NCAA Certification Self Study Public Forums Under Way
By Heidi Weber
The University at Albany is holding two public forums to report the findings of its recently completed National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Certification Self Study, a process designed to ensure the NCAA’s fundamental commitment to integrity in intercollegiate athletics. The first forum was held on November 29. The second will be on December 3 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the Campus Center Assembly Hall.

UAlbany, which recently completed its third year as a Division I institution, began the NCAA Certification Self Study at the beginning of 2001. The NCAA’s certification requires that UAlbany address questions of policy and procedure in four areas: governance and commitment to rules compliance, academic integrity, fiscal integrity and equity, welfare and sportsmanship. For each of these areas, UAlbany’s draft report contains responses to specific questions, an evaluation of the University’s current policies, procedures and activities and specific plans for improvement.

The findings, which are being considered in draft form prior to the public forums, are currently posted on the UAlbany Web site: www.albany.edu/ncaa/self_study. At the forums, the public has the opportunity to provide input regarding the draft findings, which will then be considered for inclusion in the final report anticipated to be available in January.

According to Vice President for Student Affairs James Doellefeld: “UAlbany has been very proactive about planning for the NCAA Certification Self Study since we made the transition to Division I status. The University at Albany intends that success in athletics will be achieved within the values of the campus’s academic culture. The NCAA Self Study provides UAlbany with a chance to reflect on our successes while continuing to make improvements. Athletics is an important factor in the equation to advance the quality of life for UAlbany students. We look forward to many years of success in competition.”

Faculty & Staff

Logan Receives Ford Sponsorship
John R. Logan of the Department of Sociology was recently awarded $100,000 by the Ford Foundation for his project on “Diversity and Segregation in American Neighborhoods.” The purpose of the project is to achieve a more realistic perception of both the diversity and the segregation of groups in American neighborhoods.

The award will allow Logan to accomplish this goal through inter-related activities of three types: proving information to researchers, developing newsworthy stories for the media, and collecting and disseminating educational materials for use in secondary and post-secondary education.

Gebhardt and Wexler Present at LSU
Thomas L. Gebhardt, the director of Personal Safety and Off-Campus Affairs for the University Police Department, and Scott Wexler, a UAlbany graduate and a member of the Committee on University and Community Relations, gave a presentation on October 15 at the “Louisiana Campus Regional Alcohol Conference” at LSU in Baton Rouge, La., as well as on November 2 at “The American Campus and Alcohol Conference” in San Antonio, Texas.

The Committee on University and Community Relations seeks to improve relations between the college students living off campus and their neighbors, to improve safety for these students, and to develop alcohol and drug prevention and education programs for them.

Since many incidents of inappropriate behavior off campus involve alcohol, a policy was developed to deal with house parties involving underage drinking, as well as with alcohol abuse in general. The campus coordinates the tracking of addresses and responses to complaints. An off-campus hotline was also developed to deal with complaints from neighbors.

Evidence of success is documented by a reduction in campus problems. Off-campus hotline calls dropped 84 percent from 1991 to 1999. Similarly, driving while intoxicated arrests were down 67 percent in two years, and alcohol-related arrests were down 53 percent for the same period. Off-campus noise ordinance police reports fell 83 percent in six years.

Gatti and Jacobson Edit New Book
Timothy Gatti and Trudi Jacobson, faculty in the University Libraries, have edited a book, Teaching Information Literacy Concepts: Activities and Frameworks from the Field, that has just been published by Library Instruction Publications (Pittsburgh, 2001). Information literacy courses and programs exist at a number of colleges and universities, including the general education requirement here at UAlbany. In this book, Gatti and Jacobson have collected the ideas of a number of librarians from around the country on how to actively engage students in such courses. Other UAlbany librarians who contributed include Deborah Bernnard, Gregory Bobish, Gerald Burke, Carol Anne Germain, and Mary Sellen.

UAS Elects Directors
The University Auxiliary Services at Albany, Inc. (UAS) Board of Directors held its 2001-2002 academic year annual meeting on October 24, at which time the following officers were elected: Michelle DiDonna, president; Nick LoVuolo, vice president; Lari Bazargan, treasurer; and Ginger La Tourrette, secretary.

The board of directors has 20 members, representing students, faculty, staff and alumni of the University. Eight student representatives serve on the board either by virtue of the positions they hold within student government, or by appointment of the Student Association and confirmation of Central Council. Student representatives to the board include Lari Bazargan, David Bishop, Karen Ekenstierna, Joseph Favata, Matthew Freedman, Ben Kallos, Brian Levine and Nick LoVuolo.

The five faculty representatives to the board include the chair of the University Life Council, and four members elected at the annual spring faculty meeting and appointed by the Committee on Nominations and Elections. Faculty representatives to the board are Carson Carr, Jr., Sung Bok Kim, John M. Murphy, James Pasquill, and Glenna Spitze.

The University at Albany Alumni Association appoints one representative to the UAS board. This position is filled by William McCann.

Four administrative representatives serve on the board by virtue of their University positions. These representatives include Barbara Bodner, Office of Student Accounts; Laurie Garafola, director of Residential Life; Sophia Hammett-Turner, Office of Financial Management; and Leo Neveu, associate vice president/controller. In addition, the president of the University appoints two senior administrators to the board. Serving in those positions are Michelle DiDonna and James Mancuso.

Volunteers Needed for December 9 Commencement
By Christy DeLaMater and Jennifer Juste
The call for volunteers for December Commencement has gone out. Now an official University ceremony, commencement will be Sunday, Dec. 9, at 1 p.m. in the Recreation and Convocation Center (RACC).

Due to concerns from students and faculty, students who are eligible to graduate in December may now participate in either December ’01 or May ’02 commencement, and their names will be listed in both programs. The original policy stated that these students’ names would only be listed in the December program.

One December candidate for graduation is Scott Mann, a native of Queens, N.Y. Mann, who already has a job lined up after graduation, is a business administration major with a concentration in finance and marketing. His minor is psychology. Mann said the combination of business and psychology knowledge that he received at the University will be helpful in his new job.

“I was in Lord & Taylor’s executive internship program last summer, and was offered a job beginning in February. I will participate in a 13-week executive training program, which will prepare me to become a buyer,” said Mann, who is excited to begin his new job and looks forward to upward movement within the office.

More than 700 participants are expected to attend the December commencement. The need for volunteers is greater than ever. Faculty and staff will receive a memo and sign-up form, and are encouraged to return the form to Advancement Events by November 30. Volunteers are a critical component of this ceremony.

For more information, visit www.albany.edu, call the Advancement Events office at 442-5310, or send an e-mail to commencement@uamail.albany.edu.

UAlbany In The News

UAlbany’s Center for Women in Government & Civil Society made headlines around the nation with its report on “Appointed Policy Makers in State Government: A Demographic Analysis,” the latest publication of a project, supported by the Ford Foundation. The project has been under way since 1995 at the center.

In addition to running in The New York Times on October 14, as previously reported in this column, there was coverage by the Associated Press news service, both regionally and nationally, as well as the Times Union, The Idaho Statesman, Gambit Weekly of New Orleans, La., The Desert News of Salt Lake City, Utah, the Charleston Daily Mail, West Hawaii Today, and WBZ news broadcast in Boston, Mass.

Donald W. Faulkner, director of the UAlbany-based New York State Writers Institute, had a significant role as commentator in a two-hour A&E “Biography” special on the Lost Generation, about American writers in Paris in the 1920s. The show aired at 8 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 15 and 16, and Nov. 22 and 23. Faulkner is also an associate professor in the departments of English and theatre.