FACULTY SENATE
Minutes of October 14, 2003
(unapproved)

The Faculty Senate (FS) met at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 14, 2003, at the Center for Tomorrow to consider the following agenda:

1. Approval of the minutes of May 6, 2003
2. Report of the Chair
3. Report of the President
4. The Academic State of the University - Provost Capaldi
5. Expedited reading - Resolution on International Education - S. Dunnett
6. Old/New business
7. Adjournment

Item 1: Approval of the minutes of May 6, 2003

The minutes were approved as distributed

Item 2: Report of the Chair

Chair Nickerson's report was distributed with the agenda for this meeting. It included:
· The Faculty Senate Executive Committee (FSEC) has been meeting weekly since early September. Senate committees have been formed and are beginning to function.
· Several FSEC members met with Dr. Steven Beering, head of the Middle States accreditation team, to discuss issues affecting UB in mid-July. Most FSEC members attended a meeting with the entire Middle States team for more discussion on September 30th.
· The UB Council met during the summer and dealt with several topics:
o Student conduct rules now stipulate that any rushing/pledging activities must be approved beforehand.
o Rules now say that students falsifying application information for admission to UB may be subject to suspension, dismissal or other administrative penalties.
o New parking/traffic regulations allow for towing of any illegally parked car with six or more unpaid parking tickets. Also, cars illegally parked in handicapped spaces, the Park Hall clinical lot, the Diefendorf clinic patient lot, or the Early Childhood Center parking area may be towed at the owner's expense. Charges must be paid before the vehicle will be released.
· President Greiner has responded to the FS resolution on open source software; the response has been forwarded to the FS Computer Services Committee for review.
· The SUNY Board of Trustees has passed a resolution on value-added assessment. The resolution was passed without proper input from the University Faculty Senate, so working with the SUNY Provost's Office will be a challenge to faculty governance. A working group is attempting to draft a memorandum of understanding about the matter.
· Representatives from the UB Student Association met with the FSEC recently to discuss topics of mutual interest.
· Larry Labinski, the new chair of the Professional Staff Senate (PSS), has been attending FSEC meetings regularly. Chair Nickerson attended the PSS Executive Committee meeting when committee charges were reviewed.
· Vice President Black has sent out a memo about UB's approach to New York State's sweatshop legislation. UB will:
o modify the bidding processes for state purchase of apparel and sports equipment.
o form a campus advisory committee.
o establish an informational Web site.
o develop an annual report to the campus.
· The Executive Committee of the Graduate School recently decided:
o to re-examine Graduate School policies this year.
o to reconsider the policy regarding outside readers.
· Vice Provost Sullivan met with FSEC and discussed UB's increase in fall enrollment - the highest ever - and the impact that 600 more freshmen than were anticipated has had on campus scheduling, housing, etc.

Item 3: Report of the President

None

Item 4: The Academic State of the University - Provost Elizabeth Capaldi

Provost Capaldi said that this has been a good year to be provost. Several schools - Dental Medicine, Engineering & Applied Sciences, Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, and Architecture & Planning - were successfully accredited, and the recent visit from the Middle States accreditation team went very well, too. They made many favorable comments about UB, and we expect that their final report will be highly positive when it's released next month.

UB added 95 tenure/tenure-track positions during the past year. This was offset by some retirements and resignations, but the net increase has been around 20 tenure/tenure-track faculty. This is on target with the administrative priority of increasing the size of our faculty.

Another successful endeavor has been the re-creation of the Center for Teaching & Learning Resources (CTLR). It has hosted a wide variety of well-attended programs featuring prominent nationally renowned and local presenters.

We had a record freshmen enrollment this fall. They're a diverse group of highly qualified students.

UB has been working to make students' college experience less intimidating. Staying on the correct academic path should appear seamless, and students have generally been complimentary about the advising process. Retention and student satisfaction has been rising.

Faculty have done a good job at getting federal dollars. Federal research funding is up 28 percent over last year. This is very impressive because winning the funding is highly competitive.

Despite New York State's struggling economy, UB is healthy financially. Thanks to efforts by President Greiner and former senior vice president Wagner, UB can keep the tuition money generated here. This has been extremely beneficial for things like hiring new faculty at a time when many universities are having to cut their tenure-track faculty.

Technology transfer is a potentially huge source of unrestricted funds for UB. Our operation is just beginning to break even, but it's growing, and we're able to keep the monies we generate. There's an obligation to the federal government to commercialize any product that comes from federally funded research. Also, UB has been given a lot of money by the state in hope of building an economy in this region.

UB should try to increase the number of faculty and students winning major awards. We haven't even tried for some in the past, but competing for the awards is important, regardless of winning them, because it increases UB's national exposure. Vice Provost Grant has been charged with developing a strategy for increasing UB's involvement in the awards process.

The summer program initiative was very successful. Many programs attracted interest from the campus and local communities, so we plan to expand the number of offerings next year.

We're doing better this year than we did last year, and last year was better than the year before, so we're clearly moving in the right direction.

Item 5: Expedited reading - Faculty Senate Resolution on International Education - Vice Provost Stephen Dunnett and Professor Maureen Jameson

Chair Nickerson explained that the expediting reading - a single action rather than two opportunities for discussion - had been approved by the FSEC so the issue could be dealt with before a SUNY Senate meeting that's scheduled for later this month. The Resolution was drafted by Professor Maureen Jameson with collaboration from Vice Provost Stephen Dunnett and the FS's Student Life Committee.

Vice Provost Dunnett reported that UB's fall enrollment of 3,488 international students is very good. They represent approximately 13 percent of UB's total enrollment. However, it's troubling that we weren't able to enroll 50 other highly qualified, fully-funded students due to restrictive regulations imposed by the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security.

There's now a federal list of "sensitive fields" that are highly scrutinized during the visa application process. Along with many fields from the natural sciences, the list includes such puzzling choices as landscape architecture and physical geography.

UB did better than many schools in enrolling international students because we're aggressively involved in helping students deal with bureaucratic hurdles. We're also an early implementer of the SEVIS computer-tracking system, which required investing in expensive, federally-mandated software.

Many students who once aspired to attend American universities have changed their minds rather than go through the rigorous Homeland Security application process.

International travel has also become more difficult for Americans, because some countries have retaliated by imposing more restrictions on us visiting their countries.

Professor Jameson, who was not able to attend today's meeting, drafted the resolution not as a form of protest against U.S. policies, but as an affirmation of the value that UB places on international education.

UB would be a poorer place if our international student population were to be decreased. They enrich our curriculum, and our domestic students benefit greatly from the opportunity to interact with students from other cultures. As UB's international enrollment has increased, so has the number of domestic students participating in study-abroad programs.

Professor Schack expressed confidence that the faculty would support the resolution and asked if Dr. Dunnett would like to propose any additions or changes. Dr. Dunnett said he is happy with the current resolution.

Professor Wooldridge recommended that faculty get involved in MoveOn.org, an online political action organization that deals with issues such as the topic of today's resolution.

Professor Lichter suggested that the resolution might benefit from more specific advice about implementing the resolution. Dr. Dunnett said he didn't author the resolution but knew that several versions had been drafted. One that had more details was perceived to be onerous, so the current one was submitted.

Chair Nickerson said that the SUNY System is interested in our Resolution because the state's community colleges are experiencing a growth in enrollment from international students. Dr. Dunnett said that a recent conference attended by representatives from all 64 SUNY units provided a good opportunity to share ideas and strategies for attracting and enrolling international students at SUNY schools.

The Faculty Senate Resolution on International Education, which is abstracted below, was passed by a unanimous vote. The entire Resolution can be read online at http://rll.buffalo.edu/rll/INTERNATIONALEDUCATION.pdf

BE IT THEREFORE

RESOLVED that the Faculty Senate reaffirms in the strongest possible terms its commitment to international education and the necessity of protecting international education from the likely consequences of new federal restrictions on international students and scholars; and be it further

RESOLVED that the Faculty Senate urges the President and the Provost to advise the New York State Congressional Delegation that recent federally imposed restrictions on the free exchange of ideas and scholars are ineffective and counterproductive as security measures and that they jeopardize the educational missions of American institutions of higher learning; and be it further

RESOLVED that the Buffalo delegation to the University Faculty Senate present a similar resolution to the University Faculty Senate for its consideration and possible endorsement; and be it further

RESOLVED that UB Faculty Senators forward copies of this resolution, upon its eventual passage, to their own disciplinary organizations for their consideration and possible endorsement.

Item 6: Old/New business

None

Item 7: Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 2:57 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 - S. Bruckenstein (A), J. Buscaglia (P), J. Campbell (A), M. Chen (P), M. Churchill (P), M. Cowen (P), D. Eddins (A), T. Gregg (P), R. Hoeing (P), E. Hull (P), M. Lichter (P), J. Ludwig (P), N. Matthews (P), 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), T. Thurston (A), D. Wackeroth (P), V. Watrous (P), M. Wolderberg (A), R. Woodard (A)
Dental Medicine - P. Bradford (P), M. Donley (A), P. Tempro (A), J. Zambon (A)
Education - K. Bilica (P), J. Hoot (P), X. Liu (P), L. Malave (A)
Engineering & Applied Sciences - A. Bisantz (P), S. Braynov (P), S. Chen (P), J. Jensen (P), R. Mayne (P), R. Nagi (A), A. Reinhorn (A), S. Thevanayagam (A)
Informatics - F. Tutzauer (P)
Institutional General - O. Mixon (A)
Law - I. Marcus (A), R. Reis (A), L. Swartz (P)
Management - J. Boot (A), S. Gunn (P), C. Pegels (P), N. Suresh (P)
Medicine & Biomedical Sciences - D. Amsterdam (E), F. Baddoura (P), M. Brar (P), J. Canty (A), C. Cohan (P), M. Dryjski (E), J. Evans (A), W. Fiden (A), B. Flynn (A), J. Gibbs (A), H. Hameer (P), J. Hassett (P), C. Hershey (A), J. Leddy (A), F. Loghmanee (P), G. Logue (A), F. Morin (A), B. Murray (A), N. Nielsen (A), J. Novak (A), J. Sellick (A), R. Stephan (P)
Nursing - P. McCartney (A), P. Wooldridge (P)
Pharmacy - K. Boje (A), G. Brazeau (P)
Public Health & Health Professions - C. Crespo (E), G. Farkas (A), S. Nochajski (P)
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 (P), J. Hopkins (P), C. Tysick (P)
University Officers - President Greiner, Provost Capaldi

Guests - D. Budniewski (Reporter), B. Del Genio (Academic Affairs)

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