ANNOUNCEMENTS

CONTRIBUTE TO UFF PAC!

Recent events make it even more clear why UFF not only needs to buy attention and good vibrations with campaign contributions, but also – this being an election year – find a way to support better legislators. But DUES MONEY DOES NOT GO TOWARDS CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS. So the UFF Political Action Committee needs your help! Download, fill in, and mail the PAC paycheck deduction form to contribute a few dollars out of each paycheck towards the PAC fund. As the lead article of this Extra makes clear, we need all the pull in the legislature that we can get.

JOIN UFF TODAY!

Download, fill in, and mail the membership form. 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 future litigation); greater opportunities for influencing the bargaining agenda; 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. And if you join now, you will get a $ 100 rebate dues rebate. Come and join the movement!

BUDGET COMMITTEE COMPROMISES BUT MOST CUTS IN PLACE:
UFF APPEALS FOR MORE CALLS AND EMAILS TO LEGISLATURE

It may well be true that, as one legislative aide put it, it is all political – at least for the legislative leadership. But with both reason and politics in play for the next two weeks or so, the United Faculty of Florida is encouraging all USF faculty, professionals, and friends to continue to reach out to legislators to present arguments for rescinding the cuts and for supporting higher education. The USF Alumni Association has set up a form for people to find and contact their own senators, while the UFF has posted an excel file with contact information for all senators. And here is the form for finding your own representative. As always, use a personal phone or computer to call or email a legislator; do not use state equipment.

When contacting a legislator, it is usually wise to have a short (less than 200 words) message composed in advance. It should be polite but clear and ADDRESS ONE TOPIC.

The UFF offers the following talking points

The two basic messages are:

• The $400 million in cuts for state universities that is proposed by the Senate Budget Committee will have devastating effects on Florida's economy and on the ability of students to earn much higher salaries in the future.
• What is the current economic impact of the universities? A study by a team of economists at UF and FSU, which was commissioned and just released by the Board of Governors, shows what the universities contribute to the economy:
  1. The universities have a $52 billion value-added economic impact on the state’s economy (7.25% of the state’s total economic activity). This effect does not even include activity from companies that are technological spin-offs from universities or from sports events.
  2. Graduates can expect a $1 million increase in lifetime earnings. Although Florida has an unemployment rate of almost 10%, the rate for graduates is about half that while almost 20% of high school graduates are unemployed.

1. It creates a nightmare for students who cannot get into courses they need to complete programs and degrees on time. When there are not enough classes, students incur extra expenses in finishing a year or two later, if they finish at all. When classes are overcrowded, students lose important feedback from faculty in evaluations of their ideas and work.
2. This kind of situation makes it hard to recruit and retain faculty talent, which means students lose valuable instruction, and universities lose advances in research.
3. The loss of talented faculty and educated students means Florida's plan to grow and diversify the economy through university initiatives is put on hold. It is unrealistic to think that driving away talented faculty and reducing the number of educated students will add to the state’s prospects for a strong, diversified economy. Higher education is the only agency of state government that actually pays for itself in economic development.
4. Eliminating $100 million (58%) from the budget of the University of South Florida will wipe out this powerful research and teaching engine for both Tampa's and Florida's economy. Cutting UF and FSU by 25% each will lead to the demise of these highly successful drivers of the economy. We will see similar effects on all campuses across the state.

UFF will continue the fight through the entire budget process. The bill now goes before the senate, and then it will go to a conference where the house and senate bills will be brought into alignment. Once the senate and the house pass the conference bill, it goes to the governor. That process may take another week or two, and UFF urges all stakeholders and supporters of USF and higher education in Florida to watch it every step of the way and TO MAKE YOUR VIEWS KNOWN.

LOGISTICS

• Click here for the standing agenda
• Click here for the minutes of the previous meeting.

Membership: Everyone in the UFF USF System Bargaining unit is eligible for UFF membership: to join, simply fill out and send in 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.

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