College Senate Bulletin
| Bulletin 18 Pages 580 - 589 18 February 2000 | |
| Contents |
| Page | Topic |
| | Announcements |
| 581 | Last Call for Nominations for Senate Officers and Senators at Large |
| 581 | Next Senate Meeting |
| 581 | Upcoming Committee Meetings |
| 582 | Outline of the SOFI Forum, Part 2 |
| Messages from Chair | |
| 583 | New Senator at Large |
| 583 | New Student Senators |
| 583 | Input sought: Constitutional amendment on FPC elections |
| 583-585 | University Faculty Senator's Report form January Plenary Session |
| | Agenda |
| 586-588 | College Senate (22 February) |
| | Minutes |
| 588-589 | Policy Committee (15 February) |
___________________________________________
Correspondence: Becky L. Glass, Department of Sociology, Sturges 122C
E-mail: senate@geneseo.edu Phone: 245-5336
__________________________________________________________________
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Call for Nominations
Candidates for Spring College Senate Elections
The Committee on Nominations is compiling a slate of candidates for College Senate officers and senators at large. Please suggest candidates for these positions by Monday, February 21 to a member of the Nominations Committee: Jim Allen (Psychology), Randy Bailey (History), Rachel Hall (English), Pat Murphy (Sociology), Wendy Pogozelski (Chemistry), Anne-Marie Reynolds ( SOPA).
Next College Senate Meeting
Tuesday, February 22
4:00 pm, Newton 204
Upcoming Committee Meetings
| Executive Committee | 12:45 pm | Mar. 2 | South 110 |
| Faculty Affairs Comm. | 4:00 pm | Mar. 14 | South 309 |
| Agenda: to discuss the report of Subcommittee on Student Evaluations | |||
We alternate between desire and regret.
-Seneca
Outline of the SOFI Forum, Part 2
Held Feb. 16, repeated Feb. 17
Local Forms: Pros
- Offers control over
-2)format
-3)administration
- Faculty receive discursive comments along with numerical scores on same sheet
- Offers continuity to see process over time
- Relatively inexpensive base cost (approx. $5000)
- Relatively brief
- Information on local student demographics and self-evaluation of student effort
- Hidden costs (labor intensive, work study, etc.)
- Designed by political process/committee with no expertise in measurement & with multiple biases (e.g., disciplinary, pedagogical)
- Lack of research basis
- Questionable validity and replicability
- At this moment, students and faculty may lack confidence in the local form
- At this moment, local form does not allow disciplinary and pedagogical differences
- Expertise (e.g., in teaching and learning styles)
- Research base (there are 2,000+ scholarly articles on the subject)
- Offer validity and replicability
- Designed by people with testing expertise
- Campus neutral
- May inspire greater confidence in the process among students and faculty
- Historical continuity in data
- Some labor would be transferred to the national organization
- Lack of institutional control
- Comments may be separated out from the numerical data
- Base cost higher while some hidden costs will still remain
- Could be more time consuming for students to complete
MESSAGES FROM CHAIR
New Senator at Large
Chi-Ming Tang will serve as a senator-at-large-over-six-years for this term, replacing Patrice Case who is on sabbatical. He will replace Patrice as a member of the Student Affairs Committee. Welcome and thank you, Chi-Ming, for being willing to serve.
Welcome to the following new student senators: Rebecca Bienvenue (Policy), Mary Carney (UCC), Rebecca LaFountain (SAC), Jennifer Pacella (SAC), Laura Stellrecht (SAC), and Carrie Thomas (SAC). Thank you for your willingness to serve!
Constitutional Amendment for Faculty Personnel Committee Elections
The Executive Committee will present a Constitutional amendment from the Committee on Nominatons at the March 7 meeting. The amendment specifies FPC election procedures, and will be voted on during the Spring elections. The wording is printed on pp. 564-565 of the Senate Bulletin. The Executive Committee is currently considering the amendment. Your input is welcomed by the Executive Committee and the Committee on Nominatons.
University Faculty Senate Meeting Report from
January Plenary Session
To: College Senate
From: Ed Wallace, University Faculty Senator
Re: Proceedings of the Plenary Meeting in Buffalo - 28-29 January 2000
Friday, 28 January 2000
-
- Senate President J. Flynn described to the Senate his communications with Central Administration and the Board of Trustees since the October meeting in Potsdam. He described ways in which the Trustees have responded to the bill of particulars described in last April's vote of no confidence. Specifically, Flynn indicated that he is now invited to address the Trustees at their meetings and that the faculty have been involved in searches for System Level appointments recently, most notably in the Chancellor's search. The Executive Committee will "assess the status of the vote of no confidence in the coming weeks." Progress is being made and we are "getting there, but aren't there yet."
- Senator Collier from Albany Center discussed aspects of the General Education Requirement. In particular, he referenced a letter from Provost Salins to the campus presidents concerning policies relating to the implementation of the policy. I have placed this letter, and the question/answer attachment on reserve at Milne Library. Notable among the clarifications is a statement students transferring from a community college with an AA/AS will not automatically satisfy core requirements, implying that current articulation agreements are "null and void" in this respect.
- Dave DeMarco presented an overview of the 2000-2001 Executive Budget. Compared to recent years, this budget is quite favorable. An approximate 9% funding increase, no proposed cut in TAP (I can’t recall when that happened last) etc. I have placed DeMarco's report on reserve in Milne also.
- Newly appointed Chancellor Bob King opened the afternoon session by addressed the Senate for the first time. King promised a renewed commitment on the part of the state in supporting SUNY. Statements such as "It has become remarkably clear to the governor and to me that the thing that is most vital to New York Sate is brainpower, and this requires having a strong State University," "It is my responsibility to be an advocate for the university," and "Part of my responsibility is to tell the story of SUNY, because it is compelling. We need to tell the story better and more often."
- Provost Salins made a short presentation and fielded questions. He said that mission review had been started at 63 of the 64 campuses (Brooklyn HSC has not as yet begun the process).
- On Saturday morning several resolutions were introduced:
King emphasized a need to increase funded research, corporate alliances and alumni support for the system. He has encouraged Provost Salins to raise the goal for the Research Initiative from $800 milli0n to $1 billion, in effect doubling funding in the last 5 years.
King also indicated that he is committed to helping the SUNY Health Science Centers solve the financial problems they have experienced with their affiliated teaching hospitals.
The Provost's Office is in the process of implementing SUNY Connect, an electronic library system wide.
The SUNY Learning Network is in operation enrolling roughly 10,000 students in about 500 courses.
Salins had several comments concerning the General Education policy that the trustees are implementing. Campus programs are due in the Provost's office within the next month. Salins will make the final decision. Partial implementation may occur if an entire program is not approved. Freshmen that enroll in fall 2000 will be required to complete the Gen. Ed. Requirement for graduation. Community Colleges will be required to provide at least 21 hours of the Gen. Ed. Requirements to students pursuing and AA/AS. The remaining hours would then be completed at a four-year campus. Some Gen. Ed. Courses may be available over SUNY Learning Network. Salins has taken the position that courses imported via distance learning must be adopted by the receiving campus. Salins also indicated that eventually there may be a common numbering system across campuses for core courses. Most senators felt that this idea should be closely monitored.
-
- The Governance Committee moved to recommend that local campus governance organizations include a statement in their by-laws to encourage "direct communication … between the administration and the elected faculty representatives" in order to "help improve decision making in the University." This resolution passed unanimously.
- The governance committee moved to encourage local campus governance organizations to adopt a distance learning policy. This resolution passed unanimously.
- The Undergraduate Committee moved to recommend that the President and Provost of each unit ensure that local programs are reviewed continuously, with an account of such review to be prepared every five years. This resolution passed unanimously.
- The Graduate Studies and Research Committee moved to recommend that all University Faculty Senate mailings and other communications be dome electronically in order to reduce costs and increase timeliness. This resolution passed unanimously.
College Senate Meeting
22 February 2000
4:00 pm
Agenda
Call to Order
Adoption of Agenda
Approval of the Minutes of the Previous Meeting
(7 December, Bulletin pp.531-540)
Senate Reports
| Chair's Report | B. Glass | ||
| President's Report | | ||
| | Report on Governor's Budget | K. Levison, in C. Dahl's absence | |
| Provost's Report | B. Dixon | ||
| Treasurer's Report | M. Mohan | ||
| University Faculty Senator's Report | E. Wallace | ||
| Central Council Report | A. Gridley | ||
Reports of the Standing Committees
| Undergraduate Curriculum | T. Bazzett |
Second Readings (A motion will be made to present these in packages by depts.)
| Business | |
| Course Deletion: | Econ 261 Legal Environment of the Economy (course content remains under Mgmt 261) (p. 482) |
| Course Revision: | Change prerequisite for Mgmt 390 Strategic Management (p. 483) |
| | |
| Interdisciplinary | |
| Revision of Major Program: | International Relations Major (pp. 484-488) |
| | |
| Several Departments | |
| Deletion of courses not offered for five years: | (All on p. 489) Bio 205 Principles of Evolution |
| | Intd 206 Discovery of Language |
| | Intd 287 Comparative Labor Studies |
| | Mgmt 282 Public Events Management |
| | Mgmt 335 Consumer Behavior |
| | Mgmt 336 Marketing Channels & Logistics |
| | Mgmt 351 Operations Research |
| | Mgmt 380 Business Research Methods |
| | Plsc 321 Politics of Advanced Societies |
| | Plsc 339 Problems of American Political Thought |
| | Wrtg 100 Process of Writing |
| | |
| Sociology | |
| New Course: | Socl 285 Sociology of Sex & Gender Diversity (pp. 490-502) |
| Course Deletion: | Socl 221 Field Project on Social Inequality (p. 503) |
| | |
| Interdisciplinary | |
| Revision of Minor Program: | Environmental Studies (pp. 504-507) Add Biol 311 Plant Taxonomy to third-level electives |
| | |
| Biology | |
| Revision of Major Program: | Delete Computer Science requirements (pp. 508-511) |
| | |
| History | |
| Course Deletions: | Hist 238 European Social History of 19th & 20th Centuries (p. 512) |
| | Hist. 256 Youth in Early America (p. 512) |
| | |
| School of Performing Arts | |
| Course Revision: | Danc 265 Dance Ensemble (p. 513) Add corequisite |
| | |
| Physics | |
| New Course: | Phys 314 Fluid Mechanics (pp. 514-517) |
| | |
| Interdisciplinary | |
| Revision of Minor Program: | Linguistics Minor (pp. 518-522) |
| | |
| Undergraduate Academic Policies, Core, and Review | B. Gohlman |
| Graduate Academic Affairs | | Judy Bushnell |
| Faculty Affairs | N. Schiavetti |
| Student Affairs | E. Crosby |
Unfinished Business
New Business
Minutes of the Undergraduate Academic Policy, Core and Review Committee, February 15, 2000
Members present: Keith Barnes, Rebecca Bienvenue, Charlie Freeman, Ed Gillen,Bill Gohlman (Chair), Savi Iyer, Steve Kirsh,Sonja Landes, Janice Lovett, Joyce Miller, Jeff Over, Emily Spilman, Don Watt
Guest: Tom Greenfield
The meeting was called to order at 4:08 p.m. by Chair Gohlman.
The first order of business was a request from the Executive Committee to consider the current text of the Constitutional Amendment regarding the Faculty Personnel Committee Election protocols. The committee discussed several places in the amendment which were considered ambiguous or imprecise and suggested changes to be forwarded to the Executive Committee.
The second order of business was the consideration of the proposal from the General Education Committee recommending a foreign language requirement to be added to the Graduation requirements. Dean Greenfield was available to answer questions. D. Watt asked for clarification of the institutional costs of implementing such a requirement. The Dean shared estimates of the number of incoming students who would be able to waive the requirement based on their high school curricula versus the number who would require one or more semesters of college foreign language instruction. The estimate
for language course sections would be between 15 and 20 sections per semester. D. Watt then asked whether 4 years of high school language was the level of proficiency which should be expected from a Geneseo graduate. It was not the preferred level but it was the minimum level. S. Iyer asked whether students would receive credit or a waiver for the high school language. The students would have the requirement waived. J. Lovett asked
about the discrepancy between the level of proficiency which students with four years of high school language show when they are placed following completion of the Foreign Language Placement Exam and the requirement for proficiency through 202. Since few students with four years of language place higher than 201, isn't waiving the requirement inaccurate? Having more language was only seen to benefit students. She then asked what would happen to the projected need for faculty as guidance counselors recognized
the advantage of completing the fourth year of language before entering Geneseo and advised more students in that direction. If demand decreased, foreign language faculty would be able to participate in other areas, e.g. the Humanities program as is currently the situation. E. Gillen asked if whether the reverse could hold for people in the foreign languages who now teach in the Humanities, could they become exclusively teaching in foreign languages. D. Watt suggested specifically hiring persons who could switch
to other areas, comparative literature or international studies, in case projected student numbers go down. S. Iyer asked whether any courses could count towards another General Education requirement, for example Multicultural, as a way to decrease the loss of free electives for students who may need up to 12 hours of foreign language. B. Gohlman said that Foreign Language is considering some "creative" ways to complete the requirement. D. Watt asked about student perceptions of the proposal. Dean Greenfield said there had been no time yet for student forums or discussion in the Lamron. K. Barnes asked whther this would be an addition to the current requirements or a substitution. It would be an addition. He commented that Gen. Ed. requirements seem to always reduce the number of electives. Dean Greenfield replied that in this case it was the Board of Trustees who appeared to be distrustful of student's ability to graduate
with a balanced curriculum. E. Spilman and S. Iyer asked what was the minimum requirement requested by the Trustees. The minimum would be 3 yrs. high school or 1 semester college. D. Watt asked whether positions would come from existing lines or new lines. That was unknown but the positions would be phased in. S. Iyer asked what other school's language requirements were. Schools which did have a requirement usually had at least two semesters although four semesters was at the high end. Brockport is
proposing the same level as us. The Trustees are asking for graduates in 2004 and beyond to have completed some foreign language proficiency requirement.
Discussion was ended and the proposal was voted on: yea - 9, nay -2, abstain - 0. The proposal passed.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:08 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Janice A. Lovett