Delhi College Senate

Meeting Minutes

September 12, 2011

Senators Present: S. Babcock, J. Backus-Foster, A. Burger, J. Burgess, S. Carlson, M. DeFreece, D. Dougherty, L. Goodwin-Burwood, T. Hamblin, C. Levitt, K. MacLeod, M. McKenna, A. Mitchell, J. Morgan, K. Ogborn, S. Poe (Proxy held by C. Levitt), S. Shoemaker, D. Sivers (proxy held by J. Miller), A. Smith, D. Stein, S. Swayze, A. Thompson, C. Vesterfelt, M. Wake, J. Yando & K. Zuber (proxy held by J. Morgan)

Senators Absent: A. Sohns (excused)

Guest: J. Nader

Meeting called to order at 4:15 pm by Presider J. Miller

President’s Report submitted by Provost Nader

• Mission Statement--change to the College’s Mission Statement; worked to make it more easily accessible; align to the College’s goals
• Uniform Course Syllabus—took another look at the UCS; repository on Vancko Hall in response to internal future needs
• Common Hour—more courses that conflicted this semester were the result of added sections/ course added as the need arose; Provost is working with Registrar to block Common Hour off of the schedule in Banner in the future.
• Final Exam Schedule should be out September 21^st

Meeting minutes for June 13, 2011—Motion to approve with changes to Academic Policy Change Recommendations 4 & 5, motion to approve S. Swayze; seconded, J. Burgess; abstentions, K. MacLeod & S. Babcock.

Scholarship Resolution

• Discussion on scholarship winners being asked to serve on Senate committees
• Corrections: Delhi College Foundation to College Foundation and all references to the scholarship should read SUNY Delhi College Senate Scholarship
• Motion to approve with changes T. Hamblin; seconded, M. McKenna; approved.
• Approved version below

Resolution on College Senate Scholarship

 Whereas, in an effort to provide meaningful scholarship support to deserving students in an era of increasing college costs the SUNY Delhi College Senate has had the authority to award four academic division-based student scholarships on an annual basis through an account held by the College Foundation office

 Whereas, SUNY Delhi has formally restructured from four Academic Divisions to three Academic Divisions

 Whereas, financial stability and longevity of the aforementioned fund is of utmost importance

 Therefore, be it resolved that the SUNY Delhi College Senate has agreed to lower the number of awarded scholarships to three to reflect the change in divisions and,

Be it further resolved that in an effort to maintaining the financial longevity of the fund from which said support is drawn, the amount of each scholarship shall be $500 to be distributed to each awardee over the next academic year ($250 each semester), using the following criteria:

• > Student will complete at least 24 credit hours at SUNY Delhi by the end of the Spring semester in which they are nominated for the award.
• > Student must be returning to SUNY Delhi for the following academic year.
• > Student will have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5 by the end of the semester prior to the semester in which they are nominated.
• > Student will come highly recommended by faculty, as demonstrated by written recommendation included in the nomination to the College Senate.

 Be it further resolved that recipients of the SUNY Delhi College Senate Scholarship award will be asked to serve as a student member of a College Senate committee during the upcoming academic year.

 Each division shall nominate up to three students for this award by April 15th, at which time the College Senate will choose one recipient from each division and thereby notify the Foundation office by the end of the College Senate session in June. Award will be applied to the returning student’s account the following Fall and subsequent Spring semester.

New Mission Statement

• Discussion on including the use of internships is some academic areas and if they should be showcased in the mission statement
• Question on diversity
• Discussion on beginning the mission statement with the word Because
  • Senate would like to see it have a stronger, declarative statement
  • Want the audience of the information to see the strength of the statement
  • Senate members expressed a positive reaction to the mission statement
  • Possible suggestion-- “The student is the most important member of the SUNY Delhi community, therefore the college is committed to each student’s success through academic achievement, civic engagement and experiential learning.”
  • Approve the new mission statement with respectful submission of suggestions; motion to approve, S. Babcock; seconded, L. Goodwin-Burwood.

Intercollegiate Athletic Board

• Annual report to the Senate
  • Currently have full membership except student representatives
  • Proposal to use members from new committee – Student Athletic Board – in the future
  • Student Athletic Board is a new subcommittee of the IAB that is impartial and not under the administration of the athletic department; will need to create a charge and bylaws

New Committee Chairs

• New chairs needed for Chancellor’s Committees (1)Excellence in Professional Service and Excellence in Classified Service & (2) Excellence in Faculty Service, Excellence in Librarianship, Excellence in Creative and Scholarly Activity
• Discussion on job duties—contact the Presider if you are interested or someone from your functional area is interested

Old Business

• Final Exam schedule is supposed to be public on 9/20/11
• Committee membership status –Operations committee is working on this.
• POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. CAMPUS WIDE DISCUSSION TO COMMENCE -- Proposed By-laws change pertaining to service of MC staff.

Next meeting September 26, 2011 at 4:15 pm