Present: J. Acker, D. Armstrong, D. Bernnard, E. Brière, S. Chaiken, H. Charalambous,
N. Claiborne, R. Collier, D. Dewar, S. Faerman, S. Friedman, R. Geer, F. Hauser,
R. Hoyt, M. Jerison, S. B. Kim, W. Lanford, R. Lawson, S. Levine, S. Lubensky,
A. Lyons, C. MacDonald, S. Maloney, T. Maxwell, D. McCaffrey, L. McNutt,
G. Moore, C. Pearce, J. Pipkin, M. Pryse, R. M. Range, J. Savitt, H. Scheck,
L. Schell, G. Spitze, S. Turner, T. Turner, L. Videka, D. Wagner,
J. Wick-Pelletier, E. Wulfert

Guests: J. Bartow, M. Butler, R. Farrell, R. Fortune

Approval of Minutes: The minutes of March 1, 2004 and March 15, 2004 were approved as amended.

Chair’s Report: If needed, the Senate will scheduled another meeting on May 10, 2004 to complete this year’s business.

CPCA – Professor Glenna Spitze, Chair: no report.

EPC – Professor Edelgard Wulfert, Chair: EPC has met twice since the last Senate meeting. At the first meeting, issues pertaining to the creation of the new College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering and the proposed autonomous governance structure were discussed. The meeting concluded with EPC being charged with establishing a joint committee composed of four representatives each from EPC and the School of NanoSciences and NanoEngineering (SNN). A second charge was to have the Senate Chair and the EPC Chair reach out to Interim President Ryan and Provost Santiago to engage in constructive discussion about issues related to the proposed college. Senate Chair Pryse and EPC Chair Wulfert did meet with President Ryan and Provost Santiago on March 29, 2004. The President indicated that he thought it was very important for the two groups to get together and form a subcommittee with three members each from EPC and SNN. The six members of the subcommittee appointed by Chair Wulfert for EPC (Professors John Logan, David McCaffrey and Marjorie Pryse) and by Dean Kaloyeros for SNN (Professors Robert Geer, Pradeep Haldar and James Castracane) met on March 31, 2004. The EPC representatives attended this meeting “in a listening mode,” trying to determine what SNN wanted for the new college and how much autonomy they hoped to have. The six members agreed to meet a second time on college-wide issues. Following that meeting, the EPC representatives concluded that while there may be some sense of agreement that CNSE faculty would participate on some Senate Councils - perhaps EPC/UPC, certainly LISC --, they seemed unyielding about retaining local autonomy, particularly in the areas of graduate curriculum and promotion and tenure. The EPC members of the subcommittee then met with EPC Chair Wulfert to report on their meetings with SNN faculty and in preparation for a meeting with the Provost scheduled at his request. The EPC members and Chair discussed that policy issues pertaining to graduate admissions, graduate curriculum, and tenure and promotion should remain at the university level. The EPC members and Chair also discussed governance structures at other SUNY campuses, particularly Stony Brook, which the SNN faculty had invoked as a possible model for the new college. At Stony Brook, there are three separate governance units, each with its own autonomy concerning graduate curriculum and promotion and tenure. The subcommittee agreed that if the governance structure were to be changed for CNSE in order to provide the new college with the desired degree of autonomy, one would have to evaluate the possibility that the same changes be made for all other schools and colleges; in the spirit of maintaining a uniform governance structure for the whole university, the same rules should apply for all. The EPC representatives then drafted a summary report to EPC which they shared with the Provost and which was distributed as a draft document both to EPC and to the Senate Executive Committee for further discussion. The draft mentions that changes to the existing governance structure may require a change in the Senate Charter, which the President could propose.

Professor Wulfert stated that she understands the Provost to endorse the creation of the new college; that he will recommend to the President that the college remain part of UAlbany; that he has received input from SNN, whose faculty passed a resolution affirming that the new college be created as part of UAlbany but with an autonomous governance structure. The Provost indicated to EPC that he would support autonomy for certain functions of governance in the new college, including graduate curriculum and tenure and promotion, but he would recommend retaining campus-wide governance on policy issues. The Provost also mentioned to EPC that he has recommended that faculty for the new college be appointed by the President; that the new college have a head who administratively reports directly to the President but academically to the Provost; and that research dollars will remain part of the university, enrollment will count toward the enrollment at UAlbany, and the budget, while a line item budget, will be considered part of the UAlbany overall budget.

After the Provost left the last EPC meeting, EPC members agreed that there should be further discussion between EPC and SNN representatives concerning the details of governance. EPC also agreed that it was not appropriate for the Council to make any recommendation at the present time, and that we were waiting to see the President’s recommendation.

GAC – Professor Hara Charalambous, Chair:

• GAC has several bills on today’s agenda under New Business.
• GAC is continuing discussion on the implementation of the electronic thesis dissertation.

UAC – Joan Savitt, Chair: UAC is studying how to define courses acceptable for transfer to UA and to define mechanisms so that students will not assume they have more applicable credits than they actually do.

RES - Professor Lynn Videka, Chair:

• RES is currently involved in ongoing evaluation of the FRAP program.
• RES has recommended the Excellence in Research be awarded to Professor Scott South.
• The researchers liaison committee is working on recommendations for promoting interdisciplinary research and having money available to promote it. The recommendations will be posted on the website.
• The IRB Policy Committee continues to meet on a weekly basis to complete its work by the end of the semester.
• RES approved the Humanitech Center. In the future, any new centers will come before the Senate, in accordance with the new bylaws.
• RES has provisionally approved the NYS Center for Information Forensics and Assurance. This is an interdisciplinary research center that has a one-year provisional approval.
• RES is continuing the charge of SNN research, RES has confirmed that all of the research activity that is happening is being credited to UAlbany under RF guidelines. Ongoing discussions on safety issues continue with SNN.
• RES has begun to discuss indirect cost return formulas.

LISC - Professor David Wagner, Chair:

• CIO Christine Haile is establishing an IT Review Board, separate from LISC. Ms. Haile has identified several points in this review process where input from LISC or its subcommittees will be appropriate, and has asked that a LISC member be appointed to her board directly. Also, Ms. Haile is in the process of convening a working group on the transition to wireless computing on campus, and has asked for a member of LISC to be appointed to that working group.

“Spam” has been discussed with members of the IT staff, LISC and the CIO’s office. Spam cannot be stopped effectively at the university level; spammers seldom need more than a couple of weeks to overcome the most recent institutional spam solutions. Concerns about academic freedom in a university make it difficult to specify what you can or cannot receive in your inbox. As a result, the most effective way to deal with it typically is at one’s own computer.

CAFE – Professor Donna Armstrong, Chair: CAFE co-sponsored the March 18 Teach-in on issues related to GAP in the context of Freedom of Speech rights. About 95 students were present.

CAFE will submit bills on Freedom of Expression and the Newspaper Distribution Policy on Campus to the Executive Committee at its next meeting. The Council will continue to discuss the Patriot Act.

ULC- Professor Gwendolyn Moore, Chair:

• Vice President Doellefeld reported on the suicide on campus.
• ULC is continuing discussion on the Muslim Holiday bill; a subcommittee has drafted a bill which will come before the Senate before the end of the year. ULC overwhelming approved to send the bill to EPC, as it is an issue of the university calendar.
• Discussion is continuing on Pedestrian Safety issues on campus: ULC is looking at sidewalks, or the lack thereof, snowplowing, etc. ULC expects to have a resolution at the next Senate meeting.

CERS – Professor Edelgard Wulfert, Chair: CERS has met. It looked over the policy framework and how it might best be integrated with the structure that already exists at the University.

Governance Committee – Professors Carolyn MacDonald and Andi Lyons: The newly elected professional staff Senators are as follows:

Jonathan Bartow, Graduate Studies
John Murphy, Judicial Affairs
J. Philippe Abraham, ASC
Jil Hanifan, English
Joanne Razzano, General Studies & Summer Sessions

New Business:

Resolution 0304-05R: University at Albany Resolution on General Education Assessment:
Senator Richard Collier introduced and explained the resolution. He noted that if the resolution passes, it will go to the University-wide Senate. A motion was made and seconded to vote on the resolution. The resolution passed unanimously.

Resolution 0304-06R: Albany Faculty Action Needed to Secure Access to Journals at an Affordable Price for SUNY Faculty and Students: Professor Wagner introduced Dean Meredith Butler to explain the contents of the resolution. Dean Butler explained that part of the reasoning behind the resolution is to make people aware of the situation. If negotiations fail, UAlbany will lose the online journals; there would be fewer journals from other vendors available. After some discussion, the resolution was moved to be tabled until it could be sent out to faculty via email broadcast. The Senate endorsed that motion and the resolution was tabled by a unanimous vote, to return at the May 3, 2004 Senate meeting.

Senate Bill Number 0304-21: Proposal to Establish a Registered Dual Degree Program
M.S.W./M.A. Public Affairs & Policy: The bill was introduced by Professor Charalambous of GAC. A motion was made and seconded, and the bill passed unanimously.

Senate Bill Number 0304-22: Proposal to Establish a Jointly Registered Dual Degree Program, M.S.W.—University at Albany / M.S. Bioethics—Albany Medical College and Graduate College of Union University: The bill was introduced by Professor Charalambous of GAC. A motion was made and seconded and after brief discussion, the bill passed 25-2-3.

Senate Bill Number 0304-19: Proposal to Establish a Jointly Registered Dual Degree Program, M.A. (Public Affairs and Policy)—University at Albany / J.D. (Law)—Albany Law School: The bill was introduced by Professor Charalambous of GAC. A motion was made and seconded, and the bill passed unanimously.

Senate Bill Number 0304-18: Proposal to Discontinue the Doctor of Arts Program in Humanistic Studies: The bill was introduced by Professor Charalambous of GAC. A motion was made and seconded, and the bill passed unanimously.

Senate Bill Number 0304-17: Proposal to Amend the Charter of the University Senate, SX.4.6 Graduate Academic Council: The bill was introduced by Professor Charalambous of GAC. A motion was made and seconded, and the bill passed unanimously.

Senate Bill Number 0304-23: Revisions of Undergraduate Programs in “Earth Science” and “History/Social Studies:” The bill was introduced by Professor Joan Savitt of UAC. A motion was made and seconded, and the bill passed unanimously.

Senate Bill Number 0304-20: Additional Membership on Councils and Committees: The bill was introduced by Professors Andi Lyons and Carolyn MacDonald of the Governance Committee. Two friendly amendments were suggested and accepted as follows:

1) To enlarge the membership of the new CAFFECoR to include up to four professional faculty, as well as teaching faculty.
2) To remove the requirement that the professional CPCA staff person needs to be a senator.

A motion was made and seconded to vote on the bill with its amendments, and the bill passed unanimously.

Ratification of 2004-2005 Senate Councils: The new Senate Councils listing was moved and seconded, all were in favor in ratifying this as an initial working list.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:25 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,
Jayne VanDenburgh, Recorder