University Senate Executive Committee Monday, April 29, 2019
2:45 PM – 4:45 PM
UNH 306
James Mower, Senate Chair
MINUTES
Attendees: Billie Franchini; Diane Hamilton; Deborah LaFond; Chris Poehlmann; Christy Smith;
Latonia Spencer; Elga Wulfert; Ann Marie Murray; JoAnne Malatesta; Kathie Winchester;
Bruce Szelest.
Meeting was called to order by Chair Mower at 2:53pm
A. Approval of SEC Minutes of April 1, 2019
a.
Correction: section B, Provost starts August 1st, not April 1st
b. Vote: 8 in favor, 0 opposed, 0 abstentions
B. Provost’s Report – Elga Wulfert
a.
Provost Wulfert provided a brief report. She shared about the President’s Retreat,
where the topics of enrollment and research were discussed. She indicated that
the incoming Provost also attended the Retreat, and discussed various transition
activities that are underway to prepare for her arrival. Finally, in response to
questions, she provided some background on enrollment projections, the budget
deficit reduction, and the Workforce Planning Committee.
C. Senate Chair’s Report – James Mower
a.
Chair Mower thanked Karin Reinhold, outgoing chair, for her service.
D. Old Business
E. New Business
a.
Academic program approval process report—Ann Marie Murray
a.
JoAnne Malatesta provided an update on the work of the Program Approval
Review Committee. SEC approved the report and its conclusions will be reported
at the May 6 2019 Senate meeting.
b. Vote: 8 in favor, 0 opposed, 0 abstentions
b. Minor in Legal Studies—Kathie Winchester
a.
Kathie Winchester provided background on the proposal, and clarification in
response to questions.
b. Vote: 8 in favor, 0 opposed, 0 abstentions
c.
Fair trade resolution—UPPC and ULC
a.
Deborah LaFond provided background on the proposal. Dennis McCarty was
present to answer questions, and shared that he works with an undergraduate
student group who has agreed to take the lead with implementation, and Dennis
McCarty offered to support logistically. LaFond shared that many of these
activities are already supported on campus, so this would be a way to capture
these activities and formalize the University’s commitment.
b. Vote: 8 in favor, 0 opposed, 0 abstentions
d. Policy updates—Anette Lippold
a.
Anette Lippold provided an overview on the process of creating institutional
policies. She indicated that a Responsible University Official is assigned to any
draft policy. The policy is shared for feedback first with the Policy Advisory
Committee, and then with stakeholders identified by the Responsible University
Official. Feedback is shared through Anette Lippold with the Responsible
University Official. Any revised policies and procedures, as well as all feedback
that was provided, goes to the Policy Advisory Committee who can approve. The
General Counsel signs off to ensure legality. Finally, the draft policy, along with
all stakeholder comments, are sent to the President for final review and approval.
She responded to questions. It was suggested that the Senate representative on the
Policy Advisory Committee report back to SEC on a regular basis. It was also
suggested that the way the Committee handles feedback be revisited to respond to
those who provided feedback. Finally, Lippold shared that no official policies of
which the University Senate is a stakeholder will be finalized over the summer.
e.
Resolution on profit from sale of course materials--UPPC
a.
Karin Reinhold shared background on the rationale for this resolution. Zina
Lawrence shared that when GOV reviewed the original draft of the resolution
they felt that the specific details of the policy should not be detailed in the
resolution, and revised the policy to say that this behavior is condemned by the
Senate and that it is recommended that the policy be created in consultation with
the Senate. It was suggested that examples be provided for the faculty to clarify
acceptable and unacceptable materials.
b. Vote: 8 in favor; 0 opposed; 0 abstentions
f.
Supplemental policy on undergraduate access to graduate courses
a.
Kathie Winchester, Christy Smith and Latonya Spencer provided background on
the proposal. There was some discussion of the motivation of this policy, and it
was recommended that we keep in mind the recruitment implications.
b. Vote: 7 in favor; 1 opposed; 0 abstentions.
g. Letters of intent: One-Year Full-Time MBA and MS in Business Analytics
a.
Zina Lawrence reported that at the last UPPC meeting they approved the MS in
Business Analytics, as well as the One-Year Full-Time MBA. She provided some
background on the motivation for and content of these proposals.
h. Faculty Survey Summary Report—Zina Lawrence
a.
Zina Lawrence provided a summary of the faculty survey and indicated that it will
also be posted to the Senate website, and these results will be shared in a Q&A.
Some concerns were raised about the presentation of the data.
i.
Title IV Course Participation Verification—Ann Marie Murray
a.
Ann Marie Murray presented the Department of Education requirement that all
institutions participating in Federal Title IV programs must verify the attendance
of student’s receiving financial aid in each of their classes each semester they are
enrolled. A committee led by Ed Englebride, Associate Vice-President for
Student Affairs determined several options for compliance and recommended the
use of People Soft for attendance verification. That recommendation was
presented to the VP of Student Affairs and the Provost who approved, to the
Deans by Vice-Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education, JoAnne Malatesta,
who agreed and to the Senate Leadership at the March meeting of the Campus
Governance Leaders. The Senate Leaders agreed with the solution.
Ann Marie explained the proposal and asked for support of the SEC to implement the
recommendation which would require the Registrar and IT to populate the attendance feature in
People Soft and ask faculty to indicate at an identified point in time those students NOT in
attendance.
F. Other Reports
1. SUNY Senators’ Report – Diane Hamilton, Latonia Spencer, Sam Axley
2. Graduate Student Organization Report – Kaylynn Enright, Lead Senator
3. Student Association Report – Langie Cadesca, President
4. Council/Committee Chair Reports:
i.
CAA – Istvan Kecskes/Mary Ellen Mallia, Co- Chairs
ii.
CAFFECoR – Malcolm Sherman, Chair
iii.
CERS
iv.
COR –Robert Rosenswig, Chair
v.
CPCA – James Hargett, Chair
vi.
GAC – Sean Rafferty, Chair
vii.
GOV – Zina Lawrence, Chair
viii.
LISC – Billie Franchini, Chair
ix.
UAC – Christy Smith/Karen Kiorpes, Co-Chairs
x.
ULC – Deborah LaFond, Chair
xi.
UPPC – Karin Reinhold, Chair
G. The meeting was adjourned at 4:50pm.
