2010-2011 University Senate Executive Committee
October 4, 2010
Eric Lifshin, Chair
MINUTES
Present:
J. Philippe Abraham, Tom Bessette, James Castracane, Susanna Fessler, Pradeep Haldar,
Laurence Kranich, Danielle Leonard, Eric Lifshin, JoAnne Malatesta, John Monfasani, Heidi
Nicholls, George Philip, Susan Phillips, Michael Range, Shadi Shahedipour-Sandvik, Daniel
White
The meeting convened at 3:33 pm.
APPROVAL OF SEC MINUTES FROM SEPTEMBER 13, 2010 MEETING
The minutes were reviewed and revisions were made. A motion to approve the minutes was made and
seconded and the minutes were approved.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT (GEORGE PHILIP)
In lieu of a report, President Philip said he would answer questions concerning the recent budget actions
announced at the October 1st Town Hall meeting.
Q: Will French no longer be offered?
The President said the University will cease the acceptance of new students for a French major or minor. It
does not mean that we will no longer have French faculty but there will be no new admitted degree students for
them. He said it does not mean we will stop teaching French but, should the program be eliminated, we cannot
keep accepting students to prolong the program.
Provost Phillips responded saying that the University teaches at least 13 different languages. The action taken
will suspend new admits to at least three degree programs.
Q: The Classics department has already been dissolved and some of the faculty from the department became
affiliated with language departments. Will those faculty positions be eliminated?
Provost Phillips responded that it is unclear what the implications will be for those faculty members. The
outcome may depend on their particular skills and available resources.
Q: At the meeting, the indication was that the decisions were quantitative and not qualitative. Could you
explain?
President Philip said the total enrollment in all five areas was less than 400; some are double majors and minors.
The biggest enrollment is in the Theater Department. He said that decisions were not based on the quality of
the programs.
Q: Members of BAG3 were provided substantial data. The data suggest that LLC lists 226 undergraduate and
graduate students. Why were these units singled out?
2
The President responded that Spanish language is a large component of that particular group.
UNIVERSITY SENATE CHAIR’S REPORT – ERIC LIFSHIN, CHAIR
N/A
OTHER REPORTS
UFS (UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATOR’S REPORT) –DANIEL D. WHITE, J. PHILIPPE
ABRAHAM & SHADI SHAHEDIPOUR-SANDVIK, SUNY SENATORS
Dan Smith of CNSE, a member of the SUNY Senate Undergraduate Policy and Programs Committee, and ad hoc Committee on
Grading attended the Senate Planning meeting on Thursday and Friday Sept. 22nd and 23rd, 2010. Attached is a bulleted list of each
committee’s agenda for the coming year as prepared by Dan. As reported by Dan, UAlbany is well represented with Cathy Parker
and Yenisel Gulati are on the Student Life Committee, Malcolm Sherman on the Operations Committee, Kevin Williams on Graduate
and Research Committee, Philippe Abraham on Diversity Committee, and Tom Hoey also a member of Student Life committee.
Please reach out to Dan Smith and other Committee members with questions regarding their respective Committees.
GSO (GRADUATE STUDENT ORGANIZATION) – NICHOLAS FAHRENKOPF, GSO
REPRESENTATIVE
Nothing to report
SA (STUDENT ASSOCIATION) – JUSTIN WAX JACOBS, PRESIDENT STUDENT ASSOCIATION
Nothing to Report
COUNCIL AND COMMITTEE REPORTS
CAA (Council on Academic Assessment) – Richard Matyi, Chair
The Council on Academic Assessment had its regular meeting on Wednesday, September 29. The following subcommittee chairs
were chosen: Academic Program Review Committee – Henryk Baran (LLC); General Education Assessment Committee – Richard
Matyi (CNSE). Plans for Council activities for 2010-2011 academic year were discussed.
CAFFECoR (Committee on Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expression, and Community Responsibility)
– Pradeep Haldar, Chair
The first meeting of CAFFECoR is scheduled to occur the week of October 11th. No other new items to report.
CERS (Committee on Ethics in Research and Scholarship) – John Monfasani, Chair
University Counsel John Reilly will be meeting with CERS on October 5 to hammer out agreement on the remaining issues in the
CERS revised document in anticipation of the Senate's October meeting, when, as mandated in the May 2010 Senate meeting, CERS
will propose for acceptance the revised CERS text.
COR (Council on Research) – James Castracane, Chair
Nothing to Report
CPCA (Council on Promotions and Continuing Appointments) – Vincent LaBella, Chair
CPCA met again this week and reviewed a case. The council roster is now full. Sandra Vergari has been added from the school of
education.
GAC (Graduate Academic Council) – Laurence Kranich, Chair
There have been some changes in the membership of the Council. Lawrence Raffalovich (Sociology) has resigned and Fernando
Leiva (LACS) has moved from UAC to GAC. In addition, there will be at least one substitution among the (3) graduate student
members in order to comply with the Charter stipulation that one student must be a Senator. The Council was forced to postpone its
October 1 meeting to consider CAA assessment reports due to a problem allowing new Council members to access the Wiki site
containing the reports. Bruce Szelest, the Director of Institutional Research, indicated that they are aware of the problem and they will
notify us when it is fixed. Next, at its meeting on September 24, the Council tabled a proposal from the School of Business for a
3
Graduate Certificate in Information Security. A list of items/concerns will be transmitted to the sponsors of the proposal for
inclusion in a revised draft. Finally, the Chair met with Dean Williams on September 29 for a preliminary discussion on the recently
released 2010 NRC rankings of research-doctoral programs.
GOV (Governance Council) – Susanna Fessler, Chair
N/A
LISC (Council on Libraries, Information Systems, and Computing) – Shadi Shahedipour-Sandvik, Chair
LISC will hold its first meeting on Oct. 18th; LISC members will be placed in the two LISC committees, Library Committee and IT
committee, and will elect a chair for each of the two committees.
UAC (Undergraduate Academic Council) – JoAnne Malatesta, Chair
The UAC met yesterday (Wednesday 9/29/10) and covered a variety of topics. Attached are 2 items of business from the UAC
meeting for the Senate Executive Council meeting.
The first is a Bill titled: Amendment of Existing Chemistry Honors B.S. Program and Creation of a Comprehensive Forensics
Emphasis within Chemistry Honors B.S. program. Two previous versions of this Bill have been passed by UAC however, neither had
been brought to SEC. First, the bill introduces a number of small changes to the Honors program which accurately reflect changes at
the departmental level (i.e. course number changes). Secondly, the proposal details the creation of a Comprehensive Forensic
Chemistry Honors Emphasis within the Honors program and the department has supplied the appropriate supporting rationale. The
UAC voted yesterday and approved this Bill.
Also attached to this email is the Bill regarding: Grade Point Requirements for Continuing in The Honors College. A former version
of this Bill was approved by UAC in April and approved by the Senate at the April 12th, 2010 meeting. However, after review by
University Council concerns were expressed about the wording of the bill and the President declined signing the Bill until such time as
the wording was improved. The Bill has been re-written and the current document is agreeable to both University Council and the
Director of the Honors College. UAC reviewed the Bill to verify that it retained the spirit of the original submission and voted
affirmatively that yes, it does. Bill approved at UAC and is now being sent back to President Philip for review.
Other News: We are still in need of one additional member of the teaching faculty to serve on each the Committee on Curriculum and
Honors and The Committee on General Education. If there are any volunteers or recommendations, please let me know.
ULC (University Life Council) – Danielle Leonard, Chair
Our first meeting will be on Monday, October 11th. Among our first orders of business in the fall term will be considering mandatory
health insurance for all UA students.
UPPC (University Planning and Policy Council) – R. Michael Range, Chair
Nothing to Report
NEW BUSINESS
Deactivation of Academic Programs
A lengthy discussion ensued among SEC members on how to respond President Philips request for comments
by November 19, as outlined in his memo to Chair Lifshin, regarding the recent announcement to deactivate
five targeted programs in Classics, French, Italian, Russian and Theatre. Chair Lifshin pointed out that the
normal protocol would be to have specific departments submit a request to UAC or to GAC. SEC members
were uncertain if a specific request would be coming in the form of legislation. President Philip said this was
an opportunity to begin discussion concerning the targeted areas before ending the programs. At this point we
are only suspending enrollment into the programs.
SEC members continued to ask questions of both the President and the Provost. Secretary Bessette asked about
the use of the phrase “emergency directive”. Provost Phillips said it indicates that this is something out of the
ordinary but with no definitive date. The rationale is that we have an obligation to students who have been
accepted into those programs to allow them to complete their degree. At this point the urgency is to cease entry
into the pipeline for these programs until we are sure we can fund the balance of students’ education. Students
who are not already in the pipeline will have an opportunity to appeal and demonstrate they will complete their
4
degree. ULC Chair Leonard inquired about how the general student population would be notified. The
Provost said members of the administration had met with student leadership on October 1 and the students
suggested compiling a FAQ page on the web as questions come up. Academic Advisement is working with
them and Vice Provost Faerman has also reached out to student groups. They are trying to cover all bases and
doing the same for graduate students. Chair Leonard followed up with a question about the appeals process and
asked if a there is a time limit. The Provost did recall know if there was a deadline.
CAFFECoR Chair Haldar asked if the cuts will be deep enough to address the shortfalls in the budget through
2012. President Philip said there are an additional 160 jobs that will be lost by fiscal year 2012. He says we
may expect the loss of another $2 million during the 2011-12 budget year. The campus has an opportunity to
reallocate savings from the retirees in the classified ranks. A large number of employees are retiring from
Facilities but some of those resources will need to be reallocated back to fill positions for critical work that
needs to be done. He said we need to establish a reinvestment pool to rebalance the University. Provost
Phillips said the BAG3 tried to develop a plan that did not gouge but their plan did have some pool for
reinvestment as a model. President Philip stressed the importance of timing and moving things forward to give
faculty an opportunity to plan accordingly. We also have a window of opportunity with the retirement incentive
to allow people to make other plans.
SEC members discussed whether or not deactivation is the right terminology to be using. Provost Phillips said
it was correct to say deactivate for purposes of ceasing admissions. There is no interest to move into a
deregistration step and the campus would like to avoid that if there is any possibility to reactivate the programs.
The deactivation phase puts us in a more moderate zone.
UPPC Chair Range stated that a lot of formal consultation had already occurred and was unclear how we would
proceed. He believed that anything in the form of legislation would come from the CAS Dean. ULC Chair
Leonard asked what the Senate’s role is if this is within the President’s authority. The Provost stated that the
Charter charges the councils to review opportunities to discontinue programs. This offers a period of
consultation with faculty in affected areas. The Senate’s obligation will be decided by the SEC.
The discussion turned to how and when this would be presented to the Senate. The councils would not have an
opportunity to return and discuss their conversations before the next Senate meeting on October 18. It was not
clear how the discussion could be prevented at the next Senate meeting. GAC Chair Kranich said he believed it
should be on the Senate agenda as an open comment period. SEC members talked about what needed to be
discussed with their councils. Provost Phillips stressed that the timeline for faculty members to take advantage
of the retirement incentive is getting shorter and encouraged staying with the November 19 deadline. LISC
Chair Shahedipour-Sandvik asked if councils will make recommendations to change the decisions that have
been made. The Provost said they would be looking for any ideas that have not yet been presented. ULC Chair
Leonard made a motion that council chairs will be charged to discuss with their councils and report to the SEC
by November 1. A report would be provided to the full Senate at its meeting on November 15 allowing the
SEC to meets is November 19 deadline. As an amendment to Chair Leonard’s proposal, UPPC Chair Range
proposed that the administration supply appropriate data concerning enrollment and the cost savings being
discussed. SEC members voted to approve both the proposal and the amendment.
Constituting Committee on Diversity and Inclusion:
Chair Lifshin introduced the topic which was presented to him by CAS Dean Wulfert. The committee would be
advisory to the President concerning strategies that would create personal and professional growth opportunities
for members of the University community. Chair Lifshin said he did not believe this required any action on the
part of the Senate but governance could make recommendations concerning membership. UPPC Chair Range
said he did not see a call for formal consultation on behalf of governance. Chair Lifshin suggested that
5
someone from ULC be involved and GOV Chair Fessler suggested someone from CAFFECoR also be
involved.
Printed Materials for Senate Meetings:
Senate Secretary Bessette proposed that we abandon the practice of providing copies of materials such as the
Council and Committee Summary Reports at meetings. These are made available electronically and can be
posted to the Senate web site as well. A motion was made and seconded supporting his proposal and passed by
a vote.
Amendment of Existing Chemistry Honors B.S. Program and Creation of a Comprehensive Forensics
Emphasis within Chemistry Honors B.S. program (UAC):
UAC Chair Malatesta informed SEC members that bill comes from the Chemistry Department and has been
through a number of revisions over the past two years. UAC has approved the latest version. The Honors
College has reduced the entry level GPA for entry into the program. The bill also ads a forensic track to the
Honor’s College Chemistry Program. SEC members approved forwarding the bill to the Senate.
Grade Point Requirements for Continuing in the Honors College (UAC):
Chair Malatesta said the bill was passed by the Senate in April but did not receive approval from the President
due to legal issues with the language. The bill has been re-written and both Legal Counsel and Jeffrey
Haugaard, Director of the Honors College, are in agreement on the language. It now meets the spirit of the bill
from last spring but she did not believe it needed to be presented to the Senate again. She wanted to inform the
SEC that the issue had been resolved.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 5:29 pm.
Respectfully submitted by
Gail Cameron, Recorder