University at Albany - State University of New York
2005-06 University Senate
Minutes of May 15, 2006
Present:
Abraham, J. P., Bartow, J. Berkowitz, J., Bessette, T., Birge, S., Blum, M., Bunnell, G.
Burke, Chaiken, S., Chinnam, S., Collier, Dewar, D., Faerman, S., Friedman, S., Gibson,
R., Hanifan, J., Horton, H., Hoyt, R., Idone, V., Israel, A., Jerison, M., Kranich, L.,
Lanford, Leonard, P., Levine, S., Lyons, A., MacDonald, C., McNutt, L., Merbler, C.,
Messner, S., Moore, G., Murphy, J., Ongiti, O., Pelosi, O., Pryse, M., Range, M., Redkey,
E., Rodriguez, M., Savitt, J., Schell, L., Sherman, M., Shub, D., Stromer-Galley, J.,
Tenenbaum, S., Truchan, D., Wagner, D., Weaver, B., Wessman, J., Wulfert, E., Zitomer,
R., Zonder, A.
Guests:
Jacklet, J., Mahan, S., Spencer, M., Szelest, B.
Minutes:
The Minutes of April 24, 2006 were approved.
Chair’s Report, presented by Steven F. Messner
Vice President for Research Candidates
: Chair Messner reported that the Senate Executive
Committee has had an opportunity to meet with each candidate. After all of these meetings, the
members of the committee convened to discuss and evaluate the candidates. The evaluations have
been transmitted in writing to the Search Committee.
Biology Lab Requirements
: At the last Senate meeting, the Senate defeated Bill No. 0506-22:
Proposal to Reduce the Laboratory Requirements for the Biology Major and Minor, introduced by
UPC. After the vote, R. Collier requested that the President and Provost be informed of the
discussion that had occurred at the Senate meeting. The Chair raised the issue at the last Brown-
bag lunch with the President and Provost. Two faculty members from the Biology Department
were present, Professors Shub and Zitomer, to provide further details. President Hall appreciated
the briefing and expressed his view that it would be a good idea to enhance communication
between governance and relevant members of the administration when legislation such as this
works its way through the governance process. Chair Messner discussed the President’s
recommendation with Chair-elect Dewar, for possible action next year.
Council Reports
Council on Academic Assessment (CAA), Malcolm Sherman, Chair. No report.
Council on Research (COR), Vincent Idone, Chair. COR voted unanimously to accept the following
policies: UAlbany Policy and Procedures on Misconduct in Research and Scholarship; Policy on Conflict
of Interest (voted unanimously to accept the policy with one recommended change: the Conflict Review
Committee composition should include at least five COR members); Revised Policy Regarding
Distribution of Credit for Sponsored Projects Involving More Than Organizational Unit; and the Inclusion
of “Exempt” Category in IRB Human Subjects Reviews. From the Committee on Centers, Institutes and
Specialized Research Labs, a plan is being put into effect to evaluate a few centers for the upcoming year.
The plan will integrate center/institute reviews with the on-going process of the academic departments.
The Council Chair will continue to work with governance on the issue related to the inconsistency of
wording between responsibilities of COR and UPC in the Senate Charter.
Council on Promotions and Continuing Appointments (CPCA), David Shub, Chair. Chair David
Shub reported that review of cases by CPCA is being delayed because some Departments/Colleges are not
getting the cases in on time. He indicated that he is hopeful that there will be a quorum of CPCA
members over the summer to complete all assigned cases.
Graduate Academic Council (GAC), Monica Rodriguez, Chair. GAC has a bill on changes to the
doctoral research tool to introduce. Other business discussed at past meetings included curricular changes
to the MBA evening program from the School of Business.
Governance Council (GOV), Diane Dewar, Chair. The Governance Council met with guest, Professor
Vince Idone, Chair of the Council on Research (COR), on April 26th. The discussion involved a
proposal from COR to increase the efficiency of the review process for Centers and Institutes. The GOV
Council is continuing its deliberation on any potential charter changes that would be necessary to
streamline the review process. Other business included a review of the draft handbook for Senate
Officers and Council Chairs.
Council on Libraries, Information Systems, and Computing (LISC), David Wagner, Chair.
LISC continues its review of the composition, purpose, and functioning of our committees (i.e., Library
Acquisitions and IT Policy Review). LISC members are particularly concerned about the relation of these
committees to the internal decision-making processes in the Libraries and in IT. The April meeting was
postponed a couple of weeks to make sure that Dean of Libraries Frank D’Andraia and CIO Christine
Haile will be able to attend the meeting. The members would like to develop a more efficient strategy for
brining actions to the Senate.
Undergraduate Academic Council (UAC), Philippe Abraham, Chair. The UAC is currently
discussing:
a) Revision of the Syllabus Requirement
b) Revision of some of the prerequisites for courses in the Informatics minor
c) Requirement for the upper level courses in the Italian major
University Life Council (ULC), Joan N. Savitt, Chair. At ULC's meeting of April 17, two pieces of
legislation were passed: a resolution in favor of a family leave policy, and a bill in favor of mandatory
health insurance for all matriculated students. ULC also heard a report that conversations with CDTA,
about service to the East Campus earlier this year, resulted in improved service for students. ULC is not
currently working on any additional issues expected to result in legislation for the 2005-06 academic year.
University Planning and Policy Council (UPC), Carolyn MacDonald, Chair. UPC met May 4 to
review the proposal from ULC for regular staffing for recreational athletics and to consider action items
from the student satisfaction survey. It will meet May 22 to review the latest draft of the SUNY MOU.
Committee on Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expression, and Community Responsibility
(CAFFECoR), Lawrence Snyder, Chair. CAFFECoR met on March 30, with Bill Hedberg, Michael
Jaromin, and Scott Birge, to discuss the drafting of an Administrative Addendum for University Senate
Bill # 0304-25, "Campus Policy on Freedom of Expression." Michael Jaromin, Director of Student
Activities, plans to draft such an addendum and have it ready for comments by CAFFECoR members.
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Committee on Ethics in Research and Scholarship (CERS), Richard Zitomer, Chair CERS has
prepared an amendment to the Misconduct Policy and Procedures to protect whistleblowers. This
amendment is required to bring the Policy in compliance with federal guidelines for funded researchers.
The Committee also has developed changes in the Policy and Procedures that would extend them to
include upper University administrators, the Vice Presidents and the President. The current Policy and
Procedures contain no clear mechanisms for dealing with Misconduct on this level. While an amendment
has been drafted, the Committee decided not to bring it to the Senate until it was reviewed by the Vice
President for Research and University Counsel. Committee members hope to complete that process this
summer.
Report on SUNY-Wide Senator and At Large Election Results, Andi Lyons, Secretary:
SUNY-Wide: R. Michael Range, Mathematics, elected to a three-year term.
At Large Senators, each serving a two-year term:
o
Full time Faculty: Reed Hoyt, Music, Jon Jacklet, Biology
o
Professional Employees: Tom Bessette, ITS, John Murphy, Office of Student Success
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Part time Faculty: Eric Woods, Physics
New Business:
Election of Senate Officers:
Senate Vice Chair: A motion was made to elect Reed Hoyt by a show of hands. The motion was
seconded. Reed Hoyt was elected to the position of 2006-2007 Senate Vice Chair. Michael Range
will replace him as the at large senator for full time faculty.
Senate Secretary: The Senate Secretary voting was conducted by paper ballot. Richard Collier,
Undergraduate Studies, was elected Senate Secretary.
2006-2007 Council/Committee Slates: Chair-Elect Dewar presented the proposed Council/Committee
slates for next year. The slates passed with no opposed votes and with one abstention.
Characteristics of Strong Diversity Plans - presented by James Anderson, Vice President for
Student Success and Vice Provost for Institutional Assessment and Diversity:
Vice President Anderson explained what a Diversity Plan consists of and represents. He identified
characteristics of University diversity plans presently operating at other institutions and gave examples of
successful plan outcomes. He asked Senators to consider participating with the University Commission
on Diversity and Affirmative Action in developing this plan.
Chair Messner thanked VP Anderson for the presentation and asked Senators to email VP Anderson if
they would like to volunteer to represent the Senate on the Commission.
Senate Bills and Resolutions:
Bill No. 0506-23 - GAC: Proposed Changes to Doctoral Research Tool Policy: The bill was
introduced and passed unanimously.
Bill No. 0506-24 - COR: Proposal for “Exempt” Category in IRB Human Subjects Review: After a
brief discussion, the bill was introduced and passed with no opposed votes and with one abstention.
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Bill No. 0506-25 - UAC, GAC: Standards for Academic Integrity: The bill was introduced by
Monica Rodriguez, Chair, GAC, who yielded the floor to Marjorie Pryse, Interim Dean of Graduate
Studies. Dean Pryse went over the history of the bill, explaining that concerns about violations of
academic integrity that come into the offices of the Deans of Undergraduate and Graduate Studies led
Interim Provost Jeryl Mumpower and Provost Susan Herbst, when she arrived, to constitute the Provost's
Task Force on Academic Integrity that met spring, summer and fall of 2005. The Task Force included
representatives from all of the Schools and Colleges, from UAC and GAC, from the libraries and ITS, and
graduate and undergraduate students. The Task Force submitted its report to the Provost during the spring
semester, 2006; the report included a recommendation that UAC and GAC adopt revisions to the
Standards for Academic Integrity. During spring, 2006, both UAC and GAC discussed the revisions and
voted to forward the revised Standards as Bill No. 05-06-25.
There was a “Friendly Amendment” from the floor to change the bill to read “faculty members will
complete the Violation of Academic Integrity Report.” After discussion, there was a motion from the
floor to change the wording in the bill, the motion was seconded and after further discussion, the
amendment passed. The bill passed with no opposed votes and with one abstention.
Bill No. 0506-26 - ULC: Proposal for Mandatory Health Insurance for All Matriculated Students.
The bill generated extensive discussion. A question was raised about the precise meaning of a
“matriculated” student. There was a friendly amendment agreed upon by a show of hands to change the
wording to “students enrolled in a degree program” rather than “for all matriculated students.” There was
further discussion on the potential for negative consequences associated with the additional costs for
students, and whether or not financial aid would actually be able to compensate for these costs. After
lengthy discussion a motion to table the bill to allow for more information was introduced and seconded.
The motion to table passed with five opposed votes.
Bill No. 0506-27 - CERS: Proposal to Amend Policy and Procedures on Misconduct.
The bill was introduced and passed unanimously.
Resolution 0506-04 - ULC: Resolution for Position for Intramurals and Recreational Activities.
The bill was introduced by Chair of ULC, Savitt. There was lengthy discussion on this bill regarding
where the position should be located, i.e., within the Department of Athletics or within the Division for
Student Success. An amendment originating from UPC was introduced that changes the “be it resolved
clause” to remove the reference to “within the Division of Athletics & Recreation” (thereby leaving the
location of the position to the discretion of the Administration) and stipulating that ULC be “provided
with an annual report with metrics to assess the success of the position.” The Amendment passed with
two oppositions and one abstention. The amended Resolution passed with two oppositions and four
abstentions.
Resolution 0506-05 - ULC: Resolution for a University at Albany Family Leave Policy. The bill was
introduced by Chair of ULC Savitt. Several senators observed that the University is behind other
institutions on this issue and that the President and Provost have both encouraged ULC to go forward with
this resolution. After lengthy discussion, the Resolution passed unanimously.
End of Minutes.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jayne VanDenburgh, Recorder
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