Time to contact your legislators? Now
A few years ago at a statewide UFF governance meeting (the UFF senate), I saw a senator from another campus wearing a threadworn t-shirt with the caption, “United Mindworkers of Florida.” It was a play on the phrase “united mineworkers,” but it makes the point that what we do as faculty is work. In a month when U.S. News and World Reort called faculty jobs “cushy” and ABC news anchor Charlie Gibson implied that the faculty at a small Benedictine liberal-arts college in New Hampshire must make $100,000, it’s evident that someone needs to remind the general public (or at least sloppy journalists) that successful faculty members often work 50-60 hour weeks.
Reading the grim budget news from the state of Florida makes that role of the United Faculty of Florida even more important. Legislators will want the state budget to be strategic. Unless we remind them that the faculty are the strategic resource in the state university system, they might think of flashy programs, initiatives with catchy acronyms, and the like. Part of the role of the United Faculty of Florida is public advocacy. Three years ago, we fought back a bill that threatened academic freedom. This year, we will need to focus on the state budget, reminding the legislature that investing money in universities and university faculty is one of the most efficient use of resources the state can make.
Sometimes the value of higher education is lost in the discussion over tuition. A recent study by the College Board, Education Pays, confirms what all such studies have been saying for several years: Higher education more than pays for itself in direct economic benefits: lifetime income of college graduates who pay taxes, employees with pensions funds in retirement and health insurance with employment who do not require expensive social services, and increased relocation of businesses to states that have an educated population.
The lobbyists our dues pay for will help convey that message, but paid lobbyists are more effective when we work as constituents. Call your legislators’ offices today, before the legislative session starts. Make an appointment to talk with your representative or senator to explain what you do, why focusing the state’s resources on higher-education faculty is a great use of state funds, and why that is even more important in hard budget years. Make sure that our legislature understands how hard we work and how much that makes a difference in the lives of USF students and the state.
