Farmingdale Executive Committee

Draft Minutes of September 24, 2010

Ward Hall, Conference Room

Present: Dr. Lloyd Makarowitz, Chair FEC; Dr. Hubert Keen; Dr. Lucia Cepriano; Dr. Tom Corti; Dr. Kathy Jacquette; Dr. Matthew Bahamonde; Dr. Elizabeth Sullivan; Dr. Bahar Zoghi; Dr. Marie-Helen Maras; Prof. Mary Stedman; Prof. George Fernandez; Prof. John Browne; Prof. Mary Villani; Prof. Sharon Struminger; Ms. Debbie Nilsen; Ms. Karen Gelles; Ms. Dionne Walker-Belgrave.

Regrets: Dr. Jeff Gaab.

The meeting was called to order at 9:30 a.m.

Approval of Minutes / The minutes of September 17, 2010 were approved as amended.
Vice President for Student Affairs Tom Corti / The Vice President for Student Affairs, Dr. Corti, was welcomed by Chairperson Makarowitz. Dr. Corti informed the committee that he is looking at developing several new projects. One such initiative involves obtaining new student housing. Another potential project concerns establishing an office of Veterans Affairs to assist student veterans.
The President commented that the college urgently needs a professional with administrative and leadership experience in student affairs, such as Dr. Corti. The President further noted that in the two months that Dr. Corti has been at FSC he has managed to analyze and pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses of student affairs at the college.
Reports of Liaisons from Last Year / Curriculum. The committee did not meet this week. However, Chairperson Makarowitz wanted to address certain issues that arose concerning the committee’s attempts to reduce paper dependence. The Chairperson of the Curriculum Committee expressed difficulty with obtaining a computer laboratory for the meetings scheduled on Thursdays at 9:30 a.m. Consequently, the committee is seeking either an alternative time and date to hold the meetings or the use of members’ personal computer laptops during the meetings.
Elections. The committee met on Tuesday, 21 September 2010. A Chair and secretary were elected. Dr. Maras was elected as Chair and Nancy Flood was elected as secretary of the committee by acclamation.
Prof. Fernandez asked whether or not a liaison of FEC can be the Chair of another committee. Chairperson Makarowitz stated that because Dr. Maras is the secretary of the FEC she is automatically a member of the Elections committee. This differs from the new rules that prohibit someone from concurrently serving on two standing committees.
Promotions. A chairperson and secretary were elected. Dr. Agnes Kalemaris was elected as Chair and Ms. Carol Greenholz was elected as secretary of the committee. Dr. Jacquette noted that the committee still needs members.
On September 16, 2010, a meeting was held where the applicants for promotion attended. Approximately eight people are applying for promotion this cycle. Another meeting will be held by Dr. Kalemaris with the Chairs of the unit and department promotions committees.
The Provost informed Dr. Jacquette that certain concerns were posed to her regarding the promotions meeting held on September 16th. Specifically, it was stated during the meeting that applicants that were denied promotion or had their files sent back to them for not being compliant with existing standards could not use the same external reviewers for their applications for the new promotion cycle. The Provost asked Dr. Jacquette if she could take this issue to the committee for clarification.
Planning and Budget. Dr. Bahamonde stated that he cannot serve as a liaison for this committee because he has a class that runs during the time that the meeting is held. Prof. Fernandez is considering taking the place of Dr. Bahamonde on this committee for this semester. If this occurs, Dr. Bahamonde will serve as the liaison for the Sabbatical and Reduced Hours committee in place of Prof. Fernandez.
Rules. Prof. Browne informed the FEC that the current members of the standing committees were posted on the Intranet.
Sabbatical and Reduced Hours. The committee will meet on September 30, 2010 to elect a new Chair.
Report of the Provost / International Universities. FSC is receiving attention from international universities. In particular, it is receiving frequent requests to meet with our counterparts in foreign universities with the aim of finding areas of collaboration, faculty exchange, student exchange and studying abroad opportunities. These past two weeks alone FSC has had visitors from Edinburgh, China, Australia and Denmark.
SUNY Vice Chancellor of International Affairs and Programs. SUNY has a new Vice Chancellor of International Affairs and Programs. The new Vice Chancellor has developed an international recruitment plan, which will contract with one agent to recruit in different countries for international students. FSC has joined this program. This program is self-sustaining. SUNY would get a small percentage of the application fee of each student that is encouraged to apply through these agencies in order to sustain this program.
SUNY College Night. SUNY College Night had a very successful turnout. Approximately 1,000 students and over 3,000 visitors attended.
International Baccalaureate Diploma. An increasing number of students admitted to FSC have completed international baccalaureate courses and diplomas. The Provost stressed the importance of having staff and faculty set the equivalency standards for the courses offered by the international baccalaureate program. To do so, FSC staff and faculty need to review the courses from the international baccalaureate program that have been accepted as equivalent to the courses offered at other SUNY campuses. The Provost further noted that staff and faculty must also determine which courses will be accepted by FSC.
Transfer Credit Evaluation. A new part-time assistant was hired to help Ms. Amy Stier with the transfer credit evaluation of the 721 transfer students that have been admitted to FSC. It is expected that the evaluation will be completed before the Thanksgiving break.
Report of the President / Transfer Students. The President stated that there has been an increase in the number of transfer students admitted to FSC. SUNY measures selectivity by the freshman admitted into the college. By increasing the number of transfer students admitted to the program, FSC can focus its attention on limiting the number of freshman admitted to the most qualified.
Facilities Projects. A meeting of the administrative council on the physical plant developments on campus and the development of the Facilities Master Plan (FMP) that is underway for the college will be held on Tuesday, September 27, 2010. An open campus meeting will be scheduled as well. The date will be set for this meeting at the beginning of next week (date now set: October 19, 2010 at 11 a.m. in Gleeson Hall Room 202).
Middle States. On September 23, 2010, the head of the visiting team for the Middle States accreditation was confirmed. The person selected for the position, Dr. Davie Jane Gilmour, President of the Pennsylvania College of Technology, actually held the same position during the Middle States visit to FSC in 2001.
OSI. OSI planned to move its facilities to Westchester including its research facility at FSC. However, OSI was bought by a Japanese company, Astellas, which has indicated that it may keep its research facility at FSC.
SUNY land lease resolution. The SUNY board adopted a resolution to establish a land lease for the Broad Hollow facilities that would be operated independently rather than under state guidelines which are very restrictive. Legislation is required before this is final.
Invitation to Dr. Veronica Henry. The President stated that he would invite Dr. Henry to the next FEC meeting to discuss the projects she is working on.
Invocations, benediction and expressions of religion in public meetings on campus. The President informed the committee that a brief draft of a policy addressing the invocations, benediction and expressions of religion in public meetings on campus was formulated. There is no SUNY regulation on this matter. The draft will be shared with the FEC and Governance.
Report of the Chair / Student Affairs and Services. A recommendation for Lena Cuomo’s replacement on a committee was postponed until after FEC members discussed this with potential candidates. Ms. Walker-Belgrave informed Chairperson Makarowitz that Stacey Gardner was willing to serve as a replacement.
Promotions Committee. Two replacements from the School of Business are required. Jack Harris and Jill O’ Sullivan have volunteered. The FEC decided to wait to appoint them. The Provost stated that it is not in the best interest of untenured faculty to serve on this committee. The Dean of the School of Business is working on finding tenured faculty that could serve on this committee.
Issue of Professionals Working as Professors in the Aviation Department. Chairperson Makarowitz communicated the concerns of some faculty on the use of professionals working as professors. The President stated that he does not foresee a significant number of faculty positions being filled by full-time lecturers. He further noted that professors form the core of the academic mission of the institution and it is in the college’s best interest to maintain quality tenured/tenure-track faculty members. According to the Provost, this will be undermined if FSC begins hiring faculty without the appropriate credentials and research agendas.
Report on the Safety Committee / Prof. Struminger informed FEC members that the Health and Safety Committee has been tasked with developing a policy on prohibiting smoking on campus. Two open campus meetings were held on this issue, which faculty, students and staff attended. FSC cannot completely ban smoking. However, the committee is working on making FSC a smoke-free environment. The President expressed his support for actions that will advance the interests of health and wellness on campus. The committee is also working on developing smoking cessation and education programs.
Ms. Gelles pointed out that the college again appeared on the list of safest colleges in the U.S. She asked if the campus crime incidents could be communicated as they occur; for example, via email or a blogger section in a newsletter. The President replied that he would explore this issue further with the institutional advancement office, communications office and campus police.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:08 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Dr. Marie-Helen Maras

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