College Senate
MINUTES OF FREDONIA UNIVERSITY SENATE September 13, 2004
The Fredonia University Senate met on Monday, September 13, 2004, in Room 105, Fenton Hall. The meeting began at 4:05 PM, chaired by Dick Reddy.
The Chair prefaced the meeting by informing the Senate that copies of the "Fredonia College Senate Guide to Parliamentary Procedure" (dated Spring 2000) were available among the handouts.
1. The agenda of the meeting was approved (Watters/[??]) as presented.
2. The minutes of the meeting of May 3, 2004 were approved (Rushboldt/Jabot) as distributed.
3. The Chair asked the members of the Senate to introduce themselves, since this was an essentially "new" body with the changes in representation structure. He appointed Larry Maheady as Parliamentarian for the year. He announced the appointment of Jacky Swansinger as the Senate's representative on the Chancellor's Awards Committee.
The Senate was then asked to discuss and vote upon the three slates of Search Committee members brought forward by the Senate Executive Committee:
Vice President Academic Affairs:
* Co-chairs: David Herman (Student Affairs) and Holly Lawson (Chemistry)
* Karen Porpiglia (Administration)
* Chris Givner (Education)
* Tom Loughlin (Visual Arts and New Media)
* Jacky Swansinger (History)
* Marwan El Nasser (Economics)
* Chris Maziarczyk (CSEA, Grad. Studies and Life Long Learning)
* Sophia Coaxum (Student)
There was no discussion, and the slate passed by unanimous voice vote.
Vice President for University Advancement:
* Co-chairs: Tracy Bennett (Administration) and Karl Boelter (Music)
* Doug Manley (University Foundation)
* Hal Kwasniewski (University Advancement)
* Maggie Bryan-Peterson (Grants Administration and Research Srvcs.)
* Mike Jabot (Education)
* Liza Smith (Learning Center)
* Wendy Dunst (CSEA, Reed Library)
* Jennifer Raff (Student)
There was no discussion, and the slate passed by unanimous voice vote.
Dean, Natural and Social Sciences:
* Co-chairs: Paul Schwartz (Arts and Humanities) and Alan LaFlamme (Sociology)
* Nan Bowser (Registrar)
* Joe Chilberg (Communication)
* Amar Parai (Economics)
* Bruce Tomlinson (Biology)
* Sue Rosen (CSEA, Arts and Humanities)
* Will Neris (Student)
There was no discussion, and the slate passed by unanimous voice vote.
The Chair announced that later in the semester a slate for the Search Committee for the position of Dean of Graduate Studies and Lifelong Learning will be presented.
4. President Hefner is away, and his report was attached to the agenda.
5. Vice President for Academic Affairs report:
Academic Master Plan, 1st reading:
The Academic Master Plan for 2004-2005 through 2008-2009 was presented for discussion and correction. The following corrections were voiced:
Music Therapy has a new additional external review body, the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA).
Music Education should also include NCATE with NASM as external review bodies.
In discussion, Tom Rywick asked if enrollment assumptions should have been included. VP Faulk replied that such data collection has taken place, and this plan had been created taking that data into consideration. The Academic Master Plan is an over-arching document that is based on many inputs, and therefore no specific input is usually included when it is presented.
Proposed new tenure-track lines:
VP Faulk spoke to the handout "Proposed New Tenure Track Lines for 2005-2006", which shows 23 lines that will be filled during this year. Of these, 3 are new lines (supported by an increase in next year's student population of 50); 14 are replacements for positions that have been opened via resignation, retirement, or death; and 6 are "conversions" of full-time temporary lines to full tenure track.
Maggie Bryan-Peterson informed the Senate that the Planning and Budget Committee had been fully briefed on the proposal to fill these 23 lines, and had approved the plan.
Questions:
N. Boynton asked if the reference to the "Science Education" line was inaccurate, since that line had been agreed upon as either a Science or Mathematics line. Michael Jabot added that perhaps it should be referenced as an "Adolescence Education (Mathematics or Science)" line, in keeping with current terminology. VP Faulk indicated that, yes, the line could be in either Science or Mathematics education and the ads would reflect that.
Information Security Update:
VP Faulk asked Karen Klose to provide this update. She went through the handout "Information Security Program Update" emphasizing the move away from using the Social Security Number as an identification number, and the creation of the "strong" password for access to electronic accounts. She told the Senate that the full Information Security Program had been adopted by the Cabinet on June 2, 2004, and is available for review at http://www.fredonia.edu/humanresources/ (click on Policies and Procedure). The campus will be implementing this in an incremental manner. Information on the "strong" password portion of the program may be obtained at http://www.fredonia.edu/HelpDesk/ (click on Procedures and then on Password Integrity). Remaining implementation steps include 1) Confidentiality statements reviewed and accepted on-line by all State employees; 2) Regular reminders of FERPA and confidentiality. (Reminders at log-on, and possible annual reminder of policies); 3) Desktop locking advisory to administrative offices; 4) Clarification of document retention policies; and 5) Written contingency plans for managing system failures. (The campus is now reviewing "Disaster Recovery Concept Paper" developed by Information Technology Exchange Center (ITEC) [housed at Buffalo State] for management of system failures for ITEC members.
Questions:
Mike Grady asked if all have a SUNYCard with a number, why not use that as an identifier? AVP Klose said that part of the answer to that is because we use the Banner system, and SICAS processes, and the SICAS Center has developed forms of identification which we chose to use.
Mike Grady also asked about in-person registration, which had many problems for students in logging into "Your Connection". AVP Klose said that students had in fact received at least two mailings concerning the changes in log-on procedures. In hindsight, the faculty and staff should have been made aware of what the students had been sent, as well. As to some machines being made available for "Your Connection" use only, that was intended to facilitate finding the students log-on information. Such dedicated machine use will be for only short periods of time, such as the first week of the semester. Once the problems with access had been recognized, a generic registration log-on was created, again for only the first week of classes.
Charles Telly asked if the returning students were continuing to be identified by their SSN? AVP Klose said that no, all students now have the Fredonia ID (FID). All offices are using the FID whenever possible.
Kerrie Wilkes asked if the SSN access to "Your Connection" was going to "go away" at some point in time. AVP Klose said that no, the "Your Connection" server is secure, and the SSN will remain to provide access to a user's information for those who elect to continue using it. The campus, however, strongly recommends to all users to NOT use their SSN when there is another number or log-in available.
6. Bob Rogers, our representative to the SUNY Faculty Senate, gave a report outlining briefly the history of the "SUNY-wide assessment" initiative that continues to be a major topic for the SUNY Senate. Those who may want more detail can reference the Fredonia University Senate web site for the minutes of last year's meetings, and some documents that had been put forth from the SUNY Faculty Senate. The Fredonia University Senate web site is http://www.fredonia.edu/senate/
7. New Business:
Bylaw amendment:
N. Boynton presented an overview of the proposed Bylaw amendment to make the committee structure of the Fredonia University Senate better aligned with the current structure of the University. This proposal was voted on last spring, gathered an overwhelming majority of those voting, but failed to muster the number of votes needed by 3 or 5 votes. The Senate Executive Committee felt the vote was so close that we ought to try again this year. The proposal was included as an attachment to the agenda for the meeting.
Questions:
[??] asked why there were no student representatives on the Committees as listed? N. Boynton said that because we are only dealing with the alignment of the faculty seats on these committees, the students were left off. There will be no change to the student representation on the committees.
With no further discussion, the proposal passed by unanimous voice vote. The question will be sent forth for a vote of the Faculty. A "quorum" of at least one quarter of the eligible voting faculty must vote in order for the results to take effect should the proposal carry. Chair Reddy urged all Senators to remind their colleagues to vote when the ballot goes out.
Mexico Initiative:
Mary Sasso reminded all present that a Title VI "Mexico Initiative" workshop will be held on Saturday, September 18 from 9:00AM - 1:30PM in Williams Center S-104. Please email John Staples if you plan on attending.
CCC Upper Level requirement problem:
Chair Reddy briefed the Senate on a problem that has developed with the CCC "study abroad" equivalency to the 6 credit "Upper Level" requirements. It seems that students in non-CCC approved travel courses during J-Term (usually a week or 10-day courses) expected that to be accepted as fulfilling their Upper Level requirement. The CCC is in the process of developing a policy which it will bring to the Senate, probably in October. The CCC Committee asks for feedback. The proposed policy would likely require any study abroad program of less than 12 credit hours per semester to obtain prior approval of the CCC Committee if those credits are to be taken toward fulfillment of the CCC upper level requirement. Both three credit hour and six credit hour courses could be developed. Also, a student taking three different one credit study abroad courses would be able to have those credits applied to the upper level requirement if approved as a CCC offering.
Questions:
Mike Grady asked about prior approval by CCC for courses that did not originate at Fredonia. Dick Reddy responded that this policy was intended only for Fredonia-originated courses (J-Term type courses), and those would need to have prior CCC approval.
Harry Jacobson asked about credit hours and study abroad courses. Mary Sasso answered that most semester-long study abroad offerings were 12-15 credit hours. There are also 6 credit hour summer study abroad offerings. And there are less than 6 credit hour offerings (from 1 to 3 credits usually). Mary also said the wording in the related to study abroad in the rationale for CCC upper level fulfillment refers to "extensive" time abroad. Dick Reddy suggested that courses that do not have "extensive" time abroad can supplement the actual travel by having pre- and/or post- travel coursework that could fill out the credit hours and make the course more rigorous in terms of the CCC.
Jim Ivey asked if "double-dipping" would be allowed, if a course met a CCC criteria other than study abroad could such a course be used for both by a student? Dick Reddy said that yes, it probably would be allowed.
Distance Learning:
Joe Baxter asked if there has been any draft of the Distance Education Policy brought forth, which is mentioned in the May 3 minutes? What is the status of that policy?
Joe Straight, Chair of the Academic Affairs Committee, answered that the Academic Affairs Committee is working on it. A draft should be available at the October or November Senate meeting.
J-Term:
Charles Telly asked if anyone had seen a report on the experimental J-Term?
Joan Burke answered that the original pilot of the J-Term concept at Fredonia was for two years. Therefore, no report will be made until after the coming J-Term. A report will be coming in the spring semester, 2005.
Smoke free entrances:
Harry Watters, referring to the President's report, asked if other entrances were going to be added to the "Smoke Free" list? Is it the Senate's intention to respond to the President?
Dick Reddy indicated that yes, at some point the Senate will be taking up this matter. He asked Senators to contact their colleagues and determine if there are other entrances that ought to be designated as "Smoke Free". If there are, please email Dick ( Richard.Reddy@fredonia.edu ) and the Executive Committee will provide this information to the administration, and will report to the Senate.
8. The meeting adjourned at 5:00 PM.