2005-2006 Faculty Senate
First Meeting
May 5, 2005
Achille Messac
Faculty Senate President
Warmest Welcome!
What we do over the next 12 months will
have a great Impact on Rensselaer’s
future – on ours, and on that on many!
Today’s Agenda
(Not in that order, and time permitting)
 Self
Introduction of members
President’s Personal Remarks
Formulation of OUR vision
Where do we go from here?
This past year
Getting Ready for Next Year
Getting Started:
 Self
Introduction
Getting to know each other
Building a Senate Community
Building a Rensselaer Community
President’s Personal Remarks
Formulation of OUR vision
Top-Down
Bottom-Up >>
Getting RESULTS
with STABILITY
As a Community!
Getting Started (Cont.)
This past year:
What worked?
What did not?
Getting Ready for Next Year
Staying the course – where it worked
Changing course – for new phase
Summer readiness
Less time on stalemate.
More time on SOLUTIONS!!
Complete Senate Membership
Move to approve at-large member for Promotion and
Tenure: Pulickel Ajayan
FSEC: Move to Approve Chair of Promotion and
Tenure Committee: Sunderesh in Fall, Larry Kagan in
spring
FSEC: Move to Approve chair of Curriculum
Committee: Amir Hirsa
Move to Approve Ken Warriner as representative from
the School of Architecture on the Curriculum
Committee
FSEC: Move to appoint Chair of Planning and
Resources Committee: Dan Berg
Move to elect Bob Parsons to the position of Secretary
of the Senate (Secret Ballot)
Need H&SS member for Curriculum Committee for Fall semester:
June Deery on sabbatical. SOMEONE ELECTED
4-6-2005 Faculty Senate Meeting
This meeting was closed to administrative faculty.
No minutes of the discussions were taken.
Following Motions were passed:
Motion 1:
Move that the Faculty Senate obtain
independent legal representation.
Motion 2:
Move that Harvey Randall, Esq. be invited
to represent the Faculty Senate and its
committees, both ad hoc and standing.
Summer Readiness (Cont.)
Legal Representation
Move that legal representation be
terminated to allow for the possibility of a
cooperative paradigm to emerge between
faculty and administration.
Governance Ad-hoc committee
Move that Governance Committee be
ended, and that new executive committee be
charged with offering to the senate its new
solution approach.
RESULTS with STABILITY
Giving new senate the means to
succeed.
Where did the system fail?
How do we fix it?
Communication Mechanisms
Faculty Senate
Faculty senate Executive Committee
Candidate now ones below:
Faculty Representation in Board of
Trustees
Joint Task Force: Senate-TrusteesCabinet
Setting a new tone: Both, faculty and
administration leaderships
Faculty feels ignored. This needs to change.
Administration feels it is doing the right
things already. This needs to change.
Tone of New Senate:
Constructive Assertiveness