I am a candidate for vice president of the Massachusetts
Teachers Association. I have been traveling around the state listening
to the concerns of students, parents, administrators, community
leaders, educational support professionals and teachers. As vice
president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association I will be
available to UMass campus members.
As vice president I look forward to meeting every
member and promoting our great union as we all work to protect
the future of public education in Massachusetts. I support the
fund-raising efforts of University President William M. Bulger.
I am employed as a nutrition educator for UMass
Extension. In that capacity I teach nutrition courses at the Worcester
Vocational High School and other public school alternative education
programs in central Massachusetts.
I am a nationally certified instructor in public
policy for the Family Community Leadership Institute, an outreach
program of UMass Extension. I am a national keynote speaker for
4-H Youth and Family Development teen conferences. My union local
is the University Staff Association of the UMass Amherst campus.
My working classification is education support professional (ESP).
Prior to joining the University I was a newspaper
publisher for the Worcester Welcome-Mat, The Boston Welcome-Mat
Newspaper and the Cape Cod Travel and Vacation Guide. I have worked
in the marketing and advertising department of the Worcester Telegram
& Gazette.
I have been a candidate for mayor of Worcester and
city councilor at-large. In 1976 I worked as a press aide and
federal grant writer in the office of U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke
(R-Massachusetts). I have helped develop many community based
programs that have addressed the issues of homelessness of families
in crisis. I volunteer to teach adults to read through "If
you can read this you can read anything."
To help stop infant mortality in Worcester I introduced
"Cribs for Kids," a program to deliver cribs to mothers
who could not afford to buy one. In 2001 I delivered more than
175 cribs and raised over $12,000 to support this project. At
the 2001 NEA Assembly in Los Angeles this program was recognized
by the unanimous vote of the delegates in attendance and recommended
as a national model.
Last year I was presented with an outstanding community
service award from Chancellor Scott.
As a member of the UMass family I feel that I have
a real understanding of our budget and its impact. I believe the
programs of UMass are important to this Commonwealth and to our
country. I will be a strong voice for UMass. I wish to represent
and advocate for the rights of students, teachers, administrators
and educational support professionals. I understand the workings
of the political process from local to state to federal levels.
I am passionate about politics. I will work with all my energy
to protect the best interest of public education in Massachusetts
and the professionals who work every day to produce our country's
greatest asset: an educated person. I respectfully appreciate
a vote for vice president from UMass MTA
members. Together we will make the difference.
WILLIAM S. COLEMAN III
education support specialist
UMass Extension
As academic programs undergo an extremely uncertain
process of planning for Academic Year 2002/2003 with fewer faculty
and less sufficient overall resources, it is timely for the Faculty
Senate to remind the campus that academic requirements published
in the Undergraduate Catalogue, the Graduate Catalogue, and elsewhere,
cannot be modified or reduced except through the procedures described
in the Course Approval Procedure Guide, pp. 12-13 (revised February
1998; available at www.umass.edu/senate). Basically, proposed
minor changes may be proposed and reviewed through the publication
of a 30-day letter from the Senate Office or from the Provost.
If concerns are raised in response to such a 30-day letter, or
if proposed changes are deemed to be "major," then approval
of such changes through the Senate's "full approval process"
is required.
Every year, the Senate approves numerous curricular
changes and new courses. (Courses no longer being taught are discarded
through action by individual departments.) At this point in history,
it might well be appropriate for departments to update and even
streamline curricula in a manner consistent with high academic
quality, through the approval process. However, as the "academic
quality assurance" mechanism on campus, the purpose of the
Senate approval process is clear: to maintain appropriately high
academic standards in all curricula offered on the campus. Dilution
of existing curricular requirements is not an appropriate option
for solving the projected shortfall of faculty and other resources
in AY2002/2003. Maintaining high quality in the curriculum must
be among the very highest of campus priorities, especially at
this time.
As a consequence, the realistic options available
to departments and programs which must manage their offerings
with reduced resources - in some cases dramatically reduced resources
-are to maintain quality but reduce non-core activities and teaching
commitments, reduce elective offerings, reduce the number of students
served in the major, etc. Such decisions are fundamentally administrative
in character and do not require approval by the Faculty Senate.
ERNEST MAY
secretary
Faculty Senate
