Governance Council
Monday, October 12, 2015
2:45 PM
UNH 306
Jim Collins, Chair
Minutes
PRESENT:
Chesin, Sorrell; Collins, Jim; Early, Bryan; Gulatee, Yenisel; Janiszewski, Caitlin;
Kearney, Ann; Kressner, Ilka; Kuznetsov, Igor; Malavasic, Jolene; Moore, Chris;
Reinhold, Karin
The meeting convened at 2:45 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of May 5, 2015 were approved, with 5 abstentions.
The minutes of September 21, 2015 were approved, with minor changes and 1 abstention.
CHAIR’S REPORT
Chair Collins had been busy with many items on the agenda, including forming committees in close
consultation with Senate Secretary Yenisel Gulatee and in communication with other councils and
preparing shared folders on One Drive. The Chair had also been in frequent consultation with Senate
leaders – Senate Chair Fox and Immediate Past Chair Stefl-Mabry – on issues including UAlbany Excel,
compact planning, the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity, the
new Albany Law partnership, and a number of other items that have impact for faculty governance. At
this point we, the Senate leadership, are trying to insert ourselves in the process earlier since timely
consultation is necessary for any kind of deliberative governance.
At the SEC meeting of October 5th GOV Chair Collins was alerted to several items that will fall to GOV
members to look into including the following:
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Committee on Liaisons and Elections – using forums, workshops and information sessions for
education and discussion about issues which constituents raise.
A request received by Senate Chair Fox involving the university sustainability initiative
How to make minor non-substantive changes to the Senate Charter without requiring a 2/3 vote
for things like changing job titles
Requirements for public access to information about Senate committees. In particular, what has to
be on the Senate website? For instance, is it required to list committee members? Concern has
been raised that some of the work is sensitive (i.e. that of the UAC Committee on Admissions &
Academic Standing). Chair Collins would consult with the Chief Information Officer and Yenisel
Gulatee in her role as Chair of the GOV Committee on Liaison & Elections which is responsible
for the Senate website.
Chair Collins proposed a change in the Council meeting dates to omit November 23 rd and to include
December 14th.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Update: Clarification of Responsibilities of CAA: Academic Program Review Committee
Chair Collins had spoken with CAA Chair Jim Mower last Tuesday about the questions that came from
GOV concerning the Charter amendment proposal to change language from ensuring compliance to
“reviewing”. Those questions include the following:
 What is lost by making this change?
 Who conducts these assessments?
The CAA Chair did not know the answers yet but e-mailed the questions to Joel Bloom and would report
back to GOV.
UAC Concerns
GOV Chair Collins summarized that UAC’s proposal is to shift one of its committees, the Appellate
Committee on Academic Standing to the Dean of Undergraduate Education. GOV questions on this
included the following:
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Who then will be responsible for the committee?
How will the committee be composed / who would be sitting on the committee and making the
decisions?
Is achieving quorum is an issue?
After GOV discussion on these issues, Chair Collins voiced that the sense is that this committee serves an
important role for faculty, but there is also difficulty in finding enough people willing to serve and carry
on the large workload.
GOV Chair Collins would speak with the UAC Co-chair or Co-chairs to ask for clarification regarding
what the rationale is for their proposal, generated by last year's UAC members. He would also check with
Senate Chair Fox for more information in e-mail conversations from last year.
Honor’s College nominees
About 2 weeks ago Chair Collins had circulated a list of distinguished and excellent people in all areas as
a basis for recommendations to be sent to Bill Hedberg, who is the source of the request. Last week Chair
Collins circulated additional recommendations of folks who had taught in the Honors College. GOV
considered those and other recommendations.
GOV members agreed to add a nominee from the School of Public Health to be included in the dozen
names to be put forward. A motion was made and unanimously approved to put forward this list, as
amended.
Update: Contingent, Student and Emeritus representation in Senate
A draft proposal from last year’s GOV members was reviewed by the current GOV members to amend
the Charter and Bylaws to officially recognize the role of Emeritus and Contingent faculty on Senate
committees, etc. Emeritus members currently serve on 6 of the councils and committees. After
deliberations, Chair Collins proposed GOV table the matter until November when we may have a better
sense of Contingent and Emeritus status, as the pending Blue Ribbon Panel Reports will likely be shared
by then. In the meantime, the body was in agreement that we should do what we can to improve
communication with both the Contingent and Emeritus faculty.
Administrative Review & Evaluation
Chair Collins reviewed with GOV members information put forth in 2011 regarding SUNY Senate-wide
efforts and processes regarding administrative review and evaluation. Binghamton and Stony Brook had
what were considered relevant peer institution models. There was a proposal in January 2012 for an
amendment to create a council on administrative review and evaluation. Chair Collins asked members to
review the items with an eye toward updating the proposal for a vote at the next GOV meeting.
NEW BUSINESS
Committee Memberships
GOV reviewed the proposed membership for subcommittees. Chair Collins asked Caitlin Janiszewski to
organize a meeting of the Committee on Assessment to elect a chair, and that Yenisel Gulatee call a
meeting as of the Liaisons and Election Committee within the next couple of weeks.
OneDrive account for digital documents for Governance
Chair Collins asked if there were any questions regarding the One Drive account he had established and
made sure everyone has access. It would be used as a resource for GOV in the future.
Liaison: Workshop or information session on sustainability as principle in UA undergraduate
education
GSA member Caitlin Janiszewski, in summary, explained that the GSA was posing the question of what
would be an appropriate way for us to see sustainability reflected and highlighted in the curriculum. In
many ways it already is. GOV would consider what the criteria are by which universities are evaluated. It
was proposed perhaps a forum, workshop or information session be held to show Senate support.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 4:52 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by
Elisa Lopez, Recorder