UB Faculty Senate

FACULTY SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Minutes of April 27, 2005
(unapproved)

The Faculty Senate Executive Committee (FSEC) met at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 27, 2005, in 567 Capen Hall to consider the following agenda:

Approval of the minutes of April 6, 2005
Report of the Chair
Report of the President/Provost
Discussion with Dr. Anne Huot, SUNY Provost Chief of Staff
Discussion of the elements of the Faculty Code of Conduct
Old/New business
Executive Session (if needed)
Adjournment

Item 1: Approval of the minutes of April 6, 2005

The minutes were approved as distributed.

Item 2: Report of the Chair

Chair Nickerson reported:

The Student Union Committee met and discussed space allocation for student organizations.
There has been a request to change the FSEC meeting time to Wednesdays at 1:00 p.m. (Group consensus was to leave it at 2 p.m.)
The College of Arts & Sciences Policy Committee has been invited to attend next Tuesday’s Faculty Senate (FS) meeting.
The Grading Committee met and considered revisions to the policy for academic integrity and student grievance procedures. They will be on the first FSEC agenda when meetings resume in September.

Item 3: Report of the President/Provost

President Simpson thanked the FSEC for their recent resolutions supporting the planning process and affirming the contributions of Equity, Diversity & Affirmative Action Administration director Loyce Stewart, who died earlier this month.

He said he’s disappointed that the State legislature hasn’t shown much enthusiasm for SUNY’s proposal to guarantee undergraduate tuition costs for four years. Hopefully, it will be able to keep moving forward through the legislative process.

Although capital funding has been approved for refurbishing Acheson Hall (so the School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences can move there from the North Campus), the money needed to construct a new, state-of-the-art Engineering building is inadequate for the type of structure we would prefer. UB will need to do a lot of fundraising to make that plan successful.

His first year as UB’s president has been productive, thanks in large part to much hard work from faculty. He appreciates all of our accomplishments and is pleased to be our colleague.

Item 4: Discussion with Dr. Anne Huot, SUNY Provost Chief of Staff

Dr. Anne Huot, head of SUNY’s Academic Affairs Office, said she’s visiting UB and other campuses to promote dialogue regarding the next phase of Mission Review. Mission Review is an important component of a larger planning process; it’s a way of articulating goals and objectives for the SUNY System as well as for the campuses.

Each phase of Mission Review involves a self-study of a campus’s mission and aspirations, including a review of existing and potential programs. There’s also a profile of the student population and faculty, and a description of the campus infrastructure.

SUNY representatives will visit campuses undergoing Mission Review later this year. Dr. Huot will head the group that will be coming to UB. They’ll meet with UB administrators and campus groups, and ensuing discussions will lead to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoA), which will articulate targets regarding major areas of interest such as:

Enrollment
Research
International and out-of-state students
Ethnic diversity
Business relationships/economic impact
Strengthened campus-based assessment

The MoA is expected to be finalized by the end of 2005.

Item 5: Discussion of the elements of the Faculty Code of Conduct

Chair Nickerson said we’ll be appointing a committee to draft a code of faculty conduct. Meanwhile, we need to discuss what that code should address. There was a general discussion that elicited many questions and comments:

Matters of conduct are already addressed in several documents, e.g. the Faculty/Staff Handbook and the Policies of the Board of Trustees. A new code should do more than simply reiterate what’s in existing documents.
Other universities have codes of conduct that are accessible on the Web. Perhaps we can adapt on or more (with proper attribution) for our own purposes.
Perhaps differing undergraduate and graduate policies can be consolidated for greater efficiency in the new code.
We need to determine the appropriate level of specificity that the code should address. Should it cover topics such as office hours, class punctuality, and the timely submission of grades?
Several years ago, the Senate grappled with the topic of student-faculty relationships. A resolution was passed, but perhaps the conduct code committee should revisit that issue.
Should the code deal with ethical issues such as the quality of teaching and/or research?
Laws seldom change, but interpretations do. We should have a basic statement and supporting documents that are revised when needed.

President Simpson suggested that UB’s code should be a general statement of conduct rules that would apply to members of the academy. It shouldn’t cover matters as specific as office hours, but rather it should address basic principles to ensure equity for policy application.

Item 6: Old/New business

Professor Baumer said the Second Chance Policy that was passed by the Faculty Senate in 2001 seems to have gotten lost. It hasn’t been promulgated, nor was it ever returned to the FS with comments. This needs to be followed up because the Second Chance Policy was intended to replace the problematic Fresh Start Policy that is still in effect. The Second Chance Policy provides an option for students who encounter early academic troubles to start over; prior coursework would remain on the transcript but wouldn’t count toward the student’s GPA.

Professor Churchill suggested that a policy is needed to restrict students from retaking courses until all students taking the course for the first time have had a chance to register. Professor Schack said two types of students would be affected by such a policy – ones who just want to improve their grade and others who need to pass the course because it’s a prerequisite for other required courses. Chair Nickerson indicated that that matter would probably be referred to the Educational Programs & Policy Committee in the fall.

Item 7: Executive Session (if needed)

There was an executive session

Item 8: Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 3:40 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Will Hepfer
Secretary of the Faculty Senate

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

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

Guests: P. Balzano (SA), J. Becker (Spectrum), B. Burke (EDAAA), L. Labinski (Prof. Staff Senate), M. Cochrane (Reporter), L. Meister (SA)

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

Minutes of April 27, 2005 (unapproved)

Minutes of April 27, 2005
(unapproved)