FACULTY SENATE
Minutes of December 5, 2006
(unapproved)
The Faculty Senate met in the Center for Tomorrow at 2:00 PM on November 7, 2006, to consider the following agenda:
- Approval of the Minutes of November 7, 2006
- Report of the Chair
- Academic State of the University Address Satish K. Tripathi, Provost and Executive Vice-President for Academic Affairs
- Adjournment
Item 1: Approval of the Minutes of November 7, 2006
The Minutes of November 7, 2006 were approved.
Item 2: Report of the Chair
The Chair reported that at its most recent meeting, the Graduate School Executive Committee (a) established a new minimum requirement of 3.0 for admission to Masters programs; (b) indicated that the increase in application fee to graduate programs (from $35 to $50) is likely to take effect on December 1, 2006; (c) the age for GRE scores will likely be set for 5 years, since the Educational Testing Service will not report scores older than five years; (d) new rules and regulations for the Schomberg Fellowship are being developed; and (e) there would most likely be no central policy on the scheduling of graduate courses.
Professor Nickerson announced that the issue of The Reporter's new policy of not publishing letter to the editor has been addressed. A new policy is being developed by the Vice-President of External Affairs; this will be reviewed by the FSEC. Once the policy is in place, resumption of publication of letters will be resumed.
The UB Libraries Annex and storage facility, anticipated for many years, is now open.
The Budget Priorities Committee is reviewing and discussing the development of an academic budget model for UB; the University administration, working with the deans, is continuing to develop a three-year framework for each of the decanal units that is transparent and predictable with regard to existing resources.
Item 3: Academic State of the University
Provost Tripathi first requested a moment of silence to reflect on Dean Mecca Cranley's life and contributions to the field of Nursing, to her students, and to the University.
As a prelude to his talk on the University's vision of academic excellence, the Provost pointed out the continuing need for strong leadership --- from faculty, chairs, and deans --- to attain our goals. To this end, the University has hired two new Deans --- Harvey Stenger (Engineering and Applied Sciences) from Lehigh University and Michael Cain (Medicine and Biomedical Sciences) from Washington University --- as well as about 90 tenure-track, full-time faculty at both the junior and senior levels, more than one-third of whom are women, and 31 of whom are additional (rather than replacement) hires. The Faculty in Leadership program, which has proven successful in offering apprenticeship for faculty in administrative matters, continues: Andreas Daum (History) is working with Dean Ryan in Undergraduate Education, Alexander Cartwright (Electrical Engineering) with the Provost on Strategic Strengths, Thomas Russo (Medicine) with Lucinda Finley in Faculty Affairs, and Wesley Hicks (Head and Neck Surgery and Oncology) with Bruce Holm on clinical and translational research and its impact outside the University.
New state-of-the-art facilities are also critical in realizing the University mission. The Provost highlighted the New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences located downtown; the recently opened Library Annex, which frees existing library space for other academic purposes; and the many refurbished, technologically updated classrooms to better accommodate 21st-century instructional needs.
UB's primary goal, "To be recognized as one of the nation's leading public research universities during the next 15 years", the Provost continued, is a mission whose 21st-century expression rests in three areas: Innovative and impactful research and scholarship; education for global citizenship; and cultivation of knowledge and discovery for the benefit of our local and world communities.
The first requires us to define cutting-edge research and scholarship. Provost Tripathi said that we are defining these through our efforts in:
- Multi-disciplinary research through the innovative Strategic Strengths paradigm;
- Technology transfer, leveraging research capabilities to create new technological advantages --- in health care, the life sciences, and the engineering industry sectors;
- Graduate and professional education, through which we prepare the next generation of scholars, artists, and scientists; and
- Impactful research and scholarship.
Specific examples he cited for the last point included currently published earthquake research, which among other things yielded valuable information on how to build houses to withstand earthquakes of 6.7 magnitude; the trials of hormone therapy which showed that the levels of certain hormones increase the risk of heart disease, strokes, and blood clots in post-menopausal women; and a new program in the Graduate School of Education, funded by a $6 million grant from the Department of Education to look at the pre-kindergarten mathematics curriculum. As we move forward, he continued, our reputation will depend more on setting than on following the national agenda in impactful research.
The second aspect of our mission --- Educating for Global Citizenship --- focuses on how to train our students to be intellectually adept and ethically responsible at creating and applying new knowledge in a global context. UB is a leader in this area, not only in Study Abroad but also in attracting and integrating international students. Two recent developments toward the establishment of a "distinctive and transformative undergraduate education" are the Undergraduate Academies and the Freshman Seminars. Both emerged through discussion and planning in the Offices of Undergraduate Education and Student Affairs, and, he added, both require faculty participation. The Academies are designed to prepared students to choose activities which would allow them to explore some special topic, to find out what is evolving in a given field of study. Currently, four have been proposed to formalize what some students are already actively involved in: Civic Engagement & Community Service; Global Affairs & International Community; Research Exploration; and Creative Expression. The Freshman Seminars are designed to be taught by distinguished faculty, and to allow a closer interaction between students and faculty in undergraduate research and creative activity. Six seminars were offered this Fall, twenty are planned for Spring 2007, and the goal is to offer about a hundred of them per year. The goal is to engage the students from the very beginning in our scholarship. Ultimately, we would also need to consider how to integrate these courses with the General Education requirements.
The third aspect of our mission, to cultivate our research for the benefit of the local and world communities, is already very active --- for example, we have faculty working with public schools, engaged in bridging the Pre-K - 16 education gap; we have discoveries being translated into medical devices and treatments; and dental students offering their expertise to disadvantaged children.
To achieve real academic excellence in each of these three areas, certain prerequisites exist. In the field of innovative and impactful research, we need (a) an institutional reputation, a national recognition of our excellence; (b) an increased number of post-doctoral appointments; (c) a robust research portfolio and an increase in sponsored program activity; and (d) robust philanthropic giving and endowment market value to support faculty hiring, capital construction, student scholarships, and academic programs. Provost Tripathi listed other areas to which he is applying specific metrics; these include:
- Undergraduate Student Selectivity: an increased average SAT score of 1270, a 92% 1st year persistence rate, and a minimum 64% 6-year graduation rate.
- Graduate/Professional Student Selectivity: a general increase in GRE/LSAT/MCAT scores, higher average GPAs, and an increased number of doctorates awarded.
- Faculty Recruitment: an increase in National Academy members from 5 to 15, an increase in significant faculty awards, and a 60% increase in research productivity.
- Academic Programs: to have 25% of our doctoral programs ranked in the top quartile.
- Philanthropic Donations: to increase by about $78 million per year.
Before we can begin to grow further, we need to right-size by adding 250 more faculty; eventually, our long-term institutional growth calls for 750 new faculty and 10,000 new students. Nevertheless, we cannot grow unless the resources are there, nor unless we deploy our resources properly. For this purpose, the Provost has asked the deans to inquire into the various growth scenarios of individual programs at UB.
Three programs within SUNY are providing, or are about to provide, new faculty for UB. The Empire Innovation Program received $6 million from the State to hire new faculty who would improve research funding for the campuses; UB received about $1.4 million of this money. The High-Needs program provides money for areas which show a critical need or demand in the state of New York to educate students; UB received funds from this program for Nursing and Engineering. The Hunter James Kelley Institute, in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, is expecting roughly $1.4 million for hiring 10 to 14 research faculty. In addition, new faculty hires are expected from central and decanal resources, as well as from the redeployment of funds from non-faculty resources.
In conclusion, the Provost noted that achieving our vision of academic excellence requires fostering an appropriate culture for it, honestly assessing our strengths and weaknesses, investing prudently in research and educational activities, and promoting not only forward and creative thinking, but also a culture of collaboration, innovation, responsiveness, and of course excellence.
In the discussion which followed, Professor Boot warned that while it is fun to speculate about moving forward, it is necessary not to move wards, as he argued The Reporter has done "in a stealth move" by ceasing to accept or publish letters to the editor or viewpoints from the faculty. This new policy he finds "totally and completely shameful"; while it is under review, the newspaper should continue to publish under the old policy. He suggested further that, once publication of letters is renewed, among the first to be printed should be his, which plans to comment on this episode. The Chair reminded the Senate of the ongoing review process the Provost helped to arrange; when the new policy has been drafted, the FSEC will examine it and present it to the Senate.
Professor Welch suggested that the Provost include among his metrics, alongside the increased number of professional and doctoral degrees, the quality of the institutions where we place the individuals awarded these degrees. He also asked him to elaborate on the re-deployment of non-faculty resources. Provost Tripathi illustrated with the example of our rationalization of combining the existing 64 telephone systems into one; after this is paid off in a little over three years, we will have saved resources which could then be funneled into faculty growth.
Professor Alphonce asked for more information about the Undergraduate Academies, and whether they would be required for students or simply an opportunity for them. Vice-Provost Ryan explained that one of the concepts behind them was to provide a motivation for students in their various programs; through the Academy experience, they should be able to see connections and become aware of the opportunities available to them. Two of the cornerstones of the Academies will be a Learning Community concept and the Freshman Seminars. He added that incoming freshmen are excited, eager to be engaged with our faculty; however, we have for the most part delivered our instruction to them either in large lecture format or through graduate students. The new paradigm will allow more direct interaction with the faculty. Participation in an academy --- or in several --- will not be required, but certainly encouraged and marketed, and duly noted in some way on student transcripts. Membership in the Academies will entail requirements as well as definable outcomes, both of which should be defined in the coming months with the help of increased dialogue with the faculty.
Professor Campbell wondered whether we are doing our best to put ourselves at a competitive advantage in recruiting highly qualified faculty; he noted in particular the lag time between the decision to offer a position and the actual offer itself. The Provost replied first that associate and full level recruits come because they are already sold on our vision, resources, etc., and secondly that they invariably express positive feed on the institution and interview process. He denied that, for tenure offers, we are at any disadvantage as long as the proper procedure is followed; in some cases, an emergency meeting of the President's Review Board can be convened to expedite the process. Vice-Provost for Faculty Affairs Finley added that the more closely her Office is informed of the hiring process, the more efficiently the matter can progress.
Professor Nickerson asked how junior faculty should obtain necessary funding in light of impending reductions; the Provost replied that, more than anything else, mentoring within departments should prove most helpful, since many young faculty have great ideas but have not yet written grant proposals. Although it is definitely harder to get grants nowadays, the grant sizes have become larger.
Item 4: 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 (A), Buscaglia (A), Campbell (P), Churchill (A), DeWald (P), Dryden (A), Ehrenberg (A), Faran (P), Gabriel (A), Giese (A), Griffler (A), Hennessey (A), Juarros-Daussa (A), Lamb (A), Lo (A), Lulat (A), Markelz (A), Rothenberg (E), Shiode (P), Simms (P), Street (A), Subramanian (A), Takeuchi (E), Timler (P), Watrous (A), Weinstein (P), Welch (P)
Dental Medicine - Bradford (P), Ferry (P), Hall (A), Mang (E)
Education - Ageyev (A), Kibby (A), Lee (P), Schroeder (A)
Engineering - Alexandridis (P), Alphonce (P), Batalama (P), Dargush (P), Soom (P), Srihari (P), Titus (P), Wetherhold (A)
Informatics - Woelfel (A)
Law - Miller (A), Milles (A)
Management - Cohen (A), Lin (P), Simpson (A), Trivedi (P)
Nursing - Curran (P), Wooldridge (A)
Pharmacy - Boje (A), Brazeau (P)
Social Work - Rittner (P)
SUNY Senators - Baumer (P), Bradford (P), Coles (P), Durand (P)
University Libraries - Adams-Volpe (P), Kramer (P), Taddeo (P), Tao (P)
Medicine & Biomedical Sciences - Amsterdam (P), Brown (P), Cherr (P), Dayton (A), Dobson (A), Fiden (A), Fudyma (E), Harris (A), Hassett (A), Hernan (A), Hershey (A), Joshi (E), Krause (A), LaDuca (A), Lukan (A), Mastrandea (P), Noble (P), Sands (P), Sharp (P), Snyder (P), Springate (A), Spurgeon (A), Sundquist (P), Weinstock (A), Yale (A), Young (A)
Public Health & Health Professions - Farkas (P), Horvath (P), Tomita (P)
Guests - Satish Tripathi: Provost, Michael Ryan - Vice-Provost, Undergraduate Education, Lucinda Finley - Vice-Provost, Facculty Affairs, Larry Labinski - Professional Staff Senate
Faculty Senate Officers - Peter Nickerson, President (P), Robert Hoeing, Secretary (P)