FACULTY SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Minutes of September 21, 2005
(unapproved)

The Faculty Senate Executive Committee (FSEC) met at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 21, 2005, in 567 Capen Hall to consider the following agenda:

1. Approval of the minutes of September 7th, 2005
2. Report of the Chair
3. Report of the President/Provost
4. Report of the Vice President for Research – J. José
5. Report of the chair of the Professional Staff Senate – L. Labinski
6. Discussion of IT issues and concerns – B. Ricotta
7. Old/New business
8. Executive Session (if needed)
9. Adjournment

Item 1: Approval of the minutes of September 7th, 2005

The minutes were approved as distributed.

Item 2: Report of the Chair

Chair Nickerson reported:

• There will not be a meeting next week. University Convocation had been scheduled for next Wednesday, but it has been changed to sometime in the spring.
• The SUNY Senate held a planning meeting in Albany last week that was attended by several representatives from UB; discussion topics ranged from the budget to assessment to interdisciplinary research.

Professor Hoeing, who represented Chair Nickerson at a recent meeting of the Graduate School Executive Committee, reported on the following topics that were discussed:

• Comprehensive program review
• Divisional committees
• The Bologna Process (which was approved)
• New admission & enrollment procedures
• Length of time to degree requirements

Item 3: Report of the President/Provost

None

Item 4: Report of the Vice President for Research – Jorge José

Vice President for Research José said his Office aims to encourage and support research and scholarship at UB. Three new programs, which stem from the UB2020 planning process, are now available for UB faculty members to initiate or enhance research endeavors.

The UB2020 Scholars Fund will offer competitive awards for research or scholarly activities that are directly aligned with one or more of the ten areas of strategic strength identified by the UB2020 planning process. It is intended to provide resources needed to support academic excellence where such resources are not available from the department, school, or college. These small grants will provide seed funding to develop ideas to enhance the chance of external funding, and also to help areas where external funding is rare. Awards will range from $1,000 to $15,000.

The UB2020 Interdisciplinary Research Development Fund (IDRF) will provide resources to stimulate interdisciplinary research that will enhance the competitiveness and success of investigators seeking new external support in areas identified as UB2020 strategic strengths. Funding will be awarded on a competitive basis to catalyze collaboration among faculty across disciplines in order to increase the probability of attracting external UB2020-related grant support. A minimum of two faculty members from different disciplines must collaborate. Awards, up to $50,000, will be made to teams that can make a convincing case that an external proposal can be submitted within 18 months of the award date.

Multi-investigator Proposal Support (MIPS) will assist investigators in the formation and support of research teams to develop multi-investigator and multi-disciplinary grants applications. MIPS criteria include an external funding target in excess of $1 million/year in total costs, an interdisciplinary approach that crosses college and school boundaries, and a project designed for submission of a major grant proposal to an external agency. Funding will be provided in two installments, with the second installment depending on convincing progress towards proposal submission.

Additional information about all three programs is available on the Office of the Vice President Web site at http://www.research.buffalo.edu/rsp/.

Item 5: Report of the chair of the Professional Staff Senate (PSS) – Larry Labinski

PSS Chair Labinski said the Professional Staff Senate has been supporting and participating in the annual Wellness Fair that it initiated for many years. It is quite expensive, and they must depend on vendor support to help defray the costs, because the PSS now gets charged for many campus services and use of facilities. PSS would appreciate having the Faculty Senate’s support and participation as well, because it would strengthen their case to UB administrators that the Wellness Fair should be recognized as a university-wide event. Official recognition would cover some of the costs that PSS must now provide themselves.

A motion to have the FS co-sponsor the Wellness Fair was seconded and passed.

Item 6: Discussion of IT issues and concerns – Barbara Ricotta

Dean of Students Ricotta said she is chairing the Information Technology (IT) Strategic Transformation Team, which is part of the UB2020 planning process. The group is seeking input regarding IT customer profiles, so AVCOR consultant Scott Morris is here today to conduct a focus group on IT issues and concerns.

Mr. Morris explained that he is interested in our input regarding how IT affects academic and academic support services and posed a series of questions.

Comments included:

• We still don’t have nearly enough technology-equipped classrooms, i.e., ones with computers and projectors (overhead projectors don’t count).
• There has never been a survey to determine the amount and kind of technology best suited for instructional purposes. We don’t need to invest in installing computers in every classroom on campus, so there needs to be a study done to determine our actual needs.
• UB proudly claims to be a “wired” campus, but there are many badly-designed Web pages that cause some computer operating systems/browsers to crash. This is especially embarrassing when trying to recruit new faculty who can’t access important information.
• Even Web pages that are created to be compatible with most OS/browsers can become problematic if they’re not upgraded periodically to keep pace with technological advances.
• Some system software is frustrating and/or awkward to use. UB has numerous inconsistent procedures due to systems that can’t deal with different departmental requirements.
• The technology nodes are generally revered for providing better and quicker service than central IT does. Node staffers are usually more familiar with department hardware/software, and they’re accountable to decanal units so problems get dealt with promptly.
• Departments try to avoid calling central IT about problems because they take longer and charge “an arm and a leg.”
• Budget projections should be part of the planning process. Computers are essential to our work, but they need to be upgraded or replaced periodically. It’s very expensive to keep equipment reasonably up to date.

Item 7: Old/New business

None

Item 8: Executive Session

There was an executive session

Item 9: Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 4:20 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 (P)
Arts & Sciences: J. Faran (P), R. Hoeing (P), SD Schack (P), D. Street (P), K. Takeuchi (E)
Dental Medicine: M. Donley (P)
Education: L. Malavé (P)
Engineering & Applied Sciences: C. Basaran (P), R. Wetherhold (P)
Informatics: J. Ellison (A)
Law: T. Miller (A)
Management: W. Lin (P)
Medicine & Biomedical Sciences: D. Amsterdam (E), M. Dayton (A), L. Harris (A), J. Hassett (P)
Nursing: P. Wooldridge (P)
Pharmacy: G. Brazeau (A)
Public Health & Health Professions: vacant
Social Work: Barbara Rittner (P)
SUNY Senators: W. Baumer (P), W. Coles (P), H. Durand (P), P. Nickerson (P)
University Libraries: HA Booth (E)
University Officers: J. Simpson, S. Tripathi

Guests: B. Burke (EDAAA), M. Cochrane (Reporter), J. Cusker (Research), L. Labinski (Prof. Staff Senate), J. José (Research), L. Meister (Student Assn.), J. Xu (Grad. Student Assn.)

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