At the urging of several members at the Faculty Senate Executive Committee meeting on April 29, the proposal from the senate's Affirmative Action Committee will get its first reading at the senate's May 13 meeting, with a second reading, and possible adoption, set for the first meeting in the fall.

However, President William R. Greiner, while supporting the proposal, cautioned at the meeting that the proposal must be "worked through very carefully," with some "buy-in" from the deans and senior faculty members.

"To try to rush this through the Faculty Senate to have in place next fallŠcould doom it from the outset because it seems as if it is being rammed through at the 11th hour," Greiner added.

The mentoring proposal from the Affirmative Action Committee recommends that all junior faculty members be assigned an individual advocate or advisor, or an advisory committee, as soon as he or she is appointed to the faculty.

The advisory committee would function as a mentoring body, and could include other faculty members with similar scholarly interests. Members of the panel would be selected by the junior faculty member, the department chair and a tenured faculty member within the department.

Brenda Moore, chair of the Affirmative Action Committee and associate professor of sociology, told FSEC members that mentoring may help address the disproportionately low reappointment rates of women faculty members reported by the Task Force on Women and the disproportionately low retention rates of racial minorities that has been identified by her committee.

Moore noted that there seems to be a particular problem with new faculty members not understanding the tenure process-what is expected of them and when. "There has been a great deal of fingerpointing to mentoring as a problem," she said.

Margaret Acara, professor of pharmacology and toxicology and a member of the committee, called the retention issue "very serious, almost a crisis right now." Three semesters ago, there were 17 African Americans in tenure-track positions at UB, she said, "Today there are eight."

"This is serious enough to form a committee for those remaining on our faculty; we have to support them. A lot of the problems have to do with a lack of support in the climate within their professional homes."

Senate Chair Peter Nickerson, professor of pathology, told senators he wanted the full senate to consider the proposal in the fall, since there were only two Senate meetings left in this academic year and agendas were full. However, he put the measure on the fast track-with a first reading at the senate's May 13 meeting and a second reading, and possible adoption, set for the first meeting in the fall-after several FSEC members urged quick action so that the program could benefit faculty members who will begin work at UB in the fall.

Claude Welch, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Political Science, noted the program would be "a sign of goodwill for our new colleagues and will help them with a difficult transition." Welch urged members to "expedite" the matter.

Greiner supported the idea, noting that a mentoring program for new appointees "is a long-established tradition" in the School of Law. However, he cautioned against acting too quickly, suggesting that trying to implement the proposal for the fall "will sink itŠI hate like the blazes to see a very good idea go down."

Nickerson put the item on the agenda for a first reading at the May 13 meeting, with further refinement of the proposal to be done over the summer. Action on the matter then would be taken after a second reading at the senate's first meeting in the fall.

In other action on items from the Affirmative Action Committee, the FSEC referred back to the committee a recommendation that the Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Office be moved back to Capen Hall from its new home in The Commons, and that the office retain its name "until all appropriate agencies have been consulted and a consensus is reached about what the new name should be."

Moore said her panel is making the recommendation in light of a letter published in the Reporter, signed by six faculty and professional staff members, responding to an article published in the Reporter, and questioning the office's move and name change.

According to the article, which quoted Sinette Denson, acting director, the office was moved to give it "a little more visibility and accessibility to students, as well as faculty and staff." The new name, it added, reflects the office's "focus on diversity and equity issues, as well as affirmative-action issues."

Dennis Malone, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, wondered if the location of the office "is really that significant. I believe the real impetus for affirmative action belongs in the departments and the schools, and not in some office in Capen," he said. The office, he added, does not initiate affirmative action efforts.

Responding to a third recommendation from the Affirmative Action Committee, the FSEC asked the Budget Priorities Committee to evaluate, within the 1998-99 academic year, the effectiveness of the schools and faculties in responding to Greiner's directive that discretionary funds be used to correct salary disparities