COUNCIL AND COMMITTEE SUMMARIES
Senate Executive Committee, March 31, 2008
As submitted to Dick Collier, Secretary, University Senate
CAA (Council on Academic Assessment) -- William Lanford, Chair
Nothing to report.
COR (Council on Research) – Lawrence Schell, Chair
Nothing to report.
CPCA (Council on Promotions and Continuing Appointments) – Eric Lifshin, Chair
Nothing to report.
GAC (Graduate Academic Council) – Lawrence Kranich, Chair
Nothing to report. Next meeting April 17th
GOV (Governance Council) – John Delano, Chair
The Governance Council has not met since the last Senate meeting on March 10. Since that meeting, the Dean of Graduate Studies, Marjorie
Pryse, has kindly provided a summary of the remarks that she made concerning the proposed amendment to the Senate Charter for the creation of IRCAP, a
new review committee for academic proposals originating from non-academic units at the institution. Those comments, and those stated at the March 10
Senate meeting by Vice Provost Sue Faerman, will be the principle agenda item at the upcoming meeting of the Governance Council on Friday, April 4.
During that meeting, the Governance Council will consider possible revisions to the proposed amendment
LISC (Council on Libraries, Information Systems, and Computing) – Lawrence Raffalovich, Chair
Nothing to report.
UAC (Undergraduate Academic Council) – Karin Reinhold-Larsson, Chair
UAC unanimously approved the change of name from “Minor in International Perspectives” to “Minor in International Studies”, bringing
the minor’s name in alignment with similar program nationwide.
The proposal from the Honors College changing the requirements for the Honors College program from 6 honors courses to: “18 credits in honor
courses with a maximum of 4 credits in 1 credit honors courses” was approved by UAC. The Senate examined this proposal earlier in the Fall semester. The
new version incorporates the recommendation of the Senate limiting the number of 1 credit courses allowed. The changes:
Honors College students will be required to take six 18 honors courses credits in honors courses before their junior year. (Students admitted after
one semester in residence will be required to take five courses; students beginning in The Honors College after two semesters in residence at
UAlbany will be required to take four 12 courses credits.) A maximum of 4 of the 18 credits may be earned through one-credit honors
courses.
UAC unanimously approved the creation of an “Individual Concentration” that would allow students registered in the combined BS Business/MBA
to graduate when the courses they have taken do not particularly fit any of the current concentrations.
UAC is currently studying the Writing Proposal from the Provost’s Task Force on Undergraduate Writing Instruction. We had two
meetings with Dr. Robert Yagelski, from the Dept. of Educational Theory & Practice.
ULC (University Life Council) – Joan Savitt, Chair
ULC met on March 17. Three main areas were discussed: (1) student concerns about CDTA buses not stopping to pick up students in locations
where UA buses do [this appears to have been resolved now]; (2) UA’s new BRisk group and its subgroups, all dealing with responses to urgent situations on
campus. BRisk is chaired by John Murphy, who also is a member of ULC, and therefore can serve as an unofficial conduit between BRisk and the council;
and (3) smoking on campus, in particular, in the vicinity of doorways. While the members of ULC would be delighed to see an overall reduction in smoking
on campus, it is not clear at this point that revisions to policies which are currently not enforced will improve the situation.
UPC (University Planning and Policy Council) – Diane Dewar, Chair
UPC hasn't had any business this semester. The name change for Grad studies has been put on hold for us due to work still being done in
the Porvost's office on this. I also have not gotten anything from UAC or GAC officially for review.
CAFFECoR (Committee on Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expression, and Community Responsibility)
– Sanjay Goel, Chair
CAFFECoR is currently in the process of investigating the impact of academic performance-enhancing drugs on academic freedom and
community responsibility. On March 14, 2008, Dolores Cimini, Director of Middle Earth Counseling Center, gave a presentation to the group which
highlighted usage patterns, demographics, and health effects of using drugs such as Adderall, Concerta, and Ritalin to give a better understanding of the issue.
She also discussed what is currently being done at the University at Albany to assess and deal with students who seem to be abusing drugs and alcohol, in
general - behavior which is found to have similar usage patterns. Sally D’Alessandro, Associate Director of Conflict Resolution and Civic Responsibility was
also present to offer her perspective in terms of the legal restrictions and disciplinary actions pertaining to unprescribed use of such drugs at the University.
While CAFFECoR believes that enforcing legal use is not easy, it should not preclude the University from taking a position on the issue and alerting the
University community to its existence. We plan to have future meetings with individuals from the University Police Department and/or the Disabled Student
Services center to gain a better understanding of the situation before recommending future steps.
CERS (Committee on Ethics in Research and Scholarship) – Zai Liang, Chair
Following a meeting with the Interim President in February, CERS has formed an Ad Hoc Committee whose charge is to discuss/propose potential
changes in misconduct policies and procedures. After some delay, the Ad Hoc Committee plans to have its first meeting on April 21.
