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Arts & Sciences Senate
HomeRecordsSenate Minutes2008 2009October 27 2008

A&S Senate Meeting
Minutes
October 27, 2008

I.  Approval of tentative agenda:  approved

II.  Approval of minutes from September 22, 2008:  approved

III.  A&S Dean’s Report (J. Staros):

  • Hard-hiring freeze is on.  There will be no changes in the way tenure-track faculty appointments are being handled.  Tenure-track faculty who are up for reappointment will be reappointed under the usual procedures.
  • Faculty/staff contract appointments are limited to one-year appointments.
  • All ongoing faculty/staff searches are currently suspended.

IV.  Report on SoMAS (D. Conover):

  • The Marine Sciences Research Center was created by the trustees of SUNY in 1965 to be SUNY’s Center for Marine Sciences and Education.
  • Initial mission was marine research and graduate education.  Started with just a Master’s Degree and ten or twelve faculty members.  The Center has grown dramatically since 1965. 
  • Last year the Marine Sciences Research Center became the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences due to the fact that we adopted an the undergraduate program in Marine Sciences from Long Island University.  We decided we needed facilities that would provide the opportunities for students to be out on the field.  Hence the securing of Southampton by Stony Brook.  Southampton has waterfront and students are taught out on the bay for research, etc.
  • We are the only public or private institution in the state that offers Marine Sciences Bachelor’s, Master’s and Ph.D.’s.
  • Recently established a new Institute for Ocean Conservation with a 3.5M grant from the Pew Foundation to support its mission over the next five years.
  • We received 1 Mil. from the legislature for a Marine Animal Disease Lab to study the lobster die-off from 1999 in addition to other diseases in marine animals.  Have hired two faculty members to staff the lab.
  • Capital budget (6.9M) to build a new Marine Sciences facility at Southampton is on hold due to the budget.

V.  Curriculum Committee Report (N. Tomes):

  • Dr. Tomes introduced the two new co-chairs for the Curriculum Committee, Dr. Edmund Chang and Dr. Darcy Lonsdale.
  • This year was a slightly less demanding than the previous two years.
  • Two examples of departments that have brought up rather significant revisions to their curriculums  and have since been trying to go in new directions or expand on already valuable directions are the Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies Program (taking more into account their growing Cinema Studies and also the connection with the Digital Arts and Media) and the steady attempt to refine the Asian and American Studies Program.
  • Discussion regarding identical courses was deferred until there is a representative present at an A&S Senate meeting from Southampton.
  • Difficulty finding tenured faculty to serve on the Committee

Motion to accept the Curriculum Committee with correction:  Kane Gillespie’s name was not included on report.  All in Favor:   passed.

VI.  Proposed Amendments to PTC Guidelines (J. Davila):

  • Amendment #1:  Change to PTC Guidelines on Research Statements.  Statement added to 2.4.3.4:  “In addition, a scholarship statement should be included. The statement should begin with a brief description of the candidate’s scholarly work using language that is accessible to the non-specialist. This should be followed by a more detailed description of the scholarly work that may contain more technical language and that will be useful to colleagues in the candidate’s field who are evaluating the scholarship. The statement should be substantial enough to give the PTC and other readers a sense of the scope, significance, and future trajectory of the candidate’s work. ”
  • Amendment #2 to Biographical File: 6. Current Research or Other Creative Activities (This statement should begin with a brief description of the candidate’s scholarly work using language that is accessible to the non-specialist. This should be followed by a more detailed description of the scholarly work that may contain more technical language and that will be useful to colleagues in the candidate’s field who are evaluating the scholarship. The statement should be substantial enough to give the PTC and other readers a sense of the scope, significance, and future trajectory of the candidate’s work.)
  • Change Personnel Policy Committee to Promotion and Tenure Committee.
  • Would like a link to Biographical File to be placed on A&S Senate Website under “Key Documents”.

Dr. Ben-Zvi called for a vote to accept the amendments as worded:  
All in Favor:  All in favor of accepting PTC amendments; against:  none; abstain:  none.

All in favor of accepting the PTC Report:  All in favor for accepting Report; against:  none; abstain:  none.

VI.  Election of Vice President:

Aimee De Chambeau (VP elect) introduced herself and informed the Senate of her background and qualifications

All in favor of Aimee De Chambeau for Vice President of A&S Senate:  all in favor:  all in favor; against:  none; abstain:  none.  

VII.  A&S President’s Report (R. Ben-Zvi):
No Report.

Meeting adjourned at 4:55 p.m.

Submitted by:

Laurie Theobalt
Secretary

Senate Minutes
Senate Minutes