Faculty Council
Minutes of the meeting of October 16, 1995
Meeting called to order in Fenton 105 by Ted Steinberg at 4:04 P.M.
1. Steinberg asked that the agenda be approved as distributed. Passed.
2. Approval of the minutes from September 11, 1995. Passed.
3. President's Report:
Steinberg explained that President MacPhee will not be here today because he is attending a meeting in Albany. Vice President Hess agreed to answer any questions. Ruth Antosh asked that Hess comment on his recent (October 11, 1995) memo which identified French, BA and French 7-12, BA for possible elimination by the SUNY Central Office specifically asking for, "...who does make the final decision?" Hess responded that President MacPhee's recommendation goes to the central office (the Provost's office). Further inquiry by Antosh responded to by Hess indicated that it was unclear at this time if a final decision would be made in the central office or that this (recommended plan of action from President MacPhee) was only an attempt to gain information for future decision making. Antosh further asked how an elimination of these departments would save any money? Hess responded that he didn't know because at this time he did not know if the recommendation would involve any personnel. K. Mill-Courts and others asked about how SUNY central received their information leading to the recommendation? Hess responded by noting that the SUNY Central Office criteria included such areas as multiple availability (offered at 3 or more campuses, low demand (enrollment less than 25% of the average enrollment for that discipline area, or fewer than 10 majors), and high comparative cost (instruction per student 50% higher than the average cost for that program if the program is offered at 3 or more campuses). Hess further commented that all programs in SUNY received a list of their programs that met the criteria with instructions to either recommend elimination or to keep the identified programs. R. Deming asked if the two French programs were the only programs identified? Hess said that two other programs were identified including Geophysics, BS and Geochemistry, BS. A number of other faculty commented and asked questions of Hess regarding the elimination of programs which led to a motion by G. Sebouhian and amended by M. Nelson. Resolved: The Faculty Council at the State University of New York College at Fredonia believes it to be in the best interest of the students and faculty not to eliminate those programs recently identified by the SUNY Central Office for possible elimination namely French BA, French 7-12 BA, Geophysics BS, and Geochemistry BS. The motion passed unanimously. Discussion continued concerning the possible elimination of the above named programs and general questions regarding the current state of affairs at our college and the State University of New York. Taking all these comments, questions, and answers into consideration (from V.P. Hess, V.P Crowley, V.P. Burdette, V.P. Dimitri, Dean Zablotney and many teaching faculty) it became evident that at this time the present administration on our campus simply does not know what future recommendations are forthcoming from SUNY Central and because of this planning becomes very difficult. G. Sebouhian commented that. "... we should be developing a strategy as a campus" in order to be better prepared to deal with future SUNY Central recommendations. V.P. Hess commented that he believes that this "was an excellent idea" and hoped that today we (this body-Faculty Council) are beginning to develop such a strategy "in earnest". V.P. Burdette and V.P. Dimitri commented and gave examples of how SUNY Central is currently looking at a number of different models of budget reductions across all aspects of the campus not only academic programs. T. Malinowski noted that we need this information in order to plan and how do we get that information? Hess commented he believed that information was available. J. Adams commented that it is important to be proactive rather than reactive. V.P. Burdette agreed to make available all the information he has regarding the SUNY Central's recommendations and our response to the administration of the campus after he is assured that it is a public document. After a number of other comments/questions regarding who will be making future decisions, how specific SUNY recommendations will be, etc. V.P. Hess again commented that at this time we (at Fredonia) simply don't know the specificity of future recommendations. L. Loft asked V.P. Hess if the SUNY Provost recommends specific program cuts could President MacPhee or V.P. of Academic Affairs (Hess) recommend other programs for cuts? Hess responded, ".. yes we could that option is open". Regarding necessary information for developing of a campus strategy, V.P. Burdette explained the current budget process. We are on a July 1 to June 30 fiscal year budget. V.P.s Burdette, Dimitri, and Burdette all noted how important it is that all of us need to help recruit students for our campus. M. Nelson commented on his recent trip to Albany where he "demonstrated" his support of SUNY, he noted that the Chancellor said he planed to submit a no cut budget for next year.((This at least seems like good news.)) It remains unclear as to who will make the final decision as to what and where cuts will be made on our campus and what level of input we will have into this decision making process? A central question to our "strategy seeking" seems to be- what kind of campus do we want to be? If we can agree, we have a strategy.
4. Chairperson's Report:
Steinberg announced the results of the election of members to the Presidential Search Committee. They are- R. Belliotti, S. Warner, and J. Westwood. (R. Belliotti requested the following from any and all faculty (1) what qualities do you want in our next president and (2) what special concerns and hopes do you have for our campus.) In addition, Steinberg asked for FC approval of the following membership of a committee that will review our General Education Program: R. Antosh and R. Booth (Arts and Humanities), J. Swansinger and M. Swiatek (Social Sciences), J. Straight and M. LaBranche (Natural Sciences), D. Dobey (Education), and a student to be selected. J. Hurtgen, Dean, Liberal Education discussed the purpose of the committee. This recommendation was passed.
5. Vice-President's Report:
J. Romal commented that because the mission of our college is one of a comprehensive liberal arts college we should not cut programs.
6. Faculty Senator's Report:
J. Adams submitted a typed report of the Fall meeting of the University SUNY Senate on September 21-23, 1995 attended by our faculty senator alternate M. Seydedian. Adams reported (in part) that the senators discussed and presented the following viewpoints:
- the Board of Trustees is constitutionally responsible for upholding public education for the benefit of all New York citizens and, therefore, should not be influenced by temporary fiscal and/or political pressures;
- there should be no differential tuition system based on family income;
- distance learning is not effective in teaching students with varied learning abilities, also the cost of technology and training should be seriously considered;
- the Board should exercise extra care in analyzing statistics on SUNY and comparing them to other university systems; and
- student Assistance programs such as EOP (EDP), FOP, Learning Centers, etc. should not be cut. In addition the Faculty Senate and UUP, along with the California State University System is organizing a forum to discuss "faculty productivity".
Adams noted he would let FC know more about this as information comes to his attention. There also is a call for papers for the 5th Annual SUNY conference on advanced education technology. (Contact Adams for more details.)
7. Governance Committee Reports:
a. Governance:
S. Rees noted that the committee is currently working on the faculty census and upcoming elections. Rees thanked Sandra (Brown) Lewis and Jefferson Westwood for their work on the committee.
b. Academic Affairs:
T. Rywich submitted a written report to FC members.
c. Planning & Budget:
K. Mills-Courts is currently obtaining information in order to carry on their charge. There is a proposal that will be submitted to the governance committee to re-structure the make-up of the committee.
d. Professional Service: No report.
e. Student Affairs: No report.
8. Report of the Commencement Committee: David Kasper handed out a written report.
9. Report on College Scholarships: Laura Stonefoot reported on the progress of the College Scholarship Committee.
10. Report on Campus Computing:
John Hansen noted that there was not sufficient amount of time left for his presentation.
11. New Business:
L. Maheady noted that there will be an open discussion on the Improvement for Undergraduate Education at three different times and days. Contact Maheady for further details.
12. Motion to adjourn. Motion passed at 5:25 P.M.
Attendance:
Professional Staff/Management:
[x] K. Bonds
[x] S. Clarke
[E] V. Conover
[ ] D. Danielsen
[x] T. Malinoski
[x] S. Maloney
[ ] L. Marrano
[ ] J. Moss
[x] T. Murphy
[x] C. Niles
[x] W. Ortega
[x] T. Tzitzis
[x] S. Mazumdar
Arts, Education and Humanities:
[x] M. Amiran
[x] C. Brown
[x] R. Deming
[ ] R. Klassen
[x] R. Ma
[x] L. Maheady
[x] J. McVicker
[x] K. Mills-Court
[x] M. Nelson
[x] J. Onufrak
[ ] J. Parla-Burdic
[x] G. Sebouhian
Natural and Social Sciences:
[x] S. El-Mofty
[x] N. Gee
[x] J. Kraus
[x] G. Lash
[x] K. Mantai
[x] P. Mattocks
[ ] A. Parai
[x] T. Pencek
[x] G. Prechtl
[x] A. Sarkar
[E] B. Stephens
[ ] M. Vassallo
[ ] D. Welch
Ex Officio:
[x] D. Burdette
[x] J. Crowley
[x] M. Dimitri
[ ] G. Harper
[x] D. Hess
[x] J. Hurtgen
[ ] S. Kraus
[ ] D. MacPhee
[x] J. Romal
[x] T. Steinberg
[x] J. Adams
[x] S. Zablotney
[x] S. Rees
Guests:
Ron Ambrosetti
Ruth Antosh
Ray Belliotti
Nancy Bowser
Rodger Byrne
Mario Falcao
John Hansen
James Huffman
Lyla Lalik
Ken Lucey
John Mortenson
Peter Schoenbach
Shelly Siegel
Laura Stonefoot
Howard Wescott
Jefferson Westwood
John A. Onufrak College Senate Secretary