SCSU-AAUP

Dear SCSU-AAUP Member:

 

If you are a voting member of SCSU-AAUP, you are eligible to vote in the SCSU-AAUP Officer and Council Representative election. The election will begin on Monday April 9 at 6:00am and end on Friday April 25 at noon. Voting will be conducted via Votenet web-based voting software. In the local SCSU-AAUP chapter election, the offices of President, Second-Vice President, and four CSU Council Representatives are open for election. See reverse side and the attached sheet for a list of candidates and their personal statements. You must be a SCSU-AAUP member in order to vote.

 

To vote, members should:

Log on to https://eballot4.votenet.com/csu-aaup to access the ballots

Use your last name as the username, and

Use your Banner ID number as your password. This number is found on your SCSU Hoot Loot Card. You can call the AAUP office to obtain your Banner ID number if you do not have it.

A link to the election and candidate statements will also be placed on the SCSU-AAUP website (http://scsuaaup.org).

 

We strongly encourage all members to vote. If you have any questions or problems logging in, please contact the AAUP office at (203) 392-5980.

 

Doris Marino, Chr. on behalf of

The SCSU-AAUP Elections Committee

Astrid Eich-Krohm, Annette Madlock Gatison, Deborah Smith

 

Candidates for SCSU-AAUP

 

Vote for One for each office

 

Michael Shea ♦ English · candidate for SCSU-AAUP President

The last time I ran for SCSU-AAUP President (April 2010), I pledged to do several things.  I reprint my April 2010 statement here for you to decide if I’ve followed through on that pledge enough to be elected to a second 2-year term.  If elected, I promise to continue pursuing the same platform outlined below.

 

REPRINTED from April 2010

Over this academic year (2009-10), we have witnessed the removal of our president without explicit cause, the appointment of our acting president without consultation, and the continuing centralization of power in the Board of Trustees and the CSU System Office.  Now, more than ever, we need a strong voice to present faculty priorities to our new administration.

I have always defended faculty prerogatives and will continue to do so if elected.  Assertive but civil, I have a track record of speaking truth to power without alienating those in authority; I have worked well with all administrators because I can recognize people’s strengths and empathize with their weaknesses.  I believe that most administrators are doing what they think is best for the institution, though I may sometimes disagree with their beliefs and consequently resist their actions.  As the BOT exerts its authority, I will work with the members who want to consult us and will contend with those who don’t.

As the recent actions of the System Office have demonstrated, the many collegial assumptions we have had about shared governance are likely mistaken.  Because I believe shared governance at Southern is being undermined, I will work to get the CSU-AAUP to represent Southern’s concerns collectively.  I will also help the SCSU-AAUP work closely with the Faculty Senate in better aligning personnel and curricular issues to safeguard shared governance.  For example, we should all work together to ensure that we can trust in the search for a new President.

In these dire times, I’m concerned less about our individual grievances and more about our collective grievances; I know these issues are powerfully connected, and I recognize the importance of individual grievances, but I will direct my energies mainly toward our collective concerns.  To determine these concerns, I will listen to the rank and file members and draw on their (your!) energies.

I don’t believe tenure and academic freedom will survive the current economic climate attack just because the public will appreciate them as cherished academic tradition.  Together we must educate the citizenry as to why these values were initially instituted and how they continue to benefit the polis.  This endeavor will involve more varied communication with legislators than we currently have and more frequent communication with students and parents, the great untapped resource for making our case to the public.  To succeed at preserving the public academy will require more energy from all of us.

I love the faculty’s penchant for dissent and disagreement, engendered by our belief in the value of skepticism, questioning, and critical thinking, the skills we teach every day.  I want Southern to remain the independent institution–the lively intellectual community–we are all proud of.

That’s why I’m running for SCSU-AAUP President

 

–REPRINTED from April 2010

 

Gladys Labas ♦Educational Leadership • candidate for SCSU-AAUP 2nd Vice President

After finishing a term for the office of Second Vice President for the SCSU-AAUP Chapter I am once again running for that position. I have been in education for 33 years. I was Vice president of the Meriden Federation of Teachers and an active member state wide for the American Federation of Teachers. As Vice President of the MFT I negotiated the contract for the administrators in the district. I was the co-founder of the Connecticut Association of Bilingual Bicultural Education (CABBE) this organization was able to establish one of the first Bilingual Education laws in the country that continues to provide all second language learners with equal accessibility to the academic curriculum. I have used my experience to form constructive relationships with the administration and the Connecticut legislature. I am active in research, teaching and service.

I am committed to the principles of AAUP, especially shared governance and academic due process.

 

Vote for up to Four for each CSU-AAUP Council Representatives  

 

Kevin N. Buterbaugh ♦ Political Science · candidate for CSU-AAUP Council Representative

Kevin Buterbaugh is a professor of Political Science. He has been as Southern since Fall 2002. He has served one term on the state council and has been on the SCSU-AAUP executive committee since Fall 2007.

John Kavanagh • Mathematics · candidate for CSU-AAUP Council Representative

I am seeking re-election as one of our representatives on the CSU-AAUP Council, and consequently also as a member of the SCSU-AAUP Executive Committee. This is my twenty-fourth year as a member of Southern’s faculty. I have been active in AAUP for approximately nineteen years, including three years as SCSU-AAUP President, and as a member of the CSU-AAUP Negotiating Team for our current Collective Bargaining Agreement. I am an ardent supporter of our CBA, and of our University and its faculty. Thank you for your past and continuing support of both me and AAUP.

Kenneth McGill ♦ Anthropology · candidate for CSU-AAUP Council Representative

I believe there are two key issues for the upcoming year. First, we actually have a new negotiating partner: the Board of Regents. We need to establish a relationship with the BOR which will allow for productive negotiations. Second, the CSU-AAUP will be ‘setting the table’ for negotiations after multiple years of pay-freezes and a new mandatory 3% contribution to retiree health care. We need to continue representing the sacrifices made by all of our members since the onset of the fiscal crisis. On a more long-term basis, I would also like to start to address reform of the adjunct system at the CSU campuses. Although our contract (section 10.8) stipulates that the university is to use no more than 20% PT faculty, the latest workload study by the CSU-AAUP (Finding 2.5) indicates that this number is closer to 40%, even taking into account adjustments for sabbatical and reassigned time.

Virginia Metaxas ♦ History • Candidate for CSU-AAUP Council Representative

I am running for State Council this year, after taking a brief absence from the organization during this current academic year.  If elected, I will bring much experience and institutional history to the State Council in this time of change.

I have actively served the SCSU-AAUP Chapter since 1997 in various leadership capacities. I served as SCSU’s Chapter President from 2003-2006, overseeing and negotiating several important grievances and crises under my tenure. I also have been First Vice-President, a negotiating team member (twice), a state council member (steadily since 1998), and also a grievance officer. I have a broad and in depth knowledge of the issues confronting our union membership as well as many years of training and experience in addressing these issues through representation, negotiation and grievance. I am well known among the AAUP leadership throughout the state, and have kept up with our local as well as national issues faced by faculty today. I know the contract and I know the players. I’m fair-minded and willing to dedicate the time and energy to protect our rights and advocate for our future in this time of institutional challenge.

The next few years are going to be a period of tremendous transition for our university.  If elected, I promise I will bring all of my union experience and knowledge to the table to represent your interests to the best of my abilities, and I will work very hard to bring stability to our union during these uncertain times.