The Binghamton University Faculty Senate finalized work from the fall semester as it held its last planned session of the term.
All bachelor’s and master’s degree candidates were approved unanimously and Faculty Senators Randall McGuire and Thomas Sinclair spoke of their meetings with SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher and senate plans going into next semester.
Sinclair, a professor of public administration and member of the Faculty Senate Executive Board, said the board was working with President Harvey Stenger to give professors a greater influence in planning the University budget.
According to Sinclair, the Faculty Senate was considering expanding coursework in African studies, sustainable planning and the pharmacy school, for which a new building is under construction.
He also admitted that the University was adapting to a new system of finals, where professors were assigned rooms and times for finals automatically and they had to opt out of the rooms if they did not want them. Due to the high volume of classes, the electronic system crashed earlier in the year and the assignments had to be done manually.
“There was a software overload and University staff literally were scheduling by hand,” Sinclair said. “Needless to say, there were glitches and problems.”
McGuire, an anthropology professor and faculty representative to the chancellor’s office, reported on what he had learned from visiting other SUNY campuses and Chancellor Zimpher’s office.
He described progress with SUNY Transfer Paths, a program to ease the transfer student experience between all SUNY schools. According to McGuire, the goal of the program was to allow class credits to more easily transfer between schools, but students who did not take a conventional four-year degree path still faced issues if they transferred.
McGuire warned the Faculty Senate that the state office appeared poised to cut library budgets and described several SUNY-wide initiatives, such as a standard of affirmative consent for student sexual intercourse.
Although more than 40 professors and administrators were present, no objections or points of debate were brought up and the meeting was adjourned shortly after the two speakers reported to the Senate.