COUNCIL AND COMMITTEE SUMMARIES (draft)
Meeting of the University Senate Executive Council, March 28, 2011
As submitted to Gail Cameron, Staff Support, University Senate
UNIVERSITY SENATE CHAIR’S REPORT – Eric Lifshin, Chair
N/A
UFS (University Faculty Senator’s Report) –Daniel D. White, J. Philippe Abraham & Shadi
Shahedipour-Sandvik, SUNY Senators
GSO (Graduate Student Organization) – Heidi Nicholls, GSO Representative
This week a letter has been sent out in addition to the President's letters regarding Fountain Day and the formal decision to
apply for deactivation. They have been encouraged to either contact Dean Williams or the President of GSO who will
assist in the linking of students with the most appropriate contact. GSO is also preparing for their elections to be held in
April for 2011-2012.
SA (Student Association) – Justin Wax Jacobs, President Student Association
N/A
CAA (Council on Academic Assessment) – Richard Matyi, Chair
1)
Prof. Janine Jurkowski (SPH) has joined the CAA
2)
Reviews of the Education Psychology and the Education Counseling & Psychology programs are in progress.
3)
The CAAA has been working with the UAC Gen Ed committee on aspects of academic assessment involved with
the proposed changes to the Gen Ed program.
4)
The next meeting of the CAA is tentatively planned for the week of 3/28.
CAFFECoR (Committee on Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expression, and Community Responsibility)
– Pradeep Haldar, Chair
Nothing new to report.
CERS (Committee on Ethics in Research and Scholarship) – John Monfasani, Chair
N/A
COR (Council on Research) – James Castracane, Chair
The Council on Research met on March 16th and two items were of note.
A proposal was put forward to create an excellence award to recognize early career achievement by University faculty.
This would parallel the current University-level and the Chancellor’s-level Excellence in Research and Creative Activities
awards which are targeted more on longer term career achievements. The Researcher’s Liaison committee will be asked to
formulate a plan and requirements for COR consideration.
Following the latest round of applications for Conference/Journal Support, the committee has changed the wording for the
Journal Support Guidelines to include “Award funds typically will be provided for journal start-up or for general editorial
support when a UAlbany faculty member is serving in the capacity of Managing Editor, Editor-In-Chief or similar
leadership role for the journal.”…indicating a requirement that the applicant occupy a senior position with the journal. In
addition, requests for funding cannot include travel to conferences and meetings for the purpose of conducting editorial
activities.
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CPCA (Council on Promotions and Continuing Appointments) – Vincent LaBella, Chair
Review of T&P cases continues. We continue to meet about once per week.
GAC (Graduate Academic Council) – Laurence Kranich, Chair
GAC met on March 28 and approved the following measures: (1) a proposal from the School of Education to establish a
Graduate Certificate in Online Learning and Teaching (COLT), (2) a proposal from the School of Public Health (SPH) to
establish a fully online version of its Master of Public Health (MPH) program, (3) a proposal from SPH to revise the
elective offerings for the MPH degree program’s Social Behavior and Community Health Concentration, and (4) a
proposal from the College of Arts and Sciences Biology Department to revise its elective requirements for its MS in
Forensic Biology degree program. In addition, the Council approved proposals by its Committee on Educational Policy
and Procedure (5) to amend the policy pertaining to Graduate Certificate programs, (6) to amend policies pertaining to the
submittal of a Master’s thesis, and (7) to establish graduate level policy pertaining to grade changes. The Council
deferred consideration of a proposal from the School of Public Health, Department of Health Policy, Management and
Behavior (HPMB) to suspend admission to its MS program. The Council also acted on a petition before its Committee on
Admissions and Academic Standing. Finally, the Council resumed discussion of the CAA program reviews.
GOV (Governance Council) – Susanna Fessler, Chair
The Governance Council met on Thursday, March 17th. Agenda Items included Bylaw wording regarding the School of
Public Health. Bylaws 2.3.2 states, “The 44 Senators shall be allocated to the schools and colleges in proportion to the
numbers of voting faculty members in each school or college; however, each school or college shall have at least one
Senator and the School of Public Health shall have two Senators.” GOV felt this wording unclear, and that changing it to
“the SPH shall have at least two Senators” would be better. However, given the difficult of amending the Bylaws it was
agreed that such a change should wait until a larger Bylaw amendment was proposed, at which time this particular change
could also be proposed. The second main agenda item was the improper constitution of many of the Senate Councils.
There are a number of councils with too many or too few members of various types (i.e., teaching faculty, professional
faculty, etc.). There are also a number of councils with more than one member from the same unit. GOV decided not to
effect council membership changes because we are so far into the school year. However, the chair of GOV expressed her
wish that next year a similar situation not be repeated.
LISC (Council on Libraries, Information Systems, and Computing) – Shadi Shahedipour-Sandvik, Chair
During its March 14th meeting, the Dean of the libraries Mary Casserly reported on a survey that will be issued in late
March to faculty and students regarding the quality of the Library. This survey is generated every 3-4 years and gives the
Library the user’s perceptive of its services. The results of prior year’s survey are on the website. CIO Haile reported on a
one-time fixed technology funding that was set aside for updating smaller classrooms with “technology light” support
(includes projection, laptop and connections). More detailed questions should be directed to Carole Sweeton or Kyle
Pulliam in Client Support Services. The concept of “Cloud Computing” was also discussed. Cloud computing has made
possible facilitation of larger computing capacity for research, and in most cases with lower cost. Regarding ITS’s
migration to Live@edu, ITS is looking at either of two implementation phases, moving a subset of campus first or moving
everyone on campus at the same time. It may be too disruptive to migrate everyone before June. Better to be cognizant
and thorough.
UAC (Undergraduate Academic Council) – JoAnne Malatesta, Chair
The UAC continues to meet weekly. We continue to evaluate and develop a general education proposal based on the
Senate Task Force recommendation and the feedback from Schools and Colleges. Significant progress has been made in
this area and it is likely that we will have a proposal in the near future. Additionally, UAC has approved a proposal for
changes to the SSW Field Experience Course and a proposal from PUB to cross-list their internship course with POS.
Both are being presented to SEC for review.
ULC (University Life Council) – Danielle Leonard, Chair
ULC will meet Friday, March 25th at which time Susanna Fessler, Chair of the Governance Council and Senate Chair-
elect, will conduct the election of a new Chair of ULC to replace Danielle Leonard. Chair Leonard was elected Senate
Secretary at the March 14th meeting of the full senate. The other item on the agenda for the 3/25 meeting is the
suspension of Fountain Day.
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UPPC (University Planning and Policy Council) – Jim Fossett, Chair
1.
UPPC has been briefed on the University’s Facilities Master Plan, which will govern spending on classrooms and
office space over the 2013-2023 period. Dormitories are not covered in this process. SUNY Central has engaged a
consultant to do the extensive analytical work required to develop a coherent picture of the university’s space
needs and canvas university opinion on space needs.
2.
UPPC has also approved revised planning calendars for the Spring 2012 semester and the 2012-2013 academic
year, motivated by the President’s desire to have students out of town around St. Patrick’s Day. There are no
noteworthy issues for the Spring 2012 and Fall 2012 calendars, but there are problems connected with the Spring
2013 calendar because of the timing of Passover and Easter. This calendar was approved as a one-time fix and the
university administration was requested to develop plans to avoid these conflicts in the future.
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