University Senate Executive Committee
Wednesday, November 7, 2011
2:45 PM
UNH 306
Susanna Fessler, Senate Chair
Minutes
Present:
J. Philippe Abraham, Bryant Barksdale, James Castracane, Susanna Fessler, Tim Groves, Eric
Lifshin, Andi Lyons, JoAnne Malatesta, Adrian Masters, Nancy Newman, George Philip, Shadi
Shahedipour-Sandvik, Christine Wagner
Guests:
Christine Bouchard, Peter Vellis
The meeting convened at 2:49 pm.
APPROVAL OF SEC MINUTES
The minutes were approved with minor changes.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT - GEORGE PHILIP
President Philip provided the following report:

A two-day conference on health disparity issues and sexual minorities was kicked off today. Dr. Guthrie
Birkhead, Deputy Commissioner of the NY Department of Health gave the keynote address. The
conference was sponsored by the Center for the Elimination of Minority Health Disparities, the School of
Social Welfare and the Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity Projects, all from UAlbany.

Kick off events were also held for the RNA Institute Symposium. The Institute announced formation of its
Scientific Advisory Boards of nine distinguished scientists which include Nobel Laureate Ada Yonath. The
RNA Institute began a year ago and has since raised $20 million in funding.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has named the University at Albany’s Institute for Health and the
Environment as a Collaborating Center in Environmental Health.

Kamiar and Arash Alaei will be guest speakers at the School of Public Health for World AIDS Day in
December. The brothers have received world-wide publicity after their arrests in Iran.

Over 200 students participated in a student initiated event to clean up the Pine Hills Neighborhood. The
students worked an entire Sunday. Students also participated in events to help with clean up in Schoharie
and Broome counties which suffered damage from recent flooding. President Philip acknowledged the
great community spirit demonstrated by our students.

The Citizen Laureate Awards will be presented on November 16. This year’s awards will be presented to
John Balint, Wallace Altes, and Robert Curley.

Winter commencement will be held on December 4. This year’s honorary degree recipient will be
Elizabeth Kolbert from the New York Times. Ms. Kolbert has written extensively on climate change and
her book Field Notes from a Catastrophe was the campus reading project in 2006-07.
President Philip offered to answer questions. COR Chair Castracane inquired about comments reported by the
Time Union indicating that the President had made a statement concerning the Holt-Harris property at a recent
meeting. President Philip said those comments were reported at a meeting of the University Council.
UFS Senator Shahedipour-Sandvik asked the President if it was fair to use money from the NYSUNY 2020 to
cover TAP. President Philip said the SUNY 2020 Plan will provide TAP to students using the same basis that is
currently being used. Students receiving TAP will be made whole for costs over $5,000.
Senator Shahedipour-Sandvik also if he had any comments on shared services. President Philip said he had
participated in meetings and developed a response concerning shared services to be considered for our campus. He
said there is no proposal for shared academic services but would consider such services as IT and Payroll. The
President said the concept of shared services makes sense for schools with smaller enrollments.
SENATE CHAIR’S REPORT - SUSANNA FESSLER
REMINDER: the deadline for providing feedback to the Course Assessment Advisory Committee is November 11. The committee report
is available online at https://wiki.albany.edu/display/irpe/Course+Assessment+Advisory+Committee. Feedback should be sent to the cochairs, Heidi Andrade (hadrande@albany.edu) and Bruce Szelest (bszelest@albany.edu).
The Annual Fall Faculty Meeting was held on Wednesday, September 26 th in the Campus Center Ballroom. President Philip spoke on the
state of the university, providing updates on NYSUNY2020 and other campus initiatives. Materials for that meeting, including a list of
grants for the campus, are available on the Senate website at http://www.albany.edu/senate/
UPPC is examining procedures for evaluating budgetary impact on proposals that come out of the other Senate councils, with an eye to
standardizing and streamlining the process.
Chair Fessler provided a review of the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) survey. The
University has participated in the survey in the past with a smaller representation of the faculty. The survey is run by
Harvard University and should give UAlbany faculty a better feeling for job satisfaction compared to peer institutions. It
will provide a random sample by surveying both junior and senior tenure track faculty. She asked that anyone who is
selected in the random process please fill out the survey. The results will be reported to the Provost’s Office and will provide
Academic Affairs a greater statistical data sample of job satisfaction. LISC Chair Newman asked if results were available
from the last survey. Chair Fessler said she would ask Provost Phillips for that information and possibly have the Provost
provide a report at the next meeting. Chair Fessler said she believed CLUE resulted from the last survey.
OTHER REPORTS
SUNY SENATORS’ REPORT (J. PHILIPPE ABRAHAM, SHADI SHAHEDIPOUR-SANDVIK, DANIEL
WHITE)
The SUNY Senate met at SUNY Purchase in Purchase NY on October 21 and October 22, 2011. The major points of discussion revolved
around shared services between SUNY campuses and Information Privacy issues particularly electronic communication. The UAlbany
SUNY Senators would like the SEC to recommend that a special Ad Hoc committee (of UPPC) be created to provide guidance and a
roadmap for governance involvement in any forthcoming shared service initiatives. We would like the Senate to play its formal
consultative role in efforts that are designed to improve resource allocation to academic programs if shared services are to be implemented
at UAlbany. One of the main concerns raised at the SUNY Senate meeting is that there be some accounting of savings and how those
savings are used to benefit academic programs and the curriculum. Information privacy and the ability of external entities to request
information from the administration concerning the electronic communication of faculty and staff using State ITS systems was
discussed. The UAlbany University Senate may wish to pursue a policy if none already exists that would help to structure our campus
response to requests for information about a faculty or staff member’s communications.
GRADUATE STUDENT ORGANIZATION REPORT (HEIDI NICHOLLS)
GSO has temporarily appointed a new Programming Chair, XiaoXin (Tracy) Chen, who will be up for confirmation at the November 4
GSO Assembly Meeting. In the interim, the Executive Board has sponsored a couple of programming events such as the Casino night at
Jillians, Kick Ball Tournament, and Rocky Horror Picture Show. Thomas Devlin, the SUNY Assembly Representative, has been
appointed as Heidi Nicholls' proxy vote and will be attending the SUNY Assembly Meeting the weekend of October 28-30. GSO is
collaborating with the Office of Graduate Studies and Dean Williams to cosponsor this year's first Graduate Student Speaker Series
showcasing Meredith Praamsma and Kathryn McIntosh, doctoral students in EHS. Turksa was to hold their annual Turkish Republic Day
event; however they changed their event to a fundraiser for the Earthquake victims and Damage. The Indian Student Organization is
preparing to hold their annual Diwali Festival on November 6th at 3:30 Main Theater PAC with special guest Dr. Nirav Shah and various
members of our campus administration.
STUDENT ASSOCIATION REPORT (BRYANT BARKSDALE)
Mr. Barksdale reported on student activities during Community Service month in October which included participation in the
cleanup initiative in Broome County. FallFest will be held the weekend of November 12 and will feature LMFAO and Far
East Movement. SA will be focusing on spring events including recognition of a member of the faculty and planned events in
the absence of Fountain Day. Mr. Barksdale reported that the eight SA senators have received their council assignments.
COUNCIL/COMMITTEE CHAIRS’ REPORTS
CAA (Council on Academic Assessment) – Adrian Masters, Chair
The Program Review committee met on 21 October and laid out a schedule for considering the Program reviews that took place in 201011. They will be looking at the reviews for LACS and Women’s Studies this semester. Economics and Public Policy will be looked at in
the spring.
The CAA met on 24th October. We laid the groundwork for looking at the student learning outcome reports. We also discussed the Draft
Report of the Course Assessment Advisory Committee (CAAC) on the student instructional rating. We will send a document that
summarizes our discussion to the CAAC.
Chair Masters reported that the Council sent its report to the Course Assessment Advisory Committee. The report does not
indicate a particular consensus.
CAFFECoR (Committee on Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expression, and Community Responsibility) –
Aran Mull, Chair
CAFFECoR met on October 17th and will be forwarding a bill to remove the Principles for a Just Community language from remaining
University documentation following a final determination regarding what publications still include that language. The committee is
moving forward with the development of a policy and guidelines for managing complaints brought before the committee and has asked
University Counsel to determine whether they may advise the committee regarding policy development.
CERS (Committee on Ethics in Research and Scholarship) – Carolyn MacDonald, Chair
The policy approved by the senate 3/14 has not yet been signed. There are no ongoing cases. CERS is meeting Monday. Planning is
proceeding for training for CERS members and for outreach to researchers.
Senator Lyons reported on behalf of CERS. She said the Committee has discussed various points in the policy that are
holding up approval.
COR (Council on Research) – James Castracane, Chair
The Council on Research met on October 17th to discuss a variety of topics including details of the agenda for NSF Day which took place
on October 19th and was attended by several hundred people. Also discussed was the upcoming RNA Symposium on November 3-4
hosted by the UAlbany RNA Institute. A full slate of RNA scientists will participate in four technical sessions spread over the two days.
In addition, an invitation was extended to Theresa Walker, the Assistant VP for Research, to give a presentation at the next COR meeting
on the guidelines for faculty with regard to starting companies, consulting for companies and potential conflicts of interest.
Two graduate students were added to the council to fill open slots. COR still needs one undergraduate student and this slot is going to be
filled before the next meeting.
Finally, it was noted that the application deadline for the UAlbany Excellence in Research and Creative Activities Award is November 1.
Chair Castracane said the Council has been approached about conflicts of interest and subcontracting with outside
companies. He said Theresa Walker, Assistant Vice President for Research, will address the issue with COR on November
21 at 11:30 in the Life Sciences Building.
CPCA (Council on Promotions and Continuing Appointments) – Christine Wagner, Chair
CPCA has completed the review of six cases to date. Review of two additional cases will occur at the meeting on November 2 nd.
Chair Wagner reported the Council completed review of eight cases. She said council members discussed feedback on SIRF
and did not feel they were useful in tenure decisions. She said extremes in either very low or very high scores could harm a
candidate. Chair Wagner said the discussion would be summarized in its report to CAAC.
GAC (Graduate Academic Council) – Tim Groves, Chair
All three GAC committees now meet Charter membership requirements. The Committee on Educational Policy and Procedures met on
October 27. Suraj Commuri was elected Chair. The Committee on Admissions and Academic Standing will meet on November 3. There
are presently four new cases pending review. The Committee on Curriculum and Instruction will meet on November 4. There are
presently four new proposals pending review. GAC presently has no bills pending Senate approval.
Chair Groves reported that all of the standing committees have elected chairs.
GOV (Governance Council) – Andi Lyons, Chair
Governance Council (GOV) met on October 25 and voted to bring a Charter Amendment to the Senate Executive Committee meeting on
November 7, in anticipation of moving it forward for a full vote by the University Senate at an upcoming meeting. The amendment
proposes to bring the language of the current Charter into line with the Bylaws in a matter pertaining to the appointment of a
parliamentarian. Also, GOV elected Joette Stefl-Mabry as its representative to the Committee on Council Nominations. Finally, GOV
was briefed on the initial meeting of the Committee on Administrative Evaluations regarding their preliminary discussion on how best to
address such evaluations in a fair, consistent, and ongoing manner. The committee will continue to discuss the issues, and expects to
make an initial recommendation to the Council before the end of fall term.
Chair Lyons reported that a member of GOV has been appointed to the Committee on Council Nominations and the CCN will
begin to address the one outstanding issue electronically.
LISC (Council on Libraries, Information Systems, and Computing) – Nancy Newman, Chair
LISC met on Oct. 24. Dean of Library Mary Casserly noted that this is Open Access Week. This year’s events include a lecture by Dr.
David Hogg and a tour of CNSE. A video explaining the value of Open Access and highlighting the involvement of several UAlbany
faculty (including Tim Stephen) in pioneering online journals is available through the library’s homepage. Mary also reported that this
year’s budget does not necessitate cancelling any journals. However, she would like LISC to begin discussing the campus license for
Elsevier (ScienceDirect), which expires at the end of 2013. Plans to renovate the library are stalled as Campus Planning searches for a
new architect. Chief Information Officer Christine Haile gave an update on implementation of the first phase of the new email system,
which has generally gone smoothly. Exchange users will be the next group to be moved to the new system. Chris will arrange for
presentations on Blackboard Version9 and the Elluminate system for web conferencing at future meetings. She also co-chairs the
Strategic Plan Working Group on Emerging Technologies, which Bruce Dudek reported on as the LISC liaison. Their first meeting
focused on defining goals, considering support needs, and the adoption of Business Intelligence (BI), software that facilitates data
reporting for analysis. LISC subcommittees are planning to meet in the next few weeks and our next full meeting is November 21.
Chair Newman said there has been concern about the issue referred to at the last Senate meeting on the privacy policy on
email and electronic communications. Chair Newman has consulted with CIO Chris Haile who has indicated her office is in
the process of revising the campus policy on responsible use of IT. A draft of the revised policy may be available early next
year and could be presented to the Executive Committee and the Senate near the end of the spring semester.
UAC (Undergraduate Academic Council) – JoAnne Malatesta, Chair
UAC approved changes to the University Wide Internship requirements and will draft a bill to bring to the Senate. Additionally, UAC
began discussion about the requirements for cross-counting courses between double majors and minors. Continued discussion is
necessary in this area before UAC comes to a conclusion and brings the issue forward.
Chair Malatesta reported that UAC met today and discussed double counting of courses and the University Wide Internship
Policy.
ULC (University Life Council) – Yenisel Gulatee, Chair
University Life Council (ULC) met on October 18 th Christine Bouchard introduced the proposed Student Health Insurance policy which
would establish a hard waiver for students. This Bill was approved by the members for further consideration and review by the Senate
Executive Council. In addition, we continued discussions on the smoking policy and concerns that had been brought to the Council. The
members continue to agree on the importance of forming a taskforce, with diverse members of our university community, in order to
examine and study this complex issue from different angles and perspectives. Since many university campuses are becoming smoke- free,
it will be beneficial for UAlbany to have conversations about this. ULC plans to invite an expert and consultant in the field for one of our
meetings.
UPPC (University Planning and Policy Council) – Eric Lifshin, Chair
UPPC met Friday October 28. The Documentary Studies Program was discussed. UPPC saw no reason why it could not be passed on to
the Senate for a vote. Bruce Szelest and Heide Andrade led a discussion of the Course Assessment Advisory Committee report. It
contains suggestions on how to improve the current SIRF evaluation process of both courses and the faculty who teach them. They had
specifically asked UPPC to comment on the report, and a variety of questions and concerns were raised. Many had to do with what
information would be made more generally available and to whom. Finally, the general question of just what information is needed by
UPPC to evaluate bills referred to it by the Senate was discussed. The Provost provided some course action forms from other universities
to help in the discussion. It was clear that some of the forms from other institutions request more detailed information than the current
form being used by the College of Arts and Sciences (which was used as an internal example). It was felt that some modification to our
existing process would help UPPC and the Senate do a better job of providing information on resource needs implications for any
legislation under consideration, but at the same time we do not want to create unnecessary work. As a start, UPPC members were asked
to email Stacy Stern with some suggested items that we could add to a revised course action form. We will discuss these at our next
meeting.
Chair Lifshin reported that UPPC conducted an email vote on the CAS proposal on the Biology program. Council members
did not feel there were any serious issues and the vote was in favor of moving it to the Senate. Chair Lifshin asked for
suggestions on a simple form that would accompany bills going to UPPC concerning resource allocations to help speed up
the process.
NEW BUSINESS
Charter Amendment re: Appointment of a Parliamentarian (GOV)
GOV Chair Lyons discussed the amendment and pointed out that the language in the Bylaws and Senate Charter is
not consistent concerning the appointment of a parliamentarian. The Bylaws indicates the presiding officer
assumes the responsibility while the Charter indicates it is the responsibility of the Executive Committee. This
year, Chair Fessler both consulted with the SEC (per the Charter) and made the arrangements in her role as
presiding officer (per the Bylaws) through Albany Law School. The school was able to provide a student with
parliamentarian background. The proposed language is straight forward and Chair Lyons said she hoped the
relationship with Albany Law School would continue in the future. A motion to move the amendment to the
Senate was approved.
Bill 1112-06 Student Health Insurance Policy (ULC)
The discussion of the bill was presented by Vice President from Student Success, Christine Bouchard and Director
of Student Health Services Peter Vellis. The bill proposes a hard waiver for all full time undergraduate students
who provide evidence of health insurance coverage to waive out of the University health insurance program. It is
not known how many UAlbany students do not have health insurance coverage but the national average is 20%.
Optional plans cost students about $1,600 and are usually taken by students with preexisting conditions.
SEC members were invited to discuss the proposal. SA representative Bryant Barksdale wanted to know if
students would be required to take the plan if it does not match up to their parents plan. Dr. Vellis said if students
stay on their parent’s plan the plan will have to meet minimum requirements. A copy of the policy and a
disclaimer that states their plan meets the requirements will need to be provided, as well as the name of the plan
and a policy ID number. Dr. Vellis said the request for documentation would be done well in advance and would
be mailed with financial aid information. Mr. Barksdale asked if costs for the plan could be covered by student
loans and Dr. Vellis replied that they could. He added that plans can be purchased per semester or the whole year,
or during the second semester to provide coverage through the summer.
LISC Chair Newman asked how costs would be contained. Dr. Vellis said that an RFP is in place for the hard
waiver and students will have the option to choose a less expensive plan or pay more for additional coverage. The
University plans are being offered through United Health Care.
UPPC Chair Lifshin wanted to know if this is something that the Senate needs to endorse and whether the bill
would go to UPPC. Chair Fessler said she did not think it would be a bill because the Senate does not make
university policy and this is an issue of university policy. But, in keeping with the Senate’s role as a consultative
body, she felt it would be good for the Senate to review and provide its thoughts. She suggested that it could be a
resolution for the Senate to endorse. Ms. Bouchard said she would like to have it presented at the next meeting
because the proposal will need to go out for bids soon. She added that the other SUNY Centers are doing this and
want to have plans in place prior to the health care bill going into effect in 2014 to leverage the power of SUNY to
reduce premiums. SEC members were in agreement in forwarding a resolution supporting the spirit of the
proposal but asked that ULC provide the wording of the resolution. Chair Fessler put forward a motion that ULC
convert the bill to a resolution and forward it to the Senate floor. The motion was seconded and approved by a
vote.
Bill 1112-07 Documentary Studies Program (UAC)
UAC Chair Malatesta led the discussion. She said there are five affiliated departments supporting the
Documentary Studies Program which is housed in the History Department. The proposal would make significant
changes and responds to an anticipated reduction of faculty from three to two half-time lines. To address the
reduction in faculty, the bill proposes hiring adjunct faculty. The proposal would eliminate the five tracks in favor
of one single track which all students could follow. It would also increase electives to eliminate some of the
demand on other departments. Chair Malatesta said the bill has been approved by both UAC and UPPC and is
supported by the undergraduate director in the History Department. A motion was made and seconded to forward
the bill to the Senate. The motion was approved by a vote.
Shared Services and Campus Governance (UFS Senators)
UFS Senator Shahedipour-Sandvik led the discussion which was a major topic at the UFS Plenary meeting held
last month. At that meeting, two resolutions were passed regarding oversight of the shared services process
(appended below). She said the UFS Senators suggested that on the UA campus, UPPC should form an ad hoc
committee or have appropriate action taken by the Executive Committee to assure that governance will be included
in conversations concerning shared services, in the same spirit as the UFS resolutions. Chair Fessler asked 1) what
the specific charge of such a committee would be and 2) why an ad hoc committee would be necessary, when
UPPC is normally charged with such oversight. UPPC Chair Lifshin said that UPPC could endorse the UFS
resolutions on shared services. SEC members discussed the level of involvement for campus governance. SEC
members expressed concern that faculty and staff would not be informed about shared services actions until too
late in the process. Chair Fessler suggested that, instead of forming an ad hoc committee, shared services might be
a regular agenda item for UPPC and the Council would provide regular updates to the SEC and Senate. In that
way, UPPC would be regularly updated on any potential policy or planning implications brought about by shared
services, and be able to provide consultation. Since most of the conversation about shared services has been
outside of academics, the main concern for the Senate would be if the conversation eventually involves shared
services in academics. Chair Fessler suggested that the UFS senators compose a resolution in support of the UFS
resolutions that could be brought to the Senate floor. Chair Lifshin suggested that any resolution include wording
to include governance to make the President aware of the Senate’s position. Senator Shahedipour-Sandvik said she
would work with the other UFS Senators to draft a resolution and send it to UPPC.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 4:35 pm.
Respectfully submitted by
Gail Cameron, Recorder
University Faculty Senate
Executive Committee
159th Plenary
Purchase College October 22, 2011
Resolution on Evaluation of Shared Services
Whereas, the University Faculty Senate has been concerned about increases in administrative costs, its effects on
resources available for academic programs and services, and
Whereas, the Board of Trustees has indicated in its resolution of June 15, 2011, that SUNY campuses should
find ways to share and/or consolidate administrative services, realign academic offerings and enhance
procurement efficiencies to allow for enhanced spending on instruction and student services, and
Whereas, System Administration has encouraged campuses to find ways to share services through regional
and other partnerships, and
Whereas, System Administration is establishing an oversight process to review these shared services and other
cost-saving measures,
Therefore, Be It Resolved that the University Faculty Senate requests that the Chancellor ensure the oversight
process includes:





a system-wide committee consisting of faculty (including a representative of the UFS Operations
Committee), students, and administrative staff, to guide this process, and
appropriate measures (such as benchmarking) and procedures for fiscal accountability be identified and
developed, in order to calculate the savings achieved from any and all of these shared services, and
these measures demonstrate the extent to which enhanced spending on academic programs is
achieved, and
both quantitative and qualitative outcomes resulting from shared services be identified, considered, and
addressed, and
in order to facilitate transparency and assist campuses in assessing institutional effectiveness, data
collected by SUNY as part of this initiative be available to campus administrations and local governance
bodies, and
•
Be it Further Resolved that a report on the shared services initiative be presented to the University Faculty
Senate no less frequently than annually.
159-02-1
Resolution on Evaluation of Shared Services October 22, 2011
Passed
University Faculty Senate
Executive Committee
159th Plenary
Purchase College
October 22, 2011
Resolution on Shared Services
Whereas, both SUNY System Administration and the University Faculty Senate are committed to making SUNY one of the
premier systems of higher education in the world, and
Whereas, the administration and governance bodies on each SUNY campus are equally committed to making their
institution one of high quality, and
Whereas, the time-honored mechanism of “shared governance” is the means by which the administration and
governance bodies both across SUNY and on individual campuses can work effectively and efficiently toward that
common goal, and
Whereas, shared governance requires detailed, timely, and relevant information through a significant consultation process
prior to any formal decision, and
Whereas, the recent policy of SUNY to reduce expenses by having campuses share services on a regional, sector or
mission basis is an appropriate policy initiative worthy of careful consideration and consultation in the current
economic environment, and
Whereas, the scope, nature and provision of administrative and student services directly and indirectly impact the
curriculum, methods of instruction and other academic matters that are the primary responsibility of the faculty, and
Whereas, the proposed policy of having two campuses share a president was developed without significant consultation
with the University Faculty Senate, the relevant College Councils, or the relevant campus governance organizations,
Therefore Be It Resolved that the proposed policy of two campuses sharing a presidency be carefully examined through
significant consultation with the appropriate UFS representatives, the affected College Councils and the local
governance bodies before implementation, and
Be It Further Resolved that representatives from the existing governance bodies on each alliance campus be included in
the work groups that are considering shared services across the regional campus alliance, and
Be It Further Resolved that decisions regarding the sharing of services among campuses be made only after significant
consultation with the appropriate campus governance body, and
Be It Further Resolved that the System Administration and UFS leadership work to clarify the forms by which appropriate
consultation occurs before the implementation of significant new policies or actions that affect the state-operated
campuses.
159-03-1
Resolution on Evaluation of Shared Services October 22, 2011
Passed Unanimously w/o Dissent