Arts and Sciences Senate
Minutes
October 18, 2010

I.  Approval of Agenda:  approved.

II.  Approval of Minutes from September 20, 2010.

III.  Dean’s Report (N. Squires)

• No retrenchment of employees for Stony Brook.
• Officially, Albany did not retrench but has suspended admissions to programs in the hopes that faculty will take early retirement or seek jobs elsewhere.
• Stony Brook is not planning on any department closures or retrenchment at this time.
• Restructuring as an alternative to eliminating lines.  Trying hard to avoid losing tenure or tenure-track faculty or staff.  Within CAS:  considering restructuring in several academic and administrative areas.
• Some staff may be reassigned.  Some vacant lines will not be filled.
• Goals:  preserve tenure and tenure-track jobs in departments that are vulnerable because of size or lack of graduate programs; protect junior faculty; preserve academic programs; achieve economies by reorganizing administrative structures and increasing department size and no impact on faculty workload or scholarly endeavors.
• The A&S Senate wanted to know if their concerns were passed on to the upper administration regarding the absence of an Environmental Master Plan to go along with other plans of the 50 Forward Project:  Yes it has been passed on to the Provost and the Bain Company.  “The Facilities Master Plan is to identify opportunities to enhance, maintain or improve the built environment for the 10 year period 2013-2023.  We are not specifically charged with assessing environmental impact in a technical sense.” 
• Received a statement from B. Chernow.  The FMP is looking at the location of buildings, the sites of buildings, the height of buildings as part of the plan to improve the campus.  They are looking at changing traffic patterns in areas of greatest activities on campus when they relocate offices like student services, etc.  The consultants will also share greening opportunities and potential technologies.
• On Graduate Student fees:  This is a matter to discuss with Lawrence Martin and the Graduate School.  CAS is not involved.

IV.  Sustainability Studies Program (M. Schoonen)

• Structure of program:  Five majors were relocated from Southampton and the development of curricula in Geographical Information Systems to Stony Brook. 
• Ecosystems and Human Impact, BA
• Coastal Environmental Studies, BS
• Sustainability Studies, BA
• Environmental Design, Policy, Planning, BA
• Environmental Humanities, BA
• Sustainability Studies Program is not Stony Brook-Southampton
• Most of the students who relocated were SoMAS students.
• Since August about 30% new students added to the five majors/minors.  Most students were recruited to Stony Brook not Southampton.
• Enrollment:  123 enrolled in either a minor or major (90 are majors in the program).
• Eight FT lecturers all relocated from Southampton.  Three tenure-track Asst. Professors relocated from Southampton and placed in discipline departments within CAS.
• Located in Psychology A, third floor.  Plans are to move to Grad Chemistry, third floor.  Renovation plans are being developed with Facilities.
• Need to resolve uncertainty with respect to lawsuit and the notion of reopening campus.  Need to increase visibility of program among students on campus and recruits.
• Loss of teaching capacity by placing faculty in discipline departments.
• Town Hall meetings every month with student during campus life time.
• Reports to the Provost.

V.  Report on Student Evaluations and the new Faculty Center (P. Aceves)

• The Faculty Center is located on the first floor of the library facing the academic mall.

• Looking to move student evaluations online.  Pilot testing will being this semester.
• Many students leave before filling out the evaluations especially at the end of the semester.  Should consider mid-semester evaluations.
• G. Glynn and P. Aceves presented to a number of faculty constituencies around campus on the course evaluation process.  Over a year ago, the University Assessment Committee began a process to 1)  revise the end of semester course evaluation questions (they are about 30 year 0ld), and 2)  to discuss the idea of putting the course evaluation form survey online. 
• If any faculty member is interested in participating in the pilot program, please call the Faculty Center.

VI.  Old Business:  None.

VII.  New Business:  None.

Meeting adjourned at 5:05 p.m.
Submitted by:  Laurie Theobalt, Secretary