Baruch College Faculty Senate Plenary Meeting
Minutes of May 5, 2016
MINUTES
Senators Attending: E. Axelrod (Law), M. Carew (Eco/Fin), A. Croker (S/CIS), W. Finke (ModLang),
K. Frank (ENG), M. Goodman (COMM), A. Grein (Mkt/Int’lBus), K. Guest (Soc/Anth), C. Hessel
(Eco/Fin), R. Jain (S/CIS), S. Johnson (PSY), D. Jones (PolSci), G. Jurkevich (Mod. Lang.),
C. Kulatilleke (NatSci), A. Levitus (CNSLNG/PSY), T. Main (SPA), T. Martell (Eco/Fin), B W.
McClellan (ENG),. Murphy (HIS), R. Ormsby (LIB), A. Pearlman (PSY), J. Peifer (Mgt.), L. Rath (LIB),
M. Seltzer (SPA) M. Stark (SPA), A.Vora (Eco/Fin), .
Senators Absent: C. Bellamy (Soc./Anth), C. Christoforatou (ENG), S. Dishart (COMM), B. Ferns
(S/CIS), R. Freedman (ZSB), C. Gengler (Mkt/Int’lBus ), D. Howard (Math), G. Jurkevich (ModLang), S.
Korenman (SPA), J. O'Keefe Bazzoni (COMM), M. Ozbilgin (ACC), G. Petersen (Soc./Anth), R. Sawant
(Mkt.), P. Sethi (MGT), J. Weiser (Law), S. Wine (S/CIS), S. Wong (MTH), J. Ye (ACC) Yin (MGT),
R. Yue (S/CIS).
Forty-three additional members of the faculty, staff and students noted their presence. Making a total
attendance of 74.
The meeting was convened at 12:45 p.m. in VC 14-250 by Professor Christopher Hessel, Chair of the
Baruch Faculty Senate.
I.
II.
Approval of Agenda: The agenda was approved by assent.
Approval of the Minutes: Minutes of Meeting of April 7, 2016 were approved by assent.
III.
Report from the Chair: Chairman Hessel summarized the agenda noting the additional speakers.
He then summarized the accomplishments of the last two years. He indicated his decision not to
run for re-election, and outlined the schedule for the Baruch Faculty Senate 2016 elections.
Professor Axelrod asked that the minutes reflect the appreciation of the Senate for his work and
accomplishments.
IV.
Report of the President: President Wallerstein added his commendation of Chairman Hessel. He
greeted the newly elected President of the student government. He then reviewed the progress and
challenges of the college in the past year. Further, he recounted the results of this year’s legislative
budgetary process. In effect the CUNY system continued on an “austerity” regime. He re-iterated
his fervent commitment to achieving an adequate and successful Union negotiation. With
reference to the COACHE survey he identified six areas in which improvements can be made in
transparency and engagement in faculty relations. He emphasized his commitment to respond to
the issues discussed in the survey He then detailed his program of open access, improved
communication and discussions with faculty and the student body. He noted the scheduled
presentation on “Unconscious Bias” next week, and the May 20th Faculty Recognition reception,
and the forthcoming Commencement Exercises at the Barclay Center. Professor Glenn Peterson
raised several questions regarding the COACHE survey, specifically the concern of faculty
perceived intimidation. He further noted the dire language used to describe the difficult “austerity”
budgetary regime. President Wallerstein emphasized his desire to be frank in the discussion of the
fiscal realities. He stated that under his administration there has been an absolute policy to not
permit retaliation of faculty concerns. Professor Kevin Frank noted the “balancing act” between
declining graduate enrollment and the increasing volume of “Pathways” transfer students. The
1
President responded that after three years an evaluation of the data on comparative performance
between freshman and transfers can proceed. He noted the recent success of the Baruch Dinner,
which produced over $1.3 million which can be employed to ameliorate the difficulties of the
“Pathways” transfers. In a “follow-Up” Professor Frank suggested that such an evaluation should
focus on more than grade performance. It was indicated that the faculty might wish to identify
other measurements.
V.
Report of the Provost: Provost Christie reported: First, I am very pleased to announce that
Allison Lehr Samuels, a Full Time Lecturer with a CCE appointment in the Department of
Management, will become Director of our Center for Teaching and Learning beginning July 1.
Allison teaches in the Management Department with a focus on Entrepreneurship, and is a Field
Mentor at the Lawrence N. Field Center for Entrepreneurship. She is a recipient of the Zicklin
Hybrid and Online Teaching with Technology Award for her work developing and teaching online
and hybrid courses. Recent work includes collaborating with Prof. Zoe Sheehan
Saldaña (Weissman School of Arts and Sciences) and Monica Dean (Lawrence N. Field Center for
Entrepreneurship) to found Maker Hub, the Baruch College makerspace and to also develop a new
interdisciplinary special topics course focusing on the intersection of ideation, entrepreneurship,
design, and 3D printing technology. The maker Hub initiative was funded by the Office of the
Provost through its Faculty Research Seminar program. She values what she has learned from
collaborating and experimenting with her colleagues and looks forward to learning from and
working with faculty across Baruch.
Second, I have received the preliminary results of the climate survey conducted in October and
November of 2015 wherein we invited full time and adjunct faculty to describe our climate
regarding diversity, and perceptions of comfort, inclusion respect and safety. We received
completed surveys from 323 members of the faculty, which was a 47% response rate from full
time faculty and 17% response rate from adjunct faculty. Preliminary analysis of the data
suggests that the climate at Baruch is described as ‘less comfortable’ by Associate Professors and
Hispanic faculty, and more comfortable by faculty who are on the tenure track but not yet tenured,
adjunct faculty, and the faculty of the School of Public Affairs. On perceptions regarding the level
of respect perceived by the faculty, the variables cited with highest frequency are age, academic
rank, academic degree, and gender. We will share a full account of these results with the faculty
as soon as it is complete. Our intention is to focus on those aspects of our culture of working
together that are likely to improve the climate of our campus.
Finally, CUNY will streamline the process of granting e-permits that will enable students to take
courses at various CUNY campuses. A searchable database that can filter by campus, prerequisite, subject, general education category and mode of instruction will be available to students.
Included in these lists will be a series of fully on-line general education courses developed by the
CUNY School of Professional Studies that will be available to all students. While I am very
pleased with the investments that our faculty have made in using technology to improve student
learning, especially in hybrid formats, I want to encourage our faculty and departments to consider
the advances in technology that now enable effective, high quality course delivery fully online. If
our students choose these courses from other campuses like SPS, a portion of their tuition will
follow them, and our revenue from credits taught could be an unwelcome outcome.
Professor Halbach inquired as to the final exam schedule, as it does not permit student
examinations to respond to instructor style. Professor Peterson raised the issue of the tenure and
promotion. Professor Terrence Martell noted that there does exist a Senate Enrollment
2
Management Committee studying the “Pathways” transfer performance. President Wallerstein
noted the contribution of Professor Martell has made to the University and the College.
VI.
Presentation of the College Advancement – Fund Raising – David Shanton: He noted that the
number 7 represents the percent of the college’s budget comes from “Fund Raising.” The assets of
the Baruch College Fund are $175 million compared to $85 million ten years ago. This year the
fund raising effort has a goal of $17 million. The 17 Lexington Avenue Society represent the
graduate donors, which is growing in so far as over sixty percent of our graduate have graduated in
the last twenty years. Also Major Gifts and Planned Giving are major components of the Fund
Raising effort. Currently there is approximately $70 million in the Planned Giving effort. These
fund raising efforts are achieved with a small staff of seven for both asking and thanking our
donors. Alumni Relations are also part of his responsibilities. Professor Peterson again raised the
question of “retaliation.” He noted his own experience as a veteran in aborted fund raising. His
inquiry was to the receptivity of this office to individual initiatives. Shanton noted that a once a
donor is engaged it is prudent to respect the desires of donors. Professor Rita Ormsby questioned
whether scholarship endowments are for current or future students. Question was raised as to the
“paver” donations were being considered for the new 25th Street Plaza. Professor Michael Seltzer
questioned where the sponsored research resided in the organization.
VII.
Discussion of the COACHE Report: Professor Sam Johnson had indicated that a “task force”
was being formulated to further analyze the COACHE survey data.
VIII.
Old Business: Nomination of Officers and Committee Chairs Sam Johnson and Linda Weiser.
IX.
X.
New Business: None
Announcements: None.
The meeting adjourned at 2:10 pm
Respectfully Submitted
Michael G. Carew,
Baruch Faculty Senate Secretary
3