SENATE COUNCIL AND COMMITTEE SUMMARY REPORT
Christian Poehlmann, Senate Secretary, University Senate
Submitted for November 21, 2016 Senate meeting:
UNIVERSITY SENATE CHAIR’S REPORT – James Collins
I.
Informational
1. On October 11, Senate Leadership (Chair Collins, Vice Chair Reinhold, Immediate Past
Chair Fox), met for a ‘stakeholders’ meeting with University Council Chair Michael
Castellana to discuss preferred characteristics of presidential applicants and likely
challenges facing a new President.
2. On October 19, Chair Collins attended the UUP Executive Committee to explain and
encourage participation in the presidential search process, encourage volunteers on
Senate Councils and subcommittees, and discuss perceived problems with Compact
Planning, in light of a UUP report on the Compact Plan process.
3. On October 20-22, Chair Collins attended the SUNY Fall 2016 Senate Plenary. He
attended the Campus Governance Leaders Constituency meeting and learned of shared
concerns and motions to improve:
a.
The need for ongoing education about shared governance when there are new
campus leaders (e.g. Presidents, Provosts, Deans);
b. The need for ongoing education among Senate constituent units when there is a
Senate, like UA, that is a University Senate, representing, faculty, professionals,
students, management confidential and others;
c.
That the SUNY Senate encourages local legislative advocacy by Senate officers
and members, with a current legislative agenda.
4. Chair Collins and other Senate leaders have scheduled a meeting for November 22 with
the Provost and Chief of Staff.
5. On October 25, Chair Collins met with Assistant to the President Alice Oldfather to
discuss the Agenda and President’s Report for the Fall Faculty Assembly, November 9.
6. On October 26, Chair Collins received a request from Bret Benjamin of UUP for the
Senate to consider a UUP report on SIRF evaluations: “The Place of Student Evaluations
in Assessing Faculty Teaching”
7. On October 27, Chair Collins and Chair Fox of UPPC met with members of UAC to
discuss planning and scheduling for the multiple changes to records made necessary by
apparently small changes, such as re-naming, merging, or splitting departments. We also
discussed how to best educate Academic Deans about these matters.
8. On October 31 Chair Collins received an inquiry from a Senator about the EOP Program
following an article in the ASP on 10/25/16. He discussed the matter with Associate
Provost William Hedberg, who said that his office was working with EOP leadership and
an advisory group to improve documents and procedures.
9. On November 7, 2016, the SEC voted to support:
a.
Change of name from School of Education's Department of Educational
Administration and Policy Studies to the Department of Educational Leadership
and Policy Studies.
b. Merger within College of Engineering and Applied Science of the Department of
Informatics and the Department of Information Studies into a Department
of Information Science.
10. On November 8, Chair Collins discussed the anticipated faculty roster of the Presidential
Search Committee with University Council Chair Michael Castellana.
11. On November 9, Chair Collins discussed the anticipated faculty roster and plans to
resolve a tie vote with Vice Chair Karin Reinhold and Secretary Chris Poehlman.
II.
Actions taken
A. Convened the Fall Faculty Meeting.
B. Notified the Office of the Provost and Office of Budget of Senate support for three
proposals:
a.
Change of name from School of Education's Department of Educational
Administration and Policy Studies to the Department of Educational Leadership
and Policy Studies.
b. Merger within College of Engineering and Applied Science of the Department of
Informatics and the Department of Information Studies into a Department
of Information Science.
c.
Separation within the School of Business of the Department of Information
Technology Management into the Department of Information Security and Digital
Forensics and the Department of Information Systems and Business Analytics
C. Referred the UUP Report “The Place of Student Evaluations in Assessing Faculty
Teaching” to the Council on Academic Assessment and the Council on Promotion and
Continuing Appointment for review and recommendation.
D. Requested that the Emeritus Center appoint a representative to the University Senate,
pursuant to Resolution 1516-01R: RESOLUTION ON EMERITI PARTICIPATION IN
THE UNIVERSITY SENATE.
III.
Recommendations for actions
None
OTHER REPORTS
UFS (University Faculty Senate) – Diane Hamilton, Walter Little & Latonia Spencer, SUNY
Senators
The SUNY Faculty Senators report that the official documents from the Fall Plenary 2016 at
SUNY Cortland can be found on the SUNY Senate webpage at this link:
http://system.suny.edu/facultysenate/plenary-meetings/#f16
These include:
Plenary Report - Cortland October 20-22, 2016
Fall 2016 SUNY Cortland - Chancellor's Q & A
Resolutions:
174-01-1 - Resolution on Faculty and Professional Staff Membership on College/University
Councils
174-02-1 - Resolution on the Implementation of Applied Learning
174-03-3 - Resolution for SUNY Ethics Review
174-04-1 - Requesting Full Complements on College/University Councils
174-05-1 - Resolution on Faculty Oversight of Micro-Credentials and Other Emerging Learning
Experiences
174-06-1 - Resolution to change the wording of the criteria for awards for Conversations in the
Disciplines
Presentations:
UTeach - Excellence in STEM Teacher Preparation
Provost Alex Cartwright Fall 2016 SUNY Cortland - Provost Office Presentation
Fall 2016 Committee Reports
Cortland Plenary Final Agenda
GSA (Graduate Student Association) – Dylan Carr GSA President
Nothing to report
SA (Student Association) – Felix Abreu, Student Association President
COUNCIL/COMMITTEE CHAIRS’ REPORTS:
CAA (Council on Academic Assessment) – James Mower, Chair
The General Education Assessment Committee and the Academic Programs Review Committee are currently
preparing reports for discussion and approval at the next full CAA meeting in December.
CAFFECoR (Committee on Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expression, and Community
Responsibility) –Carol Jewell, Chair
Nothing reported
CERS (Committee on Ethics in Research and Scholarship) – Michael Jerison, Chair
Nothing reported
COR (Council on Research) – Daniele Fabris, Chair
●
Nothing reported
CPCA (Council on Promotions and Continuing Appointments) – Louise-Anne McNutt, Chair
●
To date, three case reviews completed, one tabled (required document requested)
●
CPCA will provide candidates the date their file is forwarded to the Council and a tentative date
for the review.
●
A new computerized administrative system is expected to roll out in 2017 to improve the
processing of case files
GAC (Graduate Academic Council) – James Fossett, Chair
●
I am pleased to report that at its regularly scheduled meeting on October 24, 2016, the Graduate
Affairs Council approved proposals on the recommendation of the Committee on Curriculum and
Instruction for changes in the PhD program in Educational Psychology and the MS Program in
Mental Health Counseling. No further action is required by either the Senate Executive Committee
or the Senate as a whole.
GOV (Governance Council) – Karin Reinhold, Chair
The Governance Council met on Nov 2nd . We discussed and the recommendation from the Liaison and Election
Committee on the election of faculty members to the Presidential Search Committee, which considered a process to
ensure scholarly diversity in the election for the Presidential Search Committee. It recommended the six vacancies
be filled according to the following plan.
●
The Uptown campus is allocated 4 representatives, while the East and Downtown campuses are each
allocated a representative.
●
The candidates receiving the highest vote on each of the three campuses will fill three of the
candidacies.
●
One candidate each from the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Sciences will fill the three remaining
vacancies on the uptown campus.
The Governance Council approved the Report on the Shared Governance Survey for presentation to the SEC and the
Senate.
The Governance Council considered the issue of the scope of consultation with the Senate regarding proposal that
are considered “minor” changes. There are often proposals that involve varying degrees of curricular changes as
well as personnel and fiscal impact. Some of them must be reviewed by UPPC and GAC or UAC and referred to the
Senate for discussion and a vote. A prior SEC recommended that proposals with apparent small or non-curricular
and/or fiscal changes might not merit a separate consultation process. However, often changes do have
consequences for other university bodies and consequently, there is a need for a procedure to inform the Office of
the Provost of changes to be implemented. Additionally, the determination of what constitutes a “small change” has
led to cases in which major changes in the way a department operates were enacted without apparent consultation
with the affected faculty.
The Governance Council considered the procedure the Senate should follow when handling proposals, even when
they are presented as “small changes”, and recommended the following steps. Our major concern was to design a
procedure that ensures that all parties involved are timely informed of proposed changes to their program.
The first two recommendations are designed to keep faculty that could be affected by new changes, timely informed
about changes that are proposed in their own department.
Recommendation 1. To ensure that all proposals have had due early consideration and discussion in the department
of origin, proposals must include the minutes of the faculty meeting or the program committee meeting where the
proposal has been discussed with a broad group of faculty of the department in question.
Recommendation 2. To ensure that the Senate communicates to its constituency the business it is considering in a
timely manner, committee reports should be included with council meeting agendas.
Recommendation 3. All proposals should be directed to the appropriate Senate councils: UPPC and GAC or/and
UAC. They should also be sent to CAS if appropriate. The councils will then determine whether the proposal is
ready for consideration by the SEC and the Senate. If the council agrees with the proposal, it will send it to the SEC
and the Senate for discussion and vote. If the council disagrees with the proposal, it will send it back to the
originating unit with suggestions for improvements.
Proposals that are truly “minor” modifications will go through this process expeditiously and thus we considered
that this procedure does not constitute an unduly burden. On the other hand, if a proposal has unforeseen
implications, this process serves as a process of uncovering issues, as an opportunity to remedy them, and as a
measure to inform faculty in the affected departments.
On Nov 8th, Catellana, Chairman of the University Council, communicated the results of the elections for the six
faculty members of the Presidential Search Committee. Unfortunately, the result of the election top six candidates
did not reflect the academic diversity recommended by of the Liaison and Elections Committee and Governance
Council, taking into account the two persons tied for the sixth position. We were informed that due to legal
concerns, the recommendation of the Liaison and Elections Committee and Governance Council on the selection of
faculty members for the Presidential Search Committee could not be implemented. But to honor the spirit of the
recommendation, Catellana would consider the inclusion of seventh faculty member in the Presidential Search
Committee to achieve the desired academic diversity.
LISC (Council on Libraries, Information Systems, and Computing) – David Mamorella, Chair
Report/Updates from Rebecca Mugridge (Dean of Libraries):
Faculty searches
•
Web Developer/Designer. We’ve interviewed three candidates, and are scheduling a fourth for later this
month.
•
Serials Coordinator. We’ve made an offer and will make an announcement pending verification of
employment history and educational credentials.
•
Dewey Administrative Support Assistant. We’ve interviewed four candidates; I expect a memo from the
search committee this week.
•
Subject Librarian for Anthropology, Geography and Planning, and Communication. Search Committee: The
deadline for applications has been extended to October 5. I expect a memo from the search committee this week
regarding whom to interview.
•
Dewey Visiting Assistant Librarian. We’ve interviewed four candidates; I expect a recommendation this
week.
•
Director of Technical Services and Library Systems. We will seek permission to hire in the next week or
two; the job will hopefully be posted by the end of October.
•
Reference Librarian. We plan to conduct an internal search for this position.
•
Subject Librarian for Dewey. We are developing the job description.
Student Advisory Board
We have had an overwhelming response to our call for members of the Libraries’ Student Advisory Board, with
approximately 100 volunteers. Rather than turn anyone away, we decided to split the group in two and have half
meet during the fall and half meet during the spring semester. Our first meeting is on October 25.
Library Hours Task Force
At the request of the Libraries’ Student Advisory Board, I have appointed a Task Force to make recommendations
regarding the hours of operation for all three university libraries. The Task Force is conducting a survey of the
student body during the week of October 24 about their use of the libraries and their preferences regarding library
hours.
Open Access Week
The Libraries are hosting an event in recognition of Open Access Week on October 25. For more information, check
out our press release.
UAC (Undergraduate Academic Council) – Karen Kiorpes and Christy Smith, Co-Chairs
UAC met on October 18 and again on November 10. In its September meeting, UAC reviewed a proposal from the
School of Social Welfare to revise their policies on termination from their major. In response to questions at that
meeting, the School clarified the language of the policy and the circumstances under which a student would not
receive a passing grade in Field Placements. The proposal was approved unanimously on October 18.
On October 18 UAC reviewed two revised General Education plans, one from Political Science and the other from
Social Welfare. The former was approved. UAC has asked Social Welfare for a point of clarification regarding the
Dewey Library role in the Plan.
Four new General Education Competency Plans were submitted. After the October meeting, Chair Kiorpes divided
UAC voting members into subcommittees to review three of the new Competency Plans. Kiorpes assigned plans to
subcommittees based on representation of a UAC faculty member in a discipline relevant to the department
submitting the plan. The subcommittees reported on the plans at the UAC meeting on November 10.
●
Computer Science: UAC will work with the department on required revisions before it can be
approved.
●
CNSE: Approved pending minor changes.
●
Urban Studies and Planning: Approved pending minor changes.
The Human Development competency plan will be reviewed in time for discussion at the December 6 UAC
meeting.
The Committee on Admissions and Academic Standing will be submitting a proposal for a statute of limitations for
late withdrawal requests. Additionally, a proposal regarding readmission petitions may be forthcoming.
Two student cases are under review by Interdisciplinary Studies, including one internship.
On October 27, Kiorpes and Kathie Winchester met with Cynthia Fox and Jim Collins to discuss their request to
SEC to create documentation of procedures to follow when a department or college proposes certain organizational
changes. Recent proposed changes in the School of Business and in the College of Computer Engineering and
Applied Sciences have brought such issues to the forefront, and there has been clarification regarding the role the
SEC and UPPC should play in such proposals. Kiorpes and Winchester want to capture the jurisdiction for
approvals, the steps needed, and the order of those steps, based on the types of administrative changes being
proposed. They provided Fox and Collins a draft of a list of possible types of changes and a list of the groups that
may be involved in approval and implementation.
ULC (University Life Council) – Ekow King, Chair
I. Informational –
a.
Undergraduate Scholar Representation- The ULC continues to seek Undergraduate representation on on
the council.
b.
Charter Revisions - The Council also continues to reviewing the ULC charter to ensure consistency with
the structure and language of the University at Albany. Any changes made will be presented to the Senate body for
approval.
c.
Tobacco Free Campus Initiative (TFCI) – Investigations into the TFCI has yielded little information to date,
but we have been informed that the initiative is in the hands of the Policy Advisory Group
II. Reports of Actions -
a.
The Council has created a sub-committee to create a proposal for the development of a series of workshops
to train our campus community how to lessen the effect of trauma do to incidents of discrimination on campus or
incidents that impact our campus community. Deborah Lafond, Ekow King and Amani Edwards are currently
serving on the committee
III. Recommendations for Actions - None
UPPC (University Planning and Policy Council) – Cynthia Fox, Chair
1.
Informational
a.
We are trying to bring the UPPC pages of the Senate website up to date. Minutes from the 2015-16
meetings of UPPC have been located and posted, and agendas and minutes for this year are being
posted more regularly.
b.
We are trying to arrange for Sandra Starke, our recently hired Associate VP for Enrollment
Management, to attend either our Nov 16 or our December 7 meeting.
c.
At our meeting of 10/19, UPPC’s recently reconstituted sub-committees, the Resource Analysis
and Planning Committee (RAPC), chaired by Mitch Leventhal, and the University Facilities
Committee, chaired by Sridar Chittur, presented their first reports.
d.
On 10/27, UPPC Chair Fox attended a meeting requested by UAC Co-Chair Karen Kiorpes to
discuss the need for guidelines regarding the process of campus activities such as name changes to
departments, the formation of new colleges, combining or merging and splitting schools, etc.
e.
The Council is next scheduled to meet on 11/16. The agenda includes one item of Old Business, a
continuation of the discussion of the role of UPPC role in Compact Planning, and two items of
New Business, a discussion of Senate policy and procedures re departmental name changes and
reorganizations, and a proposed Resolution on CNSE.
2.
Actions Taken
a.
Following receipt of a revised LOI modified to address the concerns raised by UPPC on 10/19,
UPPC Chair Fox signed the Campus Impact Form and forwarded the LOIl for an MS in Digital
Forensics (SOB) to Jon Bartow, Vice Dean for Graduate Education on 10/27.
b.
Following receipt of a revised LOI modified to address the concerns raised by UPPC on 10/19,
UPPC Chair Fox signed the Campus Impact Form and forwarded the LOI for a Ph. D. Electrical
and Computer Engineering (CEAS) to Jon Bartow, Vice Dean for Graduate Education on 10/27.
3.
Recommendations.
a.
None at this time
