Theresa ("T.") McElwaine is currently the UUP chapter vice president for professionals (2009-11), a UUP professional delegate, and a UUP representative on the College Panel on Professional Evaluations. She has also completed numerous statewide UUP leadership training sessions on such topics as the Taylor Law, grievances, and alternative solutions to problems that UUP members may encounter.
"Serving as a delegate is deeply rewarding because it offers a tangible opportunity to help colleagues at Purchase and to 'give back' to the union that has helped so many members throughout SUNY. UUP is here for us and can be enormously helpful, particularly for new employees, those approaching continuing appointment, and those who have workplace concerns. Working together for the good of our members, the campus, and SUNY, is what UUP is all about."
Theresa began her Purchase career in May 1987 as an assistant dean in continuing education. During that period, she served on the executive board of the Council of Professional Employees (now the Professional Staff Council) for several years, as vice president, president, and immediate past president. In Nov. 1997, she was promoted to director of communications for academic affairs, reporting to the vice president of academic affairs (and now provost).
Theresa earned her BA in art at Cal State Univ. at Fullerton, where she also obtained her Calif. K-12 teaching credential in art and English, and her MFA in photography at the San Francisco Art Institute. Her award-winning work has been exhibited and published across the U.S. and abroad. Before coming to Purchase, Theresa worked as an arts administrator at San Francisco Camerawork and, after relocating to the New York metro area in Dec. 1983, at the Collective for Living Cinema and American International Artists Management. She also served as a consultant for groups as diverse as Clarity Educational Productions ("Rosie the Riveter"), the Parabola Arts Foundation (NYC), and the New York State Council on the Arts.
Updated August 2010
|