8 Nov 2016
Resolution: The College Senate supports the revisions made to the Diversity Plan, as delivered to SUNY on November 1, 2016.
5 May 2015
Resolution requesting that the University Faculty Senate and the United University Professionals (UUP) lobby for the evolution of Family Medical Leave in the 2016 UUP Contract Negotiations
Whereas it is understood that healthy work-life balance and attention to family life create healthy and productive work environments and allows employers to retain employees in which they have already invested; and Whereas most employees within the State University of New York (SUNY) will experience a need for Family Medical Leave at some point in their careers; and
Whereas the inability to balance short-term family needs with the demands of the workplace can lead to unnecessary resignations, poor work performance and negative impacts on the health and wellness of the employee; and
Whereas SUNY does not have a policy of paid Family Medical Leave (FML) and therefore retaining salary during FML requires the use of accrued sick and/or vacation leave; and
Whereas academic faculty have no leave time accruals beyond sick leave and may therefore not have sufficient paid leave to use for FML; and
Whereas some private companies have found that it is cost effective to adopt policies that allow for liberal paid leave for their working mothers and fathers and that such measures promote retention of working parents;1 and
Whereas the current United University Professions (UUP) contract2 requires that academics and professional staff who want to extend the timeline for the continuing appointment decisions for Family Medical Leaves must either (a) take leave without pay, (b) choose part-time service (losing some percentage of their salary) or (c) step out of rank and take a qualified academic rank; and
Whereas, the adoption of clear and open policies for FML for faculty and professionals at SUNY could provide a model for how FML could be implemented to benefit other state employees; therefore
Be it resolved that the College Senate of the State University of New York College at Geneseo requests that the SUNY administration, working with University Faculty Senate (UFS) and the UUP address the implementation of FML in a system-wide and uniform way and take a leadership role to lobby the Governor of New York State to offer paid Family Medical Leaves to promote retention of valuable employees and increases employee morale, while addressing issues of equity; and
Be it further resolved that the Geneseo College Senate supports the efforts of the UFS and UUP and SUNY Board of Trustees to work together to eliminate the requirements in the current UUP contract3 and Board of Trustees Policies and Procedures for extensions of the timeline for continuing appointment and adopt a "stop the tenure clock" policy for FML that does not compromise our employees professionally (stepping out of rank) or financially (reduced pay or becoming part time);
Finally be it resolved that the Geneseo College Senate request that appropriate FML policies and their implementation should be a high priority in the next round of UUP contract negotiations.
References
1. "Paid Maternity Leave is Good for Business", The Wall Street Journal, December 16, 2014. Last accessed at http://www.wsj.com/articles/susan-wojcicki-paid-maternity-leave-is-good-for-business-1418773756 on April 24, 2015.
2. Article 23.7.a. Leaves of absence without salary may also be granted under appropriate circumstances for the purpose of child care.
3. Appendix A-42. Family Leave – Professional Services Negotiating Unit
15 Apr 2014
Resolution Calling for Delay in Implementation of the edTPA
Whereas, there were multiple fundamental flaws in the implementation of the edTPA in New York, compared with the current recommendations from the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity (SCALE), the developer of the test; and
Whereas the teacher preparation programs were not provided final guidance material for edTPA preparation until fall 2013 in many cases, and thus have not been given sufficient time to evaluate whether programmatic changes should be made to prepare students for the edTPA, nor to implement such changes; and
Whereas, there is a near-consensus of opinion among teacher education faculties and leaders that there was not a sufficient period of low stakes participation for proper implementation of edTPA; and
Whereas, New York State requirements for student teaching (NY State Education Department Commissioner's Regulation 52.21), coupled with the need to present new material for evaluation if a teacher certification candidate fails the edTPA, limit the candidate's ability to be fairly tested by emphasizing the results of a candidate's initial student-teaching experience; and
Whereas, the increasing burden of test fees may disproportionately limit the ability of under-represented and under-prepared students to become teachers, restricting the diversity of future classroom teachers at a time when K-12 students themselves are increasingly from multicultural backgrounds; and
Whereas, the State Assembly of New York has introduced legislation (A09207) to delay use of the edTPA in initial teacher certification until July 1, 2015;
Therefore, be it resolved that the College Senate of the State University of New York College at Geneseo emphatically urges the Board of Regents and the State Education Department:
1. To remove the use of the edTPA as a requirement for initial certification in New York beginning May 2014 and thereafter; and
2. To establish a task force involving college faculty and administrators to review the role of externally evaluated performance-based assessment in teacher education programs, and whether or how edTPA (or other measures) might be used in those programs; and
3. To postpone the use of edTPA data in the profiles of teacher education programs until the 2015-16 academic year at the earliest.
And further, the SUNY Geneseo College Senate instructs its officers to bring this resolution to the attention of the New York State Board of Regents, the New York State Education Department, and appropriate members of the New York legislature.
22 Mar 2011
Resolution in Support of a Five-Year Tuition Plan for SUNY
WHEREAS, the mission of SUNY Geneseo is to educate students while providing economic, social, and cultural support to Western New York, and
WHEREAS, SUNY Geneseo's tuition is only $4,970 per year – among the lowest in the nation; and
WHEREAS, historically SUNY tuition has been anything but fair and predictable, SUNY having been allowed to raise tuition only 13 times over the last 48 years – the smallest of which was 7 percent and the highest of which was 43 percent; and
WHEREAS, SUNY, being the largest comprehensive university system in the United State, has the potential to create unprecedented opportunities for current and future college students and their families, as well as for businesses and industry, and the workforce of the State of New York; and
WHEREAS, SUNY campuses must have fiscal stability to be able to carry out this responsibility;
WHEREAS, a five-year tuition plan that is fair, equitable and responsible and keeps all tuition revenues at SUNY campuses without corresponding cuts will provide current and future students and their families the ability to adequately plan ahead and know any tuition increase will be used to enhance educational opportunities; and
WHEREAS, SUNY state-operated campuses have been the only New York public higher education sector to be subject to mid-year gubernatorial reductions without the concurrence of the legislature, and have frequently been the only part of state government to deal with the costs associated with collective bargaining agreements negotiated by the Governor's Office of Employee Relations without state funding, thereby eroding the state's maintenance of effort;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the SUNY Geneseo College Senate hereby supports the State University's proposal for the enactment of a five-year rational tuition plan, as well as a commitment to the maintenance of effort throughout any given year.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the SUNY Geneseo College Senate encourages the State Legislature to support this proposal and pass it into New York State Law, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the SUNY Geneseo College Senate calls for immediate tuition relief or restoration to fill the $2 million budget gap for Geneseo created by the Executive budget, and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the Chair of the SUNY Geneseo College Senate shall forward copies of this Resolution to Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, the New York State Legislature and all others deemed necessary and proper.
