Senate Resolution 1516-01R
UNIVERSITY SENATE
UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
RESOLUTION ON EMERITI PARTICIPATION IN THE UNIVERSITY SENATE
Introduced by:
Governance Council
Date:
April 4, 2016
Whereas Emeriti have valuable experience and perspective in University matters;
Whereas Emeriti cannot serve as Senators, but their membership is possible on any Council (or Council
sub-committee) where there is mention of participation by individuals “selected from Faculty or Staff
who are not students or Voting Faculty”;
Whereas the Vice-Chair of the Faculty Council of the College of Arts and Sciences is not a Senator, but
attends University Senate meetings as a non-voting representative of the Faculty Council, and may advise
University Senators, on behalf of the Faculty Council, concerning matters of interest to College Faculty;
Whereas the University at Albany's Emeritus Center is an association of retired faculty, administrators
and professionals who have been granted emeritus status;
Whereas the Emeritus Center encourages emeriti to continue pursuing the University’s mission of
teaching, research, and service;
Therefore be it resolved that the Senate invites the University at Albany’s Emeritus Center to elect a
member to attend University Senate meetings as a non-voting representative of the Emeriti, and to advise
University Senators, on behalf of the Emeriti, concerning matters of interest to the University.
Supplemental Information:
In the University at Albany’s 2010 Self-Study for Middle States Commission on Higher Education
(MSCHE) recommended that in order to encourage wider involvement in governance by faculty members
and students “the University Senate consider extending comparable representation on the Senate to
representatives of the Emeritus Faculty” (p. 80). However, the matter does not appear to have been taken
up until the 2014-15 academic year when then Chair of the Governance Council (GOV) Cynthia Fox
received a proposal from Associate Vice President Emeritus Sorrell Chesin on behalf of the Emeritus
Center Board of Directors that the Senate amend the Charter (Section II. Definitions) and the By-Laws
(Article II. Section 2 – Composition of the Senate) to include emeriti membership.
In considering the proposal, GOV concluded that the question of Senate membership by contingent
faculty also needed to be addressed, and decided to hold off proposing any amendments until both these
and any other categories of special representation could be examined.
Although the current Resolution does not address the question of Senate membership directly, it does
provide a solution that allows the Senate to formally recognize the value of participation in Senate matters
by Emeriti while the larger question of how best to address special categories of Senate representation can
be worked out.
