University at Albany, State University of New York
University Senate
September 24, 2007
Present:
J. Philippe Abraham, Bradley Armour-Garb, Sandra Austin, Judith Barlow,
Kristina Bendikas, Tom Bessette, Irina Birman, Fan Pen Chen, Richard Collier,
Randall Craig, Edward Cupoli, Frank D’Andraia, John Delano, Diane Dewar, Bill Ding,
Phil Erner, Sue Faerman, Sally Friedman, Robert Gibson, Sanjay Goel, Susan Herbst,
Reed Hoyt, Allen Israel, Jon Jacklet, Donald Keenan, Sung Bok Kim,
Laurence Kranich, William Lanford, Zai Liang, Eric Lifshin, Jean McLaughlin,
Paul Miesing, David Miller, John Murphy, Greg Pogarsky, Sanjay Putrevu,
Lawrence Raffalovich, R.Michael Range, Karin Reinhold-Larsson, Neal Robbins,
Chinnam Sairam, Joan Savitt, Karl Schlegel, John Schmidt, Malcolm Sherman,
Scott South, Marcia Sutherland, Brian Tregerman, ManKit Tse, Lynn Videka,
Victoria von Arx, Rose-Marie Weber, Wendy West, David Wills, Kehe Zhu,
Adam Zonder
Guests:
Mary Applegate, Jonathan Bartow, Vincent Delio, Joanne Demurat, Peter Duchessi,
Cecilia Lauenstein, Paul Leonard, Michael Messitt, Tamra Minor, Marc Parry,
Bruce Szelest, Scott Tenenbaum, Elga Wulfert
Office in Charge Report by Susan Herbst: OIC Herbst introduced the newly appointed Dean of
the School of Public Health, Philip Nasca, newly appointed Assistant Vice President for Diversity and
Affirmative Action, Tamra Minor and the appointment of Edelgard Wulfert to Acting Dean of the
College of Arts and Sciences.
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UAlbany Transition: The search for a new Officer in Charge is ongoing, and an announcement
is expected any day.
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Deans Searches: OIC Herbst would like to see the two searches for the Deans of the School
Business and CAS to continue and move forward.
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Governor’s Commission on Higher Education: Led by the Governor’s Assistant, Lloyd
Constantine. Mr. Constantine has been meeting with OIC Herbst about public and private
education in New York State, and how it can be improved. The Commission is looking at
every issue, as the Governor is extremely committed to higher education. The Commission
will have its draft report to the Governor ready by December 1, 2007.
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Entry Plaza Project: The project is moving along; it should be completed by late November.
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Harriman Project: The Governor has not yet settled on what he wants to do with that piece of
property. The College of Computing and Information (CCI) Administrative Offices have
moved over there already. The whole CCI will move there soon. There are some other needs
in the mix for that space, although no final plans yet.
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Budget: The Governor asked all the campuses to submit a five-year Capital Plan. UAlbany is
asking for 7 million dollars for deferred maintenance on the campus. The top two new
building projects are the new School of Business building, at about 50 million, and a new
Campus Center, at about 35 million dollars.
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Enrollment-Fall 2007 Freshmen Highlights:
(Written report submitted by Vice Provost for Enrollment, Wayne Locust):
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Applications for freshmen to the University at Albany reached a record level during the past admission
cycle totaling 20,249, received from 42 states as compared to 18,690 applications from 40 states received
last year. This is an increase of 8.3%, and a three year increase in applications of 21%.
The acceptance rate, the percentage of students admitted who applied and a measure of an institution’s
selectivity fell by 4.3 percentage points to 51.5% in 2007 compared to 55.8% in 2006, and is down 11
percentage points since 2005.
This fall Albany will welcome a freshmen class of over 2500, a 6% increase above the anticipated target.
The freshmen continue to improve academically as measured by their grade point average and
standardized test scores. Their mean grade point average is 89.6 for 2007, which is slightly above the
89.4 for the class entering in 2006. A more significant increase can be seen in their mean SAT/ACT
scores where the average is 1148, a two point increase over 2006 which was 1146. This profile is made
more impressive given a class size of almost 100 more students than last year.
Enrollment of Students of Color for the fall 2007 will make up 23.6% of the entering class and will
include: 8.8% African American; 8.0% Latino/Hispanic American; 6.6% Asian American.
The number of Presidential Scholars enrolling in the University continues to increase. For fall 2007, 198
Scholars will enroll, a 25.6% increase compared to last year and almost double the total number enrolling
in 2005. Presidential Scholars are recognized for their exceptional academic performance in high school.
All Presidential Scholars were invited to join the recently established Honors College and many are
taking advantage of this opportunity. A total of 177 first year students will enter the Honors College this
fall, compared to 119 last fall, a 48.7% increase over last year.
The number of students enrolled from out of state increased by 30.8%. This year’s class will have 191
students from other states compared to 146 students in 2006.
The entering class will have more women than men for the first time in several years. The gender split
for the 2007 class is 51.5% women, 48.5% men as compared to 2006 which had 49.9% women and
50.1% men.
Senate Chair’s Report, by Reed Hoyt, Chair: Chair Hoyt reported that the summer session was
very busy for him, as he is a member of the CAS Dean Search Committee, and a member of the
Presidential Search Committee.
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Task Force on Undergraduate Writing: The Report of the Writing Task Force was considered
by the Executive Committee. It remains for the UAC to debate and consider for adoption. The
UPC may need to be brought in at some point because of resource issues, which were treated in
the Report.
Presidential Search Committee: (George Philip, Chair of the Search Committee was unable to
attend the meeting; he authorized Chair Hoyt to speak about the progress of the Search
Committee.) The Committee has been meeting and has narrowed the field of candidates
considerably. It will meet again very soon, and it expects to be able to adhere to the timetable
outlined in the e-mail of 12 September 2007, which stated, “Confidential initial interviews will
begin in October and a short list of finalists will be selected from these initial interviews.”
Capital Priorities: Building a football stadium on Campus is far down the list of priorities,
despite the suggestions in the recent Times Union article. The first two capital priorities are the
new Business School and renovating the Campus Center; previously deferred maintenance is a
separate proposal.
SUNY-wide Senate Report Presented by R. Michael Range, SUNY Senator: Senator Range
reported that the issue of revising the Guidelines for Promotions to Distinguished Teaching Professor
and Distinguished Service Professor will be revisited this year. The fall 2007 SUNY Plenary Meeting
will be held at SUNY Cortland, and the Winter Plenary Meeting will be held here at UAlbany.
Council and Committee Reports:
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 Committee on Ethics in Research and Scholarship (CERS), Zai Liang, Chair.
Last year’s CERS Chair, Edelgard Wulfert called a meeting of CERS with VPR Lynn Videka to
discuss perceived limitations of the current CERS policy. On May 17, she attended a meeting with
Officer in Charge Susan Herbst, VPR Lynn Videka, Adrienne D. Bonilla (Office of Compliance),
and John Reilly (University Counsel). The purpose of the meeting was to discuss what has worked
and what has not worked, so well with the current CERS policy and to develop suggestions for
possible changes. As suggested by Officer in Charge Herbst, an amended policy is being drafted
by the VPR, Adrienne D. Bonilla, and John Reilly. CERS will review the document once the draft
is ready.
 Council on Research (COR), Lawrence Schell, Chair. The Council on Research held its first
meeting on September 19th. The meeting reviewed its tasks for the year, the calendar, and the
memberships of the regular subcommittees. Vice President for Research Videka provided a report
on research activity across the university.
 Council on Promotions and Continuing Appointments (CPCA), Eric Lifshin, Chair.
In the spring semester, CPCA processed a large number of cases and all the members of the
Council put in a significant amount of time to make that possible. There has been a fairly large
turnover in Council membership for the fall, and the addition of more senior members of the
faculty would still be desired.
 Governance Council (GOV), John Delano, Chair. The first meeting of the Governance Council
was held on September 17th. Its agenda for the fall semester is already packed. The principal
action item during the September 17th meeting was a discussion of proposed revisions to the
composition of, and procedures for, the Committee that reviews and assesses nominations for
promotions to Distinguished Teaching Professors and Distinguished Service Professors. It is likely
that the Council’s next meeting will finalize its recommendations that will be forwarded for
consideration at the Senate Executive Committee meeting on October 8th. The next agenda items
for the Governance Council will include proposed amendments to the Senate Charter.
 University Life Council (ULC), Joan Savitt, Chair. In addition to the projects carried over
from 06-07 (primarily, finding ways to assist new students in finding off-campus housing), ULC is
meeting with VP Anderson to see if he has any matters for ULC to consider.
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Undergraduate Academic Council (UAC), Karin Reinhold-Larsson, Chair
Meeting Date: Tuesday, May 8, 2007, 12:00 Noon-1:10 PM.
Proposed Changed in the General Education Program: the proposed changes were defeated in the Senate.
Final Consideration in Changes for Uni 150 and Uni 350 Approval: these Interdisciplinary courses at the
introductory level Uni 150 and beyond survey level Uni 350. The council voted that approval of courses be given
for “one year” for instructors wanting to offer the course in two semesters to reduce bureaucracy. Moreover, the
Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education was concerned that these courses may occasionally require approval
during the summer months when the subcommittee of Interdisciplinary Studies does not meet. The Council
approved the following regulation: “Topic must be approved by the Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education and
the Interdisciplinary Committee of the Undergraduate Academic Council. In the event the Interdisciplinary
Committee cannot meet, the topic may be approved by the Senate Executive Committee. Approval is for the full
academic year.”
3. First Year Experience Course` for Freshmen: UFSP 101 University Seminar and expansion of UFSP 100
Freshman Seminar. These seminars were created to increase first year retention rates. They are designed to ease
students’ transition into university life. They teach what it is expected of university students and what resources
are available to students. The positive feedback from the pilot run these past two years:
(a)
The course had a high personal impact on students.
(b)
The course show where the student is most vulnerable and motivates students to “stay the course” in their
college career.
(c)
The course shows aspects of the university which students are not aware of when they first come to
UAlbany and how to utilize tools students did not realize existed.
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(d)
They also bring the teaching faculty closer to the student, creating a friendlier and approachable learning
atmosphere and helping students interact more with the university and community. The Council voted with
an 8-1-1 approval.
Meeting Date: Tuesday, May 15, 2007, 12:00 Noon-1:10 PM.
1. Informatics Minor: The Curriculum and Honors Committee is awaiting the departmental letters to be
forwarded to them before reviewing the proposal. Since this information has not yet been submitted, the
Committee cannot meet to discuss the proposal and render a decision.
2. Changes to Music’s Voice Major: The Theatre Department is revamping this major by adding three
requirements: diction, theater, and foreign language. The required credits will be increased from 54 to 55. For
those declaring voice diction, the effective date is fall 2007. The Council voted and passed the proposal.
3. Faculty-Initiated Major in Public Health: The Council raised two main concerns with this Major: (a) the
availability of seat for Bio 110, a requirement of this mayor. It is expected that new resources will be available
once the School of Public Health obtains a new Dean. (b) Completion of this major does not meet pre-med
requirements. It was recommended that Public Health revise the wording to emphasize other pre-med
requirements would be necessary for students wishing to enter the health profession. The Council voted on the
proposal with the stipulation that Public Health would need to revise the proposal’s wording. The proposal was
passed with a seven “yes” and one abstention vote.
New Business
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Election of Senators: The following four individuals were nominated by the Senate Executive
Committee as Senators, and will serve as Council Chairs:
CAFFECoR: Sanjay Goel, IT Management, School of Business
CERS:
Zai Liang, Sociology
LISC:
Lawrence Raffalovich, Sociology
UAC:
Karin Reinhold-Larsson, Mathematics and Statistics
Chair Hoyt called for a vote; the motion was seconded and it was unanimously approved.
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UAC: Senate Bill 0708-01 Faculty-Initiated Major in “Public Health:” Professor Scott
Tenenbaum, Center for Functional Genomics, and Dean Mary Applegate, School of Public
Health introduced the Bill. They explained that the Bill was discussed and approved at UAC
last year. At that time, it was understood by members of UAC that the issue did not need to go
to Senate for approval. Since then, the language of the Bill has been amended, and brought to
Senate.
Today’s discussion included, but was not limited to, rewording item “c” regarding capping
admittance and restricting enrollment, and what the intent of the program is, i.e., being “prepublic health,” not “pre-med”.
A friendly amendment was made, voted on, and passed unanimously to reword the proposal to
read as follows:
a.
b.
c.
That if the resource issues involving upper division coursework in the departments of Communication
and Psychology cannot be resolved in a way that assures Public Health majors needing those courses that
they will be able to obtain them, the School of Public Health modify the major accordingly, perhaps
retaining the original Communication and Psychology upper division courses mentioned but adding
alternative coursework from the School of Public Health.
That the UAC, after following its established process for the consideration of “Criteria for Capping or
Restricting a Major,” bring to the Senate not later than the March 10th meeting of the University Senate
any proposal for restricting the major for students matriculating in fall 2008 or thereafter.
That to avoid the program’s inadvertently being mistakenly considered as fully meeting the admissions
criteria for careers in medicine, dentistry and allied health careers, the bulletin copy for the program refer
students to information available from Pre-Health Career Advisement.
The bill as amended was passed with one opposed and one abstention. The Bill will be forwarded to
the Officer in Charge for approval.
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UAC: Senate Bill 0708-02 FYE Program; UFSP101 and 101 Courses: There was
discussion of the appropriateness of the Senate’s consideration of the bill. It was noted that
once a bill has been reported to the Senate, it can be debated, and the Senate in fact has an
obligation to vote on it. The wording of the bill, however, was not that of the bill approved by
the UAC.
It was noted that USFP 101 is not mentioned in either the hard copy or online bulletin. This
raised an objection to the description of the USFP 101 course on the ASCUS webpage, where it
states “students that have taken the university seminar in the past have achieved higher grades
in their other courses.” This was thoroughly discussed, and it was agreed that the Director of
ASCUS will be asked to remove the description from the ASCUS web page.
Discussion continued, and Senator Bessette made a motion to have the Bill returned to UAC for
further research. UAC Chair Reinhold-Larsson indicated that the UAC has no further comment
or discussion on the issue. The amendment then was changed so as to refer it to the
Governance Council. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved. It will go to the
Governance Council.
Meeting adjourned at 5:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Jayne VanDenburgh, Recorder
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