Minutes for March 21, 2007

A meeting of the University Senate was held at 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 March 2007, in Maxwell Auditorium.

Present were: Vice Chancellor Spina; Senators Alcott, Biklen, Breese, Brooker, Burak, Carter, Cihon, Crowston, Donovan, Doyle, Elin, Engbretson, Faiola, Ferguson, Fiese, Gartenberg, Gates, Grimes, Hamner, Heintz, Himes, Himley, Hollenback, Horacek, Horlings, Hurd, Jeaneault, Johnson, Karpoff, Khalifa, Lantier, Lasch-Quinn, Letterman, Lewandowski, MacInnes, Mager, Marcoccia, Maroney, Middlemiss, Mitchell, Moller, Moore, Murphy, Notas, Olson, O’Rourke, Pasqualoni, Pellow, Rupert, Sandberg, Sherman, Smith (C.R.), Smith (D.), Sokolof, Sternlicht, Strodel, Thompson, Thorin, Trento, Turner, Urtz, Ware (E.), Ware (B.), Warren, Watts, Webber, Wells, Willet, Wolf, Zhang, and others.

Presiding Officer: Vice Chancellor Eric Spina

On motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the minutes of the University Senate meeting of 17 January 2007 as written [there was no February meeting, due to weather]. The Vice Chancellor called Prof. Bruce Carter to present the report of the Agenda Committee, which included a motion to approve the following calendar of meetings for 2007-8:

The motion carried.

       Prof. Carter continued his report with a motion from the Subcommittee on Reapportionment, to be laid on the table and taken up at the April 18th meeting. He told Senate members that because items had been carried over from February, time for presentation of reports requiring action would be limited to 10 minutes. A senator rose to propose an amendment to the motion on reapportionment, adding a section to the list of constituencies to include 2 members of the SEIU bargaining unit. The motion was seconded. Prof. Carter explained that other sections of the bylaws would need to be revised in addition to Article I, section 3, changing wording and renumbering as appropriate, and that it should be presented to the Senate in written form. The Chair ruled the motion to amend out of order, and suggested that the mover bring a separate motion to amend the bylaws through the proper channels. Carter asked the maker of the motion if she would consider changing the wording to the more general "unionized staff", rather than specifying a particular union. The maker of the motion and the seconder agreed. On motion duly made and seconded the body voted to postpone the matter of reapportionment to a future meeting.

       The Chairman then asked all non-senators to exit the auditorium while the body discussed and voted on the nominations for honorary degrees, and that members of the Agenda Committee invite them back in afterwards. He called Prof. Eileen Lantier to present the report, which included a motion to approve the list. The motion carried.

       The Vice Chancellor called Prof. Bruce Kingma to present the report of the Committee on Curricula, which included a motion to approve new courses and changes in Visual and Performing Arts, Arts and Sciences, Engineering and Computer Science, Education, Human Services and Health Professions, Information Studies, as well as program changes in Arts and Sciences, Utica College, Engineering and Computer Science and Education, and 2 new programs, the B.S. in Inclusive Early Childhood Special Education and the M.A. in International Relations and Economics. The motion carried.

       The Vice Chancellor called on Prof. Ian MacInnes, who presented the report of the Committee on Appointment and Promotions, which included a motion to endorse the recommendations that title emeritus/emerita be added to the rank at which the following faculty members retired:

• Raymond Colton, Professor of communication sciences
  
• Philip Doughty, Associate Professor of education
  
• Edward Dudewicz, Professor of mathematics
  
• Harold Hackney, Professor of counseling and human services
  
• Susan Hynds, Professor of reading and language arts
  
• Hope Irvine, Professor of teaching and leadership in art
  
• John Lindberg, Professor of mathematics
  
• Bruce Manwaring, Associate Professor of art
  
• Dennis McCort, Professor of German
  
• Mohamed Onsi, Professor of accounting
  
• Richard Pilgrim, Associate Professor of religion
  
• Rafael Sorkin, Professor of physics
  
• Gary Trento, Associate Professor of art
  
• Charles Watson, Professor of English
  
• Wendy Bousfield, Librarian

• Raymond Von Dran, Dean, Information Studies
  
• Gisela Von Dran, Director, Master of Library and Information Science Program

       The Chairman called on Ryan Doyle to present the report of the Committee on Student Life to update the Senate on its activities, notable among which was their initiative in pledging a $5000 contribution to the fundraising efforts of the Development office, thus setting an example for future students and combating passivity regarding support of their alma mater. There was no discussion. (Full report is on file in the Senate Recorder's office.

       The Chairman called on Prof. Linda Alcoff to present the report of the Committee for Diversity, which included a motion to endorse the recommendations in the report. She highlighted the recommendations which included:

• increase in date collection
  
• mentoring
  
• analysis of student evaluations
  
• the department chairs regularly assess new research
  
• rewards for extra service by faculty of color
  
• increase in day care facilities

That the Senate charge the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs to work with the Committee for Diversity to implement such recommendations as would be appropriate.

Prof. Alcoff agreed, and the body voted to approve the motion.

       The Chairman called Prof. Larry Elin to present a report from the Academic Affairs committee in the absence of its chair. Prof. Elin read a statement from the committee's chairwoman stating that, at the request of the Agenda Committee, the Provost, and the committee on academic integrity (VPCAI), the Academic Affairs committee had agreed to bring the report and recommendations from the VPCAI to the Senate so that it could be discussed by the Senate along with the Provost's draft response. He said that the committee had been briefed on the work of the VPCAI and had had opportunity for input at various stages, and that it would like to express its appreciation of the process the VPCAI followed. He said that the Academic Affairs committee had had no direct part in preparing the final report and, for that reason, they were simply transmitting it to the Senate without a recommendation. He requested that members of the VPCAI who were not University senators be allowed to address the body during the discussion. Prof. Elin then made a motion as follows:

On behalf of the Vice Chancellor and Provost's Committee on Academic Integrity, the Academic Affairs committee moves that the Senate approve the three recommendations of the VPCAI, as stated on pages 3 and 4 of the VPCAI's December report.

He called Prof. Elet Callahan to present the report and respond to questions. After an exhaustive presentation, members of the Senate raised questions about process, what was meant by "the University" in the report, how an "ombudsoffice" would work, who the ombudsperson would be, etc. Finally, the Chair asked if the body was ready to vote, and a member rose to ask if there was a quorum present. There was not. A sense of the Senate vote by the 53 Senate members present was in favor of the spirit of the motion.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.

Teresa Gilman
University Senate Recorder

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