Minutes of the University Senate Meeting

April 7, 2008

The meeting was called to order by Governance Officer Richard Reddy at 4:05 PM in Fenton 105.

As he called the meeting to order, Chair Reddy explained that our elected Chair (Reneta Barneva) was in Buffalo today attending a conference for which she was one of the organizers, and that our Vice Chair (Ana Maria Klein) who originally was scheduled to chair this meeting only just returned from Montreal, and had not had sufficient time to prepare for this meeting, so as our Bylaws stipulate, the Governance Officer would be next in line to run a meeting.   Chair Reddy then noted some changes in the agenda.   Two versions of the agenda had been posted, one on the Senate web page, and a different version on the ANGEL site.   We will be using the web page version, since it is more complete.   In addition, we would like to add as the last action item under section 6 the Graduate Council's proposal for the School District Leadership Program.    Also, the Academic Affairs Committee wishes to delete the action item on the Online Education Policy because that item is not ready for voting.  Then, we wish to add two items under the Academic Affairs Committee in Standing Committee Reports.  The first is a discussion on adding a Professional Development Day in the calendar, and the second is a proposal to take the Environmental Science program out of interdisciplinary studies and have a B.S. in Environmental Studies as its own degree program.  Plus we will have a brief item before we begin the meat of the meeting after approval of the minutes.

With the changes to the agenda outlined as a motion from the Executive Committee, Chair Reddy asked for a second for the amendments to the agenda.   Sen. Bruce Simon seconded.   There having been no further discussion on the issue, the vote was taken.  The motion was approved by unanimous voice vote.   The Chair then called for a vote on approving the revised agenda.   The motion passed by unanimous voice vote.

The Chair asked for a motion to approve the minutes of the Senate meeting of March 3, 2008.  Sen. Dani McKinney moved, and Sen. Kerrie Wilkes seconded the motion.  There having been no further discussion, the motion was passed by unanimous voice vote.

At this point, Chair Reddy read a motion from the Executive Committee (attached to the minutes of this meeting) which offered the condolences of the University Senate to Ana Maria Klein upon the recent death of her mother.  The motion was seconded by Sen. Chuck Stoddart.   There having been no further discussion, the motion was passed by unanimous voice vote.

REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Dennis Hefner


Pres. Hefner reported that he had hoped to give final word on the State budget, but it looks like it might take another 48 hours before things are finalized.   The Legislature is still working on it.  We do know it is going to be a fairly difficult budget, so we have put a moratorium on new searches right now until we get a better feel for how the budget will impact us.  Gov. Paterson took what had been a 2.5% cut and added a 2% cut on top of that.  Then he cut another 1.5%, so we are looking at a possible 5.85% cut.  Legislators Pres. Hefner has talked to say there is a little money, and they will try to give some of it to SUNY, so it will come in somewhere between a 4% and 5% cut ($300,000 - $400,000 over the shortfall we were taking care of in the new budget book.)  We will have to tighten our belts, and come up with a plan, and go on about our business.   Our priorities are no layoffs, and making sure we provide access to classes for the students.  We hope to get our plan out no later than May 1.

The rest of the news is better!  We are still looking at a fairly robust construction budget.  It is ironic that construction is funded out of a different pot of money, and the Legislature seems to love debt, and construction is funded by floating bonds.   The Science Technology building has already passed in the Assembly, and planning and construction monies for the addition to Rockefeller Arts Center has been put into the budget by the Senate.  We have been told this verbally, but have not seen the bill copy, so we don't want to say this is a done deal.  Sometimes we are told things that are not real.

Pres. Hefner informed the body that in a recent e-mail, he learned that SUNY has a new interim Vice Chancellor for Finance.   The recent Vice Chancellor left her position to assume the presidency of a university in Westchester County.  The Vice President for Administration and Finance at Binghamton has agreed to be the interim Vice Chancellor, and Vice President Tracy Bennett knows him well, and says he will do fine.

Pres. Hefner thanked all who were involved with last Saturday's admitted-student open house.  This was the largest ever held, with 550 students and their parents.  King Concert Hall was filled over capacity.   That is a great problem to have.  Enrollment is looking strong for next year.

He also thanked the Sustainability Committee for coming up with a wonderful array of events for Earth Week, culminating with a speech by Ralph Nader on the 15th.   Posters are all over campus listing the events, and it is outstanding.   Many legislators will be attending during the week, as well.

Later this week, Pres. Hefner will be at SUNY Day in Washington D.C.  Our campus did receive $150,000 in an earmark from Congressman Higgins, and we hope to get a $250,000 earmark from this session.

Questions:

Sen. Simon asked how are our application numbers?   Pres. Hefner responded applications are looking good.  We are more than 500 freshmen ahead of last year, and our transfer applications are a little ahead.   This will be the most selective class we have ever brought in, and will be slightly larger than last year's freshman class because the senior class that left was a big one.   It looks like we're going to have an exceptional class.

Sen. Amy Cuhel-Schuckers asked for what purpose were the earmarks?  Pres. Hefner replied that last year's $150,000 was for the construction and operation of the incubator in Dunkirk.   We are seeking operating funds for the incubator out of this year's possible earmarks, as well.  Economic development sells well in D.C.

Sen. Ziya Arnavut asked when is the Science and Technology building likely to be ready?  The President said that his guess is that we'll probably be starting construction in about 18 months, after the architects come up with their design.   His hope is to break ground in the fall of 2009.   He would guess it would take a year and a half to two years to build it, so sometime in 2011 would be his estimate for finishing.

Sen. Cuhel-Schuckers then asked if the timetable included renovations in Houghton Hall?  Pres. Hefner indicated that some modest renovations in Houghton will occur along with the construction of the new building, but significant renovation will occur once the Chemistry Dept. has been moved out of Houghton.  To try and move everything around at one time is very difficult.    We'll probably have to do this in phases.   Once Jewett Hall has been emptied we're likely to move Physics and Geosciences into Jewett while Houghton is being renovated.   Sen. Cuhel-Schuckers followed up, asking what will Jewett be after Houghton has been renovated?   The Pres. responded that right now Jewett is scheduled to become overflow space for the Williams Center.  That is from our 2001 Master Plan revision.

Sen. Arnavut then asked so if we get the funding, we'll be ready?  Or do we expect to get extra funding as we go along?   Pres. Hefner answered that we have built inflation into the request.   We expect this to be fully funded at the end of this legislative session.   It depends on how quickly we can finish the design and final approval from the State.  Fall 2011 is realistic.

REPORT OF THE VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS:

Dr. Virginia Horvath

Dr. Horvath began with a few thank yous... to everyone who participated in the assessment and accreditation discussion last week.   She indicated that she will be drafting a written response perhaps indicating strategies we can use to deal with these challenges. She also thanked the departments for the way they do their personnel reviews.  She is impressed with the work we do as colleagues and chairs.

She handed out a sheet showing the hires updated through today.   Everyone involved has done a terrific job getting out early, getting candidates in, and getting contracts out to them.  Those having a blue 'H' on the spreadsheet have a signed contract.  Those with 'ACC' in green have given verbal acceptances.   Purple are searches that have been postponed or failed.   Two searches continue, with the interactive media arts search nearly completed.

Cindy Thorp will be starting here on May 1 to lead our first year experience program.

There were no questions for Dr. Horvath.

REPORT OF THE CHAIR: Dr. Richard Reddy


There was no formal report, but elections did need to be held.

Beginning with Vice Chair (which is a two-year position, the second year being in the role of Chair); we have a nominee, Bruce Simon (from English).   Are there any other nominations from the floor?   There being none, the interim Chair asked for a vote.   The voice vote was unanimous in favor.   Bruce Simon was elected by acclamation.

Next, we need to vote for Governance Officer.  We have one nomination: Charles Davis (from Sports Management and Exercise Science).  Are there any nominations from the floor?  Sen. Mike Szocki nominated Khalid Siddiqui (from Computer Science).

There being no further nominations, the vote was taken by written ballot.   Sens. Ana Maria Klein and Rhea Simmons served as tellers.

While the ballots were being counted, interim Chair Reddy moved on to the position of Faculty Secretary.   We have one nomination: Vincent Courtney (from Reed Library).  Are there any other nominations?  There being no other nominations, the vote was called.  The result of the voice vote was unanimous in favor.  Vincent Courtney was elected Faculty Secretary by acclamation.

ACTION ITEMS

Minor in Museum Studies (Academic Affairs Committee)

Dr. H. Joseph Straight, Chair of the Academic Affairs Committee, came forward to present this proposal.   This had been presented for a first reading at the March 3 meeting.  The interim Chair asked for a second on the motion of the Committee.  Sen. Wilkes seconded.  There being no ensuing discussion, the motion passed by unanimous voice vote.

Moving Sports Management and Exercise Science to the College of Natural and Social Sciences (Deans Ewing and Kijinski)

This had been presented at an earlier meeting.   The Deans said that the issue was very well summed up in the report of the Planning and Budget Committee, and the recommendation is based on the alignment of the disciplines.  It is time that this department be moved to its rightful place among the other social sciences. 

Questions:

Sen. Arnavut asked will it be more burden on you as Dean?   Dean Ewing responded that there will be more we will be proposing in the future, so it all balances out.

Dr. Straight rose to say that he would think that in some cases this kind of proposal ought to also go through the Academic Affairs Committee.

There being no further discussion, the interim Chair indicated that technically we will think of this as being proposed by a Committee, and we need a second.  Sen. Adrienne McCormick seconded.

Chair Reddy informed the body that it is understood that this might require the Senate to make some adjustments with regard to representation.   Such adjustments won't come into play with all fairness until after it has been approved by the President's Office, so it is reasonable to assume that this will not affect this year's elections.

The motion passed by unanimous voice vote.

It was then announced that the tellers had returned with the results of the election for Governance Officer.  Charlie Davis is the winner.

Graduate Council: TESOL proposal (Kevin Kearns)

This is a combined item that is being brought for approval.  The first portion doesn't really require a vote of the Senate.  It is reorganization within TESOL, helping to align our courses with NCATE and other accrediting bodies.  The second is the offering of a Certificate of Advanced Study, which is for the Intensive Teaching Institute (ITI), and will address the critical shortage in areas of bilingual education and TESOL education.  We are fortunate to have NY State funding to support this.   This was discussed at an earlier meeting of the Senate.

Chair Reddy said this is just approval of the ITI program, essentially.  The Chair then asked for a second.  Sen. Stoddart seconded.

There was no further discussion.  The motion passed by voice vote, with one abstention.

Graduate Council: School District Leadership program (Kevin Kearns)

This was discussed at the last Senate meeting.  It is a logical extension of the School Building Leadership Program, and allows those involved in that program to take two additional courses and obtain a second certification.

Sen. Cuhel-Schuckers asked under the cost section, is that a problem for the College of Education?  Assoc. VP Kearns responded, they proposed it, so I think the answer is "no".  Sen. Stoddart agreed, saying that he wrote it and he was in the College of Education, and it wasn't a problem for that College.

Chair Reddy asked for a second for the motion.  Sen. McCormick seconded.

The motion passed by unanimous voice vote.

STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS

Academic Affairs

Calendar proposal (first reading)

The Calendar Subcommittee obtained approval of the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 calendars at the last meeting, and was asked if we could consider adding a day for professional development to the calendar.  We seek input from you.  Dr. Straight then put up on the screen some possible proposals (attached to these minutes).  The Calendar Subcommittee is thinking of adding professional development days in 2009, 2010 and 2011, with specific dates in mind (see the attachment).   We can't do this for fall 2008 because that calendar has been advertised fairly widely at this time.   One thing we are wrestling with is to what extent should classes be cancelled?  It seems that we probably wouldn't have to cancel evening classes on these days.  We also feel that fall is better than spring because fall has more days built in for classes already.   The fall semester is already short a Monday and a Friday, and additionally is short either a Tuesday or a Thursday (depending on when fall break comes).  A professional development day on a Tuesday or Thursday seems to make the most sense.  And having it fall in the fall semester seems to make sense.   At first we felt perhaps it could occur in the week of Fall Break, but there is another guideline that says never have a week with two or fewer class days (for obvious reasons, that only invites trouble).   Early fall would be best.  We think that early is good because faculty aren't as busy, and perhaps we can 'fire everybody up' with an excellent professional development experience.  This could possibly have a negative effect on the sciences, who tend to set up their labs for the week, so if we are creating a week that in not a full week, that could impact them.  But perhaps they could use a day in the Fall Break week to make that one up?  Another question we have is to what extent could the entire campus community be involved in this?  Clerical staff already have a day during break times.  And would we need to cancel classes for the whole day?  We seek your input!

Sen. Wilkes indicated that having a speaker anchor the day in the early session in the morning would be good.  Everybody could get involved in a conversation then.

Sen. Arnavut suggested doling this along with the Student Research and Creativity event.  Would be possible to combine both of these on one day?  Dr. Straight responded that event occurs in the late spring for a reason; the students need time to get some research done before they can present it.  Sen. Arnavut suggested doing both in the spring.  Dr. Straight said that classes are not cancelled on that day, either.  Sen. Arnavut continued that perhaps combining both events would be more helpful.  Sen. McKinney then argued against such a proposal, saying that she needs to attend the student event, and therefore couldn't participate in the professional development aspect of the day if both were combined.  Sen. Arnavut counter-argued that if the professional development day was only a morning event, then there would be no conflict.

Sen. Nan Bowser then asked if perhaps a straw vote should be taken?  Dr. Straight said that no, this was being presented so the Senators could take the issues back to their constituencies for discussion and mulling over.   Having had no chance to do this would make any straw vote meaningless.

Sen. Ann Deakin asked is the assumption that we are going to do this?  Dr. Straight responded no, at this point some of us would like to see this happen, and others might not.

VPAA Horvath added we do intend to have professional development activities similar to the one held this spring.  We received many comments similar to 'I wish I hadn't had to have classes today because I had to cover them," and so forth.

Sen. Arnavut suggested that combining the two events might attract more students.

B.S. in Environmental Sciences

Dr. Straight began by saying that we have offered a major in environmental sciences under the umbrella of interdisciplinary studies.  This proposal would have it become its own major, and at the same time would modify some of the current curriculum.  This will give heightened visibility to the program, listing it in the front of our View Book for example.   We expect modest growth over the next five years due to the increased visibility.   This is an initial presentation, with possible voting in May.  This proposed degree program will be initially coordinated by the Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry.  Down the road they might have their own department.

Dean Ewing suggested that down the road we expect to have more departments involved.

Sen. Cuhel-Schuckers noted that you are taking the survey 100 level course out, and reducing the number of environmental science credits from 13 to 10?   Dr. Straight answered yes.  The rationale for that is presented in the first page.  We feel the 100 level is better served as a CCC course.   For the ESCI 310 course, which might not really be a 300 level course, is going to be reviewed by the Committee and we will look at the pre-requisites, etc.

Sen. Arnavut asked why there is so little remote sensing and technology requirements for this proposed major?   The proposal doesn't include any such classes.  Dr. Straight responded that the Academic Affairs Committee had asked about possibly requiring a minor (of which GIS could be one).   Sen. Arnavut continued to push his point that remote sensing should be a required element in the program.

Sen. McCormick raised a point of information: When is it appropriate for a program to move out from the umbrella of interdisciplinary studies?  Why ESCI and not others?  Dr. Straight said that a combination of factors, including having a fair number of students in a program, need for increased visibility, issues on the national stage that make such a program attractive to potential students, etc.  Maybe this is a good time to have increased visibility for this program.

Sen. Davis raised a point of information: on the chart on page 3, remote sensing is listed.   Sen. Simon indicated that is a recommended elective, not a required course.  Sen. Arnavut then added for remote sensing one would need some computer programming skills.

Dean Ewing then interjected that this is not a GIS program.  It depends on the student whether or not they might need GIS skills.  He was not sure that an aquatic biologist would need such training.

Sen. Deakin added that in the 201 class, we do some rudimentary GIS, using aerial photography mostly.  The number of credit hours became a problem.  Sen. Arnavut then said that is why he supported reducing the credit hours from 66 to 60 when that vote was taken.

Sen. McKinney asked where it says total credit hours in the major, it adds up to a lot more than 62-64.   I'm not exactly sure what you are counting as courses in the major, as opposed to other complementary courses.   Sen. Bowser added that she thought that maybe you have the natural science courses, and the complementary courses are in the 18-20?   Dr. Straight indicated there is certainly some error because there is a difference of two credits (the calculus sequence vs. the physics sequence).  Maybe they were counting math in the required natural sciences.  Chair Reddy interjected that it will be fair to say that the Committee will have somebody figure out the math in terms of the credit hours before this comes back to the Senate.

Sen. McKinney then said under the CCC, there is an asterisk, but there is no explanation about what the asterisk means.   Dr. Straight responded it probably was explaining how many of these count in the CCC.

Sen. McCormick rose to make a point for interdisciplinary studies.  She supports this move for more visibility, but it is sad that we have so few resources for interdisciplinary studies, and we are not able to make those 'more visible' steps for interdisciplinary studies or strengthen interdisciplinary studies on our campus in general.

CCC Committee Annual Report (Richard Reddy)

Chair Reddy stepped down as Chair to put on his hat as Chairperson of the College Core Curriculum Committee.   He gave a brief overview of the printed report (attached to these minutes).

Sen. Julia Wilson drew attention to the comments on page 2 about lack of secretarial support.  The nature of the CCC is that of a program, not just a committee, and they do need secretarial support.

Faculty and Professional Affairs (Paul Murphy)

Sen. Murphy provided an overview of the printed report (attached to these minutes) and urged everyone on campus who hasn't done so to take the survey.  He indicated a reminder will be sent around one last time.  If anyone wishes, they may print the survey as a pdf file, and fill it out offline and send it to his office.

Planning and Budget Committee (Kathleen Gradel)

Dr. Gradel informed the body that the Committee had been gathering information from meetings with the Chairs, and had met with the Deans and the VPAA about these issues:

No concrete plans have come out of these meetings, but there was a recognition that we are all in this together.

Then she moved on to the 'green sheet' (moving Sports Management and Exercise Science) and the 'blue sheet' (changing the School of Business to the College of Business) [both from an earlier Senate meeting].  The green sheet has been taken care of with the vote today, but we met with two members of the School of Business, and with the VPAA and the Deans, and my report summarizes the plusses and the challenges of such a move.  Because our Committee is split on this issue, we want to get your input.

VP Horvath then said under your point no. 5 in the challenges, to be clear there is a tremendous salary differential between business and other fields.  We know these are expensive hires, but what we offer in salary is not very different from what other comprehensive schools in SUNY offer.   That wouldn't change.  Sen. Arnavut interjected that is not only true of business salaries.  We have similar problems in computer science.  VP Horvath then said that she was talking just about business.  Sen. Arnavut commented that the Pennsylvania campuses (Penn State campuses) are paying much higher than is SUNY at this time.  Twenty years ago, SUNY was paying higher than the Penn State campuses.

Dr. Gradel then said the difference between currently employed faculty and new hires is often very different.   That is not just applicable to business.

Sen. Ann Carden said that she was mostly concerned about the difference in terms of what the business faculty are making compared to everyone else on campus.   She would hate to see that inequity be even greater.

Dr. Richard Robinson added that the School of Business needs to have accreditation in order to get faculty to respond to it.   If you do take a look at other SUNY (such as Geneseo, Brockport, Plattsburgh, or Oswego) you will not find a substantial resource shift.  You will find more student enrollment.  A Dean is more effective in fundraising, and some of that fundraising goes into the general fund of the campus.

Dr. Gradel said the Committee has been told that students when comparing the various campus business programs are comparing accredited to non-accredited (as are their parents).  The decision will more often than not go toward the accredited program.

Sen. Christopher Taverna asked where does it say that to get accredited you need to have a College?  Dr. Robinson responded that the standards do not specifically say that, but the ACSB is a 'deans club'.  Theoretically it is possible for a non-college to gain accreditation, but the numbers of such programs are very minimal.   The percentage will be very small.

Sen. Simon then said that when he was in Dr. Gradel's shoes, we had to decide whether to have a School of Business instead of a Business Administration Department.  One of the arguments used was that there are different enrollment cycles for business students.  Has that been true?  Dr. Robinson answered that he doesn't know.  Recessions tend to have a downward effect on business enrollment.  It is the money issue for me.  And gaining more quality students.

Dr. Marwan El Nasser then stated about enrollment that our history shows there has not been a cycle, but pressure for growth has been consistent.  Given the trends in the nation and internationally, there is great demand for accredited business programs.  Now, especially with many new schools in the Eastern European countries and the ex-Soviet Union... there are lots of schools jumping to be accredited.  If we miss this opportunity we are really cheating our students.   The economic benefit to the college in terms of enrollment and income the program can generate from outside sources will help support other programs as well.  In order to be competitive you have to have a quality program.  There are always marketing factors, faculty in business demand higher salaries.  That has always existed and will always exist.

Sen. Arnavut said that he doesn't oppose this.  He'd like to see the comparison in every discipline.  He'd love to see them get accredited; in terms of salary if that is what the market is... overall SUNY is behind the pay of others.  We should all unite and help each other.

Sen. McKinney asked does having our business program set up as a School of Business help the accreditation effort?   [Unknown responder] having a College of Business will project that we have greater autonomy.  That is what they are looking for.

At this point Chair Reddy interjected that it was 5:30, and there is a need for a motion to continue the meeting.   He would entertain a motion to extend the meeting for ten minutes.  Sen. Stoddart moved, and Sen. Cuhel-Schuckers seconded the motion.  There was no further discussion.  The motion passed by voice vote.

Dr. Gradel indicated the Committee did not look at anything such as cycles of students, but we have seen statistics that show a consistent growth pattern for the School of Business.

Dr. El Nasser said this is one of the few programs in the college, where the college controls the enrollment, and enrollment isn't controlling growth.  We have standards that have to be maintained.

VP Horvath then said we are not interested in growing the enrollment, but increasing the quality of the applicants.

Sen. McCormick asked a question about item 8 in the report.  Allocation of resources... she has a concern that moving from a Director to a Dean that a dean has more direct access to funding.  How can we ensure that there will be equitable distribution of resources across campus?  Interdisciplinary Studies doesn't have much, and we serve more than 700+ students.  Could some of the administrators here talk to this question?   How will the resources flow differently?

VP Horvath responded saying that the resources connected with the School of Business as currently structured would stay with the College of Business.  When we are talking about decisions about tenure track positions, there will be one added person at that table. But Dean Ewing has already been making their case... the advocating is already there, there will be no difference, no extra resources.

Dr. Gradel said that P&B saw it as an immediacy at the table.  The effect of that is unknown.  VP Horvath suggested that the approach of the Deans and her is on a consensus basis.  Each dean presents all the needs of his or her college.  And we let that sink in for a few weeks.  Then we come together again and talk about what our overall priorities should be.   Those departments in the proposed College of Business are already being represented in those discussions.

Sen. Jonathan Chausovsky raised the point that some are making the case for this new College on increasing the number of students, yet we are also told there will not be an increase of students without funding.  Will this mean that other areas will have to have decreased students?  VP Horvath answered no; we will not be growing the overall number of students.  Perhaps the business school will grow in quality of students, or possibly it may grow in numbers of students.  Dr. Gradel said then that because there are open lines they have not been able to fill; sometimes they are in the position of having to reallocate resources, juggle, etc.  They are not a very different boat than we all are.  They want to make sure they can attract the highest caliber student, as well as excellent faculty who will come and stay and increase their fundraising capability.

Dr. Robinson then said there is one program in business that can easily add another 100 students.  But there is no way those students will come unless we become accredited.

Sen. Murphy then suggested that the School of Music has the sense that this move is somewhat arbitrary.  This discussion helps a lot with that.  One of our concerns is representation.  Arts and humanities chairs report to a Dean who reports to a Vice President.  The College of Business would have one less step to reach the VP.  Our strongest concern is that there is a sense that the arts have been passed by on campus.  Music, Theater, Dance, and Visual Arts have among them 1100-1200 majors. We might have a College of the Arts, plus Colleges of Arts and Humanities, Business, Natural and Social Sciences, and Education.  Dr. Gradel indicated such discussion had occurred in the Committee's deliberations.

Chair Reddy then said 5:40 has come, and asked for a motion to extend the meeting another ten minutes.  Sens. Arnavut and McCormick moved and seconded the motion.  There was no further discussion of the motion to extend.   The motion passed by voice vote.

Sen. Taverna said that he has heard lots of negative feedback on this proposal.  We are supposed to tighten our belts due to budget constraints, yet we are going to add another Dean.  Having another dean will not add impact?  I don't see how this is possible.

Sen. Carden asked would accreditation and the status of a college affect non-business majors at all who are trying to take business courses?  I have a lot of students who like to minor in business.  Dr. Robinson said that some of the business core would help other than taking the form of a menu of courses.  Accreditation won't make Business more exclusive as regards students from other programs.

Dr. El Nasser then said the important thing a Dean does in a College of Business is fund raising.  50% of his/her time is devoted to fund raising.  It is not like that in the other Colleges.  The Dean of the College of Business is not managing the College... he is raising funds.  Dr. Robinson added that he would emphasize that it is not a zero sum game by any means.  If a dean can't raise money, get rid of him.  It is not like other areas in the University.  It just isn't.

Sen. Arnavut asked are we talking about soft money for bringing in teachers?  Are these attractions going to increase costs?  Administration should be doing this, not us.  We should all be banging on SUNY's door for more money.

Sen. Simon added that he didn't see adding one more person to the discussions at the Deans/VP table would be a problem.

Chair Reddy noted that 5:50 had arrived, and asked for a motion to extend the meeting for another five minutes.   The motion passed by voice vote.

OTHER BUSINESS


Middle States Accreditation Steering Committee Report (Kerrie Wilkes)

Sen. Wilkes referred to the printed report she offered as a handout (attached to these minutes).  She asked everyone to please consider where they could assist with the Working Groups, and to let her or Roger Byrne know of their interest.   She indicated that because most faculty and staff have not been here for more than ten years, we will look at all 14 of the standards, but combine them so we won't need 14 working groups.  Two major themes will drive this accreditation review: Are we actually creating an environment of learners, and we will be assessing our assessment efforts.

Sen. Linda Hall asked if the web page needed to have populated working groups now?  Sen. Wilkes said that the co-chairs will come from the Steering Committee, but there has been no placement of people into the working groups right now, so those have not yet been populated.

Sen. Simon commented that he preferred your earlier language about learning: culture of learning or something similar.

Reed Library Semester Update (Randy Gadikian)

Mr. Gadikian gave an overview of the printed report he offered as a handout (attached to these minutes).

Task Force on Personnel Policies (Richard Reddy)

Sen. Reddy indicated that the Task Force will be making a series of recommendations that should be coming at the May meeting.

Chair Reddy then asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting.  Sens. Simon and McCormick moved and seconded.  The motion passed by unanimous voice vote.


Respectfully submitted,

Vincent Courtney, Faculty Secretary


Tenure Hires

Attendance Sheet

Accreditation 2010

Condolence Resolution

Executive Summary

Faculty and Professional Affairs Committee Report

Environmental Sciences

Professional Development Day Proposal

School Building Leadership