COUNCIL AND COMMITTEE SUMMARIES
Meeting of the University Senate, December 7, 2015
As submitted to Yenisel Gulatee, Senate Secretary, University Senate
UNIVERSITY SENATE CHAIR’S REPORT –Cynthia Fox
I. Informational
a. Senate Bill 1415-07: PROPOSAL TO DEACTIVATE AND DISCONTINUE THE PUERTO RICAN
STUDIES MAJOR IN THE DEPARTMENT OF LATIN AMERICAN, CARIBBEAN & U.S. LATINO STUDIES
was approved by President Jones on October 21.
b. Senate Bill 1516-01 : PROPOSAL TO ESTABLISH A MASTER OF SCIENCE (M.S. ) PROGRAM IN
COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGY was approved by President Jones on November 19.
c. On 11/19, Chair Fox received an email from Philip Eppard, Chair of the Department of
Information Studies, asking if the Senate is aware of discussions in the administration about a
relocation of the Information Studies Department and the Information Science Ph.D. program
from the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences to other units in the university.
d. On 11/23 Chair Fox received a request from Interim Dean Boyer (CEAS) to return to the SEC
to discuss additional developments with respect to the new College. Chair Fox responded with
an invitation to attend the 11/30 meeting, which Dean Boyer declined due to a scheduling
conflict.
e. The SEC met on 11/30. Items on the agenda included an Update on Center for International
Education and Global Strategy by Dean and Vice Provost Harvey Charles, and discussions of the
Policy on Institutional Policy Development, of the SUNY Excels PIP submission and responses
to the Senate comments on draft, and of the Graduate Stipend Report. The recent developments
with respect to CEAS were also discussed, as well as Senate involvement in the Applied
Learning plan that central administration is requiring from each campus that is described in the
SUNY Senator’s report from the October Plenary in Buffalo.
II. Actions Taken
a. The SEC voted to hold an additional meeting before the winter break in order to hear Dean
Boyer’s report.
b. The SEC agreed that Chair Fox forward the communications she has received from SUNY
Provost Cartwright on the topic of the Applied Learning plans to the chairs of GAC and UAC
together with a request for more information from Provost Stellar about how this plan is
being drafted, since, unlike the situation on many other campuses, there has been as yet no
request for Senate consultation about it.
III. Recommendations for actions
N/A
UFS (University Faculty Senator’s Report) – J. Philippe Abraham, Walter Little & John
Schmidt, SUNY Senators
Report from the Fall Plenary University Faculty Senate at Buffalo State
Submitted by John Schmidt, UFS Senator-- jschmidt@albany.edu.
The theme of the Plenary was Diversity. There was a workshop on Thursday before the actual
meeting and an address by Carlos Medina, Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
He noted that although NY is probably the most diverse state, it is by many measures also the
most segregated. This is background to the challenge for SUNY. Diversity is about numbers, but
inclusion is about the experience of students, faculty and staff, making all feel welcome. He also
noted that while black/latino females are doing well in graduation rates at SUNY, black/latino
males are not doing so well, presenting a challenge. Another topic raised was that a Supreme
Court decision in 2003 set a 25 year sunset for Affirmative Action laws, which might mean that
they would disappear in 2025. This might present a problem in keeping minority percentages up,
as the recent changes of this sort in the University of California system resulted in a drop of
minorities to 2% of students.
One topic was the recruitment and retention of a diverse faculty:
Putting resources into posting openings
Restart searches if necessary
Surveying campus climate may be useful
Identify things that work and where they work or don’t work.
How to train better mentors for new faculty hires
How faculty can talk comfortably about diversity issues and get students to participate.
Diversity of sexual orientation is perhaps the thorniest issue for SUNY to tackle. Some
campuses have considered a questionnaire to be attached to admission materials, but these would
require an opt-out, as many would prefer not to declare and would feel uncomfortable or unsure
or the confidentiality of the data.
SUNY Advocacy and the Budget Process. The Chancellor reviewed the history of her attempts
to get resources for SUNY. In 2010, she initially asked for something for SUNY units in every
region of NY (Empowerment and Innovation Act) which failed in the legislature seemingly
because it offered opponents too many targets to attack. Later there was the successful SUNY
2020, which included rational yearly tuition increases, an agreement by the state for maintenance
of effort (MOE) and some capital funds. Later the Governor wanted public-private partnerships,
so she added StartUpNY. Then she promoted a campaign of “Access + Completion = Success”,
which with the addition of “Inquiry and Engagement” became SUNY Excels; and also put forth
the goal of increasing the number of degrees and certificates from 93,000 to 150,000. She noted
that last year she asked for $50M in new innovation funding, and got only a slice of that-- $18M
appropriated. The UFS President then pointed out that since the MOE by the state was
interpreted in the current budget as constant dollars, there was a deficit of about $70M due to
increased costs (2% UUP contract increase, other union increases, and increases of physical plant
operating costs). Thus, the $18M did not begin to cover this hole and SUNY actually
experienced a cut. There was a $300/yr tuition increase (which amounts to around $70M extra)
but fully 25% of this had to go to closing the “TAP gap” (TAP funds per student are capped at
levels below tuition, and SUNY is committed to making up the difference for TAP students).
Thus, more of our costs were shifted onto the backs of students, whose tuition now covers
approximately 70% of costs to the state’s 30%. Note that this ratio has reversed in the last
decade.
The outlook for the coming budget is mixed. In June, the legislature passed a bill (with
only one vote against) stating that MOE means the state would cover SUNY’s cost increases, not
just furnish constant dollars. This bill will be sent to the Governor by Dec. 31, but he is widely
expected to veto it. If he does so, the legislature is unlikely to move to override the veto. The
chancellor intends to ask for a comprehensive investment package for SUNY this coming year
(“STAND with SUNY” campaign, amount unstated), and also to ask for the state to relinquish
the setting of tuition levels to the SUNY Board of Trustees. Since it is a state legislature election
year, they may be hesitant to raise tuition again this year, and the Chancellor feels that the chance
for them to move away from the political burden of having to vote to raise tuition each year
might be attractive to the legislators. The legislators seem to be more favorably disposed to fund
SUNY, since the new Assembly Speaker is a Stony Brook (and EOP) alumnus, and one western
NY legislator has called for 2016 to be designated the Year of Higher Education.
Provost’s report on SUNY goals. Provost Alex Cartright listed a number of goals:
*Diversity is now included in all of the SUNY Excels performance categories.
*To increase research funding from approximately $900M now to $1.5B by 2025.
* Expand workforce development, especially to serve high needs areas.
*Increase of 50% in Public Service Partnerships.
*Expansion of cultural and artistic scholarship.
*Now searching for two positions: Research Foundation President, Vice Chancellor of Research
and Economic Development.
*Increase the number of degrees and certificates per year SUNYwide from 93,000 to 150,000 by
2025.
He expanded on this last goal. First he compared the percentage of the US population
with post secondary education (44%) to that of the other countries of the world. The US is 12th,
well behind the leaders, Korea (66%) and Japan (58%) and many European countries. So there is
room to improve, and SUNY could help fill the need. Next, he listed things that SUNY can do to
increase the number of degrees and certificates by perfectly optimizing our processes. If there
were no changes, the figures predict a slight drop in the number, since 23% of students per year
get degrees or certificates.
93,000 now per year
21,000 more from increasing retention
12,000 more from adding new certificates or degrees
11,000 more from increasing enrollments to historical maximums
13,000 more from increasing degrees from online courses and programs.
150,000 new total
Since most online students take one or two courses at a time, the total number of online
students at any one time would have to increase by 80,000. The problem is how to achieve these
increases without having decreased quality, and while giving the students a sense of belonging
and community and a connection to the faculty for student validation (especially online
students).
Several questions arose in response to this presentation. First, would some of the
increases in students in categories actually cannibalize students from other categories (eg online
from traditional students)? How can we do this without reforming K-12 education, so that
students arrive prepared? (SUNY spends some $70M/year on remedial courses, and students
perhaps $90M in extra tuition). How can SUNY do all this without more resources? Shouldn’t
resources come first? A major driver of students feeling connected to their classes is small
classes, and higher numbers of students mean larger classes, and higher student-faculty ratios.
Experiential Learning. As you may recall, the budget originally contained a mandate that all
SUNY graduates have a course in experiential learning (internship, coop, service learning,
laboratory work, etc), but after lobbying by the UFS President the final language was softened to
give all students the opportunity, but let each campus decide what is appropriate for themselves.
Local campuses would examine what courses already exist, what was feasible, and what they
would require in this area. The following timeline coves these activities.
In Jan 2016, the list of existing courses is assembled and furnished to SUNY central.
In April 2016, each campus submits a plan for experiential learning.
By April 2017, each campus reports on feasibility and decides whether it will require experiential
learning. Feasibility includes the impact on the Campus (faculty and students as well as
resources and support staff necessary to carry out the requirement). Feasibility also includes the
impact on the community—whether there are enough private sector companies and public
organizations to furnish the positions, and whether there might be an impact in terms of
displacing workers in the economy. These plans require consultation with Campus Governance,
so I would ask that the SEC assign this task to UAC or an associated ad hoc committee to report
on.
The UFS also had a report on Service Learning as one type of experiential learning. It involves
giving course credit for volunteer work at different places in the community. For example,
premeds often get SSW credit for their volunteer work at hospitals. More than 2/3 of SUNY
campuses offer such service-learning opportunities already. The report offered sour
recommendations:
1) Individual campuses should take time to define service-learning for their campus and set
criteria under which courses can be designed to include service-learning.
2) Disseminate information effectively on campus. The report yields a number of ways that
faculty and students learn about this opportunity.
3) Assess the outcomes of service-learning, including have students write essays reflecting
on the value of their service learning.
4) Provide incentives for service learning to increase the number of participating faculty and
students (e.g. through tenure and promotion criteria, small grants and recognition awards.
A lengthy report on how these recommendations can be implemented is available.
Faculty Consultation and Shared Governance. The process of consultation with campus
governance on input for such programs as SUNY EXCELs and the Performance Investment
Fund has not always been followed in practice. The chancellor was asked “What will you do
ensure that the campus presidents actively consult with faculty governance on these matters,
which will define the future trajectories of our campuses and of SUNY?” Chancellor Zimpher
stated that we have to get this right. She has repeatedly told the Presidents to include governance
in these decisions. What more can she do? She asked us what she can do to encourage campus
presidents to comply. It was suggested to her that SUNY forms be modified to require a sign off
by the CGL prior to submission, or perhaps that they must be accompanied by a letter from the
CGL outlining what the consultation process entailed.
SUNY Med Centers and Hospitals. The nightmare over LICH is now over with the sale of
LICH. Henry Flax, the Medical Center representative asked the Chancellor what were the plans
for the teaching hospitals and for their administration. The chancellor responded that SUNY’s
number one commitment is to retain the essential clinical positions for the medical school. It had
not yet been decided whether this would always take the form of SUNY operating teaching
hospitals (situation at Stony Brook, Upstate and Downstate) or contracting with separate area
hospitals for clinical positions (situation at UBuffalo). The problem of SUNY oversight of
hospitals is likewise still undecided. The lack of expertise in this area on the SUNY Board of
Trustees was a part of the problem with the LICH debacle.
The following resolutions were passed by the UFS:
*Resolution requesting SUNYwide modification of policies pertaining to Family Medical Leave
(FML), to give paid FML to retain valuable employees, to be able to stop the tenure clock
without change of title or compensation, including modifying the Board of Trustee policies under
“Title F Other Leaves”.
*Resolution urging all campus governance bodies to perform a comprehensive review of all
campus documents to determine that any statements on academic freedom are consonant with
precepts of academic freedom and consistent with actions arising from the campus-wide
discussions of academic freedom.
*Resolution that the Board of Trustees change its policies so that the Vice-Pres/Sec of UFS will
upon election no longer represent his/her own campus, but serve solely in this SUNY-wide
position, since there are now many more duties associated with the position (similar to language
now covering the President of UFS).
Announcements of Meetings and Events:
Chancellor’s Draft report on Social Media Responsibility—comments are due by 28 Oct, to be
sent to Rosalind Rufer.
Service Learning course guidelines are available from UFS senators
Nov. 13 & 14 at Syracuse—a conference on Fostering Collaboration between Academic Affairs
and Student Affairs Professionals. Information available at https://fs9.formsite.com/zetadon
Feb 24, 2016 Undergrad Research Poster session at the Legislative Office Building in Albany to
showcase UG Research at SUNY for legislators.
April 24, 2016 at Cobleskill—SUNY Undergraduate Research Conference featuring a wide
scope of research and scholarship.
GSA (Graduate Student Association) – Kat Slye, GSA President
Nothing to report
SA (Student Association) – Jarius Jemmott, Student Association President
We are opening invitations and preferred seating to all administration and faculty for our
Wednesday, December 9th World Within Reach Speaker Series featuring Venus Williams. The
event will be held in SEFCU Arena and doors will open at 4:30 pm with event starting at 5:30
pm. If anyone is interested in attending and having preferred seating, for security reasons, we
will need them to provide the names of who will be attending to our Programming Director
Elizabeth Doyle. I have copied her to this email and her email is edoyle@albany.edu. Everyone
is welcomed and I hope you all can come enjoy our event.
CAA (Council on Academic Assessment) – James Mower, Chair
The CAA committees on General Education Assessment (GEAC) and Academic Program
Review (APRC) are currently reviewing reports prepared for the 2014-15 academic year. CAA
will likely begin voting to approve GEAC and APRC reports at its January meeting and
continuing doing so at regular intervals throughout the semester as the committees present
subsequent reports to the Council.
CAFFECoR (Committee on Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expression, and Community
Responsibility) –Carol Jewell, Chair
I. Informational
CAFFECoR met on 11/17/2015 and began discussions on the resolution on Academic Freedom
passed at the SUNY Senate Plenary, October 22-24, 2015.
II. Reports of Actions
N/A
III. Recommendations for Actions
Chair Jewell will reach out to SUNY Senators, UA UUP President Bret Benjamin, UA UUP Vice
President for Academics Barry Trachtenberg, the UA campus Webmaster, and other people to
obtain information on such issues as: boilerplate language, sending pertinent documents to the
faculty and then holding a faculty forum on Academic Freedom, and other matters. She will
share this information with the rest of CAFFECoR and then more discussion will take place via
email, and at the next CAFFECoR meeting, sometime in December.
CERS (Committee on Ethics in Research and Scholarship) – Michael Jerison, Chair
Nothing to report
COR (Council on Research) – Daniele Fabris, Chair
Nothing to report
CPCA (Council on Promotions and Continuing Appointments) – Lynn Warner, Chair
On Nov 10, reviewed 1 promotion case.
On Nov 23, reviewed 1 promotion case.
On Dec 8, 1 promotion case is scheduled for review.
GAC (Graduate Academic Council) – Ronald Toseland, Chair
The GAC unanimously approved a proposal from the School of Education to establish a
Graduate Certificate Program in TESOL Online. The certificate is designed to enable in-service
teachers to fulfill a new NYS requirement for teaching English as a second language.
GOV (Governance Council) – James Collins, Chair
Old business:
The two primary committees continue work on their major responsibilities for the year. These
are:
Committee on Assessment of Governance and Consultation
: As part of conducting a
biennial survey of Senate constituencies, the Assessment Committee is discussing the use
of targeted surveys and face-to-face meetings with constituents;
Committee on Liaison & Election
: In addition to planning for the annual election of
Senators
o
Liaison is holding a food drive, with delivery date of 12/7, for a regional food
bank;
o
Planning a Senate Forum on Sustainability for the spring (see “New Business”
below)
o
Discussion on creating an introduction to the Senate Website
o
Working on creating two new listservs to improve communications with part-time
faculty and emeriti
The Council has
decided to (a) drop a proposed UAC charter amendment (after consultation with a UAC
co-chair); (b) continue inquiry into a proposed amendment for the CAA (in consultation
with chair and IR).
confirmed the responsibility of the Chair of Governance
to resolve questions about the
obligation to post Senate information on the Senate website.
reviewed, revised and approved lists of nominees for review panels for Excellence
Awards in Teaching, Professional Service, Librarianship, Support (Classified) Service,
Academic Service, and Research & Creative Activities.
At its meeting on 11/9, the Council discussed a proposal from UUP for a University
Ombudsperson. We have established a small working group to review and discuss the proposal
more thoroughly and bring the matter back to the Council on 12/14. We are communicating with
CPCA, which is also reviewing the proposal, before making a recommendation to the Senate
New business:
The Liaison Committee is working with our GSA representative to plan a Senate Forum on
Sustainability Across the Curriculum. The purpose is to encourage discussion across numerous
UA departments on sustainability-themed courses in their undergraduate and graduate programs.
The Forum is planned for early in the Spring 2016 Semester.
LISC (Council on Libraries, Information Systems, and Computing) – David Mamorella,
Chair
ITS Report – Carole Sweeton (Interim CIO)
AV is being finished in the new Information Technology Building (ITB)
ITS has filled many vacant positions over the past few months, including:
o
Associate Director for Networking
o
Enterprise applications has hired several Solutions Specialists, specifically within
business, teaching and learning, and administration.
o
Database Administrator
o
Network Analysts and Systems Managers
Still open are positions as Help Desk Analyst, Telephone Service Center Desk, and
Solutions Analyst, plus a few others…
The search for the new CIO is in President Jones’ hands, and the announcement was
originally supposed to be out by Thanksgiving.
ITS is getting ready to roll out OneDrive for Business groups, where
faculty/students/staff can apply to share documents amongst groups.
Libraries Report – Rebecca Mugridge (Interim Dean of Libraries)
Status of vacant positions. The Libraries have initiated the search process for our
Evening Associate position. We will begin two searches in December: one will be an
entry level Reference Librarian position with some collection development
responsibilities; the other will be a professional support position for the Interactive Media
Center.
Student Advisory Board (SAB). The second SAB meeting was held November 16, with
20 in attendance. The discussion focused on two main areas of interest: reference services
and the Libraries’ food and drink policy. The Libraries offer reference service in multiple
ways, including at the reference desks (ULIB, Science, Dewey), via IM and text, via
email, via phone, and by appointment? (PAWS). The 24/7 reference service via IM and
text is particularly popular. Our food and drink policy will be updated based on student
input, and we will also investigate options to help keep work areas clean, such as
messaging and providing wipes on wall-mounted dispensers.
Conversations in Standish. The Libraries hosted its second in the Conversations in
Standish series on November 4, 2015, intended to spotlight faculty research. Rosemary
Armao, Director of the University at Albany’s Journalism Program and WAMC Public
Radio panelist presented on “The 2016 Elections: What Happens When New Money
Converges with New Media Technology,” with more than 20 in attendance. •
The
Conversations in Standish are events to highlight faculty research, if you have anyone
you’d like to suggest, contact Rebecca.
Facilities. The Office of Campus Planning is looking at using the University Library as
swing space during upcoming renovations of the old Business building. Under
consideration is a move of the 3rd floor stacks to storage in the basement of the Science
Library. This would be accessible only by Libraries’ staff. The disciplines affected would
be those in the A-L call number range including many subjects in the humanities, social
sciences, political science, and education. The Libraries are developing an alternative
proposal that would move low-use materials such as bound periodicals to storage, leaving
high circulation materials where they could be accessed easily by our faculty, staff, and
students.
Lindsay Van Berkom gave an overview on Scholars Archive, which launched in October of
2014.
This is our institutional repository for papers, books, data, or presentations
It is OPEN ACCESS, which gives intellectual freedom, allows for wide dissemination of
research, and often can meet government grant requirements.
UAlbany feels this is a good initiative to get greater visibility of our research and
research of our institution, as well as a deeper engagement in research
What is it? It is essentially a place to sore and share scholarly information and to provide
access, with the ultimate goal of moving away from expensive, private publishing
companies.
You can submit your own work or you can submit your CV to the librarian and they will
upload your documents for you and check copyright issues
Interested in starting a journal? They will help you, just let them know!
Cathleen Green suggested they try and sell this idea more to graduate students. This
presentation in particular, and the one she heard last year at a LISC meeting, was heavily
targeted at faculty. She told them that graduate students are more prone to change and
also tend to care more about these types issues. Rebecca Mugridge said it’s advice they
would take seriously, and they may be interested in giving a small presentation at a GSA
assembly meeting, if that’s ok.
The next LISC meeting is tentatively set for February 1, 2016. Room TBA
UAC (Undergraduate Academic Council) –Karen Kiorpes and Christy Smith, Co-Chairs
UAC met on 11/13 and discussed three items:
Geography and Planning Program changes and Competency Plan
CEHC Winter Simulation Course
UG Bulletin language change to policy – tuition charges for students in combined
bachelor’s/master’s programs
Both the competency plan and the simulation course will be returned to the respective
department with questions and suggested edits.
UAC discussed the proposed changes to the UG Bulletin language in regard to the tuition
charges for students in combined bachelor's/master's programs. UAC agreed that the changes
made the policy easier to understand and were not actual alterations to the policy itself. UAC
supported the changes/clarifications.
ULC (University Life Council) – Michael Jaromin, Chair
Nothing to report
UPPC (University Planning and Policy Council) – Joette Stefl-Mabry, Chair
I. Informational
UPPC met on November 24th
UPPC continues to work on the clarification of the Campus Impact Form
UPPC discussed reconstituting the Resource Analysis and Planning Committee and the
University Facilities Committee, two subcommittees of the UPPC, as per the Charter of
the University Senate.
II. Reports of Actions
UPPC voted to conditionally approve a proposal to establish the TESOL Online Graduate
Certificate Proposal subject to the following minor modifications:
o
Completion of table re: similar institutions (p. 6)
o
Discussion of what will happen to the program’s existing face-to-face courses if
enrollment in these courses drop as a result of the online certificate program
o
Fill in year re: program impact on SUNY (p.5)
•
Once the above modifications are addressed the document will be resent to UPPC for
Chair’s signature
III. Recommended Actions
N/A
