Minutes of The College Senate of the State University of New York College at oneonta
NOVEMBer 12, 2012
The fourth regular meeting of the 2012-2013 College Senate of the State University College at Oneonta was held on November 12, 2012 in the Morris Conference Center at 3:00 pm. The Presiding Officer of the Faculty and the Secretary of the Faculty were both present and serving in their elected capacities for this meeting.
The minutes of the October 15, 2012 regular meeting of the College Senate were distributed before the meeting and were presented for approval. After minor revisions, the minutes were approved by unanimous consent of the faculty. The minutes will be posted on the Senate website:
The Presiding Officer, Renee Walker, had no report, but ceded her time to Barbara Durkin. She made an announcement about the SEFA campaign and the need for aid following the recent storms, last year and this, in New York.
The President, Nancy Kleniewski, gave her report, which was received by the senate secretary to be made available on the website ( She announced that the campaign against bias and violence is going on. Faculty can get involved by asking Bernadette Tiapo to come to classes to talk about bias acts, by being aware of what we say in classes to avoid inadvertently bias language. The Presidents Council on Diversity is in the final stages of being formed. There have been repeated requests for discussions/activities/events focusing on diversity and conversations about this topic are ongoing. There are Soup and Social Justice meetings hosted by Dr. Zanna McKay (Elementary Education and Reading), you can contact her to get more information ().
The Provost, Maria Thompson, gave her report, which was received by the senate secretary to be made available on the website ( She presented an update on the budget model, the first draft of which was recently presented to department chairs and is being revised. In regards to Leadership Development, three department chairs attended the ACE Leadership Academy for Department Chairs, two people went to the EAB Academic Affairs Leadership Summit, two people attended a Students in Transition workshop, and one person attended the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education conference. The academic Dean searches are ongoing this fall (2012) for every school except Education and Human Ecology. A website containing all the updates on the Dean search process will be developed and available to the campus community. At the current time, only the four Dean searches are planned for this fall.
The Student Association President, Jimmy Johnston, gave his report, which was received by the senate secretary to be made available on the website ( He reported that SA went to the Student Assembly conference. The new student activity fee cap increase passed the conference and will go on to the chancellor. Five new clubs are coming to the SA for probationary approval.
The University Faculty Senator, Richie Lee, gave his report, which was received by the senate secretary to be made available on the website ( and in the faculty senator’s corner ( The complete report from the most recent plenary is available. The primary activity was discussion of the new RAM, now called the RAT (Resource Allocation Tool). Several other important activities included discussions of coming changes to the UFS bylaws. These will be voted on at the next plenary, which will be hosted here in late January. Several resolutions were discussed including the Student Mobility Draft, but ultimately no decisions were made. The complete report presentation is available at the faculty senator’s corner (link above). The floor was opened to questions. Questions were raised about the 70% match for course transfer approval, whether there has been conversation about the budget model and transfer decisions, guarantee of transfer of courses into the major vs. into the general education requirements, whether upper level courses as general education courses are dead, whether memoranda of understanding are helpful to ease transfer tensions, whether courses can be added to the transfer pathways. It was recommended that we look at the transfer credit pathways (SUNY.EDU click on prospective student tab and look at the transfer pathways).
Following the comments from the plenary, Todd Foreman, was introduced to explain what the gains and losses in the new RAM mean for our campus. His report was received by the senate secretary to be made available on the website ( Overall, the net result is a positive for SUNY Oneonta in conjunction with the Rational Tuition Increase. There are four basic categories: enrollment, research, geographic location, special mission funding. Oneonta was not the beneficiary of a mission adjustment. Only two schools, EFS and Maritime, will receive this type of support. It has been eliminated for all other campuses. Geographic location adjustments portion of the model accounts for differences in contractual agreements among SUNY schools. The model accounts for research and is unchanged from the prior model. However, a push for federally-funded research is coming down the pike. The greatest influence on Oneonta’s budget occurs in the enrollment category. The 3% growth at Oneonta is far less than at other schools, therefore the largest cut occurred here. In total, our budget will decrease in the amount of ~$720,000 over a three year period. The cut of this size will be absorbed by the rational tuition increase plan. A question was raised about the return on investment of graduate studies. If we could change our course numbers to have more 400- level classes, we would get more funds under this model. Some of the money we receive for increasing graduate enrollment could be used to benefit the campus, for example, for student funding.
There was no unfinished business.
The Academic Master Plan (AMP) task force reported through its chairpersons, John Schaumloffel and Bill Proulx, on Phase 1 of the AMP. Their report and draft mission statement was received by the senate secretary to be made available on the website ( Please bring this information to your departments so that senate can make an informed vote on whether to endorse the final mission statement and AMP Phase 1 diagram at the December 3rd meeting. Please feel free to E-mail your feedback to r , attend an upcoming AMP Phase 1 Task Force meeting (see dates and times), and/or speak with any member of the AMP Phase 1 Task Force (see a list of members). Questions and comments were raised about what “student-focused” means, the meaning of the words “pre-professional,” clarification of the process of the AMP, concern over the “ven diagram” representation, the extent of disagreement and dissention about all aspects of the AMP. The chairpersons were complimented on their impartial response to and acceptance of potentially incendiary questions and comments at the open meetings.
There is a need for a replacement on the Institutional Assessment Committee. Amanda Johnson has been proposed. The replacement passed with a majority vote.
A Resolution on Adjunct Teaching Faculty and General Education Assessment Activities was presented by the Steering Committee and GEAC for consideration by the senate.
WHEREAS, the General Education Assessment Committee has data that indicates Faculty have not been participating fully in General Education Assessment, and;
WHEREAS, 37 to 40 percent of General Education courses randomly selected for assessment in Spring 2011 and Spring 2012 were taught by adjunct faculty, and;
WHEREAS, a lack of clarity surrounds the contractual obligations of part-time teaching faculty. Specifically, adjunct faculty appointment letters state that adjuncts’ only obligation is “to teach”, and;
Whereas, adjuncts at some other SUNY campuses receive extra compensation for assessment activities;
BE IT RESOLVED THAT, the College Senate recommends that adjunct teaching faculty receive extra compensation to participate in General Education assessments, including compensation to perform the assessment and to attend associated workshops and roundtables.
Renee Walker moved to open the floor to discussion; the motion was seconded and passed. The floor was opened to comments. Tom Horvath supports the resolution on behalf of the environmental sciences department. How does the body plan on dealing with APAC assessment required of part-time faculty? Michael Koch, Committee for Part Time Concerns, spoke on the history of this resolution and endorsed this wording. Achim Koedderman moved to call the question. The motion was seconded and passed with a majority vote with one abstention and one nay. The motion passed with a majority vote, one nay, and four abstentions.
The Curriculum Committee reported through its chairperson, Deb Farro-Lynd, on the requested change for a non-course requirement for the Early Childhood and Childhood education programs. The current requirement states: “For entry into Early Childhood methods and Childhood methods blocks, all required courses must be completed with no grades below C.” The proposed requirement states: “For entry into Early Childhood methods and Childhood methods blocks, all required courses must be completed with no grades below C in 100-level courses.” The rationale is that “100-level courses provide, at times, the best foundation of information needed for foundations in the liberal arts and sciences. 200-level courses sometimes are introductory, but at other times reflect advanced levels.” The floor was opened to questions and comments. A question was raised about whether this adjustment would decrease rigor in the program if grades below a C would be accepted in 200-level courses. Richie Lee moved to remand this proposal to curriculum committee for clarification. The motion was seconded. There were no comments; the motion was unanimously supported.
The Committee on Administrative Review reported through its chairperson, Tom Horvath, on the Proposed IT Governance Structure. The report was received by the senate secretary to be made available on the website ( The committee seeks to include a member of faculty governance to the Technology Steering Committee (TSC). The department of Human Ecology is proposing a restructuring that has implications for the restructuring underway at the College. The Committee on Administrative Review had problems with the diagram and the proposed restructuring. The Committee on Administrative Review recommends that the Steering Committee charges the Committee on Resource Planning and Allocation to investigate the costs of this proposed internal restructuring.
The Graduate Committee reported through its chairperson, Cynthia Falk, on proposed changes from the English Department regarding a dormant Master’s program. The report was received by the senate secretary to be made available on the website ( All the changes can be found in their report and include changes to the admissions requirements, thesis options, required credit hours, and foreign language requirement. Questions and concerns were raised, including several comments expressing concern about the lack of a foreign language requirement, concern about elimination of the subject GRE, whether the campus and department have the resources to support this program, and a request for clarification of the required credit hours. A point of clarification was raised that our campus does have graduate foreign language courses. This information should be shared with your departments for voting, which will take place on December 3rd, 2012.
There were no College Community Reports.
The last day for students to sign up for appointment-based tutoring is Friday, November 16th, 2012. Drop-in tutoring will continue through the end of the semester.
The Alden Room Scholar, Dr. William A. Starna, is giving a presentation on Wednesday at 3pm.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:10 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Martha Growdon
Senate Secretary