Graduate Academic Council
2010 – 2011
Minutes of the Council meeting of October 12, 2010
Approved by the Council on November 3, 2010
In attendance: J. Baronner (staff), J. Bartow (staff), F. Bolton (staff), S. Chittur, S. Commuri,
C. Fox, L. Fuller, L. Kranich, H. Miller, T. Timmons, K. Williams
Unable to attend: J. Aini, T. Groves, W. Lanford, F. Leiva, S. Kazanas.
1. Dean’s report – K. Williams
Members were sent the NRC rankings. About 2/3 of our PhD programs were included.
The Dean will forward his description of the findings and summary notes. The NRC used
several ranking methods, and the summary provides a range for each program across the
various methods. The SUNY Board of Trustees is interested in how our programs fared.
2. Chair’s report –L. Kranich
The minutes from 9-24-2010 were approved via email by 6-0-0.
The Chair compiled a list of issues and concerns with the proposal by the School of
Business for a Graduate Certificate in Informational Security. This was forwarded to
Sanjay Goel and Ray Bromley and we are awaiting their response.
The Senate met on September 27. There was no substantive business since the councils
had not yet met. The only items were the approval of the council and committee
memberships and the election of two council chairs as senators. A controversy arose over
the disproportionate representation of CNSE among the council chairs (40%) as well as
the recent appointment of a CNSE student as the new Senate parliamentarian.
The Senate Executive Committee met on October 4 shortly after the President announced
the suspension of admissions to programs in French, Italian, Russian, Theatre and
Classics. Nearly the entire meeting was devoted to a discussion of the proposed
deactivation. Several of the suspended programs are graduate programs. The Chair will
forward a list of those provided in a letter sent by the President to Senate Chair Eric
Lifshin. This will be the sole agenda item for our meeting on October 26. In the
meantime, the Chair will compile a list of members’ questions and concerns. In addition,
members should consider what data they wish to review and whether such data is
available.
The President and Provost have stated the decision was based on quantitative/enrollment
considerations and is not a reflection of the quality of the programs.
Some preliminary discussion followed.
The Chair will forward some data on enrollments obtained from the Institutional Research
website. Also, the final reports of the BAG committees are available on MyUAlbany and
the final draft of the Going Forward Plan is available on the Provost’s Office website.
GAC Minutes
October 12, 2010
Page 2 of 2
The President has asked for comments by November 19.
3. New Business:
By a vote of 8-0-0, the Council approved new membership rosters for the standing
committees containing one replacement member of GAC and three students named to
serve on GAC.
The remainder of the meeting was devoted to discussion of CAA program assessment
reports.
4. Future Meetings
- Tuesday, October 26, 8:30-10:00 AM, UAB 320
- Friday, October 29, 9:30-11:00 AM, UAB 320*
- Friday, November 19, 9:30-11:00 AM, UAB 320
- Friday, December 10, 9:30-11:00 AM, UAB 320
* Discussion of CAS Assessment Reports
END OF GAC 10/12/2010 MINUTES
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