College Senate
Minutes of the meeting of September 9, 2002
Meeting was called to order at 4:02.
The meeting's proposed agenda was approved as circulated except that the report on the SUNY Learning Network was postponed until the October Senate meeting (Courtney, Graff).
Approval of minutes of the May 13, 2002 meeting: Vink/E. Nelson
CHAIRPERSON'S REPORT: Nancy Boynton
# The Academic Affairs Committee has developed a set of questions concerning possible policy changes regarding SUNY Learning Network courses. It is in the process of appointing a subcommittee to work on the issues during the academic year.
# Nancy is doing editorial work on the bylaws and, for example, making sure that references to the Faculty Council are now being changed to College Senate. However, her review of the bylaws suggest that motions for additional changes may be in order. They are being prepared for presentation at the October Senate meeting. One idea that is being considered is changing the terms of committee members to annual year terms rather than academic year terms. She wondered why Senate terms differed from committee terms. Markus Vink noted that the current arrangement permits new faculty to vote in the fall for Senate representation and even run themselves for the Senate. Dick Reddy that a major reason for committees running on an academic year basis is that much of the work of committees tends to be done during the academic year, work getting started in the fall and concluding work by the end of the spring. Senate terms are offset by being on a calendar year basis so that the Senate can offer some continuity from one academic year to the next.
# Nancy noted that the circulated calendar for Senate meetings had the Senate meeting on October 14th (the observation of Columbus Day) and on November 11th (Veterans Day). These are days on which there will be class, but they are holidays for many members of the professional staff. Ted Steinberg suggested that the schedule ought to be changed, postponing those meetings for a week, so that all members could attend. A motion was made (M. Nelson, Steinberg) to change the date of the Senate meeting in October to October 21st and to change the date of the Senate meeting in November to November 18th. The motion passed.
# Nancy indicated that a listing of the committee membership for the search committee for the Vice President for Academic Affairs was attached to the agenda for the meeting. The search committee is co-chaired by Melinda Karnes and David Herman.
Melinda Karnes reported for the search committee. The ad for the position is first expected to be published in the Chronicle of Higher Education in the edition dated September 20the. It will also appear in Black Issues in Higher Education. The committee expects to review applications starting on October 20th. Candidates are expected to be invited to visit the campus between mid-November and mid-December. The committee expects to make its recommendation to the President by the end of the fall semester. It is hoped that by acting quickly, the college will be able to have a strong pool of candidates, candidates who might be lost if the process were delayed.
PRESIDENT'S REPORT: Dennis Hefner
President Hefner made his report, starting by welcoming the Senate members back.
# He first discussed enrollment issues. Enrollment is up by 17 in headcount over last year. We had been hoping to be up by 50 in headcount, but we experienced a lower yield in first-time, full-time freshman than we had anticipated. Actual enrollment was up by 20 undergraduate students, but down by three graduate students. Overall, though, we are about where we want to be. Indeed, we actually did better with our selectivity goals. The goal had been to have 69% of our incoming students in groups 1 and 2. In fact, more that 70% of incoming students were in those top two categories. All of the remainder were in category 3. We admitted no students in categories 4 and 5. Because we did exceed our targets, we will receive our full allocation of mission review money. That money is used for a variety of purposes. They include activities such as upgrading the freshman seminar, supporting student research, enhancing the honors program, developing brochures of various kinds, upgrading the display booths the Admissions Office uses at fairs, work on updating articulation agreements with community colleges, supporting the travel of musical groups to downstate locations, underwriting a shuttle service to the airport for visiting prospective students, doing web upgrades, developing a better inventory of pictures of the college and college activities. We expect one more year of funding at approximately $350,000.
# The Chancellor is expected to visit the campus during the afternoon of Thursday, October 3rd. He has been unable to make planned visits in the past due to his illness and then due to the events after September 11th last year. A campus-wide meeting for all faculty and staff is planned.
# He has received a rough draft of the report of the Task Force on Academic Integrity. The final report will be completed before the October Senate meeting. It will be attached to the agenda. The Academic Affairs Committee will review it and either endorse it or recommend changes.
# There is no new, hard news on the budget. Fredonia's budget is down $1.7 million this year. There is word that we might have to expect a reduction of between 3 and 5% after the November election. This will be a difficult financial year. So, if you hear "no" a lot, I apologize. Pain is inevitable. We hope that next year we will be able to offset reductions through a tuition increase. It can be hoped that we will be fully restored by the year after next. For the time being, we will need to "tighten our belts and ride this particular wave out."
# The Enrollment Management Committee is about to have a Subcommittee on Student Diversity. Subcommittee members will be jointly appointed by the President and Nancy Boynton as the Chairperson of the Senate.
# It is likely that the Educational Development Program will be shifted from the Academic Affairs Division to the Student Affairs Division. It is found in Student Affairs on most campuses. Typically four offices (Multicultural Affairs, Admissions, Financial Aid, and Educational Development) are found in Student Affairs. At Fredonia, historically, only three of the four are found there. A decision can be expected on this prior to the Senate meeting in October. Our Educational Development Program has the highest retention rate of any EDP program in SUNY. We'd like to expand on recruitment and, at the same time, keep our high retention levels.
# There will be a number of observance moments on the first anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Moments of silence are scheduled, along with 15 minutes of patriotic music on the carillon, starting at 10:29. A special remembrance program will be held in King Concert Hall starting at 7:00. Free tickets are available from the Box Office.
REPORT OF THE VPAA: Len Faulk
Vice President Faulk extended his best wishes for the new year and indicated he had two items to discuss.
The first item was the Academic Master Plan. It had its first reading in the May Senate meeting and Vice President Faulk indicated that there were no subsequent changes in it.
Ted Steinberg, citing the cost of external reviewers, wondered if having such reviews had ever led to sufficiently substantive changes to have justified them. Faulk replied that we have no choice inasmuch as SUNY requires external review processes.
Mira Berkley and Cynthia Smith noted that there were problems with the names of certification areas in Education. There were also changes necessary in the Visual Arts/Media Arts area. Should there be a need for yet other changes, it was resolved (M. Nelson, Graff) to table the Academic Master Plan and to bring it back from the table at the October Senate meeting.
The second item was a report on the impact of the SUNY budget on faculty and staff lines. Faulk reported that the "good news" is that we won't be able to do much hiring next year and that the Chronicle ad will thus be much smaller and less expensive. At the same time, we'll be able to save money on recruitment. The "bad news" is that we simply won't be able to replace some people as lines become vacant.
The college needs to cut 16 lines for next year and 9 of them will be from Academic Affairs, seven faculty lines and two professional lines. We are currently advertising for several positions: Director of the School of Education, the chair in Modern Languages, a MIS slot in Business Administration, a curriculum position in Education, North American and East Asian positions in History, an American Studies position in English, and a communication theory position in Communication. We will not be searching for two positions, one in Music Education and one in Psychology (Counseling Psychology).
REPORTS OF STANDING COMMITTEES:
Planning and Budget - Bruce Simon reported for Jon Kraus, the chair of the Planning and Budget Committee. The committee had met with the deans and the Vice President. They had asked lots of questions, including questions concerning the rationale for each of the proposed actions, both for hiring and for non-replacement . Unfortunately, there is no easy way to make the necessary decisions. The committee agreed with the proposed plan. It did request more information "down the road." Overall the consultation process went very smoothly.
Nancy Boynton reported that Dick Reddy was filling in as Secretary for Ray Rushboldt.
NEW BUSINESS:
Under New Business, Curt Louison expressed two concerns.
First, he noted that there was a safety problem on Old Main Drive as one approaches or leaves the Williams Center. The spine is an overpass at that point, but the structure of the spine limits the visibility available both to vehicles and to pedestrians, creating a potentially dangerous situation. He wondered whether a committee could deal with that issue. President Hefner indicated that the Campus Safety Committee would be the appropriate committee to address the concern.
Second, he wondered about why the campus flag pole was so often at half-mast. He cited the Federal law on the issue:
"By order of the President, the Flag shall be flown at half staff upon the death of principal figures in the United States Government and the Governor of a State, territory, or possession, as a mark of respect to their memory. In the event of the death of other officials or foreign dignitaries, the Flag is to be displayed at half-staff according to Presidential instructions or orders, or in accordance with recognized customs or practices not inconsistent with law. In the event of the death of a present or former official of the government of any State, territory, or possession of the United States, the Governor of that state, territory, or possession may proclaim that the National Flag may be flown at half-staff. The Flag shall be flown at half- staff thirty days from the death of the President or a former President; ten days from the day of death of a Vice-President, the Chief Justice or a retired Chief Justice of the United States, or the Speaker of the House of Representatives; from the day of death until internment of an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, a Secretary of an executive or military department, a former Vice President, or the Governor of a State, territory, or possession; and on the day of death and on the following day for a Member of Congress."
Federal Flag Code Public Law 94-344 July 7, 1976 Joint Resolution, 94th Congress
His basic concern was whether there was a way of knowing why the flag is flown at half-mast on those days when it is. President Hefner replied that that information is available on the college website under Public Relations. The campus basically complies with messages from the Governor. In the current instance, the flag is at half-mast (and will be at half mast for 30 days) in observance of the death of a former New York State Governor.
Meeting adjourned 4:47 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Richard Reddy