UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATE REPORT
1
Cornell University, Ithaca
January 26-28, 2012
SENATE PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Ken O'Brien (SUNY Brockport).
President’s Report
Winter Plenary January 2012
Ithaca, NY
President O’Brien did not provide a written report however the
following topics were discussed.
•
Our longtime parliamentarian and colleague Ed Alfonsin
passed away in January after a long illness. The UFS is
planning a memorial for our next plenary. Joe Hildreth
provided a nice tribute to Ed. Sharon Cramer has agreed to
serve as our parliamentarian.
•
Senate supported events
o
Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion STEM
conference in October 2011
o
Student Artwork show in NYS museum and SUNY
Administration building.
o
McNair Conference hosted in Buffalo
o
Discovery:
An
Undergraduate
Showcase
on
February 29 in the Legislative Office buildings.
•
General Education, transfer, and SUNY as a system. There
has been a fair amount of discussion about the CUNY
administration’s
process
for
implementing
their
new
Pathways curriculum. A shared governance process was
apparently not followed.
•
The Chancellor has made a commitment to shared
governance with the UFS and FCCC Presidents serving on
the shared governance transformation team for strategic
planning. There is considerable concern that curriculum
program reviews should have significant faculty input. Ken
indicated
that
the
administration
controls
the
shared
governance process because they control who is at the table.
•
The UFS President asked the Governance committee to
undertake and evaluation of his performance. The President
noted that some senators commented that he was too much of
a cheerleader for the Chancellor. He responded by noting that
this Chancellor is at heart an academic who has risen through
the administrative ranks. She has included faculty governance
extensively. A diplomatic approach will allow faculty to have
their concerns heard and help us influence good policy.
•
A perennial concern for faculty governance is the impact that
our formal statements may have on actual policy. The
Chancellor has established a tradition of responding to our
resolutions via letter. Once received, the response letters from
the Chancellor are posted on the SUNY Senate web site.
•
Carl Wiezalis noted that the UFS is an advisory body. We
need
to
strive
for
active
communication
with
our
administrators and faculty colleagues.
•
Presidential Search Process guidelines- The UFS has had an
influence on the newly approved search process (passed by
the BOT on January 25, 2012).
•
The Chancellor and the Governor will be looking to the
SUNY system to integrate processes and function more
efficiently together. This will be the next topic in the
Chancellor’s series of major SUNY conferences.
•
The efficiency will also be reflected in transfer mobility.
Chancellor in her state of the university indicated: “ we will
now tackle, together, the complete transfer of a SUNY AA or
AS degree to satisfy gen-ed requirements at a SUNY four-
year institution.”
CAREY HATCH, Associate Provost for Academic Technology and
Information Services
The Associate Provost spoke about the influence of
disruptive technology in higher education. The traditional
university structure is being challenged by a disruptive,
innovative technology called the World Wide Web. This
technology has allowed for-profit educational institutions and
innovative traditional universities and colleges to offer skill
training and coursework in a non-tradition format that is
reaching a wide student base. Mr. Hatch provided a series of
web links and resources that can be found at the end of this
report.
BRIAN HUTZLEY, Vice Chancellor for Financial Services and
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Hutzley provided a PowerPoint presentation that outlined
the shared services plan. He indicated that by moving 5% of
administrative cost savings to instruction over next 3 years,
they expect to see $100 million shifted to instruction. The
savings will come from four areas: Strategic sourcing, IT
Transformation,
Transaction
Processing,
and
Campus
Alliance Network.
BETH BRINGSJORD Vice Provost for Academic Affairs
•
Discussed SUNY Master Plan 2012-2020 requirements
•
SUNY is going to hire a Student Mobility coordinator soon
•
Strategic Enrollment management analyst also to be hired
•
System wide degree audits. The scribing of curricula has
begun.
•
Deactivation
and
Discontinuances.
The
UFS
was
instrumental in obtaining a sign off that indicates that major
curricular changes like deactivations and discontinuances
have gone through a shared governance process.
•
Middle states Accreditation. 15 SUNY campuses are up for
renewal this year.
UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATE REPORT
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NANCY ZIMPHER, CHANCELLOR
•
The Chancellor fielded questions from Senators about
our sector concerns and touched on several topics from
her State of SUNY address.
•
Rational tuition and NYSUNY 2020 initiative are a
reality
•
“Discovering Systemness” is a theme that we will be
hearing more about.
•
Discussed a concept she calls the Iron Triangle where
cost, productivity, access and completion are measured
and analyzed.
•
Discussed shared services and how 5% of administrative
spending will be equivalent to $100 million for
instruction
•
Performance based allocation of resources called FAST.
(Finance and Administration Strategy Team).
•
Being nimble with data. The system is challenged when
collecting data because there are so many different
information technology systems being employed. The
Chancellor indicated that if the data we want or are
asked for are not in IPEDS, we have no good way of
collecting it yet.
•
Reducing the need for remediation spending at SUNY.
The system spends about $70 million on remediation for
higher education students. We need to work closely with
our K-12 partners to reduce this need.
•
Transfer mobility: The provost’s office continues to
make progress to aid students to move between SUNY
institutions seamlessly.
•
Open SUNY. The Chancellor spoke about the need to
examine our traditional model of teaching and learning.
SUNY needs to be aware of the trends and disruptive
technology that is changing how students access higher
education. The Chancellor spoke about chairing COIL
(http://coilcenter.purchase.edu/). Spoke about the SUNY
Learning Network, Empire State College, iTunesU; and
initiatives with Carnegie Mellon open access courses.
UNIVERSITY CENTER SECTOR CONCERNS/QUESTIONS
The University Centers senators had a lively discussion during the
Cornell Plenary. The main points that we considered:
1.
Professional
representation
on
presidential
search
committees. Professionals play a key role in the delivery
of high quality higher education on SUNY campuses.
Professionals are involved at all levels of curriculum
development, academic support, and student services.
The sector is in favor of encouraging the Chancellor and
the BOT to reconsider the guidelines to allow greater
professional input.
2.
We
also
discussed
the
Binghamton
model
of
representational presidential searches. The faculty at
Binghamton University has requested that a second
committee of faculty representatives be included in the
final stages of a presidential search. We are aware of the
tricky nature of high level searches and the desire of
candidates to have their candidacy remain secret but a
total secret search is not ideal for faculty.
Reports
for
the Following Committees are available at
http://www.suny.edu/facultysenate/standcmterpts.cfm
•
Committee on Diversity and Cultural Competence
•
Committee on Ethics and Institutional Integrity
•
Governance Committee
•
Graduate and Research Committee
•
Operations Committee
•
Programs and Awards Committee
•
Student Life Committee
•
Undergraduate Academic Programs and Policies Committee
Respectfully submitted,
Daniel D. White,
Shadi Shahedipour-Sandvik, and
J. Philippe Abraham
SUNY Faculty Senators
UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATE REPORT
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University Faculty Senate
Executive Committee
160th Plenary
Cornell University
January 28, 2012
SUNY University Faculty Senate Resolution on CUNY’s Failure to Use the Principle of Shared Governance in
Establishing a New Curriculum
Whereas a core principle of college and university governance is the faculty’s responsibility for designing and teaching
the curriculum, and
Whereas a core principle of shared governance is that the agency by which faculty are appointed to campus-wide or
system-wide curriculum committees is the faculty governance organization, and
Whereas the administration of the City University of New York bypassed the appropriate faculty governance committees
to approve Pathways, its new general education program for the University, and
Whereas Middle States, Standard Four documents the necessity for faculty governance in the development and delivery
of curricula, and
Whereas the American Association of University Professors has termed the process by which this curriculum was
designed as one that runs “counter to generally accepted standards of governance,”
Therefore, Be It Resolved
The SUNY University Faculty Senate urges the CUNY administration to withhold the implementation of any curriculum
that has not been recommended by the appropriate University or College faculty governance committee or body. To do
otherwise risks institutional censure by national organizations, accreditation by Middle States and disrepute for the
University.
160-01-1
Resolution on CUNY’s Failure to Use the Principle of Shared Governance in Establishing a New Curriculum
January 28, 2012
Passed Unanimously
UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATE REPORT
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University Faculty Senate
Executive Committee
160th Plenary
Cornell University
January 28, 2012
Resolution Supporting the Board of Trustees’ January 25, 2012 Resolution “Equitable Financial and Educational
Access to Higher Education for New York’s Undocumented Immigrants”
(The DREAM Act)
Whereas, the SUNY Board of Trustees passed a resolution in support of equitable financial and educational access
to higher education for all New Yorkers;
And, whereas, their resolution specifically includes undocumented immigrants, as intended by the DREAM Act
legislation recently defeated at the Federal level;
And, whereas, by the Board of Trustees passing their resolution, SUNY joins the New York State Department of
Education, the City University of New York, New York University, members in Federal and State legislatures, and
various advocacy groups in publicly supporting the passage of laws to grant equitable financial and educational
access to higher education for undocumented immigrant students;
Therefore, be it resolved that the SUNY University Faculty Senate supports the resolution by the Board of Trustees;
And, therefore, be it further resolved that the University Faculty Senate compliments the Board of Trustees on its
economically wise and humane approach to meeting the needs of many bright and hardworking students in New
York State.
160-02-1
Resolution supporting the Board of Trustees’ January 25, 2012 Resolution “Equitable Financial and Educational
Access to Higher Education for New York’s Undocumented Immigrants”
(The DREAM Act)
January 28, 2012
Pass Unanimously
UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATE REPORT
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From Carey Hatch – Office of Library and Information Services
Presentation at Cornell Plenary – January 27, 2012
This document provides an annotated set of web links that point to disruptions within the context of higher
education and the SUNY System that SUNY Faculty should be aware of. A majority of these web pages were
presented at the January 28th, 2012 Faculty Senate meeting. Not all of the sites in this document were shown
during that meeting, due to time constraints.
This presentation starts with the basic concept of disruptive innovations, how online education is the disruptor for
higher education, how students are dissatisfied with traditional higher education, how online education is
abundant, low cost and sometimes free, and how the Chancellor’s State of the University address sets a course for
how we tackle this environment as a University.
General concepts of Disruptions in Higher Education
Clayton Christensen is the author of a book called The Innovator’s Dilemma where he looked at how large
companies are often disrupted, not by large competitors, but by competitors that come in at the bottom or
periphery of a market offering a lower quality, but cheaper or more convenient service that evolves to impact the
market significantly. His new book, The Innovative University, makes a case for online learning as the major
disruptor for higher education.
The link below takes you to the Amazon web page for The Innovative University. Watch the video of the authors
discussing the book.
http://www.amazon.com/Innovative-University-Changing-Higher-Education/dp/1118063481/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1
The book above is long and dense. Ken O’Brien has a copy that he will share when he is finished reading it. The link
below is to a paper entitled “Disrupting College”. The paper includes the same concepts and is a much shorter
read. It provides a good perspective on the need for new business models aligned with new technologies to lower
the costs of education.
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/02/pdf/disrupting_college.pdf
Funding that one great course
Most people don’t understand that many of the major higher education funding organizations are focused on
helping to create “one great” online course that can be used by many. This 2010 letter from the Gates Foundation
states this concept very clearly: http://www.gatesfoundation.org/annual-letter/2010/Pages/education-learning-
online.aspx
Students questioning the value of a degree and identifying alternatives
Today’s college-age students are increasingly concerned about the high cost of a college degree, especially in an
era where there are so many free or lower cost alternatives available.
Anya Kamenetz is a writer who has achieved celebrity status as a proponent for “self-directed higher learning.” Her
book DYIU: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education claims that the future lies
in personal learning networks and free and open-source educational models. The author has received funding from
the Gates Foundation and the Mozilla Foundation’s Badges Project to document how individuals can take
advantage of non-traditional learning opportunities.
http://diyubook.com
UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATE REPORT
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http://www.scribd.com/doc/60954896/EdupunksGuide
http://learningfreedomandtheweb.org/
Credentialing/Self Learning
The Internet is beginning to form an entire ecosystem for teaching and crediting human knowledge and skill, one
that exists completely outside traditional colleges and Universities.
StraighterLine.Com:
StraighterLine offers online college courses with a variety of pricing models, including a $99 monthly subscription
plus $34 per course; $399 per course with access for 6 months, or freshman year for $999. The StraighterLine web
site indicates that four SUNY Campuses have offered transfer credits for these courses.
http://www.straighterline.com/
The link below captures a presentation that Burck Smith, the CEO of StraighterLine, gave at U. Mass recently. The
presentation is entitled “Another Presentation on Post-Secondary Disruption”.
http://umol1.wimba.com/launcher.cgi?room=spkersrs01_2011_1012_0946_47
The Mozilla Open Badges Project:
The Mozilla Open Badges project is focused on creating a new, open credentialing framework that can
accommodate all manner of disciplines and professions. The framework will allow anyone to get recognition for
skills and achievements that happen outside of school. The Open Badges project is funded in part by the MacArthur
Foundation and the Mozilla Foundation.
https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges
U.S. Secretary for Education Arne Duncan talked of the future of digital badges at the 4th Annual Launch of the
MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Lifelong Learning Competition.
http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/digital-badges-learning
The Peer 2 Peer University (P2PU):
“The Peer 2 Peer University (P2PU) is a grassroots open education project that organizes learning outside of
institutional walls and gives learners recognition for their achievements. P2PU creates a model for lifelong learning
alongside traditional formal higher education. Leveraging the internet and educational materials openly available
online, P2PU enables high-quality low-cost education opportunities. “
Primary funding for P2PU comes from the Hewlett Foundation.
http://new.p2pu.org/en/
CMU’s Open Learning Initiative:
The Open Learning Initiative (OLI) at Carnegie Mellon University has developed several exemplar online courses
that utilize technologies to create a learning environment that is adaptive to individual learners. While these
courses are often used by instructors to support classroom-based instruction, they are designed to support an
individual learner who does not have the benefit of an instructor.
The OLI has received funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Lumina Foundation for Education, and
the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
http://oli.web.cmu.edu/openlearning/
UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATE REPORT
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The University of the People:
The University of the People is the world’s first tuition-free online University, dedicated to the democratization of
education.
http://www.uopeople.org/
Open Courseware:
The MIT Open Courseware (OCW) began with a decision by the faculty in 2000 to use the Internet to advance MIT’s
Mission – to advance knowledge and educate students. MIT OCW publishes course materials that support
classroom interactions at MIT. Each course published requires an investment of $10,000-$15,000. Note the
DONATE NOW link on the OCW page. http://ocw.mit.edu/about/
MIT recently announced an expansion of the program to provide an open learning platform that will also provide
certificates of completion/badges for people who demonstrate mastery upon completion of an online course. The
goal is to make these courses and certifications as low cost as possible.
http://www.mitx.mit.edu/
Many major institutions now participate in the Open Courseware Consortium. With MIT now offering certifications,
others may follow suit.
http://www.ocwconsortium.org/
Saylor.Org is a free and open collection of college level courses. This website serves as a zero-cost alternative for
those who lack the resources to attend traditional brick-and-mortar institutions and as a complement to willing
mainstream education providers. Saylor expects free, asynchronous, web-based learning opportunities to motivate
people to pursue personal growth and career ambitions, as well as to lead to institutional change amongst
education providers everywhere.
http://www.saylor.org/
Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) Services
With so many open opportunities for learning, the need for Prior Learning Assessment Services will grow.
Organizations such as the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning offer PLA services to Colleges and
Universities.
http://cael.org/pla.htm
Empire State College has a PLA program which may be used as a foundation for a broader PLA program for the
SUNY System.
http://www8.esc.edu/ESConline/Across_ESC/assessment.nsf/wholeshortlinks2/Prior+Learning+Assessment?opend
ocument
The Evolving Textbook Market and Open Educational Resources (OER) Textbooks and textbook publishers are
evolving their digital environments to offer full course management systems, personal learning environments and
learning analytics. The expansion of the tablet market will also drive the adoption of e-textbooks.
UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATE REPORT
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Pearson:
Pearson is one of the largest publishers in the world with annual revenues of approximately 6 billion dollars.
Pearson’s MyMathLab was used by approximately 25,000 SUNY Students in 2009. Pearson recently announced
their new, self-service Learning Management System that integrates with Google Apps for Education. Pearson’s
content is also tightly integrated into the new system.
http://www.joinopenclass.com/open/view/t1
Open Textbooks and OER:
While the commercial textbook publishers evolve their platforms, more open textbook environments are beginning
to be accepted by faculty. The use of Open Textbooks or Open Education Resources instead of high cost
instructional materials saves students significant amounts of money.
http://www.opentextbook.org/
http://flatworldknowledge.com/
Empire State College was the first institution in the United States to join the OER University.
http://wikieducator.org/OERu
Apple:
On January 19, 2012, Apple held a major event where they made their most significant announcement regarding
education services to date. Apple has partnered with several publishers to produce media rich, interactive
textbooks for the iBook application. They have also produced a new set of Mac-based authoring tools for iBooks
that will allow faculty members to create online course environments that integrate text, audio, video, and other
media content. A new iTunes University app provides tightly integrated access to the faculty-produced courses. The
link below is to a video of the event:
http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/1201oihbafvpihboijhpihbasdouhbasv/event/index.html
The SUNY Context
On January 9, 2012, the Chancellor gave her State of the University Address. Specific items in the Chancellor’s
speech that relate to the disruptions identified above include:
• Discovering Systemness - the concept that as a system we can create a network that is more powerful than the
individual parts on their own
• Crossing the Digital Divide – which calls for plans to move all SUNY campuses to common systems
• Open SUNY – which calls for SUNY to work as a System to adopt concepts of open learning
http://www.suny.edu/chancellor/speeches_presentations/SOU2012.cfm
