President
Sexual Assault Prevention Training
Several students expressed concerns about the sexual assault prevention training at the last
assembly meeting. Caitlin and I met with Chantelle Cleary to discuss these concerns. We have
made tentative plans to hold a final makeup training session in February (information to follow,
on the listserv). More importantly, we have communicated your substantive concerns to
Chantelle and we will be working with her office to schedule adequate training for graduate
students from this point forward. I thank you all for your input on this important subject.
Public Engagement Council
The Public Engagement Council met in October and have just come out with several working
groups for which we are going to have input and membership. Our Vice President, Public
Relations Director, and myself have identified potential candidates already, but if students are
interested in being involved in one of these working groups, please let me know. The list of
working groups and their chair follow:
Scholarship – Phil Nasca
Data & Assessment – Bob Bangert-Drowns & Bruce Szelest
Institutional Engagement/Big Projects – David Rousseau & Mike Christakis
Communications – Lee Serravillo & Karl Luntta
Carnegie Preparation – Darrell Wheeler & Sue Faerman
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Ban the Box
Please attend the Ban the Box Ted talk and panel discussion on December 2 (see the
Programming report for more details). This has been a major GSA initiative and we hope to
work up a resolution for the Spring SUNYSA conference on this topic. The resolution will urge
SUNY to ban the box from their applications. We can only do this with student support and a
huge turnout would be an important start.
Vice President
Followed-up about NAGPS National Conference with attendees and they are still working
on their report. It will be posted with the February meeting documents (Strategic Plan).
Began developing the RGSO Training for the Spring (Strategic Plan). Here is a brief
outline of the plan:

1
Two RGSO Training sessions will be the same as the fall training. This is for new groups
and any groups that change presidents/treasurers.


Two RGSO Training sessions will be a more leadership training with a budget planning
and niche analysis component to help us as an organization understand where our
strengths and weaknesses lie within our RGSOs and sub-organizations.
Please have your president/treasurer contact me about whether they prefer to have
training be the first few weeks of classes or the week before classes start in January.
RGSO Review Sub-Committee


Reviewed 1 additional request: Ed-Psych $100 for Data Blitz Event for food, drinks, and
papergoods
The committee had a meeting to discuss Assembly representation and the proposal will
be discussed tonight. Since the guidelines for representation are in the Constitution
Article IV, Section 2 (something I forgot/overlooked when trying to put them in the
Guidelines), any changes must be passed by the Assembly and then pass in the next
student wide election.
NAGPS Sub-Committee (Strategic Plan)
 We got no feedback from anyone except from one person saying they thought the e-board
should be the decision making body.
 We met and discussed this possibility.
 The committees proposal is in the meeting documents and will be discussed late in the
meeting for a vote.
NAGPS Ourtreach (Strategic Plan)
 E-mailed the NAGPS Regional Chair about him attending SUNY SA in the spring and
presenting a workshop. He or another member will attend.
 We are also working on collaborating to grow the Northeast Region membership and
increase the number of NYS schools through a letter campaign. We jointly are working
on writing a letter to send to schools in the region
Attended SUNY SA (Strategic Plan)
 I served as our second delegate along with Ben Mielenz instead of attending workshops,
since our president had a family emergency.
 There was lively discussion about many resolutions on topics such as sustainability, loans
(which Ben successfully amended to include reunifying grad and undergrad rates), and
bylaws changes. Some passed while others were referred back to committee for edits and
to be brought up again in the Spring.
 Ben was elected to be a graduate rep and I will work to support his outreach to graduate
schools to encourage their attendance. There were only 4 graduate students from 3
schools at this conference when we have 13 graduate votes in the SUNY Assembly.
 I will be applying to be the SUNY SA Parliamentarian and Director of Rules.
 Elections for SUNY SA officers and representatives will take place at the Spring
Conference in Saratoga Springs. I encourage you too consider running for a position.
2
State LAD to be held in the spring
 The e-board supported my proposal for us to hold a State Legislative Action Day in the
Spring. We will pick a day to have students meet with legislators and have a 1-day
training the weekend before.
 We will train you on the issues and how to lobby/have the meeting.
 The issues we plan to address: SUNY funding, the fracking pipeline that could go in in
NYS to transport natural gas, and Ban the Box.
 E-mail gsavp@albany.edu if you are interested.
University Libraries Student Board Report: 11-16-15
Discussed the Reference Resources in the Libraries
 PAWS – you can usually get a next day appointment
 Reference Librarians
 Chat Service 24/7
 They want to get the word out about things and the group suggested flyers, FB, sending
information to the GSA listserv and quad directors
 Science Library reference is for everyone not just science questions
Discussion of changing the food policy:
 Current Policy: The consumption of non-alcoholic beverages in covered containers is
permitted in the University at Albany Libraries except in areas where “No Beverages
Allowed” signs are posted. The consumption of snack-size food is permitted only in
designated areas. Full meals, food deliveries, food parties and group meals are
prohibited.
 Revised Policy (under consideration):The consumption of non-alcoholic beverages in
covered containers is permitted in the University at Albany Libraries. The consumption
of snack-size food is also allowed. Full meals, food deliveries, food parties and group
meals are prohibited.
 Food and beverages are prohibited in the M.E. Grenander Department of Special
Collections and Archives.
They are also reviewing a report that recommends several changes to our loan periods, including
eliminating the distinction between masters and PhD students. They want to get feedback from a
wider group before implementing. They plan to implement a change in the loan periods by
summer 2016. They are also looking into a task force to investigate longer hours during
intersessions and the summer to fit better with graduate student library needs.
Treasurer
Budget as of 11/24/15
GSA ACCOUNT BALANCES & REPORT SUMMARY
Expected Revenue 2014-15
Carry-over from 2013-14
Total Expected Revenue
3
$165,000.00
$122,000.89
$287,000.89
Total Allocated
Total Unallocated
$258,164.00
$28,836.89
Total Deposits
Total Paid
Adjustments: See attached Sheet
Actual Account Balance
Expected Account Balance
$122,000.89
$29,488.99
$0.00
$92,511.90
$257,511.90
BUDGET SUMMARY
SERVICES
Room Reservations
RGSO Awards
Grant Awards
Contingency Budget (at 5% of projected
revenue)
GSA Welcome/ End Year Events
Allocated from Previous Fiscal Year
Food Pantry
OPERATIONS
Contractual Goods and Services
Liability and Theft Insurance
Printer Contract/ Lease
Non-contractual Costs
Paper
Office Supplies/Expenses
Phone and Fax
Water
Officer Stipends
Stipend-President
Stipend-Vice President
Stipend-Treasurer
Stipend-MCAA Chair
Stipend-Programming Chair
Stipend-Grants Chair
Stipend-Lead Senator
Stipend-Senators
Stipend-University Council Representative
Stipend-Assembly Speaker
4
Amount
Allocated
Amount
Paid
Balance
$1,000.00
$40,000.00
$45,000.00
$8,250.00
$0.00
$1,290.64
$0.00
$0.00
$1,000.00
$38,709.36
$45,000.00
$8,250.00
$4,000.00
$15,814.00
$5,000.00
$337.67
$3,662.33
$6,677.22 $9,136.78
$0.00
$5,000.00
$2,000.00
$17,000.00
$0.00
$2,000.00
$3,874.87 $13,125.13
$5,000.00
$1,000.00
$100.00
$1,000.00
$0.00
$593.26
$0.00
$125.40
$5,000.00
$406.74
$100.00
$874.60
$4,500.00
$3,500.00
$3,500.00
$3,000.00
$3,000.00
$3,000.00
$1,000.00
$1,500.00
$200.00
$500.00
$1,125.00
$875.20
$875.20
$750.00
$0.00
$750.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$3,375.00
$2,624.80
$2,624.80
$2,250.00
$3,000.00
$2,250.00
$1,000.00
$1,500.00
$200.00
$500.00
Stipend-Assembly Secretary
Stipend-Judicial Board
Stipend-Senate Council Representatives
Administrative Support
Office Managers
Public Relation Manger
Parliamentarian
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
NAGPS
Strategic Plan Funding- President
Strategic Plan Funding- MCAA Chair
Strategic Plan Funding-Programming
Strategic Plan Funding- Vice President
INVESTMENT
Future Technology Purchases (Printer for
Uptown)
$500.00
$2,500.00
$3,500.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$500.00
$2,500.00
$3,500.00
$20,000.00
$2,500.00
$800.00
$4,672.81 $15,327.19
$0.00
$2,500.00
$500.00
$300.00
$16,000.00
$6,000.00
$3,000.00
$13,000.00
$1,500.00
$6,626.36
$166.99
$0.00
$248.37
$0.00
$9,373.64
$5,833.01
$3,000.00
$12,751.63
$1,500.00
$20,000.00
$0.00
$20,000.00
Note#1
We have to create another line for Payroll Expenses. We always pay employer portion tax
expenses but we never show in the report. Those expenses are material and should be separately
listed. Last year, we paid around $3245 for tax expenses. I think, we should allocate around
$3500. I came up this amount based on the previous expenses and current wages. Above amount
is best estimates and it may vary by the end of year little bit.
Equity and Inclusion Chair
Nothing new to report
Programming Chair
Events in November
Two programs have been provided in the past month. The first was the Social
Permaculture program with Lisa DePiano. The event went quite well with 17 participants
representing Philosophy, Sustainability, and Ed Psych RGSOs as well as reps from the E-board,
Senate team, Judicial board, International Student and Scholar Services, RGSO committee,
Programming/public relations Committee, GSA Office staff, Office of Sustainability, the GSA
Assembly, and GSEU. Niche analyses were carried out to determine each groups resources,
needs, behaviors, obstacles, and yields. Those that participated indicated that the program was
helpful and reflective. We plan to replicate this program in the future for RGSOs and may bring
in Lisa DePiano to the diversity conference that the EI committee is planning for the Spring.
Another product of the program is the development of a “mind map” of the GSA network to help
us identify where collaborations can occur to meet the needs of many groups at once. Once
finished, we will be adding this map to our website and continually updating it. We also plan on
5
creating a page on the website that includes each RGSO’s information (mission/goals) to make
this information easily accessible and promote collaboration between groups as well as
knowledge sharing.
The second program was the Call Congress day on November 18. We had a good amount
of participation with 37 calls targeting Sen. Charles Schumer, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, and Rep.
Paul Tonko. 37 calls were made out of the office. 15 of those calls were to Tonko’s office, 12 to
Gillibrand’s, and 10 to Schumer’s. We reached our goal of 10 calls per hour. I would like to
thank everyone that participated!
Upcoming Events
Wednesday, December 2 from 6-8:30pm we will be showing a Ted Talk by Brian
Stevenson on mass incarceration followed by a panel discussion on the Ban the Box
campaign which is an international campaign by civil rights groups and advocates for exoffenders, aimed at persuading employers to remove from their hiring applications the check box
that asks if applicants have a criminal record. Pizza will be provided!
Other notes
I am currently working on collaborating with the Office of Graduate Education to host a
graduate finance planning seminar, which would be open to all graduate students. We might
incorporate it into the spring GSA orientation. This is in the beginning stages and therefore I do
not have much detail on what the program is going to look like. Topics span from budgeting,
taxes, debt, compound interest, saving, investing, retirement, trainee funds etc. If there are any
particular aspects of graduate student finance that you would like to hear or learn about, please
email me at GSAprog@albany.edu.
Grants Chair
Two brief notes comprise the Grants report for November.
 First, if you have received an award letter for Fall 2015, please email your reimbursement
information to gsagrant@albany.edu.
 Second, the forms for the Spring 2016 funding period will be made available on
MyInvolvement by December 1st. If you are interested in applying for grant opportunities
in the Spring 2016 period, please upload the appropriate files to MyInvolvement by
January 31st, 2016.
Lead Senator
Greetings everyone!
So November was a pretty quiet month for the Advocacy Team and we’ll have several
meetings to report on that are happening in December that will be sent out in a separate
Semester-long report of all meetings from the semester once I’ve received them all, rather
than waiting until February to report on business from early December.
Spring is looking to be a fair bit more busy. We are hoping that now that everyone has had
a month to digest the proposed handbook for the Advocacy Team that we’ll be able to vote
on it – please keep in mind that not all of the proposed changes can actually be accounted
for via the handbook, several things will need to be discussed as going on the ballot for
constitutional changes and a few others will need to become bylaws changes that we would
hope to bring to the assembly in January and February respectively. Most of what can be
6
passed is regarding attendance and reporting requirements – which at the end of the day
are actually the most important pieces of the handbook as that actually mandates that
these activities happen, when currently there is no written requirement in any of our
governing documents.
With changing schedules there is always some upheaval in participation between Fall and
Spring. We are definitely looking for a new Council Rep to sit on ULC (University Life
Council), but if you’re interested in participating as a Council Rep or Senator please contact
me by the first week of January – right now we’re running short on people who can step up
should anyone need to step down and with changing schedules semester to semester its
always good to have a few back-ups who are ready and willing!
Hanna Marie Pageau
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Senate Addendum
[US] University Senate
Bob Beach {S/President}, Hanna Marie Pageau {LS}, Tiffany Charles {S}, Henry Curtis {S},
Nakissa Jahanbani {S}
November 16th
Report
A. SUNY Senators’ Report - John Schmidt
 Diversity Plenary
 UA in the University Center Sector
 SUNY Excels standards
 Improvement funds that just went into SUNY Central – will hear back by the end of
the year
 Awaiting approval by SUNY Board of Trustees
 Shared Governance and Faculty Consultation
 Question from audience about what “diversity” constitutes
 Varies from campus to campus
o Emphasis on race and ethnicity (also emphasis by US government), but in
plentary, tried to address in broadest way possible
 Workshop on “information and knowledge sharing”
 Question regarding expansion of degrees and certificates (per SUNY Chancellor)
o Discussed by SUNY-wide Provost Cartright (pg. 2 of SUNY Advocacy and
Budget Process)
o Wanted to invent certificates (because adds to numbers)
o Goal: 93,000 more students, and have 21,000 more from increased retention
(and 80,000 students in online courses)
 No talk of more funds to go into this
 Difficult already to have good relationships with students
7
o Academic value/success – why these certificates and programs (besides
increase enrollment)?
 One hand, prepare students for jobs (and be competitive with other
universities to prepare students as a short-term training need)
 Western European countries, more percentage of people have a BA,
but US is falling
B. Graduate Student Organization Report – Hanna Marie Pageau, Lead Senator
 Call Congress is November 18
 Grads Have Debt Too
 Orientation
 Campus Expansion
 NAGPS National Conference attendance
o Won the Northeast Member School of the Year Award
 Leadership Summit over the Summer
C. Student Association Report – Julia A., Senator
 SA to join EOP to revive Perkins loan
 SA Fireside Chats
 SA Town Hall
 President’s Council Opening
o November 19 from 5 pm to 65 pm in University Art Museum
D. Council/Committee Chair Reports:
 CAA – James Mower, Chair
 CAFFECoR – Carol Jewell, Chair
o Not here
 CERS – Michael Jerison, Chair
o Nothing to add
 COR – Daniele Fabris, Chair
 CPCA – Lynn Warner, Chair
o Not here
 GAC – Ronald Toseland, Chair
o Two degrees pending at this Senate meeting
 GOV – James Collins, Chair
o In last meeting, looked at issue of administrative review and evaluation by
the Senate
o Instead of suggested form of action, asks Senate members ask departments
what they think about the issue of Senate evaluation (responses to
jcollins@albany.edu)
 LISC – David Mamorella, Chair
 UAC – Karen Kiorpes and Christy Smith, Co-Chairs
o Simulation course of CEHC
o Etc.
 ULC – Michael Jaromin, Chair
o Rescheduling meeting
8

UPPC –Joette Stefl-Mabry, Chair
o Nothing to add
Approval of Changes in Council Memberships
 Approval of some undergraduate members and other new members
New Business
 Senate Bill 1516-01: PROPOSAL TO ESTABLISH A MASTER OF SCIENCE (M.S.)
PROGRAM IN COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGY
o Introduced by: GAC and UPPC
o School of Education’s Counseling Psychology
o Modeled on CAS’s Clinical Psychology program (which has embedded
Master’s)
o This is a trend across the country
o Not to enroll any new students
o Additional resources or administrative burden: just faculty time
o Would entail a capstone project (clinical data, empirical support, case study)
and the approval of two faculty members
 Unfeasible to add a Master’s thesis at this point, given the faculty time
(can’t add the burden of a Master’s thesis to the faculty now)
 Students can’t apply to national internships or get a job with a
Master’s
 Is this common for other universities? – yes
 This is not a terminal Master’s degree – 60 credits, 18 months,
comprehensive exam and no written thesis
 What if students left with just this Master’s – would they be
comparable to MA in other programs? – yes
o Proposal passes
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
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9
Senate Bill 1516-02: PROPOSAL TO ESTABLISH A B.A. ENGLISH/M.A. LIBERAL
STUDIES PROGRAM
Introduced by: GAC, UAC, UPPC
Charles Sheppardson, Director of Liberal Studies program
Background
o Has run in the university for quite a long time
o Open for students to explore any course in any department
Not particularly well-advised, students falling out of the program
o Concentrated in Social Sciences and Humanities
Also focus of this program’s intellectual core
Help students go on to a doctoral degree
o Liberal Studies MA programs are fastest growing in the country, scattered
across universities, courses taught by irregular faculty members
o Cultivated interest across departments – Philosophy, LACS, History, Poli Sci,
English, Anthropology, Music, Sociology
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Interdiscplinary research on salient subjects: globalization, human rights, gender
studies, etc.
Have this program serve as an engine for recruitment of international students
o Students from China, Japan, Germany, UK, S. Korea, Taiwan, Iran, Jordan
o UA been recognized by other universities
Recruit from pool of turned down Liberal Studies, PhD
The present proposal to recruit undergraduates to keep for an additional year at
UAlbany
Modeled on BA/MA program in English department
BA English/MA Liberal Studies good prep for law school
Is a similar program present at other universities?
Don’t require the GRE for this program – because students apply in their Junior year
– based on GPA, writing sample, letters of recommendation
Cultivated, individualized letters for recruitment
Hopes faculty in other departments would do the same thing
Would students only take classes in participating programs?
VOTE FAILED, DUE TO LACK OF QUARUM
Future Meetings
December 7th
[CAA] Council on Academic Assessment
Henry Curtis {S}
October 2nd, 2015
Report
Future Meetings
TBA – Once a Month; Fridays
[CoR] Council on Research
Hanna Marie Pageau {LS}, Emilia Pawlowski {CR}
November 12th, 2015
Report
1. Due to a health emergency, the CoR report for November 12th will be included in the
Fall Semester update that will come out as soon as all Fall reports are in.
Future Meetings
December 21st
[GAC] Graduate Academic Council
Tiffany Charles {S}, Rebecca Prince {CR}, Cristina Herrera {CR}
10
November 16th 2015
Report {RP, CH}
1. Consideration of the minutes of the GAC meeting of October 19, 2015 (draft attached)
 minutes reviewed
 minutes approved
2. Dean’s Report – Graduate Dean Kevin Williams
 Reference: Graduate Stipend Committee Report http://www.albany.edu/academics/files/Report_of_the_Graduate_Stipend_Committee_fin
al_draft_070615.pdf
 recommendations only right now, no decisions on what will happen as a result
 6-7 months project, report done in July and recently released campus wide
 look at the competitive stipends for graduate students
 students across campus met with the president and other faculty to discuss how to
address a stipend that is more competitive
 8 recommendations and different priorities from different departments
 humanities felt at a disadvantage
 focus on the length of funding, some on the stipend side
 shifting students to grant funding
 adequate progress stipend can be increased by a year, longer funding
 minimum to 15,000 from 13,000 fields are different for competitive stipends
 recommendations: external funding and increase external funding
 students getting external funding has increased and the university wants to
improve that further
 some funding to put some of the recommendation into place for 2016
 departments will decide later on whether extending the length of funding or
increasing stipends
 will take a couple of years to be at the level the University wants to be
2a. Dean’s Report – Vice Dean Jon Bartow
BA/MA Policy Clarification/Correction
 consider undergraduate until 12 graduate level credits are completed
 one event initiated the edits to the policy, complete up to 12 credits
 can enroll but billing will start until 12 credit is completed, go over the 12 credit the
University will bill at the graduate level
 language correction in the policy
 avoid counting student twice for graduate and undergraduate
3. Chair’s Report – Professor Ronald Toseland
 no report
4. Committee memberships and chairs (updated roster attached)
 updated list of committees
 chairs for all committees now
5. Committee on Curriculum & Instruction Report (forthcoming)
 report presented by subcommittee chair
 November 9th meeting
11
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reviewed the political science PhD proposal
small changes, clarification of language needed
approved updated proposal after languages were addressed
Online learning and teaching certificate proposal: added a course to the core requirements
students have more flexibility for the classes
approved by committee
approved changes by GAC committee for reports from subcommittee and
recommendations were passed by the committee
6. New Business
6a. Proposal to establish a Graduate Certificate Program in TESOL Online (previously
distributed; attached afresh)
 people to explain the proposal will attend meeting at 2pm, later than our meeting ends
 program was explained by GAC chair Dr. Toseland
 adding online program
 UAlbany would be the only one to offer online certificate program
 extend their eligibility for teaching certification in NYS to teach English as a second
language
 certification is every two years, provides a way for working teachers to get the certificate
while still working
 proposed to established an advanced certificate program
 courses are already being taught at the masters level
 option to make courses online for the certificate program
 only issue before was the field work: requiring student teaching, but it will not be
required as the eligibility is that the student has to be a certified teacher professors
presenting the proposal
 approved by the committee as it is authored, no need for clarification
Future Meetings
December 7th
[GOV] Governance Council
Caitlin Janiszewski {CR/Proxy}
October 12th
Report
1. Chair’s Report - 1- Been doing research to find more information about the charter
amendments proposed / inquiring about and checking Senate documents on the website. 2During meetings with leadership ombudsperson came up. During last meeting with Chief of Staff
and Provost they had a very different concept of representation. Who leads development of
College of Engineering? Who really brokers Albany law rearrangement? Who decides on
strategic planning? We are told after they happen. Law school had a strategic working team,
team for series of grants (excels or compact?). Faculty consultation is having a faculty member
on one of these things. But our bylaws says we have rights and responsibilities and powers and
that those powers are vested in us. We are responsible. So we are constantly going back for a
12
consultation process. Dean of Engineering now hearing from us in this regard. We will continue
to apprise the admin of that fact that we did not feel we had formal consultation during last
strategic planning process. We are told that there will be with the next. We should see CARE
stuff in context of the effort to redefine or reestablish governance. A lot of the work will come to
us. If we really want a say in these things - GOV makes the nominations and/or approves them.
Public engagement. We are responsible for these things. Its easier to just reach out to someone.
But thats not part of consultation process. (We should encourage Senate team to write for the
newsletter).
2. CPCA is also looking at ombudsperson proposal
3. Cynthia referred the issue of nominations to the engaged scholarship working group.
4. Committee Reports


Assessment - report from Karin - my contribution is that we are trying to kill 2 birds with
1 stone but its just not feasible. We could use 2 stones if we wanted.
b. Liaison - subcommittee met - working to accomplish: clarifying role of Senate,
establish who we are, what we stand for - and in doing so people will come to understand
our limitations and what we can do for them. They did some research on how different
universities discuss themselves on their websites. Many quote there own bylaws. thinking
of doing that and connecting it to the concept of shared governance. This is in the same
vein as Senators reporting back to departments. At the moment also doing a
straightforward faculty handbook update. Nothing that innovative just basic. Also
working on figuring out a listserv for reaching contingent faculty. hoping to develop an
algorithm to always be updating that listserv. Want to expand the relationship of the
senate within and outside the university. want to establish a fundraiser during holiday
season for the local foodbank. I mentioned that this can be an opportunity for the Senate
to weigh in on the food pantry idea.
5. Old Business:
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13
CAA: Academic Program Review Committee - student programs like credential
programs or undergraduate majors or certain graduate programs - its brief? All of this
will be posted into a folder and we can decide whether to go ahead and change the
language or not. Jim Mower really doesn't know how things work so Joel Bloom was
asked.
UAC: Appellate Subcommittee on Academic Standing - turns out that we have been
chasing a rumor. Could not find a charter proposal? Chair of that committee as well as
Catherine Winchester decided to leave the UAC subcommittee on admissions and
standing. We don't have to respond to this. FIND YAGELSKI'S note and make sure we
revisit it.
CARE: Council on Administrative Review & Evaluation [John Schmidt, visitor] - John
Smidt - story of this getting killed and then the discussion about how we would go
forward and an education process to do this??? 5 year schedule for administrative


evaluation. First step is the spread the word so its not done in a flash. Another step for
education could be a forum or workshop or town hall...
Workshop or information sessions on sustainability as principle in UA undergraduate
education: Refer to Liaison? Or should we resurrect information sessions on this topic?
Go to UAC? Next steps? Try to get a gen ed or try to get an attribute assigned? Yenisel Mary Ellen - Caitlin going to meet.
Senate Website: What must be posted? there is a minimum specification of what we must
post - minutes, schedule and agenda of meetings. Nancy Lauricella doesn't think there is
a rule about posting and the question remains open. Governance can make the decision.
we don't have to post the UAC subcommittee names.
5. New Business
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Proposal for University Ombudsperson: UUP - ad hoc committee to ask Bret more for
question and write a resolution on this. check CPCA.
nominees for engaged scholarship working group - think about this and he will email us
about it. He will forward an email which describes it. As we say - we need to be involved
- they will keep asking us for input. We need to develop quick mechanisms for getting
people on these bodies.
Future Meetings
[LISC] Council on Libraries, Information Systems, and Computing
Meeting
Cathleen Green {CR}
November 23rd, 2015
Report
Summary:
Biggest agenda items were the reports from Carole Sweeton (Interim CIO, ITS) and Rebecca
Mugridge (Interim Dean, Libraries). There was also a presentation on Scholars Archive, our
institutional repository. The next LISC meeting is to be February 1, 2016.
ITS Report – Carole Sweeton (Interim CIO):
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AV is being finished in the new Information Technology Building (ITB)
ITS has filled many vacant positions over the past few months, including:
o Associate Director for Networking
o Enterprise applications has hired several Solutions Specialists, specifically within
business, teaching and learning, and administration.
o Database Administrator
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o Network Analysts and Systems Managers
Still open are positions as Help Desk Analyst, Telephone Service Center Desk, and
Solutions Analyst, plus a few others…
The search for the new CIO is now in President Jones’ hands, and the announcement was
originally supposed to be out by Thanksgiving, so stay posted!
ITS is getting ready to roll out OneDrive for Business groups, where
faculty/students/staff can apply to share documents amongst groups
Libraries Report – Rebecca Mugridge (Interim Dean of Libraries)
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Libraries is also busy filling vacant positions, as they are down 12 positions due to
retirements and people leaving
The goal is to perform 2 searches per month for the next several months, the libraries are
not on the same time frame as academia to hire before semesters
In December, the searches will be for the Reference Librarian and Interactive Media
Center Support Specialist position
There are two pending retirements in the collections development, one in June and one at
any time, these positions are looking to be filled right away since they require experts in
the field and the library does not want someone who is not an expert making decisions for
too long
Report from the Student Advisory Board is that the 24/7 reference service is very popular
amongst students
The Conversations in Standish are events to highlight faculty research, if you have
anyone you’d like to suggest, contact Rebecca
Office of Campus Planning is looking at the main library as “swing space” for people in
the old business building while it is renovated.
The proposed plan is to move books from the 3rd floor to the Science Library in closed stacks –
essentially storage – which means no browsing and if you need a book, it would be next day
service since someone has to go retrieve it. The books on the 3rd floor are many humanities
subjects, anthropology, philosophy, music, art…etc. They are trying to come up with alternatives
since many on the committee expressed need to access the materials for research.
David Mamorella, LISC chair, then asked the committee for any suggestions or questions for the
Senate Executive Meetings to bring up with the Provost or President. If you have any, tell me,
and I’ll pass them along to David. Several committee members brought up the fact that the votes
are always towards the end of the meeting and people are leaving because its over time, so is
there any way they can move voting agenda items to the beginning of the meeting when they
have quorum.
Lindsay von Berkom gave an overview on Scholars Archive, which launched in October of
2014.
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This is our institutional repository for papers, books, data, or presentations
It is OPEN ACCESS, which gives intellectual freedom, allows for wide dissemination of
research, and often can meet government grant requirements.
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UAlbany feels this is a good initiative to get greater visibility of our research and
research of our institution, as well as a deeper engagement in research
What is it? It is essentially a place to sore and share scholarly information and to provide
access, with the ultimate goal of moving away from expensive, private publishing
companies.
You can submit your own work or you can submit your CV to the librarian and they will
upload your documents for you and check copyright issues
Interested in starting a journal? (Should we start a graduate student research journal :P)
They will help you, just let them know!
I suggested they try and sell this idea more to graduate students. This presentation in
particular, and the one I heard last year at a LISC meeting, was heavily targeted at
faculty. I told them that graduate students are more prone to change and also tend to care
more about these types issues. Rebecca Mugridge said it advice they would take
seriously, and they may be interested in giving a small presentation at a GSA assembly
meeting, if that’s ok.
Future Meetings
[SEC] Senate Executive Committee Meeting
Bob Beach {S/President}
November 30th, 2015
Report
 The November 30th report will be included in the Fall Semester report that will be
sent out once all reports are in. Caitlin Janiszewski attended in lieu of Bob Beach, as
he had to step down as President and Kat Slye – our new President – was
unavailable due to the short notice.
[UAC] Undergraduate Academic Council
Derek Ellis {CR}
November 10th, 2015
Report
1. Discussion by Rick Fogarty of the submitted competency plan for Geography. Will work
on some more questions for the department and send those back for feedback.
2. Discussion and approval of the change of some working in the undergraduate bulletin for
the BA/MA program definitions. Nothing is changing to the program- we are just making it
more clear in general (Ex. When a student has to pay grad tuition vs. undergrad tuition. It's
an "all or nothing" sort of thing. You either pay full undergrad prices or full grad prices.)
3. Discussion of the submitted syllabus for the winter course from the College of Homeland
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Security and Emergency Preparedness. Will send back some questions including more
clarification about what would happen with the travel plans in the event of a winter storm.
December 1st, 2015
Report
 The December 1st report will be included in the Fall Semester report that will be
sent out once all reports are in.
Future Meetings
December 1st
[ULC] University Life Council
Yueyue Wang {CR}
Unknown
 ULC has only met once and the Council Representative is being replaced for the
Spring Semester – interested parties should contact that GSA Lead Senator and
President (gsalead@albany.edu & gsapresident@albany.edu)
[UPPC] University Planning and Policy Council
Nakissa Jahanbani {S}
October 21st, 2015
Report
 Nakissa is still awaiting the minutes after being unable to attend due to a medical
procedure.
November 24th, 2015
Report
I. Overview
During this meeting, we heard:
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Update on the Contingent Report
Proposal of an online TESOL graduate certificate
In other news:
o A discussion of public-private partnerships, with an emphasis on the ongoing
affiliation with Albany Law School
o Discussion of faculty and university-wide diversity
o Future plans for the East Campus and Downtown Campus
o Population of the UPPC subcommittees
Unfinished business – revision of the Campus Impact Statement Form
II. Update on the Contingent Report
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The Contingent Report will be sent out in the very near future. It includes provisions for a small
committee to hold the Provost’s office to the recommendations set in the report. There is a
recommendation to put courses taught by contingents online and for them to do two courses
instead of one. A similar committee is not present in the GTA Stipends Report, however. Leanne
Wirkkula (Chief of Staff in the President’s Office) and Provost James Stellar will lead this
process and consult the University Senate, but this is an area that the GSA should maintain
involvement.
III. Proposal of a TESOL online graduate certificate program
In New Business, Istvan Kecskes and Christy Smith of the School of Education proposed to
establish a new TESOL online graduate certificate program. A couple issues rested in first
distance orientation opportunities and second enrollment numbers. They noted they were not
sure of enrollment numbers because online is different from campus programs so it would be
hard to predict. One person suggested that we could do this program in traditional format not just
online. However, an online platform is more flexible for already certified teachers and these
courses are already available online. This is a secondary certification and not a teaching
certification. The Provost’s office (Peter Shea) will be working on promoting online learning,
and their application did not reflect that they would work with their office for advertising. The
Council made a number of recommendations and all were in favor of the proposal (with an
undergraduate abstention).
IV. Other News
Public-Private Partnerships
o The affiliation with Albany Law School is ongoing. The law school’s new dean was just
inaugurated. As a reminder, this will be a public-private partnership. There was
discussion of possibly entering a similar partnership with Albany Medical School, which
is another private institution. This is part of an overall emphasis on “cradle to career”
tracks, utilizing local resources. Other possibilities include partnership with SUNY
Albany’s engineering school as well as a community college program that leads to a
Master’s degree. There was some disillusionment as “words get thrown around”
regarding “mergers”, “affiliations”, “collaborations”, etc. without first asking ourselves
what this relationship is and what it would entail.
Diversity on Campus
o A note about faculty diversity – dialogues about faculty diversity and university-wide
diversity in general are ongoing with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI). There
was a comment about diverse faculty searches not being advertised well?
East Campus
o Regarding East Campus revisions, Laura Schweitzer nodded towards not wanting the
CNSE model occurring on this campus. There is an emphasis to reconfigure SUNY as an
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“applied learning school”; companies and universities need to understand each other
because we work at different speeds.
Downtown Campus
o There is a focus on utilizing the downtown campus as a strategic point for public
engagement. There will be some relocation of public engagement personnel to the
downtown campus and synergize with Albany Promise.
UPPC Subcommittees
o There is discussion of populating the UPPC subcommittees, the Resource Analysis and
Planning Committee and the University Facilities Committee. The Council emphasized
that UPPC as a whole has a certain view on these issues but the subcommittee has a
different view.
V. Unfinished Business
In Unfinished Business, there is still consideration of a revision of the Campus Impact Statement
Form.
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