D. King announced that the list of FA Council and Committee members is currently under revision and asks that if any members notice errors or omissions in the lists, please contact his office at x3270 or e-mail dking@oswego.edu.
"Strategic Planning Advisory Board" (SPAB) reports are available for the FA chair for each FA council. Each Council is asked to review it and report implementation issues and concerns to the FA with regards to academic programs, resources, priorities, etc. The SPAB committee will continue to follow up on implementation of recommendations and on assessment. According to Pres. Stanley, the SPAB committee report is a dynamic, living document, which will require periodic updating and assessment.
On 9/14 - 9/16, D. King attended the Faculty Senate Fall Planning Meeting in Albany at SUNY Central, and he gave a brief synopsis of that meeting to the FA.
In Albany, Campus Governance Leaders Caucus met several times between Thursday night and Saturday noon. The Friday morning session featured a very conciliatory speech by Joe Flynn, Faculty Senate President, regarding the SUNY Board of Trustees’ role in the General Education mandates and resulting problems on SUNY campuses. The Campus Governance leaders (approx. 20) strongly objected to Pres. Flynn’s conciliatory remarks. Gen. Ed. implementation problems were discussed, as well as other staffing and resource problems with the new Gen. Ed. program. Transferability from community colleges to four-year colleges is one of the most serious problems with the new Gen. Ed. program, since community colleges need only meet 7 of 10 Gen. Ed. mandates, and four-year schools must provide all 10. Private colleges now have a major advantage with many two-year college transfers, because many have fewer Gen. Ed. requirements. A resolution condemning Provost Salin’s goal of centralizing assessment of learning on SUNY campuses was unanimously supported by the assembled campus governance leaders.
Provost Salin’s report to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee and Campus Governance Leaders included issues about Mission Review, Gen. Ed., the Teacher Education Initiative, the Provost’s Assessment Task Force, and Research initiatives in SUNY. Six Trustee liaisons have been appointed to relate to each campus regarding the Trustees General Education mandates.
Provost Salins also spoke about the Assessment Task Force report. As part of the SUNY revitalization effort, assessment will play a crucial role, according to Salins. The group raised many objections. Questions about whether assessment should be centralized were raised. Standardized tests may be part of a SUNY -wide part of this assessment, according to Salins, the Senate Executive Committee and the Campus Governance Leaders were almost unanimous in their opposition to any centralized assessment.
Regarding research initiatives in SUNY, increased funding is the main goal. Provost Salins proposed that a resource center for training urban teachers be created; the proposed site is unknown at this point. He would also like to greatly expand the SUNY Learning Network and he called for a streamlined process for moving new programs through SUNY Central and the State Education Department.
Richard Miller, the new Vice Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer of SUNY also gave a report and responded to questions on Saturday morning. Miller, who has visited 54 SUNY campuses, informed those present that SUNY ranks last out of all 50 states in per capita funding for students. Miller also said that a mere 56% of NYS high school students even apply to SUNY schools, a figure which he thinks is too low. Miller also claimed that he and Chancellor King are committed to educating both the legislature and taxpayers about SUNY, and he hopes to create a "halo effect" for SUNY. SUNY’s five-year capital renovation needs are probably somewhere around $6 billion, but he hopes to gain approval for another five year capital project allocation. Miller is also against any "unfunded mandates". SUNY is currently searching for a new Vice Chancellor for Economic Development. In the area of overall trustee involvement, Miller views Chancellor King as the best prospect for SUNY to gain a greater voice politically in relation to the governor and the state legislature. The reaction of the Faculty Senate Exec. Committee and the Governance Leaders to Vice Chancellor Miller’s remarks were generally very positive.
Lastly, SUNY Student Assembly Representatives spoke, defending the Trustees’ Gen. Ed. mandates, which evoked some response from faculty senators and governance leaders.
In summary, the meeting was very productive and informative.
