Senate Secretary Christian Poehlmann
Reports Submitted for November 30, 2016 SEC meeting:
SEC CHAIR’S REPORT – James Collins
I.
Informational
1.
On November 8, Chair Collins sent Chief of Staff Szelest information about the many
offices which must register changes to academic names or programs. The material was
initially provided by UAC staff support Kathie Winchester.
2.
On November 9, Fall Faculty Meeting was held. Participants were pleased with an
interactive format allowing time for questions after the President’s Report.
3.
On November 11, Chair Collins met with Vice Chair Reinhold and Immediate Past Chair
Fox to discuss follow up on recent Senate resolutions, and plan an agenda for Senate
leadership meetings with the Provost and Chief of Staff.
4.
On November 21, 2016 a constituent asked Chair Collins to inquire into University
responses to recent racist or potentially racist incidents on campus. Collins raised the
issue with Provost Wheeler during the 11/21 Senate Meeting and he responded.
5.
On November 22, 2016, Senate leaders (Collins and Fox), met with Provost Wheeler and
Chief of Staff Szelest. Among items discussed was Senate representation on
administrative review processes, including
a.
Decanal review;
b.
Non-academic administrative units;
c.
Need for discussion and clarification of rights and responsibilities.
6.
On November 22, Chair Collins and Immediate Past Chair Fox met to plan revisions to
the Senate Handbook clarifying Council procedures and routing practices.
II.
Actions taken
None to report
III.
Recommendations for actions
None
OTHER REPORTS
UFS (University Faculty Senate) – Diane Hamilton, Walter Little & Latonia Spencer,
SUNY Senators
1.
Nothing to report.
GSA (Graduate Student Association) – Dylan Carr GSA President
1.
Nothing reported
SA (Student Association) – Felix Abreu, Student Association President
1.
Nothing reported
COUNCIL/COMMITTEE CHAIRS’ REPORTS:
CAA (Council on Academic Assessment) – James Mower, Chair
1.
Nothing new to report
CAFFECoR (Committee on Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expression, and
Community Responsibility) –Carol Jewell, Chair
1.
Informational
a.
A few CAFFECoR members met on Friday, November 18, 2016, at which
time Malcolm Sherman volunteered to serve on the new subcommittee which
GOV will form, to create procedural language for the undergraduate bulletin,
as was previously announced. We also began to talk about the policy for
faculty fliers.
2.
Reports of Actions
a.
N/A
3.
Recommendations for Actions
a.
N/A
CERS (Committee on Ethics in Research and Scholarship) – Michael Jerison, Chair
1.
Nothing reported
COR (Council on Research) – Daniele Fabris, Chair
1.
Nothing reported
CPCA (Council on Promotions and Continuing Appointments) – Louise-Anne McNutt,
Chair
1.
Nothing reported
GAC (Graduate Academic Council) – James Fossett, Chair
1.
Nothing reported
GOV (Governance Council) – Karin Reinhold, Chair
1.
Nothing reported
LISC (Council on Libraries, Information Systems, and Computing) – David Mamorella,
Chair
Overview of Blackboard Organizations This presentation described using
Blackboard beyond just using it for courses. This concept of using
communities/organizations has been gaining traction; and anyone with a Net ID can
build one.
Brief Overview of the new Lecture Capture Room in SB-31
Dave showed slides of the new LC Room in SB-31 which was recently renovated to
capture lectures. It is new to the faculty, but if anyone is interested in learning how it
is done, contact the Classroom Technology staff in ITS.
Overview/Brief Demo of VoiceThread
Dave presented an overview of VoiceThread, which is an interactive collaboration
and sharing tool that enables users to add images, documents, videos, and to which
other users can add voice, text, audio file, or video comments. This tool can be
incorporated into Blackboard. It does require a webcam for the video component. If
anyone is interested, contact the Faculty Technology Resources team in ITS. There is
a workshop on VoiceThread scheduled for February 14th, 2017 in ITLAL.
Report/Updates from Rebecca Mugridge (Dean of University Libraries):
Faculty searches.
o
Director of Technical Services and Library Systems. The request to fill the
position will go out to Budget/HR/ODI this week.
o
Outreach and Marketing Librarian. An internal search for this position has
begun and hope to be finished by mid-December.
Student Advisory Board. The first meeting of the Board took place on October 25,
and the second meeting is coming up on November 16. Due to the amount of student
interest, the SAB was split into fall and spring. A little over 30 students attended the
first meeting. This meeting raised a number of issues, including their concerns with
printing costs.
Library Hours Task Force. At the request of the Libraries’ Student Advisory
Board, Rebecca has appointed a Task Force to make recommendations regarding the
hours of operation for all three university libraries. The Task Force conducted a
survey of students in October and is now conducting a survey of faculty and staff.
The results of these surveys will be used to inform our decisions about hours in the
next semester and going forward.
Digital Scholarship Center Task Force. The Libraries have formed a task force to
explore how we might expand the services offered by our Interactive Media Center to
include things like data visualization software and GIS. To inform their work they’ve
invited Joan Lippincott, Associate Executive Director of the Coalition for Networked
Information, to speak to the Libraries and other interested folks about digital
scholarship support services. This will take place on November 15, 10:30-12:00 in
the Cobb Room, and LISC members are welcome to attend.
Other Items
Rebecca will have a representative speak to the Committee on the reconfiguration of
the Library’s service desks and how it’s going to change the look of the Library.
UAC (Undergraduate Academic Council) –Karen Kiorpes and Christy Smith, Co-
Chairs
UAC met on October 18 and again on November 10. In its September meeting, UAC
reviewed a proposal from the School of Social Welfare to revise their policies on termination
from their major. In response to questions at that meeting, the School clarified the language
of the policy and the circumstances under which a student would not receive a passing grade
in Field Placements. The proposal was approved unanimously on October 18.
On October 18 UAC reviewed two revised General Education plans, one from Political
Science and the other from Social Welfare. The former was approved. UAC has asked Social
Welfare for a point of clarification regarding the Dewey Library role in the Plan.
Four new General Education Competency Plans were submitted. After the October meeting,
Chair Kiorpes divided UAC voting members into subcommittees to review three of the new
Competency Plans. Kiorpes assigned plans to subcommittees based on representation of a
UAC faculty member in a discipline relevant to the department submitting the plan. The
subcommittees reported on the plans at the UAC meeting on November 10.
Computer Science: UAC will work with the department on required revisions before
it can be approved.
CNSE: Approved pending minor changes.
Urban Studies and Planning: Approved pending minor changes.
The Human Development competency plan will be reviewed in time for discussion at the
December 6 UAC meeting.
The Committee on Admissions and Academic Standing will be submitting a proposal for a
statute of limitations for late withdrawal requests. Additionally, a proposal regarding
readmission petitions may be forthcoming.
Two student cases are under review by Interdisciplinary Studies, including one internship.
On October 27, Kiorpes and Kathie Winchester met with Cynthia Fox and Jim Collins to
discuss their request to SEC to create documentation of procedures to follow when a
department or college proposes certain organizational changes. Recent proposed changes in
the School of Business and in the College of Computer Engineering and Applied Sciences
have brought such issues to the forefront, and there has been clarification regarding the role
the SEC and UPPC should play in such proposals. Kiorpes and Winchester want to capture
the jurisdiction for approvals, the steps needed, and the order of those steps, based on the
types of administrative changes being proposed. They provided Fox and Collins a draft of a
list of possible types of changes and a list of the groups that may be involved in approval and
implementation.
ULC (University Life Council) – Ekow King, Chair
1.
Informational – The University Life Council’s next meeting is on November 28th
a.
A report will be given at the November 30th meeting
2.
Reports of Actions
3.
Recommendations for Actions
UPPC (University Planning and Policy Council) – Cynthia Fox, Chair
I.
Informational
a.
The Council met 11/16. The agenda included one item of Old Business: a
continuation of the discussion of the role of UPPC role in Compact Planning;
and two items of New Business: a discussion of Senate policy and procedures
re departmental name changes and reorganizations, and a proposed Resolution
on CNSE.
b. At the meeting of 11/16, Vice President for Finance and Administration James
Van Vorst announced that an outside consultant would be on campus
December 6-9 to gather information about the functioning of division of
Finance and Administration and requested that UPPC recommend two
individuals to meet with him during this visit.
c.
Brian Polanco has been appointed UPPC’s undergraduate student
representative and plans to attend our December 7 meeting.
II.
Actions Taken
a.
In the matter of UPPC’s role in Compact Planning, it was agreed that the
Senate, via UPPC, will be invited to make a presentation early in the
process that speaks to the faculty’s funding priorities, and that UPPC and/
or its subcommittees will be provided reports on the performance
outcomes of previous awardees. VP Van Vorst will bring updated
documents reflecting these clarifications to our next meeting.
b. In the matter of the discussion of Senate policy and procedures re
departmental name changes and reorganizations, Senate Chair /UPPC
member Jim Collins agreed to create a first draft of a document that would
eventually serve as permanent record/ guide for more consistent Senate
decision making in the future.
c.
In respons to VP Van Voorst’s request, Chairs Chittur and Leventhal have
been asked to have their respective committees (Facilities and Resources)
each elect a member to represent UPPC/the Senate at the meeting with the
consultant.
III.
Recommendations.
a.
None at this time
