2015-2016 University Senate
Monday, December 7, 2015
2:45 pm, Assembly Hall
Cynthia Fox, Chair
MINUTES
Present:
Abraham, Philippe; Adams, Marcus; Alaei, Kamiar; Almahamid, Ilham; Brandon, Peter; Chittur, Sridar;
Collins, James P; Curtis, Henry W; Dai, Aiguo; Earle, Keith; Fabris, Daniel; Fessler, Susanna; Fox, Cynthia
A; Giboney, Justin; Gulatee, Yenisel; Jahanbani, Nakissa P; Jaromin, Michael R; Jerison, Michael;
Kearney, Ann C; Kiorpes, Karen E; Kressner, Ilka; Kuznetsov, Igor; LaFonde, Deborah; Lawrence, Zina;
Levit, Rachel; Little, Walter; Londono, Johana; Mamorella, David; Manjak, Martin; Marler, Janet; McDowall,
David: McKenna, Holly J; Mitchell, Rachel; Moore, Chris; Mower, James; Nowell, Greg; Ostro, Austin;
Pageau, Hanna Marie; Parker, Catherine; Pastore, Christopher; Prelow, Hazel M; Pyles, Loretta;
Roberts, Nancy; Rosenswig, Robert M; Scheck, Helene E; Schmidt, John T; Slade Jr, Leonard A;
Slye, Katherine; Stefl-Mabry, Joette M; Vergari, Sandra; Vuille, Mathias; Yuan, Xiaojun
Ex Officio Administrators
Stellar, James; Chen, Fan Pen; Williams, Kevin; Wulfert, Edelgard
Guests:
Bartow, Jon; Jewell, Carol; Janiszewski, Caitlin; Chesin, Sorrell; Forsythe, Celine; Hedberg, William B;
Benjamin, Bret
The meeting convened at 2:47 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of November 16, 2015 were approved with a minor change and the following voting
results: Approved 38; Opposed 0; Abstained 6
PROVOST’S REPORT – JAMES R. STELLAR
The administration is beginning to launch a strategic planning process in the Spring 2016 semester. It
is a very important process to include input from everyone including faculty, staff and students. If
anyone has ideas, Chief of Staff Wirkkula and the Provost will be leading the efforts. The President has
his 4 stakes in the ground taking root, and we have 2 reports from today, so we start with some ideas
about what we have already begun. Provost Stellar noted to the President that there is not a stake in the
ground regarding online learning, and that perhaps this may be something else we want to think about.
The Provost is thinking about having a steering committee on which Senate leaders would serve, as
well as other processes to ensure everyone on campus has a chance to communicate. There might be
other groups around such subjects as diversity.
Provost Stellar then opened the report to questions. We are waiting on a response from SUNY Center
regarding the PIP applications. Though the course of UAlbany is good to great, we will consider how
to develop a contingency plan if there is a 10% reduction. Ideas shared in making the rounds to the
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departments included the following: increasing stipend dollars for the graduate department in order to
compete, but without extending the time needed to graduate; Humanities, in contrast, might need more
time; regarding Facilities, there is a need for more grad students in the labs and for more staff for
undergraduates. The contingent timeframe of 2 to 3 years is restricted by budget, and there will be a
committee to discuss this issue. Provost Stellar noted that the Deans oversee the departments and that
he needs to be educated by them and by you and to be sympathetic regarding your needs.
UNIVERSITY SENATE CHAIR’S REPORT – Cynthia Fox, Chair
I. Informational
a. Senate Bill 1415-07: PROPOSAL TO DEACTIVATE AND DISCONTINUE THE PUERTO RICAN STUDIES MAJOR IN THE
DEPARTMENT OF LATIN AMERICAN, CARIBBEAN & U.S. LATINO STUDIES was approved by President Jones on October 21.
b. Senate Bill 1516-01: PROPOSAL TO ESTABLISH A MASTER OF SCIENCE (M.S.) PROGRAM IN COUNSELING
PSYCHOLOGY was approved by President Jones on November 19.
c. On 11/19, Chair Fox received an email from Philip Eppard, Chair of the Department of Information Studies, asking if the
Senate is aware of discussions in the administration about a relocation of the Information Studies Department and the
Information Science Ph.D. program from the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences to other units in the university.
d. On 11/23 Chair Fox received a request from Interim Dean Boyer (CEAS) to return to the SEC to discuss additional
developments with respect to the new College. Chair Fox responded with an invitation to attend the 11/30 meeting, which
Dean Boyer declined due to a scheduling conflict.
e. The SEC met on 11/30. Items on the agenda included an Update on Center for International Education and Global
Strategy by Dean and Vice Provost Harvey Charles, and discussions of the Policy on Institutional Policy Development, of
the SUNY Excels PIP submission and responses to the Senate comments on draft, and of the Graduate Stipend Report. The
recent developments with respect to CEAS were also discussed, as well as Senate involvement in the Applied Learning plan
that central administration is requiring from each campus that is described in the SUNY Senator’s report from the October
Plenary in Buffalo.
II. Actions Taken
a. The SEC voted to hold an additional meeting before the winter break in order to hear Dean Boyer’s report.
b. The SEC agreed that Chair Fox forward the communications she has received from SUNY Provost Cartwright on the
topic of the Applied Learning plans to the chairs of GAC and UAC together with a request for more information from
Provost Stellar about how this plan is being drafted, since, unlike the situation on many other campuses, there has been as
yet no request for Senate consultation about it.
III. Recommendations for actions
N/A
The SEC voted to hold an additional meeting on December 9th at 2 p.m. with Dean Boyer about the
changes going on in the new School of Engineering. Special Assistant to the Provost Debra Gelinas
suggested a meeting on Applied Learning with Chair Fox and UAC Co-Chair Karen Kiorpes to
discuss the activities of the Steering Committee and to discuss Senate involvement in its activities.
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OTHER REPORTS
UFS (University Faculty Senator’s Report) – J. Philippe Abraham, Walter Little & John
Schmidt, SUNY Senators
Report from the Fall Plenary University Faculty Senate at Buffalo State
Submitted by John Schmidt, UFS Senator - jschmidt@albany.edu.
The theme of the Plenary was Diversity. There was a workshop on Thursday before the actual meeting and an address by
Carlos Medina, Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. He noted that although NY is probably the most
diverse state, it is by many measures also the most segregated. This is background to the challenge for SUNY. Diversity is
about numbers, but inclusion is about the experience of students, faculty and staff, making all feel welcome. He also noted
that while black/Latino females are doing well in graduation rates at SUNY, black/Latino males are not doing so well,
presenting a challenge. Another topic raised was that a Supreme Court decision in 2003 set a 25 year sunset for Affirmative
Action laws, which might mean that they would disappear in 2025. This might present a problem in keeping minority
percentages up, as the recent changes of this sort in the University of California system resulted in a drop of minorities to
2% of students.
One topic was the recruitment and retention of a diverse faculty:
Putting resources into posting openings
Restart searches if necessary
Surveying campus climate may be useful
Identify things that work and where they work or don’t work.
How to train better mentors for new faculty hires
How faculty can talk comfortably about diversity issues and get students to participate.
Diversity of sexual orientation is perhaps the thorniest issue for SUNY to tackle. Some campuses have considered
a questionnaire to be attached to admission materials, but these would require an opt-out, as many would prefer not to
declare and would feel uncomfortable or unsure or the confidentiality of the data.
SUNY Advocacy and the Budget Process. The Chancellor reviewed the history of her attempts to get resources for
SUNY. In 2010, she initially asked for something for SUNY units in every region of NY (Empowerment and Innovation
Act) which failed in the legislature seemingly because it offered opponents too many targets to attack. Later there was the
successful SUNY 2020, which included rational yearly tuition increases, an agreement by the state for maintenance of
effort (MOE) and some capital funds. Later the Governor wanted public-private partnerships, so she added StartUpNY.
Then she promoted a campaign of “Access + Completion = Success”, which with the addition of “Inquiry and
Engagement” became SUNY Excels; and also put forth the goal of increasing the number of degrees and certificates from
93,000 to 150,000. She noted that last year she asked for $50M in new innovation funding, and got only a slice of that--
$18M appropriated. The UFS President then pointed out that since the MOE by the state was interpreted in the current
budget as constant dollars, there was a deficit of about $70M due to increased costs (2% UUP contract increase, other union
increases, and increases of physical plant operating costs). Thus, the $18M did not begin to cover this hole and SUNY
actually experienced a cut. There was a $300/yr. tuition increase (which amounts to around $70M extra) but fully 25% of
this had to go to closing the “TAP gap” (TAP funds per student are capped at levels below tuition, and SUNY is committed
to making up the difference for TAP students). Thus, more of our costs were shifted onto the backs of students, whose
tuition now covers approximately 70% of costs to the state’s 30%. Note that this ratio has reversed in the last decade.
The outlook for the coming budget is mixed. In June, the legislature passed a bill (with only one vote against)
stating that MOE means the state would cover SUNY’s cost increases, not just furnish constant dollars. This bill will be
sent to the Governor by Dec. 31, but he is widely expected to veto it. If he does so, the legislature is unlikely to move to
override the veto. The chancellor intends to ask for a comprehensive investment package for SUNY this coming year
(“STAND with SUNY” campaign, amount unstated), and also to ask for the state to relinquish the setting of tuition levels to
the SUNY Board of Trustees. Since it is a state legislature election year, they may be hesitant to raise tuition again this year,
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and the Chancellor feels that the chance for them to move away from the political burden of having to vote to raise tuition
each year might be attractive to the legislators. The legislators seem to be more favorably disposed to fund SUNY, since the
new Assembly Speaker is a Stony Brook (and EOP) alumnus, and one western NY legislator has called for 2016 to be
designated the Year of Higher Education.
Provost’s report on SUNY goals. Provost Alex Cartright listed a number of goals:
*Diversity is now included in all of the SUNY Excels performance categories.
*To increase research funding from approximately $900M now to $1.5B by 2025.
* Expand workforce development, especially to serve high needs areas.
*Increase of 50% in Public Service Partnerships.
*Expansion of cultural and artistic scholarship.
*Now searching for two positions: Research Foundation President, Vice Chancellor of Research and Economic
Development.
*Increase the number of degrees and certificates per year SUNYwide from 93,000 to 150,000 by 2025.
He expanded on this last goal. First he compared the percentage of the US population with post-secondary
education (44%) to that of the other countries of the world. The US is 12th, well behind the leaders, Korea (66%) and Japan
(58%) and many European countries. So there is room to improve, and SUNY could help fill the need. Next, he listed
things that SUNY can do to increase the number of degrees and certificates by perfectly optimizing our processes. If there
were no changes, the figures predict a slight drop in the number, since 23% of students per year get degrees or certificates.
93,000 now per year
21,000 more from increasing retention
12,000 more from adding new certificates or degrees
11,000 more from increasing enrollments to historical maximums
13,000 more from increasing degrees from online courses and programs.
150,000 new total
Since most online students take one or two courses at a time, the total number of online students at any one time
would have to increase by 80,000. The problem is how to achieve these increases without having decreased quality, and
while giving the students a sense of belonging and community and a connection to the faculty for student validation
(especially online students).
Several questions arose in response to this presentation. First, would some of the increases in students in categories
actually cannibalize students from other categories (e.g. online from traditional students)? How can we do this without
reforming K-12 education, so that students arrive prepared? (SUNY spends some $70M/year on remedial courses, and
students perhaps $90M in extra tuition). How can SUNY do all this without more resources? Shouldn’t resources come
first? A major driver of students feeling connected to their classes is small classes, and higher numbers of students mean
larger classes, and higher student-faculty ratios.
Experiential Learning. As you may recall, the budget originally contained a mandate that all SUNY graduates have a
course in experiential learning (internship, coop, service learning, laboratory work, etc.), but after lobbying by the UFS
President the final language was softened to give all students the opportunity, but let each campus decide what is
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appropriate for themselves. Local campuses would examine what courses already exist, what was feasible, and what they
would require in this area. The following timeline coves these activities.
In Jan 2016, the list of existing courses is assembled and furnished to SUNY central.
In April 2016, each campus submits a plan for experiential learning.
By April 2017, each campus reports on feasibility and decides whether it will require experiential learning. Feasibility
includes the impact on the Campus (faculty and students as well as resources and support staff necessary to carry out the
requirement). Feasibility also includes the impact on the community—whether there are enough private sector companies
and public organizations to furnish the positions, and whether there might be an impact in terms of displacing workers in
the economy. These plans require consultation with Campus Governance, so I would ask that the SEC assign this task to
UAC or an associated ad hoc committee to report on.
The UFS also had a report on Service Learning as one type of experiential learning. It involves giving course credit for
volunteer work at different places in the community. For example, premeds often get SSW credit for their volunteer work at
hospitals. More than 2/3 of SUNY campuses offer such service-learning opportunities already. The report offered four
recommendations:
1)
Individual campuses should take time to define service-learning for their campus and set criteria under which
courses can be designed to include service-learning.
2)
Disseminate information effectively on campus. The report yields a number of ways that faculty and students learn
about this opportunity.
3)
Assess the outcomes of service-learning, including have students write essays reflecting on the value of their
service learning.
4)
Provide incentives for service learning to increase the number of participating faculty and students (e.g. through
tenure and promotion criteria, small grants and recognition awards.
A lengthy report on how these recommendations can be implemented is available.
Faculty Consultation and Shared Governance. The process of consultation with campus governance on input for such
programs as SUNY EXCELs and the Performance Investment Fund has not always been followed in practice. The
chancellor was asked “What will you do ensure that the campus presidents actively consult with faculty governance on
these matters, which will define the future trajectories of our campuses and of SUNY?” Chancellor Zimpher stated that we
have to get this right. She has repeatedly told the Presidents to include governance in these decisions. What more can she
do? She asked us what she can do to encourage campus presidents to comply. It was suggested to her that SUNY forms be
modified to require a sign off by the CGL prior to submission, or perhaps that they must be accompanied by a letter from
the CGL outlining what the consultation process entailed.
SUNY Med Centers and Hospitals. The nightmare over LICH is now over with the sale of LICH. Henry Flax, the
Medical Center representative asked the Chancellor what were the plans for the teaching hospitals and for their
administration. The chancellor responded that SUNY’s number one commitment is to retain the essential clinical positions
for the medical school. It had not yet been decided whether this would always take the form of SUNY operating teaching
hospitals (situation at Stony Brook, Upstate and Downstate) or contracting with separate area hospitals for clinical positions
(situation at UBuffalo). The problem of SUNY oversight of hospitals is likewise still undecided. The lack of expertise in
this area on the SUNY Board of Trustees was a part of the problem with the LICH debacle.
The following resolutions were passed by the UFS:
*Resolution requesting SUNYwide modification of policies pertaining to Family Medical Leave (FML), to give paid FML
to retain valuable employees, to be able to stop the tenure clock without change of title or compensation, including
modifying the Board of Trustee policies under “Title F Other Leaves”.
*Resolution urging all campus governance bodies to perform a comprehensive review of all campus documents to
determine that any statements on academic freedom are consonant with precepts of academic freedom and consistent with
actions arising from the campus-wide discussions of academic freedom.
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*Resolution that the Board of Trustees change its policies so that the Vice-Pres/Sec of UFS will upon election no longer
represent his/her own campus, but serve solely in this SUNY-wide position, since there are now many more duties
associated with the position (similar to language now covering the President of UFS).
Announcements of Meetings and Events:
Chancellor’s Draft report on Social Media Responsibility—comments are due by 28 Oct, to be sent to Rosalind Rufer.
Service Learning course guidelines are available from UFS senators
Nov. 13 & 14 at Syracuse—a conference on Fostering Collaboration between Academic Affairs and Student Affairs
Professionals. Information available at https://fs9.formsite.com/zetadon
Feb 24, 2016 Undergrad Research Poster session at the Legislative Office Building in Albany to showcase UG Research at
SUNY for legislators.
April 24, 2016 at Cobleskill—SUNY Undergraduate Research Conference featuring a wide scope of research and
scholarship.
GSA (Graduate Student Association) – Kat Slye, GSA President
Nothing to report
Bob Beach had to resign due to family reasons, and so VP Kat Slye was appointed President. An acting
Vice President has been appointed. We had 2 programming events in the month of November. One was
a speaker who taught us how to use the principles of social permaculture in our organization's
governance and advocacy activities, the other a Call to Congress Day held on November 18th. On
Tuesday, December 2nd GSA held a video and panel on the Ban the Box Initiative and the Criminal
Justice System. GSA is working on hosting a state legislative action day at UAlbany modeled after the
bi-annual event held in D.C. by the National Association of Graduate Student Professionals. The
NAGPS proposal report is pending from the 4 graduate students who attended. The SUNY Student
Assembly, GSA Chair, and PR Director attended a 2-day SUNY SA business meeting in mid-November
in Rochester. A link to the full proceedings will be available in the written report. We encourage you to
follow GSA on social media.
SA (Student Association) – Jarius Jemmott, Student Association President
We are opening invitations and preferred seating to all administration and faculty for our Wednesday, December 9th World
Within Reach Speaker Series featuring Venus Williams. The event will be held in SEFCU Arena and doors will open at
4:30 pm with event starting at 5:30 pm. If anyone is interested in attending and having preferred seating, for security
reasons, we will need them to provide the names of who will be attending to our Programming Director Elizabeth Doyle. I
have copied her to this email and her email is edoyle@albany.edu. Everyone is welcome and I hope you all can come
enjoy our event.
COUNCIL/COMMITTEE CHAIRS’ REPORTS:
CAA (Council on Academic Assessment) – James Mower, Chair
The CAA committees on General Education Assessment (GEAC) and Academic Program Review (APRC) are currently
reviewing reports prepared for the 2014-15 academic year. CAA will likely begin voting to approve GEAC and APRC
reports at its January meeting and continuing doing so at regular intervals throughout the semester as the committees
present subsequent reports to the Council.
CAFFECoR (Committee on Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expression, and Community
Responsibility) –Carol Jewell, Chair
I. Informational
CAFFECoR met on 11/17/2015 and began discussions on the resolution on Academic Freedom passed at the SUNY Senate
Plenary, October 22-24, 2015.
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II. Reports of Actions
N/A
III. Recommendations for Actions
Chair Jewell will reach out to SUNY Senators, UA UUP President Bret Benjamin, UA UUP Vice President for Academics
Barry Trachtenberg, the UA campus Webmaster, and other people to obtain information on such issues as: boilerplate
language, sending pertinent documents to the faculty and then holding a faculty forum on Academic Freedom, and other
matters. She will share this information with the rest of CAFFECoR and then more discussion will take place via email, and
at the next CAFFECoR meeting, sometime in December.
CAFFECoR along with UUP will jointly hold a faculty forum on Academic Freedom on a date yet to
be determined in March.
CERS (Committee on Ethics in Research and Scholarship) – Michael Jerison, Chair
Nothing to report
COR (Council on Research) – Daniele Fabris, Chair
Nothing to report
CPCA (Council on Promotions and Continuing Appointments) – Lynn Warner, Chair
On Nov 10, reviewed 1 promotion case.
On Nov 23, reviewed 1 promotion case.
On Dec 8, 1 promotion case is scheduled for review.
GAC (Graduate Academic Council) – Ronald Toseland, Chair
The GAC unanimously approved a proposal from the School of Education to establish a Graduate Certificate Program in
TESOL Online. The certificate is designed to enable in-service teachers to fulfill a new NYS requirement for teaching
English as a second language.
GOV (Governance Council) – James Collins, Chair
Old business:
The two primary committees continue work on their major responsibilities for the year. These are:
Committee on Assessment of Governance and Consultation
: As part of conducting a biennial survey of Senate
constituencies, the Assessment Committee is discussing the use of targeted surveys and face-to-face meetings with
constituents;
Committee on Liaison & Election
: In addition to planning for the annual election of Senators
o
Liaison is holding a food drive, with delivery date of 12/7, for a regional food bank;
o
Planning a Senate Forum on Sustainability for the spring (see “New Business” below)
o
Discussion on creating an introduction to the Senate Website
o
Working on creating two new listservs to improve communications with part-time faculty and emeriti
The Council has
decided to (a) drop a proposed UAC charter amendment (after consultation with a UAC co-chair); (b) continue
inquiry into a proposed amendment for the CAA (in consultation with chair and IR).
confirmed the responsibility of the Chair of Governance
to resolve questions about the obligation to post Senate
information on the Senate website.
reviewed, revised and approved lists of nominees for review panels for Excellence Awards in Teaching,
Professional Service, Librarianship, Support (Classified) Service, Academic Service, and Research & Creative
Activities.
At its meeting on 11/9, the Council discussed a proposal from UUP for a University Ombudsperson. We have established a
small working group to review and discuss the proposal more thoroughly and bring the matter back to the Council on
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12/14. We are communicating with CPCA, which is also reviewing the proposal, before making a recommendation to the
Senate
New business:
The Liaison Committee is working with our GSA representative to plan a Senate Forum on Sustainability Across the
Curriculum. The purpose is to encourage discussion across numerous UA departments on sustainability-themed courses in
their undergraduate and graduate programs. The Forum is planned for early in the Spring 2016 Semester.
The GOV Elections and Liaisons subcommittee organized the Senate food drive for today. Thank you
to all who donated. GOV recommends that faculty have a substantive role in the periodic review of the
administration. Senators and council members are asked to poll departments and constituents in order
to have an informed conversation amongst ourselves regarding the topic.
LISC (Council on Libraries, Information Systems, and Computing) – David Mamorella, Chair
ITS Report – Carole Sweeton (Interim CIO)
AV is being finished in the new Information Technology Building (ITB)
ITS has filled many vacant positions over the past few months, including:
o
Associate Director for Networking
o
Enterprise applications has hired several Solutions Specialists, specifically within business, teaching and
learning, and administration.
o
Database Administrator
o
Network Analysts and Systems Managers
Still open are positions as Help Desk Analyst, Telephone Service Center Desk, and Solutions Analyst, plus a few
others…
The search for the new CIO is in President Jones’ hands, and the announcement was originally supposed to be out
by Thanksgiving.
ITS is getting ready to roll out OneDrive for Business groups, where faculty/students/staff can apply to share
documents amongst groups.
Libraries Report – Rebecca Mugridge (Interim Dean of Libraries)
Status of vacant positions. The Libraries have initiated the search process for our Evening Associate position. We
will begin two searches in December: one will be an entry level Reference Librarian position with some collection
development responsibilities; the other will be a professional support position for the Interactive Media Center.
Student Advisory Board (SAB). The second SAB meeting was held November 16, with 20 in attendance. The
discussion focused on two main areas of interest: reference services and the Libraries’ food and drink policy. The
Libraries offer reference service in multiple ways, including at the reference desks (ULIB, Science, Dewey), via
IM and text, via email, via phone, and by appointment? (PAWS). The 24/7 reference service via IM and text is
particularly popular. Our food and drink policy will be updated based on student input, and we will also investigate
options to help keep work areas clean, such as messaging and providing wipes on wall-mounted dispensers.
Conversations in Standish. The Libraries hosted its second in the Conversations in Standish series on November
4, 2015, intended to spotlight faculty research. Rosemary Armao, Director of the University at Albany’s
Journalism Program and WAMC Public Radio panelist presented on “The 2016 Elections: What Happens When
New Money Converges with New Media Technology,” with more than 20 in attendance. •The Conversations in
Standish are events to highlight faculty research, if you have anyone you’d like to suggest, contact Rebecca.
Facilities. The Office of Campus Planning is looking at using the University Library as swing space during
upcoming renovations of the old Business building. Under consideration is a move of the 3rd floor stacks to storage
in the basement of the Science Library. This would be accessible only by Libraries’ staff. The disciplines affected
would be those in the A-L call number range including many subjects in the humanities, social sciences, political
science, and education. The Libraries are developing an alternative proposal that would move low-use materials
such as bound periodicals to storage, leaving high circulation materials where they could be accessed easily by our
faculty, staff, and students.
Lindsay Van Berkom gave an overview on Scholars Archive, which launched in October of 2014.
This is our institutional repository for papers, books, data, or presentations
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It is OPEN ACCESS, which gives intellectual freedom, allows for wide dissemination of research, and often can
meet government grant requirements.
UAlbany feels this is a good initiative to get greater visibility of our research and research of our institution, as
well as a deeper engagement in research
What is it? It is essentially a place to sore and share scholarly information and to provide access, with the ultimate
goal of moving away from expensive, private publishing companies.
You can submit your own work or you can submit your CV to the librarian and they will upload your documents
for you and check copyright issues
Interested in starting a journal? They will help you, just let them know!
Cathleen Green suggested they try and sell this idea more to graduate students. This presentation in particular, and
the one she heard last year at a LISC meeting, was heavily targeted at faculty. She told them that graduate students
are more prone to change and also tend to care more about these types issues. Rebecca Mugridge said it’s advice
they would take seriously, and they may be interested in giving a small presentation at a GSA assembly meeting, if
that’s ok.
The next LISC meeting is tentatively set for February 1, 2016. Room TBA
UAC (Undergraduate Academic Council) –Karen Kiorpes and Christy Smith, Co-Chairs
UAC met on 11/13 and discussed three items:
Geography and Planning Program changes and Competency Plan
CEHC Winter Simulation Course
UG Bulletin language change to policy – tuition charges for students in combined bachelor’s/master’s
programs
Both the competency plan and the simulation course will be returned to the respective department with questions and
suggested edits.
UAC discussed the proposed changes to the UG Bulletin language in regard to the tuition charges for students in
combined bachelor's/master's programs. UAC agreed that the changes made the policy easier to understand and were
not actual alterations to the policy itself. UAC supported the changes/clarifications.
The UAC held its last meeting of the semester on December 4th and approved proposals to establish
new concentrations for Business majors: Marketing and Entrepreneurship; Finance and
Entrepreneurship; Information Technology and Management and Entrepreneurship. UAC also
approved a simulation course CEHC 399 for the new College of Homeland Security pending a few
minor changes. We continued discussion of Gen Ed competencies for Geography and Planning, and
some work still needs to be done in the New Year.
ULC (University Life Council) – Michael Jaromin, Chair
Nothing to report
UPPC (University Planning and Policy Council) – Joette Stefl-Mabry, Chair
I. Informational
UPPC met on November 24th
UPPC continues to work on the clarification of the Campus Impact Form
UPPC discussed reconstituting the Resource Analysis and Planning Committee and the University Facilities
Committee, two subcommittees of the UPPC, as per the Charter of the University Senate.
II. Reports of Actions
UPPC voted to conditionally approve a proposal to establish the TESOL Online Graduate Certificate Proposal
subject to the following minor modifications:
o
Completion of table re: similar institutions (p. 6)
o
Discussion of what will happen to the program’s existing face-to-face courses if enrollment in these
courses drop as a result of the online certificate program
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o
Fill in year re: program impact on SUNY (p.5)
•
Once the above modifications are addressed the document will be resent to UPPC for Chair’s signature
III. Recommended Actions
N/A
UPPC met on November 24th and voted to conditionally approve the TESOL Online Graduate Certificate
Proposal subject to minor modifications, which have since been made. We also discussed reconstituting the
following 2 subcommittees: Resource Analysis and Planning; and University Facilities. At the last SEC
meeting, as per the Charter, the Chair of the Governance Council was assigned that task.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
A. Senate Bill 1516-02 PROPOSAL TO ESTABLISH A B.A. ENGLISH / M.A. LIBERAL STUDIES
PROGRAM
A motion was made to accept the above Senate Bill 1516-02, with the following voting results:
Approved 38; Opposed 5; Abstained 2
NEW BUSINESS
The following reports were presented, after which meeting participants were invited to ask questions.
A. Report of the Graduate Stipend Committee – presented by Kevin Williams, Committee Chair
and Dean of Graduate Studies
Links are here provided to the announcement and full report.
B. Report of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Part-time and Contingent Faculty and Staff – presented
by Bill Hedberg, Senior Vice Provost
A link to the full report is here provided, available on the Provost’s webpage.
C. UUP Report: “Woven into Its Very Fabric: A Report on Contingent Labor at the University at
Albany, Survey Data” – presented by Brett Benjamin, UUP Chapter President
A link to the full report is here provided, available on the UUP website.
ADJOURNMENT
The Senate adjourned at 4:25 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by
Elisa Lopez, Recorder
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