SENATE COUNCIL SUMMARIES (For December 6, 2004 Senate Meeting)
Council on Academic Assessment (CAA), Professor Malcolm Sherman,
Chair
No Report.
Committee on Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expression, and
Community Responsibility (CAFFECoR), Professor Lawrence Snyder,
Chair
No Report.
Committee on Ethics in Research and Scholarship (CERS), Professor
R. Michael Range, Chair
No Report.
Council on Research (COR), Professor Vincent Idone, Chair
The last meeting of COR concerned primarily the mechanics of formulating
the various committees. There was some lively discussion of Mission Review
II, this dealing primarily with what could be described as fundamental
questions relating to how the AAU goal originated and its appropriateness for
UA, as well as where the resources were coming from for the stated 25-35 IT
Commons hires, and how, in fact, this apparent substantial initiative came to
be.
Council on Promotions and Continuing Appointments (CPCA),
Professor Diane Dewar, Chair
Professor Dewar, Chair of CPCA, was invited to attend the meeting of the
Governance Council on Wednesday, December 1. Copies of the joint working
group’s MOU were distributed to members of the Governance Council and to
Professor Dewar prior to the meeting.
Graduate Academic Council (GAC), Professor Louise-Anne McNutt,
Chair
The GAC meet December 6, 2004 at 8:30 AM. Certificate programs were
discussed in general and specific to four proposals (three interconnected).
The specific certificates were tabled until the next meeting due to lack of
information or lack of necessary curriculum. The GAC plans to send a list of
questions we typically ask about certificate proposals and the SUNY criteria
to the Schools/Colleges to help faculty prepare proposals.
Two student petitions were reviewed. One pertained to university policy on
transferring units. The student request was supported by the GAC and the
Policy & Procedures Committee was asked to review the policy and make
recommendations to clarify it. A second student petition was not supported.
The student was admitted conditionally and did not meet the academic
requirements. However, during the review concerns about racial harassment
in student housing arose. We are sending this information to the appropriate
units in the university for follow-up.
Governance Council (GOV), Professor Steven Messner, Chair
The joint working group with representatives from the College of Nanoscale
Sciences and Engineering (CNSE) and the Governance Council has developed
a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) pertaining the governance
procedures for promotion and continuing appointment. The Council will
meet Wednesday, December 1, to discuss the MOU and consider any
recommendations to put forth at the meeting of the University Senate on
December 6, 2004. The representatives from CNSE have been invited to
address the Council and answer questions at the beginning of the meeting.
Professor Dewar, Chair of CPCA, has also been invited to attend the meeting.
Copies of the MOU have been distributed to members of the Governance
Council and to Professor Dewar.
Council on Libraries, Information Systems and Computing (LISC),
Professor David Wagner, Chair
No Report.
Undergraduate Academic Council (UAC), Professor Seth Chaiken,
Chair
The UAC has been discussing both the proposed revisions of General
Education Assessment
for next year (GEAR) and the draft Provost's Advisory Committee Assessment
Plan. We expect to soon get the report from the task force on undergraduate
advisement.
University Life Council (ULC), Professor Gwen Moore, Chair
The Athletics Committee of ULC has been discussing the Athletics Master
Plan. The Director of Athletics will report to ULC about this master plan at
its December meeting. The Health, Safety and Well-being Committee is
extending work on the resolution on pedestrian safety that Senate approved
last spring. They are considering issues related to safety, including the low
levels of lighting in some parts of the campus. The Ad Hoc Benefits
Committee continues work on publicizing emeriti privileges on campus and
on the issue of parental leave, especially for untenured faculty. The Ad Hoc
Committee on Policy for Class Suspension for religious holidays continues to
investigate this issue. On Dec. 2 (3:30, Campus Center Terrace Lounge)
members of the committee held a forum to gather views on the current and
other possible policies. Campus religious leaders, Senators, members of
ULC, and leaders of student organizations were invited to present their views
in writing or orally.
University Planning and Policy Council (UPC), Professor Marjorie
Pryse, Chair UPC has been reviewing a series of reports forwarded to the
Council, including the draft of the University at Albany Institutional
Assessment Plan, to which we will return in a subsequent meeting. In the
spirit of examining documents that describe who we are and how we are
assessing ourselves, we have proposed to discuss two documents from the
institution’s “attic’—“Retention Task Force Recommendations” submitted in
1998 by the then-Undergraduate Dean, John Pipkin, to then-Provost Judy
Genshaft, and a document proposing a “4 x 4” curriculum structure,
submitted by “4 x 4” Task Force Chair Ronald Bosco in the late-1990s, also to
Provost Genshaft. We are continuing our discussion of institutional identity
and are looking for a metaphor that will adequately characterize the
relationship between and among CAS and the professional schools and
colleges. We also heard a presentation from Dean Peter Bloniarz of the
School of Information Science and Policy and Professor Neil Murray, Chair of
the Department of Computer Science, concerning the desirability and
feasibility of a plan to expand IT Commons and to move the Department of
Computer Science from CAS to SISP. UPC plans to take up this conversation
with Dean Bloniarz and Professor Murray again early in the spring semester.
