Governance Council
October 1, 2012
2:00PM
UNH 306
Susanna Fessler, Chair
Minutes
Present:
Liang Chu, Anthony DeBlasi, Susanna Fessler, Yenisel Gulatee, Reed Hoyt, Anne
Kearney, John Schmidt, Karen Torrejon
The meeting convened at 2:03 pm.
CHAIR’S REPORT
UPPC Chair and Immediate Past Chair of the Senate Susanna Fessler chaired the meeting in Chair
Wagner’s absence and delivered the following report from Chair Wagner.
Chair Wagner’s report included an update on the membership for LISC. The council had exceeded the
number of professional faculty members and all three were given the opportunity to switch. Diana
Dumesnil agreed to move to CAA and this move puts both councils in compliance with the Charter.
Two resolutions were introduced at the last Senate meeting which challenged the findings of the task
force report charged in Resolution 1112-03R. The resolutions charged the Senate in finding the
President to have violated specific sections of the Bylaws by failing to formally consult and to provide a
detailed response concerning program deactivations. Both resolutions were defeated.
The Charter amendment approved by GOV at its last meeting concerning the method by which council
chairs can be elected will be introduced at the next SEC meeting.
As discussed at the last meeting, the replacement for the CAS at-large Senate seat vacated by David
Wills who is on leave this semester has been left to the CAS Faculty Council. CAS has elected
Professor Youqin Huang as senator to represent the Department of Geography and Planning, a
department that otherwise would have foregone having a senator in 2012-13, and has eliminated one of
their part-time senator seats, leaving them with one part-time seat left.
Chair Wagner provided a follow up to last month’s discussion concerning guests of the Senate. The new
seating arrangement at Senate meetings provides distinctions as to where senators and guests are
supposed to sit. In addition, senators are asked to state their names when they speak. GOV may still
need to revisit the issue before the end of the year.
The Council on Administrative Review and Evaluations (CARE) will convene soon. Patrick Nold
(History) will join Joette Stefl-Mabry (CCI) and John Schmidt (Biology) on the council. One additional
member needs to be identified.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of September 17 were approved unanimously.
NEW BUSINESS
Senate Handbook review and revision:
Chair Wagner has asked that GOV members review the handbook. Chair Fessler said Chair Wagner has
suggested breaking it up into sections as an approach to identifying any needed revisions: Senators;
Councils; Council Chairs and Senate Officers; and Parliamentary Procedures. Chair Fessler provided
some background on the handbook which was put together by GOV three or four years ago. Two years
ago GOV did some small revisions with the idea of reviewing it periodically as called for in the Charter.
The handbook has not been circulated in hard copy but is posted on the Senate website. It is not a
binding document and changes can be made without Senate approval. The handbook is intended to be a
user-friendly introduction to the Senate. Chair Fessler expressed concerns that senators will read the
handbook and not read the Charter or Bylaws. Senator DeBlasi suggested the handbook include
language about the purpose of the Charter and Bylaws. Chair Fessler suggested that people should be
encouraged to reference it more often. The sections suggested by Chair Wagner were then assigned to
GOV members for review. Comments should be sent to Chair Wagner and revisions will be discussed
at the next meeting.
GOV discussed the section of the handbook under Councils regarding Bills and Senator DeBlasi felt
there needed to be further clarification between bills and resolutions. Chair Fessler agreed and
recommended adding language to show that resolutions are a consensus opinion of the Senate and do not
call for action unless explicitly stated. Senator Hoyt brought up the need to have Charter Amendments
signed by the president. Chair Fessler said it depends on the content; generally they do not need to be
signed if they are exclusively dealing with something internal to the Senate, such as the meeting time
changing.
Chair Fessler said she would like the handbook to have procedures about how legislation is brought to
the Senate floor. Due to a contradiction between the Bylaws and the Charter on procedure, there has
been a lot of confusion which created some animosity last year. She noted that the handbook should
also include the fact that any agenda item under “New Business” is necessarily a deliberative item,
whether it’s a bill or a resolution. In other words, senators cannot introduce agenda items that do not
require a vote by the senate with the exception of reports that are mandated by the Senate.
Other New Business:
David Andersen, a senator from Rockefeller College is reducing his work load and the college has asked
to replace him with Assistant Professor Erzsebet Fazekas. Senator Andersen was on COR but the
council already has another senator from Rockefeller College. Chair Wagner has indicated she will
work on placing Senator Fazekas.
Chair Fessler referred to the amendment GOV is putting forth concerning the election of council chairs.
She noted that this year five of the council chairs needed to be appointed senator. She asked GOV to
consider addressing the issue of senators not stepping up to chair which is problematic.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
“Resolution 5 Committee” to address Resolution 1112-05R
Two of the committee’s members are no longer on campus and are in need of being replaced. Chair
Fessler has agreed to sit on the committee as the required member from UPPC and John Monfasani from
the History Department and also an Associate Dean of CAS, has agreed to sit on the committee as a
representative of CAS and someone who is familiar with Classics. At GOV’s last meeting it was
suggested to have someone from European languages sit on the committee. Professor Altarriba from
Psychology was recommended. The committee will be convened as soon as possible by Chair Wagner
but she would like to have GOV’s approval of new members before doing so. Senator DeBlasi pointed
out that a discussion also took place at the last meeting about there being no representation from LLC.
A discussion ensued concerning the addition of the chair of LLC to the committee. Since the committee
is charged with determining “which programs in European Language and Classical Studies should be
activated, reactivated, or remain active” and consequently with calling for a unit to put forth such a bill,
it seemed inappropriate to add the chair of LLC, which overseas European Languages. Senator DeBlasi
said he believed the chair of LLC should be part of the process in looking forward to the issues
surrounding activation and deactivation of languages. GOV agreed, however, that it would not be
appropriate to put a junior faculty member in that position. After some further discussion, a motion was
made to invite the chair of LLC to sit on the committee as well as Professor Altarriba. The motion was
seconded and approved by a unanimous vote.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 3:20 pm
Respectfully submitted by
Gail Cameron, Recorder