2016-2017 University Senate
Monday, October 24, 2016
2:45 pm, Ballroom
James Collins, Chair
MINUTES
Present: Adams, Marcus; Atrey, Pradeep; Alvarado, Ranier; Asmus, Dillon; Atrey, Pradeep; Bernard, Sheila;
Bostwick, Hannah; Card, Dylan; Chan, Keith; Chen, Mei-Hwa; Chittur, Sridar; Collins, James;
Cruz, Jose; Dunleavy, Conner; Eager, Rachel; Earle, Keith; Fabris, Daniele; Fox, Cynthia;
Galembo, Phyllis; Galusha, Jaime; Giboney, Justin; Green, Cathleen; Hall, Viola; Hamilton, Diane;
Hartman, Charles; Holdridge, Brandon; Jerison, Michael; Keenan, Donald; King, Ekow;
Kiorpes, Karen; Kressner, Ilka; Kuznetsov, Igor; Little, Walter; Mallia, Mary Ellen;
Mamorella, David; Manjak, Martin; Marler, Janet; Mckenna, Holly; Mower, James; Ng, Vivien;
Ostro, Austin; Pastore, Christopher; Petry, Greta; Poehlman, Christian; Polanco, Brian; Prelow, Hazel;
Pyles, Loretta; Reinhold, Karin; Roberts, Nancy; Rosenwig, Robert; Shi, Hua; Smith, Christy; Spencer,
Latonia; Tchernev, Alexandre; Williams, Oscar; Zhou, Liming; Wheeler, Darrell;
Williams, Kevin
Guests:
Datri, Angela; Hyde, James; Rong, Xiao; Zhao, Fuchun; Bartow, Jon; Jewell, Carol;
Winchester, Kathie; LaValley, Celine; Murray, Ann Marie; Trant, Jeffrey; Becker, Rich;
Olin, Alison; Faught, Sydney
The meeting convened at 2:45 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of September 26, 2016 were approved, with minor changes and the following voting
results: Approved 41, Opposed 0, Abstained 6
A motion was made to change the agenda by moving the approval of membership changes and
unfinished business before other reports, with the following voting results: Approved 36,
Opposed 1, Abstained 1
INTERIM PROVOST’S REPORT – DARRELL WHEELER
Interim Provost Wheeler outlined four key areas: administrative changes, enrollment and
retention, strategic planning, and high notes.
He announced that Leanne Wirkkula would continue in her roles as Vice President for Planning,
Policy and Compliance and Co-Chair of the Strategic Planning Steering Committee and that
Bruce Szelest was now serving as Chief of Staff. He added that Phil Nasca would be stepping
down as Dean of the School of Public Health in January, and that Laura Schweitzer, Vice
President for Health Sciences and Biomedical Initiatives, would serve as Interim Dean. The
Interim Provost stated that he would be meeting with the SPH before launching a national search.
Interim Provost Wheeler reviewed undergraduate and graduate enrollment and retention statistics
and provided updates on new programs. He stressed that the University is trending in the right
direction, watching numbers carefully and growing programs, and he is working with Deans and
units to continue to set realistic goals.
The Strategic Planning Steering Committee had met on October 21st and the 18 futuring group
papers had all been submitted for campus feedback over a two-week period, Interim Provost
Wheeler reported. He also reminded of the December 9th and 10th “Concert of Ideas” major
campus event.
The Interim Provost thanked EOP for the invitation to an event he had attended that past evening
at the SEFCU Arena with over 800 EOP students and Assembly speaker Heastie. Lastly, he noted
that the University had received the 2015 President’s Honor Roll in Higher Education
Community Service.
UNIVERSITY SENATE CHAIR’S REPORT – James Collins, Chair
I.
Informational
1.
Chair Collins attended the University Council Meeting on September 15, as a guest, and after hearing a
report on the Presidential Search process of University Council Chair Michael Castellana, requested that
the process be put underway as soon as feasible, given Senate’s need to nominate and ballot six faculty
representatives to the Presidential Search Committee.
2.
On September 23, Senate Leadership (Chair Collins, Vice Chair Reinhold, Immediate Past Chair Fox) met
with Provost Stellar and Vice Provost Szelest to discuss the following:
Schedule for rest of semester given leadership transition. Dates are pending.
Humanities & Social Sciences 'Critical Conversation'/Forum. The Provost and Fox noted that it was an
issue in strategic planning; the Provost that it must proceed, sponsored by the Office of the President as
well as the Senate.
Status of Decanal Review process. This will be a task for Interim Provost Wheeler.
Senate website changes. VP Szelest reported that websites are beginning to be reviewed and revised.
Updates and improvements to the Senate website will be given priority within the general process.
Issue of departments that won't appoint Senators. The Provost proposed inviting SGL to meetings of the
Council of Deans, with this as an agenda item.
Restructuring ODI. This issue, raised as a concern by a member to Chair Collins, is
currently on hold.
3.
On September 28 Chair Collins received an inquiry and request from the Office of Student Affairs to table
outside of the Fall Faculty Meeting on November 9. Permission granted and confirmed on October 12.
4. On September 28 Chair Collins and Vice Chair Reinhold met with JD Hyde, support staff for the University
Council, and Brian Smith and Shivam Parikh of the Office of Marketing and Communication to discuss
technicalities and logistics for conducting a university-wide call for nominations for the Presidential Search
Committee and as soon-to-follow secret ballot of full-time faculty to elect six faculty representatives to the
committee.
5. On September 1 and 29, Anne Marie Murray, Associate Provost for Program Development requested flexible
dates for meeting with Senate Leadership and Senate Councils discuss the University at Albany/Albany Law
School affiliation. Dates are pending.
6.
On September 16 and 30, Chair Collins was informed of a problematic “Interdisciplinary Leadership
Minor.”
7.
On October 4, President Stellar approved Senate Bill 1617-01 – PROPOSAL TO ESTABLISH A
GRADUATE CERTIFICATE PROGRAM IN INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION MANAGEMENT
II.
Actions taken
a.
After consulting with Senate leadership, following the meeting on nominations on 9/28, Chair Collins
sent University Council Chair Castellana a letter expressing concerns with the process.
b.
On 10/04 Chair Collins sent a notice to all Senate members informing them of the Presidential Search
Committee nomination call from 10/5-12 and asking Senate members to notify their constituents.
c.
Referral to UPPC of proposed name change of Department of Educational Administration and Policy.
d.
Referral to SEC of proposed merger of Departments of Informatics and Information Studies into a
single CEAS Department of Information Science; motion to table at SEC meeting on 10/13.
e.
Referral to SEC of proposed separation of School of Business ITM Department into Departments of
Information Systems and Business Analytics and Information Security and Digital Forensics; motion to
support at SEC meeting on 10/13.
f.
Referral to SEC of Governance Council’s 2016 Reports on Shared Governance; motion to table at SEC
meeting on 10/13.
g.
Referral to Governance Council of 2016 Reports on Shared Governance.
III.
Recommendations for actions
a.
None.
Chair Collins added that he had attended the state-wide plenary, with a written report to follow, and
found exchanges with other universities and with Chancellor Zimpher extremely interesting. He also
reminded of the upcoming Fall Faculty meeting on November 9th. The Chair provided background on
the Survey on Shared Governance Report, which he hoped would be presented this semester.
NEW BUSINESS
Approval of Changes in Council Memberships – Senate Secretary Christian Poehlmann
CoR:
Patrick Nold
GOV:
Monika Piotrowska
CAFFECOR:
Malcolm Sherman
A motion was made to accept the above changes, with the following voting results:
Approved 39, Opposed 0, Abstained 0
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
CHARTER AMENDMENT 1516-03A: CLARIFICATION OF RESPONSIBILITIES OF
CAA
Senate Chair Collins provided an overview and background on the proposal, involving updates to
outdated title and unit names as well as clarification of the role of the council.
A motion was made to approve the above amendment with the following voting results,
following clarification regarding I-clicker use: Approved 39; Opposed 5; Abstained 5
161702R: RESOLUTION ON ATTACKS ON ACADEMIC FREEDOM
CAFFECoR Chair Carol Jewell explained, in summary, that a faculty member had come to the
council regarding an attack on academic freedom which was interfering with the individual’s
ability to conduct classes. The council had responded by drafting the above proposal, which
Chair Jewell reviewed.
A motion was made, after discussion, to approve the above resolution with the following voting
results: Approved 46; Opposed 1; Abstained 2
161703: RESOLUTION ON STUDENT REPRESENTATION IN GOVERNANCE
GOV Chair Karin Reinhold provided a summary and background on the above proposal,
recommended to ensure that the Senate, SA and GSA are consulted regarding requests for
student representation. Cynthia Fox added that she also strongly supported the resolution, as the
request had originally been brought to GOV the year that she was GOV Chair by students asking
for help with this matter.
A motion was made to approve the above resolution with the following voting results: Approved
46; Opposed 1; Abstained 2
OTHER REPORTS
UFS (University Faculty Senate) – Diane Hamilton, Walter Little & Latonia Spencer, SUNY
Senators
1)
The SUNY faculty senators report that the 174th Fall Plenary Meeting of the SUNY Faculty Senate, hosted by
SUNY Cortland, is October 20-22, 2016. At the plenary next week, among other business, senators will discuss
2)
and vote on resolutions related to filling vacancies on college councils, on micro-credentialing, on ethics
reviews, and on applied learning.
Senator Walter Little reviewed topics of the recent UFS SUNY Plenary Meeting, as reported on
the SUNY website, including the following: budget; UTeach; TeachNY; shared campus concerns
regarding climate and safety, academic freedom of expression, diversity, and gender and
ethnicity; system-wide Gen Ed updating. He named some of the resolutions which had passed,
such as on faculty and professional staff membership on councils, Applied Learning, and SUNY
Ethics Review. Senator Little underlined discussion of the need to consider librarians for
distinguished faculty awards. He urged all universities to consider pending changes related to
patents and inventions, and agreed to circulate further information via e-mail prior to the
Friday, October 28th deadline for feedback.
GSA (Graduate Student Association) – Dylan Card, GSA President
1)
No report submitted
President Card reported that he had taken over the role on September 25th and would be serving
as interim during the transitioning process.
SA (Student Association) – Felix Abreu, Student Association President
1)
Nothing to report
COUNCIL/COMMITTEE CHAIRS’ REPORTS:
CAA (Council on Academic Assessment) – James Mower, Chair
1)
CAA met on Friday, September 30, 2016 to inform our new members on Council procedures and committee
activities. Chairs for the General Education Assessment Committee and Academic Program Review Committee
will be elected by committee members at their next organizational meetings. The Council will vote to approve
the elected chairs at its next meeting in early November.
CAFFECoR (Committee on Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expression, and Community
Responsibility) –Carol Jewell, Chair
1)
Informational
a)
CAFFECoR tried to meet on Wednesday, October 12, 2016, but due to circumstances beyond her control,
Chair Jewell said she would reschedule the meeting.
2)
Reports of Action
a)
N/A
3)
Recommendations for Actions
a)
N/A
CAFFECoR had rescheduled the meeting for that week.
CERS (Committee on Ethics in Research and Scholarship) – Michael Jerison, Chair
1)
No report submitted
CERS would meet on October 25th.
COR (Council on Research) – Daniele Fabris, Chair
1)
Nothing to report
COR would meet on Wednesday, October 26th.
CPCA (Council on Promotions and Continuing Appointments) – Louise-Anne McNutt, Chair
1)
CPCA met on September 29th and reviewed and voted on two cases.
GAC (Graduate Academic Council) – James Fossett, Chair
1)
Nothing to report
GOV (Governance Council) – Karin Reinhold, Chair
1)
On Sept 26, Chair Reinhold met with JD Hyde, support staff for the University Council, to discuss how the
presidential search committee will be formed. This is a summary of the process:
a)
The open nomination period for faculty, student, prof/staff and dean will be Oct 5-12.
b)
Then faculty will vote for 6 full time teaching candidates: Oct 17-21
c)
Students, prof/staff, dean will be selected by Chair of Council, Castellaña, in consultation with university
community members. He will come to campus to meet with various people.
d)
Search committee will be finalized by end of October.
e)
During October, bids from Search Firms.
f)
During November, there will be 2 or 3 listening sessions: open forums with members of search committee,
a member of search firm and univ. community. These meetings will draw what we are looking for in a
president, and it will inform the job description for the president.
g)
It takes 3-4 months for candidate applications. By mid-March we hope to have enough applications.
h)
There is going to be a website for the presidential search, lots of communication, sharing info, e-mails w/
updates.
We consulted Castellaña about the need of having a presidential search committee that has broad academic
representation who informed us that the faculty representatives can be chosen to achieve broad representation
“subject to the voting process. “
On Oct 5th, the Governance Council discussed how to conduct the voting process for the six full-time teaching
faculty members of the presidential search committee. It was decided that the faculty should be selected, by vote,
proportionally to the size of the different campuses: 4 from the Uptown campus, 1 from the Downtown campus, and
1 from the Health Science campus.
The Report on the Shared Governance Survey is ready. It will be presented for approval to the Governance Council
at the November meeting before presenting it to the Senate.
Chair Reinhold reported that 1 member was needed on a GOV subcommittee and 1 on GAC, and she
requested faculty volunteers.
LISC (Council on Libraries, Information Systems, and Computing) – David Mamorella, Chair
1)
LISC is meeting on Oct. 17. We will finalize the sub-committees and chairs. Refer to the Senate website for the
minutes of our Sept. 19 meeting.
LISC had met and approved membership and chairs of its subcommittees.
UAC (Undergraduate Academic Council) – Karen Kiorpes and Christy Smith, Co-Chairs
UAC reviewed a proposal from the School of Social Welfare revising academic termination from the
major policies. The Committee found the wording of the policy to be confusing and there were
questions about under what circumstances students would not pass one of their two field placements.
When Social Welfare responds, an email vote on the proposal will be conducted.
UAC had met on October 18th and revised two Gen Ed competency plan revisions – one for the
School of Social Welfare and one for Political Science. The departments had been contacted for
final clarification prior to a vote. There were Gen Ed plans being considered for CNSE, Urban
Studies and Planning, and Computer Science. UAC formed three subcommittees to discuss
submissions which would then be reviewed by the body as a whole at the Nov. 10th meeting.
ULC (University Life Council) – Ekow King, Chair
1)
Informational
a)
The ULC had our first meeting on October 5th. As we begin our work for this year and continue the work
of the previous academic year, there are a few items we are working on in the coming months. They are as
follows:
i)
Forming our committees and Ensuring that the council has the required number of undergraduate
representatives
ii)
Modifying the ULC charter to accurately represent the organizational chart of the University and the
appropriate names of Offices and Departments within the University
iii) Investigating and/requesting an update regarding Senate Bill No.: 0809-16, which was proposed and
adopted in March of 2009 and forwarded to the President’s Office for approval and implementation
followed by an Open Forum in November of 2011
2)
Reports of Actions
a)
The ULC has appointed Deborah Lafond and Alison Olin to serve on the Committee on University
Community Relations.
3)
Recommendations for Actions – None at this time
UPPC (University Planning and Policy Council) – Cynthia Fox, Chair
1)
Informational
a)
The following have been placed on the agenda of our next meeting on October 19:
i)
consideration of a letter of intent for an MS in Digital Forensics (S. Goel, School of Business);
ii)
consultation on a name change in the School of Education: from the Department of Educational
Administration and Policy Studies to the Department of Educational Policy and Leadership (J. Lane,
School of Education);
b)
Consideration of a letter of intent for a Ph. D. Electrical and Computer Engineering (Ann Marie Murray);
c)
A discussion of “Compact Planning Process Core Principles.” These state both that “appropriate Faculty
Senate consultation will occur through interactions with the University Planning and Policy Council” and
that “the University Policy and Planning Council will be convened at least once for consultation on the
final Compact decisions.”
2)
Actions Taken
3)
Recommendations
UPPC had met on October 19th and approved, with some minor modifications, 1 a) and 1 b) of
the above agenda items. VP for Enrollment Management Sandra Starke would be invited to a
future UPPC meeting for discussion.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS (Cont.)
Report on University Brand Campaign – VP for Marketing & Communication, Joseph Brennan
A motion was made to table the above agenda item until the next meeting as the presenters could
not attend, with the following voting results: Approved 40; Opposed 1; Abstained 1
ADJOURNMENT
The Senate adjourned at 4:13 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by
Elisa Lopez, Recorder
