University at Albany, State University of New York
Governance Council
Monday, March 30, 2009
Michael Range, Chair
Minutes
Present:
Erin Bell, Ray Bromley, Richard Collier, Candace Merbler, John Monfasani,
Michael Range, John Schmidt
The meeting convened at 11:33 am.
MINUTES:
The minutes of March 16, 2009 were approved as written.
CHAIR’S REPORT BY MICHAEL RANGE:
Chair Range reported that the IRCUAP amendment was introduced at the March 23 meeting of
the Senate Executive Committee. A friendly amendment was suggested that the rationale
should contain reference to the IRCAP proposal from spring 2008. In Section XI.6, it was
suggested that language be included to indicate that proposals for new programs will always go
to the full Senate. At this time, there is nothing to indicate the Provost’s Office does not want to
assume the charge identified in the proposal. The amendment will be introduced at the next
Senate meeting on April 6 and will be voted on in early May.
A group of SEC members met with the President and the Provost regarding the conflict of
interest matter that has been discussed by GOV in earlier meetings. The matter was discussed
during the February SEC meeting and a number of additional concerns were raised. The SEC
decided that it would be most useful to meet with the President and Provost. That meeting
occurred, with five SEC members present, on March 20th. The concerns raised by the SEC were
clearly presented and the president was keenly aware and sensitive to the issues. SEC has not
received a response as to what steps may be taken.
OLD BUSINESS:
Nomination and Elections Update:
Senate Secretary Richard Collier informed GOV that they now have a complete slate of
nominees for University-wide elections. Secretary Collier provided an update on the possibility
of electronic voting for this spring. The issue was discussed at the last SEC meeting and it was
agreed that the Senate Chair would contact the President’s Office to inquire about getting this
into IT’s queue. Senate Chair Delano has sent an e-mail informing the Senate Secretary and
Vice Chair that he spoke with Vince Delio in the President’s Office and he was very supportive
of the idea. Chair Delano also sent an e-mail to CIO Chris Haile and he is hoping to have a
meeting with the CIO and her staff for further discussion. GOV discussed contacting the
President directly to push this forward. It was discussed that he needs to be informed of the
many issues making paper ballots outdated and out of compliance. Several arguments to have
electronic voting in place this year were discussed; one being that this service was made
available to students in their elections. Since the Senate elections would consist of a much
smaller group, it appears the programming should be in place and be easily replicated. A
meeting with the President could be a lengthy process, so it was decided to put something in
writing. Secretary Collier will draft a memo and circulate it to the group via e-mail.
Senate Handbook:
A draft of the handbook was reviewed and further revisions were discussed. Changes to the
opening paragraph were discussed in response to Ed Cupoli’s e-mail in which he referenced a
negative tone that this is “not the Faculty Senate”. The change will be made to give the
introduction a more positive tone. A suggestion to add to this paragraph that the University
Senate is an advisory body was also made and agreed on by GOV members.
Under the section on Parliamentary Procedure, Chair Range referred to the second paragraph and
the section concerning conflict of interest. He noted that the role of an ex officio should be
addressed where they might have a conflict in a larger sense, not just in the case of a bill.
Revisions to several other sections of the handbook were discussed. The draft will go back to the
subgroup charged with the revision. GOV hopes to submit a draft to SEC for feedback at its next
meeting.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 12:54 pm.
Recorded and submitted by,
Gail Cameron
