The United Faculty of Florida has 33 chapters - 28 chapters for faculty at 28 institutions, four chapters for graduate students at four institutions, and a chapter for retirees. However, it is one local in the Florida Education Association (FEA), which represents K-20 educators and professionals across the state, and is the largest union in the Southeastern USA. The primary policy-making body of the FEA is the Delegate Assembly, which meets annually in October. The Assembly met last week to hear reports and make policy.
The USF Chapter of the United Faculty of Florida will meet tomorrow Friday at 12 noon on Zoom. On the agenda: the presidential search, government relations, the Covid situation, and more. And here are the minutes for the previous meeting.
Any employee in the Bargaining Unit may attend, but you must have an invitation: contact the Chapter Secretary to get one. This fall, we are meeting on October 22, November 5, November 19, and December 3. Meetings this semester will be online.
Meetings and events are posted on the Events Calendar of the UFF USF Website. Come and check us out.
Benefits of membership include the right to run and vote in UFF chapter and statewide elections; representation in grievances (UFF cannot represent a non-member in a grievance or litigation); special deals in insurance, travel, legal advice, and other packages provided by our affiliates; free insurance coverage for job-related liability; and the knowledge you are supporting education in Florida. Here is the membership form. Come and join the movement.
The UFF USF Chapter of the United Faculty of Florida will distribute six $ 500 Professional Scholarships to UFF (USF System) members for professional travel (e.g. to attend & present at a professional meeting), equipment for classroom / hybrid / online teaching, or page charges during this academic year. But you must be a UFF member. If you are a member, you can submit a 200-word proposal for professional activities during Fall 2021, Spring 2022, or Summer 2022 by November 30 to the chapter secretary by November 30. Be sure to include your name, title, address, the details of the professional activity, and a brief description of its importance. For more information, see the program flier.
If you have been the victim of a violation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement or the recent Memorandum of Understanding, you have thirty days from the time you knew or should have known of the violation to file a grievance. If you are, and at the time of the violation were, a dues-paying member of the United Faculty of Florida, you have the right to union representation. To contact the UFF USF Grievance Committee, go to the Grievances Page.
Many of our students are struggling during this crisis, and the USF Foundation is supporting the USF Food Pantries to help out. They are accepting non-perishable donations, but one can also make monetary donations for the pantries at St. Petersburg, Sarasota / Manatee, and Tampa. See also the Student Health Services Feed-a-Bull site.
Yes, we are on social media.
The FEA Delegate Assembly met last week to hear reports, make policy, and ... hear from legislators. The FEA is the state affiliate of both the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers (which in turn is affiliated with the AFL-CIO), and represents teachers and professionals across Florida - and has over 150,000 members. It is divided into union "locals," a typical local representing a county-wide school district (UFF is a single local). The Assembly met last week, and amidst the usual business, delegates heard from four legislators on issues facing Florida education (and politics).
But first, the Assembly heard teacher and writer Sharon Draper describe what the pandemic is doing to children. Two hundred thousand children have lost a caregiver, and the suicide rate for children was up. Children are anxious and angry and, many school meals being unavailable, hungry. So there are troublesome students, but "I talk to the kids who show up; every one." She described a visit to Africa; when she walks into a classroom, the students all stand up to show respect. She described one conversation with a teacher there, who commented, "In our country, we don't test the children, we teach them."
Despite the traditional authority of school boards, education funding and job conditions depend substantially on the Legislature. President Spar told the Assembly that during the past decade, the state has enacted laws reducing teachers' job security and hampering unions; since then, enrollment in the colleges of education in Florida has declined, and now there are 5,100 vacant teaching positions in Florida. (The problem is not unique to Florida, and the pandemic has made things worse.) But this may be more of a politician than a partisan issue, for the FEA conducted a survey and found that 87% of responding Democrats and 89% of responding Republicans support "strong public schools."
Four legislators, each having a history of supporting FEA on legislation, spoke to the Assembly.
The FEA now has a Legislative Update page so members can track legislation. President Spar also reminded delegates that because of recent legislation, voters intending to vote by mail must make a new request to vote by mail (make the request to your friendly neighborhood county supervisor of elections) - and voters who have moved should update their address with their county supervisor of elections.
In addition to visitors, the FEA conducted a lot of business. For example, UFF (statewide) Vice President Caitlin Gille, Associate Professor of Natural Sciences at Pasco-Hernando State College (and organizer of the UFF chapter there), was elected by acclamation to represent the FEA on the National Education Association's Board of Directors.
In reaction to the Legislature's recent moves to intimidate outspoken faculty (and legislative interest in Georgia's recent move to "reform" tenure), the UFF moved:
Other resolutions passed include:
During the past two weeks, the USF Presidential Search Committee held two town hall meetings to hear from USF faculty, staff, and students what they wanted in a new president. The meetings were chaired by Seach Committee Chair and USF Board of Trustees Vice Chair Michael Griffin, with SP&A Executive Search Managing Partner Alberto Pimentel. Each meeting had about two hundred (virtual) attendees, and most of each meeting consisted of comments made by attendees, with occasional evocative questions from Mr. Pimental. Here are some of the comments.
Chapter Meeting tomorrow Friday, October 21, at 12 noon, via Zoom. All UFF USF members are welcome: for the Zoom link, contact the Chapter Secretary.
All UFF members are invited to attend. Non-members are also invited to come and check us out. To get the link to Zoom, contact the Chapter Secretary. Come and join the movement.Membership: Everyone in the UFF USF System Bargaining unit is eligible for UFF membership: to join, simply fill out the membership form.
NOTE: The USF-UFF Chapter website is http://www.uff.ourusf.org, and our e-mail address is uff@ourusf.org.
About this broadcast: This Newsletter was broadcast from uff.ourusf.org, hosted at ICDsoft.com, and is intended for all members of the UFF USF Bargaining unit (USF faculty and professionals at most departments). A (usually identical) version will be broadcast to USF-News and USF-Talk from mccolm@usf.edu.
If you do not want to receive the UFF Biweekly, you can unsubscribe below or contacting the Chapter Secretary. If you do not receive the Biweekly, but want to, contact the Chapter Secretary.