College Senate Bulletin
State University of New York at Geneseo
College of Arts and Sciences
Correspondence: Dennis Showers, School of Education, South Hall 222C, email: showers@geneseo.edu, 245-5264
Note: Page numbers indicate pages as per paper copy of the Bulletins
Bulletin No. 3
Pages 15--26
November 3, 2011
Contents
Page Topic
16 Agenda: Senate Meeting on November 8, 2011
17 Minutes: Faculty Affairs, meeting on September 27, 2011
18 Minutes: Executive Committee meeting on October 6, 2011
18 Minutes: Senate meeting on October 18, 2011
21 Report: University Faculty Senator—UFS Plenary October 20, 2011
24 Minutes: Student Affairs meeting on October 25, 2011
26 Nominees: Committee on Faculty Personnel, Fall 2011 Elections
Agenda for Senate Meeting
October 18, 2011
Call to Order 5 minutes
Adoption of the Agenda
CSB #3, p. 16
Adoption of the Minutes
Senate meeting of September 13, 2011 (CSB#2, p. 10)
Senate meeting of October 18, 2011 (CSB#3, p. 18)
Guests
Dan Strang & Sharon West (Faculty Recognition Program) 5 minutes
Paul Pacheco (Research Council) 10 minutes
Senate Reports 20 minutes
President Christopher Dahl
Provost Carol Long
Chair Dennis Showers
Vice Chair Jim Williams
Past-Chair David Granger
Secretary Cheryl Kreutter
Treasurer Aaron Steinhauer
University Faculty Senator Gregg Hartvigsen
Vice President, Student Assoc. Tyler Ocon
Reports of the Standing Committees of the Senate 10 minutes
Undergraduate Curricula Ren Vasiliev
Second Reading
Prerequisite change
CSCI 216: Statistical Software
New Courses
FREN 374: Francophone Literature from Africa and the Caribbean
GEOG 355: Experimental Cartography.
PLSC 390: Senior Seminar (subtitle)
PSYC 331: The Neural and Chemical Basis of Behavior (subtitle)
Program Revisions
BA in Chemistry
BS in Chemistry
Proposals available at: https://boxes.geneseo.edu/DeanofCollege/doc/ucc/Senate%202011-2012/
Undergraduate Policies Jeff Over
Graduate Academic Affairs Susan Salmon
Student Affairs Dan Repinski
Faculty Affairs James McLean
Old Business
Discussion of restructuring the Senate and faculty governance 25 minutes
New Business
Adjournment: 5:15
Minutes of the Faculty Affairs Committee
Sept 27, 2011
Present: J. Aimers, J. Allen, B. Evans, V. Farmer, J. McLean(Chair), D. McPherson, L. O’Brien, E. Savellos, A. Sheldon
Call to Order
James McLean called the meeting to order at 4:05 PM.
1. Chair’s Report:
Procedures for minutes: Minute takers should forward minutes to committee as soon as possible. The Chair will send them to the Bulletin if no complaints registered within one week.
Review of last year’s work which may need to be monitored this year.
· Met with Provost and members of Faculty Personnel Committee to discuss new “H” form. Members of FPC preferred to have more than 2 levels of judgment (Meets Expectations/Does Not Meet Expectations) in the form. A third level (Exceeds Expectations) was suggested as a compromise. Uncertain whether the potential compromise was voted on by FAC last year.
· Template calendar for Senate committee meetings established. Implementation of the calendar is still underway. This information has not yet been widely distributed.
· SOFI’s on Knightweb. FAC approved a change in dates for administering SOFI’s (earlier in semester than traditionally done). FAC also revised the instructions that accompany SOFI administration.
2. New Business
Potential new work for this year
· Chair met with the Provost, who had these suggestions:
o Faculty body to advise about distribution of new faculty hires. Which departments should receive new lines? There was discussion of whether this is the responsibility of the Department Chairs. Several FAC members thought that faculty (and the Senate) should have input in these decisions.
o Should there be external reviews for continuing appointment and promotion to associate professor?
o A leave program for junior faculty (before continuing appointment).
o Ways to improve the College’s family leave policy.
· Other Suggestions
o Ways to merge various task forces into existing Senate structures.
o Follow up on the Advisement Task Force report.
The chair will set up a poll where committee members can express their preferences for which issues to address first.
Adjournment
James McLean adjourned the meeting at 4:50 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Jim Allen
Minutes of the Senate Executive Committee
October 6, 2011
Present: C. Dahl, D. Granger, G. Hartvigsen, C. Kreutter, C. Long, J. McLean, T. Ocon, J. Over, D. Repinski, S. Salmon, D. Showers (Chair), R. Vasiliev, J. Williams
Call to Order
Chair Showers called the meeting to order at 4:03 PM.
- Chair Showers suggested one minor revision to order of agenda. Hearing no objections, agenda was revised to have discussion of October 18 Senate Agenda first.
- Chair Showers requested President, Provost, Senate Officers and Standing Committees provide an estimate of time each will need for the October 18 meeting. Times will be reflected in the Senate agenda.
- Chair Showers reported Savi Iyer, Dean of Curriculum & Academic Services, will speak regarding Academic Standards Committee (What it is, what they do, current projects, plans for future).
- Paul Pacheco will speak about the function of the Research Council
- Chair Showers will charge Senators to take information from College Senate back to faculty meetings.
- Discussion of proposals for governance changes. Chair Showers suggested another XC meeting to continue discussion of governance changes
Adjournment
Chair Showers adjourned the meeting at 5:10 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Cheryl Kreutter, College Senate Secretary
College Senate Meeting Minutes
October 18, 2011
Present
B. Ahmed, J. Aimers, J. Allen, K. Becker, R. Coloccia, C. Dahl, K. Davies-Hoffman, L. Dougherty, B. Evans, D. Farthing, V. Farmer, K. Felter, K. Fletcher, L. Gao, K. Gentry, J. Giorgione, D. Granger, C. Haddad, K. Hannam, B. Harrison, G. Hartvigsen, A. Heap, A. Hernandez, S. Iyer, J. Katz, J. Kernan, M. Klotz, C. Kreutter, C. Leary, M. Lima, C. Long, J. Lovett, D. Mackenzie, T. Macula, V. Markowski, M. McCormick, J. McGarrah, P. McLaughlin, J. McLean, D. McPherson, J. Meagher, J. Miller, M. Mitschow, M. Mooney, L. O’Brien, T. Ocon, J. Over, P. Pacheco, E. Pogolelski, D. Repinski, D. Rescott, M. Rogachefsky, S. Russell, S. Salmon, E. Savellos, D. Showers (Chair), D. Simmons, M. Stolee, S. Stubblefield, A. Tajima, D. Tamarin, R. Vasiliev, H. Waddy, B. Weigman, J. Williams, A. Yauney
Guests
Savi Iyer, Dean of the College
Call to order
D. Showers (Chair) called the meeting to order at 4:03 PM.
Adoption of Agenda
Motion to adopt October 18, 2011. Seconded. Accepted without objection.
Adoption of Minutes
Motion to approve minutes of September 13, 2011. Seconded. Accepted without objection.
S. Iyer (Dean of College)
· Policy change last year in bulletin defining progress re: “satisfied academic progress”
· Presented new policy regarding Undergraduate Academic Standards (see 2011-2012 Undergraduate Bulletin, p. 34)
· Provided charts with Fall 2010 & Spring 2011 numbers of students on academic probation and those dismissed.
· Noted Academic Standards Committee members appointed jointly by Dean & Senate Chair
· Email S.Iyer if interested in serving
President’s Report – Christopher Dahl
· Middle States first draft completed. Available on wiki (https://wiki.geneseo.edu/display/midstates/Middle+States+Hom10/19 Professor Urgo from St. Mary’s of Maryland will arrive for preliminary visit.
- Report on Shaping Lives of Purpose Campaign
- Three launch events
- Rochester: 300 alum
- Washington, DC : 120 alum
- Buffalo: 150 alum
- Three launch events
- Little Progress on Shared Services Alliances front
Provost’s Report – Carol Long
- School of Education has hired James Garofalo as Interim Dean.
- Research Office: October 19, Milne 200, sponsored research grants fair
- Surveys
o Judy Raul to provide overview of HERI Spring 2011 results November 29, 2011.
o 60% response rate
o Sample responses include:
§ faculty believe our students are well-prepared for graduate school
§ few faculty are at odds with administration
§ good office space/lab space
o SUNY Central survey (Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education) forthcoming via email.
Senate Reports
Chair’s Report – Dennis Showers
- General Faculty Meeting November 9, 2011, during all college hour.
- Receive report of nominees/elected
- Possibilities for restructuring governance
- College Senate November 8 Meeting will end at 5:15 pm.
- Encouraged response to SUNY Geneseo SEFA campaign
- Encouraged faculty to contribute to Shaping Lives Of Purpose campaign
Vice Chair’s Report – Jim Williams
- Chancellor Award Nominations closed & process underway
Past Chair – David Granger
- Reported the Budget Priorities Committee (BPC) are working on the description of the charge and selection process for the BPC
Secretary Report – Cheryl Kreutter
No report
Treasurer Report – Aaron Steinhauer
No report
University Faculty Senate Report – Gregg Hartvigsen
No report
Student Association Report – Tyler Ocon
No report
Undergraduate Curricula Committee Report – Ren Vasiliev
First Reading
Minor course change
- CSCI 216
Motion carried.
New Courses
- FREN 374
- GEOG 355
- PISC 390
- PSYC 331
Motion carried.
New Programs
- BA Chemistry
- BS Chemistry
Motion carried.
Undergraduate Academic Policies, Core and Review – Jeff Over
No report
Graduate Academic Affairs – Susan Salmon
No report
Student Affairs – Dan Repinski
- Will send email to members regarding time and place for SA committee meeting.
Faculty Affairs – James McLean
- Meeting October 25
Old Business
Discussion concerning restructuring the Senate and faculty governance continued from September 13, 2011, meeting. Chair Showers
- Noted that Senate’s role is “informed advisor” to the President. Senate does not have the power to make decisions.
- Executive Committee to recommend amendment to Constitution that the College President & Provost become non-voting ex-officio members of College Senate
Discussion of retaining at-large senators (ALS)
- D. Showers noted each department has process for electing senators
- Questions remain regarding reasons to keep or delete ALS. Discussion to continue in upcoming College Senate meetings
Adjournment
Chair Showers adjourned the meeting at 5: 10 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Cheryl A. Kreutter, College Senate Secretary
University Faculty Senator Report
159th Plenary Session of the University Faculty Senate
SUNY Purchase, October 21-22, 2011
SUNY Upstate Medical has been warned of impending probation by their accrediting body Liaison Committee on Medical Education. They currently are appealing this decision.
Of the $300 increase in tuition only about $225 reaches each campus. The tuition increase is approved for up to five years and only by the passing of the Board of Trustees each year. There were concerns about funding the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP). It was recognized that this should be funded but it should be a state program and not taken out of the tuition increase, where it is currently funded.
In the past the SUNY hospital centers have been approximately $60 million in the red from the State, made up in part through cuts from the other institutions. The future, we were told, looks worse.
SUNY System is working on developing a policy about grade changes, in response to a previously passed University Faculty Senate resolution. Individual campuses will then be asked to develop their own policies about grade changes that match this system policy.
Provost David Lavallee discussed the rational for shared resources. System's intent is to see institutions reduce administrative overhead across campuses. This is a bigger problem at institutions with fewer than 4000 students. On average, those institutions spend only 39% of their budgets on instruction. Lavallee hopes to work with institutions to ensure that reductions in expenses come from administration and not instruction. I asked him personally about his ability to actually prevent campuses from restructuring their budgets to increase administration last month and he said he isn't able to control campus level budgets.
We were told that the savings from shared administrations should be approximately $2 million per campus. The criteria used to determine institutions that would share presidents, for example, were based primarily on geography and whether a campus was about to conduct a presidential search.
Brian Hutzley, Interim Vice Chancellor Financial Services and Chief Financial Officer for SUNY, shared some information about the changes in SUNY over the last three years and why shared resources are part of a solution:
596 faculty positions not filled
1341 other lines not filled
1258 adjuncts added
1435 course sections cut
Over the past 10 years faculty pay has increase by 48%. Energy expenditures are up 300% and supplies are up by 35%. These increases are equivalent to a 50% cut in our overall budget, all the while SUNY has enjoyed increasing numbers of students.
Nonetheless, he reported that we should expect to see a $25 million cut in the coming year.
SUNY System is working toward a "strategic sourcing" for group purchasing, with an anticipated savings of $10 million annually. System is also working on "IT transformation" with the implementation of DegreeWorks across all campuses (which will replace WebCAPP). This will facilitate transfer articulation across SUNY. System also is working to standardize payroll across campuses.
Provost Lavalee discussed the decision to minimize the acceptance of new academic programs across the system because of the required addition of administrative overhead.
We heard a presentation on academic privacy. The case of William Cronon (professor of history, geography and environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison) was discussed. Cronon's op-ed piece in the NY Times, published on March 21, 2001 (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/opinion/22cronon.html?_r=1) was used as a reason to request from the University of Wisconsin:
"Copies of all emails into and out of Prof. William Cronon’s state email account from January 1, 2011 to present which reference any of the following terms: Republican, Scott Walker, recall, collective bargaining, AFSCME, WEAC, rally, union, Alberta Darling, Randy Hopper, Dan Kapanke, Rob Cowles, Scott Fitzgerald, Sheila Harsdorf, Luther Olsen, Glenn Grothman, Mary Lazich, Jeff Fitzgerald, Marty Beil, or Mary Bell."
The request was made by Stephan Thompson (mailto:SThompson@wisgop.org). The details of the inquiry by Cronon are available at:
http://scholarcitizen.williamcronon.net/2011/03/24/open-records-attack-on-academic-freedom/
Interestingly, the UW Chancellor worked hard to protect Cronon's academic freedom as much as possible by limiting the release of information. We were challenged to work with our administrators to develop privacy policies for our home institutions, recognizing that privacy is not in the constitution and that even good, well-crafted policies, do not constitute law or even have to be followed.
Finally, two resolutions regarding shared resources were passed (see below).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
University Faculty Senate
Executive Committee
159th Plenary
Purchase College
October 22, 2011
Resolution on Shared Services
Whereas, both SUNY System Administration and the University Faculty Senate are committed to making SUNY one of the premier systems of higher education in the world, and
Whereas, the administration and governance bodies on each SUNY campus are equally committed to making their institution one of high quality, and
Whereas, the time-honored mechanism of “shared governance” is the means by which the administration and governance bodies both across SUNY and on individual campuses can work effectively and efficiently toward that common goal, and
Whereas, shared governance requires detailed, timely, and relevant information through a significant consultation process prior to any formal decision, and
Whereas, the recent policy of SUNY to reduce expenses by having campuses share services on a regional, sector or mission basis is an appropriate policy initiative worthy of careful consideration and consultation in the current economic environment, and
Whereas, the scope, nature and provision of administrative and student services directly and indirectly impact the curriculum, methods of instruction and other academic matters that are the primary responsibility of the faculty, and
Whereas, the proposed policy of having two campuses share a president was developed without significant consultation with the University Faculty Senate, the relevant College Councils, or the relevant campus governance organizations,
Therefore Be It Resolved that the proposed policy of two campuses sharing a presidency be carefully examined through significant consultation with the appropriate UFS representatives, the affected College Councils and the local governance bodies before implementation, and
Be It Further Resolved that representatives from the existing governance bodies on each alliance campus be included in the work groups that are considering shared services across the regional campus alliance, and
Be It Further Resolved that decisions regarding the sharing of services among campuses be made only after significant consultation with the appropriate campus governance body, and
Be It Further Resolved that the System Administration and UFS leadership work to clarify the forms by which appropriate consultation occurs the implementation of significant new policies or actions that affect the state-operated campuses.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
159-03-1
Resolution on Evaluation of Shared Services
October 22, 2011
Passed Unanimously w/o Dissent
University Faculty Senate
Executive Committee
159th Plenary
Purchase College
October 22, 2011
Resolution on Evaluation of Shared Services
Whereas, the University Faculty Senate has been concerned about increases in administrative costs, its effects on resources available for academic programs and services, and
Whereas, the Board of Trustees has indicated in its resolution of June 15, 2011, that SUNY campuses should find ways to share and/or consolidate administrative services, realign academic offerings and enhance procurement efficiencies to allow for enhanced spending on instruction and student services, and
Whereas, System Administration has encouraged campuses to find ways to share services through regional and other partnerships, and
Whereas, System Administration is establishing an oversight process to review these shared services and other cost-saving measures,
Therefore, Be It Resolved that the University Faculty Senate requests that the Chancellor ensure the oversight process includes:
• a system-wide committee consisting of faculty (including a representative of the UFS Operations Committee), students, and administrative staff, to guide this process, and
• appropriate measures (such as benchmarking) and procedures for fiscal accountability be identified and developed, in order to calculate the savings achieved from any and all of these shared services, and
• these measures demonstrate the extent to which enhanced spending on academic programs is achieved, and
• both quantitative and qualitative outcomes resulting from shared services be identified, considered, and addressed, and
• in order to facilitate transparency and assist campuses in assessing institutional effectiveness, data collected by SUNY as part of this initiative be available to campus administrations and local governance bodies, and
Be it Further Resolved that a report on the shared services initiative be presented to the University Faculty Senate no less frequently than annually.
Passed
Respectfully submitted,
Gregg Hartvigsen
University Faculty Senator
SUNY Geneseo
Senate SAC Minutes
25 October 2011
Attendance and subcommittee assignments (with subcommittee chair) are given in Table 1.
Chair Dan Repinski called the meeting to order at 4 pm. The committee (we) reviewed and approved the proposed agenda. We agreed that we should utilize parliamentary procedures and a formal voting process in deciding on committee actions, proposals, or resolutions. Introductions were made and the SAC meeting calendar was reviewed. We agreed to keep minutes of our meetings and to rotate the responsibility of minute taking proceeding in alphabetical order by last name, starting with Macula.
Dan indicated that his proposed agenda was based on input from multiple sources. Five issues were proposed as topics for our committee to address: medical amnesty policy, student concerns about registration, campus response to sexual assault, administration and function of the SOFI, and updating the academic calendar to include non-Christian holidays. Dan proposed that we address these issues in a subcommittee format, with Dan serving as a general coordinator/liaison. Each of these specific issues was discussed in turn.
The SAC decided to form three subcommittees to address the following issues:
1. Medical Amnesty Student representatives reported that students fear being sanctioned or disciplined and thus do not seek help for other students who are potentially in serious substance-induced medical crises. Students are concerned that these fears compromise student safety. They hope to propose a policy change that would ensure students seeking to help others will not be penalized for doing so.
It was noted that the SAC discussed this issue extensively in the past and that these discussions led to proposals/recommendations that were deemed to be in conflict with the law. Student representatives noted that, since that time, there appear to have been changes to NYS law; furthermore, they report that multiple other SUNY schools have an amnesty policy similar to the one being sought. There was general agreement that changes in laws and other SUNY policies would provide a strong argument for local policy change. Dr. Bob Bonfiglio is the resource person on campus for work in this area.
2. Registration Student representatives described various frustrations: a short window of time for actual registration, the time consuming nature of getting into courses requiring overrides, computer system failures, scheduling conflicts, and an overly short drop/add period. Dean Savi Iyer is the point person on campus for work in this area.
3. Sexual Assault Campus response to sexual assault was described as important to consider given recent changes to the code of conduct, changes in requirements from the Office of Civil Rights (OCR), and changes consequent to the campus-wide program on sexual assault last year. Student representatives indicated that many students are unclear about what exactly constitutes sexual assault; they also indicated students are concerned about sexual assault reporting options. Specifically, many students want to be able to remain anonymous and students believe that reporting will lead to different consequences depending on which campus official receives the report. Dean of Students Lenny Sancillio and Deputy Title IX Coordinator Melinda DuBois are the resource persons on campus for work in this area.
After deliberation, the SAC voted to refer to other Senate Committees for consideration, respectively to FAC and to Policy, concerns about the administration and use of the SOFI, and questions about the inclusion of non-Christian holidays on the academic calendar.
Tim suggested that textbook cost/access is another possible issue for SAC consideration. Many students report to the library that they cannot afford books each semester and attempt to obtain books through IDS or use books on reserve. The SAC decided that textbook cost/access might be a topic to consider in the future pending more specific information about the extent of the problem and whether this problem has been worsening over time.
Before the meeting was adjourned, each subcommittee gathered to discuss potential next steps and subcommittee meeting times.
Table 1
Next Meeting: 11/15/2011, Milne 121, 4 PM
Nominees for the Committee on Faculty Personnel
These nominees (and any additional nominations from the floor at the All-College meeting on November 9) will appear on the ballot for election. Three nominees will be elected of which one must be a Professor (a.k.a. Full Professor).
Kenneth Asher, Professor, English
Robert Doggett, Associate Professor, English
Ronald Herzman, Distinguished Teaching Professor, English
Kimberly Hoffman, Associate Librarian, Library
Douglas MacKenzie, Associate Professor, Communicative Disorders and Sciences
Donald Marozas, Professor, School of Education
Duane McPherson, Associate Professor, Biology
Olympia Nicodemi, Distinguished Teaching Professor, Mathematics
Michael Oberg, Professor, History
Robert O'Donnell, Distinguished Teaching Professor, Biology
Ray Spear, Professor, Biology