College of Arts and Sciences
Council of Chairs
November 19, 2003
2:30-4:00 p.m.
AS 122
Present: S. Alam, J. Altarriba, I. Berger, J. Carson, S. Chaiken, B. Daniel, K. Doolen, P. Ferlo,
S. Fessler, E. Gaffney, T. Gage, S. Galime, L. Goldin (for C. Nepaulsingh), G. Griffiths, R. Hoyt,
V. Idone, T. Lance, R. McClamrock (for B. Steinbock), M. Messitt, A. Millis, C. Murray, N. Murray,
D. Parker, M. Pryse, M. Raider, L. Slade, G. Stevens, R. Stump, R. Ward, J. Welch, J. Wick-Pelletier, D. Wills, E.
Wulfert Recorder: R. Greenhouse
Minutes: The Dean asked for comments regarding the November 5, 2003 minutes. Leonard Slade made a motion
to accept, Edelgard Wulfert seconded, and the minutes were unanimously accepted.
Business Arising:
Peoplesoft –Gregory Stevens and Steven Galime brought Peoplesoft issues to the Dean’s Council for discussion.
Your concerns were presented including the need for documentation, training, and communication. The
Committee is aware of these issues and wants to take care of the users concerns. Cheat-sheets will be available.
Chris Haile is willing to attend a chairs meeting if Chairs want to ask direct questions. Regarding the secretarial
commitment, it was stated that training is expected to help. Department office concerns, however, are more
related to the additional tasks staff are being asked to do that were previously done by other offices. The time that
is consumed by waiting for Peoplesoft to complete tasks is wasteful. Steven Galime noted that plans are being
considered for a luncheon training session–to train and thank departments for the extra effort.
Gift Fees Dean Wick-Pelletier was told that they are working on ways to increase the cash flow to the
Foundation so that fees can be avoided. There is currently no timetable.
Laurel Allen follow up – A note was sent that urged her to provide written guidelines, to clearly indicate who is
in control when she is out of the office, and to confirm our understanding of how to state a preferred candidate.
Announcements:
Thank you to all who participated in the most recent open house.
Honors College Open House–Associate Dean Jeanette Altarriba is hosting today’s (11/19) open house. Thank
you to the many CAS departments participating.
Research Liaison Reminder--send the name of your department’s liaison if you have not done so (Associate
Dean Lawrence Schell)
NAGS--nomination forms were handed out to those interested. The Masters Thesis Award will recognize a
Masters student in the Arts and Humanities. There can be one doctoral student (in Social Sciences and Education)
nomination per campus. This call for nominations includes other schools. The deadline to the Dean is December
12th.
Reception for Lydia Davis (McArthur Award)--today, 6:30-7:45 p.m. in the Futterer Lounge prior to her reading.
All are invited to the event.
Reminder--Faculty members are not permitted to give early final exams.
CAS Display Case—Dean Wick-Pelletier extended an invitation to all Chairs to propose creative suggestions for
the CAS display case. If you have projects, articles, or wish to promote something that is going on in your
Department, you are welcome to use the space.
Chair Terms—To those Chairs whose terms are ending, it is time to identify candidates for new chair or to extend
the current chair term. The process for review should begin now. Guidelines are available in the College office.
Faculty Swaps with RPI—(John Harrington, Dean of Humanities and Arts). This is the time of year to consider
the possibility of “faculty swaps” since fall 2004 planning is going on. This would be a complete exchange – two
courses to RPI, two courses Albany. The exchanges may not be in the same department, so there could be
workload issues. RPI needs humanities courses, and we could import into the communication and social sciences
end. Please communicate to your faculty. This exchange will be one semester at a time.
Discretionary—the discretionary process is complete. Letters will be out this week.
Commencement – December 7, Sunday 1:00 p.m. – it is a conferral ceremony. Please encourage faculty and staff
to attend. Thank you for responding to the call for marshals and flag bearers.
Part Time Appointment Suggestion--When scheduling part timers this year, give two courses to one as opposed
to one course each to two. The two-course assignment will provide benefits.
CAS Newsletter– The fall 2003 issue of CAS Today has been distributed, and you should have soon.
Letter—Timothy Lance announced that a letter in support of President Hitchcock had been prepared, and the
letter was passed around for chairs to read and sign. If you wish to sign, and did not have the opportunity during
the meeting, it will be in the CAS office. See Ruth.
Theme Semester
The theme semester for Spring (2004)—“Writing Semester.” The Writers Institute has an anniversary coming up,
and the semester will showcase the Institute. The backbone of the semester is the agenda the institute already has
scheduled. The final version will include the Writers Institute and CAS events. We can include all the things that
you know are already going on. There may be room for some new things if you have ideas. A committee will be
formed to finalize plans, and if you have someone to recommend, please let Dean Wick-Pelletier know the name.
It would be good to have a committee to come up with theme semester ideas. The Shakespeare and Irish
semesters originated in the Center for Arts and Humanities, but this center no longer exists. Planning ahead by
several semesters would allow for more long-range planning and stronger input. This is a possible development
opportunity--to use a theme to engage community support. It is possible that one of the Faculty Council
committees could assist.
Hiring & Budget
A list handed out of approved hires and possible TOP hires.
Several searches have been authorized. Fourteen searches have been approved. Seven potential TOP hires
approved. Through the IT Commons discussed by Peter Bloniarz, there is a possibility for hires – Arts and Music
for possible IT person in one of these units; and also Communication. This will change from year to year.
The other area of hiring is the Life Sciences initiative. We are looking for scientists in the life sciences. The first
candidate is being interviewed in December. The sciences are left off the regular CAS list for this reason. Please
contact Dean Wick-Pelletier with the names of potential “star” candidates.
The hiring budget is dependent on several factors – retirements, resignations. Teaching Assistants will have to be
trimmed down in order to afford the graduate tuition stipends and tuition. If you can write the graduate expenses
into a grant, please make every effort to do so. Part timers need to be trimmed as well. Use strategic ways to
revise curriculum: for example 3 credits to 4 credits per course. Discuss with faculty the format of classes-increase class size. The Dean is counting on Chairs to be creative in these ways in order to save money to allow
continued hiring. For example during a discussion with a colleague at the CCAS, she was told that some
instructors teach lectures in movie houses. CAS Computing has been authorized to hire another person. The
Dean is considering departments’ needs as much as possible. Rethink use of teaching assistants–research
assistants should be paid out of the relevant research grant. Regarding spousal arrangements, it was suggested
that the Provost should not use TOP money for these hires and that funding could be from another source. A
discussion ensued regarding the process and support of spousal hiring from another pool of funding. Dean
Wick-Pelletier will relay this to Dr. Santiago.
Strategic Plan
The Strategic Plan has been sent to all Chairs and department contacts and should be sent on to all faculty and
staff. Future meetings will involve discussion of Strategic Planning task forces, recommendations, and
implementation.
Adjourned 4:10 pm