UUP Head Floss Is Unseated by Smith;

UUP Head Floss Is Unseated by Smith


United University Professions delegates Feb. 9 elected an insurgent over Acting President Frederick G. Floss, who had been chosen to run the union after former President William E. Scheuerman retired less than three months ago.

UUP Photo 'MAKE IT TRANSPARENT': Newly elected United University Professions President Phillip H. Smith is hoping to change the internal culture of the union. 'I think people were concerned that the organization had become too top-down,' he said. 'I want to open up the process.'

The delegates voted 185 to 155 in a special election for Phillip Smith, 61, who will serve out Mr. Scheuerman's term until May 31, 2009. The new president campaigned on a platform of making the union "more transparent."

'Union Too Top-Down'

"We've had one style of leadership for quite a number of years," said Mr. Smith. "I think people were concerned that the organization had become too top-down. I want to open up the process."

Mr. Scheuerman, who led UUP for 14 years, stepped down Nov. 30 to become president of the National Labor College. This was the first contested election for UUP president since 1991.

Mr. Smith, a Professor of cell and developmental biology, became a UUP member in 1978 when he was hired at Upstate Medical University, now the union's largest chapter. He became a delegate two years later and a grievance officer in 1985. He was elected chapter president in 1995. In 2000, he won a statewide race for vice president for academics and was the union's chief negotiator for the 2003-2007 contract talks.

Mr. Smith stepped down in 2004 at the end of his term for personal reasons and went back to leading his chapter. He was not considering running for president until Mr. Scheuerman announced his resignation.

"People felt there was a situation where the same people were picked to do the same kinds of roles," said the biology Professor. "If people want to do things, I think they should be able to step forward and be given the tools to do so, instead of being selected. There shouldn't be any favoritism."

Mr. Smith said he wanted to give new people the opportunity to chair committees, lead initiatives inside the union and attend conferences. He also is looking to revamp the union's publications. "I'm trying to make our organization relevant to the members," he said, "to have them want to read our publications, and make them useful, not just propaganda highlighting our leadership."

He campaigned both through mailings and by setting up an interactive Web site where people could write in with questions and comments and Mr. Smith would answer them on-line. He said members' concerns ran the gamut, with questions about the treatment of part-timers, librarians and retirees, and ideas about how to build and energize the membership.

The central political priorities for the union are not likely to change as the budget season gets under way. Mr. Smith led the union's annual legislative breakfast Feb. 12, his first full day in office, pressing the union's concern about increasing funding for full-time faculty at the State University of New York.

Presses for More Staff

The Governor's budget contains no funds for additional faculty, and UUP officials have argued that SUNY needs 1,600 more full-time faculty to return to the student-faculty ratio that existed in the early 1990s.

UUP would also like to see the establishment of a new SUNY hospital in Buffalo to help train medical students attending the SUNY Buffalo Health Science Center.

"The legislative agenda is set by our committee, and none of that changes," said Mr. Smith. "The changes are about an internal re-organization."

Mr. Floss will return to his previous position as vice president for academics. Mr. Smith said he did not believe there would be problems maintaining a good working relationship with Mr. Floss and the rest of the officers, as he has worked with them in the past.

UUP represents more than 34,000 academic and professional faculty and employees at SUNY.