Senate Resolution 1920-04R
UNIVERSITY SENATE
UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
RESOLUTION ON THE SUBSUMPTION OF THE SCHOOL OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE
INTO ROCKEFELLER COLLEGE
Introduced by:
Executive Committee Chair on Behalf of University Senators
Date:
May 13, 2020
RATIONALE:
Whereas the SUNY Board of Trustees i , SUNY Chancellor ii, and University at Albany Senate iii are all
committed to the principles of shared governance; and
Whereas Article I, Section 2.4.1 of the Faculty Bylaws of the University at Albany, State University of
New York states “Formal consultation is required for matters covered by Article 1, Section 2.2.2. Either
the President or the Faculty shall be able to request formal consultation on other matters.... Formal
consultation should occur as soon as issues needing resolution are identified. The faculty shall be given
adequate time to respond. A written response to final Faculty recommendations shall be provided,
indicating what decisions were made and the basis for such decisions; this should be particularly detailed
in instances where faculty recommendations are not followed;”iv and
Whereas without prior consultation with the University Senate, on February 4, 2020, the Office of the
Provost announced to the University community that on June 1, 2020 the School of Criminal Justice was
to be subsumed into Rockefeller College; and
Whereas on February 28, 2020, the Senate Executive Committee (SEC) requested that all movement
toward the transition be halted until consultation with SEC and the academic and professional faculty of
both schools could be arranged. This consultation was to include a review by all parties of the Provost’s
rationale and feasibility study for the decision; and SEC’s development of transition planning
recommendations by March 28, 2020, two months before the Administration’s deadline of June 1, 2020.
Whereas the Administration agreed to provide the Provost’s rationale and feasibility study to the SEC;
however, the request to halt transition planning prior to Senate consultation was disregarded. Transition
planning by the Provost’s Office, the Office of the President, and the Dean of Rockefeller College
proceeded; and
Whereas after the full and undivided attention of the University’s academic and professional faculty
turned to responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, on no less than three occasions the SEC and the
University Senate Chair respectfully requested a halt to transition planning for the subsumption of the
School of Criminal Justice into Rockefeller College until the SEC could reasonably devote time to
preparing School of Criminal Justice transition planning recommendations. These requests were denied
by the President.
RESOLUTION:
Therefore Let It Be It Resolved that in the spirit of shared governance, the University at Albany Senate
calls for
1. all movement toward the subsumption of the School of Criminal Justice into Rockefeller College to
be suspended until consultation with SEC and the academic and professional faculty of both schools can
be arranged.
2. the Senate’s consultative activities as they relate to the transition planning recommendations to be
allowed to resume on August 24, 2020, and conclude no later than October 30, 2020;
3. the subsumption of the School of Criminal Justice into Rockefeller College to occur only after a
written response from the Provost to final SEC recommendations is provided indicating what decisions
were made and the basis for each decision.
_________________________
i. https://www.suny.edu/media/suny/content-assets/documents/boardoftrustees/SUNY-BOT-Policies-
Jan2019.pdf
ii. https://www.suny.edu/about/shared-governance/
iii, iv https://www.albany.edu/universitysenate/
