University Life Council
Minutes of Meeting
March 17, 2008
Terrace Lounge
Present: John Dias, Phil Erner, Michele Forte, Lily Garcia, John Murphy, Bill Reese, Gladys
Santiago, Joan Savitt (Chair), Brenda Seckerson, Dan Smith, Robert Yagelski, Adam
Zonder
Meeting Commenced at 3:30pm.
Minutes from the March 3 rd
, 2008 meeting were approved.
Chair’s Report
Chair Savitt mentioned that she has been asked to attend a roundtable discussion on outreach and community engagement. The meeting will take place on March 19 th
and discuss the University at Albany as an engaged community.
Buses
Phil Erner mentioned that according to CDTA there is no bus pickup in the athletic area. He added that some students are dissatisfied that they are being bypassed by CDTA buses. Phil also added that one of the bus drivers informed him that it was not safe for the bus to stop in the athletics area and that students need to indicate to the bus that they need to stop.
Phil mentioned that students are not waiting by the shelter, but on the road and that is why they are being bypassed.
Lily Garcia added that she has waited in the shelter and been bypassed. She felt that students weren’t exactly sure where to wait.
Chair Savitt mentioned that there is a need for more signs and increased communication.
Chair Savitt asked who would need to be contacted to improve this situation and John Murphy suggested inviting Rose Dorsman to a meeting. Chair Savitt mentioned that she would invite her to the April 7 th meeting.
Phil Erner also asked if anyone knew of students experiencing problems with the buses late at night.
Michele Forte responded that she was aware that some of her students had experienced issues with this.
John Murphy added that buses will not stop if they are full.
Chair Savitt asked if there was anything the ULC could do in the short term. She suggested increased signage as a possibility.
BRisk – Behavioral Risk
John Murphy distributed handouts to the council that contained an overview of BRisk. He mentioned that
BRisk was linked to the council in that the focus of BRisk is on the safety of individuals on campus and campus life. John added that BRisk was a committee appointed by Interim President, George Philip and they have met 4 times thus far.

John then mentioned CUBIT, College/University Behavioral Intervention Team. This is chaired by
Clarence McNeill, Assistant Vice President and Director of Conflict Resolution and Civic Responsibility.
He then cited a specific case and how CUBIT worked to handle the situation. He then added that
CUBIT’s function is enforcing while BRisk’s is policy making.
John said that depending on the student, individuals can call the appropriate office. He also mentioned that you can contact the counseling center via email at consultation@albany.edu , this email is checked twice daily by the Professional Of the Day (POD). He also added that if Clarence McNeill can’t be reached then you can contact John.
John then discussed the advisory on class disruption, which can be found in the handout. John added that he hopes to have this information available online soon. He mentioned that some faculty would like guidance on classroom disruption.
Bill Reese asked how many students are referred each year.
John Murphy responded that there are 1300-1400 formal reviews each year and there are 3 levels of consequences.
1.
Removal from residence halls
2.
Suspension which results in the loss of room, board, tuition and fees. About 30-50 students are suspended per year.
3.
Expulsion, which is permanent removal
According to John, the University at Albany is way ahead of most schools in the SUNY system with risk assessment. He then added that he has been asked by the sunywide Judicial Administrators (SUNYJA) group to present on BRisk and CUBIT at their June meeting.
John Murphy mentioned that there has been an increase in the number of students with mental health problems. 25% of students come to campus with mental health issues and in the next generation there will be an increase of 35-37%. John noted that The number relates to mental health which might include a student registered with the Disabilities Resource Center (DRC), e.g. an alcoholic, including persons with learning disorders but certainly many mentally ill students do not register with DRC. the increase in individuals who are medicated is one of the reasons for this. In addition, there is also an increase in students who visit the counseling center with chronic illness. He mentioned that it was very important for us to work with students.
Chair Savitt asked how he felt BRisk related to the council, to which John responded that with him being on both BRisk and the council it provides a natural link.
Wellness
Brenda Seckerson was interested in people thoughts on the wellness campaign.
John Murphy replied that he felt it was important to look at the smoking issue on campus.
Michele Forte added that she felt smoking was increasing on campus.
Brenda Seckerson mentioned that the committee was looking at smoking awareness and added that it was important to change the culture.

Chair Savitt asked what would be an effective way of communicating the message.
Bill Reese asked if there are any programs to help people quit smoking. Brenda responded that the
University Health Center (UHC) tried the “Butt stops here” program. She added they have tried programs, but the signup has been minimal.
John Murphy mentioned that there was a consensus that the 10 foot rule, pertaining to the distance one must be from a building when smoking, is much shorter than most places. Brenda added that most schools have a 20-30 foot rule.
John Murphy suggested writing a bill to the Senate regarding this issue to which Dan Smith responded that there was a bill years ago that stated you could not smoke a certain distance from open air intakes.
Dan added that you often encounter the problem of air intakes and building overlap.
Chair Savitt suggested bringing the bill to Senate which modifies previously passed legislation from 10 to
30 feet. She then added that we need a map from physical plant to look at the distance from buildings on campus.
Lily Garcia felt that if 10 feet doesn’t work then she doesn’t believe 30 feet will work either.
Brenda mentioned that she would investigate the bill number and Chair Savitt mentioned that there is no reason to create something that is unworkable.
Brenda was very glad to hear that the Council was behind this idea. She then passed out a handout with information on the “Spring into Wellness” fair on April 16 th
.
Next Meeting is April 7, 2008 at 3:30 in the Terrace Lounge.
Meeting was adjourned at 4:35 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Noah Simon, Recording Secretary