Reporter Volume 26, No.23 April 6, 1995

By STEVE COX
Reporter Staff
Do you have any idea how many faculty there are at UB?
	If not, you are not alone. The Faculty Senate and the
personnel office failed to accurately determine just how many "voting
faculty" there are at UB. The result is a stalled election for Faculty
Senate Chair.
	The Faculty Senate was due to learn who its chair-elect was at
the March 28 meeting. However, the uncovering of a potential flaw in
the election proceedings has stalled the process indefinitely.
	"We have some problems with the election," outgoing Faculty
Senate Chair Peter Nickerson told senators. "We are taking under
advisement the fact that not all eligible faculty received ballots."
	Four faculty members were vying for the chair: Boris Albini of
Microbiology; Michael Cowen of Mathematics and Stephen Halpern and
Claude Welch, both of Political Science. The chair serves a two-year
term.
	Several weeks ago, ballots were mailed to 1,400 faculty with
address labels generated by the Personnel Office. Sources familiar
with the problem say what's at issue is whether all faculty who are
technically members of the voting faculty received ballots.
	Faculty Senate bylaws  state that "all full-time members of
the academic staff having academic (or qualified academic) rank" are
members of the "voting faculty." This would include professors,
assistant professors, clinical professors, visiting professors,
lecturers, instructors, geographic full-time faculty members,
librarians, associate librarians, senior assistant librarians and
assistant librarians. Geographic full-time faculty are physicians who,
though not paid by SUNY, are available to the medical program on a
full-time basis due to their affiliation with the medical center or
affiliated area hospitals.
The mailing list inadvertently omitted a number of qualified voting
faculty, including area physicians who are affiliated with the medical
school or affiliated hospitals, and clinical professors in schools
such as architecture, law or dentistry, as well as professors who hold
joint appointments with two or more departments, but do not show up as
a "full-time equivalent faculty member" at either department.
	The FSEC is due to consider the issue again at its April 5
meeting. They may order the election held again, with new ballots
being distributed to all eligible faculty members.