UB Faculty Senate

FACULTY SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Minutes of April 6, 2005
(unapproved)

The Faculty Senate Executive Committee (FSEC) met at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 6, 2005, in 567 Capen Hall to consider the following agenda:

Approval of the minutes of March 23, 2005
Report of the Chair
Report of the President/Provost
Report of the Director of Admissions – P. Armstrong
Report of the Faculty Athletic Representative – C. Fourtner
Report of the Director of University Residence Halls & Apartments – J. Krakowiak
Old/New business
Adjournment

Item 1: Approval of the minutes of March 23, 2005

The minutes were approved as distributed.

Item 2: Report of the Chair

Chair Nickerson reported:

Today we are having a regular FSEC meeting, and next week we’ll meet with the provost in executive session. The originally scheduled times had to be switched to accommodate the provost’s travel plans.
The SUNY Senate will be meeting tomorrow through Saturday in Syracuse. This is the first meeting of that group since Chancellor King announced his resignation.
A committee to construct reviews of graduate programs has been appointed.

Item 3: Report of the President/Provost

None

Item 4: Report of the Director of Admissions – Patricia Armstrong

Director of Admissions Pat Armstrong started by discussing the new SAT, which was introduced last month. Potential applicants for the 2006 freshman class were the first group to take the revamped test. The new SAT was redesigned to focus more on mathematics, critical reading, and writing.

The mathematics section was enhanced by adding content from the college prep level and eliminating quantitative comparisons. The critical reading portion – formerly called the verbal section – has added paragraph-length reading questions and eliminated analogies. The new writing component includes multiple-choice grammar and usage questions plus a student-written essay.

The new SAT takes 45 minutes longer, and scoring for each section can range from 200 to 800. Thus, a perfect score will henceforth be 2,400.

Students entering in fall 2005 will have taken the erstwhile version of the SAT. UB has accepted 3,200 applicants, who have until May 2nd to confirm their attendance with a deposit.

Over 1,200 potential enrollees attended UB’s Preview Day last Saturday. This was regarded as a good turnout considering the snowy weather conditions.

Item 5: Report of the Faculty Athletic Representative – Charles Fourtner

Professor Chuck Fourtner, UB’s Faculty Athletic Representative to the NCAA, explained that the organization isn’t just a separate rule-making sports body. The NCAA was created by and is part of its many participating institutions. Their philosophy is that student-athletes should be able to succeed academically, and that the colleges and universities have some responsibility to that end.

The Academic Progress Rate (APR) is a metric that has been devised to determine how well schools are doing in terms of eligibility, retention, graduation rates, and grading issues. A recent preliminary APR showed that two of UB’s teams – football and women’s basketball – scored below the minimum allowed. That’s just an alert for now, because the APR doesn’t go into effect until this fall.

UB is attempting to address some of the problems contributing to the two teams’ low APRs, because we want our students to do well, and because teams can be penalized by losing scholarships.

UB’s status as a research university is one contributing factor. Our undergraduate program doesn’t include several of the curricular options that many schools offer, e.g., secondary education and physical education. Also, our eligibility standards may be higher than at some NCAA schools, although we’re pretty similar compared to other Mid-American Conference schools.

Advisement is an area that probably can be improved to help student-athletes and others. Many students don’t use advisement to their advantage. Although advisors currently provide good guidance, there’s seldom follow-up, and many students don’t consult as often as they should. The consequences are that students often register for inappropriate courses that don’t serve them well. Closer attention by advisors can help student-athletes steer clear of courses that can jeopardize their eligibility.

Most student-athletes are hard-working and highly motivated. Overall, they perform as well or better academically than the rest of UB’s undergraduate student population.

Item 6: Report of the Director of University Residence Halls & Apartments – Joseph Krakowiak

Director of University Halls & Apartments Joe Krakowiak reported that UB’s housing options have increased tremendously in the past seven years. They now have more square footage than the Empire State Building, and all rooms offer Internet connectivity.

Around 73% of the freshman class lives in residence halls. Freshman halls are staffed by personnel who are trained to facilitate the transitional needs of first-year students. Apartments, which are larger and cost more, are mainly for juniors, seniors, and graduate students.

Financial support for UB housing comes totally from fees charged.

Shared interest group housing is now available to students who want to live in proximity due to common interests. Through an application process in the spring, students can define their group interests based on academic, cultural, social, or other interests. If an application is approved, students will be assigned to an area where they can set their own community standards.

Item 7: Old/New business

None

Item 8: Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 3:45 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 (A), M. Churchill (P), J. Faran (P), S. Schack (P), K. Takeuchi (E)
Dental Medicine: M. Donley (P)
Education: X. Liu (A)
Engineering & Applied Sciences: C. Basaran (A), J. Jensen (P)
Informatics: J. Ellison (P)
Institutional/General: O. Mixon (A)
Law: L. Swartz (A)
Management: J. Boot (P)
Medicine & Biomedical Sciences: J. Evans (A), L. Harris (E), J. Hassett (E)
Nursing: P. Wooldridge (A)
Pharmacy: G. Brazeau (A)
Public Health & Health Professions: C. Crespo (P)
Social Work: Barbara Rittner (A)
SUNY Senators: W. Baumer (P), W. Coles (P), M. Kramer (P), P. Nickerson (P)
University Libraries: C. Tysick (A)

Guests: P. Balzano (SA), C. Chan (Spectrum), S. Chung (Spectrum), M. Cochrane (Reporter), L. Meister (SA), M. Ryan (Undergrad. Ed.), S. Yiu (SA)

Tel: 716-645-2003
Fax: 716-645-2717
Email: facultysenate@buffalo.edu
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FACULTY SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Minutes of April 6, 2005 (unapproved)

Minutes of April 6, 2005
(unapproved)