10-15-2012 GAC Minutes
Minutes of the Council meeting for October 15, 2012
Approved by the Council on November 12, 2012
In attendance:
J. Baronner (staff), F. Bolton (staff), P. Caban, S. Commuri, T. Groves (Chair),
A. Krause, L. Jome, P. Terpelets, K. Truby, M. VanUllen, R. Yang, A. Zemel
Unable to attend: J. Bartow (staff), B. Dieffenbach, D. Mancini, K. Williams,
The meeting was called to order by Chair Groves at 2:03 PM
1. Consideration of minutes for the 9/21/2012 GAC meeting
The Council approved the 9/21/2012 minutes with two abstentions.
2. Dean’s report – K. Williams
Since Dean Williams was unable to attend today’s meeting, he requested the Chair provide the
Dean’s report to the Council.
Provost Phillips, Dean of College of Criminal Justice Alan Lizotte, and Dean Williams
traveled to NYC last week to meet with SUNY Provost David Lavallee and his staff, and
the Chief Academic Officers and Graduate Deans of the other University Centers. The
purpose of the meeting was to promote “Doctoral Program Excellence” within SUNY.
Provost Lavallee discussed SUNY’s commitment to doctoral program excellence and
encouraged collaboration and sharing of best practices among the graduate deans of the
University Centers. The SUNY Provost office was also interested in how campuses
have used the results of the latest NRC rankings and other more recent data to strengthen
doctoral program quality. Dean Williams discussed our own internal metrics that we will
be using. Binghamton, Stony Brook, and Buffalo are doing similar assessments. The
deans and Chief Academic Officers discussed several different initiatives and practices
being used on campuses. The graduate deans will follow up at a meeting in December at
the annual meeting of the Council of Graduate Schools. It was also decided that the
SUNY Provost would hold semi-annual meetings of CAOs and Graduate Deans to help
promote excellence in doctoral education.
3. Chair’s Report – T. Groves
Prof. Helene Scheck (English) introduced two resolutions at the September 24th Senate
meeting, each asserting that the President, as head of the faculty, violated articles of the
Senate Charter and Bylaws. Chair Groves provided the following report, excerpted from the
final report of the Governance Council Task Force.
Conclusion regarding “specific actions that were in violation of procedures outlined in
the Faculty By-Laws”
About whether the President’s response to all stakeholders on March 24, 2011,
constituted a “detailed response” to the Senate, reasonable people may continue to
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October 15, 2012
Page 2 of 3
disagree. In fact, to date, the President has not sent a formal response specifically to the
Senate about the deactivations as required in the bylaws, but has instead relied on his
March 24 statement to the university community at large. On the other hand, at the time
the Senate should have furnished a more detailed response on the impacts of closing each
of these programs for the President to address.
After careful review of all pertinent documents pertaining to this matter, and thoughtful
and comprehensive discussion, the task force did not come to consensus on whether the
President’s actions rose to the level of a violation of the bylaws; nor did we feel that the
term “violation” provided a useful framework for discussion. However, we wish to state
in the strongest possible terms that in the future, the administration must remain mindful
of the need to consult with the Senate, and to inform the Senate directly about its
decisions with sufficient detail to satisfy reasonable concerns and questions, both before
and after decisions have been reached. We recognize that the Senate also must bear some
responsibility for the dissatisfaction surrounding these events, specifically in its failure to
request specific and detailed information.
The Senate voted down the two resolutions 1213-01R and 1213-02R.
4. GAC Committees
No business was conducted for Committee on Curriculum & Instruction (CC&I), Committee
on Admissions & Academic Standing (CA&AS), and Committee on Educational Policy &
Procedures (CEP&P).
CC&I has scheduled an October 29 meeting. CA&AS will arrange a future meeting since
one case has surfaced for review.
5
Old Business
The Chair addressed GAC review of recent program self-assessments. He will access the
wiki site for information and follow up with the Council.
As mentioned previously, the language for academic dishonesty requires updating in both the
Graduate and Undergraduate Bulletins. An ad-hoc committee has been formed to address
this issue. The committee includes GAC Chair Tim Groves and UAC Chair Rick Fogarty,
among others. Chair Groves requested a Council member volunteer to sit on the committee
with him. Council member Pavel Terpelets volunteered.
6. New Business
No new business was conducted.
The meeting was adjourned by Chair Groves at 2:27 PM.
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October 15, 2012
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Future Meetings:
Monday November 12, 2:00 – 3:30 PM, UAB 320
Friday December 21, 9:00 – 10:30 AM, MSC 102
END OF GAC 10/15/2012 MINUTES
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