University at Albany
State University of New York
Univesity C il
Minutes
November 5, 2010
A regular meeting of the University Council of the State University of New York at Albany was
held on Friday, November 5, 2010 in University Hall, Room 306. Members present were: Daniel
Tomson (Vice Chair), Pierre Alric, Robert Balachandran (conference call), Patricia Caldwell,
James Clancy, John Fallon (conference call), James Jackson, Abner JohnPierre, Michael Stein
and Stephen Guarneri, Jr. (Student Member). Also present were: Nicholas Fahrenkopf (Graduate
Student Representative), Professor Susanna Fessler (Faculty Representative), and William
McCann (Alumni Representative).
Also attending were: President George Philip, Provost Susan Phillips, Vice Presidents Christine
Bouchard and Fardin Sanai; Interim Vice Presidents Stephen Beditz and James Dias; Vice
Provost Wayne Locust; Vincent Delio (Chief of Staff); and Janet Thayer (Associate Counsel).
Mr. Tomson called the meeting to order at 3:05pm. He welcomed Mr. Clancy as a newly
appointed member of the Council. Upon motion duly made and seconded (Alric/Caldwell), the
minutes of the meeting of September 24, 2010 were unanimously approved as submitted.
Moving to the President’s Report, Mr. Philip noted the reactions on campus to the recent
budgetary actions involving five academic programs. He said that he had received numerous
calls, letters, e-mails, personal expressions, and other types of communications in response to the
actions he had undertaken. While many were, understandably, oppositional, he noted that some
were very critical and personally condemning. He said that he had held several meetings with
various constituent groups to hear their views and to respond to their questions and comments.
These included meetings with faculty governance groups, departmental faculty, union
representatives, student government leaders, alumni and other individuals.
He observed that many misconceptions and incorrect information had been promulgated and that
some in the media had simply printed information without contacting any campus officers to
clarify the facts before going to press.
In response to a question by Mr. Stein, the president said that the University, over the past two
years, had absorbed a budget reduction in excess of 30% and additional cuts in state support
were still coming, some even more severe than had been experienced. In response to the charge
that the academic area and especially the Humanities were being disproportionately cut, Mr.
Philip reported that the largest number of positions affected by these actions were in non-
academic areas. He added that the professional schools/colleges had larger reductions than the
College of Arts and Sciences.
Page 2
Moving to other items, President Philip reported that the new RNA Institute had attracted grants
totaling $5.4 million and that this initiative had great promise in the years ahead. He noted
campus efforts to partner with local businesses with the goal of increasing support for the
University. He highlighted the University at Albany Foundation’s Citizen Laureate 2010
recognition dinner as the most successful in the 31 years of the event with $170,000 in ticket
sales and sponsor support. And, he congratulated Council member Alric on being elected
President of the SUNY-wide Association of Council Members and Trustees (ACT) last month.
Mr. Stein commended the President for handling the difficult reactions to the budgetary actions.
Ms. Caldwell commented on the importance of SUNY’s role in garnering state support and Dr.
Jackson spoke of the need to engage state legislators in the process.
The President invited Provost Phillips to comment on UAIbany’s Strategic Plan and the SUNY
Initiative. Dr. Phillips described the establishment and design of the campus Plan, the active
involvement of faculty and staff representatives, and the process that led to the drafting of the
document (copies distributed). She noted the specific goals that were included and commented
on the implementation process.
A discussion ensued with Mr. Tomson observing the importance of public higher education in
New York and the need to bring together various constituent groups to collaborate in advocating
for public support now that a new administration will be in place. Ms. Caldwell, Dr. Jackson, and
Mr. Stein added comment.
Moving to the next agenda item, Mr. Guarneri said that the Student Association-sponsored
Speaker Series Fall Program was very successful noting that he had interviewed Barbara Walters
at the event. He reported that SA is looking at the possibility of bringing former President
Clinton as the Spring Speaker. He said that Vice President Bouchard had met with SA.
representatives regarding the academic program actions. In addition, he invited Council members
to contact him if they had any questions about student activities.
Mr. Tomson invited Mr. McCann to offer comments from the Alumni Association. Mr. McCann
said that the recent Alumni Homecoming Weekend went well and highlighted some alumni
activities. Vice President McElroy added comment on the forthcoming UAlbany basketball
game.
There being no Old Business, Mr. Tomson invited Vice President Bouchard to present the
proposed revisions to Community Rights and Responsibilities. Ms. Bouchard explained the
changes, which are relevant to the oversight and regulation of weapons on campus (such as for
hunting) and how and where they would be stored. Upon motion duly made and seconded
(Stein/Caldwell), the revisions were unanimously adopted.
Moving to the next agenda item, Associate Counsel Janet Thayer presented revisions to the
University’s Traffic Regulations (previously distributed). She noted that the changes would
allow those staff directly involved in campus traffic management some flexibility in the
placement of signs on roadways and intersections, directing traffic patterns, and similar vehicle
Page 3
regulations. Upon motion duly made and seconded (Alric/Caldwell) the revisions were
unanimously approved.
Moving to the next agenda item, Vice Provost Locust noted that there had been some questions
at the September 24 meeting about student retention and graduation rates. Pointing to a current
data handout, he commented on both the graduation and retention rates noting improvement in
the several categories of students over past years. He responded to questions and comment by
Ms. Caldwell and Mr. Stein.
As the meeting moved toward conclusion, Mr. Alric commented on the ACT meeting held in
Albany a few weeks prior and observed that, as President, he hoped to bring representatives from
each of the SUNY units together to address common issues. Mr. Stein, who attended the
meeting, added brief comment.
Professor Fessler shared her observations on faculty reaction to the budget cuts in the
Humanities, especially in the area of languages.
Dr. Chesin reported that the University Council webpages were being upgraded to bring them in
conformity with the University-wide enhancements. He pointed to how the University Council’s
at Buffalo, Binghamton and Stony Brook (copies distributed) listed their membership noting that
they included more information on each member and asked whether we would want to include
additional member information on our pages. A discussion ensued with Mr. Balachandran, Mr.
JohnPierre, Ms. Caldwell, Mr. Stein, Mr. Guarneri, and Mr. Alric commenting.
Mr. Tomson asked the Secretary to prepare a draft form that might be considered by the Council
to provide additional information about each member on the webpages. There being no further
business, the meeting was adjourned (Alric/Guarneri) at 4:30pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Sorrell E. Chesin, Ph.D.
Secretary to the University Council
