COUNCIL AND COMMITTEE SUMMARIES
University Senate Executive Committee, November 29th, 2010
As submitted to Tom Bessette, Secretary, University Senate
UNIVERSITY SENATE CHAIR’S REPORT – Eric Lifshin, Chair
N/A
UFS (University Faculty Senator’s Report) –Daniel D. White, J. Philippe Abraham & Shadi
Shahedipour-Sandvik, SUNY Senators
The SUNY Senators and UAlbany Senate Chair, Eric Lifshin, met with University Faculty Senate (UFS)
President Ken O’Brien on Friday November 19 to speak about the role of the Senate as we face further budget
and curricular challenges. The dialogue was fruitful. Dr. O’Brien indicated the approach taken by UAlbany’s
administration in response to the budget cuts may be on the horizon for other SUNY institutions. In fact, we
spoke about SUNY Geneseo’s President deactivating 3 academic programs as a cost saving measure. UFS
President O’Brien (SUNY Brockport) has accepted an invitation from Eric Lifshin to come to one of our future
UAlbany Senate meetings to present his views of shared governance and answer questions about the SUNY
system, the UFS, and the links between campuses. Dr. O’Brien is an historian who has co-edited the volume
“SUNY at Sixty” which is a history and analysis of the SUNY system.
GSO (Graduate Student Organization) – Heidi Nicholls, GSO Representative
Nothing to Report
SA (Student Association) – Justin Wax Jacobs, President Student Association
N/A
CAA (Council on Academic Assessment) – Richard Matyi, Chair
1. The CAA had its regular meeting on Wednesday, 11/17/2010. Significant agenda items included the
following:
a. Report by the Chair on the ongoing CAA/GAC/GOV interactions
b. Discussion of upcoming Academic Program Review Committee actions, including a discussion of the wiki-
based program review procedure to be implemented during this academic year.
c. Discussion of aspects of the CAA charter modifications that were initiated during the 2009-10 academic year
2. A meeting was held with the Interim Chair of the General Education Assessment Committee and the
Associate Dean for General Education on Monday, 11/20/2010 to coordinate GEAC activities with
developments in the UAlbany Gen Ed program.
3. The next meeting of the CAA is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, 12/8/2010.
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CAFFECoR (Committee on Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expression, and Community Responsibility)
– Pradeep Haldar, Chair
Committee has reviewed updated CRR document. It now meets requirements and will be prepared to forward to
Senate and President for approval.
Residential Hall workshops are scheduled for January to provide information to student staff about dealing with
freedom of expression issues.
Committee is reviewing information to complete the SUNY Faculty Senate survey on ethics at the suggestion of
Provost and Senate Chair.
CERS (Committee on Ethics in Research and Scholarship) – John Monfasani, Chair
N/A
COR (Council on Research) – James Castracane, Chair
Nothing to Report
CPCA (Council on Promotions and Continuing Appointments) – Vincent LaBella, Chair
CPCA has been having ongoing discussions regarding the tenure file preparation process. The discussions have
centered on the letters from external reviewers. The council would like to emphasize that departments must
strive to solicit letters from individuals who have no prior contact to the candidate no matter how casual this
contact may seem. In addition departments should strive to solicit letters form full professors or equivalent
rank. CPCA is planning to address these issues with all departments and academic units in the near future.
GAC (Graduate Academic Council) – Laurence Kranich, Chair
At its meeting on November 19, GAC approved a revised proposal from the School of Business for a Graduate
Certificate in Information Security. The proposal had been approved previously by UPPC. The Council also
approved a proposal from the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Economics for a combined BS-MA
degree in Economics. This has yet to be considered by UAC. Other actions of the Council include approval of a
request by the School of Education Department of Educational & Counseling Psychology to discontinue the
professional teaching certification track within the Educational Psychology and Methodology MS program,
approval of a request by the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Geography and Planning to revise the
Master of Regional Planning program, and consideration of a grievance before its Committee on Admissions
and Academic Standing.
GOV (Governance Council) – Susanna Fessler, Chair
GOV met on Friday, November 19th to begin discussion of the Evaluation of Administrators and
Administrative Services and Functions, pursuant to Senate Resolution 0910-02. In the spirit of the Middle
States recommendation, it was agreed that the process was better characterized as an assessment, not an
evaluation. GOV will invite assessment experts from campus to its next meeting to get advice on the scope and
methodology of the assessment. Once these are decided, GOV plans to form an ad hoc committee which will
write the actual assessment.
LISC (Council on Libraries, Information Systems, and Computing) – Shadi Shahedipour-Sandvik, Chair
LISC met on Monday Nov. 25th and that a report will be submitted next week
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UAC (Undergraduate Academic Council) – JoAnn Malatesta, Chair
The UAC continues to meet each Wednesday. There has been continued discussion about the use and retention
of the Violation of Academic Integrity Reports. The Council has agreed that it would be most productive to
establish an ad hoc committee to review this policy and will be inviting the GAC to join this committee as it
directly impacts both graduate and undergraduate students.
ULC (University Life Council) – Danielle Leonard, Chair
On Tuesday, November 9th 2010 ULC invited members of the newly formed Veteran Education Team to
discuss Veteran Services on campus. While there are many services in place now and more that we can expect
to emerge in the near future, we heard concerns about the coordination of services and about a lack of
awareness of veteran’s issues on the part of the campus community. In the coming weeks, ULC will consider
how services might be better coordinated and awareness of veteran’s issues raised campus-wide.
ULC’s November 22nd meeting was cancelled due to the fact that our scheduled guest, Professor of Health
Policy Tim Hoff, was unable to attend. We will meet with Professor Hoff on December 8th to continue our
discussion of a mandatory health insurance policy for all UA students.
UPPC (University Planning and Policy Council) – R. Michael Range, Chair
The Council finalized its comments regarding the proposed program deactivations via e-mail. The next meeting
is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 3, 2010. One proposed agenda item will be a discussion of the UAlbany all-funds
budget. The Chair has asked President Philip that UPPC be provided with the relevant historical data.
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