BUFFALO, N.Y. April 27, 2012 - Two New York City college educators were honored by their union colleagues this week as New York State United Teachers "Higher Education Members of the Year."
Marcia Newfield, who teaches at the City University of New York, and Juliette Romano, recently retired from the Fashion Institute of Technology, are being recognized during NYSUT's annual Representative Assembly, which began earlier this week at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center.
"Juliette and Marcia are each admired and respected in their classrooms and in their unions," said NYSUT President Richard C. Iannuzzi. "They are leaders in every sense of the word and are truly deserving of this recognition by their peers."
Newfield, an adjunct lecturer in English, is the vice president for part-time personnel for the Professional Staff Congress, NYSUT's affiliate for CUNY academic and professional faculty. In that role, she is a nationally recognized advocate for part-time college faculty, who now make up two-thirds of higher education faculty nationwide. A prolific writer, she is also a poet and the author of six children's books.
Romano is the former president of the United College Employees of FIT and continues to teach at the college on a part-time basis. In her union work, she has championed higher ed issues on the national stage as a member of the American Federation of Teachers' Program and Policy Council and as a sought-after speaker. As an educator, Romano was credited with providing countless students with career planning advice that helped them to succeed upon graduation.
"Marcia and Juliette remind us that higher education is about so much more than what goes on in the classroom and on campus," said NYSUT Vice President Maria Neira. "Their work is about the future - the future of our next generation of leaders and the future of the society in which we live."
More than 2,500 NYSUT delegates, staff and guests are participating in the union's 40th annual RA, which concludes Saturday.
NYSUT, the state's largest union, represents more than 600,000 teachers, school-related professionals, academic and professional faculty in higher education, professionals in education and health care and retirees. NYSUT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association and the AFL-CIO.
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