Adopted:
MEETING OF
FEBRUARY 1, 2002
President
George Rupp, the chairman, called the Senate to order at 1:15 pm in Schapiro
Engineering Auditorium. Thirty-nine of 89 senators were present during the
meeting.
Minutes and agenda: The minutes of December 14,
2001 and the agenda were adopted as proposed.
President’s report:
—Another Film Division student from the School of
the Arts has won a top prize at the Sundance Film Festival: Dave Silver for his
thesis film Gas Line.
—On January 30 the student caucus held the first of
two hearings on student unionization. The first hearing was well attended. The
President said it is important to hold public events of this kind, and
commended student senators on their work in running the hearings.
—A “counter-summit” to the World Economic Forum now going
on downtown is being conducted on the Columbia campus. The event, “Globalizing
Justice,” has been organized by duly constituted student groups and appears to
be well organized, serious, and non-confrontational.
—Overall the state and city budgets will be tight
for the coming year, putting added pressure on Columbia’s budget. The
governor’s budget proposal for New York State shows flat numbers for student
aid, a welcome change from the pattern of the last few years, in which he has typically
started with reduced numbers and raised them only after complex negotiations
with state lawmakers. Columbia has this good news, the President said, because
we are in an election year. But two clinics remain unfunded by the state: the
Manny Wilson Center in Central Harlem, which Columbia set up, and the Columbia
dental clinic in Washington Heights, which functioned this past year without a
longstanding state subsidy. There are also delays in research funding, for the
governor’s promised Centers for Excellence and for Security Through Advanced
Research and Technology (START).
—The war on terrorism seems to have blown out
previous constraints in the federal budget, with significant increases in
student aid and in research funding, including an historic increase in support
for foreign language instruction and international area studies. But the $4
trillion surplus that had been expected over the next 10 years has shrunk to
around $1 trillion, with $1.3 trillion lost to the tax cut, perhaps $1 trillion
to the recession, and, significantly, an additional $600 billion in payments on
the national debt because of the suspension of progress in deficit reduction.
—In admissions, Columbia College applications are
flat or minimally higher than last year; in the Engineering School
undergraduate applications are non-trivially down, while graduate applications
are sharply up.
—A large number of construction projects are
continuing around campus. The President was pleased to note the long-awaited demolition
of the Lion’s Court, the temporary building in the College Quad.
—The President said he was excited to be taking on a different kind of position, the presidency of the International Rescue Committee, for the final stage of his career.
In
response to a question, the President said extensive discussion has revealed
little interest in restoring tennis courts to the site where the Lion’s Court stood.
Sen. Rohit Aggarwala (Stu., GSAS/Social Sciences) noted a recent suggestion by the President of Yale University that Ivy League colleges discontinue Early Decision, an admissions policy that Sen. Aggarwala said Columbia College has relied on very heavily. He asked if there has been a study comparing the success and morale of students admitted by Early Decision and students admitted from the regular applicant pool.
The
President knew of no study on this subject, but said the Columbia College Committee
on Admissions and Financial Aid might have some findings.
Nominations to committees: Sen. Paul Duby (Ten.,
SEAS), chairman of the Executive Committee, read from a list of changes in
committee assignments that had been distributed at the door. There was no
objection.
Sen.
Roosevelt Montas (Stu., GSAS/Hum.), chair of the student caucus, presented Justin
White (GS) as the student nominee for the Executive Committee to replace Gordon
Christopher (SEAS), who had resigned from the Senate. The Senate unanimously elected
Sen. White to the Executive Committee.
The Executive Committee discussed the review of the policy on student sexual misconduct that the Senate had approved on February 25, 2000. The policy had called for a review after two years. After a conversation with Patsy Catapano, who chaired the Senate task force that proposed the current policy and who has remained involved in its implementation, Sen. Duby decided to recommend postponing the review for at least a year. He has invited Ms. Catapano to report to the Senate on February 22 on the first two years of the policy.
On January 29 the Executive Committee held its regular meeting with Trustees to discuss issues of community concern. Topics were student unionization and the University’s space needs. The Senate group asked for more consultation on space issues, particularly their academic implications. Sen. Duby said Trustee chairman David Stern responded positively to the discussion.
At a second meeting directly after the first one, a nominating subcommittee of the Senate Executive Committee held a productive discussion of candidates for the next Senate-consulted Trustee position with a counterpart committee of Trustees. Sen. Duby thanked President Rupp for his role over the last few years in improving the procedure for consultations in the selection of the six “Senate-consulted” University Trustees.
Finally, Sen. Duby noted that Sen. Aggarwala will soon be leaving the University, and thanked him for his service to the Senate. Sen. Montas acknowledged Sen. Aggarwala’s contribution as chair of the student caucus.
New business:
—Report on the Master of Public Administration
program to be conducted at
Biosphere
2 (Education): Education Committee chair Letty Moss-Salentijn (Ten., SDOS)
explained that the MPA program does not require formal Senate approval, since
it is not a new degree. But the committee’s report expressed concern that the
program is conducted entirely at the Biosphere in Oracle, AZ. All of the
students, as well as some of the faculty hired to teach them, would spend all
of their time in Arizona. Dean Anderson of the School of International and Public
Affairs has been responsive to the committee’s concerns about the new program,
and will cooperate with plans to review it. The Education Committee wanted to
make clear that this program should be treated not as an established precedent
for a wave of similar programs, but as an experiment, which should be
terminated if it doesn’t work.
Sen. Aggarwala said the program raises broad questions about how to define and maintain the Columbia community. The student caucus has devoted a good deal of time just to the problem of the separation between the Health Sciences and Morningside campuses. Sen. Aggarwala said he could not see the academic reasons for the much more serious separation that the Biosphere program would impose. He wondered why a public policy program in earth systems needs to be near the Biosphere rather than, say, the United Nations, and whether the program represents an expansion of the Biosphere program simply for the sake of expansion.
Sen.
Fran Pritchett (Ten., A&S Humanities) asked how faculty in the program will
be recruited and supervised. Sen. Salentiijn said people hired for the
Biosphere program will be considered regular faculty. She said Dean Anderson
has agreed that this is a major concern. Work is under way on a procedure for
bringing faculty in the program to Morningside, for possible mentoring and
review by the departments here.
Sen.
Eugene Litwak (Ten., A&S Social Sciences) asked what the positive features of
the program are. Sen. Salentijn said the desert location appears to appeal to a
target group of prospective students—an enthusiasm she admitted she does not share.
Sen.
Debra Wolgemuth (Ten., HS) asked if faculty in the program would be subject to
the same review and evaluation procedures that govern appointments and
promotions here.
Sen.
Jonathan Cole, the Provost, said he has appointed a faculty committee to study
this question. The issue has certain complexities, since faculty in the program
will not have the same interactions with colleagues that they would have here.
He said quality control is the foremost issue on the agenda of the committee.
Sen.
David Cohen, Vice President for Arts and Sciences, said he understood that the
faculty in question would be in the practice category, for which regular review
mechanisms are in place in the Arts and Sciences.
Sen.
Litwak asked if there are other reasons to have the program at the Biosphere
beside the remote location. Provost Cole said there are features of the facilities
in Arizona that could provide special advantages for the MPA program; whether
they do provide those advantages remains to be seen. He said the same question about
location could be raised about the Columbia M.A. program in French Cultural
Studies that is run entirely at Reid Hall in Paris. Does that program seem inappropriate?
Sen.
Salentijn said the Education Committee was not convinced that the MPA program has
a critical need for the facilities at the Biosphere.
Sen.
Herve Varenne (Fac., TC), a member of Education, mentioned the proximity of
future policy leaders to scientists actively studying earth systems as a
possible benefit of the remote location.
Sen.
Pritchett suggested rotating students and faculty between the Morningside
campus and the Biosphere—as Columbia already does with some undergraduate
programs—as a way to integrate the MPA program into the academic life of the
University.
Sen.
Salentijn said the Education Committee had raised this issue repeatedly with Deans
Anderson and Steven Cohen of SIPA, who insisted that the students attracted to the
program would not want to come to New York City.
Vice
President Cohen added that rotating faculty generally doesn’t work well, partly
because of difficulties in providing housing for faculty and schooling for their
children.
Sen.
Aggarwala asked if a student could receive an MPA at the Biosphere after having
studied only with practice faculty. Vice President Cohen said that the
Biosphere MPA does not set new precedents. It is a variation in venue of an
existing program.
Sen.
Aggarwala asked if an MPA student on Morningside, like a student in the MBA.
program, would have to work with at least some research faculty. Vice President
Cohen said an MPA candidate here could get the degree without encountering research
faculty.
—Resolution to Adopt the Recommendations in the Education Committee Report on the Proposed MPA Program at Biosphere 2: The President asked if the Senate was ready to vote on the resolution, which had been distributed at the door.
Sen.
Carlos Munoz (Alum.) asked if the resolution should explicitly mention the
review called for in the report. Sen. Duby said he understood the language of
the resolution to include all the recommendations in the report.
The
Senate then voted unanimously to approve the resolution.
—Discussion of hearings on the unionization of
students who teach at Columbia:
Sen.
Montas said reviews of the first hearing have been positive, emphasizing the civility
of the discussion. It filled up the room the Senate was occupying now, with a
total audience of about 220. The second hearing, on February 6, will be moved
to Altschul Hall in International Affairs, which can hold 400 people.
The
first hearing covered basic issues, including arguments for and against unionization
of students at Columbia, and questions about how a union of students would
function here. A transcript of the first hearing will be available on the web
early in the coming week. At the second hearing, the caucus panel hopes to
address issues in more depth, including legal questions that were not answered at
the first hearing. The caucus has asked for a University lawyer to attend the
second hearing to answer such questions, and has invited an employee of the United
Auto Workers, the union that seeks to represent Columbia students at the bargaining
table.
Sen.
Montas said a ruling by the regional office of the National Labor Relations
Board on key questions in the unionization campaign at Columbia is imminent. If
it were issued before February 6, the hearing that evening would be even more relevant.
Sen.
Munoz asked why aspiring academics would seek representation by the United Auto
Workers. Sen. Montas mentioned a reason offered by proponents of student unionization:
the UAW has organized students at other campuses, including NYU, where it has
just negotiated a tentative settlement.
The
President thanked Sen. Montas and the student caucus for their work in
organizing the hearings. He expressed the hope that more students entitled to
vote in a union election will attend public discussions of the issue, and he encouraged
efforts to reach this group in the days ahead. He said the election will have
an important effect on the institution, including many members of the Columbia
community who are not eligible to vote.
The
President adjourned the meeting shortly after 2 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
Tom
Mathewson, Senate staff