Minutes of February 15, 2006
(unapproved)
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The Faculty Senate Executive Committee (FSEC) met at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 15, 2006, in 567 Capen Hall to consider the following agenda:
- Approval of the minutes of January 25, 2006
- Report of the Chair
- Report of the President/Provost
- Undergraduate Admissions - M. Ryan
- Graduate School update - B. McCombe, M. Thompson
- Old/New business
- Adjournment
Item 1: Approval of the minutes of January 25, 2006
The minutes were approved as distributed.
Item 2: Report of the Chair
Chair Nickerson reported:
- SUNY Assistant Provost Patricia Francis was at UB yesterday to conduct training for GEAR (General Education Assessment Review).
- The Academic Bill of Rights is an issue that has been discussed by most SUNY governing bodies. We'll try to arrange an education session for the FSEC.
- The FSEC will need to discuss a charge and expanded membership (including a new chair) for the FS Facilities Planning Committee.
Item 3: Report of the President/Provost
Provost Tripathi commended Chair Nickerson for the informative interview about faculty governance that appeared in the February 9th issue of The Reporter.
The Provost then solicited comments regarding the University Club, which has been meeting most weeks when classes have been in session for the past six months. Although attendance has ranged from 15 to 50 most weeks, preference was expressed for a faculty lunchroom that would serve mid-day meals. Most people usually eat lunch, whereas many have schedule conflicts when an event is held for just a few hours once a week.
Item 4: Undergraduate Admissions - M. Ryan
Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education Michael Ryan introduced Associate Director of Admissions Barbara Rooney, who presented an overview of the undergraduate admissions process. Every in-state application received at UB is reviewed individually by admissions counselors who are familiar with the high schools in an assigned region. Schools have a wide variety of grading systems, so grade point averages get converted so students can be evaluated fairly. Their T-scores are based on a sliding scale that calculates SAT scores and high school averages.
Students may use the standard SUNY application, but they are encouraged to submit the supplemental application, which includes an essay that can influence admissions decisions.
Individualized admission cases are those students whose T-scores fall within a range that is slightly below the designated acceptance level. Admissions counselors review those applications in light of academics, background characteristics, special talents, personal achievements, leadership, and the essay. If two counselors agree that the student has potential to succeed at UB, admission acceptance is granted.
There are SUNY guidelines pertaining to selectivity and class size. UB has been able to be more selective in recent year, because more students with higher SAT scores have been applying. We've also increased our international enrollment to 6.7% during the past year.
UB uses wait lists as a hedge against over-enrollment. Still, there are many students who come to UB hoping to get into selective programs such as Pharmacy, even when they haven't been officially accepted into the program. Those students are only admitted to UB's regular offerings, but they often take pharmacy-required courses and thus create some very large classes in crowded classrooms.
Professor Judy Adams-Volpe, chair of the FS Committee on Admissions & Retention, asked whether the committee should focus their attention on graduation rates, grade point averages, success of getting into majors, or something else? Chair Nickerson said that FSEC will have to discuss that further with Vice Provost Ryan before targeting a specific area of concern.
Item 5: Graduate School update - B. McCombe, M. Thompson
Graduate School Dean Bruce McCombe and Executive Director Mick Thompson discussed recent and forthcoming activities in the Graduate School. They are hoping to increase the number of their current staff of six professionals and 2.5 clerical staff who processed 140 doctoral degrees and 445 Master's degrees in 2005. Graduate admissions and recruitment are now handled by the Graduate School.
Their major endeavor has been planning for periodic, comprehensive program reviews. These will be done regularly and uniformly. Professional schools aren't currently part of the comprehensive review process.
A committee was established last fall to make recommendations for setting up an office of post-doctoral affairs. Their report is expected soon.
A comprehensive system for compiling graduate student data has been implemented. Reliable information wasn't available, so now it's being collected for external reporting and our own analysis.
Although we were able to increase GA stipends last year, a larger amount is desirable so we can be more competitive at recruiting high quality graduate students. Fellowship initiatives have also been proposed to enhance our recruitment potential.
The National Research Council will be doing an assessment of UB this year, so we'll be busy gathering information for that. Faculty will receive individual questionnaires as part of that process.
Item 6: Old/New business
None
Item 7: Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 4:05 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Will Hepfer
Secretary of the Faculty Senate
ATTENDANCE (P = present; A = absent; E = excused)
Chair: 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 (P)
Dental Medicine: M. Donley (A)
Education: L. Malavé (P)
Engineering & Applied Sciences: C. Basaran (P), P. Alexandridis (A)
Informatics: J. Ellison (P)
Law: T. Miller (A)
Management: W. Lin (P)
Medicine & Biomedical Sciences: D. Amsterdam (P), M. Dayton (P), L. Harris (A), J. Hassett (P)
Nursing: P. Wooldridge (P)
Pharmacy: G. Brazeau (P)
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 (P)
University officers: Provost Tripathi
Guests: J. Adams-Volpe (Adm. & Ret. Cmte.), K. Bissonette (Student Affairs), M. Cochrane (Reporter), L. Meister (Undergrad. SA), B. Rooney (Admissions), M. Ryan (VPUE), J. Xu (Grad. SA)
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