Members Absent: J. LeFlore, P. Rosenbaum, P. Weber (see minutes of 2/24/03) P. Cox, B. Waterman, G. Graham, W. Silky, J. Freire, K. Kurst-Swanger, J. Seely, E. Kilker, J. Langenfeld-Rial

1. Approval of Agenda

D. King asked to add to agenda item II the approval of three sets of minutes: April 15th, 29th, and May 6th, the agenda was approved unanimously.

2. Distribute minutes for September 9th FA meeting

The minutes of September 9th were distributed and will voted on at the next FA meeting. The minutes of April 15th, 29th, and May 6th were all approved unanimously.

3. FA Chair’s Report — D. King

D. King began by reminding the faculty about the General Faculty meeting September 23rd, 4-5:30 PM immediately following the abbreviated Faculty Assembly meeting which will be from 3-4PM. Tom Ryan, the campus Police Chief will be at the GFA to talk about the new parking plan and other issues.

The FA Bylaws may be ready for distribution at the Faculty Assembly meeting on September 23rd or October 7th. The Amendments approved last year have been included and the text has been cleaned up for consistency with new job titles, etc.

FA Councils and Committees should be scheduling their first meeting of the semester. D. King took a few minutes at the meeting to establish who, on each council, would convene the first meeting.

D. King then went on to report on the SUNY Faculty Senate Executive Committee planning meeting in Albany last Thursday through Saturday.

Oswego faculty are represented on four standing committees of the Faculty Senate. D. King is on the Executive Committee and the Governance Committee. M. Stuck is on the Operations Committee, and L. Clems is on the Public Information Committee.

Faculty Senate President Joe Hildreth gave a report that mainly focused on transfer student issues, General Education problems, and Assessment plans.

Don Stevens from the SUNY Provost’s Office gave a report that described a new Faculty Development initiative. He also discussed the "slow progress" of the General Education assessment plans. There have only been 22 out of 57 approved by the GEAR group. Also, ACGE (Advisory Committee on General Education) will be replacing PACGE (Provost’s Advisory Council on General Education). The Provost’s office will be no longer be over-seeing the affairs of General Education, according to Stevens, most of the Senate Executive Committee disagreed with his assessment.

The Awards Committee gave a report reviewing the criteria for DSP (Distinguished Service Professorship). They also proposed a new award for excellence in professional service.

The Governance Committee is mainly focusing on developing "best practices" and some guidelines for campus bylaws. They will do review personnel procedures and evaluation of campus administrators.

The Transfer Initiative group is studying ways to promote a seamless transfer of students between SUNY two/four year institutions. There is a proposal for "SUNY Course Codes" for General Education, similar to the system used in California and Arizona.

The Graduate Committee discussed problems with recruiting and retaining students, and trying to establish an electronic network of graduate faculty by discipline.

The Operations Committee gave a follow-up on last years’ study of SUNY budget practices.

The Public Information Committee asked for more input of information for the Senate’s website. A graduate assistant is assisting with their move to Central Administration for tech support, etc.

The Undergraduate Committee has collaborated with the Student Life Committee and are reviewing internship policies, service learning practices, as well as international education. They are working on transfer articulation with the SUNY Provost’s office. They are studying plagiarism, and working with the software that detects it. There was also discussion about the SUNY Provost’s Office feeling as though it is caught between SUNY faculty and SUNY trustees regarding General Education issues.

Chancellor King gave a report regarding the budget prospect for the next two years; he reported that it does not look good. He plans to pursue other funding sources. He mentioned the new centers of excellence at Albany, Buffalo, Stony Brook, and Syracuse. He also discussed the possible merger of SUNY Alfred and Alfred University; negotiations are underway.

The Vice Chancellor of Finance, Brian Stenson also gave a report. DOB says that there is a 1 1/4 billion dollar NYS revenue shortfall so far this year, and may actually reach 2.8 billion dollars by January. They predict that as much as a 7 billion dollar shortfall next year. He said there are no reliable rumors regarding expenditure freeze or a tuition increase after the election. There will be no cap on filled positions, which will give more flexibility to local campuses in dealing with early retirements.

D. King ended his report with a short video about volunteering and donating to SEFA and United Way.

4. Reports of Councils, Committees, and Task Forces

UUP mentioned their picnic is on September 20th at Fallbrook; tickets are $5. Faculty and staff are urged to attend.

Priorities and Planning met on Friday, September 13th. Al Stamm was elected chair and representative to the Executive Board. Richard Bush is the recorder, there is no reporter at this time but D. King will announce any information needed. Chuck Spector presented the plans for AACSB and discussed the "Initial Accreditation Self-Evaluation report". They also discussed the P+PC charge for dealing with long range planning. They plan on inviting each of the vice presidents to their meetings for discussion.

5. Unfinished Business

There was no unfinished business.

6. New Business

The meeting was adjourned at 4:35 PM.