COUNCIL AND COMMITTEE SUMMARIES
Meeting of the University Senate, April 28th, 2014
As submitted to Yenisel Gulatee, Senate Secretary, University Senate
UNIVERSITY SENATE CHAIR’S REPORT –Christine Wagner, Chair
The Call for Nominations for Senate Vice-Chair and Senate Secretary went out to voting
faculty on 3/27/14.
A proposal to establish a Graduate Certificate Program in International Health and
Human Rights has been approved by GAC and UPPC. The Bill was approved in the
Senate on 4/7/14 and a request for Presidential approval has been submitted.
The Senate Chair has received a proposal for a Faculty-Initiated Interdisciplinary
Undergraduate Major in Bio-Instrumentation. The proposal has now been approved by
UPPC and UAC. The Bill will come up for a vote in the Senate on 4/28/14.
A Charter Amendment (1314-02A) regarding the composition of CPCA, introduced by
GOV approved in the Senate on 4/7/14.
The Faculty Athletics Representative, Teresa Harrison, requested to make a report to the
University Senate about the intercollegiate athletics program at UAlbany. She will report
to the Senate on 4/28/14.
Bill 1314-03 Proposal to Establish a Master of International Affairs (M.I.A.) Degree
Program was approved in the Senate on 3/10/14 and approved by the President 3/24/14.
The Senate Chair has received a proposal from the Department of English to create a
Certificate in Teaching English Composition. The proposal has been approved by UPPC
and GAC and will come up for a vote in the Senate on 4/28.
The Senate Chair has received a letter of intent from the Department of Geography and
Planning to establish a Master of Science Program in Environmental Geographic
Information Science (MSEGIS). The letter of intent has been approved by GAC and
UPPC.
A Charter Amendment (1314-03A) regarding the charge of CAFFECoR, introduced by
GOV, was distributed to the Senate on 3/31/14. The Amendment will come up for a vote
at the 4/28/14 Senate meeting in accordance with Faculty Bylaws Article IV.3.
A Charter Amendment (1314-04A) regarding Election Functions, introduced by GOV, is
distributed to the Senate on 4/21/14. The Amendment will come up for a vote in the
Senate at the 5/12/14 meeting in accordance with Faculty Bylaws Article IV.3.
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UFS (University Faculty Senator’s Report) –Danielle Leonard, J. Philippe Abraham
& John Schmidt, SUNY Senators
The UFS Senators are looking forward to the Spring Plenary May 1st-3rd hosted by
Empire State College.
Upcoming public events of note include:
April 23-24 SUNY’s First Annual Conference on Shared Governance
Holiday Inn Wolf Road, Albany, NY
GSA (Graduate Student Association) – Caitlin Janiszewski, GSA President
The GSA has held their elections and is in the process of appointing a grants chair,
programming chair, and Senators for next year. We are still working on our bylaws in
hopes of passing them this year. We are also working through more issues with
University Auxiliary Services. We have confirmed that the financial process they have
had us follow for the past ten years is not compliant with NYS tax law. This was
discovered by our bylaws committee and the E-Board followed up by inquiring with the
UAS accountant. We are hoping to meet with the Executive Director to go over this
problem discuss the dynamics of our contract with UAS. We have had significant trouble
with UAS this year and in past years. While we are a small part of their operations we
still feel that we are experiencing an unacceptably low level of attention. We will be
having a similar conversation with ITS people over the summer to figure out our
relationship with them. Overall, we have had a very steady year. We have planted many
seeds to improve the functioning of our organization. We hope to follow through with
many of these initiatives next year to ensure sustainable change.
SA (Student Association) – Marc Cohen, Student Association Representative
There will be a run off for the Presidential/Vice Presidential Election.
The Presidential Forum has a set date and is being advertised.
Parkfest was on April 5th.
The APD/S.A. Board has coordinated ride alongs.
The Scholarship committee is being assembled.
CAA (Council on Academic Assessment) – Deborah Bernnard, Chair
Nothing to report
CAFFECoR (Committee on Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expression, and
Community Responsibility) – Susanna Fessler, Chair
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Nothing to report
CERS (Committee on Ethics in Research and Scholarship) – Susanna Fessler, Chair
Nothing to report
COR (Council on Research) – John Monfasani, Chair
Nothing to report
CPCA (Council on Promotions and Continuing Appointments) – Sanjay Putrevu,
Chair
The next CPCA meeting is on April 23.
GAC (Graduate Academic Council) – Ronald Toseland, Chair
GAC met on April 8th. We approved the establishment of a Graduate Certificate Program
in Teaching Composition and a change in the title of programs offered by the
Department of Women’s studies to the Department of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
GOV (Governance Council) – Joette Stefl-Mabry, Chair
GOV met on April 14, 2014
Committee on Liaison and Elections
On April 8th, 2014 Senate Chair Wagner sent an email requesting that the Governance
Council discuss whether an email vote would “count” in the recently conducted Senator-at-
large elections. As MyUAlbany is the voting mechanism for current election and votes must
be cast there and only there (as stipulated in the email sent out by the Secretary of the Senate
announcing the elections), it was suggested that the Governance Council should update the
language in the Charter to reflect current voting reality and consider suitable alternatives as
technology continues to evolve. After discussion, the Governance Council decided it would
be prudent to remove all descriptors related to technologies that are in use or that might be
used in the future.
Current Charter:
X.1.4.3. Election function.
X.1.4.3.1.4. nominate a slate for the election of Senators-at-large according to Bylaws
Article II, Sections 2.2 and 5.3 and conduct the election, to be decided by plurality vote,
by mail or email ballot.
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Proposed Revision:
The following change is proposed by the Governance Council:
X.1.4.3.1.4. nominate a slate for the election of Senators-at-large according to Bylaws
Article II, Sections 2.2 and 5.3 and conduct the election, to be decided by plurality vote.
by mail or email ballot.
This amendment to the Charter will be brought forward to the SEC on April 16th.
Committee on Council Nominations
The Governance Council elected Cynthia Fox to serve on the Committee on Council
Nominations.
Assessment of Governance and Consultation Ad Hoc Committee
Joel Bloom, Director of Academic Assessment & Survey Research, has been working
with GOV on the implementation of the shared governance and consultation surveys. The
student version of the Survey of Evaluation of Shared Governance and Consultation at
the University at Albany will be sent out this week (April 15th) to all students,
matriculated or non-matriculated, and the faculty survey should be going out within the
next two weeks.
LISC (Council on Libraries, Information Systems, and Computing) – Elizabeth
Gaffney, Chair
Next LISC meeting is on Monday, April 21. Dean Casserly will be providing an update
on the progress of developing an Institutional Repository.
UAC (Undergraduate Academic Council) – Anthony DeBlasi, Chair
UAC reviewed and approved a proposal from the School of Public Health to create a
Faculty-initiated Interdisciplinary Major in Bio-Instrumentation. Beyond that, it also
continues to review General Education competency plans from the undergraduate majors.
Responses have begun to go out to the various programs. UAC also voted to require new
program proposals to utilize the form required by SUNY System as a way of providing
both uniformity to proposals coming before it and simplifying the process of preparing
proposal to proceed to SUNY System for ultimate approval.
ULC (University Life Council) –Michael Jaromin, Chair
Nothing to report
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UPPC (University Planning and Policy Council) –Andi Lyons, Chair
UPPC met on April 9 to review the Department of Geography and Planning’s Letter of
Intent to establish a Master of Science program in Environmental Geographic
Information Science (MSEGIS). UPPC voted to approve this to be sent to SUNY for its
LOI approval, prior to the development of the full proposal. We also considered the
Certificate in Teaching Composition for students enrolled in the English PhD program.
This proposal was approved by UPPC, and will be considered by the Senate at its next
full meeting. Finally, we reviewed information from the Registrar about the challenges in
the academic planning calendar, and ultimately approved the academic calendar for 2015-
16. UPPC’s next meeting is scheduled for May 7.
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