College Senate Bulletin

Bulletin 4
24 September 1999

Contents
Page	Topic
63	Announcements
	Upcoming Senate Committee Meetings
	Commission on Diversity & Community URL
	Message from the Chair
	Nominations Needed for the Committee on Nominations
64 - 71	Minutes
	College Senate Meeting (21 September)
72	Membership of Intersession & Summer School Study Group
72	Membership of Technology Planning Board
73 - 75	Updated List of Senate Standing Committee Memberships

______________________________________________________________

Correspondence: Becky L. Glass, Department of Sociology, Sturges 122C
E-mail: senate@geneseo.edu Phone: 245-5336
__________________________________________________________________

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Upcoming Committee Meetings

Faculty Affairs Committee will meet Tues, Sept. 28, at 4:00 pm in South 209.

Student Affairs Committee will meet Tues, Sept. 28, at 4:00 pm in Sturges 109. Dr. Bonfiglio and Rich Farquharson will speak to the committee about Community and Diversity.

Undergraduate Curriculum Committee will meet Tues, Sept. 28, at 4:00 pm in Sturges 112.

President's Commission on Diversity and Community URL

The full report of the President's Commission on Diversity and Community is available on the web at:

http://www.geneseo.edu/~prez/Diversity/

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

Nominations Needed for the Committee on Nominations

Nominations are still being accepted for three positions that will become available on the Committee on Nominations December 1, replacing Ellen Kintz, Dan Repinski, and Patrice Case. Please give your nominations to one of the members of the committee: Kintz, Repinski, Case, Randy Bailey, Wendy Pogozelski, or Anne-Marie Reynolds.

The task of the committee is to create slates of candidates to run for elective offices in Senate, including the officers, Faculty Personnel Committee, Nominations Committee, University Faculty Senator, and At-Large Senators.

___________________________________________________________________________

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

- Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

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Minutes of the College Senate

21 September 1999

Present: Bailey, Ballard, Bazzett, Bonfiglio, Bosch, S.,Bosch, L., Broikou, Bulsys, Bushnell, Case, Cleeton, Crosby, Cylke, Dahl,Derne', Dixon, Feeley, Filice, Fletcher, Freeman, Gillin, Glass, Gohlman,Greenfield, Gridley, Hartvigsen, Hill, Hon, Howe, Iyer, Jones, Kaminski,Kaplan, Kirkwood, Kirsh, Koch, Landes, Leary, Levison, Lima, Liu, Lovett,Mason, McCoy, McEwen, Metz, Miller, Mohan, Morse, Nicodemi, Over, Pacheco,Putman, Reynolds, Salmon, Sancilio, Schacht, Schiavetti, Stolee, Sullivan,Teres, Vasiliev, Waddy , Watt, West, Barnes, Eisenberg, Emhoff, Falk, Hahn,Happ, Haskins, Henshaw, Kupper, Lee, Sander, Seymour, Spillman, Belois,Coleman, Lobsinger

Call To Order: Chair B. Glass called the meeting to order at4:00 pm., and she welcomed new and returning student and faculty senators.

Adoption of Agenda: The agenda was moved, seconded, and approvedas printed.

Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the final 1998-1999 SenateMeeting, held on May 4, 1999, were approved unanimously as printed on pp.400-402 of the 1998-99 College Senate Bulletin. The minutes of the first1999-2000 Senate Meeting, held on May 4, 1999, were approved unanimouslyas printed on pp. 403-404 of the 1998-99 College Senate Bulletin.

Senate Reports

President’s Report (C. Dahl): The President echoed the Chair’swelcome to new and returning senators, and then reported on four items:

1. The State University Budget is still not determined, and it is unlikelythat the Board of Trustees (BOT) will complete the process at their meetingtomorrow. For the next Senate meeting in October, President Dahl will producea written report detailing the recommendations of the Budget Committee(chaired by J. Boiani) and how those recommendations will be met. Geneseowill probably be adequately funded in the State University Budget. Alterationsin the allocation process will probably not have significant negative effectson Geneseo, but it is unlikely that funding will be particularly good.We have been assured that there is an agreement with the governor to fundthe $32.2 million in salary costs under the previous contract, but detailson the agreement are unclear.
2. Dr. James Wilkinson, Director of the Derek Bok Center for Teaching andLearning at Harvard, will speak on campus on October 25 on" The Scholarship of Teaching." This talk is intended to serve as a kick-off event in keeping with ongoing discussions on the "scholarship of teaching" and the purpose and methods of evaluating teaching. The talk will most likely be in the late afternoon or evening. A group of faculty, with leadership from H. Waddy, have become involved in national efforts funded by the Carnegie Foundation to address issues in the evaluation of teaching.
Much activity is proceeding on two major building projects and several renovations. First, architects are meeting with members of science departments to develop plans for an Integrated Sciences Building, the goal of which is to improve teaching, research, and office spaces for faculty in the sciences. Current efforts involve identifying specific needs and itemizing costs. The college is committed to finding resources to cover funding for this project. Second, plans are proceeding for a new Residential Hall Complex for juniors and seniors. This fall, consultations with students will help to identify student needs. Plans are to locate the townhouse/apartment-style complex on the hillside below Parking Lot B. The apartment style, rather than a dormitory style building, is expected to appeal more to students who might otherwise move off-campus. The location of the complex will provide a nice view of the valley, but will also serve to link the south and north sides of campus. Finally, renovations of most of the northside residence halls will be completed over the next several years. Each will probably be closed for about a year to reconfigure and renovate the buildings. An effort will be made to restyle the residence halls in a way that fits with the academic needs of students and the mission and goals of the college.President Dahl will meet on Thursday, September 23, 1999, with the Commission on Diversity and Community. New and replacement members will soon be appointed. The college is already making strides toward increased recruitment of international and minority students and faculty. The commission’s charge for the coming year will be to oversee these efforts, and to continue dialogues on how we can make Geneseo a more welcoming place for people of diverse backgrounds.

Provost’s Report (B. Dixon): The Provost reported on four items:

1.  
   1. The SUNY Provosts’ Advisory Task Force on General Education has completed a draft of a report on their efforts to identify learning outcomes associated with The Board of Trustees’ mandate on General Education requirements. [Provost Dixon provided a full report near the end of the Senate meeting. See "New Business."] At the college level, the chairs of our Core Committees will join the General Education Committee to prepare our response to the BOT General Education mandate.
   2. A committee has been appointed to examine strategic issues in meeting technology goals, to plan for future technology needs, to determine how to use current resources effectively, to develop plans for recycling existing technology, and to inventory current laboratory equipment on campus. The name of the committee is undetermined, but may be the Technology Planning Board, or the Campus Technology Advisory Group. Chair of the committee is B. Simon (Biology). The 15 members of the committee represent each division on campus.
   3. A committee has been appointed jointly by the Provost and the Senate Chair to examine the Intersession and Summer Sessions. The committee will be considered an Ad Hoc Senate Committee. Its goal is to examine the quality of what has been done in Summer Sessions for many years, and in Intersession since its inception in 1993, as well as to make recommendations about what else might be done in these sessions. The committee will produce an interim report at the end of this semester, with a final report at the end of the spring semester. Part of the committee’s task will include forming focus groups to assess the needs and interests of students.
   4. The Provost is in the process of asking individuals to serve on a Middle States Accreditation Committee. The college must complete a self-study in the next two years, and we will be visited by the accreditation team in the fall of 2001.

1.  
   Chair’s Report (B. Glass):

   B. Glass informed the Senate of recent events involving Old Westbury College (OWC), and of the actions taken by the Geneseo Executive Committee in response to those events. The Faculty Senate at OWC and Joe Flynn, President of the University Faculty Senate (UFS) contacted all Campus Governance Leaders 12 days ago about a highly irregular presidential search at Old Westbury. The notice indicated that the search lasted only 8 days, was not nationally advertised, involved only 2 candidates, and included no participation on the search committee by the faculty or the OWC provost’s office. The notice asked the faculty senates of each SUNY school to pass resolutions supporting the OWC faculty in their protest about the search process. This request was discussed at the September 10^th meeting of the Executive Committee of the Geneseo Senate, and the members of the Exec. Comm. agreed to seek further information before acting. At the UFS meeting on September 16-18, B. Glass and J. Bulsys found that there apparently was not "another side to the story," and that the presidential search appeared to violate the Trustees’ own guidelines for conducting a search.

   B. Glass then described the sequence of events at Old Westbury College. In May of 1998, an Interim President was appointed to serve at OWC. The faculty expected that six faculty members would be asked to serve on the search committee (as the SUNY Board of Trustees’ guidelines call for). The Senate chair compiled a list of 16 faculty who were willing to serve, notified the College Council and the Chancellor that the Senate would hold an election as soon as the search process got underway, and waited through the Spring of 1999 for notification that they should proceed. On July 6, 1999, the Chair of the OWC College Council informed the outgoing Chair of the OWC Faculty Senate that he planned to advertise for the position in August, conduct interviews in September, and hire a new president by October. On July 14, 1999, the incoming Chair of the OWC Faculty Senate read in the newspaper that the Chair of the SUNY Board of Trustees was advocating Rev. Calvin Butts as the leading candidate for President of OWC. [B. Glass read selections from the newspaper article, which suggested that T. Egan, BOT Chair, strongly supported Rev. Butts.] On July 27, the first meeting of the search committee was held. The OWC Faculty Senate Executive Committee members attended as observers, and continued to remind the College Council that the BOT guidelines and policies were not being followed. On the same day, the search committee interviewed Rev. Butts. On August 4, the Chair of the OWC Faculty Senate resigned from the search committee. The search committee interviewed Interim President Keen, and then went into executive session to nominate Rev. Butts.

   B. Glass noted that the OWC Faculty Senate has been diligent in communicating with the Chancellor, the Chair of their College Council, the Trustees, and even legislators about concerns with the search process. They repeatedly noted that the search did not follow the guidelines that the Board of Trustees wrote themselves. When B. Glass was in Albany for the UFS meetings, three OWC delegates and the President of UFS met with the Chancellor, who told them that the search was "seriously flawed" but that Butts would be good for the college. When pressed for more information, he responded, "Trust me."

   The Board of Trustees is meeting tomorrow, Wednesday, September 22, 1999, and the approval of Rev. Butts as President of OWC is on the agenda. The UFS composed a resolution at the planning meeting on Sept. 16-18, which noted the irregularities of the presidential search at OWC and ended with the following: "Therefore be it resolved that the University Faculty Senate urges the SUNY Board of Trustees: to table the appointment of a president at the College at Old Westbury; and, to direct the Old Westbury College Council to initiate a presidential search consistent with the Board of Trustees Guidelines and Policies; and, to ensure that all future presidential searches in SUNY are conducted in a manner consistent with the Guidelines and Policies of the Board of Trustees." The UFS also composed a resolution about recent legislation that appears to allow commercial development of OWC land, but this issue is murkier and the Geneseo Executive Committee did not address it. All the above information was conveyed to the Geneseo Executive Committee, who unanimously agreed that Geneseo should support the UFS resolution and should forward our support to the UFS, the Chancellor, the Trustees, and the OWC Senate. Although we agreed that it would be valuable to have the entire Senate act on the resolution, time was of the essence because of the BOT meeting tomorrow. The Executive Committee therefore forwarded the following statement: "The SUNY Geneseo College Senate Executive Committee unanimously supports the University Faculty Senate resolution regarding the presidential search at Old Westbury College." B. Glass noted that 13 campuses had approved the UFS resolution as of last Saturday.

   Treasurer’s Report (M. Mohan): Account balances are $4274.43 in the College Senate Fund; and $1069.52 in the Roark Award endowment (principal). Get-well greetings are being sent to Linda House, who is recovering from surgery at home. M. Mohan asked Senators to keep her informed of any member of the Geneseo community who is ill or bereaved. Solicitation letters will be sent in October to request donations for the Senate Fund and/or the Roark Award Fund (supporting the Richard Roark Faculty Memorial Award).

   University Faculty Senator’s Report (J. Bulsys): The University Faculty Senate (UFS) met at SUNY System Administration, September 16-18, 1999, for the Faculty Senate Planning Conference. This first meeting of the year is traditionally devoted to planning sessions by the Senate’s standing committees and by Campus Governance Leaders, with an executive report by the UFS President (Joe Flynn). At this year’s meeting, Chancellor Ryan and Dave DeMarco (chief budget officer of SUNY) also were present for remarks and discussion. In addition, the Old Westbury issue was discussed.

   Three items were noteworthy from Chancellor Ryan’s remarks:

   1. He called for reestablishment and strengthening of the advisory role of the UFS, rather than an adversarial role.
   2. He noted his continuing efforts to secure a $32 million subsidiary budget request to meet the costs of the UUP contract (needed for annualization of last year’s costs).
   3. He assured the UFS that he will meet deficiencies in the state-allocated SUNY budget by using "university-wide reserves," that is, system administration’s central fund.

   
   Dave DeMarco’s comments on the budget were confined to:

   4. A breakdown of the approximately 4.5 billion dollars spent by New York State on higher education (not including community college expenditures). He reminded the UFS that aside from the state-supported "core instructional budget" of SUNY ($1.6 billion, of which $800 million is state tax dollars and the rest is tuition), the state also pays about 700 million annually in debt service and fringe benefits.
   5. He also reviewed the full-time faculty line appropriation approved by the Board of Trustees. The intent, according to DeMarco, is to get more full-time teachers on SUNY campuses. However, since this is a new initiative, it may very well be a one-year program.

   
   The Old Westbury issue also was addressed at UFS, as described by Chair Glass. J. Bulsys noted that it is unusual for the Executive Committee, or for USF, to issue resolutions as it did at a planning meeting, but the seriousness of the issue and timing led to the action. As of Saturday, 12 SUNY campuses had issued supporting resolutions, and the Campus Governance leaders also drafted a strongly worded motion of support.Finally, Joe Flynn, President of UFS, addressed the USF and provided an update on the Chancellor’s Search. He, four trustees, 1 president, and one student will comprise the search committee. Phase 1 of the search is completed, with criteria developed, a position announcement prepared, and a firm expert in such searches hired to assist. Phase 2 will include interviews to be conducted during September, October, and November. These interviews will be highly confidential. However, Flynn has had full access to all meetings pertaining to the search.

   Flynn also commented on the General Education Guidelines drafted by the SUNY Task Force. He would like to see a close connection with the Undergraduate Committee of USF as discussion and implementation of the guidelines occur. He also noted that SUNY campuses must file responses to the draft guidelines between September and December. Flynn is considering having a panel at the spring plenary session of UFS to "see how things are going on the campuses."

   Flynn also noted that the Campus Presidential Review Process emanating from the Chancellor’s Office is well underway. It is expected that campus presidents will undergo review on a 3- to 5-year cycle. As the process continues, local governance leaders and senate officers should be made aware of the schedule and guidelines.

   At the end of the UFS planning meeting, each of the UFS standing committees gave summary planning reports. J. Bulsys will share notes with interested persons. Highlights include:

   6. Awards Committee funded 12 Conversations with the Disciplines projects last year. It would like to increase support and allow more time for applications this year. An Excellence Award in Research and Creative Activities is under consideration.
   7. Graduate Research Committee is planning to convert its grant writing videotape to a powerpoint presentation on the SUNY Senate website. They also are developing a data base of SUNY Faculty involved in research who can help others get started.
   8. Public Information Committee continues to work on the SUNY Senate website, with an objective of making the "University as transparent as possible" to those visiting the site.
   9. Governance Committee is seeking to clearly define what "faculty consultation" means, and to develop a "best practices" folder for the review of senior administrators at the local campuses (VP’s, Deans) and establishment/development of College Foundations.
   10. Undergraduate Committee will collect data concerning Teacher Certification at the 16 SUNY units offering Education degrees and determine how each campus is meeting new state standards. The committee also wants to ensure cross-communication on campuses as General Education Guidelines are refined and implemented.
   11. Operations Committee has several data collection projects across SUNY, involving such topics as fees on campuses other than state funding sources, minority student and faculty profiles, faculty profiles by gender and rank, and the state of information systems and electronic communications on campuses (some of which do not have email!).

   
   Central Council (A. Gridley):

   12. Student Association meetings will be held on Wednesdays at 6:00 pm, in the Hunt Room of the College Union.
   13. Frank Meeink, a former skinhead, will be on campus this Thursday at 8:00 pm to talk about his involvement in the skinhead organization and the power of hatred.
   14. Student senators will have their first (ever) retreat on Saturday, September 25, 1999, at the Campus House from 9:00am to 5:00pm.
   15. Central Council needs students to fill appointments to various college committees. Students who are interested in serving should contact Kevin Lee (email address KL1).
       1.  
          1. Mathematics. (Our new Numeric and Symbolic Reasoning Core)
          2. Natural Sciences. (Our N/ Core)
          3. Social Sciences. (Our S/ Core)
          4. American History. (We currently do not have an American History requirement, although we do have courses that could address the learning outcomes for this category.)
          5. Western Civilization. (Our HUMN I and II)
          6. Humanities. (Also covered by our HUMN I and II)
          7. Other World Civilizations. (Our M/ Core)
          8. The Arts. (Our F/ Core)
          9. Foreign Language. (A potential problem, although it may be that Advanced Placement would count toward this requirement. Approximately 80% of our students come to Geneseo with three or more years of a foreign language. The question for us is whether to require a 1-semester course for all our students.)
          
          

           

   
   Reports of the Standing CommitteesUndergraduate Curriculum (T. Bazzett): UCC moved the following for approval.

   First Readings:Biology: New Course Proposal for Biol 334, Biology of Cancer, was seconded and approved unanimously as printed on pp.38-44 of the Senate Bulletin.Communicative Disorders and Sciences: New course proposal for CDSc 320, Manual Language Systems, was seconded and approved unanimously as printed on pp. 45-50 of the Senate Bulletin.

   Education: New course proposal for Educ 365, Cultural Pluralism and Education in the United States, was seconded and approved unanimously as printed on pp. 51-58 of the Senate Bulletin.Undergraduate Academic Policies, Core, and Review (B. Gohlman): No report. Policy committee members should have received an email from B. Gohlman. The committee will meet later this semester.Graduate Academic Affairs (J. Bushnell): No report.

   Faculty Affairs Committee (N. Schiavetti): FAC will meet at 4:00pm on September 28, 1999, in South Hall, Room 209. Topics of discussion will include: 1) Continuation of the SOFI’s; and 2) Criteria for Promotion and Tenure. The second topic was carried over to this year’s FAC by last year’s Senate. These two topics will take priority, but others will be discussed as time permits.

   Student Affairs (E. Crosby): The committee will meet at 4:00 pm on September 28^th in Sturges 109.

   Unfinished Business

   None

   New Business

   Provost Dixon presented a draft of the report prepared by the SUNY Provosts Advisory Task Force on General Education. Statements in the report are in terms of learning outcomes, unlike the original mandate from the Board of Trustees, which was in terms of credit hours. However, the Task Force report states that the General Education requirements must include 30 credit hours overall. The Task Force report deliberately leaves definitions of some items to the individual campuses. Provost Dixon credited B. Swain (SUNY Binghamton) with continually reminding the Task Force and the other chief academic officers of the need to leave some vagueness in these definitions. Provost Dixon also noted that Dean Greenfield has commented that our class syllabi are usually not stated in terms of learning outcomes. We may therefore need to change the way we present course objectives.

   The Task Force report identifies several categories of learning outcomes. Each is prefaced by the statement, "Students will demonstrate their understanding of the basic principles of…" Provost Dixon displayed the categories, and noted the components of the current Geneseo core requirements that will probably or possibly meet each requirement:

   KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS:

COMPETENCIES: 1.Critical Thinking (Reasoning) Our new Critical Reading and Writing Core will address this.2.Information Management. Dean Greenfield is working with the library staff, who provide much direct instruction with students. (He also noted that successful registration for courses over the Web ought to constitute proof of competency!) He may seek input from the Department Chairs about addressing this requirement through the major programs. Provost Dixon noted that the Task Force sought to retain as much autonomy for individual campuses as possible, and therefore made several recommendations regarding instructional modalities. These included allowing a variety of formats for instruction, spreading general education requirements across all four years of the undergraduate program, and integrating the Gen. Ed. Requirements with the major. Other recommendations included options for using Advanced Placement, High School achievement, CLEP testing, or credit by examination to meet some requirements, as well as allowing alternative requirements for specialized professional programs (such as Nursing programs). The Task Force also noted the possibility that an extension of time would be needed by some campuses if significant resource constraints exist. Finally, the Task Force suggested some methods of assessing campuses’ adherence to Gen. Ed. Requirements, which might be evidenced by assigning the best teaching faculty to teach Gen. Ed. Courses, offering specific courses for Gen. Ed. requirements, considering contributions to core teaching in tenure/promotion processes, and articulating a coherent philosophy regarding general education.Questions and discussion:

S. Iyer (Physics) noted that the learning outcomes in some categories specified demonstrating understanding in "at least one area," such as in the arts. Since Geneseo currently requires more than this minimum in some core areas, is it likely that we will redistribute credit requirements from those areas to others we do not currently require? The Provost replied that she hoped not. Dean Greenfield stated that he was not inclined to go in that direction either, and that the Curriculum Task Force had recently reaffirmed the current emphases. The Provost noted that more evaluation was needed to determine the potential effects on majors and electives of adding another 3-credit requirement.

B. McCoy (English) has heard Distance Learning mentioned as an option for meeting Gen. Ed. requirements. How do the Board of Trustees and the SUNY Provosts feel about Distance Learning? Provost Dixon noted that the BOT are very interested in Distance Learning options. Geneseo has a good DL facility it would be nice to use, but our more traditional student body more likely prefers interacting with a real person. Provost Dixon would like to see us explore options for DL rather than be unnecessarily afraid of it. President Dahl commented that the Democrat & Chronicle recently reported that almost no Distance Learning courses are going on through the SUNY Learning Network. Brockport offers very few such courses, and New Paltz offers only six. The fears about massive proliferation of DL appear unfounded. President Dahl advocated taking a strategic view: our school may attract students because of the opportunity of working closely with faculty. Provost Dixon noted that the Curriculum Task Force recommendations about incorporating diversity issues into more courses should be reviewed to determine whether DL courses might help meet those goals.

J. Bulsys (University Faculty Senator) noted that no one item on the Provosts’ Task Force report was particularly troubling, but that the whole list of recommendations seemed to require redistribution of academic resources, which would be difficult at a dollar-and-cents level. Provost Dixon replied that the Board of Trustees realizes funding will be required. The campuses have been asked to submit lists of new resources we would need to meet the Gen. Ed. requirements. Just as when the new Writing Core requirement replaces the old Critical Reasoning Core, some shifts will be needed. But major shifts will probably not be needed. J. Bulsys noted that the problem of working as a system began well before the Provosts’ Task Force began their efforts. President Dahl stated that the Task Force has been clear about the potential costs involved in implementing the Gen. Ed. requirements, and that they have attempted to confront the Board of Trustees on these issues. Provost Dixon particularly noted the efforts of the five faculty senate representatives on the Task Force, and of Swain (Binghamton).

Provost Dixon reported that the question of how community colleges will be affected by the BOT requirements is unclear. They are not required to follow the requirements, but they will probably want to so that their students will be able to transfer their credits to four-year institutions.

R. McEwen (Foreign Languages) noted her department’s concern about the potential need to hire many new faculty in a short time. However, a long term view suggests that the foreign language requirement may enhance the national perception of the quality of SUNY schools.

Provost Dixon ended her remarks by noting to students that none of this will affect current students. The Bulletin in effect when a student enters the school is the one that governs the student’s graduation requirements.

Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 5:24 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Joan C. Ballard
Secretary of the College Senate