Uncommon Sense
The Newsletter of the United Faculty of
(an FEA [AFT & NEA] affiliate)
Volume 14, Numbers 2 & 3 Fall, 2006 & Winter, 2007
The Voice
of the University Professional
Elections
Each spring, the USF Chapter of the United Faculty of Florida elects its President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and UFF Senators and FEA Delegates. These positions are described in the article on The Offices on page 2. Only union members may make nominations, stand for election, run, and vote. We encourage all union members to consider standing for election, and to vote.
If you would like to stand for election, or if you think someone else would, please send a letter of nomination to:
CHAIR, Election Committee
United Faculty of
USF
Or email to: uff_biweekly-owner@ourusf.org. The letter should contain: (1) your name, (2) the name of the nominee, and (3) the office the nomination is for. All nominations – including permission by the nominee to be a candidate – must be received by February 2.
All nominees are strongly encouraged to submit a short (250 words or less) self-description and/or campaign statement, which must be received by February 2 to be included in the ballot materials.
Election will be by secret mail ballot; members will be responsible for getting their ballots returned by the deadline. The ballots will be sent out by February 20, and be due by Friday, March 7; they will be counted shortly afterwards at a session that all union members are invited to attend.
On April 1, newly elected officers and representatives formally assume their duties.
The Offices
The USF Chapter of the United Faculty of Florida consists of the members of the union in the USF General Faculty Bargaining Unit. The Chapter is a participatory democracy: policy is set at the Chapter meetings on Friday paydays, and all union members are invited to attend.
The Chapter has three kinds of positions: elected executive positions, elected legislative positions, and appointed positions.
There are four elected executives. The President is the chief executive and chief spokesperson of the chapter. The Vice President assists the president, and fills the president’s office if necessary. The Secretary composes minutes and maintains other records the Chapter requires. The Treasurer supervises the finances of the Chapter.
There are two kinds of elected representatives.
A Senator
represents USF at the UFF Senate meetings, one meeting in late spring and the
other in early fall. Each is on a
weekend, in
A Delegate represents UFF at the annual
Florida Education Association Assembly.
The FEA is the preeminent union representing teachers in
These are the offices open for election. There are also several officers appointed by the President. The Bargaining Chair is the Chapter’s Chief Negotiator, and bargains contracts with the assistance of a Bargaining Committee. The Grievance Chair handles “contract enforcement” by overseeing grievances, with the assistance of a Grievance Committee. The Membership Chair goes out and persuades faculty members to join the union, while the Publicity Chair puts out the newsletters and handles the websites.
The Chapter has a Constitution describing these offices, and it is on-line at http://w3.usf.edu/~uff/Laws.html.
Salaries: the
Fantasy & the Reality
Nature, said Henry George, gives wealth to labor – and only to labor. But Humankind makes different arrangements.
It would be nice
if our compensation were truly based on our contribution to the mission and
welfare of the university. Many faculty spend years
hoping that the Powers That Be will someday recognize their contribution and
(finally) provide commensurate reward.
But such recog-nition is like winning at
This may be surprising considering the rhetoric emanating from Boardrooms about how high-paid CEOs are worth their high salaries. Snickering aside, the boards that vote for these salaries are perfectly sincere, and there lie the realities about raises.
First, people respond to their own perceptions, and the needs and demands of their own experience are more pressing than needs and demands reported to them. Administrators are personally aware of the need for staffing support, but are aware of, say, teaching and research needs only by second hand reports.
Second, if administrators can get a valuable resource cheaply, they will. So if a valuable faculty member is underpaid, that is not a problem unless that faculty member is likely to leave. (Many administrators do not pay attention to problems like the decline in productivity due to the low morale resulting from low pay.) Administrators will tend to play the market by paying as little as they can get away with.
Complicating this is the sneaky disdain that administrators can feel about their own institution. College A is full of deadwood, moan board members to senior administrators; if only we had star performers like those at University B. (Meanwhile, at University B’s boardroom, the moaning is...) The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, so one should reserve one’s instructional dollars for headhunting (or making counteroffers to faculty who are suddenly more valuable because ... somebody wants them).
Unions worry more about equity and even-handedness, which is why UFF prefers formal merit systems that tend to be more impervious to the flightiness, prejudice, and delusions of administrators.