Governance Council
Wednesday, May 10, 2017
2:45 PM
UNH 306
Karin Reinhold, Chair
Minutes
PRESENT: King, Chad; Hermann, Susan; Moore, Chris; Nowell, Greg; Petry, Greta;
Reinhold, Karin; Yan, Zheng.
GUESTS:
Malloch, Carolyn; Mower, Jim; Yonkers, Virginia
The meeting convened at 2:50 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
GOV did not reach quorum, and so the minutes of March 29 were approved by an online vote on
May 15, with minor changes and the following results: Approved 10, Opposed 0, Abstained 1
CHAIR’S REPORT – Karin Reinhold
Apr 17th, Chair Reinhold attended the Forum in Immigration in the age of Trump as the representative from the
Senate. Panelist included: UPD Chief of Police, Frank J. Wiley, Barbara Smith (Office of Albany Mayor), Melanie
Trimble (NYCLU), Barbara Brenner (US Immigration and Nationality Law Attorney), Mary Armistead, Esq.
(Albany Law Immigration Clinic), Vice Chair of the UA Senate Karin Reinhold, UA Student Rep, Tara Evans,
International Student & Scholar Services. The forum was very informative and well attended. A follow up by New
York Civil Liberties Union will be held on Apr 24th, 6-9 LC 24.
Apr 18th, Chair Reinhold participated in two Identity fora, one in the downtown campus, and the other one in the
uptown campus. There will be a 3rd one on the Health Science campus on May 9th.
Apr 19th, CNN met to review and approve roster of Council and Standing Committees membership.
Apr 20th, Reinhold attended the Spring faculty meeting.
Apr 21st, Senate leadership, Collins, Fox, Reinhold, met with Chief of Staff Bruce Szelest and Interim Provost
Darrel Wheeler. Conversations on path to permanency for non-tenured track faculty and teaching evaluations of
contingent faculty. Assessment is crucial for contingent faculty, and we need a systematic, periodic evaluation of
teaching.
Apr 22nd, we received a complaint that part-time faculty had not received the notification of election results. We
updated our procedures immediately to avoid this mistake in the future. Senate announcements must be sent to the
full constituency.
Apr 24th, Reinhold attended a forum on Immigration, “Know your rights”, sponsored by GSA.
May 3rd, Reinhold attended a forum on strategic planning organized by Wirkkula and Wheeler, as a follow up to the
3 strategic imperatives announced at the spring faculty meeting (Imperative 1: Foster Our Culture of Excellence,
Imperative 2: Innovate Our Programs, Imperative 3: Strengthen Our Research) http://www.albany.edu/strategicplan/
files/UAlbany_Strategic_Plan.05-01-2017_DRAFT.pdf
May 4th, Reinhold attended a forum on “State of Research” on the downtown campus.
Chair Reinhold added the following to her written report:
Chair Reinhold had met with the Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff to continue the
discussion on website changes. Senate Handbook – discussion of edits to updated draft;
inclusion of procedures for soliciting student representation per last year’s resolution.
Due to lack of quorum, updates to the Senate Handbook were approved in an online vote on May
15 as follows: Approved 11, Opposed 0, Abstained 0
SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS
Liaison and Elections Committee (LEC) – Christian Poehlmann, Chair
Nothing to Report
Assessment of Governance and Consultation Committee (AGCC) – Greta Petry, Chair
Nothing to Report
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Representation of Contingent Faculty and Related Legislation
GOV members again discussed the Bylaws amendments related to contingent faculty
representation and strategies to encourage voting participation, since the amendments had not
passed due to a lack of quorum. Charter amendments would be put forward to the Senate
paralleling the language of the Bylaws amendments.
Council Chair Elections
Members agreed to recommend that each council consider electing a Vice Chair to assist and
perhaps serve as Chair in a subsequent year.
Other Legislation
GOV would consider drafting a Charter amendment regarding “housekeeping” that would allow
non-substantive changes, such as stylistic revisions or updates to titles and names, to be made
without requiring amendments. GOV would be required to report Charter updates to the Senate.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 4:02 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by
Elisa Lopez, Recorder
