Faculty Council
Minutes of the meeting of April 11, 1994
0. Meeting called to order at 4:04 p.m. by Chairperson Ted Steinberg.
1. Motion (M.Nelson/D.Kerzner): to adopt the published agenda. Motion passed.
2. Motion (J.Romal/M.L.Lunde): to approve the minutes of the March 14, 1994 meeting. Motion passed.
3. President MacPhee reported that the SUNY section of the State Budget was all but finalized, although other parts of the budget are still being debated. He said this budget represents the first net increase in a SUNY budget in perhaps five years. He said $3 million was being added for GRI and faculty lines, plus $500,000 for student support services. He said Fredonia's share of these increases was unknown, but could result in one or two positions being added. The president acknowledged the role of UUP and its lobbying efforts in achieving these budget gains.
President MacPhee said he plans to give local budget priority to the library collection; working with library staff, Library Advisory Committee, and Planning & Budget Committee to develop plans. He also hopes to give priority to a major fundi-raising campaign from the College Foundation, and to emphasize improvements in technology. He said he does not expect all the needed improvements in technology will be funded from the campus budget.
He said Fredonia was one of four campuses not part of the SUNY library consortium for library automation. He said Fredonia's automation was done independently, mostly with campus funds, and with good success. He said that Fredonia, along with Brockport, New Palz, and Buff State, have been successfully making a case for a share of the funds SUNY has allocated and will allocate for technological modernization, since the campuses cannot be expected to bear these costs.
MacPhee said Fred Solerno was chairing the search committee for Chancellor. He said the committee has met, selected a consulting firm, and worked on clarifying the roles of the constituent groups within the committee. He said the committee plans to review applications through May, interview candidates in the summer, make a decision in August, and make an appointment effective September. J.Straight noted that the search committee was rather large. MacPhee agreed, saying that perhaps it errs on the side of democracy, but perhaps posing problems with confidentiality. M.Nelson asked whether this was the first use of a consulting firm in a SUNY chancellor search. MacPhee said he did not think a consultant was used the last time, but that such procedure was not uncommon in searches of this magnitude. He said the firm would not be making the decisions, but implementing an aggressive search process. Straight asked for clarification of the situation involving the English chair search, where apparently there is a feasible internal candidate, but the dean has asked for an external search. He said the search committee had recommended two external candidates and the internal candidate, after which the dean asked that all the applications be forwarded to her. Dean Zablotney said she had received the three recommendations and approved bringing them to campus. She said she asked for all the applications to review them for Affirmative Action purposes. Straight asked whether the appointment of the new Affirmative Action Officer would change policy on this sort of review. MacPhee said the A/A guidelines would not change because of a new person being in that office.
4. Chairperson Theodore Steinberg asked William Foeller to report on the search for Associate Vice President for Curriculum and Academic Support . Foeller said the committee had brought four candidates to campus for interviews and forwarded their recommendation to Vice President Hess for action.
5. Vice Chairperson Jane Romal made no report.
6. Faculty Senator H. Joseph Straight made no report.
7a. Governance Committee chair Daniel Jelski reported that an important call for nominations would be published in the next Campus Report. He distributed a revised version of the "Trial Balloons" document. M.R.Amiran asked whether these were actually proposed changes. Jelski said they were not yet proposed, but under discussion. Amiran said it seemed strange that under the non-proposal, committees would select a chair who is not necessarily from the elected members of the committee. Jelski said that the chair could be from the elected membership of the committee, or from the faculty at large, adding flexibility to the chair selection. K.Lucey asked whether the proposals could result in members of the Coordinating Committee (standing committee chairs, plus Executive Committee) being other than elected members of FC. Jelski said that could happen, but that even under current procedure committee members and committee chairs are not necessarily members of FC; further, under the proposals, FC would exercise some control through the confirmation process for standing committee chairs. M.Nelson said he was opposed to a restriction on the number of FC representatives from any one department as being unnecessarily limiting. He said he was also opposed to the confirmation process envisioned. Jelski said FC should have some say in who the chairs would be since they would have a major role in steering FC. Amiran asked whether FC would be likely to fail to confirm a committee chair duly elected by the committee? Jelski said that would probably be very rare. J.Hansen said he was opposed to the notion of restricting number of FC members from one department. He said that could be handled by faculty not electing additional members from one department if they thought there were already enough, and that this could be easier to determine if the incumbent roster with departments were published with the election ballots. Connie Willeford said the committees, at least her Planning & Budget Committee, operate under charges from FC, therefore there is direct control of the committees by FC. Jelski said there needs to be more coordination and communication between the committees and the FC. Steinberg added that this communication had been rather weak, and that this change would add to efficient communication. Amiran supported the idea of the Coordinating Committee, but felt that the added step of confirming committee chairs would add a step without guaranteeing communication and constructive activity of the committee. K.Mills-Courts said she would not want to serve on a committee that could not choose its own chair. Nelson said the Coordinating Committee seemed a good idea, but that the confirmation of committee chairs was not, since it would require FC to evaluate them before they had any opportunity to perform the associated duties.
7b. Academic Affairs Committee, M.R.Amiran chair, reported that VPAA Hess had ordered the recommended pamphlets on preparation of syllabi recommended by the committee, and had sent them to the chairs.
7c. Planning & Budget Committee chair Connie Willeford reported that the committee had been meeting regularly, and had been having input concerning the president's 1% strategy. She said committee had met with VP Burdette and Assoc. VP Mahoney on a model they have developed to link effective use of resources to the planning process. She said the committee had invited the co- chairs of the Educational Technology Committee to report on their plan. Committee is working with Mahoney on identifying campus-wide issues to be addressed in the next Institutional Plan. J.Straight asked whether there had been any discussion concerning the future of foreign languages on campus, particularly since the German major has been deactivated. Willeford said there had not been discussion of that. MacPhee clarified that three majors had been deactivated (Sound Recording Technology, Anthropology and German). He said each would be considered according to proposals of the respective chairs, as had been done with Music and the SRT program. Steinberg suggested that foreign language was an area worthy of planning attention from P&B Committee. MacPhee said that would be an appropriate assignment for Planning & Budget, but that the department should be heavily involved in any such planning.
7d. Professional Service Committee chair Gary Barber distributed a two-page report on its review of criteria for promotion, tenure, and leave. [Report included in Archive minutes.]
Motion (M.Nelson/J.Gillette): to adopt the recommendations of the committee. J.Hansen noted that Economics Department had not responded to committee's inquiry concerning its policies and procedures, and perhaps other departments had similarly not responded if their policies are substantially in agreement with Board of Trustees Policies and the Faculty Handbook. Barber said that some chairs had specifically responded that they had no formal policies in place. MacPhee added that the departmental policies would need to be consistent with Board of Trustees Policies and the Faculty Handbook. Motion passed.
7e. Student Affairs Committee made no report. Steinberg noted that he had charged to the committee to report on the plans to relocate the Counselling Center, and that such a report would be forthcoming at a later FC meeting.
8. Motion (Calendar Subcommittee): to adopt the following resolution:
BE IT RESOLVED that spring break should coincide with Easter, if Easter is not later than April 15. If Easter is after April 15, there will be a mid-semester break in early March.
Steinberg urged consideration of Passover as well. MacPhee said that all the Jewish holy days should be given consideration and should be addressed directly. M.Dimitri said spring break has a direct impact on recruitment, since one of the major Open Houses occurs at about that time. He said that under the proposal, it might be possible to have few students on campus just when the visitors are here during public school spring break. He said that the calendar did appear insensitive to the Jewish holy days, which also impacts recruiting. He urged returning the proposal to committee. J.Hansen asked whether there is any significance between present plan and the proposed plan. Nelson said it would only occasionally make any difference, and in any case, not until 1998. R.Klassen urged support for the students needs as expressed by Dimitri. Nelson said the proposal does take into consideration the needs of the students. Motion passed (20 aye, 8 nay, 4 abstain).
Motion (Calendar Subcommittee): to adopt the following resolution:
BE IT RESOLVED that on the rare occasions when it is possible, Spring break should be scheduled to coordinate with Passover.
Nelson noted that this year had worked a particular hardship on Jewish students through Passover not having entered into the committee's deliberations several years ago when the current calendar was set. C.Brown noted that FC was being asked to base the calendar on Christian and Jewish holidays, and that this may not be appropriate for a state institution. She urged scheduling breaks when they are needed, not to accommodate religious holidays. J.Straight noted that there should not be two-day class weeks. D.Danielson said that such a prohibition was already part of the guidelines, but that occasionally it has to be done to meet the minimum academic requirements. Motion passed.
9. Report of Director of Creative Support Services was postponed.
10. FC received a one-page report of the Subcommittee for the Improvement of Undergraduate Instruction. [Report included in Archive minutes.]
11. FC received a one-page report from the Curriculum Review Committee, Fred Byham, chair indicated that three subcommittees had been formed to deal with (1) syllabi, (2) transcripts, and (3) institutional data. [Report included in Archive minutes.]
12.Intercultural Advisory Committee, Leonard Dagesse, chair, reported that there had been since 1991 three related committees: Bias-Related Incidents, Nomenclature, and Prejudice Reduction. He said that in 1992 the last two had been combined to form the Intercultural Advisory Committee, at the suggestion of the Bennetts. A 9-point Institutional Plan of Action has been developed. He said committee is presently in the process of identifying a chair, and following up on the Bennetts' proposals. J.McVicker requested that FC be given copies of the Institutional Plan of Action. MacPhee noted that these had been widely distributed through other channels previously. He added that Director of Admissions and Dean of Students are presently working on an updated strategy for recruiting under-represented students.
13. There was no new business.
14. Motion (M.Nelson/M.L.Lunde): to adjourn. Motion passed at 5:20 p.m.
Attendance:
Professional Staff, Management:
[E] K. Bonds (95)
[x] S. Clarke (96)
[x] V. Conover (96)
[x] D. Danielson (95)[1]
[x] K. Harrington(94)[1]
[x] R. Hart (96)
[x] A. Jackson (96)
[x] T. Malinoski (96)
[E] G. McNeil (95)
[x] T. Murphy (96)
[x] C. Niles (94)
[E] M. Pabst (94)
[ ] vacant
Arts, Education, Humanities:
[x] M.R. Amiran (96)
[x] C. Brown (95)
[x] J. Burke (94)
[x] J. Gillette (96)
[x] D. Kerzner (95)
[x] R. Klassen (95)
[x] K. Lucey (94)
[x] R. Ma
[x] L. Maheady (94)
[x] J. McVicker (95)
[x] K. Mills-Courts (96)
[x] M. Nelson (96)
[x] J. Parla (95)
Natural and Social Sciences:
[x] S. El-Mofty (96)[1]
[x] J. Hansen (94)[1]
[x] D. Jelski (94)
[E] J. Kraus (95)
[x] G. Lash (96)
[x] K. Mantai (96)
[2] P. Mattocks (96)
[x] A. Parai (95)[1]
[x] T. Pencek (96)
[3] T. Rywick (94)
[x] A. Sarker (95)
[E] B.J.Stephens (95)
[x] M. Vassallo (95)
Student Representatives:
[x] N. Crino
[3] S. Downey
[x] M. Eglin[2]
[3] R. Kerr
[2] N. Merkel
[E] G. Schneider[2]
Ex Officio:
[x] D. Burdette[1]
[x] J. Crowley
[x] M. Dimitri
[x] D. Hess
[x] M. L. Lunde
[x] D. MacPhee
[x] T. McNeil
[x] J. Romal
[x] T. Steinberg
[x] J. Straight
[x] A. Wheeler
[x] S. Zablotney
Guests:
Ronald Ambrosetti
Gary Barber
Nancy Bowser
Lenny Dagesse
Tom Loughlin
Colin Plaister
Peter Schoenbach
Constance Willeford
Thomas McNeil, College Senate Secretary