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NEVADA FACULTY ALLIANCE


ESTABLISHED 1983


Candidate statements for 2017 State Officers election

24 Apr 2017 9:10 PM | Deleted user

President


Rob Manis, CSN


Fellow NFA members,


As all of you know, higher education has been under assault for years by those who wish to outsource, privatize and corporatize our jobs. At the same time our wages have been stagnant and our benefits getting worse and worse. We need to reverse those trends, difficult as it may be.


I have been an NFA member since I was hired at CSN in 1998, and have been CSN Membership Chair and Chapter President. In the last four years, I have helped turn around the chapter and together we recruited over 100 new members culminating in winning collective bargaining rights in 2016.


I have also been active in the state NFA board for nearly four years, serving as state Vice President and Legal Coordinator for the last two.


I have a Ph.D in Sociology from UC Santa Barbara, and prior to coming to Nevada taught Organizational Development for 6 years as an adjunct at the McLaren Business School at University of San Francisco. I believe my academic background and experience will also come in handy in continuing to move the state organization forward.


I am progressive in my politics and will fight hard to preserve the rights of faculty in higher education against those who would abridge or corporatize them. But I am also experienced in working with people of all political agendas and believe in a “big tent” where we all can work together to advance the interests of all students, faculty members and their families in Nevada.


I will fight hard to increase the clout of NFA, to improve lobbying and support membership growth and collective bargaining in any chapter that is interested.


Vice President


Jeff Downs, WNC


Hello, my name is Jeff Downs and I am a tenured Mathematics faculty member at Western Nevada College. I have been a member of the Nevada Faculty Alliance since 2004, when I was hired at WNC, and a chapter president for three years.


In 2012, when serving WNC as the Faculty Senate Chair, I was part of the team that worked with the Regents and the Chancellor to allow a vote at WNC to bring Collective Bargaining to our college. I am currently second chair on the Collective Bargaining renegotiating team. I believe in the principals of Collective Bargaining and believe Faculty Rights need to be protected and expanded, regardless of Collective Bargaining status.


I would appreciate the honor of serving as a State Vice President to help grow the NFA, represent the State Board in the North, and support the next State President. I hope you will consider voting for me.


Shari Lyman, CSN


I am honored to be nominated for Nevada Faculty Alliance State Vice President.


I have been a member of the CSN NFA Chapter since 1990 both as a part-time Economics and Mathematics instructor and now as a full-time tenured professor of Economics, Women’s Studies, and Latin American Studies.


I teach onground, online, and hybrid classes in the 16-week, 8-week, and 4-week formats.


I served as the CSN NFA Chapter President from 2008 to 2010.


I served as NFA State Treasurer from 2011-2015


I continue to be an active member of CSN NFA and AAUP.


Also, I serve on the CSN Women’s Alliance, the Social Sciences Pedagogy Committee, and various other college committees, department committees, and community organizations such as 4-H, Boy Scouts of America, Moapa Valley Community Education Advisory Board, and the Clark County School District Attendance Zone Advisory Commission.


I value my membership and leadership experiences with NFA due to the work and support NFA provides for its members and all faculty members in Nevada’s System of Higher Education.


As Vice President I will serve the NFA members throughout NSHE as an advocate for academic freedom, shared governance, and legal defense. I will advocate on behalf of positive work and learning environments that include access, inclusion, and diversity for all faculty, staff, and students.


I will continue to work actively with the institutions, administrations, NSHE, and the State of Nevada legislators to support, fund, and promote higher education for all of Nevada.

I am committed to the fundamental mission of NFA to ensure academic freedom, shared governance, and economic security for all of Nevada’s higher education faculty and staff for the benefit of our students.


Treasurer


Jennifer Nelson, CSN


Despite having no opponent in this race for State NFA Treasurer, I write this candidate statement to affirm that I do not take your vote for granted. Instead, I take this opportunity to brief you on some of my accomplishments from my current term in this office. From retiring an AAUP back dues debt one year early and controlling operational expenses to preparing and presenting accurate, clear semi-annual financial reports and realistic budgets to support State Board planning and decision-making, I have maintained our organization’s sound financial condition. To update State NFA’s adherence to fiscal best practices for non-profits, I have written and received State Board approval for financial operating policy that delineates procedures for planning, approving, reimbursing, and annual budgeting of NFA chapters’ events and activities. As your steward of the dues you pay to NFA and AAUP, I pledge to continue putting forward my best effort to manage State NFA’s finances effectively. I hope I have earned your vote.


Thank you,

Jennifer S. Nelson, Ph.D.


Secretary


Andrea Brown, CSN


I would like to respectfully express my hope to continue to serve as NFA Secretary for the 2017-2019 term.


I have been an AAUP member for 10 years and joined Nevada Faculty Alliance in 2013 shortly after joining the Department of Human Behavior at the College of Southern Nevada. As a full time faculty member, I have been a member of a variety of department and college-wide committees including, hiring and convocation. Furthermore, I have provided a number of professional development workshops and conference presentations related to instruction, student success, diversity and inclusion.


I was elected NFA-CSN Secretary in 2014 and re-elected in 2016. Over the past three years, I have developed strong working relationships with chapter leadership. As a NFA-CSN member, I have been a member of the political action committee and met with legislators to advocate for faculty and ascertain their support for legislative efforts that benefit higher education in Nevada. Additionally, I have been a member of the NFA-CSN Organizing Committee for collective bargaining where I gained invaluable insight into organizing, and along with other dedicated faculty--contributed to our collective bargaining victory.


My service to NFA has been rewarding and has provided me with invaluable learning and training experiences. I am hard-working, dedicated and committed to our cause. If re-elected, I will continue to push our organization forward. Thank you for your consideration.


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