University Council Update
Authored by Joette Stefl-Mabry, Vice Chair of University Senate
Governance Council Update: May 13 - August15th
GOV met on May 13th
Senate Chair Wagner and Chief of Staff Leanne Wirkkula attended the meeting to discuss the
Provost Search Committee. A review of the procedures for formal consultation was
conducted referencing the following materials:
State University of New York Policies of the Board of Trustees, ARTICLE IX:
COLLEGE OFFICERS AND ORGANIZATIONS, TITLE B. COLLEGE ADMINSTRATIVE
OFFICERS, § 2. Appointment. Appointments of all college administrative officers and
professional staff not in a negotiating unit established pursuant to Article 14 of the
Civil Service Law shall be made by the chief administrative officer of the college;
such appointments shall be reported to the Chancellor. Appointment of academic
officers such as vice-president for academic affairs, academic deans and others with
similar responsibilities shall be made after consultation with the faculty.
Faculty Bylaws of the University at Albany, Article I. Section 2.5 Faculty
Participation in Advisory Groups Outside of Governance Bodies. Administrators
may choose to advance their leadership vision for the University by constituting
special committees and task forces, selecting individual faculty members because of
their experience or expertise. Ideally, such advisory groups shall be constituted in
consultation with the Governance Council of the University Senate and lines of
communication with relevant governance bodies shall be enunciated. In any case,
such groups do not represent the Faculty as a whole and advice from such groups
does not replace approval by or formal consultation with the Faculty. Such groups
may freely provide advice; however, for such groups to be considered part of the
formal consultative process, a majority of the faculty members must either be
appointed by, or their recommended appointment approved by, the Senate
Governance Council, as specified in Article 2, Section 5.5, and specific faculty
members must be designated to regularly report to the Senate. The Chair and Vice
Chair of the Senate shall be consulted in the composition of all major University
level search committees and committees to select honorary degree recipients.
Senate Chair Wagner’s understanding was that to be considered formal consultation GOV
could either approve a majority (51%) of the slate of faculty names A) GOV recommended
or B) recommended by the President. In this context, faculty are ‘rank and file’ teaching
faculty who are not playing another role, such as a Dean.
Chief of Staff Leanne Wirkkula clarified that the Provost Search Committee had not been
formed but, per the intended message from the President at the last Senate meeting, was on
the way to becoming formalized. Candidates had since been notified of their nominations to
serve, pending GOV’s approval. Responses were due by the close of business that
Wednesday. A total of 17 members would include a range of representation from different
units: 9 ‘rank and file’ teaching faculty, 4 academic leaders who also hold tenure, and 4
administrators. An open call for nominations went out to the campus in the February 28%
announcement regarding the transition. The President also requested the Deans and GOV
provide a proposed slate of faculty or staff.
GOV agreed to meet on Thursday, May 15* to review and vote on the President’s proposed
membership and to share any concerns. The list would be provided at that time.
Amendment RE: Committee on Assessment of Governance and Consultation.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to amend the Charter as follows:
Proposed Revision:
The following change was proposed:
X.1.3.3. The Committee shall develop and regularly administer
instruments, conduct data analysis and report findings to the Council on a two-
year cycle.
Chair Stefl-Mabry said that she would send out the formal amendment to the GOV
committee for a final review via email.
GOV met on Thursday, May 15%
The council reviewed the President’s proposed membership, and sent its recommendations
to the President.
On May 16*, Chair Stefl-Mabry received an email from Chief of Staff Wirkkula responding
to the Governance Council’s recommendations and asking GOV to vote on the amended list.
Chief of Staff Wirkkula commented that the President had appreciated GOV’s insight and
constructive feedback. An email vote was conducted and GOV voted unanimously to accept
the proposed slate.
On May 18*, Chair Stefl-Mabry sent an email to Chief of Staff Leanne Wirkkula to inform her
that the Governance Council had (via email) approved the final slate of the Provost's Search
Committee, as proposed by the President, after consultation with the Governance Council.
july 8th ; Michael Christakis sent an email to Chair Wagner, informing her that
since Candace Merbler had resigned from the UAS Board of Directors right around the end
of the semester in May, and pursuant to UAS Bylaws, vacancies from “constituent groups”
(in this case the “faculty”/the University Senate) shall be filled by said constituency group
until the next such election takes place (in the spring, in this case), it fell upon the
Governance Council to appoint a replacement for the UAS Board until the next election
cycle.
On July 9 Chair Wagner sent the request to GOV to appoint a replacement for the UAS
Board. On July 9%, Chair Stefl-Mabry sent an email to GOV with a list of prospective
candidates and asked GOV to vote via email. By July 14 a quorum had been reached and
Chair Stefl-Mabry notified Senate Chair Wagner that by means of an email poll, the
Governance Council had voted to accept the nomination of Gary Kleppel to the UAS Board as
areplacement for Candance Merbler.
August 15th
Chair Stefl-Mabry sent an email to GOV with the rewritten Amendment re: Committee on
Assessment of Governance and Consultation Although the Council had already voted to
accept the amendment, Chair Stefl-Mabry asked GOV to review the Amendment and
rationale and share their thoughts re: the rationale:
Rationale:
The Governance Council has concluded it is important to institutionalize systematic
evaluation of the effectiveness of governance in representing its constituencies, in
addressing issues and concerns, and in affecting institutional decisions. This would
support “the development of stable expectations and working relationships” as
recommended in the 2009 Middle States Report, Chapter 4, p. 2 (see
https://wiki.albany.edu/display/middlestates/Home). Although the recommendation
put forward in the 2009 Middle States Report was for annual campus surveys of faculty
(see quote below) the Governance Council has decided that a two year cycle would more
effectively support a process of survey development, implementation, analysis,
presentation of results and revision.
“Tt is strongly recommended that the campus survey of faculty completed for the
Middle States self-study be done annually as a way to monitor faculty views and
conditions at the University” (Chapter 4: Leadership, Governance and Administration,
p.8).
Once again, GOV voted unanimously to accept the Amendment.
Assessment of Governance and Consultation Ad Hoc Committee
Joel Bloom, Director of Academic Assessment & Survey Research, has been working with
GOV on the implementation of the shared governance and consultation surveys. Bloom sent
Chair Stefl-Mabry the results of the student and faculty and professional staff survey. GOV is
currently working on analyzing the results of the survey and will share a preliminary report
with GOV in the next few weeks.
