Address any questions or comments on the content of this update to the Faculty Senate Chair at a Senate meeting or via email at faculty-senate@buffalo.edu. Suggestions of items to include in future Updates are welcome.
I hope the new year and spring semester have begun well for all. The Faculty Senate is resuming its work. This update focuses on four issues of concern to faculty:
At its next meeting, on February 17, the Faculty Senate will vote on the resolutions that were given a first reading in December, including a call for UB to create a policy regulating the recording of faculty meetings, a proposal to New York state to create an Excelsior-like funding program for graduate students, and a resolution appointing the chair of the Professional Staff Senate and two representatives of the student body as non-voting members of our Senate and its executive committee. It will also hear first readings of a resolution from the Academic Policies and Grading Committee concerning policies on departmental honors, resolutions from the Tenure, Promotion and Privileges Committee concerning adjustments in regard to the service sections of the tenure and promotion dossier and calling for greater transparency on clinical faculty promotion procedures, and resolution(s) from the Bylaws Committee clarifying our governance documents.
President Tripathi is convening a University Police Advisory Committee with representation from faculty as well as other members of the UB community. Here is how he describes it:
Through the fostering of an open and respectful exchange of ideas, concerns, and solutions, this committee’s objectives are:
The Faculty Senate has been invited to nominate faculty members of the committee, which will also include staff and students. Please send the names of interested colleagues to faculty-senate@buffalo.edu as soon as possible. We have been asked to submit our nominations by February 3.
The UB Police offer training to departments and individuals on how to keep safe during emergencies and other topics. See details, including how to schedule the trainings, on the UBPD website. Last spring I took part in the UB Citizens’ Police Academy, a ten-week course that introduces participants to the range of work UBPD undertakes. If you are able to commit the time, I think you will find it interesting and useful. Staff and students are welcome, too.
I reported in a recent FS Update about preparations for the renovation of Lockwood Library, which will be closed for some years beginning next academic year. As part of the weeding of the physical collection, UB’s outstanding collection of maps is slated to be significantly downsized. If you are concerned about having access to physical copies of maps, contact your departmental liaison librarian, who can put you in touch with the people overseeing the downsizing of that collection.
February 4, 6 – 8 pm, Hayes Hall 403: First of two forums organized by Architecture and Planning to “Reimagine Black Futures during the Age of Authoritarianism: One Hundred Years of Celebrating Black History.” UB colleagues Henry-Louis Taylor and Jamal Williams are among the speakers.
February 5, 12 – 1:30, via Zoom: The Gender Institute is offering a panel discussion of a new special issue of the journal QSE called “Beyond Now: Feminist Politics, Policy, and Research Futures in Education.” UB colleagues Melinda Lemke and Katy Leigh-Osroosh are among the contributors who will speak.
March 3, 3 – 4:30, via Zoom (link will be sent out closer to the date): Shared Governance Day featuring a town hall conversation with SUNY University Faculty Senate President Bruce Simon, SUNY Faculty Council of Community Colleges President Candice Vacin, and SUNY Student Assembly President Luca Rallis (a Stony Brook student). You can propose questions to be included in the Town Hall via this link. Shared Governance Day is being organized this year by the Professional Staff Senate.