Response to College Senate Recommendations
At its May 5, 2006, meeting, the College Senate voted to approve and forward to the president the following bylaws revisions for approval:

Recommended Bylaws Changes

Motion 1:

"Given that the Academic Services and International Education Committees have not met in the last couple of years, and based upon responses from the recent College Senate survey and recommendations by the Senate chairs, BSAC recommends elimination of the Academic Services and International Education Committees.

Rationale: Stated in the motion.

This has the following implications for the Senate Bylaws:
Article III, Section A. References to the two committees would be eliminated (items III-A-I and III-A-j).
Article III, Section F. Change reference from "10 areas" to "eight areas."

Note: If this motion is approved, necessary changes will also be made as necessary in the Senate Handbook Section and the Standing Rules.

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Motion 2:

"Article III, Section C, (e), be amended to revise 'each of the approved faculties' to include a listing of the schools separately."

Rationale: To bring the College Senate Bylaws in conformity to the reorganization of the college.

This would revise Article III, Section C, (e) to read as follows:

"Six members elected from each of the approved faculties (School of Arts and Humanities, School of Education, School of Natural and Social Sciences, School of the Professions) and other faculties recommended by the Senate and approved by the president."

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Motion 3:

Recommend that the college support staff have representation on the College Senate, in the form of a single seat.

Rationale: To expand the College Senate to include a group that is currently not represented.

• Add to Article II, Section B, new subsection (f), so that the section now reads as follows: "One member of the college support staff elected as determined by the support staff."
• Modify Article II, Section D, wording change from "or professional staff" to "professional or support staff."
• Add to Article III, Section C, new subsection between (e) and (f), "One support staff member." Modify all other numbering with Section C.

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Motion 4:

Recommend that any disenfranchisements of faculty members, professional staff, and support staff shall be fixed by the relevant units. All faculty members and staff members should be eligible to run and vote in two elections—the general "At-Large" Senate elections and one unit affiliation election (e.g., faculty schools, Professional Staff Caucus, library, and support staff), and that this affiliation remain the responsibility of the relevant units.

Rationale: To address the situations of those individuals whose current roles on campus either have separated them from their original departments or whose new positions have them in roles that are unaffiliated with one of the units identified in the motion. This motion is based on forums, surveys, and other input reviewed by the Bylaws Committee members over the past 18 months.

Modify Article II, Section C, with this addition (provided in bold): The College Senate, as defined below (Article III, Part C), will maintain a list of eligible voters and notify in writing those persons declared to be voters under Article II, Sections A and B above. An appeal of a Senate decision may be heard only by the voting faculty. Any disenfranchisements of faculty members, professional staff, and support staff are the responsibility of the relevant units. All faculty members and staff members should be eligible to run and vote in two elections—the general "At-Large" Senate elections and one unit affiliation election (e.g., faculty schools, Professional Staff Caucus, library, and support staff).

Note: If this motion is approved, implementation guidelines will be developed if needed.

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Motion 5:

Recommend that the Senate structure only include the following groups: faculty (consisting of the four schools and the library), professional staff members, support staff members, students, and administrators (nonvoting).

Rationale: To clarify the College Senate membership.

Modify Article III, Section C

Current: Introductory sentence, "The College Senate shall be composed of:" to now read:

Recommended change: "The College Senate shall only include the following groups: Faculty (consisting of the four schools and the library), professional staff members, support staff members, students, and administrators (nonvoting), with specific members as follows:

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Motion 6:

Recommend that the "faculty be the majority membership of the College Senate" serve as a governing principle for bylaws changes.

Rationale: In reviewing the composition of other governance units in the SUNY system, faculty members are in the majority. This is based on the majority of the work that is the focus of the College Senate - curricular review, academic plan, etc.

Note: Further bylaws revisions will be required if this motion and Motion 3 are approved. Implementation recommendations will be developed during 2006–2007.

Modify Article III, Section C, to add an introductory sentence:

Recommended change: Faculty members shall be the majority membership of the College Senate.

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Motion 7:

Recommend clarification of "student" with regard to service on the Professional Welfare Committee to indicate that individuals who are* faculty or staff members can serve on Professional Welfare, even if they are taking one or two courses.

Rationale: Only one committee (Professional Welfare) specifically excludes students, due to the nature of discussions which "concern faculty welfare." The motion seeks to clarify who is eligible to serve on the committee. Faculty and staff members taking classes would not, for the purpose of committee membership, be considered students.

Modify Article III, Section F, subsection (e)

Current: Professional Welfare will have no student members.

Recommended change: Professional Welfare will have no student members (Note that even if a faculty or staff member is taking one or more courses, he or she is still eligible to serve on Professional Welfare).

* Note that the words "full time" were removed from this motion, in accord with the removal of the phrase from the wording of Article III, Section F, subsection (e) (below) "no members who are not full-time faculty or staff members" at the March 31, 2006, Senate meeting.

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Motion 8:

Recommend that the University Senators must have full-time faculty status.

Rationale: Representatives of Buffalo State College at the SUNY University Faculty Senate have traditionally been faculty members. This motion endorses this precedent and clarifies the number of faculty members who are part of the College Senate.

Modify Article III, Section C, subsection (f)

Current: Two State University senators elected by the college; and

Recommended change: Two State University senators, who must be full-time faculty members, elected by the college.

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I hereby approve the recommended revisions to the College Senate Bylaws as outlined above.

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College Relations Office Responsible for Public and Media Relations
Effective August 21, the College Relations Office is responsible for public and media relations. All press inquiries and information concerning news and events that may be of interest to the media should be directed to Claire Jones, associate vice president, College Relations, at ext. 4201, collrel@buffalostate.edu, or jonescs@buffalostate.edu, or to any member of the College Relations staff.

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Traffic Office Is Renamed Parking Services Office
The Traffic Office has been renamed the Parking Services Office to more accurately describe the office's function on campus. Information regarding the Parking Services Office and the services provided to the campus community may be found at www.buffalostate.edu/parkingservices. Questions also may be directed to the Parking Services Office at parkingservices@buffalostate.edu.

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Senate Meetings for Academic Year 2006–2007
The College Senate will meet at 3:00 p.m. in E. H. Butler Library 210 on the following dates:

Fall Semester
September 15
October 20
November 17
December 8

Spring Semester
February 9
March 9
April 13
May 4 (2:00 p.m. start)

These dates are also posted on the College Senate Web site and in the Academic Calendar, distributed by Academic Affairs.

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Senate Standing Committees
The College Senate always needs faculty representation on its standing committees. Below are the names of committees and brief descriptions of their basic missions. If you wish to serve on a committee for the 2006–2007 academic year, please print this form and return it to the College Senate Office, Cleveland Hall 211.

Academic Plan
Assumes leadership in the intermediate- and long-range planning of the overall academic function of the college. Areas include the mission of the college, master plan, regionalism, enrollment projections, and accreditation.

Budget and Staff Allocation
Gathers, analyzes, and recommends criteria for all data and policies needed to determine budget and staff allocations.

Bylaws and Elections
Conducts necessary elections provided for in the bylaws to ensure proper representation on the College Senate. Recommends changes in the bylaws designed to facilitate the democratic governance of the college.

Curriculum
Receives, reviews, and recommends approval or non-approval of all courses and programs offered by the college, consistent with Senate policies and procedures.

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Instruction and Research
Concerns itself with aspects of policy that relate to the improvement of instruction and the development of services and resources necessary to carry out or enhance instruction and research.

Professional Welfare
Responsible for matters concerning faculty and staff welfare and well-being.

Standards for Students
Reviews and recommends policies dealing with student admission, readmission, retention, and probation, as well as with graduation standards for undergraduate and graduate students.

Student Welfare
Examines matters and recommends policy concerning aspects of student life.

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Curricular Items
The following have been received in the College Senate Office and will be forwarded to the Senate Curriculum Committee for review and approval:

Program Revision:
B.S. in Applied Mathematics (0719)

Minor Revision:
Chemistry (1726)

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New Courses:
MAT 390 Introduction to Operations Research. Optimization of real-world problems modeled by linear objective functions subject to systems of linear inequalities and solved by either the two-phase revised simplex method or by the network simplex method. Mathematics behind these methods. Applications in diverse areas such as business management, industry, economics, finance, game theory, geometry, and networks.

MAT 491 Capstone Research in Mathematics. Independent research under the direction of the instructor. Composition of a research paper and presentation of results at a seminar for faculty and students.

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Course Revisions:
MAT 241 Computer Mathematics I. Fundamental concepts of problem solving by computer as applied to mathematics. Computer organization, operations and functions, algorithm development, programming techniques. Numerical methods as used in calculus, linear algebra, geometry, etc. Uses a computer language to be applied in this and other mathematics classes.

MAT 366 Computer Mathematics II. Structured programming, verification of program validity, data structures, combinatorial problems, flow network algorithms, random number generators, simulation of random and nonrandom processes.

MAT 501 Math for Teachers: Algebra. Operational systems, number systems, groups, rings, fields, ordered fields, functions over fields, algebraic properties of the trigonometric functions.

MAT 521 Math for Teachers: Geometry. Formal and informal geometry, congruence, measurement, constructions, similarity, transformations, coordinate geometry, trigonometric functions.

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