College of Arts and Sciences
Council of Chairs
October 6, 2010
2:30 p.m., AS 122
Meeting Minutes
Present: J. Altarriba, A. Broadwell, S. Cohen, A. DeBlasi, E. Gaffney, S. Galime, K. Gersowitz
(recorder), D. Goodwin, R. Hamm, C. Henck, M. Hill, R. Hoyt, V. Idone (for Thorncroft),T. Kinal, R.
Lachmann, J. Large, M. Lifchitz, A. Lyons, C. MacDonald, J. Mandle, M. Messitt, J. Pipkin, R. Rosellini,
C. Smith, G. Stevens, M. Sutherland, P. Toscano, C. Wagner, E. Wulfert, K. Zhu, R. Zitomer. Guest: S.
Phillips
Introductory Remarks: Dean Wulfert called the meeting to order at 2:30 p.m.
Minutes of September 15, 2010: A motion to approve the minutes was made by D. Goodwin, seconded
by R. Rosellini. The meeting minutes for September 15, 2010 were unanimously approved with one
minor correction.
Announcements:
 Department, faculty and/or student highlights for October Senate Meeting due 10/8/10
(to Dona Parker at dparker@albany.edu)
 Homecoming/Family/Reunion Weekend is October 8-10, 2010
(http://www.albany.edu/alumni/homecoming10.php)
 FRAP A Applications due 10/12/10 (AS-217, original plus 10 copies)
http://www.albany.edu/research/Forms/FRAP.pdf
 Discover Graduate School Fair 2010 is 10/13/10, 3-6:00 p.m., SEFCU Arena
(http://www.albany.edu/discovergradschool/)
 Tenure Track Faculty Term Renewals for Fall 2010 due 11/1/10 to Dean’s Office
(to Steve Galime, AS-217)
 Conference Support Award requests with letter of support from Dept. Chair due 10/15/10
(AS-217, original plus 5 copies)
http://www.albany.edu/research/Forms/Conference.pdf
 Journal Support Award requests with letter of support from Dept. Chair due 10/15/10
(AS-217, original plus 5 copies)
http://www.albany.edu/research/Forms/Journal.pdf
 Nominations for CAS Dean's Award for Outstanding Achievement in Teaching due 10/25/10 (to
John Pipkin, AS-217)
 Eighth Annual College Faculty Dinner is 11/3/10 (5:30 p.m., Italian-American Community Center)
 Sabbatical reports due in CAS Dean’s office by 11/1/10 for sabbaticals taken in spring 2010 or full
academic year (fall 2009-spring 2010). Faculty member should send via e-mail to Steve Galime at
sgalime@albany.edu with copy to Dept. Chair)
 Full CAS Faculty Meeting is 12/1/10 from 3:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m., PAC Recital Hall
Faculty Participation Requested:
 Open House for Prospective Students is 10/30/10 (send name of department representative to Greg
Stevens and Cindy Endres by 10/11/10)
Old Business: none
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New Business: The agenda for the meeting was held open to provide the opportunity to discuss the Town
Hall Meeting held on Friday, October 1, 2010 where President George Philip announced the suspension
of admissions to degree programs in five CAS areas (Classics, French, Italian, Russian, Theatre). He also
announced that the University was preparing for the last year of Project Renaissance. Since the
announcement we have seen very strong reactions and some distortion of the facts. Specifically there
have been accusations that faculty were not informed or consulted regarding pending budget decisions.
In providing background for the discussion, Dean Wulfert informed the Chairs that the President notified
the Deans of the planned actions at the PEAC meeting the week prior to the announcement. This
followed two years of deliberation that included the recommendations of Budget Advisory Groups (BAG)
I, II, and III. In the College of Arts and Sciences, the consultative process included the Council of Chairs.
At the April 28, 2010 Council of Chairs meeting the Chairs were involved in a group process to develop a
decision making model to be used in facing budget cuts. In addition, individual chairs provided specific
recommendations to the Dean. She took under consideration both the results of the group discussion and
the recommendation of the Chairs. Dean Wulfert recently also sent to all CAS faculty an email describing
the consultative process here in the College and invited all to review the minutes of the April 28, 2010
Council of Chairs meeting (http://www.albany.edu/cas/chair_council_minutes.shtml).
Provost Phillips joined the meeting. Dean Wulfert invited the Provost to provide context for the
President’s recent announcement and to provide further explanation of what the cuts were to other units as
there is a perception that CAS was unfairly targeted. Provost Phillips noted that although program
suspensions were only being proposed in CAS, the only unit that received a smaller cumulative
percentage cut to its budget than CAS (14.9%) was the University Libraries. Cuts in the other schools
and colleges range from 15.7% to 23%. The Provost praised Dean Wulfert on her advocacy on behalf of
the College.
The Provost said that at Friday’s announcement only a portion of the overall plan under consideration to
meet the $12 million budget cut the University will suffer this year was advanced. If the actions taken on
Friday to suspend new admissions to five degree programs result in the closing of these programs, it is
estimated that approximately $2 million in savings would be realized. Provost Phillips stressed however
that at this time the only action that has been taken is the suspension of new admissions to the five
programs. Programs have not been closed and faculty have not been let go. Consultation with the Senate
is still underway.
After this reduction, Academic Affairs still faces an approximately $6 million additional reduction. CAS
will experience an approximate additional $1 million reduction from its budget which it will meet through
retirements, attrition, and OTPS, including the reduction in phone lines. The other schools and colleges
together will experience an approximate $2 million budget reduction. Retirements, non-renewals,
attrition, and reductions in OTPS will be used to meet these cuts. The remaining reductions in Academic
Affairs will be met through reductions in academic support units and will include reduced graduate
student support. On the non-academic side of the University a reduction of approximately $5 million is
necessary. It is expected that by the end of 2012, 360 positions will have been lost, many due to
retirements and attrition. To date 200 lines have been lost, with 65-70 coming from the faculty ranks. It
is not yet known how many positions will be terminated involuntarily.
The Provost stressed that the numbers she has provided are fluid; therefore what she shares with the
Chairs today could change going forward.
The Provost noted that the proposal under consideration is a variant of the Plan B that was considered by
BAG III. She explained that throughout the consultative process the names of the units under discussions
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were not made public. There was a great concern for not “naming names” until it was known for sure that
the risk was real because it was felt that this would have a demoralizing effect on the units.
S. Cohen asked the Provost to clarify what was meant by the statement that the plan was still under
consideration. The Provost responded that the President has sent a plan to the Senate to phase out these
programs over time. If the Senate rejects this proposal it is unclear what will happen next. However, the
Senate is only advisory to the President. She reminded everyone that the $12 million budget cut was real
and that it must be met.
The question was asked why only programs in the College of Arts and Sciences were impacted. The
Provost provided an example that in another college the budget cut was met due to the retirement of 5-6
senior faculty members. Other schools were making adjustments to their programs by decreasing the
number of tracks offered. CAS too has looked to these measures to help meet the budget reductions,
however the savings generated in CAS were not sufficient given the magnitude of the cut it is facing.
S. Cohen asked what the academic rationale was for the plan. The Provost noted that from the three BAG
groups came the clear message that the University must (1) preserve and grow areas of strength and (2)
preserve and grow enrollments. In the case of Theatre, for example, enrollments were only relatively low,
but the department had lost a number of faculty over time and funds were not available to make the
Department whole again. In other areas of low enrollment relatively higher resources were needed to
sustain the programs. The Provost stressed that Friday’s announcement was not a statement about the
quality of the faculty, programs or students; rather, we can no longer afford to offer these programs. She
noted that Judaic Studies already has a plan in place to move its one remaining faculty member to the
Department of History and to modify the program.
S. Cohen noted that the languages are important to other areas on campus. She cited as an example that
an M.A. in Art History would be impossible without languages. The Provost commented that extracting
any program on campus may have implications for others.
D. Goodwin noted that the Chairs did have a say in these decisions in CAS by helping the Dean to
develop the decision model.
Provost Phillips reminded the Chairs that the campus must operate within the confines of its contractual
commitments. She noted that numerous scenarios were considered, ranging from not renewing the
appointments of non-tenured faculty, to closing a school or college.
Both J. Mandle and A. Broadwell reported that students have been asking questions about the languages
because they have been told various things. Would the Provost provide correct information to the Chairs
so that they could appropriately advise students? She noted that this information would be forthcoming.
In response to a question, Dean Wulfert clarified that it was correct that J. Brière as Chair of LLC was not
invited to the meetings with the Russian and Italian faculty. She knew that J. Brière was aware that
meetings with the Russian, Italian and French faculty had been scheduled and thought he should not have
to sit through the same procedure three times since he would receive the information regarding the
suspension of new admissions to these programs during the meeting with the French faculty. She noted
that J. Brière was offended at her decision and she expressed regret because she had intended no harm;
she said there probably was no good way to present this kind of information.
R. Zitomer stated it was not a convincing argument to just report the cuts from other schools and colleges
in terms of percentages; without context and dollar figures these numbers were not meaningful. The
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Provost agreed but noted that at this time she could not make details public that might point to specific
positions under consideration. R. Zitomer stated that more faculty should have been involved in the
process, and that complete data, including the names of the units in question, should have been provided.
He felt that areas outside of academic programming should also be considered by faculty.
The Provost stated that all BAG reports and member lists are accessible via the MyUAlbany portal, under
Budget Updates. She asked A. DeBlasi and A. Lyons to share their experience sitting on a BAG group.
A. DeBlasi reported that an enormous amount of data was provided to the members of BAG along with a
budget overview describing the magnitude of the cuts. Deans and other unit heads made presentations
about their units including reduction scenarios. It was noted that BAG 2 was made up exclusively of
teaching faculty. A. Lyons concurred, noting that the process was transparent and fair, with many
opportunities to provide input. Based on these comments, R. Zitomer agreed that in fact it did appear that
the faculty involved in the BAG groups received the information necessary to make informed
recommendations.
D. Goodwin expressed concern that the perception is that the University does not value the arts and
humanities. While he would agree that the recent process has been fair, there is a long history of noninvestment in the humanities leading up to the current situation. A. Lyons agreed and added that in the
case of the Theatre Department, six faculty/staff lines have been lost in the past 4 years. As a result of
this lack of re-investment, the Department is not in a position of strength and now funds are not available
to rebuild the Theatre Department.
In closing Provost Phillips noted that students who have declared a major or named a minor will have the
opportunity to complete their programs. An appeals process has been established for those students who
are as of yet undeclared but have completed the prerequisite course.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:10.
Handouts:
Minutes of September 15, 2010 meeting
Agenda
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