Governance Council
Monday, December 15, 2014
3:00 PM
UNH 306
Cynthia Fox, Chair
Minutes
PRESENT:
Dutta, Suarav; Fox, Cynthia; Gulatee, Yenisel; Janiszewski, Caitlin; Kearney, Ann;
Kuznetsov, Igor; Malavasic, Jolene; Moore, Chris; Scheck, Helene
The meeting convened at 3:05 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of November 24, 2014 were unanimously approved.
CHAIR’S REPORT
Provost candidate feedback was due for those who attended the forum. Governance and UUP had
individual meetings with the candidates and were able to view all the C.V.s and cover letters. It was
appreciated that the final stage of the process had been very open and transparent.
There had been a meeting with the President, Interim Provost, Chief of Staff and governance to discuss
upcoming issues with Albany Law, Downstate Medical and the Computer Engineering program. Forums
are anticipated to inform the campus community and encourage involvement in the discussion of potential
scenarios moving forward.
UUP has asked if the Senate would like a column in its newsletter, as did GSA. Chair Fox agreed and was
pleased to have open two more lines of communication.
OTHER REPORTS
Committee on Assessment of Governance & Consultation
The Committee was still 2 faculty members short. The timing was thought to be better for the Committee
to address this at the start of the new semester.
Committee on Liaison & Elections – Chair Yenisel Gulatee
The new UUP Chair election would take place that week to replace Christine Wagner who was to be on
sabbatical. Chair Gulatee would hold a mock election to test PeopleSoft after updates had been made to
the system to ensure the upcoming vote on the Bylaws amendment would take place without issues.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Request to Review Ex-Officio Voting Privileges
The SEC voted to allow GOV to move forward in the preparation of By-Law and Charter amendments
that would address the Administration’s proposal that voting privileges be removed from ex-officio
members of the Senate who serve by virtue of their administrative position.
GOV revised and then voted unanimously to approve the language of the proposed Bylaw amendment.
The Charter amendment will need to be drafted prior to the next meeting and will be discussed via e-mail.
NEW BUSINESS
Blue Ribbon Panel on Contingent Faculty/Graduate Student Stipend Committee
GOV has been sent rosters to review individuals recommended to serve on the Blue Ribbon Panels. A
GOV vote of 50% + 1 of the members constitutes approval of these lists
After discussion, GOV voted unanimously to approve the roster of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Contingent
Faculty. However, there were some concerns about the balance of the committee with respect to
representation from the Humanities, and Chair Fox was directed to ask that Interim Provost Mulcahy
consider moving the one of the alternate members to the final roster of part-time lecturers, increasing the
total number on the committee from 14 to 15. She was also asked to request that, in the event that several
of the individuals cannot commit to the panel, efforts be made to maintain a balance of disciplines on the
list.
With regard to the Graduate Student Stipend Committee, concerns regarding appropriate representation
from different types of academic units were discussed, and a list of possible additional candidates. GOV
preferred, however to have Chair Fox request clarification regarding the Panel objectives and rationale for
member recommendations before putting the roster to a vote. It was agreed that once the Council had this
information, the vote could be made electronically.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 4:48 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by
Elisa Lopez, Recorder