Legislative Priorities Investment in Public Higher Education New York State Public Higher Education Full-Time Faculty and Professional Staff Endowment This statewide endowment would rebuild the State University of New York (SUNY) and City University of New York (CUNY) academic departments and provide adequate instructional resources for New York s students. Part of this endowment would be designated annually toward increasing full-time faculty, professional and support staff lines. A mechanism would be designed for the conversion of contingent and adjunct faculty to permanent positions. Higher education is labor-intensive service requiring low faculty/student ratios. Declining state support has caused the loss of tens of thousands of full-time faculty positions in SUNY and CUNY. SUNY students have encountered increased class sizes, delayed graduations and reduced access to student services. More full-time faculty are needed throughout the university system. SUNY has the authorization to increase tuition, as part of 2011 s NYSUNY 2020 legislation. SUNY and CUNY have pledged to use the increased tuition revenue to hire more full-time faculty and improve academic programs and services, yet we have not seen any significant movement in this area. Students are now paying more for their college education. They should get more in return. Increase State Funding for SUNY s Operating Costs It is imperative that New York increase its operating budget for SUNY. Only by providing increased funding for academic programs and student services can the state begin restoring the huge cuts - nearly 40 percent - made to SUNY s state-operated institutions since 2008. State funding levels have not kept up with years of increased enrollments, and these increases now threaten SUNY s ability to maintain its mission of access and quality higher education. Tuition increases are not sufficient to provide the additional faculty and staff necessary to provide New York s citizens with the kind of quality higher education they deserve. In the late 1990s, 75 percent of SUNY s operating budget was funded by the state. Now that has dramatically shifted to tuition and fees. Underfunding also threatens SUNY s opportunity programs, which impacts New York s most at-risk students.
Safeguard Access and Affordability by Providing Funding for SUNY s Opportunity Programs In this economic climate, it is critical that SUNY s Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) and Educational Opportunity Centers (EOCs) are available for low-income New Yorkers who need extra preparation to excel in higher education. SUNY s EOP provides access, academic support, and financial aid to students who show promise for success in college, but may not have otherwise been offered admission. There are waiting lists for various programs at many of the EOP campuses. In 2013, more than 20,000 applicants statewide applied for the approximate 3,000 available spaces. The EOCs offer students a chance for college preparation without loans and debt before they earn credit hours. They provide Academic Review (Basic Education), English as a Second Language, GED, and college preparation programs that help students attain entry to higher education, as well as vocational training programs crucial for economically viable employment. The Executive Budget proposal does not include the Legislative additions from the 2013-14 enacted budget to several University-Wide programs, including: Educational Opportunity Programs (EOP) decreased by $632,400. Advanced Technology Training and Information Networking (ATTAIN) Labs, which provide communities access to new technologies, education, and technology training, decreased by $994,160.
Transparency and Accountability Freedom of Information Legislation (S-2224B LaValle/A-7554B Glick) This legislation expands the definition of state agency under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) to include entities such as the SUNY/CUNY Research Foundation and other notfor-profit entities and limited liability corporations affiliated with state agencies. Passage of this legislation will result in greater accountability and transparency for the SUNY/CUNY Research Foundation and campus foundations. These foundations help carry out the public missions of their state agencies, but they are not subject to FOIL. These shadow agencies receive and spend millions of public dollars each year to advance the purposes and objectives of the agencies state they serve. However, they often refuse information requests from the public or press, citing their status as private corporations even though they carry out public functions. Given the nature and scope of their activities, expanding the definition of state agency to include these entities under FOIL is warranted. SUNY s research and campus foundations employ many highly-paid administrators at their affiliate colleges, yet their board meetings are closed to the public. The private foundations of the state s public colleges and universities control net assets of $1.8 billion, of which $410 million has no defined use limitations. As a result, these foundations have discretion to spend hundreds of millions of dollars without any explicit spending guidelines. This legislation will increase accountability and transparency of these entities. To protect the fundraising abilities of these foundations, this legislation includes certain exceptions to protect the names of donors and the amount of their donations. In addition, this legislation will not apply to the alumni associations. Likewise, protections have been put in place to ensure that each agency s intellectual property is not threatened. Recent events at SUNY s Upstate Medical University, coupled with events that led to the fiscal uncertainty at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, highlight the need for the finances of the SUNY Research Foundation and SUNY s campus foundations to be open to the public. Reform SUNY and CUNY Rule-Making Process The New York State Administrative Procedure Act (SAPA) mandates that the actions of administrative agencies must conform with state and federal standards. SAPA ensures that public interests are protected by ensuring a public comment period and posting the proposed changes in the New York Register no less than 45 days before the action is taken. UUP believes that faculty must have a role in curriculum design, and that state Education Law must be strengthened to solidify faculty s role in academic planning. Ensuring that SUNY and CUNY s Boards of Trustees follow the same rule-making standards as other state agencies will allow UUP and other interested parties to become aware of proposed changes, provide input on those changes and mount a defense when necessary.
Oppose the Radical Repurposing of SUNY Several recent proposals and initiatives from SUNY have the potential to negatively impact the University s learning mission. UUP must educate and inform the Legislature about how Seamless Transfer, Open SUNY, and START-UP NY are all geared toward downsizing and privatizing SUNY. Remove the high-stakes certification requirement of the edtpa The New York State Education Department (SED) has issued new requirements for college teacher preparation programs. The edtpa is a complex student teacher performance assessment being applied to education majors who plan to graduate in Spring 2014. New York's use of the edtpa for certification imposes a high-stakes component that has not been adequately developed or properly implemented. New York is one of only two states that require the edtpa for teacher certification. Most other states have introduced edtpa with caution to integrate it more effectively, assess its validity and reliability, and address problems identified in edtpa pilot programs. Due to the SED s accelerated implementation timeline, the criteria for assessment was not completely clarified nor made available in a timely fashion to teacher education programs. This means that teacher education programs have not been given the time or tools necessary to adequately prepare students for the edtpa. Despite these concerns, SED is implementing the edtpa with an acknowledged failure rate that could be as high as 40 percent. Many students who have successfully completed their college degrees will be denied teacher certification because of poorly planned and implemented new edtpa requirements imposed by SED. UUP, along with NYSUT, is asking for support to remove the high-stakes certification requirement of the edtpa.
Support SUNY Hospitals and Health Sciences Centers Support the Brooklyn Health Care Plan The UUP-backed hospital rescue plan guarantees that SUNY s Downstate Medical Center will continue as a state-operated public hospital providing vital health care services to the underinsured and uninsured. This plan requests that $1.3 billion be dedicated to 15 Brooklyn hospitals. Approximately $1 billion of that total amount will be set aside for the development of comprehensive ambulatory care. This plan provides for SUNY Downstate to commit to the development of four comprehensive ambulatory care centers. These satellite and emergency care centers will each have academic service and community components tied to SUNY Downstate s full-time emergency department. This funding will allow SUNY Downstate to change its business model. UUP urges the Legislature to support this Brooklyn Plan. Protect and Enhance SUNY s Health Sciences Centers SUNY s hospitals and health sciences centers must be adequately funded and preserved as full-service public institutions. As public institutions, these facilities provide quality health care to New York s citizens regardless of their ability to pay. They accept and care for hardto-treat patients, including many referred by private hospitals. Additionally, SUNY s medical schools provide quality and affordable medical education, and these programs yield most of New York s primary care physicians and health care specialists. Cuts to these medical schools and hospitals have threatened not only public health, but also affordable, quality graduate medical education. State support to SUNY s hospitals has been consistently reduced over the last decade. In 2010, state support was reduced by almost 47 percent. Any further cuts will go against the SUNY maintenance of effort provision contained in the recently enacted NY SUNY 2020 legislation. The Executive Budget proposal for SUNY s three teaching hospitals includes a $69 million state subsidy for these institutions, which represents a $9 million increase in the General Fund SUNY Hospital Subsidy, but a $19 million decrease in overall authorized funding for the hospitals from the prior fiscal year. It is far below the $128 million SFY 2010-11 funding level. In addition, the Executive Budget includes Article VII language to provide a pilot program to assist in restructuring health care delivery systems by authorizing for-profit capital investment in health care facilities. This legislation allows for the establishment of up to five business corporations, one of which must affiliate with an academic medical institution or teaching hospital. It also authorizes the operation of hospitals, as well as other health care facilities. The pilot program opens SUNY s hospitals to private investment and operation, opening the door for profit-driven corporations to erode the mission and public services provided by New York State s public hospitals. UUP is asking for support in stopping the privatization of New York s public hospitals! Prevent profit-driven corporations from eroding the mission and vital services provided by SUNY's public hospitals. We urge the Legislature to remove the Executive Budget s proposed Article VII language that would permit private corporations to affiliate with and operate public hospitals.
Non-Budget Legislative Items Higher Education Employment Protection Act (S-4470 Savino/A-6635 Heastie) Unemployment insurance provides financial assistance for workers who become unemployed through no fault of their own. However, under current law, many part-time faculty working in colleges and universities in New York are unable to receive unemployment insurance between semesters because the college or university holds that they have a "reasonable assurance" of continuous employment. This legislation would make some part-time UUP members eligible for unemployment insurance by stating that an offer of employment made to part-time faculty, which is contingent on enrollment, funding, or program changes, shall not constitute reasonable assurance of continued employment. Adjunct faculty frequently must patch together courses at multiple colleges to make ends meet. Like construction workers, or those in the theater arts or seasonal resort industries, they have periodic and irregular work. The unemployment insurance system was designed to serve these workers, and it is only fair that adjunct faculty have similar access to unemployment benefits. This legislation changes the current practice of allowing letters stating that employment is conditional upon enrollment, funding, or program changes, to be offered as evidence of the federal reasonable assurance standard. The employer would now have the burden of proof and would have to provide sufficient documentation, on a case-by-case basis, to overcome the presumption of contingency established in these letters of intent to hire. Healthy Workplace Bill (S-3863 Savino/A-4965 Englebright) This legislation establishes a civil cause of action for employees who are subjected to an abusive work environment. It clearly states the definitions of abusive conduct, abusive work environment, constructive discharge, adverse employment decision, physical harm and psychological harm. Various studies have indicated that a large percentage of workers are exposed to workplace bullying, abuse and harassment. Workers subjected to this type of inappropriate behavior are less productive and are more likely to miss work due to the physical, emotional and/or mental harm caused by such treatment. No employer should engage in or otherwise tolerate this behavior and no worker should be subjected to such behavior. In an effort to assist workers, employers and consumers who are impacted by this behavior, this legislation empowers affected workers to seek legal redress in instances where they are subjected to persistent and repeated verbal abuse or physical intimidation by an employer or another employee.
UUP Also Supports: A fair living wage for all New Yorkers The NYS AFL-CIO s Making NY Work Campaign Health care for all New Yorkers The Women's Equality Act (A-8070) Sovereign Immunity legislation - (S-3249/A-828) The New York State Fair Pay Act - (S-1491/A-5958/A-1729) Capital funding to repair, maintain and enhance SUNY s infrastructure