University Senate Executive Committee
Monday, March 28, 2011
3:30 PM
UNH 306
Eric Lifshin, Senate Chair
Minutes
Present:
James Castracane, Susanna Fessler, James Fossett, Pradeep Haldar, Laurence Kranich, Danielle
Leonard, Eric Lifshin, JoAnne Malatesta, Richard Matyi, Heidi Nicholls, George Philip, Susan
Phillips, Daniel White
The meeting convened at 3:32 pm.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
SEC member agreed to review the February 28 minutes and comments relating to the BAG IV discussion, and
submit a vote by email approving the minutes.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT by GEORGE PHILIP
President Philip discussed the events that occurred during the weekend of March 12. There has been
considerable property damage totaling approximately $12,000. There have been about fifty arrests so far and 15
of those were UAlbany students. Those students are going through the judicial process and are temporarily
suspended. Most were upper classmen. There has been damage to the university’s reputation and the stature of
a degree has been diminished. Next year the campus will be on spring break during that time but he does not
anticipate that will eliminate the problem since we can’t make students leave their off-campus residences.
President Philip will meet with Mayor Jennings and St. Rose President Mark Sullivan to discuss the matter
further. President Philip discussed a potential plan with the City of Albany for having a police presence on
Hudson Street through the acquisition of a residence that would be converted into a community police station.
He said the University is also working with the city to create new rules for landlords and greater code
enforcement.
President Philip responded to a question about how the break would be scheduled. He said the February break
would be delayed until March and then there would be a break for the Passover and Easter holidays.
Budget:
An agreement is in process for some restoration of fund which would impact the SUNY hospitals. The SUNY
hospitals were zeroed out by the Governor and any restoration under $1 million will be nonviable. SUNY has
indicated that any shortfall will be shared by the 28 state operated campuses, increasing the cuts to UAlbany.
The President said those restoration are critically important with the lack of a tuition increase in the budget.
The Governor announced a summit of the four university centers and Chancellor Zimpher to discuss UB2020
and a rational tuition policy. The increase in tuition needs to commensurate with an increase in TAP. A
discussion with the Governor will take place after the budget is in place.
2
SUNY Senator White referred to the resolution passed by SUNY University Faculty Senate Executive
Committee which supports a proposal for a five-year rational tuition plan. He asked if it would be helpful to
have other bodies support the need for such a plan. President Philip said any endorsement is helpful, especially
from the student union as well as the University Senate. The President said it’s important for the faculty to say
they support this.
President Philip responded to questions about the reductions announced in October and the follow up
announcement to maintain minors in those programs. He said that some emails have been received as well as
messages from publications but the response has not been as voluminous as it was to the first announcement.
He said the Provost is in discussions with the CAS Dean to discuss the process of ending programs in the
affected areas. The President expects the timeline will be soon. President Philip explained that UAlbany has
joint degree programs with Albany Law School that are part of the language programs and ALS needs to be
involved in the discussions. President Philip affirmed that we would not be admitting students to majors to the
affected programs next year but will allow admissions to minors in those areas. He said the University will
honor its commitment to current students who are majoring in those programs.
President Philip said the University needs to invest ample resources in its undergraduate programs. We are
third tier as an undergraduate institution which he said is unacceptable. The University falls short on full time
faculty to student ratio and we cannot afford to further reduce the number of students. The tier one student
population has increased over the years but there have been repercussions from bad press. Other SUNY
campuses have a better faculty/student ratio because they have a different mix of disciplines. The President said
we need to increase the number of out of state students we bring to the campus. SUNY Binghamton has
realized $10 million more in tuition alone due to the number of out of state students attending, even though they
have few students than UAlbany. President Philip said he appreciated the support and candid views that
everyone has provided. Secretary Leonard thanked President Philip for his quick efforts to support the Japan
Relief Fund.
PROVOST’S REPORT by SUSAN PHILLIPS
Nothing to report.
SENATE CHAIR’S REPORT (ERIC LIFSHIN)
Nothing to report.
OTHER REPORTS
SUNY SENATORS’ REPORT (J. PHILIPPE ABRAHAM, SHADI SHAHEDIPOUR-SANDVIK,
DANIEL WHITE)
Senator White reported that the next plenary will be held April 14-16 at SUNY Fredonia. He referred to the UFS
resolution on the proposed NYS budget which will be discussed under New Business.
GRADUATE STUDENT ORGANIZATION REPORT (HEIDI NICHOLLS)
This week a letter has been sent out in addition to the President's letters regarding Fountain Day and the formal decision to apply for
deactivation. They have been encouraged to either contact Dean Williams or the President of GSO who will assist in the linking of
students with the most appropriate contact. GSO is also preparing for their elections to be held in April for 2011-2012.
Ms. Nicholls reported that the GSO is working on elections and new senators for next year. Recruitment of new senators
will start in June so they will be in place by the beginning of the fall semester.
STUDENT ASSOCIATION REPORT (JUSTIN WAX JACOBS)
Nothing to report.
3
COUNCIL/COMMITTEE CHAIRS’ REPORTS:
CAA (Council on Academic Assessment) – Richard Matyi, Chair
1) Prof. Janine Jurkowski (SPH) has joined the CAA
2) Reviews of the Education Psychology and the Education Counseling & Psychology programs are in progress.
3) The CAAA has been working with the UAC Gen Ed committee on aspects of academic assessment involved with the
proposed changes to the Gen Ed program.
4) The next meeting of the CAA is tentatively planned for the week of 3/28.
CAFFECoR (Committee on Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expression, and Community Responsibility)
– Pradeep Haldar, Chair
Nothing new to report.
CERS (Committee on Ethics in Research and Scholarship) – John Monfasani, Chair
N/A
COR (Council on Research) – James Castracane, Chair
The Council on Research met on March 16th and two items were of note.
A proposal was put forward to create an excellence award to recognize early career achievement by University faculty. This would
parallel the current University-level and the Chancellor’s-level Excellence in Research and Creative Activities awards which are
targeted more on longer term career achievements. The Researcher’s Liaison committee will be asked to formulate a plan and
requirements for COR consideration.
Following the latest round of applications for Conference/Journal Support, the committee has changed the wording for the Journal
Support Guidelines to include “Award funds typically will be provided for journal start-up or for general editorial support when a
UAlbany faculty member is serving in the capacity of Managing Editor, Editor-In-Chief or similar leadership role for the
journal.”…indicating a requirement that the applicant occupy a senior position with the journal. In addition, requests for funding
cannot include travel to conferences and meetings for the purpose of conducting editorial activities.
CPCA (Council on Promotions and Continuing Appointments) – Vincent LaBella, Chair
Review of T&P cases continues. We continue to meet about once per week.
The council will review three cases on Friday April 1.
GAC (Graduate Academic Council) – Laurence Kranich, Chair
GAC met on March 28 and approved the following measures: (1) a proposal from the School of Education to establish a Graduate
Certificate in Online Learning and Teaching (COLT), (2) a proposal from the School of Public Health (SPH) to establish a fully online
version of its Master of Public Health (MPH) program, (3) a proposal from SPH to revise the elective offerings for the MPH degree
program’s Social Behavior and Community Health Concentration, and (4) a proposal from the College of Arts and Sciences Biology
Department to revise its elective requirements for its MS in Forensic Biology degree program. In addition, the Council approved
proposals by its Committee on Educational Policy and Procedure (5) to amend the policy pertaining to Graduate Certificate programs,
(6) to amend policies pertaining to the submittal of a Master’s thesis, and (7) to establish graduate level policy pertaining to grade
changes. The Council deferred consideration of a proposal from the School of Public Health, Department of Health Policy,
Management and Behavior (HPMB) to suspend admission to its MS program. The Council also acted on a petition before its
Committee on Admissions and Academic Standing. Finally, the Council resumed discussion of the CAA program reviews.
GOV (Governance Council) – Susanna Fessler, Chair
The Governance Council met on Thursday, March 17 th. Agenda Items included Bylaw wording regarding the School of Public Health.
Bylaws 2.3.2 states, “The 44 Senators shall be allocated to the schools and colleges in proportion to the numbers of voting faculty
members in each school or college; however, each school or college shall have at least one Senator and the School of Public Health
shall have two Senators.” GOV felt this wording unclear, and that changing it to “the SPH shall have at least two Senators” would be
better. However, given the difficult of amending the Bylaws it was agreed that such a change should wait until a larger Bylaw
amendment was proposed, at which time this particular change could also be proposed. The second main agenda item was the
improper constitution of many of the Senate Councils. There are a number of councils with too many or too few members of various
types (i.e., teaching faculty, professional faculty, etc.). There are also a number of councils with more than one member from the same
unit. GOV decided not to effect council membership changes because we are so far into the school year. However, the chair of GOV
expressed her wish that next year a similar situation not be repeated.
GOV’s next scheduled meeting of March 31is due to be cancelled as there is no pressing business, barring anything that
may occur in today’s meeting.
4
LISC (Council on Libraries, Information Systems, and Computing) – Shadi Shahedipour-Sandvik,
Chair
During its March 14th meeting, the Dean of the libraries Mary Casserly reported on a survey that will be issued in late March to faculty
and students regarding the quality of the Library. This survey is generated every 3-4 years and gives the Library the user’s perceptive
of its services. The results of prior year’s survey are on the website. CIO Haile reported on a one-time fixed technology funding that
was set aside for updating smaller classrooms with “technology light” support (includes projection, laptop and connections). More
detailed questions should be directed to Carole Sweeton or Kyle Pulliam in Client Support Services. The concept of “Cloud
Computing” was also discussed. Cloud computing has made possible facilitation of larger computing capacity for research, and in
most cases with lower cost. Regarding ITS’s migration to Live@edu, ITS is looking at either of two implementation phases, moving a
subset of campus first or moving everyone on campus at the same time. It may be too disruptive to migrate everyone before June.
Better to be cognizant and thorough.
UAC (Undergraduate Academic Council) – JoAnne Malatesta, Chair
The UAC continues to meet weekly. We continue to evaluate and develop a general education proposal based on the Senate Task
Force recommendation and the feedback from Schools and Colleges. Significant progress has been made in this area and it is likely
that we will have a proposal in the near future. Additionally, UAC has approved a proposal for changes to the SSW Field Experience
Course and a proposal from PUB to cross-list their internship course with POS. Both are being presented to SEC for review.
The Council and its General Education Committee have been working on a number of revisions concerning general
education. UAC may bring something forth in the next two weeks.
ULC (University Life Council) – Danielle Leonard, Chair
ULC will meet Friday, March 25th at which time Susanna Fessler, Chair of the Governance Council and Senate Chair-elect, will
conduct the election of a new Chair of ULC to replace Danielle Leonard. Chair Leonard was elected Senate Secretary at the March
14th meeting of the full senate. The other item on the agenda for the 3/25 meeting is the suspension of Fountain Day.
Yenisel Gulatee from Advisement Services was elected as the chair to replace Danielle Leonard. Former Chair Leonard
has sent two agenda items for them to discuss, Fountain Day and the Kegs and Eggs incident.
UPPC (University Planning and Policy Council) – Jim Fossett, Chair
1.
2.
UPPC has been briefed on the University’s Facilities Master Plan, which will govern spending on classrooms and office
space over the 2013-2023 period. Dormitories are not covered in this process. SUNY Central has engaged a consultant to do
the extensive analytical work required to develop a coherent picture of the university’s space needs and canvas university
opinion on space needs.
UPPC has also approved revised planning calendars for the Spring 2012 semester and the 2012-2013 academic year,
motivated by the President’s desire to have students out of town around St. Patrick’s Day. There are no noteworthy issues for
the Spring 2012 and Fall 2012 calendars, but there are problems connected with the Spring 2013 calendar because of the
timing of Passover and Easter. This calendar was approved as a one-time fix and the university administration was requested
to develop plans to avoid these conflicts in the future.
NEW BUSINESS
Report from UPPC on Current Budget Situation
UPPC Chair Fossett led the discussion. He said he was not asking for any action at this time but wanted to go
on record that there is a high degree of uncertainty and the budget that has been enacted is not good. He said we
have a worse-case scenario and referenced the situation with the SUNY hospitals as an indicator that things
could get worse. Discussions are scheduled to take place about the future of a rational tuition policy which
could ease some of the financial strain. For our purposes going forward, we could be looking at very unpleasant
situations. Chair Fossett expressed concern that this message was not getting beyond the Senate. While reports
from BAG IV are being circulated to the Senate, he said the Senate needs to inform its constituency and said he
did not know how to encourage the Senate to do what it is supposed to do. Chair Lifshin suggested making this
an agenda item for the next Senate meeting to inform senators of their responsibility. Chair Fossett said we
were asked to report on the process but people have to pay attention. He was at a loss on how to make the
process more transparent. ULC Chair Leonard suggested it might be helpful to provide some directives that the
chairs could take back to their councils. Chair Fossett said the sentiment last year indicated people felt they
were left in the dark and they were told that greater transparency would be provided in the future. So far no
5
comments have been made on the budget websites. Chair Lifshin suggested confining the discussion for
purposes of completing the agenda and perhaps returning if time permitted.
Revisions to Political Science/Public Administration & Policy Internship (UAC):
Chair Malatesta said the proposal seeks to cross list the two programs. UAC would like the new course level
brought to the 400 level but sees no other problems. A motion was made to forward the bill to the Senate if the
400 level was achieved. The motion was seconded and approved by a vote.
Revisions to Social Welfare Field Seminar (UAC):
UAC Chair Malatesta said the proposal would separate the field seminar and the field practicum, currently
taught as eight hour blocks, and moving them to different semesters. The current S/U grading would change to
A-E grading, providing greater accountability for the quality of work done during the semester. SEC members
were in agreement to advance the bill to the Senate.
New ULC Chair:
Secretary Leonard informed the SEC that Jane Kadish has assumed the at-Large seat that was vacated when Ms.
Leonard was elected Secretary. Ms. Kadish needs to be appointed as a senator until the end of August and her
appointment to COR will need Senate approval as well. Assuming the role of Senate Secretary also caused Ms.
Leonard to vacate her position as Chair of ULC. At its last meeting, ULC members elected Yenisel Gulatee as
its new chair. Ms. Gulatee will need to be appointed as a Senator for the remainder of the semester. SEC
agreed that these issues should be brought to the Senate at its next meeting.
Five Proposals from GAC:
GAC Chair Kranich said the five proposals included three items addressing policy issues and two curricular
items.
Certificate of Graduate Studies on Online Learning and Teaching (COLT)—The proposal has been approved by both
GAC and UPPC. The proposal is for 15 credits and does not require any new resources. A motion was made and
seconded for advancing the bill to the Senate, and approved by a vote.
Online Master of Public Health Program—The School of Public Health has proposed fully implementing its
Master of Public Health online. Currently, all of the electives are online and the proposal would move the last
component of the program to an online format geared towards practicing professionals. The structure is exactly
the same as the existing structure. Students who have prior experience will be able to have the required
internship waived. There is evidence of a significant demand for the online format. The proposal has not been
reviewed by UPPC but Chair Kranich asked the SEC for conditional approval for advancing to the Senate upon
UPPC review and approval. The motion was approved.
Graduate Level Policy Pertaining To Grade Changes—The proposal would add language to the graduate
bulletin pertaining to graduate level grade changes. The policy would be consistent with existing practices in
the undergraduate policy and would eliminate any suggestion that some students may be given an advantage
over others. GOV Chair Fessler said she did not believe the bill needed to go to the Senate but only needed the
signature of the Dean of Graduate Studies, Kevin Williams. Provost Phillips confirmed that would be the
correct procedure.
6
Policy Pertaining to Graduate Certificate Programs—Chair Kranich said currently there are three different
types of wording to address the different types of certificates that are offered. The purpose of the proposal is to
clarify that all of these fall under the same heading according to NY State. The new wording would provide
clarification on credit and residence study requirements. GOV Chair Fessler said from the perspective of
governance, Senate approval was not needed on policy changes. SEC members agreed that it did not need to be
advanced to the Senate.
Proposal to Amend Policies Pertaining to The Submittal of a Thesis Applicable to Master’s Degree
Program Requirements—Chair Kranich stated that the university policy for submitting a master’s thesis
electronically has carried a substantial fee. That fee has now been reduced. A wording change was
recommended to clarify for whom the policy is being established. Chair Kranich said he would address the
change in language, and SEC members approved forwarding the bill to the Senate contingent on those changes.
SUNY Budget Resolution
Chair Lifshin noted that the resolution had been distributed for everyone’s review and asked if it was ready to
be presented to the Senate for endorsement. SUNY Senator White suggested it go the full Senate. He said he
would he hoped for feedback on feedback to endorse as is or whether it should have a UAlbany stamp. The
SEC was in agreement to send to the full Senate.
The conversation returned to the UPPC report on the budget situation. UPPC Chair Fossett said that members
of the Council thought it was a broad statement and the idea was to report to both the Senate and the entire
campus community on its current reading of the situation. UPPC felt everyone should know the gravity of the
situation before decisions were made, and hoped to eliminate any surprise about retrenchments or letting people
go. UPPC wants everyone to be aware and dispel any claims from people saying they were not informed. SEC
members discussed making the report available and supported having is sent in a blast email from University
Senate Notices.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 5:02 pm.
Respectfully submitted by
Gail Cameron, Recorder