Governance Council
Monday, December 02, 2013
11:30AM
UNH 306
Joette Stefl-Mabry, Chair
Minutes
Present:
Saurav Dutta, Yenisel Gulatee, Caitlin Janiszewski, Ann Kearney, John Schmidt, Kabel
Stanwicks, Joette Stefl-Mabry, Zheng Yan
The meeting convened at 11:33
CHAIR’S REPORT
Charter Amendment Re Composition of CPCA:
Chair Stefl-Mabry sent a draft of the amendment to Senate Chair Wagner who has consulted with William
Hedberg and Benjamin Weaver in the Provost’s Office. The amendment also needs review by University Legal
Counsel. Chair Stefl-Mabry informed GOV that members needed to vote on the amendment today. It will be
reviewed by the Senate Executive Committee at its meeting today. It may come back from the SEC for further
revisions but if approved it will be presented at the Senate meeting on December 9. Assuming it’s ready to go
to the Senate on December 9, a vote on the amendment would not take place until the February meeting.
Chair Stefl-Mabry received an email from Professor Carolyn MacDonald in the Physics Department who
expressed her concerns about the high number of minimum faculty in the revised amendment. Her concerns
centered on CPCA being in violation of the Charter if they were unable to meet the required number which
could be influenced by several factors. GOV discussed a number that would ensure that a quorum could be
obtained. GOV agreed to increase the minimum number of teaching faculty from eight to ten as indicated in
the rational below:
The Senate Charter (X.7.1) defines the composition of the Council on Promotion and Continuing
Appointment (CPCA) to include one Professional faculty member, one undergraduate student and one
graduate student. However, the current contractual agreement between the State of New York and
United University Professions (UUP) mandates that “subsequent academic review” of promotion and
continuing appointment cases shall be reviewed by a committee of “academic employees”. The SUNY
Board of Trustees Policy (Article II.1.m) defines an “Academic Employee” as “an employee in the
Professional Services Negotiating Unit with academic or qualified academic rank” (i.e., Teaching Faculty).
CPCA serves as the “subsequent academic review” for those Schools and Colleges that do not have a
second level of review. On September 25, 2013, UAlbany Local Chapter UUP President, Bret Benjamin,
requested that the Senate review this issue. Upon review, the Governance Committee concludes that
the inclusion of a Professional Faculty member and students on CPCA is inconsistent with the current
UUP Contract. The proposed revision to the Senate Charter (X.7.1) alters the composition of CPCA to
include only Teaching Faculty (i.e., Academic Employees). The minimum number of teaching faculty
will be raised from at least 8 to at least 10 to secure a reasonable quorum consistent with current
standards.
GOV also approved combining all of the language regarding CPCA’s composition into Section X.7.1. The
amendment was approved by a unanimous vote.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of November 4 were approved unanimously with minor changes.
NEW BUSINESS
Draft and Approve Resolution re Status of the Three CNSE Senate Seats:
Chair Stefl-Mabry has been advised that GOV should draft a resolution that will provide documentation on
proposed action of the three vacant Senate seats resulting in the resignation of the CNSE senators. Senate
Secretary Gulatee discussed a couple of scenarios that could take place. The seats could be reapportioned to the
other schools and colleges based on their faculty ratios or they could be removed. Before CNSE was
established, the Senate had 44 seats. That number did not change when CNSE became a college and gained
representation on the Senate. Professor Schmidt suggested the seats remain vacant for the duration of the
current academic year and be reapportioned in the next election cycle.
Chair Stefl-Mabry read the following portion from the Bylaws:
Article II. Section 2—Composition of the Senate
2.3.2 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. A school or college
shall not be deprived of a Senator because of shifting faculty ratios until the term of the Senator
would normally have expired. Thus, the number of school or college Senators may be above 44 in
some years.
Secretary Gulatee said it would not be necessary to indicate which school or college would receive additional
seats but only that they will be reapportioned. Chair Stefl-Mabry said she didn’t believe the resolution would
require a vote by the Senate. The purpose of the resolution was to establish a procedure for maintaining the
seats and to provide documentation. After further discussion, GOV approved the following resolution with a
unanimous vote:
In accordance with Article II, Section 2.3.2 of the Bylaws and SUNY Board of Trustees policies;
Whereas the Board of Trustees has voted to separate CNSE from the University at Albany and all
CNSE senators have resigned from the University Senate, therefore be it resolved that the CNSE
Senate seats remain vacant through spring 2014 and return to the pool of senators for
reapportionment as per the Bylaws.
COMMITTEE REPORTS AND UPDATES
The Ad Hoc Committee on Senate Implications of the CNSE Transition:
Senator Kearny had nothing to report since the committee has not yet met. The committee awaits
documentation from Senator Scheck that will be significant in their discussions. Chair Stefl-Mabry asked that
the committee report at the next meeting on December 16.
The Committee on Assessment of Governance and Consultation:
Professor Dutta said the committee needs to identify the scope of the survey and obtain additional resources.
Chair Stefl-Mabry referred to a report she emailed to him that should assist the committee with addressing the
scope. She said the survey should be kept simple in order to encourage faculty to participate. She envisioned it
would be approximately 20 questions rated on a scale of one through five. She suggested checking with IRB to
make sure we are in compliance with University policies and federal regulations. Chair Stefl-Mabry also
stressed the importance of protecting anonymity and maintaining data. Professor Dutta inquired about the
timeframe of the survey. Professor Schmidt suggested making it available a few weeks prior to spring elections
in an effort to prompt faculty and staff to begin thinking and talking about governance. He inquired about
whether or not the survey would need to be reviewed by the SEC. Chair Stefl-Mabry said she believed it was
an undertaking by GOV and the SEC and Senate could receive updates via her monthly reports.
GOV discussed the composition of the assessment committee, which according to the Charter, “shall consist of
no more than 8 members, including at least 3 members of the council, at least 5 Teaching Faculty, and no more
than 2 voting members selected from Faculty or Staff who are not students or Voting Faculty”. It was
suggested that Professor Dutta email the members of GOV who will serve on the committee. Professor Dutta
asked if a student would be available to sit on the committee and if other resources would be provided. Chair
Stefl-Mabry said President Jones has offered assistance but we need to be specific on what is needed. The
committee will need to address questions about who sends out the survey and the protection of data. Chair
Stefl-Mabry requested that a review of completed work be provided at the next meeting.
CAFFECoR:
Members of the committee were not present and Chair Stefl-Mabry said GOV would take up the matter at the
next meeting.
Before adjourning, Chair Stefl-Mabry advised GOV that if revisions were made to the Charter amendment
concerning CPCA, she would inform them via email. She also advised that the resolution will be sent via email.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 12:25 pm.
Respectfully submitted by
Gail Cameron, Recorder