University at Albany, State University of New York
University Senate
MINUTES
Monday, March 12, 2007
Present:
J. Philippe Abraham, Bradley Armour-Garb, Tom Bessette, Scott Birge, Roger Bisbing,
Katharine Briar-Lawson, Ana Cervantes-Rodriguez, Maria Chau, Fan Pen Chen,
Richard Collier, Edward Cupoli, Diane M. Dewar, Sue Faerman, Nicholas Fahrenkopf,
Sally Friedman, Robert Gibson, Jil Hanifan, Frank Hauser, Jacqueline Hayes, Susan Herbst,
Heather Horton, Reed Hoyt, Nikki Kotary, Donald Keenan, Laurence Kranich,
William Lanford, Zai Liang, Eric Lifshin, Carolyn MacDonald, Steven Messner,
John Monfasani, Gwen Moore, Michelle Moshier, John Murphy, Joy Newman,
Sanjay Putrevu, R. Michael Range, Joan Savitt, Lawrence Schell, John Schmidt, David Shub,
Lawrence Snyder, Timothy Stephen, Daniel Truchan, III, Monica Vargas, Wendy West,
Allen Wong, Kehe Zhu, Adam Zonder,
Guests:
Mary Fiess, Office of Media Relations
Karl Luntta, Office of Media Relations
Provost’s Report, Presented by Susan Herbst, Officer-In-Charge:
Chancellor Ryan’s departure in May: Officer-In-Charge Herbst mentioned Chancellor
Ryan’s decision to leave SUNY and acknowledged his many contributions to the
UAlbany campus.
UAlbany Basketball Team: Officer-In-Charge Herbst reported that alumni, students,
faculty and staff are thrilled with the basketball team’s success. She sent out special
thanks out to Will Brown and noted that, “This kind of athletic success, contributes to
academic success.”
Legislative Agenda: Regarding the State Budget, UAlbany asked for funds for
infrastructure on the East Campus to prepare to bring in companies and new faculty there.
The University needs more help from the state to start that updating project. Funds have
been requested for a new School of Business building; upgrades to the Life Sciences,
Nano-bio and Nano-medical; funds for renovating the Campus Center, Autism Program,
and for several other programs. Officer-In-Charge Herbst announced that it is time for the
Deans to meet with her and Vice President Lowery on their individual funding needs.
Selective investment: Announcements should be out before Commencement.
School of Public Health Dean Search: Officer-In-Charge Herbst is in final discussions
with a candidate at this time. She thanked the Search Committee for their work on this.
Enrollment Management: Applications continue on the upward track; up
approximately 10% from last year.
Downtown Safety Corridor: A program is in place, in conjunction with the UPD and
the City of Albany to make downtown Albany safer for our students. Mayor Jennings has
been a leader in this endeavor.
Campus Entry Project: The cobblestones will be pulled up, and the entire entry area
will be reworked, over the summer. It is hoped that the project will be completed by
September.
Reading project: Please check the UAlbany home page; Dr. Hedberg is doing a great
job on this project. The author will be at the Campus soon.
UAlbany Task Force on Sexual Assault: There are a few open meetings scheduled for
March to discuss the findings of the Task Force. More information will be available. The
Task Force members have been commended for the work they have accomplished.
Forthcoming Reports: The Diversity Task Force and the Blue Ribbon Panel on Writing
will have Reports available by the end of the Semester.
SUNY Faculty Senate Report, by Senator William Lanford: No report.
Senate Chair’s Report, by Diane M. Dewar:
Faculty Forum: Chair Dewar announced the Faculty Forum will be held on Tuesday,
March 27, 2007. The topic will be: Developing an Honor Code at the University, with a
community-type framework. More information is available on the Senate website.
Honor Code Committee: Chair Dewar asked for volunteers from the GAC and
CAFFECoR to join the committee.
COUNCIL/COMMITTEE REPORTS:
CAA (Council on Academic Assessment), William Lanford, Chair: External visitors have
been selected to review Project Renaissance. Chair Lanford urged that the assessment be opened
to allow some faculty input. Dean Faerman had no objection to faculty input and she encouraged
people to participate and ask questions. It was suggested that UAC should be involved. Officer-
In-Charge Herbst indicated that the assessment processes will be revisited.
COR (Council on Research), Lawrence Schell, Chair: The COR heard a report from Vice
President for Research Videka regarding the Empire Innovations Program, the Research
Colloquium set for April 23rd, and the Life Sciences Development Committee. Associate Vice
President Robert Webster reported on the introduction and implementation of COEUS, a
software system that will streamline grant submissions. The Council voted to endorse the
recommendation of the Council of 2005-06 to Vice President Videka that the percentage of
indirect cost return to units increase from the current level of 10% to 40%. Other provisions of
last year’s council recommendation will be discussed at future meetings.
CPCA (Council on Promotions and Continuing Appointments), David Shub, Chair: CPCA
is meeting weekly and reviewing three cases per session.
GAC (Graduate Academic Council), Sally Friedman, Chair: No report.
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GOV (Governance Council), Reed Hoyt, Chair: The GOV Council has decided to withdraw a
proposal clarifying procedures for forming committees. The council discussed the issue of
handbooks and believes that a single handbook for senators with sections for senate officers
would be a better solution than having separate handbooks. The Council is also formulating a
plan to make the Charter and Bylaws more user friendly via indexing. Also, schools and colleges
need to be aware that they need to hold senate elections in time for the April meeting. The at-
large slots must be filled at the Spring Faculty Meeting.
LISC (Council on Libraries, Information Systems, and Computing), Daniel White, Chair:
No report.
UAC (Undergraduate Academic Council), John Monfasani, Chair: The UAC approved a
waiver for accounting students who will be graduating spring 2009 or later to have their audits
reflect the new requirements for the CPA Examination regardless of the bulletin year in which
they entered the program. This waiver will affect 200 to 300 students, all of whom were
informed of the changed requirements upon entering the program. UAC also approved the
procedure concerning student-requested General Education exceptions and substitutions. If the
Gen Ed Committee approves the student’s request, it is forwarded to the relevant department for
approval. If the department does not respond within four weeks, the Gen Ed Committee will
inform the student that the request has been approved. The UAC has been informed by the
Registrar that the present system will alert students when they exceed their two S/U course limit,
but that the software cannot presently block students from actually registering for a third S/U
course, even though it will not count as S/U on their audits. Finally, UAC is also discussing
changes concerning the approval process for UNI 150 and UNI 350, but have not yet come to a
decision.
ULC (University Life Council), Joan Savitt, Chair: ULC met with Vice President James
Anderson, who reported on activities in Student Success and on the Task Force on Sexual
Violence. Concerns about the need for additional recreational space were shared.
UPC (University Planning and Policy Council), Steven Messner, Chair: Professor Teresa
Harrison, Albany’s representative to the NCAA, and Lee McElroy, Vice President for Athletic
Administration and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, have been invited to the next meeting of
UPC, to report on developments with the intercollegiate athletic program. UPC will also
consider a proposal for a Certificate of Graduate Study in Teacher Leadership from the School of
Education.
NEW BUSINESS:
Governance Council: Call for Nominations for 2007-2008 Senate Chair-Elect:
Richard Collier, Senate Secretary asked for nominations from the floor for next year’s
Chair-Elect. There were no nominations. He noted that the Senate will accept
nominations via email up until April 6, 2007, at which point ballots need to be prepared
for the election. The full Senate will vote for a new Chair-Elect at the April 16, 2007
meeting. In response to a question, it was agreed that nominations from the floor prior to
the election would be accepted.
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Report by Graduate Student Senator Jackie Hayes: Please see the attached prepared
message from Senator Hayes.
Student Senator Dan Truchian respectfully requested the Senate to hold-off on a resolution
until its May meeting so that more information can be gathered. A motion was made to
table the resolution until more information is available. The motion was seconded and
approved.
Respectfully submitted,
Jayne VanDenburgh, Recorder
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Attachment
March 12, 2007
Prepared Statement by,
Graduate Student Senator Jackie Hayes
I am a doctoral student in the Latin American Caribbean Studies Department (LACS), a senator
for the GSO, a member of Students for Workers' Rights and a member of GSEU/CWA 1104. I am
addressing the University Faculty Senate today to ask for its support of a resolution calling for
the cessation of the University's contract with the Coca-Cola Company. This University has an
exclusive contract with the Coca-Cola Company ending on June 30, 2008. University Auxiliary
Services will be preparing a bid over summer 2007. Students are encouraging the University to
sever their contract with the Coca-Cola Company in light of human rights and environmental
abuses in Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico, and India. Since 1990, nine union workers at Coca-
Cola bottling plants in Colombia have been killed. Currently the Coca-Cola Company and its
Colombian bottlers are being sued in the U.S. under the Alien Claims Tort Act for having,
"contracted or otherwise directed paramilitary security forces that used extreme violence and
murdered, tortured, and unlawfully detained or otherwise silenced trade union leaders." The
Coca-Cola Company has also been accused of monopolizing water supplies in Mexico and India
and buying sugar from plantations in El Salvador that utilize child labor. Since UAlbany has a
$7 million contract with Coca-Cola and since it is the biggest buyer of Coca-Cola products in
the capital district, it can have a significant impact on the Coca-Cola Company. Thirty-four
campuses have already severed their contracts with Coca-Cola in light of its human, worker and
environmental abuses nationally and internationally. I strongly encouraged the University
Faculty Senate to resolve to cease all business with the Coca-Cola Company. Please note that
Hofstra University passed a resolution to cease buying Coke-Cola products, Rutgers, and a
couple private organizations have also. Students at UAlbany want to have more choice, they
want to support local businesses, and, thus, they encourage the University Faculty Senate to
pass a resolution to cease contracts with the Coke-Cola Company.
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