This legislation was created on Wed, 05/12/2010 - 9:10am.
This legislation is in the Approved by Senate state.
This has been approved by the Senate and is pending a decision by the Executive Board at this point.
WHEREAS the leave of Steven Poskanzer as the President of SUNY New Paltz warrants the search for a new president; and
WHEREAS when the leave of a President is known, as the Guidelines for Conducting, Presidential Search states, “the council chair shall consult with the chancellor for advice and instructions in planning the search and the criteria to be used in the selection of a new president.”; and
WHEREAS a new President has the ability to set a new tone and direction for SUNY New Paltz; and
WHEREAS the process of searching for a new President is crucial to finding someone that appeals to the entire New Paltz community including but not limited to students, faculty, and administration; and
WHEREAS the Guidelines for Conducting, Presidential Search states, “unless otherwise agreed upon in advance by the chancellor and the council chair, the search committee shall consist of four members of the council (including the chair), six members of the full-time teaching faculty of the campus, one student, one alumni representative, once campus-related foundation representative, one academic dean, and one professional or support staff member.”; and
WHEREAS the Presidential Search Committee only holds one seat for a student representative; and
WHEREAS there is significantly less student representation on the Presidential Search Committee compared to the College Council and faculty; and
WHEREAS the Guidelines for Conducting, Presidential Search states, “taking care to assure that faculty representation on the search committee speaks for a broad spectrum of faculty opinion, the faculty shall elect its representatives to the search committee by secret ballot at an open session of the faculty governance group, at which a quorum of the teaching faculty are present. The council chair shall invite the appropriate campus and community groups to submit recommendations for all other positions on the search committee, and shall make the appointments to the remaining positions on the search committee from the recommendations submitted.”; and
WHEREAS the students of SUNY New Paltz should have similar authority to elect one another for who they feel will best represent their views and ideologies; therefore the 49th Student Senate proposes
A Declaration
Be it DECLARED: The Student Association strongly requests that the chancellor and the chair of College Council reconsider the make-up of the seats for the Presidential Search Committee. Thus ensuring that the one committed seat be designated to the Student Association President and adds at least four more voting seats for Student representation. These seats will be nominated by the Student Association executive board and be confirmed by the Student Association Senate, giving more voice to the students of SUNY New Paltz. As well that the students themselves elect students they wish to be represented by.
