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Minutes for January 16, 2008
A meeting of the University Senate was held at 4:15 p.m. on DAY, 16 January 2008, in Maxwell Auditorium.
Present were: Chancellor Cantor; Senators Abramovsky, Arnold, Arvas, Bennett, Breese, Bulman, Burak, Caldwell, Carter, Cihon, Cochren, de Berly, Donovan, Dudczak, Duffy, Engbretson, Evans, Ewing, Fiese, Gallacher, Gates, Glauser, Heintz, Hensberry, Hollenback, Isik, Javaid, Kingson, Kucharavy, Lantier, Letterman, Lipson, Lloyd, Marcoccia, Massey, McConnell, Mohan, Moon, Mountz, Murphy, O'Rourke, Pellow, Potter, Purin, Rosenzweig, Rubinstein, Rupert, Russell, Saleh, Schiff,
Smith (C.J.), Smith (C.R.), Smith (H.), Spina, Thorin, Trento, Tucker, Turner, Tussing, Van Gulick, Warren, Wasylenko, Webber.
Presiding Officer: Chancellor Nancy Cantor
The Chancellor called the meeting to order, proposed that the minutes of the December 5th meeting be approved as written, and the body concurred. She called Prof. Can Isik to make the report of the Agenda Committee. Prof. Isik told the body that the Budget committee report included wording of the proposed amendment to the Senate bylaws, and that it constituted one month’s notice to Senate members. He said that the proposed amendment would be discussed and voted on in February. Prof. Isik concluded his report by mentioning that the Committee Z report, a report on faculty salaries compiled by AAUP, was available on the AAUP web site.
The Chancellor called Prof. Bruce Kingma to present the report of the Committee on Curricula in the absence of the chairman. Prof. Kingma reported with a motion to approve the new courses and changes listed in the report from Arts and Sciences, Education, Human Ecology, Management, Information Studies, Engineering and Computer Science, and Visual and Performing Arts. The motion carried.
The Chancellor called Ms. Geraldine de Berly to present the report of the Committee on the Library, which was a update on its work from 2006-7 as well as the fall 2007 semester.
In the discussion, questions raised and comments made included:
- question about problems with web access to library information on SUMMON;
- that the program Endeavor had certain limitations, that the library was getting
a new search mechanism that could search across publishers;
- concern expressed over security of the library collection now that there were
no longer staff members checking out books;
- concern over the book return shelf not being secure, that someone could pick
up a returned book that was still checked out to another patron;
- question about the proposed "learning commons" on the 4th and 5th floors,
over what would happen to the books that were currently shelved on those
floors;
- comment that the usage [i.e., books being checked out, rather than used in the
library] of books on 4th and 5th floors were being monitored, and that there
were plans for their future lodging in a storage facility on south campus;
- concern expressed over the fact that SU’s holdings had declined dramatically
since the 1930s; question raised whether the committee was also concerned
about this;
- comment that it was important for people to engage with the librarians, to
let them know of concerns and problems, that the library staff were trying
to build a picture of what was not there, suggestion that faculty not hold
back in their requests and communications.
The Chancellor called Prof. Terry McConnell to present the report of the Budget committee, which included the pro forma budget for 2008-9. Prof. McConnell drew the body’s attention to the following items, which he said would be reported to the Board of Trustees at its next meeting:
- recommended tuition (undergraduate and graduate, excluding law) increase for 2008-9 of 5.6%; recommendation that rolling back tuition increases be continued into the 2009-10 fiscal year;
- recommended room and board charges increase of 5%;
- recommended that tuition discount rate of 35% [for 2009-10 as well];
- recommended size of the entering undergraduate class target of 3060 incoming
students and 300 transfer students [committee recommends that next year’s
targets be set so as to maintain overall undergraduate enrollment at a constant level];
- recommended a salary increment of 3%, with additional $225,000 allocated to
staff categories 3 and 4, a budget allocation of $130,000 to fund low income
assistance for health insurance costs, and funding of the Strategic Faculty
Development Fund with $500,000 to be allocated by the Vice Chancellor;
- recommended increment in general operating expenses of 1.5%.
In the discussion, the various questions raised and comments made included:
- question about the relationship between tuition increase and salary increase [Prof. McConnell said that the responsibility centers were able to give raises higher than the pro forma when there was money from additional sources.];
- comment that the fringe benefit costs were going up faster than the pro forma rate;
- comment that the tuition discount rate seemed about equivalent to the pro
form percentage;
- question about where SU stood (re: salary, tuition, room & board) in relation to its comparison schools, and whether the committee had any goals that would move SU forward {McConnell replied that they were working on such goals and that according to a salary analysis done in the 90s SU was improving slightly in two of the comparison groups);
- question of whether there would be equity raises for nonexempt staff [McConnell said that an effort in this area had been made the past five years, and that the committee continued to discuss staff salaries.];
- request for more detail in how equity raise was worked out [Sr. Vice President
for Business and Finance Lou Marcoccia pointed senators to the Budget Office
web site, which he said provided details about many of the questions raised.].
A senator rose to make a motion to endorse the recommendations of the Budget committee and request that they be reported to the Board of Trustees. The motion carried.
The Chancellor called Prof. Eileen Lantier to present the report of the Committee on Honorary Degrees which was a call for nominations for candidates for 2009-10. She asked Senate members to spread the word to their colleagues and pointed out the January 18th deadline.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
Teresa Gilman
University Senate Recorder
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