Charles Delman does not rely on his cell phone often.

He said he would go crazy if he did.

“I try to keep it on when we are negotiating or if some kind of major event is occurring at that moment,” Delman said. “I think the battery is debunked.”

The mathematics professor also is the president for Eastern’s chapter of the University Professionals of Illinois – the union for Eastern’s faculty.

Delman was selected by Faculty Senate to receive the Louis Carlos Mendez Award. The award will be presented to him during Commencement on Dec. 14.

As UPI president, Delman has to make day-to-day decisions based off the general policy established by UPI members. He handles relations with the administration, and helps resolve issues with negotiations and grievances.

Delman also serves on the local executive board, which is comprised of the eight chapter presidents throughout universities in Illinois.

“Part of my duties are at the local level and making decisions for the whole statewide union,” Delman said.

He has informal meetings with UPI members, and organizes UPI’s official meetings, which are held once a month.

The informal meetings can include meeting with the vice president and chairs of committees like the grievance officer and the membership chair. He also makes contact with executive assistants and at-large representatives.

He does this to establish and maintain a democratic process within the UPI chapter, he said.

“It is more than a full-time job,” Delman said of being UPI’s president. “I think my job was easier when I wasn’t doing this and I was just a professor.”

He added, although it is a busy service to the university, it is a necessary one.

“The faculty of the university is the backbone of the university,” Delman said. “The quality of faculty pretty much determines the quality of the university – the working conditions they have to teach and develop their talent, and work with their students.”

Mendez, who was a professor at Eastern, died of a heart attack in 2003.

“It was created because Mendez was a dedicated member of the faculty,” said Jonathon Coit, member of Faculty Senate. “The service award is a memorial to his memory.”

Coit, who is also on the senate’s awards committee, said the Mendez Award rewards a faculty member who has dedicated his or her time to service.

He said service work could be within a faculty’s department like serving on department committees. There is also university level curriculum committees, which a faculty member can be involved with, Coit said.

He added there is service work within a faculty member’s profession like organizing conferences.

Service work is a thankless duty for the most part, Coit said.

“If you pour your heart out in service, it can be a little invisible,” he said. “Especially because the only people who know what you are doing on the committee are the members of the committee.”

He added it is a fairly new award with the first one being handed out in 2005.

Coit said the awards committee decided to select Delman because of his work with UPI, along with his work within his profession and department.

“I think, in general, we (chose) him for the award because of the amount of time and energy he puts into making the university a better place for all to work in, which is also about making the university a better place for students to go to school,” Coit said.

Delman first got involved with UPI during the 1999 contract negotiations, he was then moved to chief negotiator, then to vice president of UPI before being selected as president. He is in his second term as UPI president.

“It is kind of a 24/7 thing, which is pretty stressful,” Delman said. “I won’t miss that part of it, but I am careful to take some time off.”

He receives reassigned time from teaching and research to do his UPI work, he said.

He also has spoke at high schools, organized conferences and served on department committees.

To be recommended for the award, applicants can either nominate themselves or be nominated by a fellow faculty member.

Bailey Young, history professor, nominated Delman for the award. The two have known one another for more than 10 years.

“There is no counting the hours and hours he puts into this (UPI),” Young said. “I felt very strongly that all of us here owe him a lot.”

He said Delman is very lucid, fair-minded and believes in reason.

“What I’ve always seen with him when he is talking to a group of people or individually, he listens carefully, he doesn’t shoot from the hip, he thinks before he opens his mouth, but he is not reckless,” Young said.

Young also worked with Mendez, when they both served on Faculty Senate five or six years ago.

Mendez was ready to give his time and energy to serve Eastern and the larger community, he added.

Young said Mendez cared about how the university was governed and the role of the faculty.

“When I saw the appeal to nominate people for (the award), I thought this is something Charles deserves,” he said. “I think Louie Clay Mendez would agree with me about this.”

Delman cannot solely take credit for the effectiveness of UPI, Delman said.

“Every little bit that people do helps an enormous amount,” he said. “It is really the most important thing, the support from the membership.”

He, however, is proud to receive the Mendez Award, Delman added.

“Dr. Mendez was very, very committed to the university, and having it be a quality institution where the faculty served the students and the community,” he said. “I’m very honored to get the award.”