University at Albany
State University of New York
2003-04 University Senate
Minutes of December 8, 2003
Special Meeting of Full-time Teaching and Library Faculty Senators
Purpose is to elect Faculty Representative Senators to the Presidential Search Committee
Present:
D. Armstrong, D. Bernnard, E. Brière, S. Chaiken, H. Charalmbous, N. Claiborne,
F. Cornet, D. Dewar, S. Friedman, F. Hauser, R. Hoyt, M. Jerison, S. B. Kim,
W. Lanford, R. Lawson, S. Lubensky, A. Lyons, C. MacDonald, G. Marschke,
D. McCaffrey, L. McNutt, G. Moore, J. Pipkin, M. Pryse (Chair), J. Rudolph,
J. Savitt, H. Scheck, D. Shub, L. Snyder, G. Spitze, S. Turner, T. Turner,
L. Videka, D. Wagner, E. Wulfert
Chair’s Report:
Chair Pryse reviewed the charge for today’s meeting and referred to a chart drawn up by
Professor Lubensky. This chart grouped the 23 nominees by College/School, rank, number of
nominees per department and gender. Professor Lubensky expressed her hope that there would
be someone from the humanities elected to the search committee and that the final group would
be diverse.
The Chair had polled Executive Committee members after the final ballot went out to the
Senators on Friday December 5 and she had received questions concerning the inclusion of the
name of the Dean of Undergraduate Studies to the effect that, as a member of the Administration
and a Management Confidential employee, the Dean of Undergraduate Studies should not be
included on the ballot. Among those who had responded, Executive Committee members had
mostly, but not unanimously, expressed reservations. She reported that she subsequently had had
a conversation with the Dean of Undergraduate Studies, and that Dean Faerman was willing to
abide by the Senate’s decision in the matter, but did not wish to remove her own name from the
ballot. Senator McCaffrey voiced concern that the current Dean of Undergraduate Studies was
Public Administration and Policy’s only nominee, and if she were to be eliminated, they would
have no other nominee.
Professor MacDonald moved to replace the Dean of Undergraduate Studies with that of
Professor McCaffrey on the ballot. The motion was seconded. Chair Pryse noted that the Senate
members do not know if Dean Faerman is being considered as a representative for the Deans.
After some discussion, Professor MacDonald retracted the motion. The Chair then ruled that,
since not all of the Executive Committee had responded to the question, and since the Dean of
Undergraduate Studies did not wish to remove her name from the ballot because to do so would
be to give up the teaching faculty status she believes she holds, the name of the Dean of
Undergraduate Studies would remain on the ballot. Senator Pipkin voiced support for this ruling
and there were no objections from the floor. Senator Savitt suggested leaving Dean Faerman’s
name on the ballot and if she is elected and either determined to be ineligible or perhaps also
chosen to represent the Deans, an alternate can also be chosen. That motion was moved and
seconded, and passed overwhelmingly.
Discussion on the Ballot:
Chair Pryse proposed that it might be helpful to go from 23 to 12 nominees on the first ballot,
then move from 12 to six, and suggested the group vote initially for 12 representatives. She
opened up this negotiation to the group. Professor MacDonald proposed voting for nine people
on the first vote. Some wished to vote for more than nine, some for fewer than nine. Professor
Shub made a motion to vote for no more than nine on the first ballot to allow those who wished
to vote for fewer than nine to do so, and that motion was seconded. Discussion included the
possibility of a tie, and it was suggested that if there were a tie, the second ballot would move
from 13 to six. The motion to vote for no more than nine on the first ballot was passed
overwhelmingly.
Vote:
The first ballot included the following 23 names: Eloise Brière, Associate Professor, Languages,
Literatures and Cultures; Lana Cable, Associate Professor, English; Seth Chaiken, Associate
Professor, Computer Science; Diane Dewar, Associate Professor, School of Public Health;
Saurav Dutta, Associate Professor, Accounting and Law; Sue Faerman, Professor, Public
Administration and Policy and Dean of Undergraduate Studies; Richard Hall, Distinguished
Service Professor, Sociology; Helmut Hirsch, Distinguished Teaching Professor, Biology;
Timothy Hoff, Associate Professor, School of Public Health; Reed Hoyt, Associate Professor,
Music; Sung Bok Kim, Distinguished Service Professor, History; Kajal Lahiri, Professor,
Economics; Carolyn MacDonald, Professor, Physics; Steven Messner, Distinguished Teaching
Professor, Sociology; Albert Millis, Professor, Biology; R. Michael Range, Professor,
Mathematics; Herman Prins Salomon, Professor, Languages, Literatures, and Cultures; David A.
Shub, Professor, Biology; Ronald Toseland, Professor, School of Social Welfare; Edward C.
Turner, Professor, Mathematics; Suzanne (Irving) Turner, Associate Librarian, University
Libraries; Michael R. Werner, Associate Professor, Art and Classics; Edelgard Wulfert, Professor,
Psychology.
Senator Pipkin, Parliamentarian Gibson, and Recorder VanDenburgh tallied and recorded the
votes on all ballots.
Thirty-two Senators voted, and the names of the twelve top vote-getters were placed on a second
ballot. The second ballot included (in alphabetical order) the following names: Brière , Cable,
Dewar, Hoyt, Kim, Lahiri, MacDonald, Messner, Range, Shub, S. Turner, and Wulfert.
On the second ballot, 32 Senators voted, five representatives were chosen, and there was a tie for
sixth place between Messner and Shub.
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In order to resolve the tie, a third ballot took place to choose the representative – 29 Senators
voted, and Messner was elected.
Six Faculty Representatives were elected to the Presidential Search Committee, in alphabetical
order:
Reed Hoyt, Associate Professor, Music
Sung Bok Kim, Distinguished Service Professor, History
Carolyn MacDonald, Professor, Physics
Steven Messner, Distinguished Teaching Professor, Sociology
R. Michael Range, Professor, Mathematics
Edelgard Wulfert, Professor, Psychology
Alternate:
David A. Shub, Professor, Biology
Meeting adjourned at 5:30 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jayne VanDenburgh, Recorder
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