FACULTY SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Minutes of February 23, 2005
(unapproved)

The Faculty Senate Executive Committee (FSEC) met at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 23, 2005, in 567 Capen Hall to consider the following agenda:

1. Approval of the minutes of February 9, 2005
2. Report of the Chair
3. Report of the President/Provost
4. Libraries storage facility update – B. von Wahlde, S. Roberts, K. Senglaup
5. Budget update – R. McPherson
6. Council on International Studies & Programs (CISP) – B. Bunker, S. Dunnett
7. Old/New business
8. Executive session (if needed)
9. Adjournment

Item 1: Approval of the minutes of February 9, 2005

The minutes were approved as distributed.

Item 2: Report of the Chair

Chair Nickerson reported:

• The Medical Faculty Council met recently and had a second reading on technical standards for medical students. They also had a first reading on a report relating to conflict of interest for members of the ad hoc committees on promotions and tenure.

Professor Kramer reported on a meeting of the Graduate School Executive Committee:

• Nominations for a committee that will work on protocols for full reviews of all graduate programs and related undergraduate programs were solicited.
• A revised policy on the composition of doctoral and masters committees was approved. Doctoral committees must have a major professor and at least two additional committee members who are also members of the UB graduate faculty. Associate members may not serve as one of these three, but may serve as additional committee members. For masters committees, the major professor must be either a member or an associate member of the UB graduate faculty.
• The proposal to grant two degrees and two diplomas at the completion of a multi-award program, rather than continuing to make one transcript entry and have one diploma listing both degrees, was approved.
• The length of time to degree is now seven years. Departments requiring longer times need to petition the Graduate School to document why a discipline requires more than seven years.
• A document clarifying the policy on informal courses was approved.

Item 3: Report of the President/Provost

None

Item 4: Libraries storage facility update – Barbara von Wahlde, Steve Roberts, Karen Senglaup

Associate Vice President for University Libraries (UL) Barbara von Wahlde, Assistant Vice President for UL Steve Roberts, and Director of Access Services for the Arts & Sciences Libraries Karen Senglaup distributed a revised Fact Sheet on the UB Libraries Annex (online at http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/annex/). It is similar to the facility that was in its late planning stages last year, except that the new site is on Rensch Road, across Sweet Home Road. Its proximity to UB’s North Campus makes it a very convenient location, and the current projection for construction is for a late spring 2005 start date. Low-use materials will probably begin being transferred around a year from now.

The off-site facility is needed because UB’s libraries are overcrowded – they’re presently at 105% capacity -- and new library buildings are prohibitively expensive. Numerous large research libraries have built storage facilities, and we’ll benefit from their experiences.

The UB Libraries Annex will be approximately 16,000 square feet in size and hold up to 1.5 million low-use volumes. It will take three or so years to fill to capacity, and this will free up space in the libraries that will be used to hold new materials and provide additional study space and reader services.

There will be a reading room at the Annex where persons can go to use materials, or books can be retrieved and delivered to departments within 24 hours of being requested. Articles from periodicals stored at the Annex will be scanned and sent to readers as e-mail attachments.

Item 5: Budget update – Ryan McPherson

Assistant Vice President for Government Affairs Ryan McPherson described the budget situation in Albany as a “perfect storm” that might break in either of two ways: the state could go even longer than last year’s record without a budget, or the process might move quickly because politicians don’t want a repeat of 2004. There’s still much uncertainty due to political wrangling and legal disputes between the governor and legislature about the budget process itself. There’s also tension between SUNY’s central administration and legislators regarding a court case brought by the Campaign for Fiscal Equity for mandated pre-K-12 funding.

Regardless, it now seems likely that UB will receive capital funds covering the cost of moving the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences from the North to South Campus. Although the governor vetoed all capital requests last year, that proposal has been added as one of only a few projects. Since it was approved by the legislature last year, there’s cause for optimism that it will pass.

The Office of Government Affairs is working for the passage of SUNY’s tuition guarantee proposal, which would keep tuition the same for students who graduate in four years. This offers predictability and encourages graduation in four years, because tuition would be adjusted according to the Higher Education Price Index (HEPI) for each freshmen class, and fifth-year students would have to pay the prevailing rate.

The guaranteed tuition proposal is predicated on a pact with state government, so they’ll be responsible for covering energy costs and negotiated salaries.

Item 6: Council on International Studies & Programs (CISP) – Barbara Bunker, Stephen Dunnett

CISP was established in the late 1960s, and Professor Bunker has been its chair since 2000. It is a consultative body that advises the provost on international studies and programs. Over 40 faculty and ex officio members represent a broad cross-section of the campus.

Professor Bunker explained that CISP works closely with the Office of the Vice Provost for International Education (OIE). They are consulted on matters involving international education and in evaluating plans for UB’s international initiatives. These include university-wide exchange and overseas programs, research and teaching grants, and other funding sources to support international studies.

There are five CISP standing committees to address issues such as international student recruitment and retention, study abroad and student exchanges, faculty research and exchange programs, curriculum, and grants and campus activities.

It’s getting harder to recruit international students because U.S. policies have made it much more difficult for foreign students to get visas since 9/11/01. This has had a negative effect on the American image overseas. Many foreign countries have reciprocated by making it more difficult for U.S. students to travel and study abroad. This problem isn’t specific to UB; it’s affecting universities throughout the United States.

Item 7: Old/New business

None

Item 8: Executive session (if needed)

None

Item 9: Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 4:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Will Hepfer
Secretary of the Faculty Senate

Attendance (P = present; E = excused; A = absent)

Chair: P. Nickerson (P)
Secretary: W. Hepfer (P)
Architecture & Planning: GS. Danford (P)
Arts & Sciences: S. Bruckenstein (P), M. Churchill (P), J. Faran (E), S. Schack (A), K. Takeuchi (E)
Dental Medicine: M. Donley (P)
Education: X. Liu (P)
Engineering & Applied Sciences: C. Basaran (P), J. Jensen (P)
Informatics: J. Ellison (E)
Institutional/General: O. Mixon (A)
Law: L. Swartz (A)
Management: C. Pegels (A)
Medicine & Biomedical Sciences: J. Evans (A), L. Harris (E), J. Hassett (E)
Nursing: P. Wooldridge (P)
Pharmacy: G. Brazeau (A)
Public Health & Health Professions: C. Crespo (P)
Social Work: Barbara Rittner (A)
SUNY Senators: W. Baumer (P), W. Coles (E), M. Kramer (A), P. Nickerson (P)
University Libraries: C. Tysick (P)


Guests: P. Balzano (SA), J. Becker (Spectrum), B. Bunker (CISP), M. Cochrane (Reporter), L. Labinski (Prof. Staff Senate), R. McPherson (Gov. Affairs), L. Meister (SA), S. Roberts (Univ. Libraries), K. Senglaup (Univ. Libraries), B. von Wahlde (Univ. Libraries)

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