2008-09 Minutes - Approved - Senate_Minutes-6April2009.doc, 2009 April 27

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2008-2009 University Senate
Monday, April 6, 2009
3:30 pm, Campus Center Assembly Hall
John Delano, Chair
Minutes   
Present:
J. Philippe Abraham, Sandra Austin, Hassaram Bakhru, Henryk Baran, Kristina Bendikas, 
Zakhar Berkovich, Tom Bessette, R. Scott Birge, Irina Birman, Daryl Bullis, Andrew Byon, 
Sairam Chinnam, Richard Collier, Randall Craig, Ed Cupoli, Jane Domaracki, Sue Faerman, 
Nicholas Fahrenkopf, Susanna Fessler, Richard Fogarty, Sally Friedman, Robert Gibson, 
Andrew Haas, Eric Hardiman, Reed Hoyt, Allen Israel, Richard Johnson, Donald Keenan,
Laurence Kranich, William Lanford, Eric Lifshin, Carolyn MacDonald, Jean McLaughlin, 
Candace Merbler, William Meredith, George Philip, Susan Phillips, Lawrence Raffalovich, 
R. Michael Range, Kwadwo Sarfoh, Joan Savitt, Lawrence Schell, John Schmidt, Benjamin Shaw, 
Malcolm Sherman, Daniel Smith, Eszter Szalczer, Daniel Truchan III, Lynn Videka, 
Robert Yagelski
Guests:
Jonathan Bartow, Daniel Keyser, Wayne Locust, Sheila Mahan
The meeting convened at 3:32 pm.
 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 
The minutes of March 6, 2009 were approved with minor changes.  Michael Range made a request for changes in 
the section concerning the Consultation Amendment.  Those changes were discussed and completed.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT by GEORGE PHILIP
Budget:  The President gave a briefing on the budget situation.  SUNY will receive 20% of the tuition increase and
in-state graduate tuition will increase 21%.  He reported that the 20/20 legislation will be a post budget item.  
UAlbany has made a request to be added the legislation, as have Stony Brook and Binghamton.  While the federal 
stimulus provides nearly $3 billion to New York, SUNY expects to receive approximately $37 million, and most of
that has gone to community colleges and medical centers.
The President reported that four town hall meetings have been held.  They have been well attended and there has 
been very good participation with good suggestions.  Many of these ideas will be pursued, especially those of an 
entrepreneurial nature as alternatives for funding.
Enrollment:  Applications are up over last year.  The quality of the pool of candidates has increased.  The campus 
is seeing an increase in the number of transfers from private colleges.  Graduate applications are up 8% over last 
year.  President Philip expressed his appreciation of faculty support during admission events.
President Philip noted events that celebrate our outstanding students, which include the following:

The 22nd Annual President’s Awards for Leadership were presented on March 15.

The 23rd Annual Spellman Awards were presented on March 29.  The President indicated that 38% of 
UAlbany students meet the criteria for this award.

The SUNY Chancellors Awards will be presented on April 7.  The President said faculty members should 
be proud to have taught this terrific group of young people.
Other campus events noted by the President included the following:

This past weekend a celebration of SUNY was held on campus with a scholarly conference on SUNY’s 60th
anniversary.  The event was well attended.  Speeches were given by former SUNY Chancellors Clifton 
Wharton and Bruce Johnstone.  Incoming Chancellor Nancy Zimpher attended the entire event.

The employee recognition ceremony was well attended and provided an opportunity to socialize with 
former employees and recognize their contributions to the University.

A ribbon cutting event at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering officially opened the $150 
million expansion at the College.  The event was well attended.  Governor David Patterson was among the 
attendees.

The Relay for Life event was held on March 21-22.  The event raised $91,000 to benefit cancer research.

Tech Valley High School will have residence on the East Campus.

A memorial mass was held on March 26 to honor the life of Richard Bailey.
The president was asked about concerns faculty have about leaving for the summer break and the possibility that 
not all of them will return in the fall due to cuts.  He responded that we will continue to be a university and 
continue to provide education but will have to do more with less.
President Philip was asked about the presidential search.  He reported that there are no remaining finalists.
PROVOST’S REPORT by SUSAN PHILLIPS
The Provost discussed the financial tsunami and a model that has been proposed to deal with cuts.  Discussions 
about these models will continue after spring break.
Provost Phillips informed the Senate that the Dalai Lama would not be visiting the campus.  She encouraged 
everyone to submit their requests for regalia for Spring Commencement.  The Undergraduate ceremony will be 
held at the new entry plaza this year.  Provost Phillips thanked everyone who participated in undergraduate 
recruitment days.  She encouraged everyone to participate during open house for admitted students on April 18-19, 
and stated that it’s important for students to meet those who will be teaching their classes.
The Provost discussed notable and upcoming events:

The John E. Burton Lecture and Awards Ceremony will be held on April 28.  Dr. Merryl Tisch will be the 
guest lecturer.

CAS Dean Edelgard Wulfert has received an IMH award to conduct a study on gambling.

The School of Business has selected an architect for its new building.

Thanks went out to Guy Fernando in the School of Business for participating in the Faculty Phone-a-Thon 
Program.

The College of Computing and Information has received a $25,000 grant from the Pitney Bowes 
Foundation.

Professor Shawn Bushway in the School of Criminal Justice has been sought by Capital News Channel 9 
for his expertise.

Dr. Joseph Bowman, from Education Theory and Practice, has been reappointed to the New York State 
Board of Regents.

The School of Social Welfare received a grant in the amount of $72,000 for its Healthy Hearts Program.  
The grant came from the NYS Department of Health.
The Provost was asked if term renewals for assistant professors will be affected by the budget situation.  She 
responded that the University is planning for reductions but it is unknown where they will come from at this point.
UNIVERSITY SENATE CHAIR’S REPORT – JOHN DELANO, CHAIR
FYE Task Force:  Several members (Diane Dewar, Wayne Locust, John Delano) of the Freshman Year Experience (FYE) Task Force met with the CAA,
UAC, and UPPC to describe the basic components of the three FYE models that been developed by the Task Force.  Those three models are resource-
dependent (limited, intermediate, maximum), as requested by Provost Phillips during her charge to the Task Force at its first meeting on June 3rd, 2008 .  
Important perspectives were provided members of those Councils that will be incorporated into the final FYE report, which will be widely distributed 
upon its completion.  A copy of the FYE ‘Executive Summary’ was e-mailed to all SEC members after the March 23rd SEC meeting for their 
perspectives.
March 13
 
 th   meeting with Provost Phillips and UUP representatives
 
 :  On Friday, March 13th, a 2.5-hour meeting occurred to discuss the issue of TA 
support for graduate students and the 3-tier program rankings contained in the 1997-1998 campus assessment that had been discussed by the Dean of 
Graduate Studies at a GAC meeting on March 2nd.  During the first hour, Provost Phillips provided the group with a ‘Tsunami 101’ report describing the 
financial challenges that the campus faces during the current and next fiscal years.  The Provost’s report was illustrated with a 15-page handout of graphs and 
tables.  Following thereafter, UUP representatives (Candace Merbler, President of the UAlbany Chapter; and Frederick Floss, Vice President for Academics) 
provided their views on faculty workload issues bearing on decreased support for graduate teaching assistants, and enrollment-thresholds in graduate courses. 
The subset of SEC members then decided to frame a document over the weekend that would be delivered to the Interim President and the Provost providing 
its views on these issues.  After many iterations conducted via e-mail over the weekend, that memo was completed and delivered by the Senate Chair to the 
offices of the President and Provost on Monday morning, March 16th.
Electronic balloting for Senate elections:  SEC members agreed during their March 23rd meeting that the Senate Chair should contact key-members of 
the University’s administration to see if holding electronic balloting for Senate elections would be possible.  The Senate Chair pursued this matter on 
March 25th.  While the concept of electronic balloting was greeted with enthusiastic interest, subsequent communications (e.g., March 28th) indicated that 
electronic balloting, although still viewed as important to pursue, would not likely be possible for the upcoming Senate elections in late April 2009.  
Following the submission of a memo by the Governance Council on the importance of this capability, the potential for electronic balloting for the 
upcoming April 2009 elections went from being unlikely to likely, as reported by members of the University administration to Senate officers in a 
meeting on April 3rd.  The Senate Chair expresses his sincere thanks to all participants who have worked to make this capability possible.
March 20
 
 th   meeting with Interim President and Provost
 
 :  As agreed at the February 23rd meeting of the SEC, a group of SEC members met with 
Interim President Philip and Provost Phillips on Friday, March 20th, to voice their concerns about an apparent pattern of conflict of interest by a member 
of their administration.  The meeting lasted for ~75 minutes.
UFS (UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATOR’S REPORT) – WILLIAM LANFORD, R. MICHAEL
 
    RANGE 
 
 
SUNY SENATORS
Nothing to report.
GSO (GRADUATE STUDENT ORGANIZATION) – NICHOLAS FAHRENKOPF, LEAD SENATOR
At its last Assembly Meeting the GSO passed a resolution recognizing Harvey Milk and urging the University to recognize outstanding alumni that have 
passed away (like Milk) through the “Reaching Higher, Achieving More” initiative. GSO elections will be held April 22nd until the 24th and will include a 
referendum item on the existence of the GSO. As the time comes closer please encourage graduate students you know to participate in this important 
election. The GSO is also starting a Volunteer Program and will be volunteering at Habitat for Humanity on Wednesday the 8th from 9am until 3pm. 
The GSO has a handful of events coming up including “Marketing Yourself for Success during Tough Economic Times” presented by Career Services and co-
sponsored with the Office of Graduate Studies. The AASS&F presents Music Movie Night – Triple Feature on 4/29 at 6PM in LC25 featuring: Sade “Lovers 
Live” in Southern California, Yanni “Tribute” at the Taj Mahal in India, and The Supremes “Reflections” the Motown Sound. The English Graduate Student 
Organization will hold its seventh annual conference, "Negotiating Land: New Readings" Friday and Saturday 4/17 and 4/18.  This conference will interrogate 
how recent theory and scholarship has understood changing local and global geographies and the spaces--textual, pedagogical, political, etc.--in which we attempt 
to read terrestriality. Additional events and more information on the GSO can be found at http://www.albany.edu/~gso and through (gso@albany.edu).
STUDENT ASSOCIATION REPORT – DANIEL TRUCHAN III
Mr. Truchan reported that undergraduates and the Student Association are quite upset that the Times Union released the information on the presidential 
candidates and that candidates have been lost.  They have a solution to the search—keep President Philip.  Parkefest was a big success—over 2,000 
tickets were sold.  UAlbany will host this year’s LGBT Conference on April 18-19.  Mr. Truchan made an appeal to all faculty to refrain from scheduling 
finals on reading day.  Student Leaders are being asked to sign on to good behavior for Fountain Day.  Students have had concerns regarding eligibility to
graduate.   He pointed out the need to follow guidelines in the syllabus.  There have been apparent instances where these guidelines have not been 
followed.  Mr. Truchan announced that the new Student Association president is Josh Sussman.  He ended by thanking everyone that he has worked with 
over the past four years.
MSCHE STEERING COMMITTEE REPORT – REED HOYT, UNIVERSITY SENATE 
REPRESENTATIVE
In attendance were: C. Anderson, T. Gage, S. Faerman (Co-Chair), B. Hamill, Honda (graduate assistant), R. Hoyt, E. Lifshin, K. Loscocco, D. 
McCaffrey, C. McNeil, S. Messner (Co-Chair), M. Sutherland, L. Trubitt. 
The first drafts of each chapter are due Monday, 6 April.  (The first draft of the Subcommittee on Institutional Assessment and Assessment of Student 
Learning has already been submitted.)  Each committee should take the long view and not focus too much on the current financial situation.  Questions of
how to deal with it and what are we doing about it can be considered.  The current climate has affected data gathering.  Strategies for gathering data were 
discussed.
ELECTIONS UPDATE by RICHARD COLLIER
Senate Secretary Collier reported that an e-mail broadcast had been sent to the voting faculty informing them that 
the volunteer system for Senate Councils and Standing Committees is up and running.  He asked that everyone 
encourage their colleagues to take advantage of the system as it would be good to see fresh faces and have fresh 
ideas coming in.
He reported that the prospect of electronic voting is looking good and thanked President Philip, Vincent Delio and 
Chief Information Officer Chris Haile for their part in making this happen.  He also thanked Governance Council 
and Chair Delano for their intervention, and he thanked the students who pointed out that they have been doing this
all along.  Secretary Collier informed Senate members that the polls will be open the week of April 27 through 
May 1.  We will have results by May 4th and will announce the winners and runners up.
Secretary Collier concluded by informing members that a call for nominations for Vice Chair had been sent in an 
e-mail broadcast and the vote will be conducted at the May Senate meeting.  Once there is a final slate, a broadcast
will be sent out to inform everyone of how the process works.
 COUNCIL/COMMITTEE REPORTS
 CAA (Council on Academic Assessment) – Henryk Baran, Chair
The Council met on March 11, 2009 and first reviewed and adopted the minutes from its February 25, 2009 meeting. It discussed and accepted the 
Program Review Committee’s report on the review of the Department of Educational Administration and Policy Studies. This was followed by a 
presentation by Senate Chair John Delano and Vice Provost Wayne Locust of a draft report by the First-Year Experience Task Force: the document lays 
out different models of possible living-learning communities, and the presenters asked Council members for their views. There was considerable 
discussion of the alternatives, though CAA as a whole did not take a position on the proposals. Finally, there was a discussion, initiated by the CAA 
Chair, of the mandate of Council, with reference to both the Bylaws and other documents; Prof. Delano contributed his own perspective on these matters.
The Council next met on April 1, 2009. Following the review and approval of minutes from the March 11 meeting, it agreed that the Chair seek to have 
CAA minutes posted on the Senate website as expeditiously as possible, and that he request that the record of CAA deliberations from prior years be 
posted there as well; having these materials openly may be beneficial in various contexts. The Council reviewed and accepted a report on the Department 
of East Asian Studies prepared by the Program Review Committee. The Council reviewed the draft of the report by the General Education Assessment 
Committee for 2008-2009; the text will be finalized at the next meeting. In connection with that, the Council agreed to consider at its next meeting a 
proposal to defer the review process for General Education Assessment during 2009-2010 in the scheduled three categories, in order to give GEAC the 
opportunity to review the adequacy of the process as a whole. Finally, CAA discussed the report forwarded by the First Year Experience Task Force, and 
agreed on several points to be included in a formal response.
CAFFECoR (Committee on Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expression, and Community Responsibility) – 
Malcolm Sherman, Chair
CAFFECoR will be sponsoring a forum on campus freedom of expression policies on Thursday evening, April 16 at 7PM in the Campus Center 
Assembly Hall. Format and panel members have yet to be finalized.
CERS (Committee on Ethics in Research and Scholarship) – Carolyn MacDonald, Chair
Nothing to report.
COR (Council on Research) – Lawrence Schell, Chair
The Council on Research has not met since the last Senate meeting. It will meet again on April 22nd.
CPCA (Council on Promotions and Continuing Appointments) – Eric Lifshin, Chair
CPCA continues to dig into the backlog of tenure and promotion cases at a rate of about two per week.
GAC (Graduate Academic Council) – Laurence Kranich, Chair
GAC met on March 30 and approved proposals by the School of Public Health to modify its Doctor of Public Health and its Master of Public Health 
programs.  In addition, the Council acted upon a petition before its Committee on Admissions and Academic Standing.  Two other measures before the 
Council’s Committee on Curriculum and Instruction, one from the School of Business to create an elective track in Nano Technology and one from the 
College of Arts and Sciences to revise the MS in Atmospheric Science program, were tabled pending receipt of additional clarifying information.  The 
Council will meet next on April 27.
GOV (Governance Council) – R. Michael Range, Chair 
GOV met on March 16 and March 30, 2009.  In response to questions raised at the 3/09/09 Senate meeting, GOV reviewed two bullet items from the last 
summary report to the SEC (2/23/09) and the Senate (3/09/09).  The second bullet in those reports contained incorrect information.   The Council decided
to replace that item with the following text.
A draft of the 2005 MSCHE Periodic Review Report was sent to the UAlbany Senate Executive Committee and to Faculty and Staff by Interim 
Provost Mumpower on May 05, 2005.   As acknowledged in that message, the PRR was due on June 1, 2005.   It is difficult to see how this very 
short time frame at the end of the semester would allow for the level of consultation called for by MSCHE guidelines. (“The preparation of a PRR,
just like a self-study, should involve various campus constituencies including faculty, staff, administration, and the board of trustees. Prior to 
submitting the PRR to the Commission, representatives of these groups should have adequate opportunity to discuss and respond to the draft 
PRR.”)
( http://www.msche.org/publications/PRRhandbook08081114133252.pdf )
Furthermore, the Council agreed on the following revisions of the last bullet item in said reports.
The selection and appointment of the current chair of the MSCHE Self-Study Steering Committee was done by the then Officer in Charge without 
any consultation with University at Albany elected governance bodies.  The appointment was later confirmed by the Interim President.  A co-chair
was added after Senate Officers had raised the issue, referring to the MSCHE guidelines which include such co-chairs as an appropriate model, 
among others, for the Steering Committee.  
GOV finalized the proposed Charter Amendment concerning the creation of the Initial Review Committee of Undergraduate Academic Proposals 
(IRCUAP), which replaces the IRCAP proposal first considered in Spring 2008.  (Amendment is on today’s agenda.) 
The Council also held a special meeting on March 23 to discuss nominations to replace senators-at-large and UAS faculty representatives whose terms 
end at the end on August 31, 2009. The list was finalized at the March 30 meeting, and a preliminary slate has been distributed to the Voting Faculty, 
together with a call for additional nominations by petition. University-wide elections will be held before the end of April 2009.  GOV discussed the 
shortcomings of the election process that has been used in recent years and agreed to recommend that university-wide elections be handled electronically,
following a procedure analogous to the one used by the student associations through MyUAlbany.  The Council sent a memo to Interim President Philip 
asking for his support to implement such a plan for this spring’s elections. GOV is also working on finalizing a senate handbook, a project that was 
initiated a few years ago. It is hoped that a draft version will become available before the May Senate meeting.
LISC (Council on Libraries, Information Systems, and Computing) – Lawrence Raffalovich, Chair
At the 4/3 meeting of LISC, CIO Chris Haile reported that the new Data Center project is now in the design stage. This facility, which will house IT 
equipment and key personnel, is funded from the capital budget and is not affected by the current crisis. The new Information Security Council, an 
administrative body mandated by the Chancellor to identify and review IT management practices, has been convened. Headed by Information Security 
Officer Martin Manjak, membership is currently composed of 'primary data owners' (e.g., Registrar, Human Resources, etc.), but will include other 
constituents as they are identified. The council will meet quarterly.
Acting Director and Dean of Libraries Mary Casserly reported that academic departments will soon be contacted about the Libraries' acquisition budget.
The University Library will remain open 24/7 during the final exam period.
 UAC (Undergraduate Academic Council) – Joan Savitt, Chair
UAC met on March 10, 17, and 31.
UAC reviewed and approved all the curricular changes for the Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science and the related items in the 
Atmospheric Science major and minor. These changes will take effect in the fall of 2009.  Students already in these majors may complete their existing 
programs.  The council noted that the earlier curriculum included coursework in public policy and urged that students continue to be advised to study that
field as well.
UAC also reviewed and approved changes to the minor in Medical Anthropology.  The effective date will be Fall, 2004 to allow students currently in the 
program to graduate under the newest curricular specifications if they wish.
UAC heard a preliminary report from representatives of the First Year Experience Task Force and made suggestions that will be considered by the full 
Task Force in the future.
UAC briefly discussed and will soon be reviewing a proposal for admitting and awarding credits for students who earn an International Baccalaureate 
(high school) diploma.
UAC discussed whether students could or should be restricted from double majoring in areas where there is extensive curricular overlap.  UAC 
determined that individual departments should not make such policies, but that departments that wished to establish such restrictions should submit their 
requests and justifications to UAC for its consideration and vote.  If passed, these restrictions would become part of the Undergraduate Bulletin.
UAC discussed a proposal to restrict entry into the minor in Education Studies to students with at least a 3.0 GPA, and expects to vote in favor of this 
restriction at its April 15th meeting after the department has clarified how these rules will apply for transfer students and has developed specific wording 
to be published in the Undergraduate Bulletin.
UAC also discussed the campus-wide repercussions that might result from having many or most departments create restrictions on entry into their 
minors.  While UAC has created policy for departments that wish to restrict entry into majors, there is no such policy for minors.  UAC will consider 
drafting such a policy later this semester.
ULC (University Life Council) – Daniel R. Smith, Chair
ULC met on Wednesday, March 18. Result of a meeting was a vote by ULC members for a resolution, forwarded to the Executive Committee, 
recommending that the president assemble a taskforce to move UAlbany toward becoming a smoke-free campus by Fall 2011 (a summary follows) ULC 
also discussed unfounded rumors of a pending closure of the swimming pool. ULC will meet on April 15th to consider a yearly report from Intercollegiate
Athletic Board’s faculty representative and to see a presentation of the Summary Draft of the Freshman Year Experience Taskforce.
ULC Smoking Policy Bill Background
ULC was first approached to review the current smoking policy in Spring 2008.  The request came late, and we were able to have one meeting 
with Facilities Management, in the year and the issue was carried over until the 2008-09 academic year.
We discovered the following:
1.
The smoking policy is out-of-date, and does not meet an acknowledged national standard for distance from buildings and 
structures (American College Health Association standard, 2005—copy available).
2.
It was discovered last year when facilities management presented to ULC that the location of air-intakes on the podium could 
not be revealed due to security reasons—so UAlbany has a policy it cannot enforce.
3.
A professor of Public Health presented to ULC in November on observations her graduate class made on policy implementation 
of UAlbany’s smoking policy.  The outcomes:
a.
Little if any enforcement.
b.
Butt cans moved from locations (in some cases directly under no smoking signs).
c.
Clusters of individuals smoking inside the established distance, up against entrances.
d.
Open window policy and distance not observed, BUT our unique architecture in many cases allows smoke to be trapped by 
the roof and curves trap smoke.
e.
Areas where there are no butt cans (outside Campus Center).
f.
Complaint procedure is vague, as is enforcement.
The ULC observes one other SUNY campus (UBuffalo) is moving toward being entirely smoke-free.
There are currently 262 smoke free campuses nation-wide.
 
NEW BUSINESS
Honors Program in Criminal Justice (UAC):
UAC Chair Joan Savitt introduced the bill. The purpose of the bill is to offer honors in the major.  The program 
would be research friendly.  Many of the courses are shared with graduate courses and some courses have been 
reclassified into 400 level.  There was not further discussion regarding the bill.  A motion was made to approve the 
bill.  The motion was seconded and the bill passed.
 Suspension of Admission to MAPAP Program (UPPC, GAC):
GAC Chair Laurence Kranich discussed the proposed suspension of the MAPAP program, an effort that was 
spearheaded by the Dean of Rockefeller College.  The first step would be to fold the program in the MPA program 
but GAC has not received a plan to merge the two programs.  Chair Kranich was asked if departments have the 
authority to end programs without bringing it to the Senate.  David Andersen from Rockefeller College explained 
that this will lead to deactivation of the program.  The MPA program will serve students more efficiently.  A motion
to pass the bill was made, seconded and the bill passed.
IRCUAP Amendment (GOV):
GOV Chair Michael Range introduced the amendment which is intended to provide a set of procedures for 
reviewing undergraduate courses that do not go through a school or college.  He informed Senate members that last
spring an amendment had been proposed concerning IRCAP, which would have served this function for both 
undergraduate and graduate proposals.  That proposal was put on hold and the matter was taken up again in the 
fall.  The amendment now being introduced deals specifically with undergraduate proposals due to the recent 
amendment approved concerning graduate courses (Senate Bill 0809-09).  The amendment also includes new 
language that provides for an appeals process of proposals that have been denied.  Appeals would be reviewed by 
the Committee on Mediation.
One concern that members of GOV discussed was that the committee would not be a Senate committee even 
though it would be placed in the Senate Charter.  The amendment states that the Provost’s office would assume 
responsibility for obtaining non-ex officio nominees for the committee.  If the Provost’s office does not accept that 
charge then perhaps Governance Council will assume the responsibility.
Chair Range was asked what problems are addressed through this amendment.  He responded that it addresses 
proposed programs from units that do not have a school or college reviewing committee.   GOV felt that they are 
not obtaining the proper review and cited Project Renaissance as an example.  The amendment will be revisited at 
the next Senate meeting.
Smoking Policy (ULC):
ULC Chair Daniel Smith introduced the bill, informing Senate member that the current smoking policy is out of 
date and provides little enforcement.  ULC has engaged Human Resources and the School of Public Health in its 
discussions.  In the research conducted by ULC, they have discovered that 266 campuses across the country are 
smoke free.  The University at Buffalo is currently engaged in efforts to become smoke free.  ULC is asking the 
Senate to approve this bill so that it can be forwarded to the president.  Once it has the president’s approval, a task 
force can be formed to work on the issues to have the new policy in place by fall 2011.  Part of the implementation 
will involve revising the University’s literature and signage.  ULC has given this several months of discussion and 
realize it will take a couple of years to explore how to fully implement the policy.
A discussion ensued and several questions and concerns were raised dealing with enforcement, cost of 
implementing and the charge of a task force.  It was suggested that the bill be submitted as resolution as opposed to
a bill due to the ambiguity of what the task force would be charged with and how it would implement the policy.  
Chair Smith responded that a resolution would die on the Senate floor, and ULC would like to have this sent 
forward to the president.  Realizing that this could be costly to implement, Chair Smith was asked how the task 
force would proceed if this was not viable by 2011.  He responded that the task force would need to further engage 
the president to see what changes would be needed.
At this point, Chair Delano made a request for a motion to extend the meeting for ten minutes.  A motion was 
made, seconded and the extension was approved.
The discussion continued and questions continued to be raised concerning the ability to enforce a policy.  Chair 
Smith said these concerns were well taken and would be dealt with by a task force.
Chair Delano made a request to exercise the Chair’s privilege to make a motion for a vote.  The motion was made 
and seconded, and the bill was approved.
OLD BUSINESS
Charter Amendment on Consultation (GOV)
GOV Chair Range gave some brief comments regarding the amendment that had been introduced at last month’s 
meeting.  He noted that the amendment adds one charge to the duties of the Senate Chair to “advise the President 
on the principles of consultation” as stated in Section IV.1.3.  There was no further discussion and a motion was 
made to approve the amendment.  That motion was seconded and the amendment was passed.
 ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 5:10 pm. 

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