College of Arts and Sciences
Council of Chairs
February 17, 2010
2:30 p.m., AS 122
Meeting Minutes
Present: J. Brière, G. Broadwell, A. DeBlasi, S. Fessler, S. Galime, K. Gersowitz (recorder), D. Goodwin,
G. Griffith, R. Hamm, M. Hill, T. Kinal, A. Lyons, C. MacDonald, J. Mandle, M. Messitt, G. Moore (also
representing Sociology), J. Pipkin, C. Smith, G. Stevens, M. Sutherland, C. Thorncroft, P. Toscano, K.
Williams, T. Wormwood, E. Wulfert, A. Zak, K. Zhu, R. Zitomer
Introductory Remarks: Dean Wulfert called the meeting to order at 2:30 p.m.
Minutes of January 27, 2010: A motion to approve the minutes was made by R. Zitomer, seconded by P.
Toscano. The meeting minutes for January 27, 2010 were unanimously approved.
Announcements:
 FRAP B Applications due 2/24/10 (AS-217, original plus 10 copies)
(http://www.albany.edu/research/Forms/FRAP.pdf)
 Promotion and continuing appointment cases due 3/1/10 to Dean for decision by 1/15/11
 The date by which candidates must notify Chair and Dean of Request for consideration for Promotion
or early Tenure by 8/31/11 is 3/1/10
 CAS Authors and Artists Reception is 3/2/10 from 3-5:00 p.m. in the Standish Room (contact
Debernee Privott at dprivott@albany.edu)
 Nominations for Presidential Awards for Undergraduate Research due 2/26/10 (Dona Parker, AS 217)
The Dean noted that that the number of awards available to CAS had been reduced and she has been in
touch with the VP for Research about this issue.
 Sabbatical reports for Fall 2009 are due 3/15/10 (faculty should send via email to Steve Galime at
sgalime@albany.edu with copy to Department Chair)
 Spring Tenure-track faculty renewals due to Dean's office 3/29/10 (to Steve Galime, AS-217)
 A. Lyons announced that the Theatre Department is celebrating 100 years of Theatre productions at the
University at Albany. An exhibit is on display in the Lab Theatre. She also encouraged others to
attend the production 10 for 2010: Celebrating 100 Years of History, Thursday-Saturday, February 1820 at 8pm and Saturday & Sunday, February 20 & 21 at 2pm.
Faculty Participation Requested at these Events - The Dean asked the Chairs to encourage faculty
participation in these events:
 Academic Fair and Scholars Luncheons for admitted Presidential and Frederick Douglass Scholars are
3/4/10 and 3/11/10 at approx. 10:00 a.m. (Academic Fair-UNH Atrium) and 11:45 a.m. (Luncheon-CC
Ballroom)—contact Jaclyn Napoleon, Undergraduate Admissions (jnapoleon@uamail.albany.edu or 68210)
 Closer Look Admitted Diversity Student Open House is 3/20/10, 10:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m. in the LC
Concourse/Campus Center—contact Hank Shuford, Undergraduate Admissions
(Hshuford@uamail.albany.edu or 6-8204)

Open Houses for Accepted Students are 4/17/10 and 4/18/10 (send name of department representative
to Cindy Endres at cendres@albany.edu by 3/26/10)
Old Business: – As a follow-up to the 1/27/10 Chair’s meeting, Dean Wulfert has invited John Murphy and
Clarence McNeill to speak to the Council on the topic of classroom decorum. They were not available for
today’s meeting but have agreed to attend the March 10th meeting along with a UPD representative.
New Business
CAS Teaching Awards:
Associate Dean Pipkin will be reviewing the CAS Dean’s teaching awards. As background, in 2006 the
College of Arts and Sciences first began recognizing outstanding teaching. Faculty were recognized in
three categories: Innovation in Teaching, Excellence in Student Mentoring, and Service in Teaching. The
last call for awards was made in October of 2008 and a copy of this call was distributed. It was noted that
at that time, due to a decline in nominations since the first awards in 2006, nominations were accepted in
just two categories: Excellence in Teaching and Excellence in Student Mentoring. The description of the
Excellence in Teaching Award emphasized innovation.
The question of why the number of nominations has declined was discussed. It was felt that these awards
do not rise to the level of the University Teaching Awards and this may impact the number of nominations
received. Although the number of awards was reduced to two in the last cycle, there was agreement that
there is still some ambiguity in the modified wording. Should the excellence in teaching award remain
focused on innovation, or should it be considered more broadly?
Some felt that the emphasis on innovation was limiting the field, although it was noted that originally there
was an award specifically for this achievement. Others felt the three-year minimum employment
requirement was also reducing the number of nominations.
G. Griffith suggested another model we might consider would be to offer an Excellence in Teaching
Award, designed for junior faculty, and a Distinguished Teaching Award, which would be open to faculty
whose teaching accomplishments reached a distinguished level, regardless of whether or not innovation
was a focus. T. Kinal noted that what students are learning is what is most important, the end product, not
whether or not innovative approaches were used to get to this goal. Another suggestion was to alternate
years for junior and tenured faculty.
By a show of hands the Chairs agreed that the College should continue its teaching awards. The next
solicitation is now scheduled for Fall 2010.
Graduate Course Syllabus
Currently there is no policy in place for graduate syllabi. Associate Dean Pipkin presented a proposal
outlining the minimum contents that should be required for a graduate course syllabus and distributed a
sample syllabus that was modeled after the University requirements for undergraduate syllabi. It was noted
that all syllabi must be kept on file in Departmental offices because former students occasionally request a
copy of a syllabus for licensure or for course credit at another institution.
A number of Chairs noted that, in general, instructors in graduate courses provide syllabi. However, a
number of concerns were identified:
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For shared resources courses, similar requirements at the undergraduate and graduate levels would
be most efficient.
Some graduate courses (e.g., studio sections, seminars, lab rotations) do not lend themselves to a
detailed syllabus.
More flexibility might be needed in developing criteria for graduate syllabi. For example, perhaps
exam dates would need to be listed as TBD rather than setting fixed dates at the beginning of the
semester.
Not all Chairs agreed whether or not academic integrity policies should be mandatory on graduate
syllabi.
Dean Wulfert noted that at the very least basic information, including instructor name, contact information,
office hours, course objectives, and how students will be evaluated should be provided. It is important to
set clear expectations because the syllabus is a legal document that may become particularly important if a
student wants to grieve a course grade.
Associate Dean Pipkin agreed to prepare another version of the sample syllabus for the Chairs’ review,
taking into account this discussion.
Graduate Assistantship Allocations
Assistant Dean K. Gersowitz provided a brief overview of the allocation process, including an explanation
of the University’s decision to use, not the number of lines initially allocated but eventually filled in 200910 as the starting point for allocations in 2010-11. Dean Wulfert explained that the College received an
additional $400,000 over last year’s allocation; however, most of this money went to pay for the increased
tuitions, the difference between stipends becoming available when students had exhausted their funding
and stipends needed for NTP students. Further, to eliminate the unfair disparity among TA stipends in the
various science disciplines, the stipends for NTP students have now been uniformly set to $15,500 in
Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Atmospheric Science. Of the remaining funds, Dean Wulfert carved out
six additional assistantships that were allocated to quality doctoral programs departments that had suffered
unjustly in last year’s reduction (Atmospheric Science, Physics, Sociology) and the two terminal master’s
program that had not received any funding for NTP students last year (MFA, MRP). Two additional lines
were allocated to Biology and Chemistry to provide initial support for the IRNAST initiative.
It was noted that a campus-wide chairs group has called on the Provost for more transparency in the
process of TA stipend allocation to the various schools and colleges. It is likely that the Dean of Graduate
Studies will release the requested information.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:10.
Handouts:
Minutes of January 27, 2010 meeting
Agenda
Dean’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Teaching 2008 Call
Draft Requirements for Syllabi of Graduate Courses