The USF Chapter of the United Faculty of Florida consists of faculty and professionals united to support each other, bargain and enforce a contract (the Collective Bargaining Agreement) that determines the terms and conditions of our employment, and help build a great university for educating our students, producing outstanding research and scholarship, and serving the community.

At the top of our agenda...

Defending USF and the other universities from catastrophic budget cuts

The University of South Florida and the other public universities are facing major cuts in state funding, cuts that will reduce access to students, increase class size and undermine the quality of instruction, hamper research and scholarship and reduce their benefits to the community, and compromise the ability of the universities to serve their communities.

In an economic recession, higher education is one of the major engines for getting the economy going again. Adults return to school to hone their skills - thus immediately reducing unemployment while building the community's skill set that provides momentum to the recovery.  Cutting higher education during an economic recovery is counterproductive.

The Florida House has already approved a budget cutting higher education funding by over 6 %, making up the difference by raising tuition 8 % and authorizing universities to raise tuition another 7 %.  This would leave the universities treading water while burdening students.

The Florida Senate is now considering a budget that would cut the universities by $ 400 million, and in particular cut USF by $ 103 million, about 58 % of its state funding.  The United Faculty of Florida is joining USF President Judy Genshaft, the USF Board of Regents, members of the USF community, and friends and supporters of USF to fight this budget and work to at least restore state funding for USF.

The senate budget proposal is entangled with the attempt by Florida State Senate Budget Committee Chair J. D. Alexander to detach USF Polytechnic from the USF System immediately, rather than to follow the more deliberate timetable set out by the State University System Board of Governors.  Alexander's impatience notwithstanding, USF Polytechnic faculty have expressed concerns about having the resources and accreditation required for independence, which is why the Board chose a more responsible route.  The Senate's response was a bill to abolish USF Polytechnic altogether, dump the faculty and students into the USF System and divert resources to a new and imaginary "Florida Polytechnic University", which despite its funding has no faculty, no students, and no accreditation.

For these few weeks of February, we are urging people to contact their state senators (and Florida State Senate President Mike Haridopolos) and their state representatives (and Florida State Assembly Speaker Dean Cannon) and Governor Rick Scott asking them to restore funding for USF and the other universities, and to return the USF Polytechnic issue to the Board of Governors.

Here are some talking points from the UFF state office. Please use only personal phones or computers to contact senators: state and public machines may not be used.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

OTHER BUSINESS: CHAPTER ELECTIONS

The United Faculty of Florida is a democracy, and so is the USF Chapter. Every spring, UFF members vote for executives and representatives to serve for a one-year term.

THE POSITIONS

Our executive positions up for election are: the president, the vice president, the secretary, and the treasurer.

We also have two groups of representative positions up for election:

1. United Faculty of Florida senators. The UFF Senate is the primary policy-making body of the UFF, and it meets twice a year (over weekends, one each semester) in Tampa or Orlando to look over the previous year and make plans for the next year. We anticipate being allocated over twenty senate seats, so we need volunteers to run for election. Senators and alternate senators also serve as members of the UFF USF Chapter Council, which oversees the chapter's committees.
2. Florida Education Association delegates. The FEA Delegate Assembly is the primary policy-making body of the FEA, and it meets once a year (usually in fall) over a Thursday – Friday period in Tampa or Orlando. We currently have six seats but anticipate more because of the chapter's growth last year.

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

All UFF members may run for executive or representative positions (or both); only UFF members may run. And all UFF members are eligible to vote in the subsequent election, and only UFF members are eligible.

UFF members may nominate candidates (self-nominations are encouraged) by sending a letter of nomination as an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . A letter of nomination must contain the name of the nominator and the name of the nominee, and should have usable email addresses of both. All nominations must be confirmed by the candidates.

Here is what all candidates must submit (as we require contact information):

• Name
• Campus address, phone, and email address
• Home address, phone, and preferred email address

Candidates are encouraged to submit a short (250 words or less) self-description or campaign statement, and may submit a URL to a website voters may visit to get a better idea of the candidate. These statements and URLs will be posted at the UFF USF website (here!), where information on the election is posted.

THE DEADLINE FOR NOMINATIONS IS MARCH 10

Important details:

1. You must be a UFF USF member by the deadline for nominations in order to run for a chapter position.
2. You must be a UFF USF member by the deadline for nominations in order to vote in the election.

All UFF USF members are strongly encouraged to run for chapter positions, and all will be strongly urged to vote in the subsequent election.