State of the State Pre-Game

I had a really good talk this morning with Jan Dorman, Director of the Standing Committee on Higher Education in the New York State Senate, arranged by the office of committee chair and Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, on the joint Senate-Assembly Higher Ed committees' #TurnOnTheTAP campaign and legislative package that was launched yesterday.  Soon after, I wrote the following thank-you email to Senator Stavisky's scheduler Marilyn Dyer:

Thanks so much for the opportunity to speak with Jan. I'd love to hear more about the specifics of Senator Stavisky's and Assemblymember Fahy's higher ed agenda and continue discussing ways the Fredonia University Senate and SUNY University Faculty Senate (UFS) could help advance it.

Here's some background on what both organizations have been up to since the fall!

• SUNY UFS October 2023 Executive Budget resolution, Potsdam resolution, and February 2022 Executive Budget statement
• Fredonia University Senate state budget advocacy (resolutions, statements, transmittal letters)
• My official messages as Fredonia University Senate Chairperson to Fredonia Senators
• The official @FredUnivSenate x-twitter account
• My professional blog Citizen of Somewhere Else (for my own individual, non-official purposes)
• My personal x-twitter account @CitizenSE

I'm excited that so many organizations seem to be committing to identifying common areas of state budget advocacy and putting down markers before Governor Hochul's State of the State Address this afternoon and release of her Executive Budget proposal later this month.

If there's anything Senator Stavisky needs from either Senate, please don't hesitate to ask. I'm happy to take suggestions to the Fredonia University Senate Executive Committee (as Senate Chairperson) and the UFS Executive Committee (as chair of the UFS Governance Committee and Immediate Past Vice President/Secretary). I can't guarantee either governance committee or body will be with you 100% on every matter, but we're happy to engage in dialogue to get as close as we can to 100% on as close as we can get to 100% of the topics we discuss!

Have a wonderful day,

It sounds to me that Senator Stavisky and Assemblymember Patricia Fahy (chair of the New York State Assembly Higher Education Committee) are on very much the same page as United University Professions.  I emphasized during the call that although I am a UUP member and active on the Fredonia Chapter Executive Board, I was speaking for myself and transmitting SUNY shared governance body information and talking points.  Will continue to make that clear in communications beyond the call and the email.

Looking forward to continued conversations after the State of the State Address, starting with a call with Assemblymember Fahy's office tomorrow afternoon.