SENATE COUNCIL AND COMMITTEE SUMMARY REPORT
Christian Poehlmann, Senate Secretary, University Senate
Submitted for September 26, 2016 Senate Meeting:
UNIVERSITY SENATE CHAIR’S REPORT – James Collins
I.
Informational
On May 12, Senate leadership (Fox, Collins, Stefl-Mabry) met with Provost Stellar, Chief
of Staff Wirkkula and Vice Provost Bruce Szelest to discuss the administrative review
process.
b. Throughout the summer months (Incoming) Chair Collins met with the (Incoming) Vice
Chair Reinhold and Senators Kressner, Janiszewski and Moslehi from the Senate’s
Committee on Assessment of Governance and Consultation to write the Report on the
2016 Survey of Shared Governance. A brief presentation of the report will be made to the
Senate on October 26, and a Senate Forum on the report will be held later the same week.
c.
On June 6, the Interim Dean of CEAS distributed a memo announcing the reorganization
of the information science disciplines within the College of Engineering and Applied
Sciences. Chair Fox referred the matter to the Governance Council to determine whether
formal consultation as required by University Senate Bylaws Article 1 Section 2.2.2 had
taken place. The Governance Council met on June 15 and determined that the
reorganization needed to be considered by UPPC, UAC, and GAC, before being referred
to the Senate.
d. On June 9, Senate leadership (Fox, Collins, Stefl-Mabry) had its first monthly leadership
meeting with Provost Stellar and Chief of Staff Wirkkula since February. The topics
discussed included formal consultation that needs to take place this summer, and
especially the question of when UPPC will be brought into the Compact Planning
process; compensation for contingent faculty representatives and for Senate Campus
Governance Leadership; jawboning the Deans in support of the Senate; and
administrative review of the statement that GOV prepared for the Senate website.
e.
On June 21, Senate leadership (Fox, Collins, Stefl-Mabry, Gulatee) met with incoming
officers (Reinhold, Poehlmann) to prepare for leadership transition.
f.
On July 15, Senate leadership (Fox Collins, Stefl-Mabry) attended a meeting with
Provost Stellar, Vice Provosts Hedberg and Szelest for formal consultation on a transition
to permanence for the Dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
g. On July 15, Senate leadership was informed that the Senate Vice Chair and the
Immediate Past Chair will each receive one course release for the 2016-17 academic year.
h. On July 19, President Jones called a meeting of Senate leadership (Fox, Collins, Stefl-
Mabry) and the Council of Deans at which he announced his resignation from the
University at Albany effective at the end of September.
i.
On July 18, Senate Leadership (Fox, Collins, Stefl-Mabry) received a request for
nominations to the Strategic Planning Steering Committee. Drawing from Senate
Leadership and Governance, a list of nominees were submitted on July 28.
j.
On July 21, (Incoming) Chair Collins and (Immediate Past) Chair Fox and several
members of UPPC met in July with James Van Voorst, VP for Finances and
Administration, to discuss the most recent (2015-2016) Compact Planning Process. We
were informed that award decisions have been made, but not announced, and so we do
not know how the CP funds were distributed. All parties agreed to improve the
consultation process by involving the Senate and, in particular, UPPC, earlier in the
process. This will likely entail at least one UPPC meeting over the summer.
k. On July 27, Senate Leadership received a request for nominees to the Campus Recreation
Advisory Board.
l.
On August 4, Senate leadership (Fox, Collins, Stefl-Mabry) and the Council of Deans
participated in a meeting with SUNY Provost Andrew Cartwright. We were invited to
forward recommendations for an internal candidate to be selected and named Interim
President by the trustees at their meeting in mid-September. The individual selected will
not be considered for the permanent position. Provost Cartwright also outlined the
presidential search process which will be led by the University Council President Michael
Castellana and completed so that a new president is in place in time for the next academic
year.
m. On August 9, Senate leadership (Fox, Collins, Stefl-Mabry) received a request from
Provost Stellar for formal consultation on a transition to permanence for the Library
Dean.
n. On August 17, Incoming Senate Chair Collins wrote University Council Chair Michael
Castellana to initiate communication regarding the upcoming search for a new President
for the University.
o. On August 22, Incoming Senate Chair Collins wrote University Council Chair Michael
Castellana to request that the Presidential Search Committee be expanded to include an
additional (7th) faculty member, a graduate student, and an additional (2nd)
representative from the campus foundation board. The request is provided for in the
current SUNY Guidelines.
p. On August 29, Ronald Vero agreed to serve as the Senate Parliamentarian for 2016-2017.
q. On September 2, Senate Chair Collins participated in a conference call with University
Council Chair Michael Castellana and University Chief of Staff Leanne Wirkkula to
discuss how to populate a Presidential Search Committee, pursuant to SUNY guidelines
on the Presidential Search Process (as amended in June 22, 2016 Amendments to the
Guidelines for Conducting Presidential Searches for State Operated Campuses). A
primary topic was the nomination and selection of faculty representatives to the
Presidential Search Committee. A division of labor in three parts was agreed to:
University Council Chair Castellana will prepare a working guideline and timeline for
the Presidential Search
process; Chief of Staff Wirkkula will include a call for faculty nominations in a general
request for nominations to the Presidential Search Committee; and the Senate
Governance Council will organize a list of submitted nominees, assist the Senate
Secretary in conducting a secret ballot, and select the six faculty representatives to the
search committee, based on vote tallies and Council-determined criteria to insure an
inclusive search process.
r.
On September 7, Dean Shawky of the School of Business submitted a proposal to
separate the Department of Information Technology Management into two separate
departments for Senate consultation. Dean Boyer of the College of Engineering and
Applied Sciences submitted a proposal to merge the Departments of Informatics and
Information Studies into one Department for Senate consultation.
s.
Campus Leadership meetings between the Provost’s and President’s Offices and the
Senate Leadership Group (Collins, Fox, and Reinhold) are being scheduled.
II. Actions taken
a. CEAS proposal to merge Informatics and Information Studies into a Department of
Information Science referred to UPPC, UAC, and GAC.
b. School of Business proposal to divide Information Technology Management into
Departments of Information Systems and Business Analytics and Information Security
and Digital Forensics referred to UPPC, UAC, and GAC.
III. Recommendations for actions
N/A
SUNY Senators’ Report – (Diane Hamilton, Walter Little, Latonia Spencer)
On September 15 and 16, the SUNY Faculty Executive Committee and the various
SUNY faculty committees met at the Desmond Hotel, Albany to plan their business
goals for the coming year. SUNY Faculty Senate business can be found on the its
website: http://s
y ste
m .suny.edu/facultyse
n ate
/ . Any campus concerns, questions, or items
related to state senate business should be communicated to one of the SUNY Faculty
Senators at UAlbany. There are a number of standing SUNY Faculty Senate committees
(htt
p ://system.suny.edu/facultysenate/com
m ittees
/ ). University faculty and staff members
can volunteer to participate on these committees and direct participation helps ensure the
campus has a place on shaping state policies related to our campuses.
Campuses are encouraged to nominate themselves for the Shared Governance Award
(htt
p ://system.suny.edu/acade
m ic-affairs/facul
ty -staff-awar
d s/shared-go
v ernance-award/
).
The deadline for receipt of nominations is Tuesday, November 15, 2016. Last year, only
two campuses nominated themselves.
The SUNY Faculty Senate Executive Committee, Committee Chairs, Senators, and
Campus Governance Leaders will meet for 174th Fall Plenary Meeting on October 20-
22, 2016 and hosted by SUNY Cortland.
Graduate Student Organization Report – Jefferson Garcia, President –
Nothing submitted
Student Association Report – Felix Abreu, President - Nothing submitted
CAA Report – James Mower, Chair
CAA met on May 3, 2016 to review and vote for approval of2 reports, as follows:
1)
Assessment Report of the Department of Philosophy (approved)
2)
Assessment Report of the Department of Psychology (approved)
CAFFECoR – Carol Jewell, Chair
1. Informational
CAFFECoR held its first meeting of the 2016-2017 academic year on September 10,
2016. We discussed issues that CAFFECoR dealt with last year, namely, the academic
freedom policy as it relates particularly to faculty and staff. We also discussed
possible projects for this year, including (but not limited to) the academic freedom
policy as it relates to students, and supplying new text for the undergraduate bulletin,
stating the measures a student should take should they feel that their academic
freedom has been hindered. We also discussed the two resolutions that we sent to the
SEC.
2. Reports of Actions
N/A
3. Recommendations for Actions
Ng will share (with other members of CAFFECoR) the requirement for certain
specific content areas that teaching faculty must include on their syllabi.
Jewell encouraged members to read the Committee minutes she sent out during
the summer, and to bring forward any comments or questions to her.
The date for the next meeting has not yet been determined.
CERS – Nothing to Report – Michael Jerison, Chair
CoR Faculty Senate Report – Daniele Fabris, Chair
CoR met on Mon, Sept 12. The main topic on the agenda was to constitute the
various subcommittees that are part of CoR:
-
Benevolent Awards Review
-
Conference/Journal Support Awards Review
-
FRAP-A Award Review
-
Committee on Centers, Institutes and Specialized Research Laboratories
-
Excellence in Research & Creative Activities Review
We are still short on required numbers. These subcommittees can include individuals that
are not necessarily CoR members. Therefore, we are looking for volunteers outside CoR.
This year, in addition to supporting the work of the subcommittees and deliberate on
their recommendations, CoR will continue the review of the documentation associated
with these awards. In particular, we would like to help possible applicants by further
clarifying the goals of the awards, the application requirements, and the criteria used to
review the proposals. Suggestions are typically advanced by the subcommittees,
therefore participating in their work offers an excellent opportunity to shape the process.
This year, CoR will also continue the survey of centers/institutes initiated last semester
by the Committee on Centers, Institutes etc. We found that many centers/institutes are
listed on the VPR website, but are not active or exist anymore. For those that have not
responded to direct inquiries, we will contact the proper College or unit that may have
jurisdiction on them The initial goal is to clean up the image of the research landscape,
which we project on the outside, from outdated or incorrect information. Another goal
is to look at the scope of these centers/institute and see if CoR could suggest any
possible move to help.
CPCA – nothing to report – Louise-Anne McNutt, Chair
GAC – nothing to report – James Fossett, Chair
Governance Council Report September, 2016 – Karin Reinhard, Chair
The Governance Council had its first meeting Sept 7th. This was an organizational meeting
and a review of the council’s charge for incoming members. The Council was informed of the
state of the Presidential Search and the council’s role in this case. We discussed the procedure
to select senate representatives to the different committees and groups outside governance. A
member proposed the discussion of how representatives for contingent faculty are selected.
This is an item that the Council will examine this year. A member suggested that to increase
the student participation in the Senate, we should invite the student paper to report on the
Senate Meetings.
The University Council met on Sept 15th. These were the highlights: A) President Jones
gave his last report emphasizing the accomplishments over his presidency: the creation of
CEAS, the affiliation with Albany law School, expansion of Harriman Campus, improved
student experience, increased public engagement. Interim President Stellar was introduced.
B) A. Cartwright, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor, explained the Presidential Search
and Chancellor Search processes. The Presidential Search committee will be constituted as
follows: four council members (including the chair), six members of the full‐time teaching
faculty, one student, one alumni representative, one campus‐related foundation
representative, one academic dean, and one professional or support staff member. Campuses
with more than 10,000 students are allowed a larger representation and therefore our Senate
is in conversation with the SUNY’s administration to expand the representation of the
faculty and students in order to have a more diversified representation in the search
committee. More information about the search process for both positions, president and
chancellor, can be obtained at SUNY.edu website. There you can also find the composition
of the Chancellor Search Committee. C) F. Sanay, Vice President for University
Development and Executive Director of UAlbany Foundation reported that University
Development had raised 21 million last year, with a total of 55m million up to day, since the
campaign started. The current campaign will end on Jan. 2019 with a target of 150 million.
The process for election of faculty and professional or staff representatives for the
Presidential Search Committee will start shortly with contributions of the full faculty and
professional and staff bodies. Thus we urge you to start thinking about persons to nominate
for the Presidential Search Committee.
LISC – David Mamorella, Chair
Will have their first meeting on September 19.
FROM:
Karen Kiorpes and Christy Smith, Co‐Chairs, UAC
RE:
Report of UAC Activity for the SEC, April 29 to September 16, 2016
DATE:
September 16, 2016
Beyond their last meeting April 28, UAC and Curriculum and Honors continued to
review curricular changes via email discussions and voting, as follows
A new minor in Creative Writing was approved in consultation with Senate chair
in July
Changes were made to Requirements for Geography B.A., to implement
competencies plans for General Education
Changes were made to Requirements for Economics B.A., to implement
competencies plans for General Education
Changes were made to Requirements for Art History Honors B.A.
Changes were made to Requirements for Atmospheric Science Honors B.S.
Changes were made to Requirements for Interdisciplinary Studies with a faculty‐
initiated concentration in Environmental Science Honors B.S.
In late June, UAC received official notification of the approval of the following programs:
The new B.S. in Computer Engineering offered through the College of
Engineering and
Applied Sciences was registered by State Ed
The new B.S. and B.A. in Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and
Cybersecurity offered through the College of Emergency Preparedness,
Homeland Security and Cybersecurity was registered by State Ed
The UAC will have its first meeting of the year on September 22. Co‐chairs Smith and
Kiorpes are working now to finalize committee membership. Fall meetings are also
scheduled for October 18, November 10 and December 6. We will schedule additional
meetings as required.
ULC - Nothing submitted – Ekow King, Chair
UPPC Report for Senate meeting of September 26 – Cynthia Fox, Chair
I.
Informational
1.
UPPC met on July 19 to receive an update on the Compact Planning Process from
Vice President Van Voorst and Associate Vice President Bessette.
2. UPPC met on August 31. The major item of business was the consideration of a
Letter of Intent and Campus Impact Form for a Master of Science Degree in
Enviornmental and Computer Engineering (CEAS).
3. UPPC will meet on September 21 at which time we will hear reports from the
Facilities Committee and the Resource Analysis and Planning Committee and
consider:
a. a request to convert existing faculty-initiated degree to formally registered
BS in
Environmental Science (CAS);
b. a request to establish a BS in Electrical and Sustainable Engineering;
c. a proposal to merge the Departments of Informatics and Information
Studies (CEAS);
d. and a proposal to restructure the ITM department into two separate
departments within the School of Business.
II.
Actions Taken
1. UPPC voted to approve the LOI for an MS in Electrical and Computer
Engineering pending minor changes.
2. Chair Fox received the amended documents from CEAS on September 1. They
have been signed and forwarded to Provost Stellar.
III.
Recommendations
a. That UPPC’s participation in the Compact Planning process occur sooner so that
meaningful consultation can occur, and that the timeline be announced
sufficiently ahead of time so that members can plan to attend a summer meeting.
b. That UPPC receive bi-annual reports providing information on how progress has
been made on previously approved compact planning proposals. Such reports
should include the impact of the proposed item (operational/fiscal), updates on the
time period of the initiative to be realized, and a summarization of the outcomes
measured as well as a description of the tracking and measurement methodology
used.
