Governance Council
Monday, April 27, 2009
Michael Range, Chair
Minutes
Present:
Erin Bell, Nan Carroll, Richard Collier, Ed Cupoli, Jane Domaracki, Nicholas Fahrenkopf,
Candace Merbler, John Monfasani, Theresa Pardo, Michael Range, John Schmidt
The meeting convened at 11:32 am.
MINUTES:
The minutes of March 30, 2009 were approved.
CHAIR’S REPORT BY MICHAEL RANGE
Chair Range informed council members that the IRCUAP amendment was introduced at the last Senate
meeting. One question came from the Senate floor asking what needed to be fixed that resulted in the
amendment. The amendment will be voted on at the next Senate meeting on May 4th.
Chair Range reported on the president’s budget update given at the last Senate Executive Committee
meeting. The president had informed everyone that the worst is yet to come. There will be a $4 million
cut in the new budget year and it is unclear where that money will come from. According to Candace
Merbler, the cut is now $4.9 million. She reported that at the last labor management meeting, the question
was asked if the University is looking at retrenchments and William Hedberg had replied yes. SUNY
New Paltz has also announced retrenchments. Notification has been received of non-renewal for 23 part-
time lecturers from the School of Education. Ms. Merbler reported that the UUP President Phillip Smith
believes that jobs can be saved with a $75 million appropriation.
NEW BUSINESS:
Recommendations for Members of the Doctoral Review Panel:
This item is the number one priority in the Provost’s office. GOV has been concerned about the manner
in which it has been approached but the Provost and the President are including governance in the
process. The Provost wanted a list provided to her by last Friday, but had conceded to wait until GOV
had a chance to discuss the matter. She has asked for a list of fifteen names. The Provost will chose from
that list to assure that all areas are covered. Chair Range indicated that he would consult with the Provost
before the selections are made.
There was a discussion of the number of doctoral awards from different schools and these statistics,
provided by Senate Secretary Richard Collier, gave additional importance to the matter. Several
recommendations for names came from council members, exceeding the list of fifteen. Nan Carroll
proposed sending all of the names to the Provost to show the seriousness of the issue by the number of
people willing and qualified to participate. Her idea was well supported by council members, and a
motion to send the entire list to the Provost was made, seconded and passed.
OLD BUSINESS:
Senate Handbook:
The handbook does not need to be formally approved by the Senate but Chair Range would like to move
it forward. A recommendation was made to add Nan Carroll to the subgroup. That recommendation was
seconded and passed. It was also recommended that her changes to the document be added before a final
presentation of the handbook. There was a discussion about who the audience of the handbook would be,
and the consensus was that it’s for the entire University community to help people understand what the
Senate does.
Council members discussed additional topics or expanded discussion of topics such as describing the role
of the Executive Committee, and additional work on the section on parliamentary procedures relating to
conflict of interest still needs some work. The handbook will be posted on the Senate’s website. It will
be a working document, subject to continuous revisions.
Chair Range would like the subcommittee to conclude their work and have it circulated to GOV members
for review in May or June. Council members can vote by e-mail on the final document and have it ready
for the Executive Committee by September. A target date of June 15 was agreed on for having the
document ready to post on the Senate web site.
ADJOURNMENT:
The meeting adjourned at 12:44 pm
