The Academic Senate has been asked to vote on a resolution from the SUNY Faculty Council of Community Colleges (SUNY FCCC). Normally, we vote on these resolutions as they come out, usually several a year.
The FCCC resolution of Aug. 20, 2020 is a vote of no confidence in politically appointed members of the SUNY Board of Trustees. This issue has been covered in the local newspapers and other media outlets. A vote of no confidence is one of the more serious disciplinary measures academic senates can take. As such, the officers of the Hudson Valley Academic Senate are not waiting for the Monday, Aug. 31 meeting minutes to publish the FCCC resolution, but are including it below in case anyone wishes to comment to their senators prior to the Monday vote.
You can find the current list of senators on the Academic Senate page in Blackboard.
The August 31 meeting will be held on Zoom at 2:15 p.m.
The agenda and the Zoom address are published in Blackboard under the Academic Senate page.
FCCC Resolution of August 20, 2020
To: Faculty Council of Community Colleges, Student Assembly, University Faculty Senate
From: Faculty Council of Community Colleges and University Faculty Senate Executive Committees
RE: Resolution: Vote of No Confidence in Politically Appointed Members of SUNY Board of Trustees
Date: 21 August 2020
RATIONALE:
WHEREAS the State University of New York (SUNY), like other public higher education
systems across the nation, is committed to fulfilling its core academic mission, to transform
students’ lives and life chances, and serve the state as a foundation for democracy, platform for
civic engagement, engine of economic development, pathway to the middle class, magnet for
population growth and private investment, and generators of health, creativity, and innovation;
and
WHEREAS the SUNY Faculty Council of Community Colleges (SUNY FCCC), the SUNY
Student Assembly (SUNY SA), and the SUNY University Faculty Senate (SUNY UFS) have
advocated for following transparent and established process in searches for campus and SUNY
System Administration leaders; and
WHEREAS SUNY has a national reputation as a leader in the practice of shared governance,
as evidenced by the SUNY Voices initiative which has sponsored conferences, edited volumes,
and leadership trainings on shared governance; and
WHEREAS legitimate, broad-based and transparent search processes in higher education
represent a best practice in shared governance as per the AAUP Statement on Governance;
and
WHEREAS searches for the SUNY Chancellor over the last two decades have followed
transparent and established search processes, resulting in excellent outcomes; and
WHEREAS the politically appointed members of the Board of Trustees have ignored this proud
history that in the past demonstrated shared governance in chancellor and presidential
searches at SUNY and its campuses; and
WHEREAS the SUNY Board of Trustees approved the Resolution on Diversity, Equity and
Inclusion in September of 2015 in order to grow the diversity of SUNY’s system and campus
leadership, as well as its faculty and staff; and
WHEREAS in bypassing a transparent and inclusive national search process, the politically
appointed members of the SUNY Board of Trustees have neglected to actualize the goals of the
Resolution on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; and
WHEREAS the current budget and health crises do not necessitate the abandonment of shared
governance, in that collaboration and inclusive decision-making instead will generate the best
decisions going forward; and
WHEREAS the politically appointed members of the Board of Trustees have condoned the
unilateral appointment of a Chancellor, acting in a manner that disregards norms, practices and
traditions in higher education;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that SUNY FCCC, SUNY SA, and SUNY UFS express no
confidence in the politically appointed members of the SUNY Board of Trustees who voted in
favor of the appointment of a new chancellor on August 21, 2020, given their action regarding
the appointment of the 14th chancellor without conducting a search that meets standards of
shared governance and effective leadership of our University System.
Published: Fri, 28 Aug 2020 12:10:36 +0000 by d.baxter1