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Minutes for December 7, 2005
A meeting of the University Senate was held at 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday, 7 December 2005, in Maxwell Auditorium.
Present were: Chancellor Cantor; Senators: Alcoff, Anderson, Bender,
Bennett, Beran, Biklen (S.), Burak, Carr, Carter, Cihon, Cleary, Crowston, de Berly, Diaz, Doughty, Doyle, Droney, Easton, Elin, Engstrom, Feree, Ferguson, Fiese, Flusche, Freund, Gabel, Gensemer, Gilman, Grady-Willis, Grimes, Hackman, Hajdu, Heintz, Himes, Himley, Holzwarth, Horacek, Horlings, Hurd, Isik, Jacobs, Jensen, Johnson (E.), Jones, Kasowitz-Scheer, Kelly (R.B.), Kelly (R.A.), Kenn, Khalifa, Kornfilt, Kutcher, Kyle, LaGraff, Lantier, Letterman, Lipson, MacInnes, Masrouri, Middlemiss, Mitchell, Murphy, Notas, O'Rourke, Palfai, Pasqualoni, Patteson, Phelps, Potter, Robinson, Rosenzweig, Saleh, Sauer, Schiff, Schwartz, Smith (C.J.), Smith (C.R.), Smith (D.), Smith (Do.), Spina, Sternlicht, Strodel, Tankersley, Thompson, Trento, Van Gulick, Vidali, Vitharana, Wadley, Wallace, Ware (B.), Webber, Wells, Wilcox, Willett, Wolf, Zhang.
Presiding Officer: Chancellor Nancy Cantor
The Chancellor called the meeting to order, and proposed that the minutes of the November 9th meeting be approved as distributed. They were approved. She then called Prof. Bruce Carter to present the report of the Agenda Committee. Prof. Carter reported that the Agenda Committee had recently met with the chairman of the AFT committee, who had requested that an ad hoc committee be created to look into the matter of how sexual harassment cases were handled at SU. Carter said that the Agenda Committee was currently working on the membership and charge, and that the committee would be in place by January, with a preliminary report expected toward the end of spring semester, and final report the following year. Carter told the body that as regards the resolution about freedom of expression, proposed by Prof. Van Gulick at the end of the November meeting, that the Agenda Committee deemed it an important issue, and that it would be dealt with at a future meeting.
Prof. Van Gulick rose to invite senators to contact him regarding the possibility of setting up forums on freedom of expression.
The Chancellor then asked nonsenators to exit the auditorium while the body discussed and voted on the report of the Committee on Honorary Degrees. She called Prof. Eric Spina to present the report, which included a motion to approve a nomination for an honorary degree to be awarded at the May 2006 Commencement. The motion carried. Members of the Agenda Committee invited nonsenators back inside.
The Chancellor called Prof. Mike Olivette to present the report of the Committee on Curricula, which included a motion to approve new courses, minors, and changes (in Education, Engineering and Computer Science, Information Studies, Public Comm., Management, Visual and Performing Arts, and University College), listed in the report. The motion carried.
The Chancellor called Prof. Andrew London to report for the Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Concerns. He made a motion to include "gender identity" and "gender expression" in the list of things governed by SU's anti-discrimination policy. The motion carried.
The Chancellor called on Prof. Kevin Crowston, who presented a report from the Committee on Computing Services. Prof. Crowston briefly highlighted the report which included a report of committee review of a software [TurnItIn] used to detect plagiarism. He said that the committee had found two uses for the software: to catch cheaters and for use by students to check their own work before handing it in. Among the questions raised in the discussion were those of intellectual property and copyright.
The Chancellor called Prof. Don Mitchell, chairman of the AFT committee, who presented a report of its 2004-5 work. Prof. Mitchell began by recognizing the decade-long contribution to the committee of Prof. Diane Murphy, including chairing it for 5 years. The body applauded. There was no discussion.
The Chancellor recognized Prof. Louise Phelps, who rose to exhort senators to read the materials on the proposal for appointment and promotion of non-tenure track faculty members, which had been posted on the committee's web site, and to send their feedback. She said that the proposal had come out of an ad hoc committee on part-time instruction at SU, and provided a promotional path for non-tenure track faculty.
Under old business, the Chancellor reported on the status of ROTC at SU, as follows:
- "Don't ask, don't tell" is the official policy of the current administration of the United States;
- In 1996, Congress passed what came to be known as the Solomon Amendment. The Solomon Amendment denies colleges and universities federal funds if the universities inhibit military recruiter or ROTC programs access to their campuses. The provisions exclude financial aid from punitive action, but apply to all other federal funds including federal contracts and grants;
- In October 2003, a number of law schools joined together in an organization called the Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights (FAIR), student coalitions from Boston College and Rutgers University, and several individuals brought a suit challenging the Solomon Amendment seeking to reclaim the right to bar recruiters from their campuses (FAIR v. Rumsfeld);
- In October 2004, Congress passed a bill that broadens the Solomon Amendment by requiring colleges to grant military recruiters access that is "equal in quality and scope" to that given to other potential employers. The bill was signed into law by the President;
- In November 2004, a federal court ruled the Solomon Amendment unconstitutional;
- The Bush administration appealed the November 2004 decision and the appeals court granted a stay of its order;
- On May 2, 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that it would hear the case (FAIR v. Rumsfeld)with oral argument currently scheduled for December 6, 2005. A ruling is expected before the end of June 2006;
- On September 21, 2005, the National Organization for Legal Career Professionals (NALP) filed an amicus brief in the FAIR v. Rumsfeld matter with the U.S. Supreme Court. Syracuse University has signed on to the amicus brief;
- As of November 2005, the Syracuse University Law School is under jurisdiction of the restrictions and according to the U.S. military is in compliance.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
Teresa Gilman
University Senate Recorder
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