The pandemic has affected every area of the college, it seems, and the FA election is no exception.

This spring, 18 EC representative positions were up for election. In all of these positions, either no candidate was nominated or a single candidate is running unopposed. In the latter case, we do not run elections and the unopposed candidate will be the next EC rep for their respective constituency. All of the positions with unopposed candidates will be presented to the Executive Council at our May 12 meeting for certification.

Vacancies need to be filled

For vacancies, we will need to run special elections first thing in the fall semester to fill them, in keeping with our Elections Procedures. I list the current vacancies below so members can start the process of identifying potential nominees. Watch for those emails with calls for nominations early in the fall 2022 semester.

We don't like to see vacancies in our Executive Council. There's too much happening in the FA and at the college to have no EC reps assigned for these important constituencies.

Full-time representatives (campus-based constituencies)

• Ammerman Campus English
• Grant Campus nursing, health science, phys ed, veterinary science
• Grant Campus humanities

Adjunct representatives (college-wide constituencies)

• Adjuncts in nursing, phys ed, health sciences
• Adjuncts in social sciences
• Adjunct PAs & specialists in skills centers
• Adjunct PAs & specialists in instructional labs

 

Being an EC rep is a college-level position and denotes considerable service to the institution. Details are in our FA Constitution and Bylaws (see Bylaws Article II on pages 8-12), but below is an overview.

What is the EC?

The Executive Council is the policy-making body of our union. It consists of the six at-large officers as well as 35 EC reps elected by the membership every two years.

The EC meets once each month during the academic year to

• discuss current issues and activities affecting the FA
• uphold the terms of the contract and Constitution & Bylaws
• authorize negotiations
• approve committee and other FA appointments
• approve the FA budget
• certify election results
• conduct other duties appropriate to the body.

EC rep obligations

The most basic expectation for EC reps is to attend our monthly EC meetings, typically held on the second Thursday of every month from 3:45 to 5:45 pm. These are currently held via Zoom, and the minutes and agenda are emailed in advance of each meeting.

In addition, EC reps are provided a listserv of their constituents and an FA email account to communicate via email. We ask that you email your constituents approximately one week prior to each EC meeting to ask for questions or concerns, report any during the EC meeting and then report the answers back to your constituent(s) as necessary and appropriate. In addition, EC reps receive a brief summary of each EC meeting that you can add to and share with your constituents. We believe that an informed membership is a happy membership!

There are other opportunities available to EC reps too, such as travel to the annual fall NYSUT Community College Conference, but these are the basics.

If you’re interested in serving on the EC in any of the positions listed above, keep an eye out for a fall 2022 email with the call for nomination form to self-nominate or to nominate someone else within your constituency. Or feel free to contact me before that if you have questions.