United Faculty of Florida, 
             Chapter at the 
             University of South Florida


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Our Affiliates

The USF Chapter of the United Faculty of Florida consists of the UFF members at the four campuses of the University of South Florida (USF).

The USF Chapter is one unit of the The United Faculty of Florida (UFF).

The UFF is one Local of the Florida Educational Association (FEA).

The FEA is the merged Florida affiliate of both the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).

The AFT is a member of the AFL-CIO: the UFF is AFT Local 7463.

But ultimately, the Chapter is the UFF membership at USF. To join the movement, down-load a membership form, fill it in, and mail it to PO Box 30238, USF-Tampa via campus mail.

Fellow Chapters

Many of the other chapters of the United Faculty of Florida have websites, often with interesting stuff on them.

Fellow Unions on Campus

Also on campus are:

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Announcements

Meeting Times

On January 8 and 22, we will meet at noon in SOC 384; we will then set the schedule for the rest of the semester. Sandwiches & soda pop are provided by the Chapter. Come and join the movement.

Membership

The ultimate source of a union is the membership of the employees it represents, which is why ALL members of the bargaining unit -- faculty and university professionals -- should join the union. We are launching a new membership initiative: anyone interested in helping grow the union is invited to contact Sherman Dorn. In addition, last fall, the United Faculty of Florida fell in line with the rest of the Florida Education Assocation and instituted the following policy on grievances:

  • At its September 2008 Senate meeting, the statewide United Faculty of Florida (UFF) revised its grievance representation policy in response to liability and legal concerns. Effective immediately, UFF will not provide grievance representation to faculty who were not dues-paying UFF members at the time when the grievable incident occurred.
  • All faculty have the right to file an individual grievance, but those who were not UFF members when the incident occurred must represent themselves or retain an attorney. UFF retains the sole and exclusive right to invoke arbitration; non-members will not automatically have the right to pursue a remedy beyond the grievance process. If UFF agrees to allow a non-member to proceed to arbitration, the non-member will be responsible for the cost of the arbitration $2000 to $4000 and must provide his or her own attorney, the cost of which can exceed $20,000. If a non-member informs the chapter of an incident, UFF may file a grievance on behalf of the chapter if it is believed to have chapter-wide impact on the enforcement of the collective bargaining agreement; however, that is at the discretion of the chapter.
In addition, the UFF would like faculty to be aware that faculty and university professionals within the bargaining unit are NOT automatically members of UFF. You must complete and sign a membership form and submit it to UFF in order to become a member. In addition to guaranteeing yourself free representation in any grievance and arbitration proceedings that you may need to initiate in the future, by becoming a UFF member you will:
  • Strengthen the voice of faculty in negotiations;
  • Support our lobbying efforts for better higher education funding and academic excellence;
  • Receive professional protection by way of a free $1 million professional liability policy;
  • Obtain the right to vote in UFF elections and thereby influence UFF bargaining priorities;
  • Gain access to a variety of members only workshops, events and services, including free life insurance policies and legal representation;
  • Receive free professional publications and literature about national higher education issues.
To join the movement, go to the Join UFF page, fill in the membership form, and mail it to PO Box 30238, USF-Tampa via campus mail.

Contacting Us

Our on-campus mailing address is USF Box 30238, USF-Tampa, although the university office is in NEC116 (the former MHH223). Our phone numbers are (813) 313-7826 and 974-2428, while our fax number is (813) 974-7081. You can send us e-mail at uff@ourusf.org. You may also contact elected officers directly:

Checking Your Salary

The legislative mandated raise took effect last October 1. For those of us suspicious of computers, here is a way to check if one's raise is being computed properly. You have get your 11-digit USF ID number, and then go to GEMS from a computer that is on campus, as follows.

  1. Go to the GEMS login: https://gems.fastmail.usf.edu/psp/gemspro/?cmd=login.
  2. A window saying that PeopleSoft is handling your salary (a good reason to check your salary) will come up, and ask for your User ID and Password. Enter your 11-digit Employee ID for your User ID, and your GEMS password (if you don't have one, or had one and forgot it, click the "Forget your password?" link and follow instructions; the computer will not allow you to create a password that lacks letters, numbers, and at least one punctuation symbol (preferably not "\").
  3. A sparse screen will appear, with a Menu at left, including Payroll and Compensation. Click it, and you will have five options, including View Paycheck and Compensation History.
The Compensation History option will produce a list, in reverse chronological order, of all your base rates.

Stopping NEA Solicitations

The National Education Association works hard to get many special deals for members, but some members would rather not get solicitations. To opt out of solicitations, contact the NEA Benefits office.

Important Links

This is the oldest site for the USF Chapter of the UFF. There are two other important sites for the chapter:

  • The off-campus site is the home for the UFF Biweekly.
  • The weblog is the place to see what's happening in real time.
Come and check us out.

The Collective Bargaining Agreement: The primary purpose of a union is to bargain and enforce a contract. This is the current contract between the United Faculty of Florida and the Board of Trustees of the University of South Florida.

To join the United Faculty of Florida, down-load a membership form, fill it in, and mail it to PO Box 30238, USF-Tampa via campus mail.

Records: News, Minutes, and Memory: Here are links to other records: the chapter bylaws, minutes of Chapter meetings, links to archived articles of the electronic UFF Biweeekly newsletter, links to archived copies of the hardcopy UFF Uncommon Sensequarterly, and other records.

UFF/USF Blog: Visitors welcome!

The Chapter maintains a book-sized site on the Al-Arian controversy. It is being kept roughly up to date, with a long Recent News page. In addition, union members Greg McColm and Sherman Dorn have published a retrospective on Al-Arian's years at USF, up through his dismissal, in NEA's Thought and Action; the article is on-line, and entitled A University's Dilemma in the Age of National Security.

Friends and Relations: Links to affiliates, associated groups, allied organizations, friends, and other places of interest.

Officers

Our elected officers are:

President Sherman Dorn

Vice President Mark Klisch

The Treasurer, Sonya Wohlmuth

The Secretary, Greg McColm

Our appointed officers are:

The Chief Negotiator and Bargaining Chair, Bob Welker

The Grievance Chair, Mark Klisch

The Publicity Chair, Greg McColm

We have two groups of elected representatives.

  • We have senators and alternate senators representing USF at biannual meetings of the UFF Senate.

    Nancy Anderson, Child Education

    Mark Klisch, Counseling Center for Human Development

    Jana Martin, Tampa Library

    Lynn McBrien, Psych. & Soc. Fdtns

    Greg McColm, Mathematics

    Jerry Notaro, St. Petersburg A & S

    Eric Odgaard, St. Petersburg A & S

    Steve Permuth, Educational Leadership

    Arthur Shapiro, Educational Leadership

    Paul Terry (alt), Education Leadership - Lakeland

    Harry Vanden, Government & International Affairs

    Robert Welker, Accounting

    Keith White, St. Petersburg A & S

    Sonia Ramirez Wohlmuth, Library & Information Science
  • We have delegates and alternate delegates representing UFF for USF at annual meetings of the Florida Education Association (FEA) Assembly.

    Sherman Dorn, Psych. & Soc. Fdtns.

    Mark Klisch

    Greg McColm, Mathematics

    Gerald Notaro, Nelson Poynter Library

    Steve Permuth, Educational Leadership

    Arthur Shapiro, Education

    Harry Vanden (alt.), Government & International Affairs

    Keith White, St. Petersburg A & S

Come and Join Us!

The United Faculty of Florida maintains a faculty activist discussion list for members who want to discuss union issues over e-mail. The traffic can vary from a few messages a month to a dozen or more per day, depending on the issues of the day. If you are a member and wish to join, Send us a blank e-mail. If you subscribed from off-campus and your e-mail address doesn't include your full name, expect an e-mail follow-up asking for your name. If you're a member, the moderators of the list will then subscribe you.

Contacting Us

Our on-campus mailing address is USF Box 30238, USF-Tampa, although the university office is in NEC116 (the former MHH223). Our phone numbers are (813) 313-7826 and 974-2428, while our fax number is (813) 974-7081. You can send us e-mail at uff@ourusf.org.


Disclaimer: The pages in the ~uff account are maintained by and for the USF Chapter of the United Faculty of Florida, and do not reflect the views of the USF Administration.

Last updated August 25, 2009. These pages are maintained by Gregory McColm, who is also the newsletter editor.