AGENDA

GENERAL FACULTY MEETING

Monday, May 5, 2008

4:00-5:30 PM

***Room 305 Park***

The General Faculty meeting will follow an abbreviated Faculty Assembly meeting in the same room from 3:00-4:00 PM.

I. Approval of Agenda

II. Approval of Minutes, General Faculty Meeting of February 4, 2008 (attached)

III. President's Report – D. Stanley

IV. Faculty Senate Report—G. Kay

V. UUP Report – C. Spector

VI. Chair of Faculty Assembly Report – S. Camp

VII. New Business

-Election of Faculty Assembly Chair

-Proposed Amendments to Appendix A of Faculty Bylaws (on reverse)

-Approval of Candidates for degrees

-College of Liberal Arts and Sciences—R. Mandel

-School of Business—R. Skolnik

-School of Communication, Media and the Arts—F. Messere

-School of Education—L. Markert

-Division of Continuing Education—Y. Petrella

-Division of Graduate Studies—D. King

(OVER)

P R O P O S A L

APPENDIX TO FACULTY BYLAWS

APPENDIX A: POLICY ON SELECTION AND REVIEW OF

ACADEMIC ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS

MAY 1986

Formation of the Search Committee

The search committee for the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences shall consist of: (1) four voting faculty, one from each of the subdivisions detailed below (Humanities, Fine Arts and Library, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Natural Sciences) and one at-large member; (2) one voting faculty member from either the School of Business or the School of Education or the School of Communication, Media and the Arts or the Library; (3) one member from the Professional Staff (NTP); and (4) one student member.

The voting faculty of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences shall elect these individuals the faculty and staff members, and the Student Association shall select the student member.

Humanities

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Natural Sciences

English

Modern Languages & Literatures

History

Philosophy

Anthropology

Economics

Political Science

Psychology

Public Justice

Sociology

Biology

Chemistry

Computer Science

Earth Science

Mathematics

Physics

NEW The search committee for the Dean of the School of Communication, Media and the Arts shall consist of: (1) four voting faculty from the School of Communication, Media and the Arts with no more than one member from any one department; (2) one voting faculty member from either the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences or the School of Business or the School of Education or the Library; (3) one member from the Professional Staff (NTP); and (4) one student member. The voting faculty of the School of Communication, Media and the Arts shall elect the faculty and staff members, and the Student Association shall select the student member.

Faculty Senate Report

To: Faculty Assembly, General Faculty Meeting

From: Gwen Kay

Re: Report on University Faculty Senate

149^th plenary meeting (April 18-19, 2008) @ SUNY Delhi, welcomed by Candace Vancko (President SUNY Delhi), Terry Hamblin (UFS Senator), and Julee Miller (Campus Governance Leader)

President’s Report, Carl Wiezalis

1. As has been mentioned at FA, there is a need for new members for committees

2. Recent events.

            1 day symposium on research, composed of students + faculty

            Faculty Development meeting in Syracuse (sponsored by SUNY Provost + UFS) ...

3. Upcoming events

            6/6 symposium on licensure – (co-sponsored by UFS + NYS Dept of Ed [licensure])

SUNY Budget Update – Wendy Gilman, Budget Director

Caveat: this information is now three weeks old

1. Context: SUNY budget >$10b

   Since 1993-1994, state support has increased (not adjusted for inflation) ... used to be ½ of support on each campus, now 1/3 ... how do we survive? non-state support has increased

   “SUNY is doing its best to support education and other things on campuses”

2. The Budget:

            General Fund spending reduced by 2.9%

            Add’l funding for collective bargaining provided outside of budget

            State support for energy reduced by $26.6m (but contingency approp for $45m)

            $25m for new federal TEACH grant programs (Oswego should tap this)

            some “additions” incl $2m for high needs nursing programs + $200k for office of Diversity and Ed Equity +$250k collab btw Stony Brook, Cold Spring Harbor + Brookhaven ... from legislature: $840k for EOP

3. Answers to questions

            *no tuition increase (but also no rational fiscal plan <-- similar, but more comprehensive than “rational tuition plan”)

            *fac salary as per new contract (retroactive pay + raise) secure

            *the plan to privatize (or securitize) the lottery for Higher Education Endowment for CUNY and SUNY does exist, but no money in it

            *impact of 2.9% General Fund cut: in last major cut, had tuition increase to balance out state support .. too early to predict effect but most campuses have built reserves from good (budget) years so should be able to get through 1 or 2 “bad”years

            *there may be a mid-year reduction as well as something (likely) next year – Gov Patterson anticipates 10-12% decrease in next year’s budget (already)

            *no $$ in budget for “Greening of SUNY Program” ... may be able to use $$ left in for energy (sustainability, etc.) but that got cut as well so ...

            *SUNY/CUNY breakdown of budget is 60/40

            *2.9% cuts likely permanent (5.8% cut in budget)

            *graying of SUNY may lead to incentives for early retirement (not as cost-effective as might think)

            *are working to “pitch” economic impact of SUNY system (to keep funding up)

Harold Silverman, Sr Vice Provost

1. Student enrollment about 2% increase over last year

2. New permanent faculty is highest priority (no new $$ in, but $$ for diversifying campuses: campuses can submit proposals to SUNY for $$ to bring in fac of diversity and SUNY will cover salary 3-4 yrs before campus picks it up)

3. Working on issues of Faculty development

4. Spring ‘09: gala event for history of SUNY + scholarly conf in fall

5. How to move sustainability forward?

6. Admissions process: how are we serving NYS students?

7.  Facility master plan needed (MOUs)

8. Capital Projects list – got $1.7b for next 5 years (will likely need to go back)

9. ”New faculty is our highest priority”                                               

Carl Hayden, Chair, SUNY BoT

            elim barriers to entry (take 0-5 year old model) and transfer to college

            if we want meritocracy, need to make schools good, helpful and available for all who want that education

            search for new chancellor: Q: how impt has search firm been in locating minority candidates? comm incl SUNY people (David Skorton, Cornell = pub/pvt) + “outside directors” (Veshaka Desai, Pres/CEO Asia Soc; Paul Tagliabue, former dir NFL; Enrique Senor, Managing director, Allen; Ray Jen-Wei, CEO of Chinese software company) ... “impressive array of candidates interested in this position” – consciously reaching out to people who might not have been thinking of this position ... goal: done for end of June

            report of Comm on Higher Ed: in June ... likely to be sim to interim report (issued Jan) ... enhancement for Empire Enhancement projects? <-- model for ec dev’t (and access funding stream not otherwise open)

            to do more than regulate, and actively enable and provide assistance to campuses

                                                                                                                                    working to get commitments about higher ed from Gov Patterson                       

Sharing of concerns (sector reps)

University Centers:

1. funding for graduate students? critical issue but bottom line is $$, would like to be nationally competitive (stipends, grow in-house talent)

2. libraries: funding is decreasing, esp b/c $$ goes to univ pres who distribute as see fit, and would like lib to have line item for lib budget so can grow or catch up (esp in social sci and humanities) .. (no answer)

[eliminated Health Science Centers, specialized & statutory college issues; Technology]

University Colleges

1. Feel increasing demands on time – steady increase in enrollment w/o increase in FT faculty lines 7400 students entering SUNY this fall for whom will receive no state funding

2. Concern that no rational tuition policy adopted yet (so tuition inc equivalent to user fee), may take more students to fill gaps (lower state-side support) publicly muted on this (in national chancellor search), but privately thinking about this ...endorsed SUNY Compact: investment for modest tuition increases

3. Emphasize economic impact of SUNY colleges (to towns, counties, etc) so perhaps UFS could help articulate how SUNY is present/future engine of state economy present SUNY as investment in state, especially Upstate ... $1 put into local campus = $8 generated out

4. No support for sustainability issues (losing momentum) “yes” and then “no $$”

5. Articulation agreements supported but what if no capacity? (already have enough students) working on this .. can go deeper in terms of student popn, espeically if affordability

6. Getting bigger, getting more selective etc but are we looking at success of transfers? and overall success rate of students? 

7. Voluntary System of Accountability: some campuses are using data w/o consulting w/faculty (and UFS worked hard to not make cross-campus comparisons); some aren’t participating at all so want input/help to support that this doesn’t happen it is voluntary; should be consultation

8. Concern that change in atmosphere with more managed professionals (than, say, faculty) so diff contracts, diff sense of institutional responsibility, and more corporatization on campuses. first and foremost ed institutions, so should put most $$ there ... if money is well-spent (bringing in grants, endowment) might be well spent ... right now, looking at system administration

Campus Governance Leaders

1. Budget transparency on campuses – varies across campuses widely critical that people understand so everyone needs to understand budget process; making point about being as transparent as possible ... people will need to know why/how budgets being reduced

2. Voluntary System of Accountability – some adopted it as pilot w/o (or against) fac recommendation; other campuses agree not something want to do so please remind pres on each campus to consult w/faculty

Chief (ret) Arthur Kelly, “Threat Assessment – Safer Schools”

prog developed by US Secret Service (protective intelligence) + Dept of Ed

            Q: what can we learn that will be useful? (people won’t necessarily talk if case still “in process”) so what can we do to prevent violence? use investigatory side, research side + practical use side

            why does SUNY Oswego need a plan? “despite most prompt law enforcement response, most incidents were stopped by means other than law enforcement intervention” so less impt to get there than to inform people ... don’t want reactive after-the-fact, instead want threat assessment (preventive mode)

            FERPA, HIPAA issues: under former, can share information w/those who have legit interest of student at heart; want to manage students who are deemed to pose a threat of targeted school violence (not actionable for indiv) so want authority to conduct assessment; capacity to conduct inquiries & investigations; systems relationships ... under the latter, can’t release med info  – points to interaction of law enforcement & school threat assessment team (police could call parents and inform/notify that child in MH facility, while dean can’t)