CUNY faculty and staff members participated in May in an online survey, the results of which are helping to shape the contract demands. Results were published in part in The Clarion last month and will be available in full on the PSC website. The bargaining team stands ready to negotiate as soon as CUNY is ready. There is no reason to suppose this contract will be easy, but no one expects it to take nearly as long as the last time. Your engagement in the contract campaign will be crucial to reaching a timely settlement and making real gains for all job titles.
Speaking of our friend Governor Cuomo, it's important that everyone support the PSC campaign this fall for a true Maintenance of Effort bill. Maintenance of Effort, as you may recall, is a promise from the state to cover the annual, predictable increases in the cost of operations at the SUNY and CUNY systems. In 2015, Governor Cuomo vetoed the Maintenance of Effort legislation that both the state Senate and Assembly had approved. As a result, CUNY and SUNY were deprived of millions of dollars, and the bill was passed on to the colleges. Bipartisan support is hard-won in Albany, and it will take a struggle to persuade the governor of the wisdom of a true Maintenance of Effort bill. The PSC is teaming up with the SUNY faculty union and other public higher education advocates to press the issue emphatically this fall. We want to get 100,000 signatures from faculty, staff, and students around New York State, and you all should be among them. I urge anyone who wants to see real gains in our next contract to involve yourself in the budget campaign; the PSC will offer opportunities for us to do so.
One final campaign worth noting. The U.S. Supreme Court just announced it's taking a case called Janus v. AFSCME, and if the decision goes as anticipated it will deprive unions across the entire country of the right to collect fair-share fees. The fair-share fee, also known as agency shop fee, ensures that everyone who enjoys the benefits of collective bargaining—from salary increases, to due process protections, to health benefits—pays one's fair share for representation at the bargaining table, whether one is a member of the union or not. A cynical assault on this fair-share provision has been waged locally in states across the country, and it is designed to cripple unions, which are still the single most effective institution for advancing workers' rights. Now that assault is about to reach the Supreme Court, and the PSC is asking everyone to sign this blue card, or its equivalent online at the PSC website. It indicates your willingness to remain a member and to continue to pay PSC dues, even if the Supreme Court grants you the opportunity next spring to quit doing so. It's the least we can expect from each other in these dark times, to have our brothers and sisters' backs, to have the union's back, to say I refuse to be a free-loader at the expense of my colleagues. Look for members of the chapter Executive Committee in the hallway after the meeting to discuss the Recommitment campaign.
Thank you all very much.
President Anderson's Address
Thank you, James.
Today I will share with you a Powerpoint slideshow (pdf) to visually present information on fall our enrollment figures, the budget, faculty diversity, the We Stand Against Hate initiative, and Strategic Planning.
I wish all of you a successful semester.
