UNIVERSITY POLICY AND PLANNING COUNCIL
2006-07 CHAIR: STEVEN MESSNER
NOVEMBER 30, 2006
MEETING MINUTES
PRESENT:
Tom Bessett, Roger Bisbing, Nick Fahrenkopf, Robert Geer, Jil Hanifan,
Irene Lurie, David McCaffrey, Steven Messner, Kim Murray, John Pomeroy,
Allen Wong, Elga Wulfert
Guests:
Marjorie Pryse; Gary Yukl
MINUTES:
Amended Minutes from October 24, 2006 were unanimously approved.
REPORT FROM ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

A notice will go out regarding the Holiday Party for all faculty and staff that will be held
on December 13 from 2- 4 p.m. in the University Hall Atrium.

The Public Health Dean search is moving forward. There is a strong pool of applicants
that has been narrowed and references are being contacted. An excellent Search
Committee is in place with representatives from various units in the University, the
School, and with people with whom the School deals with in the public sector. The
Search Committee will meet again in mid-December. Once the smaller pool has been
identified, candidates will be invited to the campus for visits with a decision expected in
February.

SUNY has procedures in place for preparation for the possibility of a bird flu outbreak.
UAlbany has established a Pandemic Flu Committee with Vince Franconere as chair that
incorporates broadly with the University’s disaster planning. Preliminary discussions
include course cancellations, how to deal with campus logistics, how to handle students
on campus, etc.

As a result of the Deans’ Council Meeting, a committee has been formed to review the
faculty hiring process on campus. The current process is more suited for administrative
rather than faculty positions. The role of this committee is to create a new process for
faculty hiring that will make it easier for departments. Committee members are Joan
Wick-Pelletier, Julie Horney, Katharine Briar-Lawson, Steve Beditz, Chris Bischoff, James
Anderson, and Melinda Spencer.

Frank Thompson will be the Acting Provost starting in January. His primary role will be
Tenure and Promotion, Selective Investment, and participation in ceremonial events.
Provost Herbst will continue to be very active in academic endeavors.

Susan Herbst announced there is a new committee on campus called the Classrooms
Committee that is a subset of the Space Committee. The need for this committee came
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out of the course management initiative started last year. This Committee will address
issues regarding how classrooms get renovated, which get renovated, what types of
teaching space is available, logistics of providing flexible teaching spaces, and what
types of technology is required. Bob Gibson and Stacy Stern will be the Co-Chairs of this
Committee including representatives from facilities, ITS, faculty, and administrators
involved with scheduling.

Media Training has begun for faculty experts who are commentators on public events.
Media and Marketing is coordinating a consultant to be at campus for interested people.
The training is very intense and prepares individuals for tough journalistic questions a
person may encounter.

The Office for Research is sponsoring a seminar entitled, “Voice of the PI Forum,” to be
held on December 5 from 3-5 p.m. in the Terrace Lounge. The seminar is to improve
the grants administrative services component of the office.
CHAIR’S REPORT

Provost Herbst reported that there has been progress on resolving some financial
problems with the East Campus. A management holding company is being created to
mange the East Campus more efficiently.

George Philip, University Council Chair and head of the search for a new President,
briefed the Senate on the process. He anticipates that the Search Committee could be
in place by the end of the fall semester. There has been a call for nominations for the
search committee. Search committee members must agree to confidentiality and be
willing to commit to a number of interviews.

Provost Herbst reported on the SUNY Student Satisfaction Survey and indicated that
there were a number of encouraging signs, especially with regard to global items such
as satisfaction with the campus in general. One issue of concern was quality in
instruction. This relates to UPC’s ongoing discussions about efforts to enhance the
culture of teaching.

Related to this item, UPC has been discussing an independent review of teaching for a
variety of purposes to be done in conjunction with Promotion and Tenure. Dr. Messner
sent David Shub, Chair of CPCA, a draft of the working proposal and met with him to
discuss his reactions. He was very receptive to the idea personally. Dr. Messner offered
to meet with CPCA to explain the proposal to the council and is waiting to hear from Dr.
Shub.

Chairman Messner met with Candace Merbler, UUP Chapter President regarding the
proposal. She had two recommendations:
1. Any evaluation team should have three evaluators or observers to provide a
balanced observation and possible “tie-breaker;” the team might consist of two
outside persons and one within the unit/department .
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2. The initial review should be prior to any review that would become a part of the
promotion packet. The initial review would be used for diagnostic purposes. Overall
she saw no union problems in principle and was very supportive of UPC’s direction.

Diane Dewar reported on an Integrity Task Force that has been established to consider
matters of integrity on campus, i.e. good citizenship – possibly including an honor code.
The Task Force is looking for representatives from the various Councils including student
representatives. If anyone is interested please see Chairman Messner after the meeting.
(After the meeting the following UPC members volunteered: Jil Hanifan, Tom Bessette
and Nick Fahrenkopf)
NEW BUSINESS

At Chairman Messner’s request, the Committee agreed to change the meeting agenda
and address New Business first to accommodate guests, Dr. Marjorie Pryse, Dean of
Graduate Studies and Dr. Gary Yukl, Professor and Director of Organizational Studies
Doctoral Program.
PROPOSAL FOR SUSPENSION OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL STUDIES DOCTORAL PROGRAM

Before the meeting Chairman Messner circulated a request for the suspension of the
Doctoral Program for the Organizational Studies from Dr. Yukl, along with a memo from
Dean Pryse. Dr. Messner explained that UPC is charged with the responsibility of
making a recommendation to the Senate on proposals that pertain to the suspension or
elimination of programs. He turned the floor over to both guests to provide background
and additional information.

Dr. Yukl shared various considerations pertaining to the request to suspend the
program.
 There is currently a lack of support from the administration in the School of
Business to continue with program.
 The delay in the search for a new Dean of School of Business.
 University has a serious problem funding doctoral assistantships.
 Probably in approximately two years a full or part-time faculty person will be
needed to teach four courses, or the four undergraduate writing intensive
courses will have to be canceled.
 The Program faculty is in agreement with the request toe suspend admissions to
the Doctoral Program.

Dean Pryse shared her insight on the issues.
 Org Studies Program is a cross-college program housed in the School of Business
with Dr. Yukl serving as the Director. It involves primarily Sociology, Psychology,
and Public Administration.
 This Program is unique in structure with no close counterparts elsewhere, except
for possibly a new program at University of North Carolina Charlotte.
 Graduate Studies had an interest in both the program’s quality and funding.
Dean Pryse and Dr. Yukl met on various occasions to discuss those issues.
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



AACSB Accreditation Review didn’t include Organizational Studies. When the
AACSB Accreditation Team visited last year they expressed concern about the
Org Studies Program.
As a result, a request was made of Dr. Yukl, as Chair of the Program, to
complete a program review to assist in the consideration of the Program’s future.
At the beginning of the fall semester Dr. Yukl, at Dean Pryse’s recommendation,
met with Barbara Wilkinson and received the procedures for the Joint Review of
Undergraduate and Graduate Programs. This exercise would have provided data
for the Program’s trends, faculty involvement, curriculum vitas, and courses.
Dean Pryse encouraged the Council to approve Dr. Yukl’s request. She
reinforced the view that the request leaves open the possibility for the program
to be reactivated at another time if there is interest and support.
Dean Pryse clarified and Dr. Yukl confirmed his request is to suspend admissions
to the program not to de-register the program. He also confirmed that all faculty
involved in the Program concur with the decision to suspend admissions.

Chairman Messner opened the floor for questions directed to Dean Pryse and Dr. Yukl.

Chairman Messner thanked both Dean Pryse and Dr. Yukl for sharing their insights and
providing the background necessary for the Council to make a decision.

A motion was made by Jil Hanifan to accept the recommendation of Dr. Gary Yukl that
admissions to the Organizational Studies Ph.D. Program be suspended. Robert Geer
seconded the motion.

A discussion was held regarding the motion.

The motion was unanimously approved.
OLD BUSINESS
UNDERGRADUATE OMBUDS OFFICE

As discussed at the last meeting, the draft for the Undergraduate Ombuds Office
was shared with UAC for possible co-sponsorship. Subsequently, it was determined
that this may not be the most appropriate route.

Dr. Wulfert met with UAC to hear their concerns about the proposal. Dr. Messner
circulated the draft proposal to James Anderson, Vice President for Student Success.
The Provost has reviewed the proposal and circulated it. Dr. Messner has received
feedback and incorporated some changes in language.

Chairman Messner highlighted a substantive suggestion that came from UAC in
number 5 of the draft regarding professional staff being ombuds persons. Another
suggestion was that in addition to providing a report to the University Provost at the
end of the year, it would also be appropriate to provide a report to the Chair of the
Senate to ensure that governance is informed.
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
Dr. Wulfert indicated that this proposal is about university life not primarily academic
issues. If any Council should co-sponsor the bill, it would be ULC and not UAC. It is
appropriate for UPC to present the proposal on its own and not in conjunction with
UAC.

Dr. Messner indicated that if UPC passed the draft proposal it would go before the
Executive Senate Committee meeting scheduled for next week.

Dr. Messner indicated that Joan Savitt, Chair of ULC, strongly supports the proposal.
He hasn’t received any negative feedback from anyone on ULC.

Some students wanted to move forward with this idea on a grander scale with an
Ombuds Office. The consensus of UPC is to start small. If the demand is larger
than expected, that would be evidence to perhaps move to the formation of a more
formal Ombuds Office.

Melinda Spencer reported that Provost Herbst shared the proposal with John Reilly,
University Counsel. After reviewing the document, he raised four points.
1. He views the role of the Graduate Ombuds person differently from the role of
the Undergraduate Ombuds person due to the differences in the relationship
between students and faculty. There needs to be clarification of the scope of
the function. It needs to be clear that people understand that confidentiality
isn’t the same as privilege.
2.
Training would be critical for this position.
3. Maintenance of records and their accessibility needs to be considered.
4. He had a concern about having professional staff as Ombuds person because
of the issue of agency. Administrators/professional staff members represent
the University in a different way than do faculty. Professional staff members
are charged with being agents of the University on administrative matters.

It was suggested that at some point a University administrator involved with the
Mayor’s Office might be included on the Undergraduate Ombuds Committee.

After further discussion regarding language, Chairman Messner asked that the
Council approve the revisions in the language in order to move the bill forward to
the Senate.

A motion was made to approve the revised language and forward it to the Senate
for consideration. The motion was approved unanimously.

Chairman Messner stated that if further changes are incorporated subsequently in
response to recommendations from John Reilly or the Senate Executive Committee,
he would circulate the bill to council members to see if there are any objections to
the changes.
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Motion made to adjourn at 12:05 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by,
Kathleen Spawn
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