The Faculty Senate met at 2:00 PM on Tuesday, November 6, 2007 at the Center for Tomorrow to discuss the following agenda:
Item 1: Approval of the minutes of December 4, 2007 .
The minutes of December 4, 2007 were unanimously approved.
Item 2: Report of the Chair
• The Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs conducted two meetings over the semester break to review nominations for Distinguished rank as well as Chancellor's Awards; the Committee's recommendations have been forwarded to the Provost and we will find out the results in good time.
• Prof. Marilyn Morris circulated the revised Policies on Post-Doc scholars for us to review: Prof. Baumer noted that the exclusion as advisors to grievance parties of attorneys functioning as members of the bar could prove to be problematic. In the process of approving the Academic Integrity and Academic Grievance Policies and Procedures, UB Faculty Senators representing the School of Law objected to any such exclusion on the grounds that an attorney at law cannot be viewed as NOT acting as member of the bar, and this was deleted from the policies.—I should point out that the Graduate School would also like this exclusion.
• The Graduate School Executive Committee met on DEC 13; among the items discussed---
• Prof. Marilyn Morris discussed the draft policy for post-doctoral scholars also at this meeting.
• Prof. Mick Thompson reported that the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools (NAGS)—our regional affiliate of the Council of Graduate Schools—announced its sponsorship of 3 award programs designed to recognize outstanding faculty performance in a/ teaching master's students b/ teaching doctoral students, and c/ mentoring grad students.
• He also reported that the Council of Graduate Schools has embarked on a new project designed to publicly highlight how graduate level education and training in the U.S. contributes to the public good and welfare of the States, the nation, and the world as whole. CGS is developing a publication to this effect to be shared with Congress, Dept. of Education, and other relevant parties.
The GSEC met again on January 24, 2008 , to discuss an online training course on “Responsible Conduct of Research Options,” to become mandatory for all Ph.D. candidates, and later possibly for all graduate students.
• SUNY announced JAN 14 the Search Committee for the new chancellor to replace Interim Chancellor John Clark. The committee includes, among others,
• President John Simpson and Muriel Howard
• Vishakha Desai (Pres. & CEO of the Asia Society—a global education organization dedicated to deepening connections between peoples of Asia and the U.S. ),
• Carl Hayden (Chair of the SUNY Board of trustees), H. Carl McCall, former NYS Comptroller,
• Carl Wiezalis (Pres. Of the Univ. FS), and
• Paul Tagliabue (former commissioner of the NFL)
• Interim Chancellor Clark has formed a “Chancellor's History of SUNY” committee of faculty, administrators and archivists to celebrate SUNY's 60 th anniversary. They wanted one person per campus to function as prime contact between the Committee and campus. I asked Prof. Baumer to serve
• The search for new Dean for the School of Management continues; the Position Profile has been drafted and edited, and Chair Harvey Stenger was slated to talk to the SOM faculty at its meeting on January 25 th .
• The Facilities Planning Committee has recently been charged and is soon to be re-activated. As you may know, Prof. Joseph Zambon stepped down as Chair last Spring. Prof. Robert Wetherhold (Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering) has agreed to serve as new chair, at least on an interim basis.
• The Budget Priorities Committee met last week (January 28). VP James Willis and Associate VP Sean Sullivan discusses a/ the major recommendations of the Commission for Higher Education and their implications for UB b/ the Executive Budget Summary for 2008-2009, in particular, the highlights of State operations and Aid to Localities c/ the Educational Facilities Capital Program Highlights in the new 5-year capital program d/ a new analytic tool with which to coordinate projections of UB 2020 population growth with UB 2020 space needs per unit and by campus.
• I am happy to announce that the search for the Director of the Teaching & Learning Center is well under way; the internal posting for the position has been completed and external posting will follow shortly, with advertisements in the Chronicle of Higher Education and other media, print as well as electronic.
• A new award, the Presidential Award for Faculty Excellence, is now available to honor a faculty that has the most distinguished record in all 4 suits, teaching, mentorship, research, public service. The award comes with a $5000 stipend. Nominations are due March 17, 2008 .
Item 3: Academic State of the University – Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Satish K. Tripathi
Satish Tripathi focused on UB as “a flagship institution,” a designation inspired from Governor Eliot Spitzer's State of the State address. On 9 January 2008 , Governor Spitzer cited UB as “a flagship institution for a world class public university system,” a recognition that resulted, Tripathi said, from the university's unswerving commitment to academic excellence over a long period of time. The Provost noted that UB “took its place among the nation's finest research universities, public and private” when it was elected to the Association of American Universities in 1989 and that it is “becoming the #1 choice for the most academically ambitious and accomplished undergraduate, graduate, professional, and doctoral students.” “UB faculty,” he added, “are nationally and internationally recognized as defining leaders in their respective disciplinary fields.”
The Provost stated that UB's culture of academic excellence is manifested in many ways:
1/ The impact students have on their professional fields
2/ The impact of faculty scholarship on defining new or re-defining existing fields
3/ The impact of our research scholarship, creative activities, and teaching on enhancing quality of life
He pointed out that this past year, 9 UB professors were recognized as SUNY Distinguished Professors for their national and international prominence and for their distinguished reputation within their academic fields (more than any previous year or at any SUNY campus) while 16 UB faculty received the Chancellor's Award for Excellence. In addition, UB's faculty ranks are increasing. Tripathi reported UB has hired 270 new faculty members since 2004. He said that a variety of resources are in place to support these new hires, including converting senior faculty lines into multiple lines for new faculty hires, as well as state sources as the Empire Innovation Program from which UB received $1.6 million in 2007. The University has also been supporting and nurturing faculty who have interest in university academic leadership.
The Provost spoke to the University's intellectual diversity evident in 1/ the academic composition of UB 2/ the range of academic programs offered 3/ our classrooms populated with students from across the world with divergent social, political and cultural experiences 4/ Distinguished Speakers Series, our lecture series, etc. 5/ groundbreaking faculty research and provocative creative activities: e.g. Development of cures for the most pernicious human diseases.
Provost Tripathi then spoke to the Interdisciplinary Strength and Paradigm through which research is conducted at UB. Among the research funds received by UB in 2007 was a prestigious $3.1 million grant from the NSF's Integrative Graduate Education Research and Traineeship program (IGERT) that will support local ecosystem restoration of the Great Lakes in WNY through an interdisciplinary doctoral program. Tripathi reported that there has been an upward trend in the university's research expenditures, which increased from $226.959 million in the 2002 fiscal year to $323.422 million in the 2007 fiscal year citing UB's report to the National Science Foundation (NSF) as part of its annual Survey of Research and Development Expenditures at Universities and Colleges. He highlighted that this is a tribute to the faculty and their success at applying for grants at a time when the climate for research funding is not good.
The Provost moved on to talk about the undergraduate students and UB's responsibility in providing them with a transformative experience. He added that the mean SAT score of the incoming freshman class in Fall 2007 was 1193, and that was a 60-point increase compared to the mean SAT of freshmen entering UB a decade earlier. The mean SAT scores jumped to 1375 among incoming students participating in the University Honors College , he added, of which about 33 percent were also a high school valedictorian or salutatorian. Tripathi noted that about 10 percent of this year's incoming freshman class are participating in one of UB's two Undergraduate Academies, programs that were launched in August 2007 to enhance the undergraduate experience at UB through increased interactions with faculty, fieldtrips to museums, participation in the Distinguished Speakers Series, etc. The number of Academies is going to increase to 3 with the development of a Global Perspective Academy for 2008/2009. The Provost added that “upon graduation, our students have truly gained a world perspective, have pushed their own intellectual boundaries, and have embraced the value of enlightened and active citizenship.”
The Provost noted the International Reach of the University with UB ranking 13 th in terms of percentage of international student enrollment for US colleges and Universities. This ranking, he said, “is a real tribute to UB's international reputation and prominence.”
The Provost then highlighted UB's efforts to establish a campus in downtown Buffalo and focus on community outreach, “bringing the social, educational, and medical benefits to our broader regional community.” The university is working to relocate the Regional Institute, the pre-K through 16 initiatives, and the Center on Rehabilitation Synergy to the former M. Wile Co. Building which UB purchased in September at Goodell and Ellicott streets. He said it also recently celebrated the opening of the Ira G. Ross Eye Institute at 1176 Main St. next to the Olmstead Center for the Visually Impaired on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.
“As UB extends its research into the community,” he said, “we as a university community contribute exponentially to the lives and the well-being of members of our community. The positive external recognition which UB has received of late—whether from the governor's office, our UB Believers or our alumni business and industry partners—validates our belief that the University at Buffalo is a flagship university.” This has only been possible, he concluded, thanks to the community of scholars that have pursued a culture of excellence at UB.
During the question-and-answer session following the speech, Claude Welch mentioned Stonybrook's decision to purchase the Touro Law School and asked how that might affect UB. Tripathi said that Binghampton University too is thinking of opening a new Law School so the competition is growing. The Provost noted that Stonybrook is planning to merge an existing private Law School that is not ranked as highly and that UB needs to remain focused on the vision and plans for UB2020 to make sure that our campuses are world-class campuses. Robert Hoeing asked about the percentage of faculty that are retained here when they come up for promotion. Tripathi said that on average, over the last 3 years, 4 to 5 cases that come up out of 30 cases don't get promoted. With respect to the issue of retention, the Provost noted that the University is able to retain 75 to 80% and like all great institutions, UB gets raided. In response to a question about increase of faculty, Tripathi explained that faculty increase has been funded in a variety of ways: through programs through SUNY Central, high needs programs, Empire Innovations Program which resulted in $3 million over 3 years, taxing each unit 2%, as well as faculty retirements. Stephen Dyson, Park Professor of Classics in the College of Arts and Sciences, voiced concern that UB's strong emphasis on scientific and medical research may be resulting in the humanities being overlooked. Tripathi responded that although “it is not advertised as well,” UB plans to hire many new faculty members in the humanities over the next few years as part of its plan to grow by 40 percent between now and the year 2020; the English Department is a case in point. He insisted that “I would say that the humanities have great support at the decanal level, as well as the provost and presidential level.” Rakesh Nagi, professor and chair of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, pointed out that, despite the university's many upward trends recently, poor external perception seems to prevent UB from reaching the upper echelons in many national rankings. Tripathi agreed that “the perception outside is not as good as we are.” One of the ways to rectify this, he noted, is showing that we value scholarship, “if we show that the excellence is what we really care about, then we're working in the right direction.” “People have long memories,” Tripathi said. “I don't think there's a magic length of time for changing perception, but… it can change.” Robert Hoeing asked what areas Tripathi felt would need improvements in the next few years. The Provost mentioned the Academic Support Units, the infrastructure, the learning environment, not the faculty.
Item 4. Old/New Business
None.
Item 5. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 3:58 PM .
Respectfully submitted,
Carine Mardorossian, Secretary of the Faculty Senate
Attendance