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Minutes for January 15, 2003
A meeting of the University Senate was held at 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday, January 15, 2003, in Maxwell Auditorium.
Present were: Chancellor Shaw; Senators: Anderson, Backx, Barth, Behm, Bender, Bennett, Bernard, Bogucz, Breese, Byrne, Caine, Caldwell, Carter, Carty, Cavanagh, Cooper, Cordova, Curtis, deBerly, Diaz, Dimon, Donovan, Dudczak, Elin, Flusche, Freund, Gates, Gensemer, Gorovitz, Grahm, Greenberg, Hamilton, Heydweiller, Himley, Hogan, Hovendick, Kelly, Kenn, Kosar, Lantier, Letterman (M.), Letterman (R.), Levin, McGee, Maghran, Martin, Mosher, Mugo, Mulconry, Murphy, Newton, Oakley, Olson, O'Rourke, Peck, Pellow, Perdue, Pilgrim, Potter, Robertson, Rubinstein, Schell, Schiff, Schneier-Ludoff, Serpico, Sherman, Simonds, Smith, Spencer, Spina, Strodel, Thau, Thomson, Toth, Trento, Tucker, Tussing, Vidali, Waddy, Wadley, Ware (B.), Ware (E.), Wasylenko, Weaver, Webber, Wells, Wilbur, Williams, Wright, Zacharia, Zaima.
Presiding Officer: Chancellor Kenneth Shaw
On motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the minutes of the University Senate meeting of 4 December 2002, as distributed.
The Chancellor called Prof. Susan Wadley to present the report of the Agenda Committee in the absence of the chairman. Prof. Wadley reported that the Board of Trustees had approved the idea of a phased retirement program for faculty, which would be announced in March, and that the Subcommittee on Nominations was currently at work on making up the committees for 2003-4.
The Chancellor called Prof. Elizabeth Toth, who presented the report of the Committee on Curricula, which included a motion to approve new courses, changes and program changes in the College of Arts and Sciences, College of Human Services and Health Professions, School of Information Studies, and College of Visual and Performing Arts, as well as a new C.A.S. in School Library Media (Information Studies) and a Master of Music in Conducting (Visual and Performing Arts). The motion carried
The Chancellor called on Prof. Patricia Longstaff, who presented the report of the Committee on Budget and Fiscal Affairs, which included the Pro Forma Budget for 2003-4 as well as a revised set of planning assumptions for the multi-year budget forecast. She praised her committee for its hard work in a very hard year, and mentioned the Budget committee's web site, where additional information could be found http://universitysenate.syr.edu/budget/budget-links.html.
In the discussion the comments made, issues raised and requests for information included:
- a request for detail re the lost revenue from the endowment [Longstaff said that the largest hit would come from faculty salaries, but the real crunch for the endowment would come in the furthest year out; she said that if earnings picked up, the 5-year budget forecast would be revisited.];
- question, why we were anticipating the increases in faculty salaries when we were making tuition adjustments six years out? [Longstaff said that if the economy picked up the first call on that money would be faculty salaries.];
- a question, why the anticipated 6% tuition increase so far in the future (i.e., 2006-7? [Longstaff said it was partially for space operating costs in the Academic Plan, and also the committee had tried to address some of the issues left on the table from last year, e.g., recommendations from the Ad Hoc Committee on PTIs, library funding, additional costs for fundraising.];
- a question about whether SU had done a study to ascertain how much return for fundraising dollars SU generally got [committee member said no, but that the rule of thumb was $1:$10]; further question about whether we knew for sure that we had got that return [committee member said no, but he thought so];
- observation that those employees in salary category 3 were on the average 25% below the market sample, and question whether it was known what it would take to close that gap [John Hogan responded that it would take about $1.5 million to bring those salaries up to the 13% below that everyone else was at, and that, while raising the salaries of those persons at the lowest levels was on the Budget committee's list of unmet needs, currently the only way to do this would be to take it out of the 3% allowed for each unit];
- several questions about fundraising by colleges and schools, whether schools would have functional autonomy in fundraising, and at the same time control over their own fundraising operations when they'd given a portion to the central fundraising unit, also; who fundraisers reported to, whether college or central operation [Chancellor told of an experiment in sharing fundraising responsibility begun several years ago; said that when fundraising was thus shared it was found to be more sensitive to differences of opinion, but that it was found to be better than the other way whereby 2 or 3 colleges might be soliciting the same person for donations];
- a question about the bundled communications services described on p. 9 of the report, whether it was known what percentage of students would end up purchasing services they might not have wanted [Vice President for Research and Computing Ben Ware said that about 92 % purchased network services for $175, and about 50% got cable and phone, and that the cost of billing ended up being greater than the cost of services.];
- a question about why the student fee was being increased because of mental health services [Senior Vice President and Dean of Student Affairs Barry Wells said that 4 therapists, 1 psychologist, and staff person had been added.];
- observation that there seemed to be some good news in the budget report, vis-a-vis health care costs; question whether the fee was still going to rise [committee person said that it would rise from 17 to 20%]
- a question about the $2500 compensation given to children of SU employees who attend a university other than SU, whether that $2500 wasn't shrinking, and request that the Budget committee look into the matter; [the chairwoman said that they would look into it.].
The Chancellor asked if the body wished to cast a collective vote on the pro forma budget, thus indicating the sense of the Senate, and have that vote be included in the pro forma budget report to the Board of Trustees. Prof. Carter rose to make such a motion, which was seconded and approved. Before she sat down, Prof. Longstaff thanked Budget director John Hogan and Budget committee secretary MaryAnn Fraser for their diligent work during the year, and the body applauded.
The Chancellor then told senators that the Agenda Committee had decided to try something new based on an idea that came out of the Committee Chairs meeting, i.e., asking administrators from key areas to report on the work of their units. He then introduced Senior Vice President and Dean of Student Affairs Barry Wells, who summarized the work of Student Affairs as follows:
- to educate students to be good citizens, take on leadership roles, and serve the campus and the broader community;
- help the University community plan and deliver major programs, challenge the mind through Light Work and Community Darkrooms, and the body through the Department of Recreation Services;
- help international students and scholars through the increasingly complicated maze of regulations that govern their presence in the USA, and care for the youngest members of the University community through the Early Education and Child Care Center;
- help international students and scholars through the increasingly complicated maze of regulations that govern their presence in the USA, and care for the youngest members of the University community through the Early Education and Child Care Center;
- help students manage the many transitions they are faced with throughout college and guide their personal growth, supporting self-exploration and expression; as personal growth encourages professional aspirations, to help students define career paths and offer tools to help them reach their potential;
- identify opportunities for learning outside the classroom, with programs such as Arts Adventure and Perc Place, and entities focused on teaching students to value the similarities and differences in others, such as the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the LGBT Resource Center;
- reach out and respond to parents and families to promote awareness and involvement in students' educational experiences;
- encourage health and wellness through positive choices about alcohol and other drugs, sexuality, and relationships;
- work to provide a positive and supportive residential experience for students while they live in campus residence halls and when they choose to live off campus.
As examples of his area's activities, Dean Wells said that during the 2001-2 academic year there were 330,000 visits to utilize Archbold Gym, that the number of students using the Light Works/Community Darkrooms facility since May 2001 had increased 300%, that 29,528 individuals had been surveyed by the Office of Residence Life during 2001-2, that 10,800 educational packets and newsletters had been distributed to off-campus students in 2001-2. [Full report is appended.]
In the discussion, among the comments made and questions raised were:
- a commendation of Wells and his staff for their work, and a question about the status of the RAPE Center [Wells said that they were in the process of reorganizing it, that two staff persons had been added, and that they were in compliance as far as federal regulations re reporting statistics, and that they intended to resume reporting those statistics in the SU Record as well.]
- question, whether there were ways that the Senate could help the Office of Student Affairs in its efforts [Wells said that when the Senate's help was needed, his office would ask, that there were a couple of issues coming up, including a report on student athletes];
- question about what changes in the class schedule Wells might suggest [Wells said that he wished the University to reclaim Friday as a day of instruction];
- question about the impact of the newly-created Welcome Center [Wells said that they were waiting for more analysis of the data thus far].
The Chancellor thanked Dean Wells, and the body applauded.
Prior to adjournment, a faculty member asked if there was any information on the status of the investigation of the murder of music student Simon Popov a year ago. The Chancellor called Eleanor Ware who said that there was no new information as yet. Prof. Sam Gorovitz rose to bring the body's attention to what it meant when a student at the University died, and to praise the outstanding efforts of senator Judith O'Rourke (Office of Undergraduate Studies) when Remembrance Scholar Andrew McClune died just before Christmas. He said that she had done everything from making the initial call to his parents to identifying the body and traveling to Lockerbie Scotland for the funeral and burial. The senators applauded.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
Teresa Gilman
University Senate Recorder
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