The Oracle
M O N DAY, M A RC H 1 9 , 2 0 1 8 I VO L . 5 5 N O . 4 5
www.usforacle.com
U N I V E R S I T Y O F S O U T H F L O R I DA
Conflicts over SDS accomodations reveal struggles with invisible disabilities
By Chaveli Guzman M U L T I M E D I A
E D I T O R
After her dual enrollment classes let out at 8 p.m. on Wednesdays in summer 2016, Nicole Yacura would sit inside the Boca Raton Tri-Rail Station waiting for her 9 p.m. train to arrive. As she leaned her head back on the wired wall that encased the bridge, a war took place inside her mind. One she had struggled with since she was six years old – her battle with depression and anxiety. When she came to USF, her lifelong struggle worsened. In fall 2016, Yacura began her collegiate journey at USF as an environmental science and policy major. While she dreaded being away from home, she was eager to begin the new chapter in her life. Because of the limitations of having anxiety and depression, Yacura immediately registered for class and testing accommodations with Students with Disabilities Services (SDS). With these accommodations, Yacura would be given extra time on exams and would take them in a distraction-free room. Initially, she never felt her accommodations or her conditions
Nicole Yacura struggles with invisible disabilities of which were worsened by an experience with a USF professor. ORACLE PHOTO/CHAVELI GUZMAN were a problem. For three semesters, her anxiety subsided some — she felt welcome. However, in fall 2017, Richard Pollenz, a professor who has taught for 30 years, changed that feeling entirely. She said when she mentioned the need to implement her requested accommodations in the course to
Pollenz, her accommodations were viewed as an inconvenience to the course material and syllabus. She said not only did her professor have a problem with the accommodations, Pollenz advised her to abandon them in the course. For the first time at USF, she said she felt as though her disabilities posed
an obstacle between herself and her success. “Having somebody essentially call me out and question my accommodations, question the things I have in my life to make it a little bit normal made me feel abnormal, made me feel like a nuisance,” Yacura said. “It brought
all that anxiety back.” Pollenz denies these accusations, mentioning that he even went out of his way to accommodate Yacura and other students. “I met with ALL of the students who had SDS accommodation before the start of the semester and explained the four different assessments,” Pollenz said in an e-mail to The Oracle. “We all agreed that each student would take their exams in the SDS office and each would personally determine where they would complete the quizzes and homeworks attempt. “We also all agreed that they would take the in class assessments during the class and we would determine if there were any issues moving forward. I also indicated that the grading of in class assignments for SDS students would be based ON THE WORK COMPLETED and that anyone did not finish the work they could always come back after class to complete or review during office hours. This was also communicated to the SDS office. It was stated that if a student had an issue, they would come and see me and would discuss the situation. NO STUDENTS CAME TO SEE ME.”
n See SDS on PAGE 3
Adjuncts to officially unionize after overwhelming vote in favor By Maria Ranoni N E W S
E D I T O R S
Adjunct professors can retire their protest signs for now as their fight for the right to unionize is over. In an overwhelming victory, USF adjuncts voted in favor of unionization last week. After a significant push from adjuncts advocating for the right to unionize, the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission issued an Order and Direction of Election on Jan. 9.
This election lasted from Feb. 16 to March 13 and was conducted using mail ballots. The organization that will represent adjuncts is the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). According to their website, SEIU is “an organization of 2 million members united by the belief in the dignity and worth of workers and the services they provide and dedicated to improving the lives of workers and their families and creating a more
just and humane society.” Out of the 900 adjuncts that were eligible to vote, 326 voted to unionize while only 91 voted against it. Overall, there was a rather low voter turnout with about 46 percent deciding to vote. Dana Corrigan, an animation adjunct instructor, was confident her colleagues would vote in favor of unionization. “I had a feeling that we would win because it’s been such an issue for adjuncts — our general living
and working situations — and also trying to find full-time work at colleges because it’s not like most of us are not trying,” Corrigan said. Adam Freeman, a university spokesman, said USF doesn’t agree with the decision made by adjuncts. “Throughout the election process, we provided adjunct faculty members with information about the realities of unionization to ensure that each voter could make an informed decision,”
Freeman said. “We also explained that the university does not believe unionization best serves the needs of students, adjuncts or the university as a whole. We are disappointed by these results, as well as the low voter response.” However, the battle is not yet over. SEIU must still negotiate with USF administration to come up with a contract for adjuncts that will hopefully appease both parties.
n See VOTE on PAGE 3