2014-2015 University Senate
Monday, October 20, 2014
2:45 pm, Assembly Hall
Joette Stefl-Mabry, Chair
MINUTES
Present:
Altarriba, Jeanette; Burke, Jerry; Chittur, Sridar; Cohen, Marc; Earle, Keith; Fessler, Susanna;
Fogarty, Rick; Ford, Michael; Fox, Cynthia; Goldfarb, Boris; Gulatee, Yenisel; Haile, Peatros;
Henderson, Chenaniah; Hobson, Janell; Huang, Youqin; Isralowitz, Joshua; Janiszewski, Caitlin;
Jaromin, Michael; Jerison, Michael; Kearney, Ann; Kuznetsov, Igor; Lahiri, Kajal; Lapenas, Andrei;
Leonard, Danielle; Mamorella, David; Markisello, Daniel; Marler, Janet; McCaffrey, David;
McDowall, David; Mielenz, Ben; Moore, Chris; Mulcahy, Timothy; Neori, Klil; Ng, Vivien;
Nowell, Gregory; Pande, Jayanti; Parker, Catherine; Pasquill, James; Petry, Greta; Pettie, David;
Poehlmann, Nancy; Rorissa, Abebe; Rosenswig, Robert; Scheck, Helene; Schmidt, John; Schwab, Emma;
Slade, Leonard; Smith, Carolyn A; Tucker, Ian; Wagner, Christine; Webb, Raymond; Weller, Wendy;
Werner, Mike; Westmoreland, Maurice; Williams, Kevin; Wulfert, Edelgard; Yagelski, Robert;
Yuan, Xiaojun; Zemel, Alan; Zetka, James
Guests:
Chesin, Sorrell; Bloom, Joel; Murray, Ann Marie; Warshauer, Rob; Wirkkula, Leanne; Tchernev, Alexandre;
Weaver, Benjamin; Winchester, Kathie C; Rubin, Rochel; Szelest, Bruce; Luntta, Karl; Bartow, Jonathan;
Hedberg, Bill
The meeting convened at 2:49 pm.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes would be voted on at the next Senate meeting as the President’s Office had been particularly busy and
needed time for review.
INTERIM PROVOST’S REPORT – TIM MULCAHY
Interim Provost Mulcahy invited everyone to enjoy coffee and cookies, provided by the Provost’s Office. Coffee and
cookies will be served at each Senate meeting for the rest of the academic year. He joked that he took the mock vote at
the last Senate meeting establishing a policy requiring that coffee and cookies be served at each Senate meeting very
seriously.
He then announced President Jones has asked him to appoint 2 committees this coming academic year on issues related
to the recent budget announcement. The first committee will deal with graduate student stipends and related activities,
reviewing the status and those of our peers here and nationally. He will be appointing the committee within the next
month, and one of the first items of business will be to consult with governance groups for recommendations on these
issues in time for consideration in the upcoming budget cycle. The objective will be identification of strategies that
will help make our graduate programs more competitive and equitable, when it comes to stipends.
The second committee is equally important and will look into issues around the contingent faculty experience here at
UAlbany. President Jones has asked that the committee be charged with making recommendations addressing two
important areas relevant to contingent faculty at UAlbany. The first is the appropriate proportion of contingent to full-
time faculty at a university delivering the curriculum we do. There have been opinions offered that perhaps they are
relied on too heavily. The University community needs to know what is right for UAlbany and then make sure we do it
well. The second area will address issues of fair and equitable compensation for contingent faculty. The committee will
consider national trends but with an eye developing recommendations that would work well here. Provost Mulcahy
announced that a third item, not part of the initial charge will also be added to the scope of the panel’s work. The
committee will examine and make recommendations about methods that will provide fair and consistent processes for
evaluating contingent faculty and for offering professional development opportunities. This third element of the
committee’s charge was prompted in part by recent UUP concerns regarding mechanisms to provide effective feedback
and evaluation for those who contribute so meaningfully to our academic mission. The Provost shares similar concerns
and interests and believes the committee will provide an opportunity to begin to address them. He acknowledged that
this is a large charge, so it is expected the committee will report on progress to the Senate at various points over the
course of the next academic year.
Interim Provost Mulcahy pointed out the appointment of these two committees speaks to the value we place on both
our graduate students and our contingent faculty. He and the President want this to be an exercise that will benefit, and
to use the words of the President, “move our University to the next level of excellence.” He noted that he was hopeful
that the Senate would help as the work of both committees moves forward. For his part, he will be sure to provide
feedback along the way.
UNIVERSITY SENATE CHAIR’S REPORT – Joette Stefl-Mabry, Chair
Nothing to report
An initial proposal from the College of Computer Science and Information and Mathematics and Statistics for a
new concentration in Data Analytics in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics Major was reviewed and
approved by UPPC.
Senate Chair Stefl-Mabry, Immediate past Chair Wagner and Vice Chair Fox accepted an invitation to meet with
UUP leadership on 09/30/14 to explore areas of commonality and discuss potential areas in which to collaborate.
Senate Chair Stefl-Mabry, Vice Chair Fox and Immediate past Chair Wagner have been invited to attend the
November 11th meeting of the UUP Executive Committee to make a presentation on Senate projects/initiatives and
answer Senate related questions.
It was stressed that the Senate has an important role as an advisory body and that the Senate needs members of the
University community to share their valuable advice and expertise through participation.
OTHER REPORTS
UFS (University Faculty Senator’s Report) –Danielle Leonard, J. Philippe Abraham & John Schmidt, SUNY
Senators
We are looking forward to the Fall Plenary Session of the UFS at SUNY-ESF in Syracuse on October 23-25th, and will have more
to report about the issues to be considered later.
We are also pleased to announce that the SUNY Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the University Faculty Senate will
be hosting a conference entitled “Making Diversity Count: Ensuring Equity, Inclusion, Access and Impact” on November 12-13,
2014 at the Albany Marriott Hotel, located at 189 Wolf Road, Albany, New York. This conference will leverage SUNY
investments in student success and diversity while exploring best practices in recruitment and retention of students, faculty and
staff within the domain of higher education.
We are thrilled to have Dr. Kerry Ann Rockquemore, President and CEO of the National Center for Faculty Development and
Diversity, and Dr. Daryl G. Smith, Senior Research Fellow and Professor Emerita of Education and Psychology at the Claremont
Graduate University, join us as our two keynote speakers at this conference. For more information on this event and to register to
attend, please visit our website at www.suny.edu/makingdiversitycount.
We hope you will be able to join us for this seminal conference as we collaborate and share best practices that will continue to help
SUNY grow in this critical dimension.
GSA (Graduate Student Association) – Marc Cohen, Student Association Representative
The GSA is transitioning from a period of structural reform and overhaul into a process of cultural transformation. After a long
process of re-writing our constitution, bylaws, and standard operating procedures, we now face the even more daunting challenge
of adjusting to the vision that has been laid out and contending with challenges. At the core of this cultural transformation is the
empowerment of our GSA Assembly. The only way that our vision will become a reality is if we inspire a culture of active
participation in both our legislative and judicial branches, not just our executive branch.
We continue to work towards the goals set out in our strategic plan including the immensely important reform of our Multicultural
and Affirmative Action Committee which over the last few years has been an unsupported position. We have completely
transformed the position to give this person access and influence in all corners of the GSA to ensure that we as an organization are
taking a proactive and progressive role in promoting diversity and inclusion in our community. We are already seeing great success
in the reform of this position/committee because of the active participation we are receiving from Assembly members serving on
this committee. This again speaks to the importance of this challenging cultural reform we are pursuing.
SA (Student Association) – Marc Cohen, Student Association Representative
Director of Gender and Sexuality Concerns Deidre Dumpson and her team are looking forward to the Unity Festival taking
place on October 19th at 2pm on Colonial quad.
Director of Multicultural Affairs Chrisel Martinez and her staff are working with Ekow King on a series of NCBI safe space
trainings to be offered over the next month.
Derek Ellis and his Academic Affairs Department had an excellent appreciation event for members of the Albany Police
Department at the recent football game against JMU. SA sponsored a pre-reception for officers and their families to which
students and administrators were invited to speak with officers, get to know one another and ask questions.
Over the next few weeks students will be taking "selfies" with the UAlbany UShould Know poster and posting them to social
media.
The Legislative Affairs Department under the direction of Jamie Zieno held an incredibly successful voter registration drive
for which we registered over 300 students. Mayor Sheehan, President Jones and Vice President Bouchard as well as Director
Jaromin and several other administrators came out in support of the event.
The Community Engagement and Outreach Department directed by Donavan Swanson is gearing up for a number of events:
October 12: Pine Hills Cleanup. 12-3pm. Ridgefield Park Lot. Rain or Shine event. Free food, Dippikill weekend Raffle.
October 19: Breast Cancer Rally. Breakfast for students on Campus before the walk. 50 t-shirts to the first people that sign up.
Bus Transportation to Washington Square Park. Banner to decorate before the walk and to be held through the walk. 10am
Registration, 12pm walk starts.
October 21: YMCA Greek Panel Event. 5:30-7:30pm University Hall
October 11th: Volunteer for Northeastern Regional Food Bank. 1:00pm - 3:00pm at 965 Albany Shaker Rd, Latham, NY
12110. Help check, label, move, and package food items for Food Banks within the Capital District.
The Communications Department is directed by Lee Stanton and has been working diligently to spread the word about the
phenomenal work being done by SA Departments and student groups by way of news releases and social media.
Hundreds of students and members of the community participated in the Pine Hills Cleanup. This time there was good
for their positive efforts. A number of student senators participated in the Community Engagement Breast Cancer
Rally. Members of the student senate were introduced, and SA Representative Cohen encouraged questions regarding
student organizations or collaboration.
COUNCIL/COMMITTEE CHAIRS’ REPORTS:
CAA (Council on Academic Assessment) – Deborah Bernnard, Chair
The Council on Academic Assessment met on September 30 and elected committee chairs. Council members chose the committee
on which they will serve this year. The Council also looked at their charter and found that current practice does not reflect the
charge. The Council suggested some changes to the language in the charter which have been sent to the Governance Council for
review.
CAFFECoR (Committee on Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expression, and Community
Responsibility) – Carol Jewell, Chair
Having had several email discussions with Joette, Susanna, and Cynthia, I now have a clearer understanding of the role and
responsibility of CAFFECoR. CAFFECoR will have its October meeting on Wednesday, October 8, 2014, at which it is my
intention that we will begin discussing the issues of academic freedom, freedom of expression, and the use(s) of social media.
CERS (Committee on Ethics in Research and Scholarship) – Susanna Fessler, Chair
Nothing to report
COR (Council on Research) – Kajal Lahiri, Chair
Nothing to report
CPCA (Council on Promotions and Continuing Appointments) – Sanjay Putrevu, Chair
The next CPCA meeting is on Oct. 15.
GAC (Graduate Academic Council) –Abebe Rorissa, Chair
Our first full GAC meeting is on the 21st and I won’t have anything to report until after the meeting.
GOV (Governance Council) – Cynthia Fox, Chair
GOV has provided the names of six recommended teaching faculty to fill three openings on the President’s Advisory Council on
Campus Safety.
Our next scheduled meeting is October 13. A large portion of our time will be devoted the Report on the 2014 UA Faculty Senate
Survey on Governance and Consultation. Senate Chair Joette Stefl-Mabry (last year’s Chair of GOV) will be joining us to present
the report, answer questions, and provide guidance about the next steps.
We will also be formally constituting our two major sub-Committees, (i.e. the Committee on Assessment of Governance &
Consultation and the Committee on Liaison & Elections) and have been asked to consider several items of new business, including
the formal mechanism for replacing the Chair of UPPC if that person steps down, and the language of the Charter relative to the
composition and charge of the CAA.
GOV had met that past Wednesday and accomplished much of the above items.
LISC (Council on Libraries, Information Systems, and Computing) –Boris Goldfarb, Chair
LISC council has populated the two standing committees, the Library Committee and the Information Technology Usage Policy
Committee. The next council meeting is on October 27. At that meeting, we will review the charge of the council according to
several suggestions made by the members. The council has been invited by the Dean and Director of Libraries, Mary Casserly, to
participate in two campus events: the University Libraries’ Preservation Department Naming Ceremony & Reception held on
October 10 and the Libraries’ celebration of Open Access Week, which will take place on Tuesday, October 21.
Mary Casserly had extended an invitation to the whole University to open access week, for which individuals would
have to register. Chair Goldfarb welcomed attendance.
UAC (Undergraduate Academic Council) – Robert Yagelski, Chair
The Undergraduate Academic Council met on October 9th. At that meeting, in response to the Senate Chair’s request to review its
charge, the UAC members discussed at length the responsibilities assigned to the Council by the Senate charter and by-laws as
well as the procedures by which UAC fulfills those responsibilities. Two general areas of concern emerged during this discussion:
(1) the appropriateness of the UAC’s charge and the nature of its authority to fulfill its responsibilities, and (2) the substantial
workload of the UAC. Regarding the first of these concerns, Council members acknowledged an inherent tension between the need
for shared governance of the undergraduate general education curriculum and the tradition of assigning authority for majors to
individual departments. Given that more than half of the credits earned by students in any given major are either electives or
general education credits, the undergraduate curriculum requires shared governance, and in that regard, many of UAC’s
responsibilities (such as reviewing course proposals and program changes) are sensible. At the same time, some members noted
that the current review of the new general education competencies seems to signal a fundamental change in UAC’s role of
oversight of the undergraduate curriculum, seeming to assign the Council greater authority over the curricula for individual majors.
Not all members of the Council see this development as a positive one, and questions were raised about the extent to which UAC
is required to enforce the new General Education curriculum. Indeed, this discussion led to broader philosophical questions about
governance, including who should have authority for these components of the curriculum and how compliance ought to be
achieved. Members acknowledged that these are longstanding, complex questions that are likely to continue to face the senate.
Regarding the second issue—UAC’s workload—it was noted that UAC has significantly more work than some other councils and
that Senate work is not distributed equally across the councils. Members are in agreement that this disparity is a serious problem,
but how to address it is a complicated matter. Although members acknowledged that most of UAC’s assigned responsibilities seem
appropriate, there was also agreement that some of those responsibilities seem misplaced. For example, the UAC Committee on
Admissions and Academic Standing includes the Appellate Subcommittee on Academic Standing, a large body that reviews
student appeals of various kinds and has a significant workload. UAC members agreed that while it is appropriate for the larger
committee to set policy regarding admissions and academic standing, the work of the appellate subcommittee should be located
elsewhere—possibly in the Office of Undergraduate Education. Such reorganization might help make UAC’s workload more
manageable and more equitable in comparison with other councils.
UAC thus recommends that the Senate should consider whether restructuring of this kind might be pursued as a way to clarify and
streamline the work of the councils and distribute it more equitably.
The UAC also continued its review of the General Education Competencies Plans submitted during the past year as part of the
University’s new General Education program. As noted in the previous UAC report, under the new General Education curriculum,
all programs were to submit by the end of fall semester, 2013 plans for meeting the four general education competencies (advanced
writing, critical inquiry, oral discourse, and information literacy). Seventeen such plans were reviewed and approved by UAC
before the end of the 2013-2014 academic year; twenty-two plans were reviewed and returned to the appropriate departments for
revision and remain to be approved. Two other plans were submitted but remain to be reviewed. On October 9 th, UAC approved
the competencies plans for the Bachelor of Arts majors in Anthropology and Studio Art.
ULC (University Life Council) –Michael Jaromin, Chair
We meet on the 14th and this what I sent to them:
In preparation for our first ULC meeting next week I have attached our Senate Charter as well as the references to two of the three
standing committees included in the ULC (Committee on Athletics, Committee on Residential Life and Committee on Health,
Safety & Well-Being).
We will review our charter and provide feedback on its purpose and recommendations for its usefulness.
In addition, I have invited Deborah Nazon to speak to us about the partnership our council has formed over the past two years with
the UACCESS (UAlbany Collaboratively Creating Excellence, Scholarship and Success) project and what our goals for this year
will be as well.
A flyer was circulated with information on the first UA Access Dialog in Action on November 6th. Chair Jaromin
encouraged individuals to contact him for more information, and encouraged attendance.
UPPC (University Planning and Policy Council) –Christine Wagner, Chair
UPPC met on 10/9/14. An initial proposal for a concentration in Data Analytics in the Computer and Applies Mathematics major
was reviewed and approved. UPPC will meet again on 11/20/14.
NEW BUSINESS
a.
Approval of Changes in Council Memberships
Senate Secretary Gulatee noted the Senate had new members: from Rockefeller College – Jose Cruz and
James Fossett; from LLC/CAS – Ilka Kressner, who would not be able to assume duties until the Spring
semester. Maurice Westmoreland would replace her for the Fall semester.
In terms of council membership changes, new members were as follows:
CAFFECoR – David Pettie
GOV – Jose Cruz
LISC – Cathleen Green, new student replacing Wilbert St. Hilaire
UPPC – James Fossett
A motion was made and seconded to approve the membership changes. The motion was approved with
the following voting results: Approved 54; Opposed 2; Abstained 1
b.
Charter Amendment re: Committee on Assessment of Governance and Consultation 1415-01A (for
discussion on 10/20/14)
Senate Chair, as previous GOV Chair, Joette Stefl-Mabry recapped the rationale, reiterating that GOV’s Council
on the Assessment of Governance and Consultation ran a survey last semester, based on a charge in the
Charter. It was decided to revise the language of this charge as follows, as GOV felt that an annual, as
recommended by the Middle States Report, did not allow enough time to review results and implement
desired changes:
X.1.3.3. The Committee shall develop and regularly administer assessment instruments, conduct data analysis
and report findings to the Council on a two-year cycle.
In response to a question whether or not other institutions in the system follow this 2-year model, Senate Chair
Stefl-Mabry responded she was not sure; however, it is within the Charter that we conduct this review “regularly”.
The survey that was developed and distributed in the Spring 2014 semester had been developed based on an AAUP
survey used by other institutions. It was thought the survey was robust enough to provide some results and was
based upon a good model to start. The information from the survey will allow the Governance Council to make
changes that will help inform the process of shared governance.
A motion was made and seconded to accept the Amendment as written, with the following voting results:
Approved 44; Opposed 4; Abstained 4
c.
Results of the University at Albany Shared Governance Survey
As past GOV Chair, Senate Chair Stefl-Mabry co-presented the results of the survey with current GOV Chair Fox.
The reports on the survey would be posted on the Senate website. It was requested that individuals volunteer to
serve on the GOV subcommittee, the Committee on Assessment of Governance & Consultation, in order to
implement changes and suggest solutions to help improve the survey instrument. The Committee will review and
consider the results of last spring’s survey and decide upon measures to improve the survey over the course of this
year.
Meeting participant suggestions included the following: making a quiz on governing bodies mandatory for
incoming and transfer students to inform and inspire involvement; reviewing the Senate minutes from the 1970s
during a similar climate of activism to understand the history of how the Senate has grown here and stimulate
UAlbany community interest in becoming more involved.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 4:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by
Elisa Lopez, Recorder
