University at Albany - State University of New York

2004-05 University Senate

Minutes of April 11, 2005

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Present: J.P. Abraham, J. Acker, J. Bartow, J. Berkowitz, D. Bernnard, T. Bessette, R. Bromley, S. Chaiken,
  N. Claiborne, R. Collier, R. Craig, J. Doellefeld, S. Friedman, R. Gibson, K. Hall, J. Hanifan, F. Hauser,
 

A. Hildreth, E. Hoscoy, R. Hoyt, V. Idone, M. Jerison, S.B. Kim, W. Lanford, C. Lawson, K. Lowery, A. Lyons,

  C. Mac Donald, S. Maloney,J. Marler, T. Maxwell,D. McCaffrey, L. McNutt, C. Merbler, S. Messner, G. Moore,
  J. Mumpower, J. Murphy, O. Pelosi, M. Pryse, L. Raffalovich, R. M. Range, J. Razzano, J. Rudolph,
   H. Scheck, L. Schell, M. Sherman, L. Snyder, B. Spanier, J. Stromer-Galley, L. Videka,  D. Wagner, J. Wessman,
  J.Wick-Pelletier, S. Wood, E. Wulfert, A. Zonder

 

Guests:���������David Andersen, Deborah Andersen, R. Baum, Bloniarz, J. Carson,

V. Delio, S. Mahan, J. Neely

John P. Schmidt, Chair of the UUP Ad Hoc Committee on the Future of SUNY

 

Minutes: ������� The minutes of March 14, 2005 were approved.

 

President�s Report:Presented by President Kermt L. Hall:

2004 ENROLLMENT CHALLENGE

o       Undergraduate shortfall of 461

-80 freshmen

����������� ���������-207 continuing students

����������� ���������-174 nondegree undergraduates

o       Graduate shortfall of 195

**Fall 2004 enrollment of 16,293 is 1,133 fewer than Fall 2002 enrollment of 17,423

o       We need to do this quickly with new students. Thus we plan to enroll:

freshman class of 2350����������� +250 over Fall 2004 (planned)
        
new transfer class of1400����������� ����������� +250 over Fall 2004.

FALL 2005 FRESHMAN ADMISSIONS

����� ����������� Group 1 ����������� -645

����� ����������� Group 2����������� -386

����� ����������� Group 3����������� -416

����� ����������� Increases in Group 4 and 5

(only 100 group 3 students were admitted in 2004.)

����� ����������� Average SAT ����������� 1169����������� (vs. 1191 last year)

����� ����������� Average GPA ����������� 89.8����������� (vs. 91.2 last year)

 

TRANSFER ADMISSIONS -- also very important group of students

 

GRADUATE ADMISSIONS

 

OPEN HOUSE:���� STUDENT OPEN HOUSES -FOR ADMITTED

April 2                 413 students plus their family members (~1200 people)
April 9��������       730 students plus their family members (~2100 people) - a record attendance!��

       66 deposits on the spot (9% of attendees) also a record.

INAUGURAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND:

GIFTS AND PLEDGES (Dollars)

 

President's Discretionary Fund 100,000
Individual Gifts 31,420
   
Major Pledges  
Kermit and Phyllis Hall 10,000
Barnes & Noble ��������� 10,000
Alumni Association�� 10,000
F. Michael and Lynette Tucker 10,000
Marty Silverman�� 10,000
Chartwells 10,000
   
Senior Class Gifts & Pledges 11,252
����TOTAL$ - GIFTS & PLEDGES $202,672

 

 

 

��� ����������� �����������

GIFTS AND PLEDGES (Number)

Individual Gifts��������������� ����������������������� ����������� ��������� 33

Senior Class Gifts & Pledges���������� ����������������������� �����349(108 � Gifts / 241 � Pledges)

Major Pledges���������� ����������������������� ����������� ����������� �������6���������

TOTAL # - GIFTS AND PLEDGES����� ����������������������� ��������� 388

����������������������� ����������� ���

IN THE NEWS -- UALBANY SUCCESS:

 

UAlbany Graduate Programs Ranked Among Top 25 in the Nation by U.S. News and World Report.

 

2006 Rankings
����������������������� ����������������������� ����������������������� ����������� �����������2006��� ����������2005��� 2004

School of Criminal Justice ������������ ����������� �����������          Rank #2������� n/a����� ����� 4���������

Information and technology management ��� �����������         Rank #4����� ����4����� ����� 6

Public management and administration �����������               Rank #6����� ����6����� ����� 8

Public finance and budgeting �������� ����������������������� ���������Rank #9 ������ ����9����� ��� 14

Public policy program ����������������������� ����������� �����������     Rank#10��������� 10���� ��� 12

Library science ����������� ����������������������� ����������� �����������   Rank #15����� �� 15���� ��� 15

Social welfare ����������� ����������������������� ����������������������� ����Rank #19����� �� 19���� ��� 19

Public policy analysis ����������������������� �����������                Rank #25����� �� 25���� ��� 17

Sociology program ����� ����������������������� ����������� �����������   Rank #25 ���� ��24���� ��� 24

School of Education***�� ����������������������� �����������           Rank #62����� �� 36���� ��� 46

 

NIH funds $1.4 Million Study on Cancer Dormancy and Preventing Metastatic Growth

The National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Center Institute have awarded Julio Aguirre-Ghiso of UAlbany�s Gen*NY*Sis Center for Excellence in Cancer Genomics a $1.4 million grant to find ways to stop metastatic growth of cancer cells.

 

Governor Pataki Announces Partnerships With UAlbany and John Jay College to Develop Enhanced Crime Fighting Initiatives
Governor George E. Pataki announces that the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services has entered into historic partnerships with the University at Albany and John Jay College of Criminal Justice to enhance the strategic crime control and prevention initiatives used for Operation IMPACT.

 

Reducing Depression in Homebound Older Adults Subject of UAlbany Study
UAlbany Center receives $1 million from the National Institute of Mental Health.UAlbany researchers funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) will study and evaluate a depression treatment program for older homebound medically ill adults.

 

UAlbany's Center for Policy Research to Lead Study of Impacts of the Tsunami on Southern Thailand
The University at Albany's Center for Policy Research will lead an international team to study the impacts of the devastating tsunami that struck the Indian Ocean basin in December 2004. The study is funded by a $76,819 grant from the National Science Foundation.

 

USAID Awards UAlbany $17 Million to Bolster Democracy in Lebanon
The Center for Legislative Development (CLD) at the University at Albany has been awarded a three-year, $17 million grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to continue its efforts to strengthen municipal institutions in Lebanon and increase their effectiveness in support of democracy.

FOUNTAIN DAY � APRIL 17

 

Volunteers for Fountain Day (Bouchard) 

         To date, we have approximately 200 volunteers signed up to work at Fountain Day

         About 25 of those signed up are faculty members. Faculty who not volunteer are still encouraged to attend.

         The festivities will take place from 12 noon  - 3:00 on the circle.

         The fountain area will open at 3:00 till 4:00 pm. 

         The fountain area will be open to faculty staff and students only this year. 

         This year, students have been asked to sign a pledge that states they will uphold a safe fountain day.

         To date, 2300 students have done so!

 

VOICE OF THE STUDENTS � APRIL 19

 

Voice of the Students (Bouchard)

Meeting student needs requires that the needs be fully understood.
The �Voice of the Students� is the term we are using to describe the student panel discussions we are hosting that will allow our students to speak directly to us regarding the issues that are of major concern to them.
The first "Voice of the Students" session  will be held on April 19 at 4:00 pm in CC 375.
The topic is "Course Availability and Advisement Issues". 
The following week, April 26, same time and location, students will talk about "Housing Sign up."
We are also hosting a "Voice of the Parents" session in Long Island on May 10, to speak directly with the parents of our students on issues of importance to parents.

 

OTHER TOPICS:

Dashboard � (April 2005)

 

State Budget / Capital Plan / Vetoes

Capital

$75M - Executive's ASML Research Center

$75M - Nanotechnology Research Consortium

$25M - East Campus

$24.5M - Life Sciences & New Entry/Admissions

$1M - Brubacher Hall

$5 M - CESTM Electrical Substation

 

Tuition

***Assembly and Senate added $85M in state aid to address mandatory and contractual costs as opposed to increasing tuition.The Governor would like to offset some of the state aid with a tuition increase.

 

Chancellor Stepping Down / Replacement

         SUNY Chancellor Robert L. King announced his intention to step down from the position of chancellor, effective June 1.

         Board of Trustees Chairman Thomas F. Egan and Vice Chairman Randy A. Daniels proposed that King be appointed to the rank of University Professor and to the position of acting president of the College at Potsdam effective June 1, 2005. 

         Potsdam President Fallon has taken the position of president of Eastern Michigan University beginning in July.

         The SUNY board of trustees is scheduled to discuss the SUNY chancellor's resignation and compensation package at its meeting tomorrow (4/11/05)

(End President Hall�s report.)

 

UUP Presentation by John P. Schmidt, Chair of the UUP Ad Hoc Committee on the Future of SUNY:The UUP Ad Hoc Committee on the Future of SUNY is visiting campus constituencies across to the state to seek their input on where SUNY should be putting its efforts/changing its mission over the next 10-15 years.  Campus missions need to be reflected in the overall mission of SUNY, and thus, input from all campuses is desired.  What do UUP members see as "missing" from the mission of SUNY?  How does the overall mission of SUNY fit with the mission of the campus?  Input can be provided to John Schmidt at [email protected] or to Candace Merbler, who is also a member of the Future of SUNY Committee at [email protected]  Should you desire an additional session to discuss your concerns and or vision of SUNY, John is more than willing to revisit us in the future.

 

Chair�s Report � presented by Professor Carolyn MacDonald:

 

Voice of the Student: The first forum is scheduled for Tuesday, April 19th.Students will discuss various concerns and experiences at this college to an audience made up of faculty members.Professor MacDonald urged all Senators to attend.The second forum is scheduled for Tuesday, April 26th; student housing will be a topic at that meeting.

 

Solicitation for nominations for senators/senate officers: The Senate needs nominations for the position of Senate Vice Chair for the 2005-06 year.The Council volunteer/ selection form has been distributed via email.Council memberships are for staggered 2-year terms.

 

Senate contribution to the Inaugural Scholarship fund:UPC and the Senate Executive Committee agreed to forego cookies/refreshments at meetings.President Hall will move the money that would have been spent for the remainder of the year on refreshments at those meetings into the Inaugural Scholarship fund.Professor MacDonald asked the Senate members if they wanted to forego the refreshments at meetings and contribute to the fund also.All agreed and refreshments will no longer be provided at meetings.

 

Additional Senate meeting:An additional meeting may need to be scheduled for Monday, May 9, 2005 to complete this year�s Senate business.

 

Council Reports:

 

Council on Academic Assessment (CAA), Professor Malcolm Sherman, Chair:��

The Council continues to receive reports from departments.

 

Council on Research (COR), Professor Vincent Idone, Chair:The Council voted to recommend permanent center status to the Center for Health Workforce Studies in the School of Public Health.The associated documentation has been forwarded to UPC for fuller Senate consideration.Interim Vice President Videka presented an update on the status of implementation of the 2003-04 Council on Research subcommittee recommendations.Good progress has been made to date on most of these, though a few items remain to be addressed.Further consideration of these will occur at the next COR meeting.

 

Council on Promotions and Continuing Appointments (CPCA), Professor Diane Dewar, Chair:The CPCA is meeting weekly.  During the last meeting, President Hall joined the Council briefly to learn more about our process and to share his views concerning promotion and continuing appointment���

 

Graduate Academic Council (GAC), Professor Louise-Anne McNutt, Chair:GAC will have a bill on electronic dissertations for the next Senate meeting.The Interim Dean of Graduate Studies will form a committee to work on logistic details about the Ombudsperson Office.

 

Governance Council (GOV), Professor Steven Messner, Chair:The Joint Working Group with Governance Council/CNSE representatives has formulated a general framework for changes in governance procedures pertaining to graduate curriculum drawing on elements of the report of the Ad Hoc University-Wide Committee.Discussions have been held with the full Council and with members of the Graduate Academic Council.Specific proposals, including possible amendments to the Charter, will be submitted for consideration at the May meeting of the Senate.��� The Committee on the Assessment of Governance and Consultation has been analyzing the results of the web-based faculty survey on governance practices.Results will be reported to the full Council and then to the Senate.The committee has also been developing a framework to guide future committees in conducting assessment of governance on a regular basis.�� The Committee on Liaison and Elections has begun the process of organizing Senate elections for the next Senate.

 

Council on Libraries, Information Systems and Computing (LISC), Professor David Wagner, Chair:�� LISC is involved in discussing institutional repositories, which are a publicly available computerized base of information containing such things as publications, papers, research information, teaching evaluations, etc.

 

Undergraduate Academic Council (UAC), Professor Seth Chaiken, Chair:UAC will present a bill on academic advisement policy under new business.UAC has been conducting discussions on the proposed CAS Honors College and has passed the bill to UPC.The next item for the UAC agenda will be to address the student satisfaction survey with respect to academics.

 

University Life Council (ULC), Professor Gwen Moore, Chair:ULC is looking into parental leave for faculty and professional staff.The Council sent an email broadcast asking for feedback to all faculty.Forty-five responses have been received thus far.ULC has an emeritus member on the Council this year; he is concerned about rights and privileges of emeritus faculty on campus.Emeritus faculty would like to have space on campus that they could use for meetings. ��

 

University Planning and Policy Council (UPC), Professor David McCaffrey, Chair:

In the past month the University Planning and Policy Council has discussed the proposals for a College of Information Science and Computing, an Honors College within the College of Arts and Sciences, the Center for Cancer Genomics, and the proposal for a new building for the
School of Business.  It will be bringing a bill recommending approval of the proposed College of Information Science and Computing to this meeting under new business.

 

Committee on Academic Freedom, Freedom of Expression, and Community Responsibility (CAFFECoR), Professor Lawrence Snyder, Chair:CAFFECoR is considering how the university responds to student grievances in matters not related to academic grades.

 

Committee on Ethics in Research and Scholarship (CERS), Professor R. Michael Range, Chair:CERS will be meeting this week to discuss issues that have come up regarding the initial assessment process and related matters.

 

University Resources & Priorities Advisory Committee (URPAC):Professor Andi Lyons:

URPAC continues to meet weekly.It has met with almost every unit head and the Committee has begun deliberations on what they might provide to President Hall.

 

SURVEY:David Wagner reported on the results of the faculty survey on autonomy.He reminded everyone that the results are not a representative sample; it is a self-selected, not a random sample.Professor Messner noted that if Senate wished to do a representative survey next year, the Governance Council can administer it.Professor MacDonald noted that, without attempting to extract statistics from the data, there is evidence that enough people interested in change to warrant further investigation.

 

Professor Hoyt made a motion that this be done in a more systematic way.The motion voted on was to refer this to the Governance Council to produce a scientific, rigorous, and sampled survey to be administered next year.The motion passed.

 

New Business:

 

Senate Bill 0405-17 (UPC): College of Information and Computing:The bill was introduced by Professor David McCaffrey.Professor McCaffrey reported that UPC recommends the creation of the new college.UPC reviewed the material extensively at four meetings.It was asked whether the Department of Computer would it no longer be part of the College of Arts and Sciences.Dean Wick-Pelletier noted that yes; it will no longer be part of the College of Arts and Sciences. ��In response to questions about resources, Professor McCaffrey noted that UPC was told that the transition would be resource neutral.Dean Wick-Pelletier said she had been fully consulted about the proposed College.Senators spoke in favor of the new College, noting that they believe that it will be a draw to students to the campus.

 

Professor Range proposed an amendment to be inserted before the present item 2:

That the Senate, through the appropriate councils, evaluate the resource, curricular and personnel implications of IT Commons during the academic year 05-06.The new college shall postpone initiatives in support of IT Commons until such an evaluation has been completed and until the Senate has formulated an appropriate recommendation.

 

Dean Bloniarz spoke to the new college proposal and asked the Senate to consider moving forward.There was considerable discussion on the amendment.

 

The proposed amendment went to paper ballot; it was defeated 34 to 14.

 

A motion was made to defer to the next Senate meeting.The motion was opposed.

 

The bill came to a vote; a paper ballot was taken.The bill as proposed by UPC passed 31 to 11.

 

Senate Bill 0405-18: Fountain Day � The bill was introduced by Professor MacDonald on behalf of the Senate Executive Committee.The bill passed unanimously.

 

Senate Bill 0405-19: Advisement Policy � The bill was introduced by Professor Chaiken.Professor Chaiken noted that there was some discussion that the Advisory Board should be convened under the administrative unit of the Advisement Services Center, rather than have a formal connection to governance.Senator Lanford suggested that due to resource implications, the bill should go to UPC for review before being considered at Senate.A motion was made to refer to UPC, the motion passed unanimously.The bill will be referred to UPC.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

Jayne VanDenburgh, Recorder