WTHE. A Community of Union Professionals. Volume 23, Number 6 March Promotion? Who Cares?! by Kevin Peterman

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1 WTHE ORD A Community of Union Professionals Volume 23, Number 6 March 2007 In real estate it is location, location, location. For promotions, it is teaching and professional service, college/ community service, and professional growth. Too many faculty rely on second or third hand information. You want to get promoted? Attend a Promotion Workshop, which I conduct, along with your Campus Dean, and find out for yourself. I know you might be thinking, Oh, another workshop, but this one is personal. You do want to get promoted, don t you? Then you must attend. At the workshop you will find out about the entire process: the timeline, which of the alphabet soup forms you need, educational requirements, time in rank and probably the most important factor, the Promotion Committee s expectations. As Executive Vice President of the FA, promotions are one of my primary responsibilities. I work with In this Issue Promotions, Gnocchi... 1 Affordable Housing... 2 fyi... 3 Call for Nominations... 4 Adjunct Corner... 5 Pension... 5 New Members... 6 Disruptive Students... 7 EC Reps... 8 Promotion? Who Cares?! by Kevin Peterman the administration to help develop the eligibility lists for both full and parttime faculty, conduct workshops for both faculty and administrators and coordinate the College Personnel Committee (CPC) and Peer Personnel Committees (PPC). Although not a member of the Promotion Committee, I do discuss the promotion process with the committee members. In fact, last month I met with VP James Canniff, AVP Joanne Braxton and the new Director of Employee Relations, Geri Larsen, to discuss the last promotion cycle. As a result of this meeting we felt it necessary to revise the first page of the A Form. So, Geri Larsen and I did just that. VP Canniff also wanted me to include several new performance criteria which the committee felt were significant. I have incorporated those criteria, as well as other new contractual provisions in the handout you will receive when you attend. Looking forward to seeing you there! For Promotion Workshop dates, see FYI on page 3. Gnocchi, Anyone? Chef Matthew Wahl teaches FA Community Outreachers to make gnocchi at a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity. See pg 2 for the story. page 1

2 RECIPE FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING by Liz Cone What is the FA Community Outreach Committee s latest recipe for affordable housing on Long Island? A cooking demonstration by renowned Chef Matthew Wahl! Luckily for the FA Community Outreach Committee, Matt Wahl happens to be not only a wellknown chef, educated at the Culinary Institute of America, but also the husband of our own Maria Kranidis, Assistant Professor of English on the Ammerman Campus. It was Kranidis who first came up with the idea for a cooking demonstration to raise the $500 the committee needed to fund a second day of building for Habitat for Humanity this spring. You may remember that the committee funded its first day of building in the fall. Chef Wahl prepares dessert as Maura Doyle, Adam Penna and Leanne Warshauer look on. Kranidis teamed up with her husband and Harold Marcus, owner of the Lake Shore Adult Residence in Lake Ronkonkoma, to create a spectacular night of culinary treats. In true educator fashion, contributors not only ate well, but learned to create a great meal, including potato gnocchi with brown butter-sage sauce, a salad of mesclun greens with toasted goat cheese medallions and raspberry vinaigrette dressing, pan roasted French chicken breast with red wine risotto, broccoli rabe and a mushroom demi-glace and crème brulee for dessert. The food, the kitchen and the elegant dining space were donated by Marcus and the Lake Shore Adult Residence. W THE ORD Liz Cone... Co-Editor Joyce Gabriele... Co-Editor Kevin Peterman... Co-Editor Kevin Peterman...Photographer Thanks to Harold Marcus and the Lake Shore Adult Residence, committee members, faculty and friends, the committee raised more than $800, one more ingredient in building an affordable housing market for Long Islanders. As Kranidis said, Using resources already available in order to help others makes perfect sense to me, and when people volunteer their resources it is rewarding for everyone involved. To stretch the obvious metaphor way too far, affordable housing on Long Island is a tricky recipe to master. The next ingredient our Community Outreach Committee will add is a workshop for our faculty members who are prospective homebuyers: Affordable Housing 101, to be held on April 18 at 11:15 am in the Orient Building, Room 136, on the East Campus. You can learn about the important ingredients (I know beyond too far!) you ll need to buy your own home, like title insurance, interest rates and points. Be sure to mark your calendar. Another Success On February 13, members of the Community Outreach Committee set up a table in the Babylon Student Center and raised $170 selling Community Outreach mugs containing Valentine s Day treats. This, coupled with other successful events this month, has helped generate enough money for another Day of Building with Habitat for Humanity to be scheduled this spring. We would like to thank Deborah Burden, Sarah Gutowski, Adam Penna, Dan Linker, and especially Maggie Marcincuk for all their help. page 2

3 SPRING EC ELECTIONS Call for Nominations FA Elections Chair Marie Hanna reminds the members that elections are being held for the following Executive Council seats according to the rules spelled out in Sec. VI I. B. of the FA Election Procedures which reads in part that: The EC rep in each constituency shall be designated the elections chairperson of that constituency, and shall conduct elections, unless he/she is running for office, in which case an acting elections chairperson shall be designated. EC reps whose term expires are in parenthesis. Eastern Campus (1 rep): Library, Humanities, Social Sciences (Russo) Grant Campus (2 reps): Liberal Arts, Counseling, Library (Ratna) Business Programs, ETU, HVAC ( DiGregorio) Ammerman Campus (5 reps): Accounting, Business Administration, Business Info Systems (Giaccone) Music, Fine Arts (Zamek) Nursing, Health and Human Services, PE (Election already took place) Math (Bonanno) Social Science, Behavioral Science, Legal Studies (Parks) The following timetable will govern the elections above: April 30, 2007 Close of Voting May 10, 2007 Certification of Election at EC Meeting fyi PROMOTION WORKSHOPS For Faculty: Grant Campus March 14 at 2:30 in CC-113 Ammerman Campus March 21 at 11:10 in L-111 East Campus March 28 at 11:10 in P-228B For Administrators: Grant Campus March 14 at 11:10 in Sag-160 Ammerman Campus March 22 at 9:30 in Faculty Dining Room East Campus March 22 at 11:00 in P-228B FINANCIAL PLANNING APPOINTMENTS A representative from Stacey Braun Associates will be at the Selden Campus on Wednesday, March 21 st, Wednesday, April 25 th and Wednesday, May 16, Appointments are now available beginning at 9:00 A.M. with the last appointment at 3:00 P.M. Time slots will fill very quickly so if you are interested, please call Stacey Braun Associates at to schedule your appointment. Close of nominations for the elections below is March 19, College-Wide Constituent-based representatives (1 rep): Professional Assistant Programmatic (Massimo)* Professional Assistant Instructional Labs (Kiesel)* Adjunct Executive Council Representatives (Those nominated must be members and currently working.): Computer, Science, Accounting, Business, Business Administration, Business Law, Office Technology (Garrett Lacara)* Economics, History, Political Science, Criminal Justice, Psychology Counseling, Student Activities (Michael Frost)* English, Library, Speech, Theatre, Broadcasting, Communication (Mike Trezza)* Foreign Language, ESL, Sign Language, Music, Visual Arts, Philosophy (Jerry Fallon)* Nursing, Health Careers, Nutrition, Chemical Dependency, Ophthalmic Dispensing, Early Childhood, Phys Education, OS-15 (Joy Borrero)* Retiree, Guild (Christopher Gherardi)* PA, Specialists At-Large (Barbara Leek)* PA, Specialists Instructional Labs (Mary Anne Ellinger)* * In the case of at-large college-wide, constituent-based PA representatives and Adjunct representatives, the FA Elections Committee will conduct the elections. A call for nominations for at-large officers is in this issue of The WORD and those elections will be conducted by the FA Elections Committee. page 3

4 CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR AT-LARGE OFFICERS AND DELEGATES OF THE FACULTY ASSOCIATION Nominations are now open for the following Faculty Association officers and delegates to the NYSUT 2008, 2009 Representative Assemblies and the 2008 AFT Convention: President, Executive Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Grievance Officer, Adjunct Coordinator and two additional delegates to NYSUT Representative Assemblies and AFT Convention. Per FA Bylaws, the At-Large Officers run for both the FA office and Convention Delegates. If you wish to make a nomination or nominations for any of the above positions, please fill out the form below and return it to the FA office, Room 224J Southampton Building, Selden, no later than noon Monday, March 19, No nominations will be accepted thereafter. The Faculty Association will hold a general membership meeting at 3:45 p.m. on Thursday, March 22 in room 22, Southampton Building, Ammerman. At this meeting, candidates for each office will have the opportunity to make brief statements to the membership. In addition to statements at the general membership meeting, candidates may submit written statements of 150 words or less for publication in a special election issue of THE WORD, which shall be included with ballot materials mailed to FA members. Statements must be submitted to THE WORD at the FA office no later than 12 noon on Thursday, March 29 either in print or by . In order to vote in any FA election or contract ratification, a faculty member must be a registered, voting member of the Faculty Association. You are not a registered Faculty Association voter unless you have completed and returned both a membership form and a voter registration card. Registration is permanent; if you have received ballots for previous elections, and are currently employed by SCCC, you should receive a ballot for this election. If you would like to become a registered voter, or are uncertain of your status, contact the FA office, at If you are a registered FA voter, and do not receive a ballot, contact the FA office. When you receive your ballot, please read the accompanying instructions carefully to insure that your vote counts. Ballots must be sent via U.S. mail to the FA post office box. Ballots delivered by hand or through the college mail will be invalidated. The following timetable will govern the election: March 19, 2007: March 22, 2007: March 29, 2007: April 17, 2007: April 30, 2007: Close of nominations. Nominations must be submitted to the FA office in writing by noon on this date. General membership meeting, 3:45 p.m., 22 Southampton Building, Ammerman. Statement (no more than 150 words) for THE WORD due in the FA office by noon. Ballots will be mailed to all registered FA voters. Close of voting. Ballots are due at the FA P.O. box in Selden (via U.S mail) no later than noon on this date. If you have any questions regarding this election, please call the Faculty Association Office at I nominate for the position of Signature Date I nominate for the position of Signature Date I nominate for the position of Signature Date page 4

5 Is Your Pension in Jeopardy? by Pete Herron SCCC Retiree and President, NYSUT ED39 Retiree Council All current members of the New York State Teachers Retirement System and the New York State Employees Retirement System can rest assured in knowing that their benefits are guaranteed. Article V, Section 7, of the New York State Constitution states After July 1, 1940, membership in any pension or retirement system of the state or a civil division thereof shall be a contract relationship, the benefits of which shall not be diminished or impaired. This provision assures that once benefits have been legally established for existing participants, they may never be taken away in the future. Any benefit changes or reductions can only be applied prospectively to new entrants. This means that those not yet retired could have their promised benefits reduced but not those already retired. This is not the case in other states. About half the states do not have a constitutional clause protecting current public employee retiree benefits. The New York Times on November 6, 2006 reported the following. Don Toneck, a San Diego police officer had lost a leg in the line of duty. After a year of rehabilitation, he returned to work, doing his job for another five years with an artificial leg. Ten months after retirement, San Diego cut his pension from $35,000 to $31,000. One hundred eighty other retirees also had their pensions reduced. On December 11, 2006, as reported in the New York Times, as many as 10,000 teachers, state employees, firefighters, and other workers denounced the New Jersey Legislature s attempts to overhaul the system of pensions and health benefits, ever since Governor Jon Corzine challenged legislators in July to Adjunct What Do I Do When I Need Emergency Days? by Frank J. DiGregorio Adjunct Coordinator Corner Each adjunct is entitled to four consecutive calendar days without loss of pay for any death in his/her immediate family, which is defined by the FA contract as spouse, child, stepchild, parent, legal guardian or sibling. You are also entitled to two consecutive calendar days for the death of a parent-in-law, stepparent, grandparent, grandparent-in-law or grandchild. In the event of the need for bereavement days, it is your responsibility to notify your supervisor as soon as possible, before time is taken, so that the information can be passed on to the proper authorities. To clarify how this works; four consecutive calendar days means that if you have classes on Tuesday and Thursday for class A and classes on Monday and Wednesday for class B, you can be absent Monday through Thursday that week and miss two classes for each of these courses without loss of time or pay. Adjuncts are also excused from work without penalty for jury service or for an appearance as a witness in court. You must notify your supervisor as soon as you are notified by the court that you must appear, so that the college can either cancel/cover your classes or make arrangements for someone else to cover your work in non-instructional situations. find ways to ease property taxes, the highest in the nation, by looking at changes in the pension system, health benefits, government services and school finances. We thought that Corzine was a friend, said Pam Rachlin, a retired teacher, who attended the rally. We now have some serious questions about his loyalties. This rally clearly had a significant impact on having the legislators back off solving the state s financial problems by placing them on the backs of public employees. A number of state and local governments are quietly challenging the view that once a public employee has earned a pension, no one can take it away. While still only scattered cases, these examples may be an early warning of what could be coming elsewhere. Some places, including Oregon, Rhode Island, Milwaukee County and several cities and towns in Texas have already cut public workers pensions on the basic argument that their pensions funds had gone disastrously out of balance. Fortunately, New York retirement systems seem to be in excellent shape. The only way we can be sure that our pensions will continue is to have strong organizations such as NYSUT monitoring what goes on in Albany. page 5

6 Hope Sasway As the recent weeks of below freezing weather culminate in a classcanceling ice storm, I m sure many of us are dreaming of being somewhere in the sun. Hope Sasway, Instructor of Biology at the Grant Campus, could certainly offer some localknowledge and advice. About two years ago she spent eight months teaching biology to nurses on St. Kitts in the Caribbean. Although she s suffering the weather with us now, I envy her that experience, and while we were talking I lived, if only briefly, vicariously in the tropics. Hailing originally from Cherry Tree in western Pennsylvania, Hope received her Bachelor s degree in Biology from The University of Pittsburgh, and went on for her Master s at West Virginia University. While achieving a degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology, she researched such topics as pig ovaries and also worked as a TA for the university. After attaining her Master s, Hope was employed in a temporary full time position at Westchester University of Pennsylvania, a job she held for four years. Following that, she worked as a lab instructor at Swarthmore, but continued to adjunct at night at a local community college. Needless to say, she was very busy at this time, which leads back to the Caribbean adventure. In May of 2005, Hope accepted a position at a recently formed school on St. Kitts, where she taught various biology courses to nursing candidates of all nationalities. Although it was an amazing time of her life (from centipedes and lizards in the shower, to mango trees in the back yard, driving on the left hand side of the road, and the tropical ocean wherever you looked) and she had a wonderful learning experience, particularly with multicultural students, she returned to the States in December and sent out resumes. She received several other offers, but was most impressed and welcomed by the faculty at the Grant Campus, and started there last fall. Apart from teaching, Hope obviously likes to travel, and she still has lots of friends down in the islands. She also has begun to explore this island, and has greatly enjoyed her time here so far. Sorry about the recent weather Hope, but thanks for joining us. page 6 New Members by Dan Linker Phoebe Smith Coming to us originally from Manhattan... Manhattan, Kansas that is, Assistant Professor of Biology Phoebe Smith is one of the new faculty members at the East Campus. As I sat down to talk with her, the course of our conversation took us from Kansas to lobsters to a peculiar aspect of the male seahorse. Not a typical conversation for me, but definitely an enjoyable one. Having grown up in Kansas, Phoebe attended the University of Kansas where she was graduated with a major in Biology. From there she was accepted into the Ph.D. program at the University of Connecticut, and she completed her studies last December. She moved to Queens with her (then) fiancé, and taught at Kingsborough Community College on a temporary line. Last August she and her fiancé were married, and the two now live in Huntington. Her experiences at the college so far have been very enjoyable, and she especially appreciates the cohesiveness of the atmosphere at the Eastern Campus and attributes it to the wonderful faculty there. While pursuing her Ph.D. in Physiology and Neurobiology, Phoebe had the opportunity to study the effects of pollutants on fish in the Long Island Sound. One of the interesting aspects that emerged in her studies was the fact that many of the pollutants contain or act as hormones to the fish, as evidenced by male fish acquiring female organs. These hormones stem from a wide variety of pollutants, including some basic products we use every day. She still is actively studying seahorses, one normal characteristic of which is that the males of the species carry the fertilized eggs. I asked her when the Sound would be full of lobsters again I m not going to hold my breath. When not teaching or researching, Phoebe enjoys traveling, the Cinema Arts Center in Huntington, and going to the gym, and she and her husband are currently entertaining the idea of honeymooning in Hawaii. Welcome to the college, and best of luck this semester.

7 by Ellen Schuler Mauk Disruptive student behavior in a college classroom?... IT HAPPENS! And because it happens, and because most of us are not trained to deal with behavior that threatens to change the delicate balance in the college classroom that encourages civility and incorporates respect for authority and scholarship while promoting the free exchange of ideas, the Faculty Association and the Office of the Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs once again sponsored the day long seminar, Managing Disruptive Student Behavior. Once again, Dr. Charlie Clarke, Professor of Behavioral Psychology from Monroe Community College, conducted the formal presentation. This year, though, he was joined by three SCCC colleagues Dr. Claire Rubman (Developmental Psychology, Grant Campus), Dr. Gary Goodwin (Academic Chair, Social Sciences, Ammerman Campus) and Dr. Mitchell Levy (Director of Counseling Services and Student Success, Grant Campus) who provided insight into the issue from their perspectives. The workshop addressed the importance of using the course outline to establish both the behavioral and academic expectations of the course, creative approaches suited to the developmental levels of our students, the administrative concerns in handling and helping faculty address disruptive behavior professionally and effectively and the guidelines when behavior warrants referral to the campus Counseling Center. The seminar was the second in a series of three seminars that are first being offered to new SCCC faculty and then, if there is still space, opened to other members of the college community. More than 35 faculty attended this workshop and shared their own experiences regarding student behavior in both traditional and online courses. Of course, the FA provided refreshments and lunch to help keep the discussion lively! Dr. Charlie Clarke, Professor of Behavioral Psychology from Monroe Community College addresses the group. Dr. Claire Rubman (Developmental Psychology, Grant Campus) page 7

8 Executive Council OFFICERS Ellen Schuler Mauk... President Kevin Peterman... Executive Vice President Marie Hanna... Secretary Joyce Gabriele... Treasurer Sean Tvelia... Grievance Officer Frank J. DiGregorio... Adjunct Coordinator ADJUNCTS Doug Cody... BY,CH,NR,ES,FS,HO,PH,AT,TE,EN,TT Garrett Lacara... CS,AC,BF,BA,BL,BD,BU,OT Nicholas Giordano... EK,HS,PO,PD,PS,Counseling, Stud. Act. Michael Frost... EK,HS,PO,PD,PS,Counseling, Stud. Act. Michael Trezza... EG,LR,CO,TH,RT Danielle Zahm... EG,LR,CO,TH,RT Jerry Fallon... For. Lang.,EF,SL,MU,VA,PL Pauline Pharr... For. Lang.,EF,SL,MU,VA,PL Russell David... Math Joy Borrero... NR,HC,FM,HI,CD,OD,ED,PE,OS Carol Powers... NR,HC,FM,HI,CD,OD,ED,PE,OS Barbara Leek... PA/Specialists - Acad. Skills Ctrs. Maureen Sandford.. PA/Spec. - Programmatic, Tech & At-Large Mary Ann Ellinger... PA/Specialists - Instructional Labs Christopher Gherardi... Retiree/Guild Charles Grippi... Retiree/Guild PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANTS Kathy Massimo... Programmatic Michael Agresti... Technical Areas/Instructional Centers Deb Kiesel... Instructional Labs AMMERMAN CAMPUS Brian Zamek... Music/Visual Arts Samantha Sinclair... Nursing/Health & Human Services/PE Darryl Butkos... Biology/Physical Sciences Michael Bonanno... Math Karen Wolf... Comm./Languages/Reading/Philosophy/ Theater/TV,Radio,Film Krista Gruber... Library/Central Scott Giaccone... Accounting/Business Admin./ Business Information Systems Adam Penna... English Valerie Parks... Social Sciences/Criminal Justice Karen Pepe... Counseling Bob Sardegna... Engineering/Computer Science/ Industrial Technology EASTERN CAMPUS Laurey Russo... Library/Humanities/Social Sciences Louise Johnston... Counseling/Science/Math & Business GRANT CAMPUS John Burgess... Natural & Health Sciences/Math Gayle Sheridan... Liberal Arts/Counseling/Library Mohini Ratna... Liberal Arts/Counseling/Library Peter DiGregorio... Business & Technology NYSUT Jonathan Rubin... NYSUT Labor Relations Specialist FACULTY ASSOCIATION SUFFOLK COMMUNITY COLLEGE Southampton 224J, 533 College Road Selden, New York (631) PreSrtStd U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 1 Ronkonkoma, NY page 8