Governance Council
Monday, September 22, 2014
2:45 PM
UNH 306
Cynthia Fox, Chair
Minutes
PRESENT:
Chesin, Sorrell E; Fox, Cynthia A; Gulatee, Yenisel;
Janiszewski, Caitlin I; Kuznetsov, Igor; Malavasic, Jolene; Moore, Chris; Zemel, Alan
The meeting convened at 3:00 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of May 13, 2014 were unanimously approved.
CHAIR’S REPORT

Summer activities
o GOV Chair Fox and Senate Chair Stefl-Mabry attended a UFS Senate leaders’ conference in June.
o GOV met to approve the list of membership for the Provost Search Committee
o GOV was asked to recommend a member of University Auxiliary Services to replace Candice Merbler
who has stepped down.
o GOV was also asked to approve Charter Amendment RE: Committee on Assessment of Governance
and Consultation, to be introduced at the next Senate meeting.
 Meeting with Interim Provost 9/12
Interim Provost Mulcahy asked to meet with Senate leadership. We were encouraged that he seems to have a strong
commitment to shared governance. Topics discussed included the long-standing issue of the Senate’s role in
administrative assessment. We received assurances that the Senate will have an opportunity to interview the
candidates for Provost.
 SEC meeting 9/15
Highlights were the President’s plan for moving forward with conversations about strategic partnerships with
Albany Law and Downstate Medical Center and with initiatives in Allied Health fields and Engineering. An
important topic he raised was a new budget process in development.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Survey of Governance and Consultation
Chair Fox reviewed that GOV had put together and administered a Charter-mandated survey last semester, the
results of which will be ready for discussion at the next GOV meeting. This year GOV will address concerns raised
in the survey and evaluate and make changes to the survey instrument so that the survey is ready to be repeated in
the 2015-2016 academic year.
Charter Amendment
Since the language of the Charter is vague about how often the survey should be administered, and a survey had in
fact not been administered in several years, GOV is proposing an amendment that creates a two-year timeline:
X.1.3.3. The Committee shall, on a 2-year cycle, develop and regularly administer assessment instruments, conduct
data analysis, and report findings to the Council.
The proposed amendment had to go out 3 weeks prior to the next Senate meeting to be voted on at that meeting.
NEW BUSINESS
 Meeting schedule
Conflicts with 10/13 and 10/27 fall GOV meeting dates that had been agreed upon will be addressed by sending
out Doodle polls for different potential dates. Chair Fox will also send a message to confirm GOV
members can meet at the same time and day next semester, to be scheduled now as per the standard
practice.
 Standing Committees
Chair Fox outlined the purpose and work of GOV’s standing Committee on Assessment of Governance &
Consultation and its Committee on Liaison & Elections. Each GOV member was then asked to describe his or her
Senate, Council and Committee and other governance experience to help determine on which Councils it would be
most beneficial to serve. Chair Fox would send another inquiry asking GOV members to list any service
preferences.
 Participation on multiple councils
There has been a question about whether volunteers can participate on multiple councils. The answer is that such
service is not specifically prohibited anywhere in the Charter or By-Laws, but the question is ‘is that a good
policy?’ Advice from previous Senate leaders suggests that this was only briefly an issue when former CNSE
colleagues had representation on many councils. GOV can decide whether a policy needs to be put in place.
Senator Gulatee explained that council membership and vacancies are different for each council as there are
different requirements. It does take a lot of time constituting councils. The process is doable but we have to be sure
we follow the rules. We try to have diversity and have to follow the stipulations in the Charter, and replacements
sometimes have credentials to serve on different councils. Chair Fox added that recommendations for additional
Emeritus members who might be willing to serve would be welcomed.
 ACCS
Members of GOV were reminded that the council has been asked to recommend teaching faculty to serve on the
President’s Advisory Committee on Campus Security (ACCS). Chair Fox reviewed the Committee’s charge, the
process for candidate selection and summarized her research on individuals who might have related experience.
GOV reviewed the list of names and made recommendations for others. Chair Fox will ask who currently serves on
the Committee and if anyone who currently serves would consider serving again. An e-mail vote on the candidates
would follow later that week in order to provide the solicited names of six candidates to fill the three open seats.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 4:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by
Elisa Lopez, Recorder