MEETING OF
OCTOBER 26, 2001
President
George Rupp, the chairman, called the Senate to order at 1:15 pm in 142 Uris.
Forty-seven of 84 senators were present during the meeting.
Minutes and agenda: The agenda was adopted as
proposed. There was a correction to the minutes of September 28, which had
misidentified the person who reported to the Trustees in June about new
biotechnology initiatives at Health Sciences: it was David Hirsh, who was
interim dean for research at the uptown campus until the arrival of Gerald
Fischbach as Vice President for Health Sciences in early 2001.
President’s report: President Rupp announced a
service to remember people who died in the terrorist attacks of September 11.
Scheduled for November 15, the event will focus on 81 victims with close ties
to Columbia, including 41 alumni, 3 current students (2 in continuing
education, 1 on leave from General Studies), 14 relatives of current students,
7 relatives of current employees, and 16 relatives of alumni.
The
president said Emily Lloyd, Executive Vice President for Administration, would report
later in the meeting on new security measures Columbia has adopted in response
to recent terrorist attacks. He mentioned three other related developments:
—The University is undertaking a major oral history
project on the attacks, to be led by Mary Marshall Clark. One emphasis is to
assemble an archive that includes the accounts of witnesses less visible to the
media. So far 130 interviews have been conducted, with 300 more planned for the
next month, with follow-up conversations at 6 and 18 months. .
—The Provost has convened admissions officers from
around the University to think about how to address implications of the September
11 attacks for their work.
—The University has begun to model possible
consequences of September 11 for its budget, particularly the likelihood of
significantly lower endowment returns in the next couple of years.
There
is short-term good news on federal funding—an increase of $250 in the maximum
Pell grant, to $4000 per student per year. But the combination of the present
tax cut, the faltering economy, and increased appropriations directly related
to the terrorist attacks is likely to constrict key sources of federal support
for Columbia in the next few years. Mitchell Daniels, director of the Office of
Management and Budget, warned the President recently that recent growth rates
in federal research funding will almost certainly slow.
The
president mentioned one current research project—on digital technology in
archaeology—as a gratifying example of interdisciplinary collaboration highlighting
Columbia’s strengths. The study, supported by a $2 million National Science
Foundation grant, includes Columbia investigators in computer sciences, earth
sciences, art history, classics, anthropology, and historic preservation.
The
president mentioned two transitions. Alan Stone has resigned as Vice President
for Public Affairs to take a similar position at Harvard. He said Columbia will
miss Mr. Stone, who focused on the University’s internal as well as external
communications, including the work of the Senate. The president led a round of
applause.
The
other transition is in Columbia’s presidency: the Trustees have chosen Lee
Bollinger to become president at the end of this academic year. President Rupp
said he expects his successor to be an outstanding president, and looks forward
to a smooth transition.
Nominations to committees: Sen. Paul Duby presented a
list of new nominees to committees. Sen. Stephanie Neuman (Research Staff)
asked if a researcher could be appointed to Housing Policy. Sen. Duby said that
the president now appoints the members
of this committee, whose composition does not include a researcher. He
added that Structure and Operations may soon be considering the idea of a
standing Senate committee on housing issues, which might include new
constituencies.
The
Senate approved the nominations.
Executive Committee
chairman’s report: Noting that the agenda and minutes for the present meeting had been
distributed electronically, with no paper mailing, Sen. Duby invited any
senators who prefer to have the packet in paper to notify the Senate office.
The
Trustees gave final approval at their October 6 meeting to the reapportionment
plan adopted by the Senate in April. A total of five senators have been elected
since, including a Law School senator in a new seat allocated in the reapportionment
plan. Sen. Duby looked forward to the results of fall tenured elections in Arts
and Sciences and for the newly enlarged delegation of 8 tenured senators from
the Faculty of Medicine.
On
October 19, the Executive Committee devoted considerable discussion to duties
related to the Rules of University Conduct governing political demonstrations,
which have not invoked at Columbia for several years. The committee made two
appointments to the University Judicial Board, which hears appeals of verdicts
in hearings on Rules violations. It unanimously approved the nomination of
Michael Novielli, president of the Columbia College Student Council, to a seat
designated for students. In a split vote, it also approved the nomination of
Sen. Roosevelt Montas, chairman of the student caucus, to a discretionary seat.
Sen. Duby said the Executive Committee will ask the Rules Committee to look
again at the question of the composition of the UJB.
At
the same meeting, the Executive Committee agreed that an open hearing on the
question of unionization of students who teach at Columbia would be useful.
Sen. Montas would be saying more on this subject later in the meeting.
After
extensive discussion of the resolution on open debate that was now before the
Senate, some members of the Executive Committee had asked for changes in
wording, but the committee agreed that the resolution deserved the attention of
the full Senate.
Finally,
Sen. Duby reported on the Trustees’ plenary meeting on Ocober 6, which he had
attended as a Senate observer. He said the President’s report to the Trustees resembled
his report at the September Senate meeting. The Trustees’ committee on digital
media reported at some length; most of the contents of the report were familiar
to senators. George Van Amson, chair of the Trustees’ education committee, spoke
about unionization of student teachers and about a report his committee had
heard the day before from Senate Education Committee chair Letty Moss-Salentijn,
which touched on the condition of researchers at Columbia. Mr. Van Amson also
referred to meetings Trustees have been having with students over breakfast on Fridays
during their round of quarterly meetings.
The
Trustees’ plenary meeting also included a presentation from Gerald Fischbach,
Vice President for Health Sciences, on ethical issues raised by research with human
subjects.
New business:
—Report from Emily Lloyd on security
and health measures the University has adopted in response to recent terrorist
attacks: Sen. Lloyd, Executive Vice President for Administration, said Columbia
has taken a number of new security measures, without calling great attention to
them. It has increased patrols significantly, much as the 26th
Precinct of the Police Department has in the area surrounding campus. Columbia
has also tightened access to College Walk, with one gate regularly closed, and
with closer monitoring of vehicles that do enter. Parking garages are also more
closely monitored. Internal and external audits of security procedures are
under way, assessing access control, evacuation procedures, and training of
security personnel, who are now familiar with procedures for handling complaints
of suspicious articles. There have been 32 of these since September 11, none of
which has turned out to be serious.
In
health services, there has been a 20 percent increase during the week in
requests for medical care, and a doubling during weekends. Many of these are
for symptoms that wouldn’t have prompted such requests before September 11. On
Wellness Day a couple of days earlier, doctors were giving flu shots for $20,
which are normally available through Columbia health services for $25. Sen.
Lloyd said flu shots can reduce the likelihood of confusion with possible
symptoms of anthrax, which are similar. In Counseling and Psychological
Services, initial volunteer efforts to help Columbia people from a number of
outside therapists have now ended, but the demand for services is still some 50
percent above normal, and the wait for appointments is now stretching to three
weeks. To meet this need, the University will hire an additional counselor, and
may seek more help from Health Sciences.
Warnings
about how to recognize suspicious mail have been widely circulated. Mail staff
has been trained to screen letters. Guidelines just issued by the Centers for
Disease Control (CDC) have prompted Columbia to provide ventilator equipment
for the staff at the five locations where federal mail enters the Columbia
system. The University does not use the high-speed sorting equipment that may
have caused current problems in the large postal service distribution centers, but
has nevertheless decided to provide masks, sleeves, and other protective
equipment to the staff. While these arrangements are being made, the sorting
and delivery of incoming federal mail has been suspended, for perhaps another
three days. Internal mail is still being distributed.
An
emergency management center on campus is in preparation, and may be finished in
two weeks. Sen. Lloyd urged any Columbia people with concerns about mail,
suspicious articles, or their health to report them. The Center for Public
Health Preparedness at the School of Public Health, the agency designated to
deal with the CDC, is providing regular guidance to the University.
Sen.
Max Gottesman (Ten., HS) asked if the U.S. Postal Service plans to irradiate
all mail. Such a policy would pose special problems for science projects
depending on lab samples sent through the mail.
Sen.
Lloyd said Kathleen Crowley, director of the Environmental Health and Safety
Office at Health Sciences would have answers. She named Loretta Greenholtz as
the contact person for health and safety concerns on the Morningside campus.
Sen.
Montas asked if Columbia mail rooms have been tested for anthrax spores, and if
the University has assured access to a sufficient supply of antibiotics. Sen.
Lloyd said Columbia is lining up an accredited service to conduct testing,
which may be repeated periodically. It has also made tentative arrangements to
send patients—if the need arises—to St. Luke’s and Presbyterian hospitals,
which will supply antibiotics to the University population. Columbia has been
advised not to stockpile medicines, because it cannot know now which are the
right ones and because it does not have the capacity to store them.
Asked
if anthrax has been found on a college campus yet, Sen. Lloyd said she did not
know of a case, though there had been anthrax scares at MIT, Harvard and
Barnard. She said her office is trying to find the right mix of calm and
caution for the current climate.
—Preliminary report on plans for an open hearing on
implications of the possible unionization of students who teach at Columbia
(Student Affairs): As Sen. Montas came forward to give his report, the
President said Howard Jacobson, the parliamentarian, had just alerted him to a
technical problem that should be explained to the Senate.
Mr.
Jacobson said that for many purposes the University Senate is considered part
of management. A hearing on unionization under the aegis of the Senate could
therefore be viewed as management interference with union organizing efforts, and
the University could be accused of an
unfair labor practice. He said an open discussion led by students would pose no
problem; the problem is the technical one of a hearing conducted under formal
Senate auspices.
Sen.
Montas asked for clarification, noting the paradox that students who as
senators are considered part of management might end up as union members at the
same time. Mr. Jacobson said Sen. Montas had raised another facet of the
problem, which arose years ago with another union—the Senate cannot discuss the
grievances of a constituency whose members have become part of a collective
bargaining unit.
The
president said no one is saying there shouldn’t be a hearing, but it should not
be labeled a Senate hearing. Warnings of an unfair labor practice accusation
might seem unlikely under the circumstances, but equally bizarre unfair labor
practice charges have consumed a lot of time for a lot of people on other
campuses.
Sen.
Montas said the student caucus has agreed that the Senate would be the most
appropriate forum for the topic of student unionization because the issue has
implications not just for the graduate students who will vote in the union
election but for many other university groups, some of which are represented in
the Senate. He said the formats considered so far for discussion of these
implications—a town hall meeting, a special Senate hearing, a regular Senate
meeting—may have to be revised in the light of Mr. Jacobson’s remarks. But he
said he wanted to find a way for the Senate to hold a candid discussion that
might clarify some of the complexities of this pressing issue.
Sen.
Montas noted that while students are transient in the University, their
interests are not, and the question of unionization raises the question of
those long-term interests. He wanted to see that question addressed in a
non-oppositional setting, so that eventual voters in a union election can be as
well informed as possible.
Sen.
Montas said he thought any public discussion should be led by students, but the
involvement and support of other groups is crucial. He invited suggestions from
senators about how to organize the discussion.
Sen.
Carlos Munoz (Alum.) asked if unionization has been discussed in other
settings. Sen. Montas said that the Graduate Student Advisory Committee conducted
a well-attended public discussion last spring. But now there is a need not only
for factual information, but for considered opinions of the issues as well.
Sen.
Henry Pinkham, dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, noted that union
organizers want to include undergraduate TAs as well as graduate students in
the union..
President
Rupp said that at the Executive Committee meeting he himself had suggested
devoting a Senate meeting to the topic of unionization, with no objections from
other members—an indication that no one on the committee had anticipated the
difficulty Mr. Jacobson raised.
—Resolution Affirming Free and Open Debate in the
Aftermath of Recent Terrorist Attacks (Student Affairs): Sen. Montas presented
the resolution, noting that the attacks of September 11 have plunged the
Columbia community into a different world, with strong emotions and activities
both in support of and in opposition to our nation’s response to those attacks.
Under these conditions, he said, the student caucus believes that a resolution
reaffirming principles close to the University’s heart is timely.
Sen.
Munoz said he had no objection to the resolution, but his impression from some
Muslim students he has spoken to is that the atmosphere at Columbia is open and
comfortable, and that they encounter prejudice only when they leave campus. He
said the resolution seems to admit there is a problem at Columbia, when maybe
there isn’t; he asked if a resolution commending the atmosphere here might be
more appropriate. He wondered if there is some discrimination on campus of
which he is unaware.
Sen.
Montas agreed that Columbia is an open community, and that’s why many people
are here. But the student caucus has brought the resolution out of concern
about an increase in tension attributable to recent events.
Sen.
Michael Castleman (Stu., SEAS) likened the present resolution to the health
precautions Sen. Lloyd had reported on earlier in the meeting: just as the
University is taking precautions to prevent or control a possible proliferation
of anthrax on campus (which has not occurred here), so the purpose of the
resolution is to warn against and help prevent abuses of free and open debate,
which also have not occurred here.
The
Senate then approved the resolution without dissent, but with one abstention.
The
president adjourned the meeting at around 2:05 pm.
Respectfully submitted,