The University Senate will hold its first meeting of the 2013-14 academic year at 4 p.m. on Wednesday in Maxwell Auditorium.

The Senate is the academic governing body of the university and consists of faculty, students, administrators and staff. It holds the power to recommend faculty members for promotion, amend curricula and propose new academic policies.

Most of the Senate’s work is completed through its 17 committees, which report to the full Senate at least once a year.

Wednesday’s meeting will likely be uneventful, said Bruce Carter, Senate moderator and chair of the Agenda Committee. The first meeting is dedicated to administrative tasks. Only two “real” items are on the agenda, he said.

The first item includes the approval of changes to committee membership, as new senators will be added to committees and others will resign. The second item is a motion from the Appointment and Promotions Committee to recognize faculty who had been promoted by their colleges after the Senate’s spring deadline last semester.

“Both are routine issues and not likely to be controversial,” Carter said.

The Senate will then break into individual committees for a brief meeting to arrange their schedules for the year, introduce new members to the committee and, if necessary, elect committee chairs, Carter said.

Committee chairs are eager to move forward with their agendas for the year and focus on newer projects. Craig Dudczak, chair of the Committee on Budget and Fiscal Affairs, said in an email that while 80 percent of the budget agenda is fairly regular, some areas of the budget will require more attention this year.

The growth of international students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels requires additional budgeting for the various services these students require, he said.

Harriet Brown, chair of the Committee for Diversity, said in an email that her committee is eager to work with the campus community on an unveiled project aimed at promoting more conversation about diversity on all levels of the university.

Said Brown: “I can’t say more than that yet, but it’s going to be exciting and I think has a lot of potential.”

Published on September 11, 2013 at 2:21 am

Contact Marwa: meltagou@syr.edu | @marwaeltagouri