Arts and Sciences Senate Agenda 
March 23, 2015

I.  3:30-3:35 
Approve Agenda 
Approve Minutes from February

II.  3:35-4:15 Dean's Report 
    Discussion of several new committees - feedback from Senate

III.  4:15 Vote on bylaws language   

IV.  4:55 (hopefully earlier) New Business?

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A&S Senate Meeting          
Minutes
February 16, 2015

I.  Approval of Agenda:  approved.

II.  Approval of minutes from November 18, 2014:  approved.

III.  Report from CAS Dean (S. Kopp)

• Working with departments about our teaching needs for next year.  Still in the midst of that process.  What are all the courses that the departments would like to be offering to be able to deliver on their undergraduate and graduate degrees.  At the same time we need to get a sense of the headcount of faculty available in all departments.
• There are some new curricular proposals that are difficult to assess right now.  Have asked the departments to slow down a bit because we want to make sure we deliver on courses for next year.
• A committee of Lecturers in the College have been looking into a proposal to create the titles of Senior Lecturer and Advanced Senior Lecturer.  The proposal has also been given to a subcommittee of departmental chairs.  Hope to make public in early March the details of the proposal.  They will not be HR titles.  It would be recognizing years of service at the University.  Proposed 6 and 12 year minimum of service.
• We are looking at shifting how we do course assignments for next year.  Need to use the M-W-F time slots more.  Asked the chairs to be looking at more classes that can be delivered on M-W-F.
• Reminding Chairs of existing policies.  There is a policy that if faculty are going to be traveling for conferences or business, they have to be covered by arranging for a substitute.
• We have a subgroup of Chairs meeting regarding the role of advising.

IV.  PTC Vote on Splitting Committee into two groups (M. Schedel)

• Have agreed to have split the Promotion and Tenure Committee into two groups which would double the membership.
• Vote today on “the spirit” of the law and then next time we will write in the PTC by-law legalese so that we can have a clear and concise vote today on the issues.

Vote # 1:  Should the PTCS be consisted of only full professors?
a)    Yes 
b)    No 
c)    Yes – with a floating associate member similar to the floating junior member of the current PTC

There was a question how long the term would be?  It would be the same as the floating junior member on the current PTC.

What are the Pros and Cons?

M. White:  In the past, the PTC with both Jr. and Sr. faculty members has not issue in terms of making decisions that were well thought out.  There is a point in entertaining faculty members who are up for tenure in the future because it is useful for them to see and review cases.

H. Waters:  Psychology is in favor of having an Associate Professor on the Sr. PTC.  They do not want A.  What is the difference between B and C?

M. Schedel:  B would be a mixture of Full, Assoc., Assist., Jr. faculty plus a one-year term for a non-tenured faculty member.

Motion to vote:  A:  0, B:  13, and C:  16.  C passes.

Vote #2:  How should non CAS members be represented by the PTC?

M. Schedel:  The role of Libraries, Journalism and SoMAS are in question.  These are separate entities that are not housed in CAS.  They do not report to the Dean of CAS.

F. Walter:  You have to remember that we are not the College of Arts & Sciences Senate, but the Arts & Sciences Senate.  Journalism, Libraries and SoMAS are in it because they need representation in the Senate and they get to choose which one.  I think we should forget that that we are in a College of Arts & Sciences Senate for this discussion.

C. Haddad:  Journalism would prefer A, to be in Humanities and Fine Arts.

F. Jason Torre:  The Library does not like option A but option B.

Someone from the Library commented that the Library chose B because they would have a chance at representation where as in A they would get no representation.

M. Schedel:  the Music Department favors B.

Motion to vote:  A:  6, B: 19, and C:  0.  Vote is for B.

Vote #3:  Should we be able to hire candidates with tenure?

C. Currently can’t hire people with Tenure. Should PTCS be able to grant tenure to incoming candidates? 
 Candidates would be given 2 options

Option 1) Candidate wants tenure upon arrival and agrees to make candidacy public – SBU can request letters from people in the field 

Option 2) Candidate wants to remain confidential – must wait one year and then will be reviewed.
Stony Brook does not hire with tenure.  The PTCS will review the candidates before they are hired. 
Motion to vote:  All in favor:  22, Opposed:  1 with no abstentions.

FIRST MOTION 
Under section 2.C of the By Laws, replace section 2.C.a with:

1. The Promotion and Tenure Committees (PTC) will provide recommendations on the following faculty appointments:

a)  promotions from Assistant to Associate Professor with tenure (PTCJ),
b)  promotions from Associate to Full Professor and new appointments with tenure respectively (PTCS). Except where noted in 2c) below, the members of the PTCS will hold the rank of full professor.

1. Each committee will consist of 8 voting members that are elected tenured faculty

a)  two representatives each from: 
i.  the humanities and fine arts, 
ii.  the social and behavioral sciences, 
iii.  the natural sciences, such that one is from the biological or life sciences and one from physical sciences or mathematics;
b)  one representative from:
i.  the affiliated organizations: Journalism, University Libraries, or School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences;
c)  one voting, elected non-tenured tenure track faculty representative to
serve on PTCJ, and one voting, elected associate faculty         representative to serve on the PTCS.

1. In case of a tie vote in PTCS, the Chair of PTCJ will be asked to participate to break the tie and vice-versa.
2. No committee shall have more than one representative from a single department.
3. The chairs of both committees shall serve on the Executive Committee of the Arts & Sciences Senate.
4. No person can be a member of the relevant committee in a year in which his/her candidacy for promotion or continuing appointment will be considered by the committee. If a member becomes such a candidate, s/he must switch with a member from the other committee or resign from the committee.

SECOND MOTION 
Under section 2. Replace existing text as appropriate with:

2. Terms used in the By-Laws and Constitution are defined as follows: 
Arts and Sciences SENATE CONSTITUENCIES:

HUMANITIES AND FINE ARTS: 
The combination of the College of Arts and Sciences departments or programs of: Art, Cultural Analysis and Theory; English; European Languages, Literatures and Cultures; Hispanic Languages and Literature; Music; Philosophy; Theater Arts; Writing and Rhetoric.

NATURAL SCIENCES: 
The combination of the College of Arts and Sciences departments or programs consisting of The Biological or Life Sciences: Biochemistry and Cell Biology; Ecology and Evolution; Neurobiology and Behavior; and the Physical Sciences and Math: Chemistry; Geosciences; Mathematics; Physics and Astronomy.

SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES: 
The combination of the College of Arts and Sciences departments or programs of: Africana Studies; Anthropology; Asian and Asian American Studies;  Economics; History; Linguistics; Political Science; Psychology; and Sociology.

AFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONS: 
The combination of the organizations not in the College of Arts and Sciences that participate in the College of Arts and Sciences Promotion and Tenure process: Journalism; University Libraries; and the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences.