FACULTY SENATE

Minutes of November 7, 2006
(unapproved)

The Faculty Senate met in the Center for Tomorrow at 2:00 PM on November 7, 2006, to consider the following agenda:

1. Approval of the Minutes of May 2, 2006
2. Report on the School of Social Work
   Professor Nancy Smyth, Dean
3. Report of the Chair
4. Discussion on Alumni Relations
   Graham Stewart, Associate Vice-President for Alumni Relations
5. Update on the 2006 NRC Assessment of Research and Doctorate Programs
   Professor John Ho, Interim Dean of the Graduate School
6. Report on the SUNY Senate meeting in Buffalo, NY
   Professor William H. Baumer
7. Old/New Business
8. Adjournment

Item 1: Approval of the Minutes of May 2, 2006

The Minutes of May 2, 2006 were approved.

Item 2: Report on the School of Social Work

Dean Smyth delivered a presentation on the School of Social Work, explaining first that social work has its origins in two traditions: Charity Organization Societies (of which Buffalo had the first in 1877) and the Settlement House Movement (Hull House, 1889); the former was to evolve into psychiatric social work, the latter into community organization and social policy planning. Its current settings include health, schools, public welfare, criminal justice administration, policy analysis and planning, private practice, and mental health services --- of which social workers are the major providers in the country. It thus has a unique focus on peoples' problems in the context of a social environment.

Although originally a service profession concerned with applications of knowledge, it has now evolved to integrate research at the Master's level, and as the major focus for a doctorate. Dean Smyth pointed out that the Master's in Social Work (MSW) is a licensable degree in most states, overseen by accreditation institutions. At UB's School of Social Work, only a handful of courses are electives, all others are required. She added that there is a shortage in advanced degree programs, mainly because the profession does not pay comparatively well. Nevertheless, there is increased recognition for the role of social work research: not only is there a gap between research and practice for health, social, and behavioral problems, but also a need for research that is community-based which addresses diverse populations and which focuses on the social and environmental context for problems and services. This recognition has resulted in NIH initiatives to fund social work research and research centers, as well as services and evaluation research initiatives from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) emphasizing contextual factors that affect the outcome of chronic diseases.

The UB School of Social Work has 520 graduate students, 88% of whom are female and 21% representing minorities. There are 21 full-time faculty (50% female, 32% minority) and 40 part-time. There has been considerable turnover, with 44.4% having been on the faculty for less than two years, 55.6% for less than three years. In one ranking of Doctoral Program Schools Faculty Productivity, UB ranked 32 out of 61. The U.S. News & World Report ranked UB's School of Social Work 50 out of 80 in 2000, and 46 out of 159 (putting it into the top third) in 2004. The School offers MSW programs at four campuses (Buffalo, Rochester, Jamestown, Corning) and a variety of combined or joint degrees. The program addresses national and statewide workforce shortage of social/behavioral health professionals, and its graduates have exceeded the national average pass rate on the National Licensing Exam for the past five years. Its maturing interdisciplinary doctoral program was established in 1994 and grants a Ph.D. in Social Welfare; currently there are 25 students in the program, and of the 17 who have graduated in past years, 16 have tenure-track positions at universities --- 3 have been tenured.

Among its accomplishments in research and service, Social Work boasts: the Buffalo Center for Social Research and the Institute for Non-Profit Agencies; being a leader in human services workforce development, having trained over 1500 people regionally last year and having secured multiple grants and contracts from the county and state; providing extensive student service --- in the past year, MSW students have provided over $1.3 million worth of free service as interns in community agencies. Among its UB 2020 strategic strengths and related initiatives, Dean Smyth cited the following:

• Faculty Profile: 96.5% work in Civic Engagement and Public Policy, 18.2% in Extreme Events, and 55.6% in Aging/Chronic Disease;
• Initiatives: the interdisciplinary Center for the Study and Prevention of School Violence; participation in UB (EOC) Downtown Gateway; partnerships in the Aging Internship Hartford Grant.

The School's academic vision and goals include first, being ranked among the top 15 public schools by 2020; analyses indicate that this entails targeting a full-time faculty size of 29 by 2014, increasing the ratio of full-time to part-time Master's students, and increasing recruitment of the student body from the national pool from (currently) 4% to 20% by 2020. Second, it will continue its strong internship program, this time out of necessity with increased use of alternative models, in particular through partnerships with other UB schools and community agencies. Third, it plans to reduce enrollment to increase quality of instruction, and fourth, it plans to increase its international activities.

Item 3: Report of Chair

Professor Nickerson distributed prior to the meeting a written summary of the chief items of discussion at the Faculty Senate Executive Committee (FSEC) over the past two months:

Interim Dean and Vice-Provost Ho announced at the Graduate School Executive Committee (GSEC) meeting that the NRC review is in progress. Among the items discussed at the GSEC meeting were:

• The application fee for graduate admission will rise from $35 to $50; a portion of the fee may be given to schools and departments, provided they have a plan to admit more competitive students in greater numbers.
• It was proposed that the Dean of the Graduate School send a welcome letter to students who are admitted to Master's programs; currently, this Dean officially admits all students to Ph.D. programs.
• The target for graduate admissions has not yet been established. Overall graduate student enrollment last year was 9,300. Professor Nickerson added that there has as yet been no penalty or reward for exceeding or not meeting targets.
• The GSEC also discussed possible "age limits" on the scores of GREs or substitute tests required for admissions; one suggestion was to draw the line at five years.
• As a follow-up on provision admissions, evidence of receipt of a Bachelor's degree is now absolutely essential before a graduate degree can be awarded.
• Admissions integrity policies are being developed. Full-time student forms need to be accurate in terms of a conferral date, since federal financial aid is related to accurate record-keeping.
• Although tenure-track faculty members are admitted automatically to the Graduate Faculty, a form must be filled out in compliance with the guidelines of the Graduate School.

Further details of the NRC review will be covered in Item 5 of this meeting's agenda (below).

Professor Nickerson had spent the entire morning recently on a conference call with the SUNY General Education Assessment Review (GEAR) group. The group is working on Strengthened Campus-based General Assessment plans for the 64 units of the SUNY system. Training individuals on how to score rubrics will be needed in Mathematics, Basic Communication, Critical Thinking (Reasoning), and Information Management.

The Chair reported that the FSEC heard a presentation from Professor Robert Shibley (Architecture & Planning) on the UB Master Planning process that will present a rational plan for expansion of the University by 2020.

The Academic Planning Committee met on October 20 to hear from faculty members of the Department of Library and Information Studies on the proposed re-organization, as well as from a representative of the University Libraries.

The Governance Committee is working on decanal review; Provost Tripathi met with the Committee last semester to discuss the procedure for reviews. The Committee will follow up to determine whether any changes to the procedure recommended by the Faculty Senate have been made.

The Budget Priorities Committee met on October 23 and heard from Vice-President Sullivan on the multi-year needs analysis; Chancellor Ryan would like to know our needs for the next five years. Also discussed were decanal management plans.

The Teaching and Learning Committee (TLC) discussed how it will approach the report from the Distance Education Committee (discussed at the September 13 meeting of the FSEC), as well as the Center for Teaching and Learning. As requested by the FSEC, the TLC will develop a charge on how to give input on the reorganization of these activities at UB.

The Budget Priorities Committee heard from the Provost about the procedures for resource allocation to the decanal and other units of the University. After considering the best practices for the reports from the deans and how the faculty is involved, the Committee will report to the FSEC and the Faculty Senate on the budgeting process.

At the meeting of the Computer Services Committee, Sandy Peters from the IT Policy office announced that October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month; the Committee will work with Peters in drafting a statement, to be sent to the faculty, on how to protect material. FaceBook and MySpace were also discussed; students need to be aware of the implications for privacy and safety and about their on-line persona related to hiring. Also discussed were:

• Iprint: System stability issues arose, causing down-time for 10-12 days. The latest revision is now being tested. There has been a 30% drop in the volume of printing from a high of 54 million pages in 2003-2004.
• TurnItIn is now available to faculty. A license has been purchased for UB for this anti-plagiarism software. A faculty member will need an account, and eventual integration with UB Learns is being planned. Issues such as privacy and intellectual property rights are beyond the scope of the Committee's charge, but will be brought to the attention of the FSEC.
• UB Learns has been upgraded to a new version, and contains multilingual interface capabilities.

The Chair asked for comments or questions on the written report; there were none.

Item 4: Discussion on Alumni Relations

Graham G. Stewart, Associate Vice President for Alumni Relations, introduced himself to the FSEC. He comes to UB from Ithaca College, where he served as Director of Alumni Relations for the past seven years; previously he had worked in Admissions in the Music School, and at Cornell University as Director of Marketing and Public Relations for the Performing Arts Center, all after a twenty-year career in singing. Although many of the schools at UB have their own alumni associations, Mr. Stewart said he will emphasize collaboration and sharing of resources. He also is trying to identify the best practices at other institutions that would prove useful to developing the alumni base at UB. He presented the following points of information:

• There has been a huge initiative lately to build up both national and international chapters. UB currently has 21 domestic chapters, and 11 international chapters, mostly in Asia; Vice-President Stewart is particularly interested in establishing some in Europe;
• ver the past year, the Alumni Association conducted 116 events which attracted over 10,000 participants;
• There are currently 7,500 alumni registered on UB Connect, and 6,700 members in the Alumni Association;
• A program entitled "UB on the Road" has been running since last year; this year, the Alumni Association is inviting prominent alumni in each of the regions to present to large groups of other alumni on various topics.

Vice-President Stewart reported that he is currently evaluating programs, staffing, and budgets. With a growing on-line community, technology is growing rapidly in importance in alumni relations; his Office is spending a great deal of energy dealing with things like social networking tools to compete with MySpace and others, in order to be the main choice for UB alumni to stay in touch with the University and with each other. Alumni Relations is also working at maintaining existing partnerships with Career Services, Admissions, and various Schools which have their own alumni associations, as well as at finding innovative ways of bringing alumni together.

Professor Boot asked how much pressure there was for the President to be present on the aforementioned road shows, and whether Stewart considered it a wise investment of the President's time. Stewart replied that there are, quite frankly, times when it is important for the President to be present, but certainly not always, since different audiences will show up according to whether he is scheduled to appear.

Item 5: Report on the 2006 NRC Assessment of Research and Doctorate Programs

Professor Ho, Interim Dean of the Graduate School, informed the Senate that the National Research Council (NRC) assesses doctorate programs every ten years or so, the first having been conducted in 1983. The most recent one, in 1995, incurred much criticism for being little more than a "beauty contest". In 2003, the NRC began to conduct a study to rectify the methodology and improve the process, then ran out of money, but was able to continue with the assistance from a number of foundations as well as from each participating university (about $20,000 per). The main objectives of the study are allegedly (a) to help universities improve research in their doctoral programs through comparisons with others, (b) to provide potential students and the public with readily available information about the programs, and (c) to enhance the nation's overall research capability. The next review and will consist of:

1. the collection of quantitative data through questionnaires administered to institutions, programs, faculty, and students admitted to candidacy (in selected fields);
2. the collection of additional program data on publications, citations, and dissertation keywords;
3. the design and construction of program ratings using the collected data.

Programs must meet certain criteria to be included in the study, e.g., the program must have awarded 5 Ph.D. degrees within the last five years. A 15-person committee will conduct the study, and their work will be supported by an 11-person panel that will address data collection. In rating and ranking, preliminary analysis will assign weights to key quantitative variables (to be identified either empirically or judgmentally). Once the weights are determined, the program rating is applied to the program-specific value of each variable. Another part of the preliminary analysis is an "anchoring study", or implicit derivation of weights, in which a sample of raters in each field is asked to rate a sample of programs on the basis of perceived quality of the program. Additional analyses may include and highlight highly specific components or program quality, labeled "Research Impact", "Student Support and Outcomes", and "Diversity of Academic Environment". Most important for UB is to submit the right data and to avoid the mistakes made in the last review. For further information, he referred interested parties to http://www7.nationalacademies.org/resdoc/index.html

Professor Wetherhold asked whether we could change our programs in any which would push numbers "in the right way", however that may be construed. Dean Ho replied that in such a rating game, there is no way of knowing what will be expected of programs in the future, that we may be aiming at a moving target; the priorities and weighting of the variables may well change by the time of the next review. Professor Churchill pointed out that our University appears under various names, which creates quite a bit of confusion; Dean Ho acknowledged this, adding his concern that our new PR operation is considering re-branding the University once again. To Professor Horvath's inquiry as to how faculty lists are compiled, Dean Ho responded that the NRC requests three separate lists, each of them with well-defined criteria.

Item 6: Report on the SUNY Senate meeting in Buffalo, NY

Professor Baumer reported that at the SUNY Senate meeting in Buffalo, Chancellor Ryan addressed a few main areas of his interest and concern. First, he expressed interest continued development and expansion in international programs and activities on the part of all SUNY campuses. Second, he stressed the need for the development of academic leadership, in which several campuses are presently not doing a good job; he will be looking at programs and activities which are supportive of this. Third, he reminded the Senate that New York State will undergo a significant change in its population demographics over the next ten years, particularly in terms of ethnic heritage; consequently, SUNY will need to be able to continue its past practice of educating the immigrant population, this time with more energy and at all levels, from kindergarten on up. This will determine in part the design and operation of our university programs. Fourth, the Chancellor was very concerned about alcohol use/abuse by students, and said he would like to see an extension of programs prohibiting alcohol, as well as those prohibiting smoking --- ultimately campus-wide. Finally, in our strategic planning we need to get TAP indexed, and to get broad support across the State legislature for the University budget.

Vice-Chancellor Klein announced a 12.5% increase in State support for 2006-2007, including funding for negotiated salary increases built into union contracts, additional energy costs, as well as general increases in the costs of facilities and equipment. However, budget projections indicate a looming deficit of about $3 billion for 2007-2008, which in turn will entail great pressure to find ways to reduce State expenditure.

Former Chancellor and UB Professor Emeritus Bruce Johnstone addressed K-12 educational programs, and argued that not only Education programs, but any department whose subject matter is taught at these early levels should be directly involved in teacher education.

Also under discussion were three major issues facing the University: 1) the number of students receiving baccalaureate degrees; 2) the serious gap between secondary school and university assessment of student ability, and how we might bridge this gap through communication of our expectations and through a useful database documenting student performance according to subject and level; at present, we have no means to determine what teaching methods and practice are effective; and 3) student motivation and how faculty might improve it.

In her address, the new Provost Risa Palm saw much talent across SUNY, but not as much collaboration among the units as there might be; she echoed Chancellor Ryan and UB President Simpson in her interest in international programs. The third item she addressed, and one to which we will need to respond, is the report of the Spelling Commission, which included a number of recommendations for colleges and universities; included among these is an increased assessment of student achievement at various performance levels.

A variety of other concerns from various sectors of the University were voiced, including: provisions for emeritus faculty, since how retired faculty are treated seems to vary wildly from one campus to another; concerns that the administrative officers at certain campuses are encroaching on faculty prerogatives for running academic programs; increasing the proportion of full-time to part-time faculty; and the concern of the Health Science Centers that the University needs a senior SUNY officer responsible for the Health Sciences. In addition, several campuses are worried that UB's growth plan would come at their expense, in the sense of losing their own students to our intended expansion.

Item 7: Old/New Business

Professor Boot informed the Faculty Senate of a new editorial policy of The Reporter not to accept or publish any letters or opinion pieces from any readers, including faculty. This decision, he continued, had not been announced; he had been told that the policy had been established over the summer, and that Vice-President Henderson had agreed to it. Professor Boot considered this "a giant step ward", and failed to see why readers should not be permitted to express themselves. He objected strongly to the newspaper's action, and asked the Faculty Senate to:

• ask from The Reporter the reasons that led to its decision to refuse, as a matter of policy, publication of any letters to the editor;
• be informed of the process used in reaching this decision --- specifically, the time axis, the persons involved, "its hurried implementation but delayed publicity surrounding it"; and
• urge that the decision be rescinded or put on hold while Faculty Senate assesses its merits.

Copies of his letter to Vice-President Henderson were distributed. The Chair decided to bring up the issue in the Executive Committee and return it to the Faculty Senate with its views and recommendations.

Item 8: Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 3:40 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

 

Robert Hoeing,
Secretary of the Faculty Senate

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

Architecture & Planning - Danford (P)
Arts & Sciences - Brancato (E), Buscaglia (A), Campbell (P), Churchill (P), DeWald (P), Dryden (P), Ehrenberg (P), Faran (P), Gabriel (A), Giese (A), Griffler (P), Hennessey (A), Juarros-Daussa (A), Lamb (E), Lo (A), Lulat (P), Rothenberg (P), Shiode (P), Simms (P), Street (E), Subramanian (P), Takeuchi (A), Timler (P), Watrous (A), Weinstein (P), Welch (A)
Dental Medicine - Bradford (P), Ferry (P), Hall (E), Mang (A)

Education - Ageyev (P), Kibby (A), Lee (P), Schroeder (P)
Engineering - Alexandridis (A), Alphonce (P), Batalama (P), Dargush (P), Soom (P), Srihari (P), Titus (P), Wetherhold (P)
Informatics - Woelfel (P)
Law - Miller (A), Milles (A)
Management - Cohen (P), Lin (E), Simpson (A), Trivedi (A)
Nursing - Curran (A), Wooldridge (P)
Pharmacy - Boje (A), Brazeau (P)
Social Work - Rittner (A)
SUNY Senators - Baumer (P), Bradford (P), Coles (P), Durand (P)
University Libraries - Adams-Volpe (E), Kramer (P), Taddeo (P), Tao (P)
Medicine & Biomedical Sciences - Amsterdam (A), Brown (P), Cherr (P), Dayton (A), Dobson (A), Fiden (P), Fudyma (A), Harris (A), Hassett (A), Hernan (A), Hershey (A), Joshi (P), Krause (A), LaDuca (A), Lukan (P), Mastrandea (P), Noble (P), Sands (E), Sharp (P), Snyder (A), Springate (P), Spurgeon (A), Sundquist (P), Weinstock (A), Yale (A), Young (A)
Public Health & Health Professions - Farkas (P), Horvath (P), Tomita (P)
Guests - Larry Labinski, Professional Staff Senate, John Ho, Interim Dean, Graduate School, Nancy Smyth, Dean, School of Social Work, Graham Stewart, Assoc. VP, Alumni Relations
Faculty Senate Officers - Peter Nickerson, President (P), Robert Hoeing, Secretary (P)

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