John Delano, Chair
Present:
Helen Strother
Meeting was convened at 3:05 PM in UNH 306.
Nan Carroll, Richard Collier, Edward Cupoli, John Delano,
Heather Horton, Nikki Kotary, John Monfasani, R. Michael Range,
Minutes: The Minutes of February 8, 2008 were approved with amendments.
Discussion with Chair of UAC Karin Reinhold-Larsson on Student Daniel Truchan, III’s written complaint and comments made to the Governance Council members at its February 8 th meeting.
Chair Reinhold-Larsson explained that when organizing UAC meetings, she tried to accommodate as many council members as possible. It was difficult to find a time when all members are available. She noted that not all members respond to her email time inquires, especially Student Truchan. Student Nikki Kotary reported that Chair Reinhold-Larsson did work with her regarding time-constraints, and that Chair Reinhold-Larsson is changing the meeting times to better accommodate UAC members: Thursdays at 3:00 PM and Mondays at
9:00 AM.
The following items were discussed:

Problems with some faculty members having many unexplained absences.

The UAC has not been operating without a Staff Person since the beginning of the Fall
2007 semester. Article X.3.2 of the Senate Charter states: “The staff support person for the Council shall be an Assistant Dean in the Office of Undergraduate Education.”
Chair Delano suggested bringing these concerns to the attention of the Senate Executive
Committee for discussion. In addition, it was suggested that the Governance Council consider drafting an amendment to Article X.3.1.2 of the Senate Charter to increase the number of full time teaching faculty to the UAC from the current minimum/maximum of 8/10 to a minimum/maximum of 10/12.
It was agreed that the Governance Council urge that the Senate Executive Committee contact the
Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education to request that an assistant dean from that office be promptly appointed as the UAC staff person. (The UAC is currently out of compliance with the
Senate Charter, which justifies quick and decisive action.)
MOTION: A motion was made to report to the SEC on Monday that UAC is out of compliance, and alert the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education the need to appoint an assistant dean from the Office for Undergraduate Education to staff the UAC for Charter compliance. The motion was approved.
Senate Elections: Senate Secretary Collier reported on the current status of Senate Elections for next year. The faculty need to receive a slate from this Council by March 11 th
.

Senate Bill No. 0708-05: Guidelines for the UAlbany Selection Committee
For Distinguished Teaching Professors (DTP) and Distinguished Service Professors (DSP):
Two questions were raised by a member of the Senate Executive Committee concerning the
Guidelines : (1) Should there also be a line about maximum total service on the committee? Consistent with restrictions on service on other councils and committees of the Senate, a non-ex-officio member of the selection committee may serve a maximum of ___ consecutive years on this body.” Or something like that? Or is that not necessary because it’s standard for all? Since there is a limited group from which to make up the committee, this could become an issue. A stated limitation might actually help when the committee is being formed each year.
(2) Can a chair serve multiple 2-year terms, non continuous? Can a chair serve twice for one year each, noncontinuous?
Both of these questions were discussed. It was agreed that there should not be too many term limits expressed, because the availability of Distinguished faculty to serve is limited. After further discussion, members of the Governance Council agreed to an unlimited number of three year terms.
In consultation with the Interim President, who would not approve Senate Bill 0708-05 as originally passed by the Senate in Fall 2007, the Governance Council, after lengthy discussion, chose to revise the Bill in order to delete the one aspect that was considered troublesome. That item was the inclusion of Full Professors among the membership of the UAlbany Selection
Committee. The current version contains provisions for only 3 Distinguished Teaching
Professors and 3 Distinguished Service Professors on the Selection Committee, plus the students and ex officio members. Senate Bill 0708-05 is intended to formalize practices in the important process of soliciting, reviewing, and recommending faculty for promotion to these two distinguished ranks.
A motion was made, and approved, to move the revised Bill 0708-05 to the Senate Executive
Committee.
Proposed New Article for Senate Charter dealing with the creation of a new committee:
Initial Review Committee of Academic Proposals (IRCAP)
Not originating from degree-granting colleges and schools :
There was a lengthy discussion concerning criteria for selecting full-time teaching faculty to serve on IRCAP. The sole criterion that was agreed upon was that all faculty members must be tenured. Student Kotary suggested non-voting faculty also be non-motioning, which would be in accordance with Roberts Rules of Order . It was decided that if this idea were to be applied uniformly for all Senate Councils and Committees, an amendment to the Senate Charter would be needed. It was agreed that Article VII.7.4.1.1 of the proposed amendment would explicitly state that only tenured members of the teaching faculty would be eligible to serve on IRCAP.
A motion to move the Proposal to the Senate Executive Committee was approved.
Meeting adjourned at 5:28 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Jayne VanDenburgh, Recorder