Approved by Faculty Senate on October 23, 2007

MINUTES OF THE FACULTY SENATE MEETING

May 8, 2007 

The fourth Faculty Senate meeting of the 2006-2007 academic year was called to order by Prof. Sandra Michael (Biological Sciences and chair of the Faculty Senate) at 11:46 a.m. in UU 133.

1. Minutes. The minutes of the March 27, 2007 meeting were approved as submitted.

2. Announcements/Questions. a) Prof. Michael reported the death of Prof. Emeritus John Hagan (English). The Senate observed a moment of silence. As is established practice, a note of condolence will be sent to the family on behalf of the Senate.

Prof. Michael also reported: 1) the results of the recent election for University Faculty Senator: she was elected senator; George Catalano (Mechanical Engineering) was elected alternate. 2) Provost Mary Ann Swain expresses regret at not being able to attend today’s meeting; 3) President Lois DeFleur has approved the recent Faculty Bylaws changes that were overwhelmingly passed by the faculty.

There were no further announcements. There were no questions.

3. Reports. a) Prof. Gary James, Chair, Faculty Senate Executive Committee (FSEC), on committee business in 2006-2007. He gave a summary of issues considered: approved Educational Leadership Certificate program; reported on undergraduate bioengineering program; approved MS/PhD in Biomedical Engineering program; bylaws revisions; met with two vice presidents; met with candidates for dean and vice president positions; approved additional Faculty Bylaws changes which are forthcoming to Senate in fall semester; met with computer center about new email system; filled most assessment category teams (ACTs) with faculty members; campus governance leaders met regularly with president and provost; Evaluation Coordinating Committee facilitated review of School of Management dean, three others in process; response to Pandemic Flu Committee.

b) Prof. Peter Knuepfer, University Faculty Senator, on University Faculty Senate business. He reported on several issues considered: chancellor’s resignation and replacement; Commission on Higher Education; leadership development for faculty and students; pending legislation regarding textbook costs; implementation of Spellings Commission report.

Prof. Knuepfer also reported on concerns discussed by representatives of the four SUNY centers: graduate student funding; library funding; ownership of intellectual property.

The body thanked Prof. Knuepfer for his years of service in this position.

4. New Business. a) Approval of proposed change to C (Composition) general education requirement (attached to agenda). Prof. James gave background information saying that he was contacted by Prof. Sara Reiter (School of Management and Chair of the Faculty Senate University Undergraduate Curriculum Committee [UUCC]) about the following sentence from the state mandate: “Students will perform the basic operations of personal computer use; understand and use basic research techniques; and locate, evaluate and synthesize information from a variety of sources”. This sentence was included in Binghamton’s C requirement although it does not apply to all composition courses. She suggested instead that it be infused in the overall general education requirement. The FSEC concurred and placed it in the general description of the undergraduate general education program.

Prof. Richard Naslund (Geological Sciences) added that this change is not a precedent; there are two other parts of the state mandate that are outside course requirements. Prof. James Dix (Chemistry) commented that not having this requirement in a particular category could mean that it may not be implemented. Prof. Howard Brown (History) said there was some discussion of this in the FSEC. Under the current structure of general education assessment, i.e. ACTs, this requirement as it now stands complicates the assessment structure. The FSEC felt that perhaps it would be better assessed in a different manner such as a competency test in the third year.

Prof. Michael reported that the motion is moved and seconded from the FSEC. On voice vote, the motion carried, 1 against.

b) Approval of degree candidates. Prof. Michael explained that approval is a formality signifying the faculty role in granting degrees. A motion was made to approve the lists of degree candidates contingent on completion of requirements for respective degrees. On voice vote, the motion was unanimously approved.

c) Election of 2007-2008 Faculty Senate Procedures Committee. The slate is: Chair – TBA; Vice Chair – Andrew Scholtz; Secretary – Serdar Atav. Prof. Michael explained that this year there were a few challenges in filling the slate pending the election of the University Faculty Senator, FSEC, changes to Faculty Bylaws, etc. A motion was made to approve the slate above for Vice Chair and Secretary. On voice vote, the motion carried unanimously.

Regarding the election of the chair, Prof. Michael reported that the person must be a returning elected senator and as explained above, there were a few challenges. Since the FSEC members serve until August 31 and to avoid another meeting during exam week, the FSEC is asking permission from the body to identify a person during the summer and appoint that person to this position. There was no objection. On voice vote, the motion carried unanimously.

The meeting adjourned at 12:13 p.m.

Present: Sal Agnihothri, Laura Anderson, A. Serdar Atav, Douglas Bradburn, Howard Brown, Sandra Card, David Davies, James Dix, Richard Eckert, Vincent Grenier, William Heller, Gary James, Peter Knuepfer, Karen Kozlowski, Hal Lewis, Patrick Madden, Kenneth McLeod, Andrew Merriwether, Sandra Michael, Robert Micklus, H. Richard Naslund, Isidore Okpewho, Richard Pastore, Michael Pettid, Beverly Rainforth, Nadia Rubaii-Barrett, Pamela Smart, Antonio Sobejano-Moran, Douglas Summerville, Eugene Tettey-Fio, Gary Truce, Caryl Ward, Tsu-Ming Wu

Excused: Zu Yan Chen, John Eisch, Ross Geoghegan, Joseph Graney, Srinivasan Krishnamurthy, Mark Lenzenweger, Sam Morell, Mary Ann Swain, N. Eva Wu

Absent: David Bartine, Karen Barzman, Mary Burgess, Subimal Chatterjee, Michael Conlon, Lois DeFleur, Christopher Knapp, Edward Kokkelenberg, Ricardo Laremont, Brett Levinson, Steven Lynn, Roy McGrann, Bruce Murray, Tim Perry, Jean Schmittau, Victor Skormin, John Thomson, Dale Tomich, Don Weiss, Linda Wong, Cynthia Altmansberger, Joseph Goldman, Rebecca Kaufman