FACULTY SENATE
Minutes of February 3, 2004
(unapproved)

The Faculty Senate (FS) met at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 3, 2004, at the Center for Tomorrow to consider the following agenda:

1. Approval of the minutes of November 4 and December 2, 2004
2. Report of the Chair
3. Report of the Provost
4. Second reading – University Faculty Senate Resolution – W. Baumer
5. Interaction of the Faculty Senate with Professor John B. Simpson
6. Report of the SUNY Senate meeting at Oneonta
7. Old/New business
8. Adjournment

Item 1: Approval of the minutes of November 4 and December 2, 2003

Professor Hopkins noted an error on page 5 of the December 2nd minutes: “Public schools will usually rank higher in rankings…” should be “Private schools will usually rank higher in rankings…” A motion was made and seconded to accept the corrected minutes.

Item 2: Report of the Chair

Chair Nickerson’s written report, which was distributed with the agenda, included:
• The Faculty Senate Executive Committee (FSEC) presented Provost Capaldi a resolution of appreciation on behalf of the FS.
• FSEC heard a report from a dispute resolution committee. Both parties believe that the dispute was resolved successfully.
• A meeting with Professor Simpson and Provost Capaldi covered interacting with the faculty and other topics. Dr. Simpson would like to meet with some of the FS committees.
• FSEC and the Professional Staff Senate co-sponsored a reception for Professor Simpson on January 27th at the Center for Tomorrow.
• There were no side arm displays or discharges by Public Safety officers during 2001, according to a report provided in accordance with a resolution stipulating that firearm statistics are to be distributed to chairs of campus governance bodies.
• Professor Greiner sent a note expressing his appreciation for the FS resolution that was presented at our December meeting.
• Professor A. Scott Weber, chair of the Provost Search Committee, met with FSEC to hear our views on issues to be faced by the next provost.
• The Teaching & Learning Committee, along with the Center for Teaching & Learning Resources, will present a workshop, “Student Perspectives in Teaching & Learning,” on February 13th. The Committee also discussed who to invite to begin the speaker series that has been endowed by Professor J. Ronald Gentile; the initial event is scheduled for September 10th.
• The Grading Committee has been working on policies dealing with academic integrity and grievance procedures for undergraduate and graduate students.
• The Information & Library Resources Committee met with Associate Vice President Barbara von Wahlde to hear updates on library matters.
• The Academic Planning Committee has been meeting to discuss MOU2.

Chair Nickerson called for a report from the FS Elections Committee. Professor Hepfer, chair of that committee, said that the November call for FS secretary nominations resulted in two nominations and two declinations. A second call was sent out by e-mail yesterday.

There was a December call for nominations for a SUNY senator from the non-Health Sciences. Three faculty nominations were declined by the nominees, and one professional staff nomination for Dr. H. William Coles III was accepted. It was moved and seconded that the FS Secretary should cast one vote for Dr. Coles. The Professional Staff Senate will also vote to have a single vote cast to finalize the election.

Item 3: Report of the Provost

None.

Item 4: Second reading: University Faculty Senate Resolution on University-wide campus-based assessment -- W. Baumer

The Resolution that was introduced at the December FS meeting states:

Be it resolved that the faculty of SUNY supports the following four-part proposal to initiate further dialogue about campus academic assessment:
1. The establishment of an assessment framework for determining the level of achievement and/or the increment of growth in learning achieved by SUNY undergraduates in the building blocks of general education.

In addition to those measures already in place in campus plans, this framework should include “externally referenced measures” of the campus’s choice – either nationally or SUNY-normed. For campuses choosing a value-added approach, this framework should consist of a set of instruments administered at two points in time: close to the student’s entry to the institution and at some later date when the student has completed this learning.

2. A survey instrument that will provide for an understanding of the indicators that reflect the campus academic environment.

3. An analysis of the relationship between academic assessment results and these environmental influences.

4. An indication of how individual campus plans will be folded into the GEAR approval process, including the specific criteria that GEAR will use in approving them.

The motion passed without further discussion.

Item 5: Interaction of the Faculty Senate with Professor John B. Simpson

Dr. Simpson said he is happy to be in Buffalo where he’s found people to be gracious and welcoming to a newcomer. At UB he thinks of himself as a member of the faculty first and foremost. He wants to work at a public research university that is known for scholarship and contributions to the community. It’s an honor that UB is a member of the American Association of Universities, which is a measure of distinction, quality, and breadth of achievement.

Public universities have a responsibility to create, disseminate, and apply knowledge, but they also need to expand their role in their communities. It’s important for UB to contribute to Buffalo and the surrounding area. Public service should take a larger role in the activities of the university.

UB is fortunate that it can count on stable financial support from the state this year. Most other states are forcing higher education institutions to cut their budgets, so Dr. Simpson feels fortunate being able to spend the first year of his presidency not having to deal with budget shortages. However, there is a national trend for decreasing state support, and we can’t hope to see that trend reversed soon. We’ll need to expand the base of support that we have.

Good leadership will be important for enabling UB to do the things that it’s responsible for, as well as striving to achieve its aspirations and goals. The university will need to be run as efficiently as possible and for less money, because that’s simply the way to do business, regardless of whether or not there is stable state support.

The search for a new provost is already underway. We hope to have a person hired for that position by this summer. Professor Robert Genco will serve as acting provost until the new appointment is made.

Questions and comments:
• Sunday’s Buffalo News had a front-page article about UB’s not doing as well as many peer institutions at getting sponsored research funding. Do you have any comments? (Morin)
• It’s hard to argue with the data, but this is only one aspect of what goes on at the university. The statistics are about history, and we can benefit from that experience. But we need to more concerned about the future. There are a lot of good things happening here: instructional programs, research in areas not sponsored by the federal government, public service, and public outreach. We’ll be working to make UB more supportive and conducive to conducting sponsored research. (Simpson)
• What are the plans for searching for a dean of the School of Public Health & Health Professions? The search that was in progress has been suspended. (Farkas)
• There are some critical understandings and planning issues – notions about how the school is going to go forward and how it’s going to be funded. Having a school of public health and health professions is a tremendous value to the university, so the search has been put on hiatus – not called off – until the issues are addressed. It’s not necessarily on hold until a new provost is hired, although it may work out that way. (Simpson)
• It’s good to hear about a goal for greater efficiency, because we need to improve the outdated system for managing grants. It’s old-fashioned, inaccurate, and little better than pencil and paper. A separate comment is about the appearance of UB’s buildings and grounds. They’re not clean and well-cared for, compared to Buffalo State College’s campus. We don’t present ourselves very well. (Salvi)
• I’ll take both comments to heart, find out what the problems are, and try to fix them. (Simpson)
• If excellence is to be our goal, will there be incentives to reach that goal? (Schack)
• The budget is just a tool that we can use to support our agenda. We’ll need to assess our priorities and decide what goals we want to support most, and then allocate resources accordingly. We’ll also need to align the faculty rewards system with our agenda – decide what’s most important and then reward those who attain it with appropriate salaries and promotions. (Simpson)
• UB is a research university, but we’re also here to teach. Where does teaching fit into our overall goals? (McDevitt)
• Teaching at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, research, and public service are all important for faculty to be successful, but excellence in teaching is critical. Faculty members need to be dedicated teachers and scholars in their fields, or they should not be given tenure at this institution. (Simpson)
• Besides greater efficiencies, do you foresee any paradigm changes in the way this university will operate? (Nagi)
• I’m already aware that lots of paper is consumed and lots of paperwork is required to get things done at this institution. We’re going to look at ways of moving toward becoming a “paperless” campus. Changes can be incremental or drastic, and we’re going to look at many different approaches to reaching our goals. (Simpson)
• You comments on becoming “paperless” are interesting. What are your thoughts on alternatives to publishing – such as creating Web pages, for example – for promotion and tenure? (Hopkins)
• The primary judgment about scholarly contributions comes from one’s disciplinary peers. If their opinion is that one’s product represents genuine scholarship, then it should be regarded as a legitimate contribution worthy of appropriate academic recognition. (Simpson)
• Do you have any comment about the recent arrest of Professor Gerald Goldhaber and two students on drug charges in the Cayman Islands? (Fusco)
• The only information available so far has been what’s been reported in the local media. The university has not yet received official documentation about the allegations. In general, there are clear policies and procedures that will govern whether or how the university will discipline the professor and the students involved. I and others will decide whether or not there are issues to be pursued through the appropriate student and faculty processes. At this point, we’re not there yet. (Simpson)

Item 6: Report of the SUNY Senate meeting at Oneonta, NY

The report was postponed.

Item 7: Old/New business

None

Item 8: Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 3:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Will Hepfer
Secretary of the Faculty Senate

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

Chair – P. Nickerson
Secretary – W. Hepfer
Parliamentarian – W. Baumer
Architecture & Planning – B. Ott (P)
Arts & Sciences – C. Bloom (P), S. Bruckenstein (A), S. Bennett (P), J. Buscaglia (A), J. Campbell (P), M. Chen (P), M. Churchill (P), D. Eddins (A), T. Gregg (P), R. Hoeing (E), E. Hull (P), M. Lichter (A), J. Ludwig (P), N. Matthews (A), P. McDevitt (P), J. Mendoza (P), A. Monteiro (A), J. Pappas (A), A. Petrou (A), R. Salvi (P), S. Schack (P), C. Smith (A), K. Takeuchi (P), J-C Thill (A), T. Thurston (A), D. Wackeroth (P), V. Watrous (A), C. Welch (P), R. Woodard (A)
Dental Medicine – P. Bradford (P), M. Donley (A), J. Zambon (P)
Education – K. Bilica (P), J. Hoot (P), X. Liu (P), L. Malave (A)
Engineering & Applied Sciences – A. Bisantz (A), S. Braynov (A), S. Chen (A), J. Jensen (A), R. Mayne (A), R. Nagi (P), A. Reinhorn (A), S. Thevanayagam (P)
Informatics – J. Hong (P)
Institutional General – O. Mixon (A)
Law – R. Reis (A), L. Swartz (P), D. Westbrook (A)
Management – J. Boot (A), S. Gunn (P), C. Pegels (E), N. Suresh (P)
Medicine & Biomedical Sciences – D. Amsterdam (P), F. Baddoura (A), J. Canty (A), C. Cohan (P), M. Dryjski (P), J. Evans (A), W. Fiden (A), B. Flynn (A), J. Gibbs (P), H. Hameer (P), J. Hassett (A), C. Hershey (P), J. Leddy (A), F. Loghmanee (A), G. Logue (A), F. Morin (P), B. Murray (A), N. Nielsen (A), J. Novak (A), J. Sellick (P), R. Stephan (A), J. Yeh (A)
Nursing – P. McCartney (A), P. Wooldridge (A)
Pharmacy – K. Boje (A), G. Brazeau (P)
Public Health & Health Professions – C. Crespo (A), G. Farkas (P), S. Nochajski (P)
Social Work – S. Green (P), B. Rittner (A)
SUNY Senators – J. Adams-Volpe (A), W. Baumer (P), M. Kramer (P), P. Nickerson (P)
University Libraries – S. Bartl (P), CA Fabian (P), J. Hopkins (P), C. Tysick (A)

Guests – D. Budniewski (Reporter), J. Fusco (Spectrum), L. Labinski (Prof. Staff Senate),

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