COUNCIL AND COMMITTEE SUMMARIES
Senate Executive Committee, January 28, 2008
As submitted to Dick Collier, Secretary, University Senate
CAA (Council on Academic Assessment) -- William Lanford, Chair
No report.
COR (Council on Research) – Lawrence Schell, Chair
No report.
CPCA (Council on Promotions and Continuing Appointments) – Eric Lifshin, Chair
No report.
GAC (Graduate Academic Council) -- Sally Friedman, Chair [No summary received.]
At the GAC meeting of 12/19/07 (date rescheduled due to snow), the main item of business was a discussion of new
initiatives on Preparing Future Faculty sponsored by Dean Pryse and others at the university. Among other things, these
initiatives will lead to enhanced instruction of graduate students as to their responsibilities as future faculty. To bring them into
line with other university programs, we also considered and passed a mostly administrative proposal to drop doctoral residency
requirements from LLC programs. Finally, in line with GAC’s responsibility to oversee the ombuds program, a meeting of the
ombuds committee is in the works for February.
GOV (Governance Council) – John Delano, Chair
The Governance Council has discussed three agenda items during its two recent meetings. (a) Proposed revision to Senate
Bill 0708-04 dealing with the ITLAL Director on LISC and CAA; (b) Proposed revision of Senate Bill 0708-05 that was not
approved by the Interim President; and (c) proposal for the creation of a new layer of review for course/program proposals originating
from 'not degree-granting units' at UAlbany. The GOV Chair has met with the Director of ITLAL, the Interim President, and the Vice
Provost for Undergraduate Studies to ensure that their perspectives are represented for items 'a', 'b', and 'c', respectively, during the
GOV discussions. I have e-mailed Sue Faerman to provide her with the GOV idea for composition of the proposed layer of review,
and also to confirm whether the ITLAL Director reports directly to her.
LISC (Council on Libraries, Information Systems, and Computing) – Lawrence Raffalovich, Chair
LISC met Friday afternoon, January 25th. .
1. We voted to stick with the 2005 email policy.
2. We discussed potential technological solutions to the academic integrity problem discussed at the last Senate
meeting (the resolution from CaffeCoR). We have no information regarding the relative merits of specialized software to catch
plagiarism compared to Google. The consensus was that there is no technological fix.
3. We voted to approve a proposal to revise the Charter to modify the name and charge of the IT Policy Usage
Committee, and to have it chaired by the CIO. This proposal is printed below.
4. LISC discussed the continuing erosion of the Libraries' budget, which has been flat for several years. Costs
continue to rise, exacerbated by the weak dollar. Academic resources are threatened and the Libraries' national ranking has
fallen. The Library Committee is preparing a report to be submitted to Council.
Proposed Revisions to Information Technology Policy Usage Committee
Proposed Title: The Information Technology Committee
Revised Charge:
The Committee shall consist of at least 6 but not more than 8 members, with at least 3 from the Council. It will be chaired by the Chief Information Officer or
designee.
The Committee shall review and make recommendations on IT services in support of the University’s academic programs and goals. The Committee’s work
addresses a wide spectrum of information technology matters including planning, infrastructure, service delivery and quality, access and security, and new
technologies. They shall examine current trends in information technologies which may influence IT services and changing University priorities, emerging
academic programs, and new information needs. The Office of the CIO shall consult with the Committee on matters of IT policy. The Committee shall
submit all recommendations for approval to the Council. Policy changes are then brought to the Senate if approved by the Council.
Rationale for Change:
The Chair of LISC and the Office of the CIO propose revisions to the LISC subcommittee known as the Information Technology Usage Policy Committee.
The goal of this revision is to broaden the scope of the Committee’s charge and create a group with responsibilities for campus-wide IT.
Revising the charge allows the Committee to assume an expanded role in shaping new directions for IT on behalf of the University community. Confining
the scope to IT policy issues limits the ability of the group to examine a wider range of academic and programmatic IT matters. Broader responsibilities will
enable this group to provide valuable input for strategic planning, examining trends and exploring new directions for campus technology needs. The revised
charge makes the responsibilities of the subcommittee similar to those of the LISC Library Committee. This balance better reflects LISC’s broader charge to
examine campus-wide matters of the Libraries and information technologies.
The Information Technology Usage Policy Committee is part of an historical legacy predating the appointment of a CIO. For the past several years, the
Committee has had little business, so they have met sporadically. It has also been difficult to staff. A broader charge would give the Committee new
opportunities to explore the technology needs of the campus. Assigning the CIO or designee as permanent chair—parallel to the Library Committee—lends
continuity to the group, which is important for long-term planning, history and information sharing.
UAC (Undergraduate Academic Council) – Karin Reinhold-Larsson, Chair
UAC unanimously approved changes to the honors program in Psychology and in Africana Studies as follows.
a.
Psychology Departmental Honors Program changes. To be admitted a student must have an overall GPA 0f 3.25 and maintain a
GPA of 3.50 in the major. In addition the student would need to complete APSY210 and APSY211 with a grade of C or better. The
requirements for the departmental honors program will be the same as the Psychology Department major. The Psychology major
has changed their restricted electives into 4 sub disciplines: 1) cognitive approaches to behavior 2) clinical and developmental
approaches to behavior 3) social basis of behavior and 4) biological basis of behavior.
b.
Africana Studies Honors Program changes: Students must have a cumulative GPA of 3.25 in University courses of and 3.50 GPA
in the major to be able to enter the program and to remain in it. Also students enrolled in the Honor Program will have to write a
thesis which will be worth 6 credits. The changes will appear in the 2008-2009 Bulletin.
Women’s Studies proposed LGBTQ Minor: UAC approved the proposed minor but its name was cause of concern. The title is an
acronym for Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender-Queer. Several members felt that the term Queer was derogative and therefore it was not a
good idea to have it in the name. We requested an explanation from the Women Studies Department. Christine E. Bose, Women's Studies and
Sociology explained that the minor name is the above acronym and not all the terms spelled out. She also explained that “Queer Studies is
now the most progressive term in this field. The term incorporates a broad spectrum of sexual identities, including gays, lesbians, and
bisexuals, but also transgender and other identities as well. In essence, scholars have reclaimed the word, once used disparagingly, to
represent a new progressive approach. … Currently "Queer" is the accepted terminology in academia that acts as an umbrella term to
encompass all sexual and gender identities that are marginalized, not just lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ones. While in the past,
queer was used as a derogatory term, over the past few decades, it has been reclaimed as a source of pride and resistance.”
A member still strongly opposed the use of Queer and not having the terms spelled out. UAC voted to have the minor be named LGBTQ as
the Department of Women Studies proposed, without the terms spelled out and it passed by majority vote. Then UAC proceeded then to vote
on accepting the minor as proposed by the Department of Women Studies, with the word Queer still in it.
A member was very much in opposition and requested a roll call vote. The result of the voting was as follow:
8 Yes: Maria Brown, Sue Faerman, Sue Phillips, Bill Rainbolt, Karin Reinhold, Jane Kessler, Nikki Kotary and Greg Stevens.
2 Nos: Chris Faugere and Dan Truman III with rights (see attached email).
2 abstain: Ann Withington and Maria Moon.
Daniel Truchan III Rights from the voting according to Roberts Rules of Order: “I am quite disappointed in this committee for not
doing its job and rushing this minor with out all the committees questions answered. This committee is here to make sure that all of the
different areas of academics are looked after. Being a Research Center we must look at how all programs will have an impact on the
institution. Being that this minor is not being spelled out shows that this Institution has something to hide and since the motion to spell it out
the words that form LGBTQ failed, I am very appalled to see this bill pushed through with out the final question of whether or not the
Women’s Study department wanted to see it spelled out. This committee failed to do its job and those who pushed it through should be
ashamed of themselves and reexamine why they are here.”
ULC (University Life Council) – Joan Savitt, Chair
No report.
UPC (University Planning and Policy Council) – Diane Dewar, Chair
Nothing to report.
CAFFECoR (Committee on Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expression, and Community
Responsibility) – Sanjay Goel, Chair
No report.
CERS (Committee on Ethics in Research and Scholarship) – Zai Liang, Chair
No report.
