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Chair: Susan Camp
Recorder: Kimberly Kenney
Members Absent: Y. Petrella, J. Fiorini, W. Silky, R. O’Connor, C. Mack, T.
Darvill, G. Cooperman, J. Langenfeld-Rial
The Meeting was called to order at 3:14 PM
I. Approval of Agenda
A motion was made and carried to remove the approval of November
12th minutes from the agenda. The agenda was approved as
amended.
II. FA Chair’s Report – S. Camp
Dr. Camp had no report for the Assembly, but reported a few items from the
provost regarding communication within Academic Affairs. The Council discussed
ways that information discussed in the Council can be more effectively
communicated to faculty and staff. One enhancement will be the addition of the
Chair of Faculty Assembly to the list of individuals who receive electronic
copies of Council Minutes. These minutes may be downloaded online at http://www.oswego.edu/administration/provost/council_minutes/minutes.html.
III. University Faculty Senate Report – M. Ryniker
See attached.
IV. Reports of Councils, Committees and Task Forces
Personnel Policies Council: met on November 16th and
proposed an addition to the bylaws that would put Penfield Library under
representation of UCC, and also proposed to add a librarian to the membership
of UCC. The proposed addition is as follows in Article XXIII: “In the event
that the Humanities representative is not from Penfield Library, the Director
of Libraries shall appoint a librarian, otherwise eligible for election to this
council, as a nonvoting liaison to the council.”
Academic Policies Council: met on November 16th and passed
the proposal to revise the Psychology Honors guidelines, with some revisions.
APC rejected the proposed revisions to the African/African American Studies
Minor, as there was still unclear wording. S. Fettes will work with P. Clark to
revise the language. They discussed the graduation outcomes proposal and
presumed that necessary rewording would proceed to FA instead of a working
group. APC also discussed the proposal to revise the Philosophy B.A. and sent
it back with several questions.
Priorities and Planning Council: met with Joe Grant regarding
recruitment and admissions.
General Education Council: met on November 13 and 20. They approved
ENG 376 Science Fiction: The Speculative Genres in Fiction and Film for
inclusion in the Intellectual Issues-Cultures and Civilizations category. They
also approved revisions to the Early Childhood writing plan. GEC approved
ENG 325: American Literature and American Nationality-to the Civil War
for inclusion in the American History category. General Education Council also
approved the Critical Thinking Inclusion Plans for History, Psychology, Physics
and Philosophy. The Council discussed and agreed to send a draft learning
outcomes for Tolerance and Intolerance in the United States to all faculty
teaching those courses for input. The draft is as follows: “Tolerance and
Intolerance in the U.S. learning outcomes: Students will—demonstrate knowledge
and appreciation of diversity and difference in American life; --show an
awareness of the ways tolerance and intolerance shape the Nation and its
people.”
Graduate Council: has approved the following course:
CHE 571
Proteomics with Lab.
Library Council: met on November 13th and discussed the
librarians’ outlines for assessing information literacy. They recommend
department chairs contact their area librarians for details and to set up a
meeting.
Undergraduate Curriculum Council: met November 15th and
voted to enforce a 50-word maximum word limit for the catalog description; the
Council believes that 50 words is enough for any course. The Council also
blocked any off-campus users from the course proposal web form, as spam was
coming through the form. The following course was approved by the UCC:
BRC 410
Hollywood Field Experience
Campus Concept Committee: Met November 14th and began crafting a
mission and vision statement for the Campus regarding sustainability. Will meet
Friday the 7th to continue this work.
Writing Across the Curriculum Steering Committee: met November
14th and addressed the Provost’s issues with its charge, as well as
the hiring of the Oswego Learning Services director.
Pre-Requisite Enforcement Task Force: met and is reviewing the appeal
process and is circulating a list of courses with pre-requisites from
Philosophy to registrar/banner colleagues.
College Hour Implementation Report: Next semester will be the third
semester of College Hour. R. Mohamaddi and others are gathering data from
faculty, staff and students along with numbers of program attendance. The
general consensus so far is good, however it is unknown the optimal times and
days to hold college hour. It is preferred to be the same days each semester
instead of switching from semester to semester. As department chairs have to
make schedules for fall 2008 and as of now, there is not enough information
gathered, a one-year extension was proposed.
Powershift 07 Report: Mike Pawlyk and others went to the University
of Maryland and Washington D.C. to meet with political leaders such as Ralph
Nader, Nancy Pelosi, Van Jones and other poets and musicians about the global
warming problem. Those in attendance took workshops on how to be the most
persuasive person in the room and also went to a career fair of organizations
fighting against global warming. They took part in a rally and march in
Washington D.C. with nearly 3,000 other students.
V. Construction History and Future – N. Lyons, J. DeSantis
The speakers reported that we are currently in the end stage of the
five-year construction plan that cost $52 million on the academic side, and
nearly as much in residential construction efforts. The past two years have
been the heaviest in terms of construction, and those involved met with Campus
Concept Committee throughout the process. They also reported that the future
construction has a capital plan of about $200 million, doing “critical
maintenance” of buildings around campus.
For the future, a large renovation of the science buildings and the School
of Education buildings, as well as the west academic quad and Tyler Hall is
planned. The infrastructure is in place, except they need the capital. N. Lyons
and J. DeSantis hope that doing the work in more specific areas instead of in
the middle of campus will cause less problems and inconvenience for the
students, staff and faculty.
A member of the Assembly inquired about the futures of Hewitt Union and
Romney Field house. Romney has been proposed as a practice building and also a
storage area, yet the future of Hewitt is unknown. However, it may house the
displaced science areas during their renovations.
Another question was raised regarding surveying people for their
satisfaction or dissatisfaction with construction. The speakers noted that it
might be a job for Campus Concept Committee to take up. Along those lines,
someone raised the idea of a program study, and mentioned that the “sciences”
plans look to be almost completed, so there was little time for feedback about
planning. The speakers answered that planning is only in early
development and all critical needs will be taken into consideration, along with
informal gathering and non-academic space.
A final question raised the issue of construction working around the campus
being “green.” The speakers noted that they plan on using materials that can be
recycled after they are taken down, and planning for energy efficiency during
use. This puts the construction work at “Silver Compliant” status. They
plan on using 30% less energy over the next 8 years.
N. Lyons, J. DeSantis and T. Simmonds may be contacted at any time with
questions or concerns.
VI. New Business – Revision of 2008-2009 academic Calendar
There was a motion carried to move the Revision of the 2008-2009 academic
calendar to the next item of business.
It was proposed that SUNY Oswego start classes one day early on Wednesday,
August 27, 2008 instead of Thursday, August 28, 2008. By adding a class before
Labor Day, we will begin the semester with a stronger academic momentum. It
would also shorten structured socialization before classes begin with opening
activities scheduled for Sunday, August 24 – Tuesday, August 26.
Student Affairs has had problems with the length of time students have been
on campus without having classes and with the long weekend.
Discussion opened up about the uneven number of class days: before, it was
14 of every weekday, but with this proposal it is 14 of Monday, Tuesday,
Thursday, Friday and 15 of Wednesday. It was mentioned that the day before Yom
Kippur could be taken off, however short weeks enable students to leave the
previous Friday and miss Monday and Tuesday classes. There was also a question
raised about the Union, with adding an extra day of work. Someone mentioned
that it allows for flexibility of the professors to cancel class if they need
to, while still having the same number of Monday, Wednesday, Friday classes.
Someone brought up the idea of starting on that Monday in August and taking off
a full week for Thanksgiving, but it was decided not to address that issue
today. The motion to approve the proposal and change the calendar was
passed.
VII. Unfinished Business
Retention Task Force Proposal: After some discussion, motion to
approve the proposal was approved.
Proposed Professional Development Center: This proposal requires
$100,000 total in its basic budget, and is supported by the Provost, however
she doesn’t have all of the money for it right now.
There is some reluctance to expand right now due to a lack of
specifics, especially with the influx of proposals at the current time, like
the proposal for the new school.
Someone said that if it was good for the faculty, they
should ask for money from the President and Provost.
Due to time constraints, a motion was made and
carried to postpone a vote until the next meeting December 3rd.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:01
P.M.
Faculty Senate Report
Faculty Senate Fall Plenary Report by Faculty Senator Margaret Ryniker
October 26, 2007
SUNY Cortland
Welcome
by Pres. Carl Wiezalis, Cortland President Erik Bitterbaum, and
Cortland’s faculty senator, Dr. Mary Ware. Dr. Ware welcomed us to
her campus. She spoke warmly and proudly of Cortland and her long
affiliation with the Faculty Senate. She encouraged us to bring new,
younger blood to the UFS. So to all of you, beware, we are looking….
Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton spoke movingly of the constitutional crisis
in our country, the tax cuts for the wealthy, Pres. Bush’s refusal to fund
medical coverage for our children (710 billion dollars spent on the military
and Iraq in this year alone!) She recommended that we reclaim our own
citizenship, study an important issue, use our voice as citizens, read outside
our fields, and see ourselves as citizens who are responsible for our country’s
health.
Dr.
Muriel Howard, president of Buffalo State, spoke of VSA, Voluntary System
of Accountability. Public institutions will each have their own college
portrait on the VSA website. Each portrait will have a 3-5 page
presentation, determined by each institution. Some of the items that may
be included are: demographic information, graduation rate, tracked success of
students (including students who transfer in and out of the institution),
retention rate, college cost estimator. Student perceptions and student
opinion surveys can be found at the site. Service learning will be
examined. Dr. Howard recommended that VSA could be used as a marketing
tool.
One of
the controversial pieces of VSA involved the learning
outcomes. Accrediting bodies and the U.S. Department of Education
are asking for this information. Standardized tests online to evaluate
critical thinking are being considered. A section of VSA entitled Reporting
Learning Outcomes shows learning gains from freshmen year to senior year.
Buffalo State has already tested their freshmen and seniors. They found
that their students are meeting some student expectations. Reportedly,
there are links where we may post our opinions. This theoretical model should
afford each institution three years to present any data it wishes.
Learning outcome sample sizes vary. AASCU and NASULGC fees are
waived. She encouraged us to investigate and strongly consider the VSA
initiative. Dr. Howard believes that public institutions should let
people know what a fine job the public schools are doing. Reportedly,
this information, if put on the web, could save admissions offices a tremendous
amount of time.
According to Dr. Howard, we are going to have to deal with assessment.
Dr. Spelling has pressured the accreditation organizations to demand assessment
information. Dr. Howard stated that we have been outsmarted. The
Spellings Commission did not pressure the institutions directly. The
Commission came in through the back door.
Faculty senators raised some strong questions. “Is it healthy to
compare our institutions? Is it healthy to sample 100-300 students on a
large campus? Will such a small sample give an accurate snapshot? Is it
appropriate to utilize information initially gathered for program improvement
to now be used for comparison of institutions?
Dr. Howard then left Cortland to go to South Korea!! Pres.
Wiezalis reported that 8 SUNYs had volunteered to engage in this
program. Provost Palm is not going to push this
program. (This was a direct quote. But I do not like the
phrase.) So at this point this thorny issue may not be on our
plate. We may be able to sit out Spellings. We expect that her days
are numbered, along with the current federal administration.
SUNY Assessment Initiative by Patty Francis (who will be leaving SUNY
Central and going to Oneonta)
National
outlook Spellings’ Commission Report
Spellings
outfoxed us by going after the accreditation agencies. These agencies are
now looking at student learning and institutional effectiveness. There is
a good level of congruence between VSA requirements and SUNY Assessment
Initiative. SCBA requires externally-referenced measures for assessment of
math, critical thinking and writing.
VSA pilot will kick off Nov. 7, 2007. SUNY campuses voluntarily
piloting the VSA program: ESF, Albany, Buffalo State, Oneonta, Purchase,
Canton, Cobleskill, and Maritime. They will have 4 years to get their
student learning outcomes data up.
She summed up that most campuses were in compliance with the necessary
assessment policies. Approximately 400 major assessment plans are submitted
annually. A better mechanism is needed for campus feedback.
Carey Hatch, Asst. Provost for library and informational services,
made a presentation on SUNYConnect. A program that is empowering campus
collaboration to improve library services. We still have 18,000,000 volumes on
the shelves. Usage on our electronic journals is phenomenal. His
department continues to investigate new information “discovery tools.” A
new SUNY Digital Library Proposal is a program to expand access to scholarly
electronic content for every student, faulty and staff in the State University
of New York. University wide negotiated pricing and licenses results in
lower costs for ALL campuses.
Razy Kased presented a SUNY Student Senate Assembly update. He
mentioned concerns: maintaining reasonable SUNY tuition rates, campus
security in light of VT, and greening of SUNY.
Several people spoke of promoting Service Learning in SUNY:
Dr. Erik Bitterbaum, Cortland President; Dr. J. Richard Kendrick, Jr., chair
of the Sociology/Anthropology Department and 4 students; Dr. James
Heffernan, executive director of New York Campus Compact. Dr. James
Heffernan, executive director of New York Campus Compact, relayed a student’s
comment to him, “The right way to improve one’s self worth is to help
improve the self-worth of others.” He encouraged us to get students
involved, get them registered to vote, get them reaching out to the community.
Dr. Heffernan told us that NYS is 50th out of 50 states for
volunteerism and our college students are 49th out of 50! Dr,
J. Richard Kendrick, Jr., is in charge of the SUNY Cortland Institute for Civic
Engagement. Their web site may be reached at www.cortland..edu/civicengagement.
Their list of activities was impressive. Their impact in the community
must be very positive. Four charming students presented their personal
experiences with community involvement. The range and depth of their
experiences were remarkable. We were encouraged to incorporate service
learning into our courses.
The Vice Provost for Diversity and Educational Equity, Pedro Caban,
presented his agenda. After giving us some information on his background he
told us that he hopes to position SUNY as one of the most successful university
systems in the area of diversity. Building alliances is one of his
goals.
Sector Concerns:
University Centers- concern raised over articulation agreements
that do not seem to work for transfer students. The committee recommended
that the following options be considered to smooth the way for transfers:
entrance exams for transfer students; summer programs or bridge programs;
increased contact between two-year schools and university centers.
Stipends for graduate assistants should be raised. Questions were raised
about VSA and whether it should be imposed without the consultation of
governance. Quantification of faculty course load was also discussed
University Colleges-concern raised over the VSA presentation and the
apparent loss of consultative responsibilities of UFS. Questions were
aired about the installation of cameras on campus without faculty
consultation. A concern for mentally disturbed students was posed.
The task force that was formed following the Virginia Tech tragedy is divided
between those who advocate a lock down mentality with strong police management
and those who wish to see student mental health issues addressed. One campus is
revisiting academic advisement and would like to establish a best practices
panel. Reportedly, Lloyd Constantine, Gov. Spitzer’s aide, would like the
SUNY system to adopt the Florida plan, codifying course numbers across the
system. For example, every introductory psychology course would have the
same number. There are obvious concerns here. There is no way to
verify that every school is teaching the same material in the same
manner. There is a fear that the culture of consultation has been
lost.
Health Science Centers-raised 5 points
a public health newsletter
a health care summit
SUNY conference for the 45 different licensed health care professionals to
identify their commonalities
a health education/care czar at SUNY System Administration dedicated to
health care issues
the hiring and firing of clinical faculty on yearly contracts without tenure
to allow the institutions to meet their financial bottom line expectations.
Colleges of Technology discussed comprehensive 5-year plans.
Specialized Schools discussed the number of schools that are adjusting to
new presidents and the number of them who are in the midst of presidential
searches. There was a good deal of discussion over the School of Ceramics
and the remarkable angst suffered over its future and the future of the two
Alfreds. Diversity was also examined, including gender and class
diversity.
raised the topic of merit vs. need scholarships (I don’t think I said
this.)
Campus
Governance Leaders- The CGLs remained concerned by the lack of regular,
effective consultation on many campuses. Additionally support for
effective campus governance must be increased. This includes clerical
support, release time for the CGL and others, office space, printing costs
etc. They discussed the VSA. None of the leaders had been
consulted. Two were told that their schools had “volunteered” to test out
the VSA. The CGLs noted that VSA does not and cannot measure students’
growth from internships and volunteerism. Additionally it was stated that
the executive summary of the “White Papers” was elitist with little concern for
campuses other than the University Centers with no mention of agriculture
programs
Saturday, October 27
Milton Johnson of the Community Colleges reported to UFS. He
touched on the issue of transfers and the difficulty they have with adjusting
to 4-year schools. He would recommended the establishment of centers of
public engagement on the community college campuses to address social
issues. He attended the first Board of Trustees meeting with new members,
Carl McCall and Carl Hayden, present. SUNY is responsible for more than
half of the charter schools in the state. There may be conflict between
board members about the role of SUNY with charter schools.
President Carl Wiezalis met with Lloyd Constantine. Two
highlights are the governor’s aide recommended that the SUNY system strive to
hire full-time faculty and that faculty pay increase. Constantine talked
of tuition waivers for children of UUP. Discussion ensued as to how that
might work. The Governor and his administration support our service
component.
Every campus should send a team to the Energy Summit in early
November. Contact Central Administration to register. Students
should be included. Registration is $100 per person.
Severe problems continue between Alfred Ceramics and Alfred
University. SUNY is deeply involved in the attempt to resolve the
matter.
Reports and Resolutions
Executive Committee-Norm Goodman
Diversity contributes to the quality of education. Provost Palm is
reportedly reconsidering the mission reviews process and MOUs. The
committee will also address transferability and the problems students face. A
resolution opposing the VSA implementation was enthusiastically passed (see
attached).
Campus Governance Leaders-Susan Camp
CGLs
continue to recognize the need to cultivate a strong relationship between
administration and faculty governance. Each time a new President or
Provost comes to campus, governance must collegially educate the administrator
as to the imperative role of governance in wise decision making.
CGLs will
develop a resolution for next Plenary regarding the engagement of
administration and faculty governance and support (monetary, clerical assigned
time) for strong, wise governance.
CGLs will
develop a template (letter plus other information such as a section within the
UFS Governance Handbook,currently in revision) to share with new CGLs,
Senators and administrators to foster effective administrator/governance
relationships.
CGLs
indicated the need for various mechanisms for faculty from specific disciplines
to communicate across SUNY.
The CGL’s will present a resolution for policies and training to support
CGLs on campus.
Graduate Committee-Peter Nickerson
This committee is addressing issues of guidance for gaining external
research funds. The committee is supportive of the upcoming energy
conference.
Governance Committee-Sharon Cramer
The committee recommends updating the SUNY Governance handbook every 4
years. They would also like to see an exploration of best and
most-promising practices.
Awards Committee-Sandra Michael
There is still a problem with campuses knowing about the awards
process. CGLs are encouraged to distribute the information to the
faculty. New guidelines will give a 5-year interval between Chancellor’s
Awards for Excellence, rather than the previous 10-year. Discussion
ensued over the Chancellors’ Awards eligibility for management-confidential
professionals who might be teaching a course a year.
Undergraduate Committee-Pat Carey
The new Internship Guide was highlighted. It is an instructional
booklet that suggested to me that Oswego is way ahead of the curve.
Student Life-Ed Feldman
The committee is still looking for data from some of the campuses. In
response to Susan Camp’s question, they will send out a list of the campuses
that have responded. The Critical Incident Task Report will recommend
1. an increase in mental health counselors, particularly on community
college campuses;
2. education of staff and faculty on potential behavioral risks to
identify;
3. a timely 24-7 emergency response processes in place, with an awareness
that a strict lockdown was not realistic; passive messages on cell phones
and email will be incorporated;
4. post-emergency support services.
If our campus has formulated practices they should be sent to Ed Feldman so
that a statewide best practices could be established.
Operations Committee-Joe Petrick
Resolution for a Comprehensive SUNY Digital Library was passed
No old business.
No new business.
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