University Senate Executive Committee
Monday, October 5, 2015
2:45 PM
UNH 306
Cynthia Fox, Senate Chair
Minutes
Present: Beach, Bob; Collins, Jim; Fabris, Daniele; Fox, Cynthia; Jewell, Carol; Jerison,
Michael;
Smith, Christy; Mamorella, David; Mower, James; Schmidt, John; Stefl-Mabry,
Joette;
Stellar, James; Toseland, Ronald; Warner, Lynn
The meeting convened at 2:45 p.m.
APPROVAL OF SEC MINUTES
The minutes of September 16" were approved, with minor changes and 1 abstention.
PROVOST’S REPORT - JAMES R. STELLAR
Provost Stellar had made recent reports, and so he kept his comments brief. He stated
that we had just made the Albany Law school announcement, which was a very nice one,
as well as the successful JustAsk rollout that we and the students did. The Provost then
asked to address questions.
Q) What are the anticipated overall general costs, both initial and long-term, of the
Schuyler renovation and expansion of the E-TEC building?
A) There are 2 separate but related things here - 1) the expansion of the number of faculty
and students and 2) the facilities.
1) The Provost outlined and reiterated efforts to improve the retention and recruitment of
students. The basic idea is to expand the number of students to increase revenue for
faculty salaries. We have run the preliminary projections and expect if we had about 200
students enroll in the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and
Cybersecurity, it would support the 15 core faculty salaries, thus keeping the faculty to
student ratio. The College of Engineering and Applied Science would need roughly 1000
students to support the more expensive faculty salaries. This would exceed the goal the
president announced in the spring of increasing enrollment by 1000 students. Additional
enrollments also would allow us to improve efficiency helping support these new
initiatives. We have begun to focus on high yield and on local high schools to recruit
freshmen. Our visits to area schools to recruit new transfer students have also been
welcomed. The President, he reminded, also visited area high schools when he first came
to Albany.
2) The second aspect is the capital improvement project, to be funded from outside
sources - mainly state allocations, and also through gifts such as the recent $5.25 million
gift from the Massry family for the Business School. Provost Stellar pointed out that it has
been about 1 1/2 years since President Jones established the Government Relations Office
to help us to talk to legislators in a new way in order for them to see the value of our
institution.
The difficulty in doing both of these things is knowing how to balance the sequence of
hiring faculty with the funding and identifying the space. The separate anticipated costs of
the E-TEC facility have already been budgeted. It was originally supposed to be more in
the weather area - ASRC and the DAS department, but also combining Chemistry and
Physics faculty. When we got the $15 million from the governor, Homeland Security
faculty were added to that building. As reported before, we expect to be able to include
them into the new location at the Harriman campus.
On another topic there has not been much of a cost so far for the affiliation with Albany
Law except just a small amount in order to be able to jointly apply for grant applications,
which will be announced. We also changed our bus route, which the public seems to be
pleased about.
Your suggestions on the two-page initial SUNY Performance Plan funding proposals will
be incorporated into the final approximately 15-page proposals. They will be shared and
are due on Wednesday. This task has been completely preoccupying the Provost's Office.
Funding from these one-time grants would be, for instance, used as seed money for the
Schuyler building and potential programs in order to help continue our Universities'
mission as an agent of urban renewal for downtown Albany.
Q) When can the Blue Ribbon Panels reports information be shared and discussed?
A) The preliminary reports have been reviewed, and the final revised contingent faculty
report has just been submitted to the President's Office. It will be announced as soon as
the reports are ready to be shared. The Provost touched on some of the topics of concern
discussed in the reports. An ongoing committee for the contingent faculty report was
recommended to be established to continue the work that needs to be done on those
issues.
Q) Can the $15 million from the governor's office be used towards either the facility or to
pay salaries?
A) It is not recurring, just like the performance approval grants. That is the challenge for
us, SO we put the money primarily in the architecture of the building to help make sure we
have the space we need. As stated, my favorite strategy is to retain and recruit more
students to fund salaries so as not to dilute programs. We need not dilute to build high
quality programs to make a better institution. We are making a very serious and exciting
effort here.
Q) What is the plan for graduate students?
A) Doctoral students are critical, helping to provide us with our scholarly reputation and
supporting the research agendas of the professors. We want to maintain the highest
possible quality level for our doctoral programs. We do plan to expand our master's
programs, in part to help better support the doctoral programs, make programs less
costly for students, and help these students graduate earlier. We bought some software to
supplement our advisement/communication efforts to be of more service to all of the grad
students and faculty.
Provost Stellar stressed that he appreciated the opportunity to talk to the SEC and that he
prefers this question-and-answer format. One of my major jobs this coming year, the
Provost stated, is to work out, share and discuss these plans, and then revise them as we
learn from you and others.
UNIVERSITY SENATE CHAIR’S REPORT -Cynthia Fox
Nothing to report
It seemed not everyone understood protocol at the last Senate meeting. Chair Fox
therefore reviewed how the seating arrangement for the SEC was changed last year so
that members now sit in the front, and how the Senate reports process works. She
highlighted that on the agenda for the next Senate meeting they would return to the
deactivation of the Puerto Rican major. Suggestions were also discussed on how to
encourage members to stay so that quorum is not lost and Senate business can be
conducted.
Chair Fox had received from the School of Education (SOE), and now shared with the SEC
members, a copy of research from the SOE book.
Kathy Winchester and the chair had discussed the following items that seem to call for
action: 1) The faculty handbook is out of date and Chair Fox had asked that it be removed
from the Senate website pending review. GOV was charged with considering the matter.
2) There have been numerous changes in administrative titles and structure that are not
reflected in the Charter. These changes require a Charter amendment that GOV will need
to draft. Chair Fox also wondered whether there might be a way to amend the Charter to
allow for making such housekeeping changes going forward, without having to go through
the amendment process each time. To that end Chair Fox had sent a message to the SUNY
campus governance leaders’ listserv to ask what other campuses do and would forward
the response received to GOV for consideration.
Caitlin Janiszewski from GSA had sent a request to Chair Fox stating that she has been
working with the Director of the Office for Environmental Sustainability Mary Ellen Mallia
on ideas and strategies for how to work sustainability into the curriculum of the
University and, in summary, about Senate involvement. GOV Chair Collins suggested that
the broad proposal needs clarification. He added that the GOV subcommittee on Elections
and Liaisons could discuss the request, including the idea of holding an informational
session as a way for the Senate to show its support.
Chair Fox and Senate Secretary Yenisel Gulatee had been consulting to fill all council
memberships, which are nearly all complete. The chair requested that SEC members
share and forward to them both concerns and updates on membership. The necessity to
post member names was questioned, specifically regarding the UAC Committee on
Admissions and Academic Standing. A member of that committee had been personally
contacted by students, which raised concerns for potential safety that needed to be
weighed against transparency issues. Chair Fox charged GOV with looking into the
matter.
OTHER REPORTS
UFS (University Faculty Senator’s Report) - J. Philippe Abraham, Walter Little &
John Schmidt, SUNY Senators
Nothing to report
UFS will have a meeting on October 22.
GSA (Graduate Student Association) - Robert Beach, GSA President
Nothing to report
The GSA CoR representative had been replaced by Amanda Pawlowski.
SA (Student Association) - Jarius Jemmott, Student Association President
Nothing to report
Chair Fox would send a message to SA President Jemmott regarding attendance and
reporting requirements.
COUNCIL/COMMITTEE CHAIRS’ REPORTS:
CAA (Council on Academic Assessment) - James Mower, Chair
Nothing to report
CAA met on October 2. We elected chairs to GEAC and APRC. Membership is set, and we
are ready to go.
CAFFECoR (Committee on Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expression, and
Community Responsibility) -Carol Jewell, Chair
1. Informational
CAFFECoR met on September 17, 2015. We discussed the proposal that
was assigned to us (by Chair Fox) from the SUNY Expanded Investment
and Performance Fund, which is “UAlbany Advantage—Enhancing the
Student Experience.” Chair Jewell asked Committee members (and
subsequently sent an email to absentee members, requesting that they
also) [to] send comments/concerns/questions on the proposal to her by
October 1, 2015. Chair Jewell will compile responses and forward them
to the SEC.
Also, we briefly discussed the policy initiative described here:
http://system.suny.edu/healthaffairs/tobaccofree/
And, we talked about other topics which CAFFECoR may discuss this
year, in particular, the relationship between the administration and the
faculty regarding the former’s tendency to outsource to consultants
areas of study about which its own faculty already has expertise, which
we (CAFFECoR) believe is a blow to academic freedom and freedom of
expression.
II. Reports of Actions
None.
III. Recommendations for Actions
None.
CAFFECOoR met on October 1 and discussed the proposal that Chair Fox charged the
Council to review.
CERS (Committee on Ethics in Research and Scholarship) - Michael Jerison,
Chair
Nothing to report
COR (Council on Research) - Daniele Fabris, Chair
Nothing to report
CoR had a meeting and filled subcommittees. An important agenda item was the review of
the proposal from SUNY Central to change the rules for patents. We invited Dr. Theresa
Walker who is the head of Tech Transfer, who gave us a very good overview of what the
changes are. The broad idea is that SUNY is changing procedures in such a way that
SUNY would have a chance to recover some expenses so that there would be more funds
to pursue more applications. We see this as a very positive thing from the point of view of
the University. There is some concern from the point of view of the inventor. When the
patent is awarded, first SUNY will be reimbursed expenses. One concerned inventor was
going to present to CoR, but we did not hear back. A colleague shared that it seemed that
that inventor had “come to see the light”.
CPCA (Council on Promotions and Continuing Appointments) - Lynn Warner,
Chair
Nothing to report
Thanks to Chair Fox for the note to coordinate meetings with Senate meetings, as they
had met on 9/28 at the same time as the last Senate meeting. We reviewed 1 case for
continuing appointment and 1 case for continuing appointment and promotion to assistant
professor. We are set now with members.
GAC (Graduate Academic Council) - Ronald Toseland, Chair
Nothing to report
GAC had our Ist meeting on September 28.
GOV (Governance Council) - James Collins, Chair
Council met on 9/21:
Priority task: Organize membership of Council Committees
Committee on Assessment of Governance and Consultation
vy Will undertake biennial survey this year
= Committee on Liaison and Elections
= Committee on Council Nominations
= Committee on Mediation
Discussed items for further action:
= CAA/Academic Program Review Committee Charter changes
= Administrative Review and Evaluation
= Contingent & Emeritus representation on Senate
The Committee on Liaison and Elections is considering ways we can engage with
constituents about the Senate, such as in forums, workshops and information sessions. We
will be discussing administrative review and evaluation - something that has been a
council priority for a while. For about 10 years Middle States has been asking about the
role of faculty in the evaluation of the administration. The statewide SUNY Senate wrote a
report on this in 2005. Our GOV has since written 2 reports. We are going to return back
to that discussion. This representation on the Senate. One issue regarding Contingent
representation on the Senate is that the approximately 450 part-time instructors cannot
vote for their Senate representative, a glitch in the Charter that needs to be worked out.
Similarly, there is good reason to have Emeritus representation on councils, etc., though
perhaps not voting on the Senate.
At GOV Chair Collins’ request, Senate Secretary Gulatee clarified that Senate and SEC
reports need to be submitted 10 days before the next meeting, typically on a Friday. Chair
Fox added that in general council minutes should go to Senate Staff Support Elisa Lopez
for posting on the Senate website under each council, with exceptions including some
CPCA confidential matters.
LISC (Council on Libraries, Information Systems, and Computing) - David
Mamorella, Chair
The following is the Dean and Director’s Report from Rebecca Mugridge of the University
Libraries.
The search for the new CIO/VP has been posted.
Rebecca L. Mugridge
University Libraries
Dean and Director’s Report to LISC
September 21, 2015
Compact plan proposals. The Libraries submitted two compact plan proposals for the
2016/2017 fiscal year. One was to establish a research data management program and the
other was a joint proposal with ITS to create a digital media center. The Provost advanced
the first proposal to the final round for consideration. Decisions on which proposals will be
funded have been made, but not communicated to us yet.
Acquisitions budget. The Libraries requested additional funding to our base to cover the
increased cost of our electronic journal and database subscriptions. Mary Van Ullen
(Associate Director for Collections), Brian Doubleday (Accounting and Budget Officer),
and I are meeting with staff from the Provost's office to discuss the Libraries’ budget and
this proposal.
Status of vacant positions. Both the Marketing and Outreach Librarian position and the
Head, Information Commons positions are on hold pending review and discussion. Access
Services’ SL-2 and SL-3 searches are in process, as well as two CSEA positions. To bridge
the gap until new staff are hired, we hired 3.0 FTE temporary Clerk 1s for Access
Services; they will work through the end of the calendar year.
Anna Radkowski-Lee Graduate Assistantship. Erik Stolarski is our GA for the
2015/2016 academic year. Erik will be working on cataloging some of the collections in
Special Collections and Archives.
Albany Law School. Mary Van Ullen attended a meeting in July with Sue Phillips (Vice
President for Strategic Partnerships) and staff from Albany Law School Library to begin
discussions about potential collaborations. The areas of interest are in collaborative
collection development, shared staffing, and shared services, in particular in technical
services. I expect these discussions to take some time and deliberation.
Group study rooms. Nine group study rooms have been built on the first floor. Room 137
has also been converted into a Mac lab. We'll be promoting both the group study rooms
and the Mac lab with an event on October 9, (Homecoming weekend), 4:00-5:00 p.m.
Open Access Program. The Libraries will be celebrating Open Access Week with a
program on October 20. I encourage faculty, staff, and students across the university to
attend this timely and relevant program:
http://liblogs.albany.edu/librarynews/2015/09/celebrate_open_access_week.html
Student Advisory Board. Joyce Rambo (Assistant to the Dean) is contacting last year’s
members to see if they want to participate again this year. She’s also recruiting new
members by placing flyers in all three libraries. Please encourage your students to
volunteer.
UAC (Undergraduate Academic Council) -Karen Kiorpes and Christy Smith, Co-
Chairs
Nothing to report
ULC (University Life Council) - Michael Jaromin, Chair
Nothing to report
UPPC (University Planning and Policy Council) - Joette Stefl-Mabry, Chair
Nothing to report
UPPC met on September 24". Dean Rousseau explained the proposal for the Department
of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity Undergraduate
degree. Dr. Myrna Friedlander explained the proposal for School of Education’s
embedded MS program within its PHD program in Counseling Psychology. UPPC was
introduced to the 11 SUNY Investment proposals.
UPPC voted to approve the emergency preparedness degree and to conditionally approve
the School of Education’s embedded MS program within its PHD program in Counseling
Psychology pending additions to the proposal application. UPPC council members agreed
to comment on the SUNY expanded investment proposals, and those comments provided
were shared with the Provost.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
A. SUNY Expanded Investment & Performance Fund
Chair Fox had received reports on proposals from UAC and CAFFECoR, and UPPC had
sent their comments directly to the Provost. LISC Chair Toseland reported that he had
distributed his proposal to members and requested they e-mail to him any concerns. One
comment was made regarding the SUNY Global College proposal by a teacher in Writing
and Critical Inquiry who said that international students have difficulty passing that kind
of a course. Chair Jewell shared CAFFECoR’s concerns on the proposal entitled “UAlbany
Advantage: Enhancing the Student Experience”. Concerns were discussed, and a copy of
CAFFECoR’s comments is attached as part of the minutes. GOV Chair / Senate Vice Chair
Collins thanked CAFFECoR for their detailed comments on the proposal. It was agreed
this would be an ongoing conversation with different parts of the Senate and
stakeholders.
Provost Stellar thanked the SEC for having him in their conversation.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 4:37 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by
Elisa Lopez, Recorder
