MVCC Professional Association

Seven is a Lucky Number
by Ellis Gage Searles

I've never been superstitious or much of a gambler, so I was surprised when this came to mind recently. After all, it's been 2007 for some time, and I've known all along that this would be my seventh year as PA president. But the more I thought about it, the less surprising it seemed.

First of all, beginning a new academic year always makes me appreciate once more my ongoing good fortune to be able to do work I deeply value with students I truly enjoy, alongside colleagues I respect and admire. After 37 times, I still feel lucky to be doing it.

Also, for seven Septembers as Association president I've found myself looking forward to a positive, productive year for the PA—even last year, when one might have wondered why.

And it's always turned out to be true.

So, if seven is a charm, what might the remaining months of 2007 hold?

Our contract in place, we're already focusing our attention more fully on how the Association can continue to develop as an organization. Our union has ideas in abundance. As always, we'll go on devoting our energies to making good things happen.

In fact, in just a few weeks, we'll have our first such opportunity of the year with a weekend-long meeting of the PA's Executive Board for strategic planning and leadership development. As we've done in the past, we'll take advantage of the NYSUT Regional Leadership Conference in early October to combine networking with our K-12 colleagues and brainstorming about our own local's future.

This is an important kind of luck for our union, that its leaders give so freely of their time, that they dedicate themselves to keeping it strong.

What's more, we're lucky that PA membership continues to grow both in numbers and in active engagement, as new committee members step up to do more for the Association. The evidence—of our ever-improving communication, services and support for members, benefits management, contract enforcement, and political and community outreach—can be found throughout this issue of PAnorama .

Yes, the year ahead seems full of potential and possibility for our union and for us as members.

At the same time, it seems full of hope for our beloved college as well. Surely, 2007 will be remembered as a year of major transition for MVCC. Although it will take time before we can know entirely what that will mean, there are some things we can see right now: A new spirit of cooperation and optimism is growing on campus, and positive change is in the air.

No wonder I'm thinking about luck.

Nominated by the PA Executive Board, Paul Halko received an Outstanding Service Award from the NYSUT Regional Office at its Fifth Annual Recognition Dinner this past June. The following appeared in the recognition booklet:

A true ambassador for the PA, Paul Halko first became active on the Member Services Committee, recruiting new hires. He has since devoted countless hours serving on negotiating teams during two intensive rounds of bargaining.

From its inception, he has chaired the PA Benefits Fund, taking care of the endless details of the day-to-day operation of the Fund, including handling questions from members, signing up new members, staying on top of COBRA and HIPAA regulations, dealing with providers and the human resources office at our college, consulting with NYSUT, and coordinating Fund staff. What most members don't realize is that there's never a glitch because Paul is always anticipating potential problems and figuring out solutions before members suffer. Indeed, Paul often says, “I couldn't sleep last night because I was thinking about … but here's what we can do…”

In addition, Paul serves on the PA Executive Board and regularly represents the PA at MVCC Foundation fundraisers.

He does it all with the Paul-Halko brand of humor and unflappable charm. His good judgment, creativity, and tireless efforts have made a positive difference in the lives of PA members. And for this we honor him today.