Faculty Senate Plenary Meeting
Minutes of May 1, 2014
MINUTES
Senators Attending: E. Axelrod (Law), K. Behar (FPA), C. Bellamy (Soc/Anth), A. Croker (S/CIS), B. Ferns
(S/CIS), K. Frank (ENG), R. Freedman (ZSB), M. Goodman (COMM), A. Grein (MKT), K. Guest (Soc/Anth), C.
Hessel (Eco/Fin), R. Jain (S/CIS), S. Johnson (PSY), G. Jurkevich (ModLang), C. Kulatilleke (NatSci), A. Levitus
(CNSLNG/PSY), T. Main (SPA), T. Martell (Eco/Fin), B. Murphy (HIS), J. O'Keefe Bazzoni (COMM), R. Ormsby
(LIB), M. Ozbilgin (ACC), A. Pearlman (PSY), G. Petersen (Soc/Anth), L. Rath (LIB), M. Seltzer (SPA), P. Sethi
(MGT), M. Stark (SPA), A. Vora (Eco/Fin), J. Weiser (Law), S. Wine (S/CIS), J. Ye (ACC), X. Yin (MGT), R. Yue
(S/CIS)
Senators Absent: M. Carew (Eco/Fin), C. Christoforatou (ENG), S. Dishart (COMM), W. Finke (ModLang), D.
Jones (PolSci), S. Korenman (SPA), W. McClellan (ENG), S. Wong (MTH)
The meeting was convened at 12:57 p.m. in VC 14-250 by Prof. Terry Martell, Chair of the Faculty
Senate.
I. Approval of Agenda: The agenda was modified and approved by assent.
II. Approval of Minutes: Minutes of April 3, 2014 were approved by assent
III. Resolution of Appreciation for Terry Martell
The Faculty Senate unanimously passed the following resolution:
The Faculty Senate of Baruch College acknowledges the outstanding contribution of Terrence
Martell for his years of leadership and unstinting efforts on behalf of Baruch College and the
entire City University of New York community. By proclamation, we publicly recognize his
extraordinary performance, and thank him for his years of service on our behalf.
IV Resolution of Appreciation for Bill Ferns
The Faculty Senate unanimously passed a resolution thanking Bill Ferns for his eight years of service as
the Faculty Senate secretary.
IV. Report from the Chair (Prof. Terry Martell)
Terry pointed out that in some CUNY colleges faculty and administration think they are on two different
ships. At Baruch, we are aware that we are on the same ship, although possibly different decks. Terry
noted that the Faculty Senate and the administration has worked together on several important issues,
such as increasing Baruch’s base funding by $7M, and adapting to Pathways without creating a fractious
environment at Baruch.
Terry noted that we have two good candidates for chair, and a candidate for secretary. He asked that the
Senate give the new officers the support that he received from the body. It is a difficult job, and new
officers will need a lot of support.
Governance: Terry raised the issue of governance committees at Baruch. A proposal to create an
Enrollment Management Committee (Attachment A) was moved and approved by assent.
The UCC Committee (Attachment B): Ashok Vora had questions about the authority of the committee.
Terry said it is not perfect, but there needs to be some venue for inter-school negotiation. Ashok asked
about General Faculty approval; Bill Ferns said that he would manage that GFM approval process at the
next General Faculty Meeting. The College-wide Undergraduate Curriculum Committee was moved and
approved by assent.
PATHWAYS: Interim Chancellor Kelly has modified certain provisions associated with the Pathways
process. He has requested that faculty members to the Pathways Common Core Course Review
Committees (CCCRCs) be selected in accordance with the campus-based faculty governance procedures
Baruch College Faculty Senate
1
Minutes of 5/01/2014
of individual colleges. Baruch College does not have a specific procedure to do this. Terry has suggested
that, for the time being and until an alternative process is established, the newly established Faculty
Senate Undergraduate Curriculum Committee nominates Baruch’s representatives to these CCCRCs. The
Faculty Senate will approve the nominations. Q&A: Glenn asked about jurisdiction; the GFM voted 1501 and the WSAS faculty voted 120-5 that Baruch should not help facilitate Pathways at Baruch. Terry
thought that, if other courses at other schools are approved to be transferred to Baruch, it will be a
mistake for Baruch to not be involved in the approval process for those courses. He understood that there
remained a lot of sentiment to not support Pathways in any way, but he did note that his anti-Pathways:
The vote was: 33 yeas, 1 nay.
V. Reports from Vice Chairs: None
VI. Report from the President (Mary Gorman, Chief of Staff)
Mary read the following statement from President Wallerstein:
“I regret that illness prevented me from attending your final meeting as chair of the Faculty
Senate. As you conclude your tenure, I wanted to congratulate you on a job well done. Your
leadership has been characterized by intelligence, wit, and good judgment. You set a high bar
for those who follow in the position and the Baruch College community is better as a result of
your service. On a personal note, you showed great generosity to me at the beginning of my
presidency by helping me to learn the strengths of Baruch and the challenges that it faced. I have
continued to seek your advice and counsel on many matters over the past four years, and just in
case you think you are finally off the hook in this regard, be forewarned that I fully intend to do
so in your post-chair retirement.”
VII.
Report from the Provost (David Christy, Provost)
New Associate Provost: Provost Christy introduced Erec Koch, the new Associate Provost for Academic
Administration and Faculty Development (includes sponsored research and research compliance). The Provost had
previously announced to the Senate a plan to develop two faculty task force groups to suggest richer ideas about how
Baruch could assess teaching and service in reappointments. Those task force groups have been formed and Erec
will work with them. Any outcomes from these groups will be shared widely with faculty, and only implemented
after broad review.
NYC City Council: The New York City Council Committee on Higher Education chaired by Councilwoman Inez
Barron held a hearing last Friday on Faculty Diversity at CUNY. CUNY Central Office officials, the PSC and
several Baruch faculty and staff made presentations. The full video of the hearing is available on the City Council
website. Several non-personnel issues concerning Baruch were raised at the hearing for which we are collecting
information and responses.
 Baruch is preparing its first annual report regarding our Faculty Diversity Strategic Plan. This plan was
developed by a committee chaired by interim provost John Brenkman.
 Baruch’s data on faculty hiring pools is simply insufficient. For this reason, beginning this summer, all
faculty applications for positions must be made through CUNYFirst, which will enable us to collect
complete information on the candidate pools. We cannot authorize hiring when we have not developed
candidate pools that are inclusive, or provided conclusive evidence that there are no persons who are
qualified from underrepresented groups.
Online Student Evaluations: Associate Provost Dennis Slavin and Vice President Arthur Downing have been
working diligently to introduce the on-line student course evaluations. In this process we discovered that it could be
possible for a student who has received a W to complete the course evaluation. There were some differences of
opinion as to whether W students could contribute valid observations or distort the evaluation outcomes. The good
news is that CIO Arthur Downing has a solution. When grades are submitted, we can then filter the evaluation
Baruch College Faculty Senate
2
Minutes of 5/01/2014
responses to include only responses from students who earned credit or an F grade for the course. The Provost
thanked Arthur and his team for addressing this issue effectively.
Q&A: Glenn Petersen noted that the administration had exhorted faculty to attend commencement.
Glenn distributed a NY Times article about the settlement of the NYC doormen of residential doormen.
He pointed out that the current pay of NYC doormen make $44.4K, while CUNY assistant professors at
the first step make less--$42.9K. He thought that the Baruch administration should equally exhort the
CUNY Central Office to provide realistic pay raises and pay scales for the CUNY faculty.
Teaching and Service Evaluation Task Forces: Glenn noted that such committees are important, but
the development of such committees should go through the governance process by which the Faculty
Senate selects the CUNY representatives. It is particularly problematic when many of the individuals
invited to these committees are junior untenured faculty who are relatively vulnerable.
CUNYFirst: Warren Gordon (MTH) noted that CUNYFirst is problematic because it handles a lot of
tasks badly with no awareness of the academic/curricular needs of courses at Baruch. The Provost noted
that problems existed; for example, CUNYFirst assumes that grades can only be collected at the end of
the semester, creating problems for 1.5 credit courses that may be offered in half a semester. The Provost
noted that we can get only so many changes to CUNYFirst at a time, so Baruch was going to prioritize its
requests.
BlackBoard: Chris Hessel noted that, if students drop a class, the student remains on BlackBoard; he
expressed concern that he had asked about this problem, but it remain unresolved. AVP Arthur Downing
noted that much of the problem lies outside of the BCTC’s control and lies with CUNYFirst.
VIII. Report from the Senior Registrar (Ed Adams)
Senior Registrar Adams reported on some information on degree candidates in this May’s graduating
class:
 1537 Undergraduate students
 654 graduate students
 2191 total candidates will graduate this May.
Terry noted the faculty do the teaching, the faculty do the grading, and so the faculty should certify the
results.
Bill Ferns noted that the Registrar’s Office had worked incredibly hard to get through the new
CUNYFirst registrations.
IX. Candidate Statements
The faculty running for chair of the Faculty Senate made statements about their candidacies. The Faculty
Senate elections will be held on May 8th.
X.
Announcements: None
Meeting Adjourned at 1:56 pm
Respectfully submitted,
William J. Ferns, Jr., Faculty Senate Secretary
Baruch College Faculty Senate
3
Minutes of 5/01/2014
ATTACHMENT A
Proposal: Amendments to the Baruch College Faculty Senate By-Laws
Enrollment Management Committee
Charge: Enrollment Management Committee will participate in the formulation of policy
related to graduate and undergraduate enrollment management, including qualifications and
numbers of incoming students, the deployment of financial aid resources, and responses to
Central Office enrollment management policies. The committee will report at the next available
opportunity to the Baruch College Faculty Senate (BCFS) plenary at least once a semester.
Members:
A.
The BCFS Vice-Chair for Educational Policy will serve as Chair.
B.
Five additional faculty:
1. The BCFS Vice-Chair for Planning & Finance
2. One additional tenured faculty senator and three other tenured faculty elected by the
Baruch College Faculty Senate;
3. Of the six faculty representatives, at least one will be from Zicklin, one from Weissman,
and one from SPA. The Executive Committee will make reasonable efforts to include
representatives from the Independent Units.
C.
VP for Enrollment Management or designee.
D.
Each of the three School deans or designees.
E.
Registrar or designee.
F.
Provost or designee.
G.
An undergraduate student chosen by the Undergraduate Student Government
H.
A graduate student chosen by the Graduate Student Association
Baruch College Faculty Senate
4
Minutes of 5/01/2014
Attachment B
Proposal: Amendment to the Baruch College Faculty Senate By-Laws
College-wide Undergraduate Curriculum Committee
Charge: The College-wide Undergraduate Curriculum Committee will review and approve collegewide curricular matters including the undergraduate core curriculum and curricular mandates
imposed by NYS, NYC or CUNY that have a broad impact on College curricula. The committee
will report on its deliberations and actions at the next available opportunity to the Baruch College
Faculty Senate (BCFS) plenary, or in any case, at least once a semester.
Members:
A.
School curriculum committee chairs (three):


If a school has a separate undergraduate curriculum committee, the chair of that committee
will be a member;
If a school does not have separate curriculum committees, the chair of the school curriculum
committee will serve.as a member;
B.
Provost or designee
C.
Dean or designee from each of the three schools
D.
Two faculty elected by the Faculty Senate from different schools or units;
E.
The chair of the committee will be elected by the Faculty Senate Executive Committee from the
committee membership.
Baruch College Faculty Senate
5
Minutes of 5/01/2014