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University Senate Meeting
February 7, 2011
Minutes

I. Approval of Agenda: Change in order (UUP before ARC). Approved as amended

II. Approval of minutes from December 6, 2010: approved.

III. Report from Senate President (F. Walter).

  • Another 10% budget cut for SUNY with no tuition increases. The Executive Committee has come up with a statement on the deplorable proposed budget cuts. It was approved by the EC today. The EC would like the senate to approve this today and then it will be sent to the appropriate people (legislators, media, etc.). We have to send this out before the assembly meets.

Floor open for discussion.

H. Silverman: there is a lot of rhetoric. We should say something about the students.
F. Walter: I think it would take too long for the senate to come up with something specific.
N. Goodman: This is not the only thing we can do. We can lobby, call/write to our legislators, etc. This is a sense of the senate, not a resolution. We have a lot more work to do.
F. Enciso: Should educate the student body as to why we need a tuition increase. We are hearing rumors of department closures, etc. More important to lobby the student body then legislators. Before we support this motion, the facts need to be brought out to the graduate student population. The graduate student survey concluded that the students do not want a tuition increase.
F. Walter: I’d be willing to talk to the Graduate Student Organization. Many will be willing to lay out the case.
E. Feldman: The sense of the senate does not support tuition increase. It just suggests that this is one vehicle in which they can address this budget shortfall.
F. Walter: It is the SUNY Student Assembly that came up with this idea.
F. Enciso: Motion to delete Para. 5. Seconded.
N. Goodman: We are not saying this is what we should do. Pull that paragraph out and you weaken the whole thing.
E. Feldman: I suggest that the GSO go to their body when it meets and come back to us with some sense of GSO once this is decided upon. We don’t meet again for another month. We can’t wait to have this go forward.
F. Walter: Move to entertain the amendment, which was seconded, to delete paragraph 5:

Majority not in Favor with 3 in favor and 2 abstentions. Motion does not carry.

F. Walter: All in favor of accepting this document as the sense of the Senate:
All in Favor with 3 opposed and 2 abstentions. Motion carries.

IV. UUP Report

  • This is not the time to sit back. Our very existence is at stake.
  • Meeting with Ken LaValle on Thursday to continue discussions. One bright note is that we managed to craft out a procurement agreement.
  • Urging everyone to advocate a tuition increase.
  • We need to get on the phone and speak with our legislators.

V. Administrative Review Committee Resolutions (R. Kelly)

  • The Administrative Review Committee is the chief body of the Senate for reviewing and evaluating administrative performance and proposed reorganization.
  • Background: Historic practices for senior academic search committees (Dean and above).
  • Recent changes to search committee practices.
  • Limited explicit governance documents support search Committees.
  • Senate EC request to ARC for review and recommendations.
  • An ARC subcommittee reviewed the SB by-laws. Examined other SUNY campus governance policies. Reviewed past SB search committee practices. Drafted resolutions. ARC reviewed and finalized 2 senate resolutions concerning search governance.
  • The two resolutions use principles of SUNY and SB by-laws to encapsulate past SBU search practices.
  • The two Resolutions were read.

Floor open for discussion:

H. Silverman: We should schedule interviews for finalist candidates for Administrative positions for Dean or above to include official on-campus time-slot meetings with the cognate governance (i.e., senate) committees for that position.
R. Kelly: Usually on site campus interviews come at the end.
N. Goodman: The Presidential candidate was a very open deal. Met with the community, etc.
H. Silverman: Motion that the additional sentence that indicates that the relevant senate committees should be visited and consulted with in finalist searches.
R. Kelly: We can do this, not change the resolution but rather to change the EEO guidelines in the Office of Diversity.
F. Walter: We have an amendment on the floor to add a line of determined verbiage in resolution #1 then a suggestion to add it to Resolution #2.
R. Kelly: Resolution #2 can remain unchanged because Resolution #2 refers to the guidelines in the office of Diversity. We can work with Diversity to ensure that it is included in the document since we all seem to agree on it.
F. Walter: Is there a second to Hugh’s amendment? Seconded.
I’m going to take a vote on the amendment with the understanding that if we accept the amendment the resolutions will have to be sent back to committee for rewording. If that fails, we will vote on the resolutions as they stand then we can vote on another motion to come up with a second set of resolutions and amend them after the fact. Calling for a vote on Hugh’s amendment. All in Favor. Majority opposed. Amendment fails.
All in favor of the resolutions as written: Majority all in favor. With 3 opposed and 1 abstention. Hugh do you want to reformulate your motion as a request?
H. Silverman: Yes. The motion is (in Resolution #1) that the cognizant senate committees be consulted and visited by the finalist.
F. Walter: is the motion seconded? Seconded.
N. Goodman: I think we should ask the ARC to come up with another resolution which specifies in detail that all finalists for Dean and above meet with the appropriate committees and then list them. Don’t stick a word or sentence in the present resolutions.
P. Lombardo: Is this an amendment by substitution?
N. Goodman: Yes.
F. Walter: All in favor of the amendment by substitution: all in favor.

VI. Report from East Campus (K. Kaushansky)

  • Was going to speak about the strategic plan and the four major focus areas or the research strategic plan for the SOM. Was going to speak about the educational program and those specific goals for our educational program about educating primary care physicians for LI and NY and Clinical goals for the strategic plan or how we planned to focus on building our excellence we have on cardiovascular disease and cancer, etc., but this will all be put on hold because of the dire budget cuts. We have $55 Mil. in support to the University Hospital. This money derives from the fact that a large number of our patients are indigent care. Last year SB University Hospital provided $86 Mil. of care that was uncompensated. We don’t negotiate our contracts with our 5, 500 employees.
  • Medicaid cut will affect the SB Medical Center to the tune of $10-12 Mi. $67 Mil. is going to be allowed to stand. It’s going to be carved out of the budget on East Campus. That represents about 750 staff members that are vital to support those efforts that were spoken about earlier.

VII. Report from the Provost (E. Kaler)

  • 2011 Intel Science talent search: Stony Brook students representing 32 Intel Semifinalists out of 300 nationwide and three Intel finalists out of 40 nationwide, make Stony Brook perhaps the largest incubator of Intel talent in the country.
  • 2011 Seed Grant Program: Set up to foster collaboration between SBU and BNL. Deadline for submission of proposals is April 1st, 2011.
  • Budget: Enormous challenge. President Stanley’s written report to the Senate touches on budget.
  • Lobby laws: Illegal to use SBU stationary or any other university resources.

VIII. Proposed changed in Class Schedule (E. Kaler)

  • Batting around the idea of moving to a slightly different set of time vectors for our classes.
  • Found that if we move to a model for MWF in which the class period becomes 50 minutes in length it is possible for them to begin on the hour. If we begin the first class schedule at 7:00 a.m. (currently 7:25 a.m.), it generates an extra slot which gives us 12 time vectors in MWF instead of 11. On TTh we again would move to a 7:00 a.m. start that contains 9 in class periods (75 mins.).

IX. Report from State-wide SUNY Senate (E. Feldman)

  • Four senate representatives from SBU met in Binghamton.
  • Highlights from the Executive Committee: Transfer and Articulation, Gen Ed, Degree Completion, and “Deactivation”.
  • President Ken O’Brien’s full report which addresses the budget, program deactivation, SUNY’s Strategic Plan, Gen Ed, and Student Mobility is available on the UFS website.
  • Other reports: Johanna Duncan-Poiter (Deputy Chancellor for the Educational Pipeline and vice-Chancellor for Community Colleges), Kathleen Preston, (Interim Vice-Chancellor for Financial Services and Health Affairs, David Lavallee (SUNY Provost and Senior Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs), Sector Report with Chancellor Zimpher, Tina Good (President of the Faculty Council of Community Colleges), and Sandi Cooper (Chair of the CUNY Faculty Senate).

X. New Business: no new business.

XI. Old Business: no old business.

Meeting adjourned at 5:00

Submitted by:

Laurie Theobalt
Secretary