• Bylaws, Charter,
  Standing Orders
• Faculty/Staff Handbook
• Senators
• Committees
• Meeting Schedules
• Minutes
• Resolutions
• Other Documents,
  Presentations

Faculty Senate Executive Committee

Minutes of February 11th, 2009
(unapproved)

The Faculty Senate Executive Committee met at 2:30 PM on Wednesday, February 11th, 2009, in the Jeannette Martin Room of Capen Hall (567) to discuss the following:

1. Approval of the minutes of December 10, and January 21, 2009
2. Report of the Chair
3. Report of the President/Provost
4. Interaction with Tim Tryjankowski, Director, Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (CURCA)
5. Office of Equity, Diversity and Affirmative Action Administration -- Interim Director Barbara Burke

6. Report of the SUNY Senate meeting in Morrisville, NY
7. Old/New business
8. Executive Session (if needed)
9. Adjournment

Item 1: Approval of the minutes of December 10, and January 21, 2009

The minutes of both meetings were unanimously approved.

Item 2: Report of the Chair

• Teaching & Learning committee up and running again met with the director of the T&L Center last Thurs afternoon. This is a great energized committee that will be meeting again March 5
• Next week, the agenda has been changed. There will be a Non public exec session without the provost to discuss particular concerns and to approve members of the Library and Information Resources Committee
• No report of President/Provost today; they are still in India

Item 3: Report of the President/Provost
n/a

Item 4. Interaction with Tim Tryjankowski, Director, Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (CURCA)

Tim Tryjankowski introduced the senators to the CURCA by navigating through its website: Curca.buffalo.edu/pdfs. He explained that CURCA, the Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities, about came about as a direct result of the Boyer Commission Report, which, in 1995, looked at what challenges research universities were facing in the process of rethinking their undergraduate education. Instead of using liberal arts colleges as the model for undergraduate education, Tryjankowski added, research universities were entreated to draw upon their strengths as research communities to develop opportunities for undergraduate research.

Tryjankowski encouraged faculty to direct students to the website to explore the current research opportunities available at UB. On the website, students can find links to faculty interests and areas of research and know more about the research projects in which particular faculty are involved. Students, Tryjankowski explained, can work with particular faculty in particular fields in exchange for academic credit or salary. Some faculty may enroll students on a voluntary basis or as work study. Tryjankowski emphasized the importance of doing background research on particular faculty before contacting them about working with them. He also stressed the importance of undergraduate research mentoring as a highly valued component of the Research and Teaching missions of the university. His office routinely reaches out to faculty across campus to ask whether they have a research or creative activity that they would like to advertise to undergraduate students.

Tryjankowski mentioned the opportunity for undergraduate students to apply for Undergraduate Research Awards through the support of the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education. These awards, he said, are for students who show a need for funding to overcome barriers that would prevent them from performing meaningful research and or creative activities at UB. Students can apply for $500 per semester to support their research and gain understanding of how to write research grants when leaving UB.

Tryjankowski also highlighted the UB Libraries Undergraduate Research Prize awarded to students who produce significant academic inquiry requiring use of information resources, the Libraries, and the collections. He then singled out other links of potential interest to students on the CURCA website including

• the WEBGURU, a Guide to Research for Undergraduates
• the NCUR, National Conference on Undergraduate Research that hosts a National Research Symposium for Undergraduate in the Spring. UB undergraduates who apply and are accepted to present at NCUR receive travel funding through the CURCA office.
• Tips for Designing effective Poster presentations. Students need to understand that it is the industry standard and will be presenting on this type of a scale
• Summer Research Opportunities available across the US with recommendations students need to complete to be eligible. Summer RUs have funding.
• Nationally Competitive Fellowships and Scholarships such as the British Marshall Scholarship
• COS Funding Opportunities
• Newsletter

Tryjankowski explained that undergraduate research not only attracts top students but also fosters student satisfaction. Students engaged in research have a higher GPA, their advance toward graduation is spot on, their satisfaction with the university and their overall college experience is higher. They report a higher level of academic feedback, challenge, assistance with professional goals, and emotional support.

Tryjankowski concluded by discussing the resources available to faculty to help them mentor undergraduates more effectively. He encouraged faculty to get the message out about CURCA.

Gayle Brazeau asked whether students are given an opportunity to evaluate their research experience once done. Is any feedback provided about the nature of the project and the nature of the mentoring experience, she asked. Tryjankowski answered that students who win awards get to talk about their experiences during the Celebration of Excellence event. He added that he would love to have a rating system to gage the value of the research experience for students. Professor Dyson inquired about the ways in which the program works with projects in the humanities. Tryjankowski mentioned the “Muslim for a Day” initiative in Communications as an example of a successful implementation of the program in the humanities. Dr. Alexandridis asked whether faculty were complaining about not getting enough students. Tryjankowski said that he had never heard of faculty not being able to find students but that students often complained about not being able to find faculty mentors. Dr. Durand mentioned the McNair conference, the largest undergraduate conference in the US.

Item 5. Office of Equity, Diversity and Affirmative Action Administration -- EDAAA
Interim Director Barbara Burke

Barbara Burke reported that based on numbers dating from the end of 2007, female faculty make up 35.8 percent of the total number of faculty, and minorities, 19.4 percent. 2004-2007 saw increases:

• from 33.1 in 2004 to 35.8% for females,
• from 23.5% in 2004 to 27.1% for tenure-track female faculty, and
• from 21.2 % of tenure-track minority faculty members to 23.7%.

Burke said that these statistics reveal that UB is on the right track and is establishing an increasingly diverse faculty/staff and student body. The university actually ranks 20th in the number of full-time female faculty members among institutions in the Association of American Universities and eighth in minority faculty members.

Burke also reported that, for individuals holding at least a bachelor’s degree in the Buffalo-Niagara Falls region (excluding Native Americans), UB’s rate of minority employment exceeds the U.S. Census workforce availability percentages. For Native Americans, regional employment numbers remain one tenth of a percent higher than UB’s, she said. In terms of age distribution, 24 percent of UB’s professional staff are under the age 35 and 13 percent of the faculty are over age 65. In terms of students, Burke said that UB’s student population is 48 percent female, 17 percent minority and 15 percent international (with 110 countries represented altogether).

Sharon Nolan-Weiss, associate director for EDAAA, listed the services provided by her office, i.e:

• training and education,
• diversity initiatives and program development
• ensuring UB’s compliance with federal and state non discrimination laws and executive orders
• policy development
• resolution of allegations of discrimination.

In 2007, the main three complaints handled by EDAAA were

• hostile work environment (21%),
• sexual harassment (19%) and
• disability (13 %).

She noted that workplace retaliation or race, sex and age discrimination = fewer than 10%.

Nolan-Weiss outlined the new policy that is still in the drafting stage concerning recruitment: this will replace the Guidelines for Affirmative Action Search Procedures in the Hiring of Faculty and Staff and requires that all positions be filled through an open search process that conforms with federal rules. Recruitment exceptions are emergencies hire, hires of opportunity, visiting scholars, change in status/funding source internships, apprenticeships and fellowships. Limited exception categories are geared to meet the university’s operating needs.

Gayle Brazeau inquired about spousal accommodations. Nolan-Weiss explained that these were outside the recruitment process.

Nolan-Weiss added that the Top demographic Trends that impact diversity are

• Aging of the workforce
• child care and elder care responsibilities
• Changing family patterns in the United States
• Increase in unskilled workforce

In addition, the projection of changes expected btw 2000 and 2050 in UB demographics:

• Caucasian from 70 to 52%
• Hispanic from 12 to 24%
• African American from 12 to 15%

Nolan-Weiss concluded by emphasizing the UB 2020 Diversity implications challenges, namely that “we will be competing for an increasingly smaller pool of candidates and therefore have to look at our selection process, at our criteria in defining our jobs.”

Melvyn Churchill inquired whether teaching assistants were included in these assessments. The answer was no. Dorothea Tao asked whether professional staff got similar considerations in terms of opportunities for professional advancement as faculty. Professor Dyson asked whether there was a retirement age for professional staff. Nolan-Weiss answered that there was not. Gayle Brazeau urged the EDAAA to establish some form of mentoring for retention purposes and to gather data about why we lose people. Nolan-Weiss mentioned a pilot project done on exit interviews. She added that the EDAAA is not involved in the process of keeping track of stats related to faculty going through the tenure process.

Item 6: Report of the SUNY Senate meeting in Morrisville, NY

SUNY Senator William Baumer reported that the issues discussed were

• how to improve graduate programs,
• funding for graduate students
• terminal MA students

He reported that there was some animosity toward UB2020 with a highly critical representative pressing to reject it. There was some suggestion that we may get a new chancellor: University of Cincinnati President Nancy Zimpher. Her appointment would conclude a search to replace former Chancellor John Ryan, who stepped down in 2007.

Item 7: Old New Business

Item 8: Executive Session (if necessary)

Item 8: Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 4:12 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Carine Mardorossian, Secretary of the Faculty Senate

© Copyright University at Buffalo Faculty Senate | UB Home | Accessibility | Legal Notices | Website Acknowledgements