University Senate Executive Committee
Monday October 6, 2014
2:45 PM
UNH 306
Joette Stefl-Mabry, Senate Chair
Minutes
Present: Debrah Bernnard, Marc Cohen, Susanna Fessler, Cynthia Fox, Boris Goldfarb,
Caitlin Janiszewski, Michael Jaromin, Carol Jewell, Kajal Lahiri, R. Timothy
Mulcahy, Abebe Rorissa, John Schmidt, Joette Stefl-Mabry, Christine Wagner,
Robert Yagelski
Guests: Leanne Wirkkula
The meeting convened at 2:46 p.m.
APPROVAL OF SEC MINUTES
The minutes of September 15" were approved, with minor changes and 1 abstention.
The President was unable to attend as originally anticipated due to a conflicting
appointment.
INTERIM PROVOST’S REPORT - R. TIMOTHY MULCAHY
Interim Provost Mulcahy noted it had been a productive and interesting couple of weeks
meeting with deans and direct reports in the Provost’s Office. He shared there would be
two committees forming this coming year, related to the President’s recent budget
announcement.
The first committee will look at contingent and part time faculty issues including the
appropriate proportion to full time faculty, and fair compensation for the important role
they play and contributions they make to our academic mission. Also, prompted in part by
discussions about the upcoming merit-based Discretionary Service Award, the committee
will consider improvements to the current system of evaluation and feedback for
contingent faculty. The Interim Provost looks forward to input and dialog, especially in
advance of the budget making process, and looks forward to working with the Senate.
The second committee will look at graduate student issues, especially stipend levels. The
President has asked that a comparison be made with the compensation packets other
institutions offer, particularly other centers in the SUNY system, in order to stay
competitive and to continue to attract and retain the best students here.
He concluded by stating that these are big, important issues, yet great opportunities. The
Provost will consult with governance prior to and during the deliberations of both
committees. Ideally they will provide recommendations for consideration in the next
round of budget deliberations. The administration welcomes governance involvement in
both opportunities.
UNIVERSITY SENATE CHAIR’S REPORT - JOETTE STEFL-MABRY
Nothing to report.
As a point of information, GOV Chair Cynthia Fox and past GOV Chair Joette Stefl-Mabry
had requested to make a report at the October 20" Senate meeting on the survey given
last semester. The analysis of the results was assisted in part by Bruce Szelest, Joel
Bloom, and a grad student.
OTHER REPORTS
UFS (University Faculty Senator’s Report) -Danielle Leonard, J. Philippe Abraham
& John Schmidt, SUNY Senators
We are looking forward to the Fall Plenary Session of the UFS at SUNY-ESF in Syracuse on October 23-
25th, and will have more to report about the issues to be considered later.
We are also pleased to announce that the SUNY Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the University
Faculty Senate will be hosting a conference entitled “Making Diversity Count: Ensuring Equity, Inclusion,
Access and Impact” on November 12-13, 2014 at the Albany Marriott Hotel, located at 189 Wolf Road,
Albany, New York. This conference will leverage SUNY investments in student success and diversity while
exploring best practices in recruitment and retention of students, faculty and staff within the domain of
higher education.
We are thrilled to have Dr. Kerry Ann Rockquemore, President and CEO of the National Center for Faculty
Development and Diversity, and Dr. Daryl G. Smith, Senior Research Fellow and Professor Emerita of
Education and Psychology at the Claremont Graduate University, join us as our two keynote speakers at this
conference. For more information on this event and to register to attend, please visit our website at
www.suny.edu/makingdiversitycount.
We hope you will be able to join us for this seminal conference as we collaborate and share best practices
that will continue to help SUNY grow in this critical dimension.
GSA (Graduate Student Association) - Caitlin Janiszewski, GSA President
The first GSA report consists of the vision statements from our strategic plan the primary goals developed
by each of our respective officers:
ADVOCACY VISION STATEMENT
In order to promote GSA advocacy, we hope to solidify relationships with key offices within the SUNY
System. By continuing to foster the relationships with offices such as the Office of Environmental
Sustainability, the United University Professions, the Graduate Student Employees Union, the SUNY Albany
University Senate, the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students, and the SUNY Student
Assembly, we will shift the spotlight onto the GSA at both a system and national level.
In addition to expanding present relationships, we will look at laying the foundation for cooperation with
other organizations on campus, such as University Auxiliary Services, Graduate Studies, ITLAL, Career
Services, Financial Services, and Library Services, to name a few.
Critical to the advocacy agenda is the re-conceptualization and re-building of the Multicultural and
Affirmative Action Chair position. We hope to revitalize this position, while nurturing our network all in
efforts to support values which have historically been central for student governments.
One of the mechanisms on campus that may help us achieve these goals include critical participation on the
Community/Public Engagement committee since it is one of the four stakes in the ground proposed by
President Jones.
Finally, this year the GSA seeks to build its institutional memory and its structural capabilities to end its
long period of isolation. We are the graduate student government of a state University and we are only a few
miles from the central governance of this system. It is not just our location, but the vision and mission of our
new President that requires we prepare ourselves to facilitate our own inclusion in a much broader sense.
We need to have a meaningful role in steering the future of this institution within the community and within
the SUNY system and even on a national level through our new partners the NAGPS. The primary goal this
year is to facilitate this institutional memory and develop the mechanisms we need to sustain a strong
student government which can continually build and exercise its voice.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT VISION STATEMENT
The GSA’s professional development strategic plan will consist of three pillars: 1. academic and non-
academic professional development events, 2. consolidating and communicating university professional
development resources, and 3. outreach to both internal and external networks to improve professional
development opportunities. There are many mechanisms through which we will work on graduate student
professional development.
For professional development events, we will work on sponsoring events such as a GSA Research
Conference, CV and Resume Workshops for academic and non-academic jobs and internships, and possibly a
panel to discuss how to apply your degree to non-academic jobs. We also intend creating a professional
development resources page for graduate students to more easily find professional development
opportunities by consolidating many university and community networks and resources in addition to
creating more. And finally, we will also be reaching out into the community to improve databases of
professional development opportunities.
President’s Agenda:
Advocacy-
Goal # 1: Solidify and/or build our relationships with key entities on campus.
Goal # 2: Get out the vote- to get at least 10% of the graduate student population to vote in our elections
next year.
Goal # 3: Establish the garner respect for GSA’s critical position in the University Community, Capital
Region and the SUNY System.
Professional Development-
Goal # 1: Develop a hybrid academic / non-academic professional development model which empowers
students to accommodate the shifting job market.
Vice President’s Agenda:
Advocacy-
Goal #1: Improve RGSO relationship with faculty.
Professional Development-
Goal #1: RGSO reform. Goal #2: Develop a hybrid academic / non-academic professional development
model which empowers students to accommodate the shifting job market. Service-
Goal #1: Contribute to our efforts to better communicate with our student body.
Treasurer’s Agenda:
Advocacy / Professional Development-
Goal #1: Develop sound fiscal policy for the GSA.
Goal # 2: Increase the efficiency of our financial operations.
Goal # 3: Assess the strategic plan.
MCAA Agenda:
Advocacy-
Goal #1: Comprehensive reform the MCAA position.
Goal # 2: Outreach and programming to support GSA marketing efforts and promote issues of diversity,
equity, and inclusion throughout all aspects of GSA operations.
Programming Agenda:
Advocacy / Professional Development / Service Agenda -
Goal # 1: Market the existence of the GSA.
Goal # 2: Retention of student participation in the GSA.
Goal # 3: Support the GSA advocacy agenda.
Grants Agenda:
Professional Development-
Goal #1: Continue to develop the GSA Grants Program.
SA (Student Association) -Marc Cohen, Student Association Representative
ippikill
Completed
« Planning and Tabling for the Great Danetopia
In process
« Ihave been working with James to place an order for new Dippikill merchandise
* lam finalizing my office hours
¢ lam planning my Block Party Tabling Event
Upcoming
« Iplan on contacting several student group E-boards about the prospect of having a Dippikill Retreat
« Iplan to follow up with the International Affairs Director about planning a student welcoming event
for this semester and potentially the beginning of next semester
* I will be planning out dates for my tabling events for the rest of the semester
Community Engagement and Outreach
Mississippi Day
« September 13, 2014
« Finding 25 UAlbany student volunteers
¢ Two shifts (10:00am - 1:00pm / 1:00pm - 5:00pm)
¢ Currently coordinating with Panama, Co-Community Service Chair for Alpha Phi Omega- should have
list by the end of this week
September Service Day
Date and Time are TBD- will be finalized by tonight
* Contacting 4-6 local external organization (Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House, etc.) for
the purposed of solidifying a common date where UAlbany students can go and serve the community
collectively.
* Creating a flyer for the event to distribute at the SA Block Party
* Consider renting UAlbany Shuttles for Transportation
* Consider paying for Breakfast
Gender and Sexuality Concerns
National Coming Out Reception and Festivities
Reception on October 23rd at 8:00pm
« Performance artist Lady Dane has been booked
« Plan to have other people share their coming out stories
* Will have food, refreshments, activities and giveaways
National Diversity Month/LGBTQ History Month (October)
¢ Working with Multicultural Affairs on planning events
* More details to follow
Luncheon with Sue Rankin (November)
« Speaker Sue Rankin- one of the creators of the campus climate index
* Will be discussing diversity on campus and what can be done to uphold our mission in supporting
diversity includes our queer students in particular
* More details to follow
Communications
Press and Medic Contacts
* Department has obtained direct numbers to contact for future press releases and event information
* Contacts include the Times Union and local news stations
SA Daily
Establishment of Monthly SA Newsletter
First edition to be released shortly
Academic Affairs
Albany Police Appreciation Night
°
Saturday October 4th at 6:00pm at the Football stadium
Please come out to the game to show support for the officers of the department.
DWI awareness Event
Planning on tying into Alcohol Awareness Week in October
More details to follow
Programming
Block Party
September 7 at 12:00
Putting together last minutes things
Fall Concert
Looking into the possibility of having concert
Potentially November 22
Additional events:
Unity Festival for Gender and Sexuality Concerns, October 19" at 2 p.m. Colonial
Quad
Multicultural Affairs will hold NCBI and safe space training this month
Legislative Affairs, and co-sponsor Student Involvement will hold a ‘UAlbany You
Register, You Vote’ event Wednesday, October 8. Administrators including Kathy
Sheehan will attend. Over 100 new students registered before the deadline.
Community Engagement, October 12" Pine Hills Cleanup from 12 - 3 p.m. at
Ridgefield Park. SA’s new Communications Department will work to send out press
releases on this and other events for which students should be lauded to counteract
tough, discouraging press posted by the Times Union in the past on such positive
efforts.
Department of Academics and Advocacy held a well-received Albany Police
Department appreciation day, with a pre-reception and tickets to game.
SA Representative Cohen encouraged the SEC to please let students know they are doing
a good job.
COUNCIL/COMMITTEE CHAIRS’ REPORTS:
CAA (Council on Academic Assessment) - Deborah Bernnard, Chair
Nothing to report. Our first meeting is Tuesday, Sept. 30.
CAA examined its charge and discussed suggestions for changes. Teaching faculty
volunteers are still needed.
CAFFECoR (Committee on Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expression, and
Community Responsibility) -Carol Jewell, Chair
Date: September 26, 2014
I.
Informational
CAFFECOoR had its first meeting of the 2014-2015 academic year on September 24, 2014. We talked
about the change to our charge, but are still unclear as to what we are expected to do. The current
charge found in the Senate Handbook suggested CAFFECOR is still supposed to establish policies
and procedures re: academic freedom and ethics. This seems contradictory. Senate should review
what they really want from CAFFECoR & perhaps reconsider what was taken away in 2013 and its
impact on the campus. It’s hard for the Committee to function if unclear what it’s to do/what breadth
it has.
We would like to know the official, legal, University at Albany policy defining the following terms:
academic freedom, freedom of expression, and community responsibility, since there are a variety of
ways to define those phrases. Previously, the UA community had a clear (or clearer) understanding of
these, via the Principles for a Just Community, but
the Principles for a Just Community were removed from several places on the UA website, although
they still appear at others. We would like the official, legal, University at Albany policy governing free
speech, so that we can decide if we should discuss issues restricting it. As an example, it would be
good to have these policies so that we can discuss the use of social media in academic settings, and
the possible problems therein.
Similarly, we are unsure if CAFFECoR, in its capacity as an advisory body, is allowed to put forth bills
to the SEC, and then to the Senate. We have found conflicting information regarding CAFFECoR
making recommendations versus actually creating bills.
There are no student members of this Committee. We are unsure if we need to discuss student issues
of academic freedom, freedom of expression, and community responsibility, however those terms are
defined, or if these are covered by other Senate Councils.
We are unsure if we are to confine our discussions to the University at Albany only, or if we should
include regional, national, and international matters which may affect academia.
Il. Reports of Actions
N/A
Ill. Recommendations for Actions
Jewell said she would research past CAFFECoR meeting minutes, for insight into issues discussed in
the past.
Jewell will schedule a meeting for October.
Chair Jewell reported there had been several conversations about questions regarding the
charge, on which they got clarification. They would meet again Wednesday, October 8"
and would be discussing 2 articles about issues of academic freedom and freedom of
expression in regards to social media. GOV Chair Fox noted this report reminded that
GOV needs to look at the Faculty handbook. Also, any updates or documents Councils and
Committees wish to post on the website should be forwarded to Staff Support Elisa Lopez.
CERS (Committee on Ethics in Research and Scholarship) - Susanna Fessler,
Chair
Nothing to report.
COR (Council on Research) - Kajal Lahiri, Chair
Nothing to report. The first meeting is on Sept. 29.
COR had met the past week for the first time. Volunteers are needed for the
subcomunittees.
CPCA (Council on Promotions and Continuing Appointments) - Sanjay Putrevu,
Chair
The next CPCA meeting is Oct. 1.
GAC (Graduate Academic Council) - Abebe Rorissa, Chair
We had a planning meeting and an initial/general GAC meeting on Tuesday, 9/9. At the initial GAC meeting,
the GAC’s three standing committees (Curriculum and Instruction; Admissions and Academic Standing;
Educational Policy and Procedure) were formed and their chairs elected. The GAC also has three student
members. Each of them will serve on a standing committee.
The GAC and its standing committees will each meet at least once every month during the Fall semester
(GAC meeting dates: 10/21, 11/18, & 12/9). We anticipate a fairly full agenda - new/revised graduate
programs, student cases (mostly grievances), policy revision, etc.
We need a few more volunteers to serve as members of the standing committees: two more from the
teaching faculty for the Committee on Educational Policy and Procedure, preferably not from Biology or
Criminal Justice. We encourage teaching faculty interested in serving on the standing committees to contact
Jonathan Bartow (jbartow@albany.edu).
The GAC will consider updates from standing committees and a proposal for a graduate certificate program
in Homeland Security, Cyber Security and Emergency Management (HCE) at its October 21 meeting.
In next meeting going to review 1 proposal
GAC needs 1 faculty member. They had voted on their committee memberships via e-mail.
In the next meeting they would review a proposal, and 1 of the standing committees is
looking at student grievances on which he would report next time.
GOV (Governance Council) - Cynthia Fox, Chair
GOV had its first meeting on September 22. There are many new members (50%), and much of our time
was spent reviewing recent and on-going GOV activities and discussing the roles and responsibilities of the
two subcommittees we will be forming over the next few weeks (i.e., the Committee on Assessment of
Government and Consultation and the Committee on Liaison and Elections). Our work for the year will be
shaped by the results of the Survey of Governance and Consultation that was administered last spring; we
anticipate that the Survey Report will be ready for us to look at our next meeting on October 15.
GOV also discussed a request received from Diana Mancini, Co-Chair of the President’s Advisory Committee
on Campus Safety (ACCS) that we recommend a list of six teaching faculty from which three will be invited
to serve a one-year term. Our discussion has continued over email and we are currently voting on the final
list.
Finally, GOV had a preliminary discussion of the question of whether individuals should be allowed to
participate on more than one Senate Council or Committee.
GOV voted via e-mail and submitted recommendations for the President’s Advisory
Committee on Campus Safety.
LISC (Council on Libraries, Information Systems, and Computing) - Boris
Goldfarb, Chair
LISC will meet on Wednesday, October 8. The chairs and the membership of the two committees will be
finalized at the meeting.
There was a discussion on LISC’s charge and on suggested changes. LISC would meet at
the end of the month. Meanwhile, there would be a couple events at the Library:
Preservation Department naming ceremony that Friday; an end of month celebration of
Open Access Week, during which the Library will unveil its institutional repository.
Attendance was encouraged.
UAC (Undergraduate Academic Council) -Robert Yagelski, Chair
The Undergraduate Academic Council held its initial meeting of the 2014-2015 academic year on Thursday,
September 11". At that meeting, the UAC committees were organized for the academic year, and the chair
presented members with an initial agenda of items to be taken up by the Council. The Council also approved
a request by the Department of Public Administration and Policy to change the name of its Public Policy and
Administration major to Public Policy and Management.
The UAC met again on Thursday, September 18" to resume work on the General Education competencies
plans that was begun by the Council during the 2013-2014 academic year. Under the new General
Education curriculum, all programs were to submit by fall semester, 2013 plans for meeting the four
general education competencies (advanced writing, critical inquiry, oral discourse, and information
literacy). Seventeen such plans were reviewed and approved by UAC before the end of the 2013-2014
academic year; twenty-two plans were reviewed and returned to the appropriate departments for revision
and remain to be approved. Three other plans were submitted but remain to be reviewed. On 9/18/2014, the
UAC reviewed and approved the competencies plan for the Environmental Sciences major, which was
forwarded to the Associate Dean for General Education. The UAC will resume its review of the competencies
plans at its next scheduled meeting on October 9".
ULC (University Life Council) - Michael Jaromin, Chair
The ULC will hold its first meeting on October 14th.
At ULC’s first meeting they would continue discussions with the Office of Diversity and
Inclusion on this year’s
UA Access.
UPPC (University Planning and Policy Council) - Christine Wagner, Chair
UPPC met on 9/11/14. Interim Provost, Dr. Timothy Mulcahy, introduced himself to the members of UPPC.
Sue Phillips provided an update on the transition of CNSE to SUNY IT. UPPC approved an initial proposal
for a new undergraduate major in Human Development from the School of Education and an initial proposal
for a new undergraduate major in Computer Engineering from the College of Computing and Information.
UPPC would meet that coming Thursday and would be reviewing an initial proposal for a
concentration in Data Analytics, part of the Computer Science and Applied Mathematics
major. There would also be a meeting with representatives from Jeanette Altaribba’s
Office of Undergraduate Studies, Bob Yagelski from UAC and UPPC Chair Wagner to
review the process by which undergraduate pre-proposals and letters of intent go through
GOV and Councils. The intent is to clear up any confusion and improve communication.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Review of Council Charges
Discussion ensued with respect to Senate Councils and Committees, as well as GSA and
SA, on items including
¢ how to measure effectiveness / self-assessment
¢ importance of resolutions and recommendations as important indicators of concern
o as influential advisory role, though not legally binding
o despite a lack of mechanisms or authority for compliance, which lies with
President, Deans, SUNY, etc.
= consider requesting that the liaison for whoever is enforcing make a report
so that there is communication with the Senate once recommendations
have been reviewed
¢ how best to align charges with the Charter
o aligning work with the Charter versus suggesting amendments
o importance of careful reflection and consultation prior to making any changes to
the Charter
o Senate Chair Stefl-Mabry stressed that recommendations need to come from you
as Council Chairs.
¢ Potential legal issues within the Charter that would be a huge undertaking to address
Chair Stefl-Mabry requested that Council and Committee Chairs each present to the
University community a 1-slide equivalent mini presentation on the work they and the
members do. All SEC members agreed to present, potentially at the University and
student Senate meetings.
NEW BUSINESS
As immediate past Senate and current UPPC Chair Christine Wagner will be on sabbatical
next semester, then chairing the Psychology Department, SEC needs to consider the
procedure for her replacement. Per the Charter
X.2.2. The chair of the Council shall be the Past Chair of the Senate, or if
unavailable, shall be elected from among the Senators.
There would be a special election of the UPPC Interim Chair under GOV. The process was
to be further considered by GOV in consultation with Carolyn McDonald who drafted the
Charter language.
A motion was made and unanimously approved that GOV discuss the replacement of the
UPPC chair.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 4:27 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by
Elisa Lopez, Recorder
