College Senate Bulletin
State University of New York at Geneseo
College of Arts and Sciences
Correspondence to Dennis Showers, School of Education, South 222C, showers@geneseo.edu, 245-5264
Note: Page numbers indicate pages as per the paper copy of the Bulletins.
Bulletin No. 2
Contents
Page Topic
7 Agenda: All-College Meeting on October 21, 2008
7 Agenda: Senate Meeting on October 21, 2008
7 Minutes of the Faculty Affairs Committee, September 30, 2008
10 Minutes of the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, October 7, 2008
13 Minutes of the Student Affairs Committee, October 8, 2008
Agenda for the All College Meeting on October 21, 2008
Call to Order
Adoption of the Agenda
Nomination Committee Report: Jan Lovett
Presentation of Nominees for Faculty Personnel Committee
Presentation of Nominees for Committee on Nominations
Adjournment
Agenda for Senate Meeting October 21, 2008
Call to Order
Adoption of the Agenda
Adoption of the Minutes
Guest
General Education Committee Paul Schacht
Senate Reports
President Christopher Dahl
Provost Kate Conway-Turner
Chair Dennis Showers
Vice Chair Ed Wallace
Past-Chair David Granger
Treasurer Gregg Hartvigsen
University Faculty Senator Maria Lima
Vice President, Student Assoc. Dean McGee
Reports of the Standing Committees of the Senate
Undergraduate Curricula Robert Owens
Undergraduate Policies Leigh O’Brien
Graduate Academic Affairs Susan Salmon
Student Affairs Cristina Geiger
Faculty Affairs James McLean
Old Business
New Business
Adjournment
Minutes of the Faculty Affairs Committee September 30, 2008
Present: C. Adams, J. Allen, J. Bearden, B. Colón, J. Fowler Morse, K. Keegan, K. Kirkman, J. Lewis, J. Lovett, J. McLean (Chair), R. Ornelas
Guest: K. McKeever, Associate Dean of the College
Call to Order
James McLean (Chair) called the meeting to order at 4:02 PM.
1. General
Introductions
”Meeting Minutes Taking” will be a shared responsibility among the committee members. J. McLean will distribute the schedule and template for minutes
A review of alternate meeting times will be done due to meeting conflicts
Chairs Report
A trial of the new student opinion form (IDEA) is postponed due to funding issues
Campus Smoking Policy will be discussed in Spring 2009
Old Business
Faculty Mentoring Program discussions from last year are unresolved. J. McLean shared that David Parfitt, Director of Teaching & Learning Center is looking into this topic. J. McLean will arrange for D. Parfitt to be a guest at an upcoming FAC meeting to share his insight
A recap of last year’s discussions regarding the H-Form Revision will be distributed by J. McLean to FAC members for review before continuing further discussions
New Business
Religious Holiday Policy
An in depth discussion took place regarding SUNY Geneseo’s Religious Holiday Policy. This discussion was initiated by a call from a parent to Associate Dean McKeever, followed by a letter to Senate Chair Showers dated September 14, 2008. The parent’s letter addresses SUNY Geneseo’s religious holiday policy, in specific, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur holidays. The observation made by the parent is that other colleges/universities close for these two holidays. The parent kindly requested that SUNY Geneseo have an “open dialogue with the college community to review the current Geneseo policy and/or guidelines on religious holidays and school closings.”
Associate Dean McKeever enlightened the FAC members on her contact with the parent. She reviewed with the parent the current policy, indicated that current Jewish population is 6% on campus, and that the she felt the current policy accommodated every religion and persuasion.
After extensive discussion among the FAC members and Associate Dean McKeever, all in attendance felt the current SUNY Geneseo policy is adequate. The following recommendations are proposed:
Raise student awareness of the policy through actions of the Administration and also Student Life.
Encourage faculty to include a statement on their syllabi, similar to the current statement on disabilities.
Utilize myCourses.geneseo.edu and add a link to the policy
Compose a response letter to the parent that initiated the September 14, 2008 correspondence. It is recommended that the letter come from the Senate chair, in collaboration with Associate Dean McKeever. The following are suggestions to be included in the correspondence:
Enclose a copy of the current policy.
Note that the policy is distributed to faculty on a regular basis, along with a calendar of religious holidays.
Indicate that the policy has been reviewed by the FAC Senate Committee and those in attendance agreed that the current policy is adequate, and accommodates all religions and persuasions.
Emphasize that different SUNY campus have different policies because the most effective policy depends on the relative populations in the student body.
The complaints that exist in regards to this policy are few and were best addressed by increasing awareness of the current policy.
Further steps will be taken to raise awareness of the current policy.
Review Senate Structure
A brief review and dialogue took place in regards to FAC’s committee structure and purpose per “The Constitution of the Faculty of State University of New York at Geneseo,” Article IX: Standing Committees of the Senate. To be discussed further at next FAC meeting.
Adjournment
James McLean (Chair) adjourned the meeting at 5:13 PM
Respectfully submitted,
Betsy Colón
Minutes of the UCC October 7, 2008
Present: Bob Owens (Chair), P. Pacheco, M. Jensen, K.Hoffman, N. Lombardo, T. Kenney, R. Vasiliev, T. Paradis, D. Baldwin, A. Stanley, T. Bazzett, G. Marcus, M. Stolee, B. DeGeorge, J. Johannes, C. Felice, A. Jung
Guests: D. Geiger, J. Bearden
Call to Order
Bob Owens called the meeting to order at 4:01 PM.
New Business
Introductions and process of meetings briefly explained
New Course
CHEM 119, Introductory Chemistry
Discussion: D. Geiger provided an overview of how class fits in the major.
Passed
Course Revision
PSYC 385, Cross-Cultural Psychology
No discussion
Passed
PSYC 395, Community Internship in Psychology
Discussion: Elective course? Yes.
Passed
PSYC 396, Teaching Practicum in Psychology
Discussion: Typically 3 credit, may be repeated twice for a max. of 6 units
Passed
PSYC 397, Undergraduate Research Seminar
Discussion: Slot class? Seminar component is relatively new; has worked out well. Are there restrictions to number of directed studies? Or is it a limitation of credit hours? This is not eligible for variable credits, it can only be 3 units, so that is not an issue.
Passed
SOCL 217, Urban Sociology
Discussion: Younger students seem to be falling behind, seems more appropriate to second year students. 100 and 200 don’t typically have prerequisites. Idea is to bring this course into alignment with other courses. Issue of advisement: weaker freshmen ought not take this class until later. It is a core class for Social Science and US History.
Passed
Major Revision
B.A. in Psychology
Discussion: Is the minimum grade requirement something particular to Psych? This is delineating that C- is necessary. Program is coming into alignment with what has been widely established in other departments. Requirements (250/251 {10-20% fail first round} and 352) of the major can be taken one additional time after an initial failure, and they must pass with at least a C-. Related requirement in BIO was already established (GPA requirement is C- or better) and it is thought that it should also be stated for the Major.
Passed
Course Deletion
SOCL 260, Population Studies
No discussion
Passed
Spring 2009 UCC Chair
Scheduling conflict for B. Owens in the Spring; he has been scheduled to teach during the meeting times for UCC. A volunteer needed for running meetings, so if someone is willing, please contact B. Owens.
November 25th meeting – proposal to move meeting to December 2 if needed. Agreed and changed.
Comment by T. Bazzett: Chem 119 (passed by this committee today) has been passed by the Core Committee, needs to be brought to the Senate.
Request from J. Johannes: Can Agenda be sent as plain text within the email or as a PDF with the other documents? (difficulties with .docx) B. Owens agrees to have agenda in the email as well as mount a PDF with the other documents on the Dean’s site.
Query from T. Bazzett: Paper copies of proposals needed for student representatives? Agreed that paper is not needed; they will access electronically.
Old Business
None
Adjournment
Bob Owens adjourned the meeting at 4:23 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Tracy Paradis
Summary of UCC Proposals
Full course proposals available at http://boxes.geneseo.edu/outboxes/DeanOfCollege/doc/UCC_pending/
New Course
CHEM 119, Introductory Chemistry
An introduction to the experimental techniques and methodology used to explore matter and chemical reactivity. Experiments include the synthesis and characterization of a compound, identification of unknown substances, an exploration of the gas laws, volumetric and gravimetric analysis, structure and bonding, and acid/base chemistry. Co-requisite or prerequisite: Chem 116. 2(1-3)
Rationale: Based on recommendations from our most recent program review, we are systematically revamping our laboratory courses. The proposed course will allow us to incorporate a project‐based, cooperative learning approach into our laboratory instruction.
Course Revision
PSYC 385, Cross-Cultural Psychology
Changes prerequisite from PSYC 215 to 215 or 216.
Rationale; Both courses are appropriate prerequisites and requiring only one needlessly restricts the prerequisites. Changing the prerequisite to include Psyc 216 will eliminate the need for waivers.
PSYC 395, Community Internship in Psychology
Adds “Note: College policy states that students may apply no more than 15 hours of internship credit toward the baccalaureate degree.”
Rationale: Clarifies college policy
PSYC 396, Teaching Practicum in Psychology
Adds “May be taken twice for credit.”
Rationale: Clarifies current practice.
PSYC 397, Undergraduate Research Seminar
Adds “May be taken twice for credit.”
Rationale: Clarifies current practice.
SOCL 217, Urban Sociology
Delete prerequisite “any 100-level Sociology course or permission of Instructor.”
Change rotation from spring to once/year.
Rationale: “Since this course is in the Social Science Core and the U.S. History Core we want to make it more open to first and second year students trying to fill their core requirements.
Major Revision
B.A. in Psychology
A grade of C- or better is required for each of the following courses: PSYC 250, PSYC 251, and PSYC 352. all courses counted toward the major. If a C- is not earned in PSYC 250 and/or PSYC 251 and/or PSYC 352, majors may repeat PSYC 250 and/or PSYC 251 and/or PSYC 352 each course one time to achieve the required minimum grade. Unless special permission is received from the Chairperson of the Psychology Department, the C- minimum grade for PSYC 250 and PSYC 251 must be earned before enrolling in PSYC 352 any 300-level Psychology courses for which they are prerequisites. Students who do not achieve at least a C- in PSYC 250, PSYC 251, and PSYC 352 will not be allowed to graduate as psychology majors. (See “Repeated Courses: D and E Grade Policy” in this bulletin.) A minimum grade of C- also is required for each course counted in the four Content Area requirements. Courses with a grade of D can be counted only as electives.
Rationale: The proposed change extends the minimum competence requirement to all courses counted toward the major, including four electives. This requirement is intended to ensure that students meet the standards of rigor expected by the department.
Course Deletion
SOCL 260, Population Studies
Rationale: “This course has not been taught in several years…”
Minutes of the Student Affairs Committee
October 8, 2008
Present: C. Geiger (chair), M. Bagel, J. Elmore, W. Eng, V. Farmer, A. Herman, C. Kreutter, R. Lang, C. Matthews, S. McDonald, D. Simmons, M. Witt.
Call to Order
C. Geiger called the meeting to order at 1:30 PM.
Cristina opened the meeting – welcomes, introductions, etc.
Discussed best time to meet
Meetings will be scheduled on Tuesdays at 4, usually the week after Senate meetings
Counseling center staffing – expressed desire to look into in order to make recommendation to Senate in support of need. May provide extra support for seeking permission for new hires. ACTION: discuss as committee to provide resolution for Senate.
Dante’s House (and future specialized housing issues) – was noted that SAC discussed this last year and “gave up.” Discussion of purpose, role of specialized houses and how they are being implemented. Some discussion on possible shortcomings of such focused housing. ACTION: invite Celia Easton to discuss goals, implementation of future houses
Heating and other facility issues – there are problems in some buildings. Issue seems to be taken care of. ACTION: issue seems to be resolved.
Halloween and issues pertaining to last year (e.g., blackface) – SAC met with FARI last year and the issue seems to be exhausted. ACTION: issue seems to be resolved.
Parking – uncertain what the issues are to be addressed. ACTION: will wait to see if future problems or concerns arise.
Food prices – from student perception, there appears to be a significant change from last year. Food is more expensive yet quality is significantly less. There is some confusion since it is understood that there is a new food vendor that is costing less. It was suggested to talk to CAS advisory board and the student reps on that board. Discussion indicated that the board is ineffective and CAS is unresponsive. ACTION: will invite Mark Scott, Executive Director of CAS to talk to SAC.
Registration problems – has been discussed in past with Provost Conway-Turner. Some ideas were explored and feasible adjustments initiated. Question raised about what SAC can do to address this issue at the current time. Committee explored possibilities: mobilizing students to contact Albany, Late Knight activity, etc. ACTION: will continue to address to consider what SAC can do.
Gender neutral housing (housing not restricted by gender) – some discussions are happening in dorms at this time. Is a proposal to test in one part of a dorm. The issue seems to be getting resolved on its own. ACTION: review with Celia Easton when she visits.
All college hour – along with newly proposed block schedule, it appears that eliminating all college hour is a serious possibility. There is a perception that many students are unhappy with removing all college hour. It was noted that many student organizations use this time to meet. Also, GOLD uses this time too. ACTION: Dayshawn will lead an initiative to draft a formal communication to be presented to Senate and Dean Radosh about all college hour.
Two more bullet items to discuss at next meeting (final exam week events and religious holiday policies)
Cristina met with VP Bonfiglio who provided ideas for SAC to consider. Committee reviewed these ideas to discuss which ones should be picked up by committee. Issues which were discussed:
Adjournment
C. Geiger adjourned the meeting at 2:30 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
H. Cristina Geiger