College of Arts and Sciences
Council of Chairs
March 28, 2007
2:30 p.m. AS 122
Meeting Minutes
Present: J. Altarriba, I Berger, C. Bose, E. Brière, L. Brown (for Hill), J. Carson, A. DeBlasi, K. Doolen, E.
Gaffney, S. Galime, K. Gersowitz (recorder), T. Harrison, D. Hernandez, V. Idone, M. Jerison, J. Justeson (for
Collins), J. Kimball, J. Mandle, M. Messitt, A. Millis, J. Mower, C. Olsen, M. Rodriguez, L. Slade, E. Turner, J.
Wick-Pelletier, E. Wulfert, A. Zak
Introductory Remarks: Dean J. Wick-Pelletier called the meeting to order at 2:35 p.m.
Minutes of the meeting of 3/7/2007: A motion to approve the minutes was moved by L. Slade, seconded by
A. Zak. The meeting minutes for the March 7, 2007 Council of Chairs were unanimously approved.
Business arising: None
Announcements:
Term renewals: Term renewals for tenure track faculty are due in the Dean’s office on Friday, March 30.
Office assignments for new fall faculty hires: E. Gaffney requests that Chairs notify her by Friday, March 30 of
their plans for housing fall faculty hires. The Physical Plant needs to know the scope of the work we will be
requesting for refreshing these offices.
Distinguished Doctoral Dissertation Nominations: The deadline for nominations is April 18. G. Stevens will be
coordinating.
Accepted Student Open Houses - April 14 and 15: If you haven’t already, please let G. Stevens know who will
be representing your Department.
Fulbright Scholarships: Handouts were distributed on the Fulbright Scholar Program. The Dean encouraged
the Chairs to promote these opportunities within their departments, both for our faculty to conduct research in
other countries and to bring faculty here. It was noted that Philosophy Professor Robert Howell was awarded a
Fulbright Scholarship for 2007-08 at Moscow State University.
Commencement Program: The deadline for materials is April 2.
Annual Report: The University plans to publish an annual report this year and has requested information on
only the most significant accomplishments by April 2. Please send these to K. Gersowitz who is coordinating
the College submission.
NEH Summer Stipend: Department of Theatre Professor Eszter Szalczer has been awarded a 2007 NEH
summer stipend toward researching and writing her book on August Strindberg for Routledge.
Diversity and Hiring:
The University seeks to increase the number of minority faculty members. To date, out of approximately 25
individuals accepting faculty positions in the College of Arts and Sciences for fall 2008, 10-11 are in a minority
category.
We need to increase our efforts in this area as we approach the next recruiting season. This past year a College
of Arts and Sciences Diversity Committee was formed. The committee developed a set of recommendations,
which have been shared with all departments.
We should now consider longer-term practices for upcoming searches and should begin our efforts to recruit
minority faculty now. We need to get potential candidates thinking early about coming to UAlbany.
Suggestions included:
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Minority and Women Doctoral Directory: Information was distributed on the Minority and Women
Doctoral Directory. Search committees should use this Directory to identify potential candidates. A
copy is available in ODAA. The College is considering purchasing its own copy and will investigate the
availability of an online version. Chairs shared their experiences working with the directory, including
contacting individuals with backgrounds that only loosely connected to a job description. It was also
noted by those familiar with the Directory that the information is not always current.
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Contact your colleagues at other institutions to inquire about recent Ph.D.s or doctoral students. Reach
out to these individuals, even before they are officially on the job market.
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Contact assistant professors you may know of, if appropriate, for a position.
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Send information about your programs out now to potential candidates to get them interested. Although
the hiring plan for next year is not finalized, you might say, “It is likely we will be hiring this fall …….)
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If appropriate, you may consider an ABD for a position if the individual is very close to completing the
Ph.D.
Please be sure to track and summarize all your efforts in this area. These efforts are a critical part of your
recruitment plans and we can all learn a great deal by sharing experiences.
The Dean recently attended the kick-off event of an NSF funded RPI project known as RAMP-UP (Reforming
Advancement Processes through University Professions). The purpose of the RAMP-UP project is to bring
more women up through the ranks of higher education. In her discussions with colleagues from other area
institutions, retention of minority faculty members emerged as a shared concern. The Dean anticipates
contacting these colleagues in the near future to continue these discussions and to identify ways our institutions
can work together on this issue. One suggestion was to bring together minority faculty members from all our
area colleges and universities to develop a sense of community.
Tenure, Promotion, and Term renewals:
A handout detailing the timeline for tenure and promotion was distributed. It is time to begin thinking about
committee members for next year’s cases. The Dean asked the Chairs to encourage faculty, especially women,
to put their names forward for promotion to Full Professor. It was suggested that Department Executive
Committees review the CVs of associate professors and recommend faculty for promotion.
There was some discussion regarding the changing and increasingly difficult funding climate and the impact of
a rigid tenure clock.
Faculty who have been interviewed for this round of hiring have been asking for tenure and promotion
guidelines. We need to provide new faculty with more guidance than a statement that a candidate for tenure and
promotion be “active in publishing.” Each Department is currently working on tenure and promotion guidelines
that specifically address the expectations for tenure and promotion in a given discipline. The Dean requested
that Departments submit these guidelines in the near future as the CAS Tenure and Promotion committee
currently has time to review the draft guidelines and provide feedback. The Sociology Department has
submitted guidelines that might serve as a model for other Departments and will be distributed.
Development Report:
M. Messitt, Assistant Dean for Development, provided an overview of College development activities.
Handouts included CAS and University Fundraising activity for 2005-06 and 2006-07 and a copy of the
University at Albany Foundation Dean’s Fund for Excellence form.
M. Messitt began his report by noting that the CAS development figures were good, particularly in the areas of
bequests and foundation grants. He noted some upcoming changes that may affect CAS fundraising:
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Change in Alumni Association dues structure
Honors College
CNSE will be hiring a dedicated fundraising professional
Athletics fundraising
Estate Tax Trends
It was noted that the administrative fee structure of the Foundation is becoming less burdensome, thanks to
changes implemented by V.P. D. Read.
If a faculty member from your Department is traveling and has time to meet with a prospective donor, please
contact Mike and he will try to set something up.
Adjourned: The meeting was adjourned at 3:55.
Handouts:
Agenda
Minutes of 3/7/07 Council of Chairs meeting
Women and Minority Doctoral Directory information (2)
A Lab of Their Own (article from Inside Higher Ed)
Tenure and Promotion Case Preparation Time Line
2006-07 Fundraising Results (2)
UAlbany Foundation – Dean’s Fund for Excellence Form
Fulbright Scholar Program