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FA Chair: S. Camp
Recorder: Anthony Procopio
The meeting was called to order at
4:09PM.
I. Approval of Agenda
The agenda was approved unanimously.
II. Approval of Minutes of
General Faculty Meeting of March 26th, 2007
The minutes were approved unanimously.
III. President's Report – D.
Stanley
President Stanley gave her report about freshmen applications having gone up
23.5% over the last two years, with the acceptance rate falling 4.8%.
Admissions deposits are up 98% and housing deposits are up 115%. This has
proven that the reputation of Oswego State has grown a lot stronger over the
past couple of years. President Stanley also indicated that admissions
representatives are looking downstate for more prospective students.
The Weather Group has had meetings with faculty staff, and SA. President
Stanley is investigating a possible communication system with two-way
communication. Some of the worries are about redundancy and early notification.
One possible way is a cellular phone text-messaging list serves.
Along those lines, President Stanley discussed campus safety and security,
reviewing emergency procedures in regards to prevention, preparedness, response
and recovery. Some possibilities include card-accessible buildings and more
lighting on sidewalks. President Stanley also discussed promoting a “climate
neutral” campus within the next few months.
The college has bought an art gallery in downtown Oswego that will show
student and faculty artwork as well as tickets to campus events.
The Swetman Hall and Campus Center opening will be held Oct. 11th
and 12th next semester. It will also be the kick-off to “College
Hour.”
Commencement this year will be held in the Campus Center. The 2007
Presidential Medal Recipients are Rev. Richard Rice and Lt. John McCoughlin
from the class of 1975, and Dr. Barbara Shineman from the class of 1965.
IV. Faculty Senate Report – M. Ryniker (see
attached)
V. UUP Report – C. Spector
C. Spector discussed the UUP website (www.uupinfo.org) and its two contract proposals:
UUP and state. UUP would like to change a few things and add a few more. There
will be a union newsletter later next
week.
VI.
Chair Report - S.
Camp
Susan first
shared her philosophies oh birthdays, as hers was this week. She also shared a
philosophy on problems caused by faulty communication and urged everyone to
continue improving their communication systems by sending information to those
who will benefit from it and also reading what is being sent to you. She is
working on filtering the staff e-mail list. She then mentioned the Task Force
recommendation on a Professional Development Center that was distributed at the
meeting. There will be an electric copy in everyone’s inbox. The proposal for 8
Student Graduation Outcomes was distributed at FA and will be sent to every
staff member on campus. Both the Task Force recommendation and the Graduation
outcomes will be up for discussion this fall. There were focus groups for the
faculty and staff of the “west quad” April 16th, 30th and
May 7th 2007 conducted by Campus Concept Committee. Finally, any
comments questions or concerns about a new school of Arts and Communication
should be sent to Priorities and Planning council through Al Stamm (stamm@oswego.edu).
VII.
New Business
A) Election of Faculty Assembly Chair
Susan Camp was nominated and elected.
B) Approval of Candidates
-912 Arts and Sciences December 2006/May 2007
graduates. All approved unanimously.
-285 School of Business graduates. May 2007
All approved unanimously.
-137
Business Administration
-35
Accounting BS
-12
Accounting /MBA 5 year degree
-26
Finance
-15 Human
Resource Management
-1
Management Accounting
-11
Management Science
-45
Marketing
-2
Management Information Systems
-1
Management Science/Operations
-417 Baccalaureate Degree candidates from School of Education
(Dec. 2006, May 2007, August 2007) All approved unanimously.
-18
Vocational Teacher Preparation BS
-71
Technology Education BS
-12
Technology Management BS
-34 Wellness
Management BS
-191
Childhood Education BS
-85
Adolescence Education BS
-6
TESOL BS
-24 candidates for BA and BS degrees from the division of continuing
education in Accounting, Business Administration, Information, Psychology and
Public Justice. All approved unanimously.
- 430 candidates for Graduate Degrees and certificates. All approved
unanimously.
-31 MA Degrees
-12 MAT Degrees
-45 MBA Degrees
-25 MS Degrees
-254 MS in Education Degrees
-11 MS and CAS degrees and diplomas
-51 CAS diplomas
The meeting was adjourned at 4:59 PM.
From the Faculty Senate Plenary Session April
26th-28th, 2007 reported by Senator Margaret Ryniker
April 26: Susan Camp and I attended a workshop on leadership. It was
worthwhile. Opportunities like this are invaluable. I would be
happy to talk with anyone about the experience.
April 27: We observed moments of silence for the victims of Virginia
Tech and for the victims of the Iraqi War. Brockport faculty
representatives, Brockport’s president and the Monroe County Executive welcomed
us.
In the President’s report President Carl Wiezalis encouraged us to urge
colleagues to join the various UFS committees. Please do consider these
service opportunities. It is a good source of service and a chance to
meet with faculty from other campuses. The networking is
invaluable.
Executive Committee report was provided. Two major grants were
announced: professional science master’s degree and transitional
teaching.
CFO Kim Cline discussed “building our base” so that we will have enough
money for the SUNY schools. She stated that we should be pleased with the
budget from a first year governor. She encouraged each campus to be
aggressive in dealing with Albany to make sure that we each get our
share. CFO Cline said that if we can put enrollment in the base and if we
can get another $2500 per student then SUNY would be in much better financial
shape. Some talk about marketing and image. (Georgian residents go
to their state colleges for free if they maintain a GPA of B or better.
CFO Cline stated that we should be doing the same.) She also stated that
she has a lobbying paper with quotes from the governor that she would make
available.
Provost Palm asked for faculty feedback on Governor’s Commission on Public
Higher Education. Please email Dr. Palm with your comments at risa.palm@suny.edu. She provided us with
the history of SUNY from the Heald Commission (1960) up to the present. Dr.
Palm encouraged us look at the next 50 years. Other states have rational
tuition policies and other future-focused activities such as cluster
hiring. She said that many of our students are coming to college
unprepared and in need of remedial coursework. We need to educate people
on the excellent education one can get from the SUNY schools. She
recommended that merit scholarships be part of the state funding. She
suggested that we award a tuition discount for the most qualified
students. We also need to do better at achieving
diversity.
Dr. Palm then listed several topics:
Academic Excellence: We need full-time high quality faculty members.
Faculty recruitment and retention are critical. We need to address library
facilities. We need 5-year plans for our facilities. Diverse
faculty is important.
Access: We need real and perceived accessibility. We need to
reduce barriers based on misinformation. We need a seamless connection
between K-12 and our SUNY system.
Workforce and Community Development: We need to attract new industries
and jobs to the state of New York. We need to prepare graduates for the
State’s workforce.
Finance: Tuition policies need to be a part of all of this. We
need operating and financial efficiency.
Please contact Provost Palm with your suggestions.
Guest Speaker: Dr. M. Guven Yalcintas spoke passionately of
SUNY’s Research Foundation/Technology Transfer
and the support the Foundation offers to all SUNY research.
Dr. Ram Chugh, Emeritus Potsdam, spoke of a proposed SUNY Center for
Retirees, which will maintain a list of websites of organizations where
retirees’ services could be utilized. At this time there is
no system-wide program or policy. Dr. Chugh is enthusiastic about
organizing a support program. Currently he is collecting personal data on
retirees. The local campuses’ Human Resources Offices will distribute
these forms as faculty prepare to retire. The retirees will receive an ID
card that will allow each retiree to use services at all SUNY campuses.
In spite of the fact that lunch was waiting, a number of interesting questions
were raised. Good discussion ensued.
After lunch Tom Matthews, Director of the Leadership Education, Development
& Training Center at SUNY Geneseo addressed the UFS. Geneseo
offers every student the voluntary opportunity to learn and practice leadership
skills. He spoke of specific students at Geneseo. One introverted
student has started a chapter of “Democracy Matters,” an organization seeking
to control campaign funding. Bronze level teaches time management skills,
Silver teaches leadership skills, and Gold teaches leadership theories.
Most of the modules are offered in one-hour segments. They have partnered
with graduate school students. They have included dinner etiquette, as
our Career Services Office has done for years. Currently over
500 students are actively pursuing certificates in the program. He
cautioned that this is a full-time obligation. Tom Matthews does nothing
else but run this program. So the campus would have to commit to
it. Students register for the events and maintain journals. They do
so voluntarily and totally online. Students are encouraged to join
organizations so that they can exercise their leadership skills.
Sector Reports
University Centers Issues
Q. Funding
for graduate students was not increased in the final budget.
A.
Chancellor stated that he failed. He acknowledged that it truly is a
battle for talent. We are losing ground because of this issue. He is open
to suggestions.
Q. Funding
for libraries update requested.
A.
Chancellor responded that we are not where we need to be. We can discuss
a budget line. He is committed to the libraries.
Q.
Clarification for ownership of intellectual property.
A.
Chancellor said that Nick Rosow will come speak to the UFS at some point in the
future on this issue.
University Colleges
Q. How do
we raise enrollment standards and remain freely accessible to all
students? How do some schools seek to grow and raise entrance levels?
A.
Chancellor acknowledged that student profile is going up across SUNY.
Community colleges are doing a great job, preparing students with access,
affordability, accountability and attainability. We should look at rational
options, including unique programs that may be very expensive. For example, the
art restoration program at Buff State. We need a rational tuition policy
or a differential fee policy. Bruno and Silver seem to be on board with
this plan.
There is always some tension between programs and admissions. We need
to be transparent about this. Mission Review 2 is supportive of this
transparency.
Q.
Recruitment and retention of qualified faculty.
A. This is
something we really have to highlight. He is excited to highlight this at
the Governor’s Commission. The governor seems to understand how important
faculty is.
Start-up costs are critically important. We are making progress in
this area.
Q. Not all
campuses involve faculty in the formation of MOU’s. Concern over
imposition of external metrics that narrow our curriculum and our offerings, by
Spelling Commission.
A.
Chancellor announced that he is worried about assessment and accreditation for
the same reason that we are about the Spelling Commission. We may need to
“put our things in the drawer and wait for them to leave.” The
Chancellor said that we are going to be have our own people in office in
Washington. We will no longer pay a lobbyist. Chancellor also talked
about having discussion in the open, no more backroom decisions.
Health Science Centers
Q. Non-tenured faculty not being returned for
financial reasons. Nursing, optometry, and allied health schools have
great tension. With all of the field activities the professors do not
have the time to complete research.
A.
Chancellor had no knowledge of this problem.
Q. Berger
Commission’s plan to combine hospitals.
A. Berger
Commission started out with good intentions, reducing costs, putting focus back
on the patients. But they have moved off those goals. We have spent
a lot of time dealing with this problem. By the end of June we should
have some idea how things are going.
Q. Health
Center Representative in the Chancellor’s Office.
A.
Chancellor has been distracted by Berger Commission. A good person will
move into this position. They will advertise and search the
position.
Q. School
of Optometry’s choice of David Heath.
A.
Chancellor gave the Optometry School the credit for this process and the hiring
of Heath.
Colleges of Technology
Q. Salary
disparities, competition with community colleges, Mission related funds with
this sector.
A.
Chancellor said that the Provost did conduct a group meeting. He will
encourage her to visit the individual campuses. Salary disparities are a
major problem.
Specialized and Statutory Colleges
Q. Audit
questions and when the audit will be made public.
A.
Chancellor said that audit has been shared with trustees and should be shared
with campus soon.
Q.
Statutory full-time faculty lines needed, not clinical professorships that are
non-tenured.
A. Yes,
this is a problem. Chancellor will look into it. Cornell is
in the process of searching for 2 new deans.
Campus Governance Leaders
Q. Student
loans and the increasing impact on students.
A.
Chancellor supports this suggestion. TAP needs to be indexed.
Supported 360-degree evaluations but some campus administrators have evidenced
reluctance. Chancellor will talk with the SUNY presidents again.
SUNY System Admin will work with UFS to address this debt issue.
April 28, 2007: Saturday morning’ session was opened with a presentation by
Kimberly Reiser, president of the Faculty Council of Community Colleges.
She spoke of the 40th anniversary of community colleges. She
voiced continuing concern for academic freedom and academic standards.
She mentioned the Twigg Project. Can we trust the data from this
project? Is it cutting costs but not improving learning outcomes?
29 of 30 campuses have completed their MOU’s. Community colleges continue
their commitment to service learning.
Student Assembly President Alyssa Amyote made her final report to the
UFS. The Student Assembly is reviewing the policies on who determines and
how they determine allocations of student activity fees. Two schools are
facing litigation on this issue.
The results of the elections of Sector members of the 2007-2008 Executive
Committee were announced. Oswego’s Susan Camp was elected convenor of the
Campus Governance Leaders.
Campus Governance Committee
Report was given by Susan Camp. She talked about the Executive
Committee working with the System Admin on the issue of student loans, making
sure that students understand the papers they are signing and the debts to
which they are committing themselves.
Graduate and Research Committee
It was reported that a conference on Energy and Environment is being planned
for November at Saratoga Springs.
Governance Committee
A new handbook of By-Laws and Procedures was distributed. Again,
members of our campus are encouraged to consider joining one of the UFS
committees. A resolution regarding SUNY Campus Self-Proclamation was
proposed. The resolution requires a campus to get Chancellor’s review
prior to the campus’ official name change or slogan/campus designation
change. (The basis for the discussion and resolution was Geneseo’s chosen
self-proclamation, “the Honors College.” )
Another resolution was introduced to establish a consult-or-visitation
procedure for campuses that are in dire trouble. After some discussion
the resolution was tabled for the Fall Plenary.
Programs and Awards Committee
Norm Goodman was awarded the UFS Fellow award. Few professors hold more than
one distinguished faculty rank. No one will be eligible for another award
until three years have lapsed since the awarding of the first.
Undergraduate Committee
Met with Provost Palm. They discussed the increased interest in
international study and the value to our campuses to have international
students. Student visas have become increasingly difficult to secure. Dr.
Palm is not limiting her interest to the Twigg Report. She is open to
any/all projects that may improve instruction. Distance and hybrid
learning are areas of interest. A conference on internships may be
considered in the future. Accreditation and assessment will always be of
interest to this committee. Teaching load and pay directly impact
undergraduate life. Discussion ensued. Erie CC and Buffalo State
used the CLA (Collegiate Learning Assessment) with abysmal results. UFS
does not appear to have faith in the Twigg Project. Rose Rudnitski from
New Paltz recommended that all campuses look to the New Paltz model since New
Paltz has the largest international studies program. Rose also cautioned
us to watch for any connections between Chancellor candidates and the private
for-profit standardized testing companies. (She was referring to CUNY and
the test-formulating company’s CEO who sits on the CUNY Board of
Trustees.) A resolution to accept Internships: a Guide for Planning,
Implementation, and Assessment was passed unanimously.
Student Life Committee
The Committee has not met since the VT tragedy. They may meet over the
summer to address safety. Service learning coordination is under
discussion. Issues with lack of student medical insurance and the need
for prescription drugs are being considered. Cultural diversity is an
issue of concern. The statistic previously reported, 40% of
students who come to our campus are on prescribed psychotropic drugs, was
misrepresented. It was 40% of students who were seen at Student
Health Services, not 40% of the general student population. Many campuses have
Behavioral Assessment Committees that consider people with odd behavior or
ideation. There was discussion about individual rights versus campus
security. Many campuses retain statistics on such individuals. If
you are interested you should contact your administration to find out if our
campus retains this information.
Operations Committee
Carey Hatch will offer a presentation on “The Future of SUNY’s
Libraries.” There will be further study on obtaining and retaining
diverse faculty. A conference on sustainable energy will be held November
12-14, 2007 in Saratoga Springs. Each campus will be encouraged to send
representatives. SUNY is one of the biggest energy users in
NYS.
New Business
A resolution was discussed rejecting any/all proposed nationally imposed
regulations or requirements. The resolution will be tweaked and addressed by
the Executive Committee ASAP. This is clearly time-sensitive. We are all
concerned about the federal government’s interest in stepping improperly into
this forum. We would like to put our concern on record.
A resolution for the formation of a Center for SUNY Retirees Service Corps
was introduced. Following discussion the resolution was passed
unanimously.
Before we adjourned interesting discussion ensued about the lack of
information about the election of the president of UFS. We were told the
winner. We were denied the vote tally. There will be discussion
prior to the next election of candidates’ qualifications and perhaps a brief
public statement.
Discussion was held about the ridiculous price of textbooks. A
committee will be established to address this issue with textbook
publishers.
Adjourned.
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