2014-2015 University Senate
Monday, November 17, 2014
2:45 pm, Assembly Hall
Joette Stefl-Mabry, Chair
MINUTES
Present:
Almahamid, Ilham; Bernnard, Deborah; Chittur, Sridar; Dai, Aiguo; Earle, Keith; Fessler, Susanna;
Fogarty, Rick; Ford, Michael; Fox, Cynthia; Goldfarb, Boris; Gulatee, Yenisel; Haile, Peatros;
Henderson, Chenaniah; Hobson, Janell; Huang, Youqin; Isralowitz, Joshua; Janiszewski, Caitlin;
Jaromin, Michael; Jones, Robert; Kearney, Ann; Kuznetsov, Igor; Lahiri, Kajal; Lapenas, Andrei;
Leonard, Danielle; Mamorella, David; Manjak, Martin; Markisello, Daniel; Marler, Janet;
McCaffrey, David; Mielenz, Ben; Moore, Chris; Mulcahy, Timothy; Neori, Klil; Ng, Vivien;
Nowell, Gregory; Pande, Jayanti; Parker, Catherine; Pasquill, James; Petry, Greta; Pettie, David;
Poehlmann, Nancy; Putrevu, Sanjay; Rorissa, Abebe; Schmidt, John; Schwab, Emma; Slade, Leonard;
Smith, Carolyn A; Stefl-Mabry, Joette; Tucker, Ian; Webb, Raymond; Weller, Wendy;
Westmoreland, Maurice; Williams, Kevin; Wulfert, Edelgard; Yagelski, Robert; Zemel, Alan; Zetka, James
Guests:
Armour-Garb, Bradley; Chesin, Sorrell; Winchester, Kathie C; Forsyth, Celine; Vergari, Sandra;
Jewell, Carol; Snyder, Carrie; Minor, Tamra; Nazon, Deborah; Tchernev, Alex
The meeting convened at 2:49 pm.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Senators were reminded to pick up the assigned i-clicker number when signing in to the meetings.
The minutes of September 29, 2014 were approved with the following voting results:
Approved 37; Opposed 1; Abstained 4
The minutes of October 20, 2014 were approved with the following voting results:
Approved 43; Opposed 1; Abstained 3
PRESIDENT’S REPORT – ROBERT J. JONES
President Jones expressed condolences on the recent death of UAlbany student Trevor Duffy. He noted that events off-
campus about which the university has typically little to no control are concerning to the leadership. We must come
together as a community to assess what more we can do. He stressed that further conversation and active examination
are necessary, and also asked all to keep Trevor and his family and friends in their thoughts and prayers.
The President mentioned he enjoyed the new format of the recent Faculty Meeting, which he believed worked well. He
applauded Chair Joette Stefl-Mabry on her role. Some important topics, however, had not been addressed at the
Faculty meeting and he wanted to take the opportunity to provide a brief update now. First, the Search Committee for
the Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost position has completed confidential airport interviews. He
also met with each candidate in this phase of the search. From the very strong pool of candidates, a selection of 3-4
finalists would be made in consultation with the Search Committee Co-Chairs Dean Wulfert and Professor Acker. The
campus community will have the opportunity to meet each finalist and offer input, soon after the Thanksgiving
holiday.
Discussions with Albany Law are progressing. The President had been invited to meet with Albany Law’s Board of
Trustees on November 21st to review the value proposition of closer institutional alignment from the perspective of
both institutions. It is anticipate that in the next months, the discussions will deepen and include opportunities for
faculty engagement.
INTERIM PROVOST’S REPORT – TIM MULCAHY
Interim Provost Mulcahy joked he was personally happy to hear the Provost search was going well. He supported the
opinion that UAlbany has a lot to be proud of and much potential, and he is glad to hear that candidates
recognize that also. He also stressed the importance of transparency.
Recommendations for the GSA and Contingent Faculty Issues Committees memberships, charges and scopes are being
developed in consultation with Senate leadership, the Deans, UUP and GSA. Meaningful input involves
consultation from all involved, and so he encouraged the rest of the campus community to also consider and
forward nominations for committee membership.
Secondly, there is a budget challenge associated with declining enrollments. Unfortunately graduate program
enrollments are down about 10% contributing to in a $2.3 million shortfall relative to budget expectations.
The administration is working hard with Deans and others hoping to turn this around significantly next
semester since similar declines in spring enrollments could result in around a $4 million shortfall. There
have been some ingenious ideas in response to the reminder that Dean and department engagement is a vital
part of this team effort. Interim Provost Mulcahy added the administration is not viewing this as a crisis, but
if it continues it could be a significant challenge. He emphasized that no cuts are being considered, and that
they are confident that the current budget challenge is manageable as long as proactive steps are taken to
increase enrollments to the targets agreed to previously.
Interim Provost Mulcahy noted that at the last Senate meeting we learned the results of the survey of governance. A
large number of respondents indicated they do not know what the Senate does, raised issues regarding trust,
questioned how meaningful Senate input was in University decision-making and questioned the role
administrators play on Senate Councils. After reviewing the survey results, the administration talked about
what they could do to move meaningful dialogue forward. The Interim Provost shared the following letter to
governance, formally requesting that the Senate ‘consider revising the Faculty By-Laws and Charter of the
University Senate as needed to exclude from voting those administrative ex officio positions listed in Article
II.2.1 of the By-Laws, as well as other administrators who serve on committees and councils by virtue of
their administrative appointments.’… The letter further acknowledged that ’We hope that the University
community will view this request and other initiatives we have and will introduce in the coming year as
tangible evidence of the Administration’s commitment to the principles of transparency, consultation and
shared governance.’
The letter is available in its entirety on the Senate website ‘agendas and minutes’ page.
UNIVERSITY SENATE CHAIR’S REPORT – Joette Stefl-Mabry, Chair
On November 6th, 2014 the Chair of the Senate received a request from Interim Provost Timothy Mulcahy for 3-5 faculty
nominees to serve on the Blue Ribbon Panel on Adjuncts/Contingent Faculty and similar assistance in identifying possible
appointees to a committee that will be reviewing grad student compensation issues. The requests were forwarded to the
Chair of the Governance Council Cynthia Fox. The Governance Council will forward their recommendations to the Interim
Provost, who will then send back to the Governance Council a preferred roster for consideration and approval in keeping with
Section 2.5.5 of the Faculty Bylaws.
On November 6th, 2014 the Chair of the Senate received an email from Suzanne K. Freed, Assistant Vice Provost for
Undergraduate Education stating that the State Education Department has officially registered Urban Studies and
Planning as a major, effective immediately. The Senate approved the major in the spring of 2012. This means that that the
Urban Studies and Planning is no longer a concentration in the Interdisciplinary Studies major.
The annual Fall Faculty Meeting was held on Wednesday, November 5th 2014. It was an armchair discussion with
President Robert J. Jones, Interim Provost Tim Mulcahy and Vice President for Research Jim Dias, moderated by Senate Chair
Joette Stefl-Mabry.
On October 13th, 2014 the Chair of the Senate received a request from the GSA’s Wages and Benefits Committee to make a
presentation to the Senate. Chair Stefl-Mabry suggested that the Committee make its presentation at the SEC. The
Committee made their presentation to the SEC on November 03, 2014. Their presentation is included in the GSA’s
Senate report.
On October 17th, 2014 Chair Stefl-Mabry received a request from CCI Dean Sue Faerman and Associate Provost for
Program Development Ann Marie Murray, regarding the processes required to create a new Department of Computer
Engineering. Chair Stefl-Mabry requested the assistance of Immediate Past Chair, Christine Wagner and Vice Chair Cynthia
Fox.
o
On November 5th, 2014 Chair Stefl-Mabry and Immediate Past Chair Wagner received an email from Interim
Provost Mulcahy stating that he had received a formal request from the College of Computing and Information
to create a Department of Computer Engineering to provide an academic support structure for the new degree
in Computer Engineering. In the interest of honoring Article 2.2.2 of the Senate Charter/By-Laws Interim Provost
Mulcahy sought the Senate’s advice as to how to submit his recommendation in support of this request for Senate
Consideration. The request has been sent to Cynthia Fox, Chair of the Governance Council.
o
Currently the Senate Officers (Chair, Vice-Chair and Immediate Past Chair) believe the process would be that
a proposal for a new department with rationale and resource implications would come out of CCI to the
Provost, who in turn would send it to the UPPC as a follow-up to the already approved program
announcement (i.e., initial proposal) for the major in computer engineering. The proposal to form the
department, which ideally might have come to UPPC along with the formation of the major, is the administrative unit
that would house the major.
o
The formation of the major, and in turn, the department, is still contingent upon full review by SUNY, external
reviewers, UAC, GAC (as the potential departmental home for future undergraduate and graduate programs),
the Senate and ultimately the President and SUNY.
On October 27th, 2014, Chair Stefl-Mabry received a request from William B. Hedberg, PhD, Senior Vice Provost and
Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, requesting Senate designees for the slate of this year’s Excellence Award
Selection Committee and to approve the slate of the committee before sending the list on to the President. Chair Stefl-Mabry
sent the request to Cynthia Fox, Chair of the Governance Council.
Charter Amendment 1415-01A was passed by the Senate on 10/20/2014.
Chair Stefl-Mabry requested invitations to faculty meetings be sent to her for the opportunity to come to faculty
meeting to discuss for 5 or 10 minutes how individuals can be involved in Senate. A slide presentation on the Senate
councils and committees would be shared with constituents. It was reviewed how resolutions and motions are made.
OTHER REPORTS
UFS (University Faculty Senator’s Report) –Danielle Leonard, J. Philippe Abraham & John Schmidt, SUNY
Senators
University Faculty Senate Report
2014 Fall Plenary hosted by SUNY ESF
Attended by Philippe Abraham, Danielle Leonard, John Schmidt
I. Some important developments at System and with the BoT:
In order to best represent the University at Albany at the state-wide University Faculty Senate, the UFS Senators call for increased
engagement, information flows, and UAlbany Faculty Senate input on these and other issues through our shared governance
processes.
SUNY Excels: The Chancellor previously indicated to us that she is willing to tie increases in State funding for SUNY to
performance measures. This initiative is being called SUNY Excels—a matrix of performance measures that will include data and
goals at the System level, but with campus goals to be set in appropriate areas (as defined collaboratively campus by campus).
We’ve been asked for input and UFS Senators have been tasked with finding out what elements would be appropriate/
inappropriate for our campus. We have requested that Information presented to us by Chancellor Zimpher, Provost Cartwright and
other be coming soon on the SUNY UFS Website.
System Administration Budget: New financial assessments are coming to campuses in order to support the operations at System
Administration. The line-item budget for operating System Administration within the legislatively approved SUNY budget hasn’t
been increased in some 20 years. Obviously costs have gone up since then, and the Chancellor’s numerous initiatives have added
to the budgetary pressures. System has been charging campuses for some services, but the System expenditures significantly
exceed this as well. A further complication is that some System offices have sent these costs, charge-backs, etc., to campuses at
irregular times during the year, making campus budget planning more difficult. So a phased approach has been established that
includes some central budget cuts, increases in the charges to campuses, but a single charge for the year—phased in over 5 years.
Presidents are unhappy with this. The Board of Trustees is also concerned, in part about the methodology, in part about the size of
the System budget. The Board has approved the increased assessments to campuses for this year, but has demanded more
justification and an examination of alternatives before moving any further forward.
Budget for 2015-16: With the final year of NYSUNY2020 looming, System is consulting with the Presidents and the Board about
whether to request a new round of tuition increases to actually bring us to 2020. Further budget issues are a hard push to convince
the governor and the legislature that “maintenance of effort” means covering mandated cost increases. The SUNY Excels matrix is
to form the basis for seeking new State funds in support of SUNY. And finally, SUNY is seeking additional bonding authority for
both critical maintenance and selected new construction projects.
Seamless Transfer: The transfer paths were updated by the end of last spring, and we are now in a period of considering if
adjustments to programs might be necessary to make this work. Many, if not most, requests for program waivers have apparently
been denied without satisfactory explanation. Faculty on some campuses are questioning if they are being told to change major
requirements for the first two years. Let us know if you know about any of our waiver requests that were denied without
explanation.
Open SUNY: The “first wave” of “Open SUNY +” programs—existing online programs with enhancements—was approved last
academic year, and the second wave of 56 programs from 17 campuses has just been announced. System Administration has
increasingly recognized that most student services need to be coordinated among or handled by the contributing campuses rather
than established centrally, although SUNY is currently contracting with an outside vendor to cover a help desk 24/7 (beyond what
was being covered by previously existing SUNY Learning Network assistance). System Administration is working with interested
campuses to evaluate campus readiness for (expanded) online programs, and there is also now a business tool available to help
campuses evaluate the short- and long-term costs/benefits of online programs. Finally, SUNY is helping facilitate the
identification and development of digital materials and open education resources (Affordable Learning Solutions) for courses, not
just online ones.
START-UP NY: Some 50 SUNY campuses have approved plans (or soon will). Companies have been announced at a number of
campuses. Some campuses have Faculty committees that vet whether the companies fit with the academic mission of the campus.
What is the process that UAlbany has established to get faculty input into approving company proposals to fit with the campus
mission? Was the UAlbany Senate consulted in most recent decision http://www.albany.edu/news/54991.php?WT.source=ncfeed ?
TeachNY: There was a lot of focus on teacher education over the last year, and the Chancellor has emerged as a national champion
for the Common Core Standards in K-12 education. As part of this, she urges us to familiarize ourselves with the standards, as
future NY students will have been educated according to that approach. We can expect some changes in the abilities of our future
students, and we should be prepared to appreciate and take advantage of the skills they should possess. The Chancellor also has
established a TeachNY program in conjunction with the State Education Department, with an advisory committee to offer guidance
on how to improve teacher education and K-12 quality and success. Nationally recognized experts as well as SUNY faculty (and
union) leadership are working together to advise the Chancellor on next steps for teacher education, particularly how to improve
the effectiveness of our teacher education programs.
II. Resolutions
Full text of the Resolutions are available on the UFS website or can be obtained through any UFS Senator.
Resolution on Sexual Assault Prevention--passed
Resolution Requesting All State University of New York Campuses Offering Athletics Create Programs to Support Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Athletes, Coaches, and Staff and to Prevent Anti-LGBT Bias and Discrimination in Athletics--
passed
Resolution on SUNY Excels Performance Measurement System requesting that local campuses as well as UFS have a strong
voice in formulating and continually refining metrics--passed
Resolution on Affordability of Textbooks and Other Instructional Materials--passed
Resolution on Reduction on the Maximum Working Hours for Student Assistants--passed
Resolution in support of expanding SUNY undergraduate research and creative endeavors--passed
Resolution on Naloxone Availability for treating opioid overdose cases--passed
Other Issues Addressed by UFS Committees:
updating guidance to faculty and campuses on best practices for internships and service learning;
examining the role of non-tenure-track faculty in shared governance;
guidance for the ethical behavior of faculty; reviewing best practices for prevention of bullying and hazing;
fostering and supporting undergraduate and graduate research;
diversity of faculty and staff. Full text of the UFS Committee Reports are available upon request or on the SUNY UFS
website.
III. Upcoming conferences and events
Nov. 7: "Protect, Use and Share Content in Online Education"; SUNY System Administration, Albany; organized by the
FACT2 group
Nov. 11-12: “Making Diversity Count: Ensuring Equity, Inclusion, Access, and Impact”; Albany Marriott; sponsored by the
UFS and the SUNY Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Feb 10, 2015: “Graduate Research: Making a Difference in New York”: Legislative Office Building, Albany; sponsored by
UFS
March 20-21, 2015: 2nd Annual SUNY Voices Shared Governance Conference; location TBD.
April 10, 2015: First SUNY Undergraduate Research Symposium; Brockport. Open to all undergraduate researchers.
IV. Other
Personnel matters at System Administration: The Board has offered the Chancellor a new contract, which is to be for 5 years.
Alexander Cartwright has joined SUNY System Administration as Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor. Alex comes to System
from the University at Buffalo, where he had been Vice President for Research. Beth Bringsjord, who served as Interim Provost for
the past year, has returned to a position as Vice Provost and Vice Chancellor. Jim Malatras left the position of Chief of Staff, called
back to the Governor’s office to be Director of Operations for New York State. Stacey Hengsterman is interim Chief of Staff for
Chancellor Zimpher, with a search in place for a permanent individual. Josh Sager is the new chief budget officer; he replaces
Wendy Gillman, who retired.
LICH and the Hospitals: SUNY finally has a contract to sell the Long Island College Hospital site. What will be the financial
impact on the rest of the SUNY campuses? The Board of Trustees will be delving into this question now that we know what
SUNY will recover from the sale ($240M).
Last spring, the Senate Executive Committee took up a resolution that calls upon SUNY to conduct an investigation of how the
whole LICH purchase and subsequent closure occurred, in order to try to prevent such a fiasco from occurring in the future. The
EC chose not to pass the resolution, reasoning that the basic reasons behind what happened already are public record, that this
would be an unnecessary expense that likely wouldn’t yield any new results, and that such a study might better be done by one or
more of our own faculty.
There are some other developments regarding the hospitals and medical schools. First, the Board passed a resolution to set up a
task force to examine and propose a “new governance structure” for the SUNY hospitals: how the hospitals should be governed—
likely with local governing boards, answering perhaps to a central governing board that is separate from the SUNY Board of
Trustees. There is a call for closer ties between the stand-alone medical schools and the University Centers. Accordingly, not only
Downstate and UAlbany have been in discussions about collaborations, but Binghamton and Upstate are in talks as well. The idea:
SUNY hospitals remain essential to successful operation of our medical schools and thus a critical part of the SUNY family.
In response to inquiries, the costs of the SUNY Administration System being in part covered by campuses was
discussed. The Open SUNY Business Tool regarding online programs would be examined.
GSA (Graduate Student Association) – Marc Cohen, Student Association Representative
Please see attached report from the Wages and Benefits Committee, tasked by the GSA with researching prevailing wage, benefit
and graduate student well-being concerns.
It was requested the report and recommendations provided be carefully considered.
SA (Student Association) – Marc Cohen, Student Association Representative
Dippikill:
Working to finalize tabling dates to advertise Dippikill. Also working to compile a photo book that will be used to allow students
to see what cabins are available.
Comptroller:
My office has been processing and grading Treasurer's Exams for all the student group signatory officers. We are currently
working on updating MyInvolvement to be as accurate and as close to Mas90 as possible. This is an ongoing issue from the
previous 3 years of requests. My office is working alongside OSI and Operations to update purchase requests and pay outstanding
invoices.
Multicultural Affairs:
Upcoming safe space and NCBI trainings occurring throughout the next couple of months:
SSI Monday, October 6th 9 am - 1 pm CC 375
SSI Sunday, October 19th 4:30 - 8:30 pm CC 375
NCBI Welcoming Diversity. Sunday Oct 26th 3 pm - 7 pm CC 375
SSII Tuesday Oct 28 9 am - 11 am CC 370
NCBI Troubled Waters Tuesday Oct 28th 9:30 - 12 pm CC 367
SSI Thursday Nov 6th 9 am - 1 pm CC Assembly Hall
SSII Tuesday Nov 18th 9 am - 11 am CC 367
Next Multicultural Student Advisory Council meeting will be taking place within the next two weeks. Working on a new idea
called cultures of UAlbany where every week a random student will be photographed and asked questions about their cultures.
This will then be posted onto our Instagram (SA cultural affairs) in an effort to advertise cultural awareness and the diversity
within our campus.
Legislative Affairs:
On October 10th, the Legislative Affairs Department turned in almost 500 voter registration forms from campus.
We brought the Mayor to campus in our inaugural "Representatives to Campus" initiative. County Executive Dan McCoy will also
be coming. In this initiative, students get a chance to talk directly to their representatives on campus.
Student Group Affairs:
Working with over 20 potential new student groups - process is going much smoother and faster with the new handbook.
E-Board Mixer - Nov 7 at 3pm, attendance from Student Success and OSI.
Updating paper files of current student groups.
Preliminary planning for Purple and Gold award to have a new panel of judges.
Working on several competitions for student groups, as well as having groups separated into tiers to make competitions fair.
Gender and Sexuality Concerns:
We had the rainbow flag hung on campus for the first time in history.
We had the 7th annual coming out reception. About 200 people in attendance, one of the largest in recent past.
11/7 is the annual state of higher education luncheon where we will have Dr. Sue Rankin, the researcher behind the Campus
Climate Index, speaking on what we need to do to be more progressive around LGBT issues on campus. All invited. Please RSVP
to ddumpson@ualbanysa.org if you would like to attend.
Danny Markisello reported on behalf of SA. SA is meeting monthly with OSI and monthly with Students Success in an
attempt to reach out to more students.
COUNCIL/COMMITTEE CHAIRS’ REPORTS:
CAA (Council on Academic Assessment) – Deborah Bernnard, Chair
The CAA committees have scheduled their first meetings and will start reviewing program and general education assessments.
A Subcommittee of CAA has a graph report to be reported on in December.
CAFFECoR (Committee on Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expression, and Community
Responsibility) – Carol Jewell, Chair
I.
Informational
CAFFECoR plans to meet on Wednesday, November 12, 2014.
II.
Reports of Actions
CAFFECoR Chair, Carol H. Jewell, has been having email discussions with various units on campus (for instance,
UPD, and the Counseling Center), regarding alcohol policy and freedom of expression. These will be discussed at the
November CAFFECoR meeting.
III.
Recommendations for Actions
N/A
CERS (Committee on Ethics in Research and Scholarship) – Susanna Fessler, Chair
Nothing to report
COR (Council on Research) – Kajal Lahiri, Chair
We are on time and almost finished forming a number of well- balanced COR sub-committees.
COR would be meeting again on November 18th. There had been a large number of reviews (30+), and they are
pleased that ready to move on that.
CPCA (Council on Promotions and Continuing Appointments) – Sanjay Putrevu, Chair
The next CPCA meeting is on Nov. 12.
CPCA has no pending cases and will not meet until they do, though they do have meetings scheduled. Representation
is still needed from science faculty. Senate Chair Stefl-Mabry requested that volunteers come forward to serve. Thank
you to department chairs for the promise to solicit volunteers.
GAC (Graduate Academic Council) –Abebe Rorissa, Chair
I. Informational
The GAC met on October 21, 2014. Among items on the Agenda were review of the GAC’s composition and charge in the
Senate Charter and review of a request by the Department of Epidemiology and Statistics, School of Public Health, to revise
its MS degree requirements.
Our next scheduled meeting is November 18.
II. Reports of Actions
The proposal by the Department of Epidemiology and Statistics sought to remove a required one credit course (EPI 602:
Seminar in Epidemiology) from its core in its MS in Epidemiology and Statistics program and have a four credit course (EPI
612: Quantitative Methods in Epidemiology) designated “required”. The GAC's Committee on Curriculum & Instruction
(CC&I) found the proposal to be clear, well-supported, justified, and reasonable. For these reasons, the Committee
unanimously endorsed the proposal. The GAC gave the Committee’s recommendations final approval.
III. Recommendations for Actions
In response to a request from the Senate Chair Joette Stefl-Mabry, that each Senate council examine its section of the Senate
Charter and propose any updates as warranted, the GAC met on October 21, 2014 and considered the matter.
As regards composition section X.4.1.6:
No more than 2 voting members selected from Faculty or Staff who are not students or Voting Faculty.
the Council was advised that this language is common to numerous council composition listings and is intended to open the
door of participation to part-time faculty or staff. The GAC recommends that the Senate, via its Executive Committee,
consider editorial changes to the Charter in the various council sections, to make explicit the intent of such sections.
The GAC recommends by a vote of 12-0-0 on 10/21/14 the following two changes to the Charter:
X.4.6.2. New graduate courses and changes to existing graduate courses receive final approval from the schools and
colleges, subject to appropriate notification, but the Graduate Academic Council shall have the power to review new
courses and changes to existing courses and require reconsideration by the schools and colleges. Notification should
be made to the Graduate Academic Council, to the Office of the Dean of Graduate Studies, the Office of the Vice
President or Dean of the affected college or school, and to all other interested parties.
This editorial change above is proposed to remove unnecessary procedural references while maintaining the Council’s
authority in supervising graduate education on the campus.
X.4.8.3. The committee shall submit all recommendations to the Council for approval. Policy additions and/or changes
are then brought to the Senate for consideration if approved by the Council.
This editorial change above is proposed to add clarifying language regarding the need for the Senate to take action to establish
and/or modify graduate academic policies.
GS Senator Ben Mielenz reported GAC would meet the following day and invited participation.
GOV (Governance Council) – Cynthia Fox, Chair
I.
Informational
GOV met on October 29.
II.
Reports of Actions
1.
The Council voted to accept as written the final reports of the 2014 Surveys of Governance and Consultation
(Students and Faculty/Staff).
2.
The Council completed the membership roster for its Committee on Liaisons and Elections.
3.
The Council nominated a slate of candidates to serve on its Committee on Assessment of Governance and
Consultation.
4.
The Council took up the question of the replacement of the Chair of UPPC when that person steps down. After
reviewing relevant sections of the Charter and By-Laws, it was concluded by unanimous vote that UPPC must
elect a new Chair from among its current members who are Senators. It was also concluded that the new Chair
will, by virtue of that position, also sit on the Executive Committee, but that s/he will not assume any other
functions associated with the Past Chair of the Senate.
5.
The Council voted to table discussion of the proposed changes to the Charter with respect to the charges of the
CAA until we have received reports from all of the Councils with respect to their charges (as requested by Senate
Chair Stefl-Mabry).
6.
The Council agreed to conduct elections for Senate designees to various Excellence Award Committees via
email.
III.
Recommendations for Actions
1.
GOV has requested that the Survey Reports be added to the Senate website.
2.
The Committee on Liaison & Elections will look at the Faculty Handbook and the Senate Website for necessary
updates and inconsistencies.
3.
Chair Fox will invite nominees to serve of the Committee on Assessment of Governance and Consultation,
4.
Chair Fox will contact members by email for nominations to Excellence Committees.
GOV had met on November 12th and had submitted Excellence, GSA and Contingent Faculty Committee
recommendations. In response to concerns voiced at the SEC and Senate meetings, GOV considered a question
regarding the formal consultation process on StartUp NY with the recent approval of Classbook.com. GOV has
formally requested information and is waiting to hear back. GOV would also address the Senate processes needed in
response to the letter and request from the Administration as stated in the Interim Provost’s Report.
LISC (Council on Libraries, Information Systems, and Computing) –Boris Goldfarb, Chair
The two standing committees started their meetings this month, including elections of the Chairs.
UAC (Undergraduate Academic Council) – Robert Yagelski, Chair
The Undergraduate Academic Council met on November 6th. The Council revisited the Senate Chair’s request that all Councils
review their charges and procedures. There was discussion about possible reorganization of the Council whereby some of the work
of its committees and subcommittees might be moved out of the Council to the appropriate campus unit (e.g. the Office of
Undergraduate Education); however, the consensus among members was that such a reorganization would not likely result in clear
benefits or necessarily reduce the Council’s workload, which is the primary concern among members.
Assistant Vice Provost Sue Freed reported that two undergraduate programs, one in Bio-Instrumentation and the other in Urban
Studies and Planning, have been approved by the New York State Education Department.
The Council turned its attention to course proposals from the Physics Department, which were tabled until a future meeting,
pending receipt of additional information from the department.
The rest of the meeting was devoted to a continuation of the Council’s review of the General Education Competencies Plans,
which was begun during the 2013-2014 academic year. The competencies plan submitted for the major in Financial Market
Regulation was approved. Several other plans were discussed but not voted on pending clarification of specific components of the
plans by the departments. To date, twenty-seven plans have been approved. The review process will continue until all
competencies plans have been reviewed and approved.
The next UAC meeting is scheduled for November 20th.
ULC (University Life Council) –Michael Jaromin, Chair
The University Life Council will meet again on November 10th and have a presentation from New Student Programs and the
Pathways to Success Involvement Record. In addition, we have reached out to Dean Nasca from the School of Public Health
regarding the status of the Tobacco Free Campus Task Force.
Finally, we have also arranged for Joel Bloom from Institutional Research to attend an upcoming meeting to present quality of life
data to the Council.
ULC had several meetings in collaboration with Diversity. A seminar was given by a professor from Penn State who is
a specialist on climate studies. There had been a good turnout of about 25-30 people, with useful information
especially for teaching faculty.
UPPC (University Planning and Policy Council) –Christine Wagner, Chair
Nothing to report
NEW BUSINESS
a.
Approval of Changes in Council Memberships
Senate Secretary Gulatee noted the Senate had new members:
There was a correction to the last changes – James Fossett is a member of GAC
New member of UPPC Maurice Westmoreland
Undergraduate Council membership assignments were as follows:
CAA – Schwab, Emma
LISC – Sepulveda, Kelly
UAC – Faver, Allie and Markisello, Daniel
ULC – Webb, Raymond
UPPC – Henderson, Chenaniah
A motion was made and seconded to approve the membership changes. The motion was approved with
the following voting results: Approved 37; Opposed 1; Abstained 2
Voting processes were reviewed.
A motion was made and seconded that the Senate send a note of condolences to the family of Trevor Duffy in the form
of a letter with the following voting results: Approved 16; Opposed 12; Abstained 6
As members had already exited, the motion failed and the meeting adjourned as quorum had been lost.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 4:14 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by
Elisa Lopez, Recorder
