COUNCIL AND COMMITTEE SUMMARIES
Meeting of the University Senate, April 4, 2016
As submitted to Yenisel Gulatee, Senate Secretary, University Senate
UNIVERSITY SENATE CHAIR’S REPORT –Cynthia Fox
I. Informational
1. Chair Fox has received a request that the Senate consider hosting a forum on the diversity
issues emerging from the bus incident. The matter has been referred to ULC for consideration.
2. Chair Fox has been contacted by various people with concerns about campus contracts with
respect to travel, advertising job openings, and campus catering. The matter of faculty input on
campus contracts has been referred to UPPC for consideration.
4. Chair Fox was made aware that there was no formal orientation program for new faculty this
year. The issue has been referred to ULC and to UPPC for consideration.
5. A question has been raised as to the formal requirements of the petitions that are required from
those who wish to nominate themselves for at-large and SUNY-wide Senate positions. The
matter has been referred to GOV for consideration.
6. At the invitation of President Bret Benjamin, Chair Fox and Vice Chair Collins attended the
March 21 meeting of the UUP Albany Chapter Executive Committee to talk about current Senate
activities and discuss ongoing collaborations and initiatives.
II. Actions Taken
1. At its meeting of March 21, a motion was made and unanimously approved to urge the
university to resume holding an orientation program for new faculty and that the 2016 program s
include faculty who arrived in fall 2015 and spring 2016 for whom there was no program.
III. Recommendations for actions
N/A
UFS (University Faculty Senator’s Report) – J. Philippe Abraham, Walter Little & John
Schmidt, SUNY Senators
We look forward to the next plenary meeting of the SUNY Senate in Brockport on May 6 &7.
Details of the next SUNY Budget will be a prominent topic then.
GSA (Graduate Student Association) – Katherine Slye, GSA President
Elections
Our elections are scheduled for April 5-7th. We will hold a candidates forum on March 30th where
the candidates for President, Vice President, Treasurer, Equity and Inclusion Chair, Lead Senator,
and University Council Representative can speak to graduate students and answer their
questions. I will announce the results of the elections in April.
State Legislative Action Day
Our training on March 5th went very well and the students in attendance said they thought it was
useful and they learned a lot. The meetings on March 8th went just as well. While we had a few
people call out sick, those who attended meetings said they were productive, the members/staff
were engaging, and that they felt they learned a lot by participating. We met with Senators
Breslin and MacDonald and Amadore’s staff about SUNY Funding who were all very engaging
and supportive of our call for an increased maintenance of effort. We also met with staff in
Abbate, Ortiz, and Golden’s office about divesting NYS money from fossil fuels, and Fahy,
O’Donnell, and Montgomery about Banning the Box on SUNY College applications.
We are currently gathering feedback from participants about how we can make this day better
next year.
Diversity Conference Update – April 23rd
Currently, we have two workshops: an address by Dra. Aurora Chang and a workshop by SUNY
Albany alumna Janelle Bechdol entitled #BlackGirlMagic.
Upcoming Assembly Resolutions
Our assembly will be considering two sustainability resolutions at our April 1st meeting. One is
on fossil fuel divestment in support of the current bill in the state legislature (that we lobbied on
on March 5th) and the other is supporting the incorporation of sustainability into the curriculum.
The resolution on sustainability in the curriculum will be forwarded to the Senate for
consideration.
Power Dialogue – April 5th
The GSA will be helping put together the Power Dialogue event. These discussions will be
occurring all over the country in response to the Executive Order that mandates each state to
develop a Clean Power Plan to accomplish goals set at the climate negotiations in Paris. Richard
Kaufman, the Chairman of Energy and Finance for NYS and a member of the Governor’s
Executive Cabinet, will be coming to have an open dialogue about his plans to implement the
Clean Power Plan with students. Additionally, Jared Snyder, Deputy Commissioner of the Office
of Air Resources, Climate Change, and Energy at the NYS Department of Environmental
Conservation will also be there to speak on his plans. This is a full day event.
TESOL Resolution
At the GSA Assembly meeting on March 4th, the Assembly passed a resolution calling on the
Dean of Graduate Education to allocate two TESOL Graduate Teaching Assistant
funding lines for the Writing Center. Below you will find the resolution in full.
Some money has been allocated to hire a TESOL consultant for the remainder of the Spring 2016
semester, $11.00-$15.00 an hour depending on education and experience. This is a great first
step, but we are looking to make this support for ESL students more permanent. We are still
pushing for two lines of funding through the Education TESOL program.
SA (Student Association) – Jarius Jemmott, Student Association President
No response
CAA (Council on Academic Assessment) – James Mower, Chair
CAA met on March 22 to review and vote for approval of 2 assessment reports and one
procedural item, as follows:
1) Assessment Report of the Department of English (approved)
2) Assessment Report of the Mathematics General Education Category (approved)
3) Procedures for Program Review Extensions (approved pending suggested edits)
CAFFECoR (Committee on Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expression, and Community
Responsibility) –Carol Jewell, Chair
I. Informational
On Friday, March 25, 2016, CAFFECoR held its joint (with UUP) Forum on Academic
Freedom. About 32 people attended. The three panelists gave their thoughts on the issues, and
then we had a lively Q&A which lasted until the end of the forum. CAFFECoR will be
“debriefing” this at its April meeting, as well as reviewing evaluation forms that were submitted.
II. Reports of Actions
Chair Jewell is in communication with some professors in the College of Arts & Sciences
regarding possible incidents of infringement of academic freedom.
III. Recommendations for Actions
Chair Jewell will consult with various units on campus to get more information regarding the
regarding possible incidents of infringement of academic freedom.
CERS (Committee on Ethics in Research and Scholarship) – Michael Jerison, Chair
Nothing to report
COR (Council on Research) – Daniele Fabris, Chair
Nothing to report
CPCA (Council on Promotions and Continuing Appointments) – Lynn Warner, Chair
Feb. 22- reviewed 1 promotion and 1 continuing appointment & promotion case
March 7 - reviewed 1 promotion case
March 28 - 2 cases scheduled for review; 1 continuing appointment case, 1 promotion case
GAC (Graduate Academic Council) – Ronald Toseland, Chair
At its meeting of February 23rd 2016, the Graduate Academic Council approved changes to the
curriculum in the MA in Criminal Justice, Certificate in Graduate Study in Public Sector
Management, PhD in Philosophy, and PhD in History.
GOV (Governance Council) – James Collins, Chair
Old/continuing business
Committee on Assessment of Governance and Consultation: In consultation with the Office of
the President, the Assessment Committee has completed a survey questionnaire for the mandated
survey of shared governance. It has now been distributed to Senate constituencies, and all
Senators are encouraged to complete the survey.
Committee on Liaison & Election:
1. Has sent out final slates for the scheduled University Senate Elections.
2. Has scheduled three Senate Forums:
a.
Academic Freedom, March 25, 1:30-3:30PM, Assembly Hall,
b. Contingent Faculty Concerns, April 5, 3:00-5:00PM, Humanities 354
c.
Sustainability, April 18, 11:30-1:00PM, Assembly Hall
The Council has approved members for the UPPC Resource Analysis and Planning Committee
and is soliciting members of the Facilities Committee.
Actions taken/new business:
At its meeting on February 29, the Council discussed and voted to send forward a Resolution on
Emeritus Faculty.
LISC (Council on Libraries, Information Systems, and Computing) – David Mamorella,
Chair
LISC will be meeting on March 28.
UAC (Undergraduate Academic Council) –Karen Kiorpes and Christy Smith, Co-Chairs
UAC met on 03/01/2016, and again on 03/10/2016, to continue their discussion of the CEHC
BA/BS Program Proposal begun at the 2/18/2016 meeting.
In February, the Curriculum and Honors Committee of UAC met to review the proposal. C&H
requested needed revisions from CEHC. In response, CEHC made some modifications to the
concentrations. In March, C&H met again and agreed to move the proposal formally to UAC for
consideration. C&H submitted a final report to CEHC, outlining recommendations for additional
changes and for logistical considerations when the program is implemented.
Prior to the UAC’s 3/10 meeting, CEHC responded to C&H’s report and made some changes,
including adding a FAQ document which addressed multiple concerns both C&H and UAC had
regarding the non-credit training requirement for the program.
Representatives David Rousseau and Elizabeth Q. Gray attended the 3/10 meeting and answered
questions on the 9-credit experiential learning core, the non-credit training requirement, and the
decision to move forward with both a B.A. and a B.S., depending on the selected concentration.
UAC approved the first two items under discussion. Of the three areas of concentration
(Cybersecurity, Homeland Security, Emergency Preparedness) there was concern that
Cybersecurity students may be challenged to get enough liberal arts and sciences credits to meet
State Education requirements, hence this decision to move it forward as a B.S. Left unresolved
on 3/10, Kiorpes asked for final comments via email on March 15, and for an online vote on
March 16. All voting members approved the CEHC BA/BS Program Proposal offering two
degrees. A follow-up report of UAC’s recommendations will be sent to CEHC.
Our next meeting is scheduled for March 31st.
ULC (University Life Council) – Michael Jaromin, Chair
Next meeting is scheduled for March 29th at 11:00 am.
UPPC (University Planning and Policy Council) – Joette Stefl-Mabry, Chair
Actions
03/02/2016 UPPC officially approved the letter of intent for a new Master of Science program in
Data Science in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics.
Information
03/04/2016, Chair of UPPC, Chair Fox and Vice Chair Collins of the Senate met with James Van
Voorst, Vice President for Finance and Administration to discuss the roles and responsibilities of
the two subcommittees of UPPC - the Resource Analysis and Planning Committee and the
University Facilities Committee. These two UPPC subcommittees are currently being populated
and will be convening shortly.
03/22/2016, Chair of UPPC sent materials from SUNY Provost Cartwright re: Guidance Related
to the SUNY’s Trustees Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policy via email to UPPC council
members in preparation for the next UPPC meeting on April 7th.
