FACULTY SENATE
Minutes of April 6, 2004
(unapproved)

The Faculty Senate (FS) met at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 6, 2004, at the Center for Tomorrow to consider the following agenda:

1. Approval of the minutes of February 3, 2004
2. Report of the Chair
3. Report of the President/Provost
4. Report of the Chair of the Provost Search Committee – A. S. Weber
5. Report of the Vice Provost for Enrollment and Planning – S. Sullivan
6. Report of the Dean of the School of Architecture & Planning – B. Carter
7. Report of the Grading Committee – W. Baumer
8. Old/New business
9. Adjournment

Item 1: Approval of the minutes of February 3, 2004

The minutes were approved after Professor Hopkins noted that Cayman Islands was misspelled Caymen.

Item 2: Report of the Chair

Chair Nickerson’s written report, which was distributed with the agenda, included:
• The Faculty Senate Executive Committee (FSEC), along with the Executive Committee of the Professional Staff Senate, participated in interviewing the three provost search finalists.
• FSEC met with representatives of the College of Arts & Sciences (CAS) Policy Committee. There are a number of issues that we have in common with them; to facilitate communication with the CAS, we are exchanging minutes and agenda.
• President Simpson has begun a process for planning on campus. This process will interface with Mission Review II that is required by SUNY.
• UB Alumni Association Vice President Robert Davies updated FSEC about the Association’s activities and issues. Their Web site has been improved to facilitate a lifetime connection to UB. Mentoring programs and many activities are available to help alumni stay “connected.”
• The Affirmative Action Committee has been discussing mentoring. President Simpson attended their last meeting.
• The Academic Planning Committee is discussing the planning process on campus, especially as it relates to Mission Review II.
• The Teaching & Learning Committee, in collaboration with the Center for Teaching & Learning Resources, presented a program on student perspectives on teaching and learning.
• The Student Life Committee has talked about Greek letter organizations. Vice President Dennis Black met with them and discussed New York State’s meningitis education requirement that must be met before students can register for future classes.

Item 3: Report of the President/Provost

Provost Genco said that faculty involvement will be critical to the success of the forthcoming planning effort that’s being initiated by President Simpson. Everyone is encouraged to participate in the process.

President Simpson commented that the planning process will be important for giving UB an integrated sense of mission. The first steps will require deans and vice presidents to assess their units’ strengths, weaknesses, and aspirations in order to have a sense of where they are now, and then to develop a plan for reaching where they want to be 10 to 15 years from now. His perception is that many departments don’t currently have a realistic sense of their current standing or a vision for what’s ahead.

Questions & comments:
• Since the role of the deans will be so important, has there been any progress on getting a new dean for the School of Public Health and Health Professions? (Farkas)
• We are studying the possibilities for developing a good school of public health. We’re looking at long-range budgetary implications and short-range budgetary needs. Our findings will be presented to the president for further discussion about how to ensure that we’ll have a good school. We’re optimistic that it can be done, and we’re hoping to have a decision by May 1st. (Genco)

Item 4: Report of the Chair of the Provost Search Committee – A. Scott Weber

Professor Weber thanked all faculty members who participated in the Provost search and interviewing processes. Lots of teamwork was required to move things along as fast as they did. The three finalist candidates were each invited to come to UB for two-day interviews in which they met with various key groups and individuals. The Search Committee has since then met and summarized each candidate’s qualities and qualifications in a report that has been given to President Simpson.

Questions & comments:
• Comments were solicited via e-mail after the interviews. Are they still being accepted, or is it too late for further remarks? (Schack)
• I’m on the cusp of making a decision, and I expect to begin conversations with first choice candidate within a week. Until a final offer is made and accepted, however, comments will be welcomed. (Simpson)

Item 5: Report of the Vice Provost for Enrollment & Planning – Sean P. Sullivan

Vice Provost for Enrollment & Planning Sullivan said the guiding principle in classroom scheduling is that we need to maximize use of our classroom space. Our goal is to get class activity scheduled across the times of the day and the days of the week. Although there are many fewer classrooms than there were 25 years ago, UB has always managed to meet the demand.

The policy for scheduling classrooms is that classes needing disability student access get first priority, followed by high-demand freshman courses, and courses meeting distribution guidelines on standard days/times. Non-standard courses and special events are seated last.

We’re over 90% utilization of available classrooms between 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. from Monday to Thursday. Many classrooms are available everyday at 8:00 a.m. as well as in late afternoon and evening. Friday afternoons have a marked drop-off. Although “prime time” is tight, there are plenty of off-peak times available for special events and additional course offerings.

By maximizing utilization, we’ve been able to seat more course sections in the last few years to accommodate growing enrollments. In 2004, we’ve been able to seat 2,614 course sections and utilize 76% of the total time slots available. This is up from 2003 when we seated 2,434 sections at 70% utilization.

We’ve been able to increase the number of technology-equipped classrooms each year so the supply still exceeds the demand. There are now 60 “full tech” classrooms utilized 82% of the time.

Many centrally-scheduled classrooms will become available when the School of Management’s (SOM) new building addition is ready in fall 2005. Over 140 SOM class slots are currently scheduled in the Natural Sciences Complex and Knox Lecture Hall, plus a few each in most other North Campus buildings with classrooms.

Some changes that Enrollment & Planning is considering include requiring deans (instead of the Scheduling Office) to manage scheduling conflicts, relocating some UB101 sections to the Student Union, and using additional university space, e.g. Alumni Arena, Student Union, Center for the Arts, for exam scheduling.

The fall enrollment picture is looking good. UB has had an eight percent increase in freshman applications. We stopped accepting applications after April 1st, which has never happened so early in the past, and many students are wait-listed. The academic quality of our admits continues to increase, and now the average SAT score for our incoming freshmen is 1202. Community college transfer applications have been robust, and the outlook for international student enrollment is looking much better than it did at the beginning of the year. The overall enrollment situation looks very healthy.

Questions & comments:
• Some Management courses are delivered to over 1,000 students – some in the same classroom as the instructors and others via streaming video. How can we give exams to this many students? (Gunn)
• That type of class is a relatively unique situation, but our scheduling staff will be glad to meet and discuss potential solutions. Our final examination period is scheduled very tightly, but we try to meet everyone’s time and space needs. (Sullivan)
• I’d like to have 200 students take an open-book final exam, but that requires extra space to spread out materials to consult. Can that be accommodated? (Gunn)
• The Facilities staff has been converting an increasing number of classrooms from chairs-with-tablet-arms to tabletop seating. (Sullivan)
• Maximizing our classroom utilization has been stretched too far, and this causes the same ill effects as housing shortages – hoarding and lack of innovation. It’s embarrassing when we can’t invite a renowned speaker to give a presentation because there’s no room available at a reasonable time. We should make increasing the number of classrooms a priority. (Schack)
• The three-hour exam periods should be reconsidered, because many instructors don’t require or use that much time. If some of those were changed to two-hour periods, it would allow more flexibility in scheduling. (Schack)
• The three-hour timeslots are a matter of policy. Enrollment & Planning could incorporate shorter exam periods if policy allowed. We’re currently only scheduling exams for around 40% of the courses offered. (Sullivan)
• History faculty don’t need more technology classrooms; we would much prefer to have more seminar rooms available where 20 or so people can sit around a table and discuss. (McDevitt)
• There are no plans to build any new classrooms, but perhaps some of the space that will be freed up when the Management building addition is completed could be changed to accommodate seminars. (Sullivan)
• The technology classrooms are very useful, but the large screens in some of the rooms in Knox Hall preclude using other media such as overhead projectors or the chalkboard. A medium-size screen would be more practical. (Gunn)
• I’ll pass your suggestion along to CIO Innus. (Sullivan)

Item 6: Report of the Dean of the School of Architecture & Planning – Brian Carter

Dean Carter became dean of the School of Architecture & Planning (A&P) around a year ago. He said he was attracted to the area because Buffalo is a great city with outstanding architecture, very good buildings, and a useful and amenable city plan. Also, A&P has been doing very interesting and important research. The School is located on the South Campus in Hayes and Crosby Halls, two very distinguished campus buildings.

A&P is the only architecture school in the SUNY system. Around 636 undergraduate and graduate students are enrolled in the Architecture & Planning programs, both of which were recently reaccredited for the maximum period of time. A&P has summer studios in Cuba, Costa Rica, and Spain, and study-abroad programs in Denmark, Germany, and Belgium.

Four research centers are part of A&P: the Urban Design Project, the Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDEA), the Center for Virtual Architecture, and the Center for Urban studies. Each of the centers and the School as a whole have a significant international reputation. The faculty and students are also very involved locally through their research in the community, city, and region.

Design is an everyday activity that can lift the spirit. Environments should be beautiful and livable so people will notice the spaces they’re in and think about what they mean. Design should be a topic in UB’s long-term planning discussions because beautiful environments make people want to study and work here.

Questions & comments:
• It’s unfortunate that none of the eateries on the North Campus face the lake. Has any thought been given to taking advantage of that beautiful view? (Monteiro)
• The lake and other amenities should be factored in to the overall design of the campus. (Carter)
• The lake view has been discussed in the context of the Lee Road expansion project, so maybe there will be opportunities to capitalize on the view then. Several years ago the lake was the site of a fascinating floating art project. (Adams-Volpe)
• As with Architecture, UB has the only Civil Engineering program in the SUNY system. It seems like they would have much else in common, too, but they’ve had very little to do with each other. Perhaps they should get together and discuss ways they might collaborate. (Chen)
• Cross-disciplinary collaborations are good and should be explored. A&P is already working with some other Engineering & Applied Sciences departments, as well as the Medical and Dental schools. (Carter)

Item 7: Report of the Grading Committee – William H. Baumer

Professor Baumer, chair of the Grading Committee, provided an update on several items that the group has been discussing but isn’t ready to present resolutions on yet. One is the different procedures for undergraduates and graduate students that are now in effect regarding academic integrity and student-faculty grievances. The Committee wants to make them as parallel as possible.

A second item pertains to urgent situations warranting swift removal of a student from class. The Committee plans to make a recommendation, although the UB Council will make the final decision because they establish the Rules of Conduct that govern student behavior.

The third item is their review of the revised Grade Change Form.

Fourth are the different time requirements for undergraduates and graduate students to finish coursework that was originally graded as Incomplete. Undergraduates now get 15 months to complete the work while graduate students are allowed 12. The Committee is likely to recommend that the same length of time should apply to both. A related issue concerns the interpretation of when is a student failing a course, since the current rule says Incompletes may not be given if a student is failing a course.

Questions & comments:
• Faculty have the right to evaluate their students’ work. The decision about whether a student is passing or failing a course is left to the instructor. A faculty member likewise is the only person who can decide whether to change a grade. (Grant)
• The School of Architecture & Planning has been using a boilerplate form for course syllabi. Has the Grading Committee considered having a standard format for syllabi that could be used campus-wide? (Ott)
• Specifications for what information needs to be in syllabi are covered in the Faculty Handbook. Perhaps that information will be expanded after the Grading Committee concludes their deliberations on the topics just mentioned. (Baumer)

Item 8: Old/New business

None

Item 9: Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 3:35 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 (A), M. Churchill (P), D. Eddins (P), T. Gregg (A), R. Hoeing (A), E. Hull (A), M. Lichter (A), J. Ludwig (P), N. Matthews (A), P. McDevitt (P), J. Mendoza (P), A. Monteiro (P), J. Pappas (A), A. Petrou (A), R. Salvi (A), 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 (E), M. Donley (E), J. Zambon (A)
Education – K. Bilica (P), J. Hoot (A), X. Liu (A), L. Malave (A)
Engineering & Applied Sciences – A. Bisantz (P), S. Braynov (P), S. Chen (P), J. Jensen (P), R. Mayne (P), R. Nagi (P), A. Reinhorn (P), S. Thevanayagam (P)
Informatics – J. Hong (P)
Institutional General – O. Mixon (P)
Law – R. Reis (A), L. Swartz (P), D. Westbrook (A)
Management – J. Boot (A), S. Gunn (P), C. Pegels (P), N. Suresh (A)
Medicine & Biomedical Sciences – D. Amsterdam (E), F. Baddoura (P), J. Canty (A), C. Cohan (P), M. Dryjski (P), J. Evans (A), W. Fiden (A), B. Flynn (A), J. Gibbs (A), H. Hameer (P), J. Hassett (A), C. Hershey (A), J. Leddy (A), F. Loghmanee (A), G. Logue (A), F. Morin (A), B. Murray (P), N. Nielsen (A), J. Novak (A), J. Sellick (A), R. Stephan (P), J. Yeh (A)
Nursing – P. McCartney (A), P. Wooldridge (P)
Pharmacy – K. Boje (A), G. Brazeau (E)
Public Health & Health Professions – C. Crespo (A), G. Farkas (P), S. Nochajski (E)
Social Work – S. Green (A), B. Rittner (A)
SUNY Senators – J. Adams-Volpe (P), W. Baumer (P), M. Kramer (P), P. Nickerson (P)
University Libraries – S. Bartl (P), CA Fabian (A), J. Hopkins (P), C. Tysick (A)

Guests – D. Budniewski (Reporter), B. Carter (Architecture & Planning), B. Del Genio (Academic Affairs), J. Fusco (Spectrum), C. Grant (Academic Affairs), L. Labinski (Prof. Staff Senate), S. Sullivan (Enrollment & Planning), AS Weber (Provost Search Cmte.)

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