Council and Committee Reports for SEC Meeting January 22, 2018
Christian Poehlmann, Senate Secretary
UNIVERSITY SENATE CHAIR’S REPORT – Karin Reinhold
I. Informational
Senate leadership refers to Chair Karin Reinhold, Immediate past Chair Jim Collins and Vice
Chair Jim Mower.
On Dec 4
th, Reinhold participated on the Immigration forum organized by M. Martinez.
On Dec 7
th, Reinhold met with J. Mower, B. Franchini, C. Poehlmann, B. Szelest, A. D’Atri, JD
Hyde, E. Lopez about the new Shared Governance website. We discussed content, support
persons for each council will be responsible for updating the respective council webpages and
councils need to consider information to share with the Senate constituencies. All councils
should post their calendar, membership, agenda & minutes, and news and/or current issues as
appropriate. The archives of the website are searchable.
On Dec 11
th , Reinhold, E. Lopez, B. Szelest, and D’Atri met with Gregory Wiedeman,
University Archivist, who demonstrated how to use the search function on the online archives.
On Dec 12
th, Reinhold participated on “Food for Finals” which was well attended.
On Dec 12
th, Reinhold received a letter from Professor P. Eppard, Chair of Information Science,
who, on behalf of the faculty, communicated that they are pleased with the department’s move
from College of Engineering and Applied Sciences to the College of Emergency Preparedness,
Homeland Security and Cybersecurity; he also expressed gratitude to Provost Stellar for the
assistance provided during this transition.
On Dec 13
th, Chair of UPPC, J Collins announced that UPPC will be looking into the concern
about student preparation, trends over the past 10 years.
Chair Reinhold received a request that council chairs use a microphone when addressing the
Senate because it is otherwise hard to hear.
As of Jan 8, the council and committee web-pages now have a section for meeting dates,
agendas and minutes, news and initiatives, and membership. Council staff members have
access to make updates to these pages.
II. Actions taken
Communicated to all Council’s support persons instruction for updating the new
website for their council.
Drafted a letter of affirmation that formal consultation has been fulfilled on the matter of
the move of the Department of Information Science to CEHC.
Requested a Budget presentation for SEC from J. Van Voorst, VP for Finance and
Admin.
III. Recommendations for actions
Deadline for programs to submit proposals to the respective councils: 10 days before the
council’s meeting date.
IV. Announcements
Provost Stellar requested ideas on how to deliver the plans outlined for the Strategic
Plan, by e-mail.
A budget presentation can be found on MyUAlbany
2018 President’s Awards for Exemplary Public Engagement
Nomination deadline: Saturday, February 10, 2018 - Mary Hunt
SUNY-wide Advising Conference at UAlbany - Feb 23
https://advisingsuny.wordpress.com/
SAVE THE DATE:
o
Senate Forum of Equity and Inclusion, tentative date: February 13
th .
o
Senate Forum of Arts and Humanity, tentative date: March 6
th .
o
Spring Faculty Address, April 3
rd at 1:00 pm in the Campus Center Ballroom.
o
Senate Forum on The State of IT on Campus, tentative date: April 10
th .
April 1
st : Date planned for Strategic Plans to be submitted.
President’s Inauguration; April 13
th.
SUNY Undergraduate Research Symposium 2018: Friday, April 20 at Oneonta, and
Saturday, April 21 at Monroe County Community College.
All news and stories should be directed to Jordan Carleo-Evangelist, Director
Communications &State Relations.
SUNY Senators’ Report – Diane Hamilton, Walter Little, Latonia Spencer
The SUNY University Faculty Senators report that the SUNY Faculty Senate Winter Plenary
is at SUNY Polytechnic from January 18-20, 2018.
The SUNY Chancellor, Kristina Johnson, the Interim Provost and Vice Chancellor for
Research and Economic Development, Grace Wan, and the Sr. Vice Chancellor for Finance
and Chief Financial Officer, Eileen McLoughlin, will give reports on their respective
activities. Additionally, Ron Sarner (SUNY Poly) will present, "Using Predictive Analytics to
Enhance Student Performance and Reduce Student Attrition" and Lisa Glidden (SUNY
Oswego) will present, "Sustainability Paradigm Shift".
Several resolutions will also be discussed at the plenary: Support for undocumented
students; Bylaws changes (related to elections), Section J: Nominating Committee,
Verification of CGL consultation, Diversity Postdoctoral Fellowship, Advising International
Students, Re-examining the definition of Liberal Arts Courses.
Graduate Student Organization Report – Dawn Wharram, Lead Senator
Nothing to report
Student Association Report –Jerlisa Fontaine, President
Nothing to report
Council/Committee Chair Reports:
CAA – Istvan Kecskes, Chair, Mary Ellen Mallia Co-Chair
REPORT ON THE MEETING ON DECEMBER 5
th, 2017
Review of GEAC report on Social Sciences General Education Assessment. The report
was presented by Allison Hosier and discussed and reviewed by the group. Some
concerns were raised regarding the number of course. There was some discussion of
means to improve the quality of the responses. A motion was made to approve the
report as submitted, and it was seconds and unanimously approved.
Review of APRC report on the 2015-16 Geography and Planning Program Review. The
report was presented by Jiping Liu, and discussed and reviewed by the group. The
group discussed the report and a motion was made to approve as accepted and was
approved with one abstention (a member of the department is also a member of CAA).
CAFFECoR – Carol Jewell, Chair
Nothing reported
CERS – Michael Jerison, Outgoing Chair. David G. Wagner, Incoming Chair
David Wagner has replaced Michael Jerison as chair of CERS and as a member of SEC.
COR – Robert Rosenswig, Chair
Nothing reported
CPCA – Louise-Anne McNutt, Outgoing Chair; Jim Hargett, Incoming Chair
Jim Hargett is the new chair
GAC – Sean Rafferty, Chair
Nothing to report
GOV – Jim Mower, Chair
Nothing to report
LISC – Billie Franchini, Chair
Submitted by Billie Franchini, Chair, January 10, 2018
The Council on Libraries, Information Services, and Computing (LISC) met on December 7,
2017. During the meeting,
I. Report/Updates from Libraries (Rebecca Mugridge, Dean of Libraries)
A.The University Libraries posted a position for a new full-time Web Developer/Designer
with an application deadline of December 20.
B.The University Libraries is searching for a User Experience Librarian, with an
application deadline of January 19.
C.The University Libraries are working with the Office of Campus Planning to develop
plans to perform some renovations for the University Library basement level. This will
likely involve removing some partitions, replacing carpeting, relocating microforms, and
replacing worn furniture.
D.The University Libraries are planning to create four new group study rooms on the first
floor of the University Library.
II. Report/Updates from ITS (Chris Moore, Director of the Educational Technology Center,
reporting for Simeon Ananou, Vice President of Information Technology Services and CIO)
A.The new University website project was on target for a Phase 1 release by the end of this
year. Phase 1 includes the highest-used University pages for students, such as
Admissions, Academics, Student Life, Financial Aid, etc. The timeframe for Phase 2,
which includes other administrative offices, will be established sometime after Phase 1 is
underway.
B.As part of an overall web accessibility compliance effort, ITS has developed an online
accessibility awareness course using Blackboard. Approximately 1700 people, including
vice presidents, deans, and any individuals with responsibilities for creating, updating,
or changing digital content, are expected to complete the awareness training by January
31, 2018. Additional trainings will be developed for all staff with responsibility for
digital content to ensure they have appropriate knowledge and skills regarding
accessibility. The University will continue embedding accessibility requirements,
training and best practices into the fabric of our campus culture. The sheer volume of
digital content across campus makes this initiative a challenging one.
C.ITS continues to strengthen its Information Security Posture by purchasing
and implementing the Palo Alto firewall. ITS is also in the process of consolidating our
computer domains across University to yield the following benefits:
o
Cost savings (licensing and hardware)
o
Increased security
o
Comprehensive inventory of UAlbany hardware and software
o
Consistent application of passwords, firewalls, encryption, etc.
o
Ability to rapidly push changes across the campus
o
Proactive detection and reporting of vulnerabilities/Rapid assessment of
institutional exposure
o
Auditable ability to ensure machines are patched
o
Reduce complexity
o
Better resources for customer support
o
Compliance audits (GLBA, NIST 800-171, GDPR)
III. New Business
a.The Information Technology Usage & Policy Committee will be working to review
policies and procedures related to the new Shared Governance website.
b.The Library Committee will spend time during the Spring semester investigating a
possible statement or policy regarding Open Access publishing.
UAC – Karen Kiorpes, Christy Smith, Co-Chairs
UAC met on December 7. It was reported that:
Informatics will be moving to the College of Emergency Preparedness
The Global Distinction milestone was approved by the senate.
Currently, there are four majors and one minor in the pre-UAC proposal phase.
American Sign Language was approved for General Education requirements.
Policies on exceptions for course withdrawal deadlines and S/U exceptions have been
reviewed. The same deadlines were approved for both and are to be implemented in Fall
2018.
The next meeting will be on January 25 at 10:00.
ULC – Ekow King, Chair
Nothing to report
UPPC – Jim Collins, Chair
UPPC Report for SEC Meeting on 012218
Information:
The Council met on December 13.
Provost James Stellar reported that a new Dean had been appointed for the School of Public
Health, and that the search for a Dean of the School of Business was in the final stages. He
reported that the Strategic Planning teams would meet on December 15 to prepare a draft
version of an overall Strategic Plan by January 15, at which point presentations throughout the
University would commence. For more information see:
https://www.albany.edu/strategicplan/events.shtml . The Provost also took questions about
the status of the move of the Department of Information Science from the CEAS to CEHCS,
reporting that the process was nearly completed and needed acknowledgment in writing that
the University Senate had been formally consulted about the change of department location and
College composition.
The Council heard a report from VP for Finance and Administration James Van Voorst, on the
budget plans to deal with a 10M ‘structural deficit’ predicted for the University. A PowerPoint
presentation “The Campus Financial Plan: Budget Status for 17-18 and 18-19” is available on
MyUAlbany, Finances, Presentations:
https://portal.itsli.albany.edu/documents/14702/22015/Campus_Financial_Plan_1718
Council members asked why, given that the deficit is attributed to the cost of recurring labor
contracts for faculty and staff, there is not advance budget planning for these predictable costs.
VP Van Voorst and Provost Stellar responded that given the larger context, it is well-nigh
impossible to set aside funds for future contracts. The Legislature and Governor’s office
essentially want new programs or tangible services to more students before allocating any
monies.
Chair Collins reported to the Council and Guests on the following:
1. That Council policy is that proposals to be considered by the Council should be submitted 10
or more days prior to the next scheduled meeting.
2. That given the salience of ‘student success’ as a goal in the new strategic planning, coupled
with recurrent, though disputed, claims that the academic preparation of newer students has
declined, Council members have suggested that the academic preparation of entering classes is
an issue that the Council should study further, using baseline quantitative data on the academic
profile of entering freshmen classes for a decade, as well as reports from academic departments.
3. That three resolutions from the SUNY Senate on “Attendance Policy Accommodation for
Military Drills and Training”, “To Provide Free Access to
Menstrual Products at all SUNY Campuses in All Restrooms”, and “To Recognize the Second
Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day” had been referred to the Resource Analysis
and Planning Committee (RAPC), and to the University Life Council, for further study of policy
and financial issues.
RAPC Chair Leventhal reported on the 11/30/17 meeting of the Committee. He reiterated
many of the points that Provost Van Voorst had made about the budget planning for 17-18 and
18-19. He also reported on Committee discussions with Harvey Chairs, VP for International
Education and Global Strategy (CIEGS), and John Pomeroy, Director of International
Admissions and Recruitment. Chair Leventhal noted that the CIEGS focused primarily on
undergraduate students and presented a RAPC resolution that the University needed to
increase its efforts to recruit international graduate students, which could be done through the
strategic use of on-site recruiters in various countries. Lastly, he reported that, according to VP
Van Voorst, University policies regarding attendance and military drills and training are
unclear, but will need to be aligned with SUNY policies on the matter. The financial
implications are also unclear, though it appears there has been only one request for an
attendance waiver in recent years.
Facilities Committee Chair Sridar Chittur submitted a written report, which Chair Collins
summarized, of Facilities meeting in the morning of December 13th. First, the Committee
continued to discuss options for improving access to parking by Health Science (HSC) students
who must take courses on the Main Campus. Options discussed include better bus service or
free parking decals. Second, the Committee discussed the SUNY Senate resolution on access to
menstrual products in University restrooms, noting uncertainties of current provision and
policy, possible indignities for students or faculty, and the need to involve other constituencies
in the Committee’s study of the matter. Third and last, the Committee reiterates the problem
that faculty and staff frequently report not being consulted or notified about facilities changes
until such changes are imminent. The Committee recommends that forums be held with
affected faculty and staff when anticipated facilities changes are planned.
Actions:
Chair Collins has begun to organize a Senate Forum on Gender Equity and Inclusion at the
University on February 13th, focusing on pay equity, sexual harassment and sports
participation.
Recommendations:
1. That given the salience of ‘student success’ as a goal in the new strategic planning, and
recurring claims that newer students are less well academically prepared than previous cohorts,
the Council should study whether there has been a change in the academic preparation of
entering freshman classes, using baseline quantitative data on the academic profile of entering
freshmen classes for the past decade, as well as reports on the matter from academic
departments.
2. From the Resource Analysis and Planning Committee: that Graduate Studies survey graduate
departments to determine which are interested in having assistance in increasing international
graduate enrollment and to create a designated graduate international recruitment position
which would interface with the existing international recruitment infrastructure at CIEGS to
recruit for departments which choose to participate.
3. From the Facilities Committee: That the relevant office within Campus Planning Committee
offer timely forums to affected faculty and staff when facilities changes are planned, scheduling
such forums well in advance of actual changes, and reminding supervisors and academic
department chairs of the importance of timely discussion opportunities for the faculty and staff
they supervise.
The Council next meets on January 31.
