Index of Past State of the Union Reports 

1650 HOLDS ELECTIONS

This fall the following Local 1650 offices are up for election: Vice President of Internal Affairs, Secretary, and Area Representatives from odd-numbered areas (Area 1 – Counseling, Library, Placement Office, Focus on Women, Assisted Learning, Student Activities, Instructional Technology; Area 3 – Technical; Area 5 – Health Careers/Nursing; Area 7 – Science; and Area 9 – Fine Art and Fitness).

For all positions, nominations will close at the October 17 General Membership Meeting, and elections will be held the following week. If you are interested in running for one of these positions, please inform Ed Fryzel (English Division) or Nancy Widman (Library) in writing, or have your name nominated at the October 17 General Membership meeting.

1650 WELCOMES NEW TEACHERS

Local 1650 extends a belated but heartfelt and very warm welcome to several new teachers this fall: Diana Baran, Business; Rodney Barnhart, History; Michele Bietler, Nursing; Eric Gackenbach, Hospitality; Sheri James, English; Brian Kirchner, Science; Lori Slaber, English; Kathleen Stornant, Nursing; and Tracie Varitek, English.

At an orientation session on August 31, new teachers were invited to meet and socialize with members of the Local 1650 Executive Board. Over refreshments, President John McDonald provided an overview of the Local’s role on campus and in the Dearborn community and described key features of the contract. The new teachers were encouraged to become active in Local 1650, by attending the monthly membership meetings and joining one of the committees.

PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH FORUMS

Exciting times continue at HFCC, as we plunge headlong into our search for a new College President this fall! While logistics require that the Search Committee be limited in number, you are all invited and encouraged to provide input into the development of a “Presidential Profile, ” akin to a job description. How can you share your views of important qualities for our next College President to possess? Please plan on attending one of the forums in the Berry Amphitheater (small auditorium) in the ASCC on Monday, October 24. They will be held at 10:30 a.m., 2:00 p.m., and 7:00 p.m.

These forums are open to anyone and are intended to give staff, faculty, and community members a chance to contribute to and try to reach consensus on the qualities of an ideal candidate. Dr. Narcissa Polonio, consultant from the Association of Community College Trustees, will facilitate these forums. Following the forums, on Tuesday, October 25, Dr. Polonio will meet with the Search Committee, in part to share the views of forum participants. Following her meeting with the Board of Trustees that Tuesday evening, the position will be advertised.

Given the College’s strong commitment to shared governance and the challenges and transitions that the College faces, having faculty concerns and priorities well represented at these forums is essential. They should involve interesting debate as well. Please make every effort to attend one of the open forums on Monday, October 24.

HFCC-FT PAF COLLECTION

The last 1650 Report documented many pressing legislative issues facing higher education and underscored well the importance of our involvement in political action. Local 1650’s Executive Board has recommended that each teacher contribute $80 to our Local 1650 PAF. Members are also asked to contribute $20 to the AFT-Michigan Political Action Fund.

Local 1650 faces many serious and imminent challenges that will require our active involvement. Most notable is the upcoming election for two open positions on the HFCC Board of Trustees/Dearborn Board of Education and for seven positions on the City Council. Local 1650 also needs to anticipate expenditures for next year’s State House , Senate, and Gubernatorial campaigns. The Executive Board hopes that all instructors, new and seasoned alike, appreciate the importance of our full political involvement.

The Executive Board thanks those who have already contributed and thus supported Local 1650’s political efforts to protect their bargaining rights and secure the local and State funding necessary to operate HFCC, maintain instructional quality, and compensate its employees. Additional checks should be made out to HFCC-FT 1650 PAF and to AFT-MI PAC and forwarded to your Area Representative.

FORMER AFT PRESIDENT SANDRA FELDMAN DIES

Former AFT president Sandra Feldman, a lifelong advocate and activist for civil and trade union rights, died September 18 at her home in New York City after a three-year battle with breast cancer. She was 65.
Local 1650 members may remember Sandy’s visit to HFCC and participation in a 1650 General Membership Meeting in 2000. At that meeting and throughout her career, Sandy evidenced warmth, humor, and an incisive command of the myriad challenges confronting education, labor, health services, and civil rights proponents across the country. Highlights of Sandy’s lifelong commitment to these causes, as complied by the AFT, follows.

When Sandra Feldman was elected AFT President in 1997 after the death of Albert Shanker, she became the first female president of the Union since the 1930's. Her election to the AFT's top post followed a distinguished 30-year career with the United Federation of Teachers in New York City, including 11 years as UFT president. Sandy was widely recognized as an authority on urban education, and her long-standing commitment to social justice dates back to her involvement with the early civil rights movement, both in New York and nationally, when she was arrested during the Freedom Rides and other protests in the 1960's.

During Feldman's tenure as President, the AFT grew by more than 365,000 new members, 38.6% – the largest growth in a seven-year period in the union's history – passing the one million mark in 1998. As AFT President, she also served on the AFL-CIO's Executive Council, chairing the AFL-CIO's Committee on Social Policy and serving on numerous other committees of the Council.

Among her key initiatives as AFT president was a call for universal access to preschool for children. At the Union's 2002 convention, she outlined the first step toward achieving this, urging Congress to provide funding for a “Kindergarten-Plus” initiative that would help schools offer an extended year of kindergarten for disadvantaged youngsters to help close the achievement gap.

Feldman was also a strong advocate for the rights and concerns of nurses and health professionals, working to bring public attention to the national nursing shortage, patient rights, and adequate staffing levels in healthcare facilities.

A strong proponent of civic education and democracy in the international arena, Feldman served as a Vice-president of Education International. She frequently spoke out on human rights issues abroad, condemning terrorism and repression of human and worker rights around the world.

In 2004, Feldman decided for health reasons not to run for reelection as AFT President and stepped down at the Union's convention that year. She was named AFT President Emeritus and continued to serve on the boards of numerous organizations.

Tributes and condolences have poured into the AFT national headquarters in Washington, D.C. in memory of Sandy. Feldman "was a visionary leader and inspiration for working families nationwide," said AFL-CIO president John Sweeney in a statement. “She helped lead not only her union, but the nationwide movement for social change.” Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) described her as “a giant in the field of education and one of the greatest and most effective champions the nation has ever had for equal educational opportunity for all children.” From policymakers to elected officials to Feldman's AFT and union colleagues across the nation, those sending messages have expressed their heartfelt sense of loss. To read a sampling of the tributes, go to: http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/A7zvnAS18ctD/tribute.