COUNCIL AND COMMITTEE SUMMARIES
Meeting of the University Senate Executive Committee, November 1st, 2010
As submitted to Tom Bessette, Secretary, University Senate
UNIVERSITY SENATE CHAIR’S REPORT – Eric Lifshin, Chair
N/A
UFS (University Faculty Senator’s Report) –Daniel D. White, J. Philippe Abraham & Shadi
Shahedipour-Sandvik, SUNY Senators
Sent separately.
GSO (Graduate Student Organization) – Heidi Nicholls, GSO Representative
The GSO has been contacted by graduate students from the French department looking for someone to both talk to them about the
current status of the department and potential courses of legal advice/action they could take. They were directed to contact Dean
Williams.
SA (Student Association) – Justin Wax Jacobs, President Student Association
N/A
CAA (Council on Academic Assessment) – Richard Matyi, Chair
1)
Henryk Baran (LLC) has resigned from the CAA and from his position as Chair of the Academic Program Review
Committee (PRC). Kristen Hessler (Philosophy) has agreed to serve as Chair of the PRC, with Brian Gabriel (CCI) serving as
co-Chair.
2)
Toni Nicoletti (SSW) has requested to join the CAA and has been invited to serve, pending approval by the University
Senate.
3)
A regular meeting of the CAA was held on Wednesday, October 27. Significant points of discussion involved the upcoming
schedule of program reviews, the response of the CAA to the deactivation of programs at the University at Albany, and the
status of the examination of PRC reviews by the Graduate Academic Council (GAC) the Governance Council (GOV).
4)
The CAA decided that it will take no formal position regarding the deactivation of programs. A statement to that effect is
currently being circulated to CAA members for their approval.
5)
Richard Matyi (CNSE) represented the CAA at meetings of both GAC and GOV on Friday, October 29.
CAFFECoR (Committee on Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expression, and Community Responsibility)
– Pradeep Haldar, Chair
Nothing to Report
CERS (Committee on Ethics in Research and Scholarship) – John Monfasani, Chair
CERS met with the University Council, John Reilly, in September and October, and successfully resolved almost all outstanding
issues. An exchange of drafts via email may be all that is now needed in order to agree upon a final text. If not, one more meeting
should do the trick. So I am confident that CERS will be able to bring the revised CERS text to the SEC and then to the Senate before
the end of the semester.
COR (Council on Research) – James Castracane, Chair
The Council on Research met on October 20th. Two agenda items are worth noting. The first was a discussion of the proposed
university cuts and their impact on research activities. The second was a review of the indirect cost return (ICR) policy.
As recommended in the last SEC meeting, each council should be given the opportunity to comment on the proposed cuts and their
effects on the particular council’s purview. A general discussion occurred and the matter will be taken up again at the next COR
meeting after which a report will be assembled summarizing the council’s thoughts/recommendations.
Concerning the ICR policy, questions arose about the status of the most recent proposal made to President Hall in 2005. Bob Webster
gave an historical review of that document and the council discussed the evolution of the proposal. It was decided to gather additional
information about the current distribution of indirect revenue collected.
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CPCA (Council on Promotions and Continuing Appointments) – Vincent LaBella, Chair
CPCA met and discussed the enrolment suspension at length today. We passed the attached resolution that we would like to forward
to the SEC. The resolution was voted on with the following result
Yes: 9
No: 1
Abstain: 0
It should be noted that one of the yes votes was delivered prior to the meeting via email from a member who could not attend but did
read the resolution.
Also the committee is very willing to work with the SEC and senate at helping to support any resolutions or actions to help resolve
this issue.
Lastly CPCA wants to work with the administration and Provost’s office to send out a letter to all Deans and department chairs
informing them that as far as CPCA is concerned all T&P cases in the affected departments should proceed as normal. CPCA will
judge them on their merits as they normally would.
GAC (Graduate Academic Council) – Laurence Kranich, Chair
GAC met on October 26, 2010, to discuss the President’s proposed deactivation of graduate programs. The discussion focused on the
consultative process and the academic merits of the proposal. The Provost was invited to attend the meeting but was not able to do so.
CAS Associate Dean John Pipkin attended in place of Dean Wulfert who was also unavailable. While Associate Dean Pipkin was very
helpful, he was not able to answer all of the members’ questions. Therefore, the Council will attempt to convene an additional meeting
with the Provost and Dean Wulfert. The Council also met on October 29, 2010, to continue its review of CAA program assessments.
GOV (Governance Council) – Susanna Fessler, Chair
The Governance Council met on Friday, October 29, 2010. A regular meeting time for the rest of the semester was confirmed. GOV
listened to guests Larry Kranich and Richard Matyi (chairs of GAC and CAA respectively) about an issue of CAA’s role in program
reviews. No action was taken, but the GAC and CAA chairs were charged with producing a written clarification (if necessary) for the
Charter, which GOV will review. GOV listened to guest Brett Bowles (of LLC), who came to speak about the program deactivations
recently announced by the President. The official GOV response to the President’s memo will be drafted over the next few days, in
time for the SEC meeting on Monday, November 1. Also, GOV has completed drafting two proposals to amend the Charter (one on
CPCA chairship, and one on Council Chairs), which will be forwarded to the SEC.
LISC (Council on Libraries, Information Systems, and Computing) – Shadi Shahedipour-Sandvik, Chair
LISC met on Oct. 18th. The two committees of LISC were formed and their members elected chairs. The Library Committee members
from LISC are: Laura Schultz, chair; Ruth Scipione; Bruce Dudek; Gwen Moore and Nancy Newman. The IT Committee members
are: Michael Jaromin, Chair; Bruce Dudek; Ed Waltz, Karen Brown and Brian Butcher. The two chairs will set up their own meetings
and report back to LISC. Each committee will identify a couple topics that would make an impact and push it forward. The Dean of
Libraries, Mary Casserly informed the Council that October 18-24, 2010 is Open Access Week, a discussion on the need for barrier-
free access to scholarship. CIO Chris Haile reported that ITS is in the planning stages of a Blackboard upgrade for summer and fall
2011. Also, in conjunction with other departments, a business intelligence system is being reviewed as an analytical tool for a more
sophisticated way to do business at the campus. ITS, in conjunction with CAS and the Library, have formed a team to review IT
services and find a way to work more collaboratively in delivering support and customer services to the campus. In addition, Red Dot,
the campus’s web content management software, in the process of being upgraded.
It was noted that the classrooms have reached a milestone in that there are 31 seats in every classroom and wired for technology. This
shows great progress with technology in the classrooms and shouldn’t be left unnoticed or unrecognized. LISC is scheduled to meet
on Nov. 15th, 2010.
UAC (Undergraduate Academic Council) – JoAnn Malatesta, Chair
The UAC met on October 20th , and October 27th.
We have fully constituted all committees. The last two meetings have primarily focused on the proposed deactivation of 5 programs.
Specifically, the Council has considered impacts to the undergraduate program as well as implementation processes. A number of
Bills are being reviewed by the Curriculum Committee and it is anticipated that they should be ready for presentation to the SEC and
the Senate this semester. Additionally, the UAC will soon be examining the policy and process for reviewing restricted majors and
minors.
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ULC (University Life Council) – Danielle Leonard, Chair
On Wednesday, October 13th 2010 Dr. Peter Vellis, Director of Student Health Services, spoke to the group and answered questions
on the rationale for a mandatory insurance policy for UA students with a provision for waivers. ULC plans to take this issue under
consideration and will work to weigh the pros and cons of such a proposal in upcoming meetings.
On Wednesday, October 27th 2010 ULC discussed President Philip’s memo asking for the Senate’s comments on the deactivation of
academic programs. We considered how the President’s decision adversely impacts “university community conditions that affect the
overall health, safety, and well being of students, faculty, and staff.” While somewhat difficult to quantify, the fear, anxiety, and
overall stress felt by our community is great and has resulted in an atmosphere of uncertainty and low morale that must be addressed
by the administration as UA continues to feel the impact of these losses.
UPPC (University Planning and Policy Council) – R. Michael Range, Chair
UPPC met on Friday, October 29, 2010. 1. Certificate in Information Security proposed by the School of Business. This was
initially discussed at the 9/17 meeting, when it was tabled, pending further information. Since then, Professor Goel had submitted
additional material to the Council. He and Professor Bromley were present for the discussion. It was emphasized that, as in the past,
offerings of relevant courses will be subject to availability of sufficient external funding to cover costs, and that offerings in summer
would be fully covered by tuition. A federal grant will cover the costs of developing the on-line components of the program. The
Council voted unanimously to approve the proposal. 2. Strategic Plan. Provost Phillips shared brief summary versions as well as the
final full version of the Stategic Plan. There was some discussion about whether the Strategic Plan should be formally reviewed by
the Senate. UPPC agreed that given governance’s substantial representation on the SP Committee and the extensive opportunities for
feed back, such review would not be necessary. Instead, it was emphasized that governance should be involved in reviewing and
approving any proposed specific implementation steps. The Provost agreed to this. 3. The Council resumed discussion of the
proposed deactivation of programs in the Humanities. There was agreement about the difficulties in commenting about one specific
item that is part of a much larger reduction plan, when no specific details about the whole package were available. The Provost shared
some data about reductions in AA, but was not yet ready to share the breakdown by schools/colleges, except for the figures separating
CAS and all other S/C. On a percentage basis, it is planned that in 10-12 CAS will take a 7.5% reduction, all other S/C 6.8%, and
Academic Support Units 11.8%. The Council will finalize its comments via e-mail.
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