University at Albany, State University of New York
Governance Council
Friday, October 8, 2010
Susanna Fessler, Chair
Minutes
PRESENT:
Nan Carroll, Jane Domaracki, Reed Hoyt, Candace Merbler, John Pipkin, John
Schmidt, Laura Schultz, Joette Stefl-Mabry, Andi Lyons
The meeting convened at 3:05 pm.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes were reviewed and it was noted that the date needed to be changed. A motion was
then made for approval and seconded, and the minutes were approved.
CHAIR’S REPORT BY SUSANNA FESSLER
Chair Fessler thanked everyone for their work on the handbook which has now been posted on
the Senate website. She will leave the wiki up since the handbook is a “living” document.
The charge of GOV is to update as necessary. The Chair provided guidelines on the proper
procedures for making changes. Smaller changes can be made by individuals but larger
changes should be brought to her attention.
Chair Fessler informed GOV that Janet Sussman has resigned from GOV. Professor Andi
Lyons will be filling in for the Theater Department. Professor Lyons is a former Senate
Secretary.
Chair Fessler discussed the announcement of the past week and how it may impact the number
of faculty in various departments. She suggested GOV may want to revisit the composition of
the Senate and the number of seats allocated to different units as their sizes change.
The Chair informed GOV that she contacted William Hedberg via e-mail in the Provost’s
Office concerning the composition of CPCA. She did not receive a reply but will contact him
again with high priority.
Chair Fessler informed GOV of the discussion at the last SEC meeting concerning a memo
from President Philip to Senate Chair Lifshin. At the conclusion of the SEC discussion, it was
agreed that all councils should formulate a response. A Power Point version of the memo,
Deactivation of Academic Programs, was viewed by GOV and the Chair opened the table for
comments and suggestions.
A lengthy discussion ensued. GOV members appreciated the opportunity to allow all senators
to have input. Candace Merbler expressed concern over the Senate being asked to officially
deactivate the programs identified in the memo, believing that support to suspend admissions
will open the door for retrenchment. Courses may still be taught by adjunct faculty instead of
full time faculty.
Reed Hoyt said he believed the response of GOV was procedural in terms of how it could
affect the composition of the Senate. It would be up to the council most affected, such as UAC
and GAC, to deal with the ramifications. GOV members discussed the rules that apply once a
program is deactivated. Ms. Merbler informed GOV that once retrenchments occur, there is a
waiting period of 4-5 years before courses can be taught again.
Chair Fessler said she anticipated that a resolution would be introduced to the Senate and the
councils would possibly contribute to the rationale. John Pipkin suggested that GOV
summarize its remarks in 2-3 sentences. He provided a written statement that will be circulated
to GOV via e-mail. Chair Fessler encouraged everyone to share their own comments with each
other, as well as expressing their opinions to the President’s Office as a senator or member of a
council.
OLD BUSINESS:
Charter amendment re: Chair of CPCA:
Chair Fessler reviewed the discussion from the last meeting where GOV members concluded
that the chair of CPCA should be a full professor. Through subsequent e-mail discussions and
at the suggestion of John Schmidt, it was decided that the recommendation should be made to
the SEC and come from GOV as a whole. Chair Fessler reviewed the change in the
amendment and the language of the accompanying rationale. If approved, the amendment
would become effective in the fall of 2011. GOV members discussed the language and made
revisions. A motion was made that the proposal go to the SEC and then to the Senate upon
SEC’s approval. The motion was seconded, and Chair Fessler will present it to the SEC.
Charter amendment re: Approval of Council Chairs:
As discussed at the last meeting, obtaining Senate approval of Council chairs may require an
amendment to both the Bylaws as well as the Charter. Changing the Bylaws is a more
complicated process. Chair Fessler reviewed the relevant portions of each document as they
refer to approval of the council memberships, as well as the section of the Charter outlining
how council chairs are elected. Approval of council chairs needs to be done in a timely fashion
and GOV members discussed some of the obstacles in accomplishing this, such as making sure
the schools and colleges elect their senators in a timely manner and the fact that the Student
Association elections don’t occur until the beginning of the fall semester. The Chair provided a
proposed change in GOVs own timeline for elections in the spring which would move the date
up when the Committee on Council Nominations meets to form a slate of councils. That slate
would be presented to the Senate at its meeting in April. However, if approved, the councils
would nominate their chairs at the end of April and the Senate would approve the chairs at its
meeting in May. The rationale would state that approval of the council chairs gives the Senate,
as a whole, responsibility for the composition of the SEC.
Discussion of Evaluation of Administrators:
Due to time limitations, Chair Fessler asked GOV to review the document that was sent with
the agenda, specifically the bullet points, and to consider how those recommendations may or
may not work on our campus. GOVs charge is to form the committee and its charge. GOV
will also need to decide who gets evaluated. A suggestion was made to obtain feedback from
someone who has expertise in doing evaluations. Joette Stefl-Mabry informed GOV that she
has the background but would like to know what other universities have done in the past. She
questioned how it would be possible to have a generic instrument to evaluate different
administrators who have different duties. Chair Fessler suggested that GOV review the Senate
resolution which may be able to guide the process. She also suggested speaking with
administrators to understand what type of feedback would be useful to those being evaluated.
The Chair said the process could be very time consuming with each bullet point in the
document consuming one meeting. As a starting point, GOV might consider a pilot evaluation.
Chair Fessler also suggested consulting with CAA for some guidance.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 4:37 pm.
Respectfully submitted by
Gail Cameron, Recorder
