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Robert G. Hoeing is associate professor in the Department of Linguistics, College of Arts and Sciences. He began his first term as chair of the Faculty Senate on July 1.
You've served several terms as secretary of the Faculty Senate. Why did you want to be chair?
That's easy. This is a dynamic phase in the development of UB. I'm excited about its prospects and wanted to play a more integral part. Serving a second term as secretary last year helped refamiliarize me with everything that's been happening.
What are the responsibilities of the Faculty Senate?
The senate represents all UB faculty and acts on its behalf with respect to all matters concerning faculty activity and academic degree programs. These include issues of promotion and tenure, research, teaching, evaluation, complaint procedures, grading policies, curriculum design, program review, diversity and equity-the litany is quite extensive. It also is the privilege and duty of the Faculty Senate to review, prior to adoption and enactment, all plans regarding the future of the university, as well as any changes affecting academic units. This is especially relevant now because many changes are inevitable under the UB 2020 initiative.
What role has the Faculty Senate played-and will play in the future-in the UB 2020 planning process?
The senate receives regular updates and progress reports on each of the four "pillars" of UB 2020: growth (strategic hirings, student recruitment and enrollment), academic excellence, the physical master plan and transformation operations. Up to this point, our role has been somewhat passive, but not entirely so. We have interacted on several occasions with Professor (Robert) Shibley on the emerging master plan and offered observations and suggestions that have helped him fine-tune the plan's development. Our Budget Priorities Committee has been extremely active in reviewing the new budgetary processes and resource management principles being employed. Our Academic Planning Committee is working to articulate our academic goals and policies with the other aspects of UB 2020. A number of my colleagues already have proposed various ideas about expanding the senate's influence to make it more direct. We've discussed the formation of new committees to align ourselves better with UB 2020. We are looking into increased activity in community outreach-this will become increasingly important since UB 2020 does not concern only UB, but Buffalo and Western New York as well. The first phase was to familiarize ourselves with UB 2020; now is the time to become more active in realizing it.
What do you see as the main issue facing the Faculty Senate this year? What other issues do you think are particularly important?
There is no single main issue, but several issues, both specific and general. Among the specific issues we will be dealing with are UB's critical incident management and response to the Virginia Tech shootings. This, in fact, will be the focus of two of the Executive Committee's September meetings because there are so many aspects to consider: classroom space, the new Undergraduate Academies, changes to the student information system, enhancing our diversity profile. Many more will arise as the university continues to evolve. One of the more general issues-actually, it's a goal-is to strengthen the dialogue and consultation between faculty and the administration; it's OK now, but there is definitely room for improvement. Another is to generate more faculty interest in the senate and in governance. The senate meetings have suffered declining attendance; service in the senate, which is seldom directly rewarded, is greeted with apathy and a bit of cynicism. This is unfortunate; it should be the opposite in this period of our history. After I was elected chair, many of my colleagues warned me that my job would be similar to herding cats. That doesn't bother me-I like cats, and don't mind a few bites and scratches. What would bother me is not having enough cats to herd.
Tell me something about yourself that most people at UB don't know.
At one point as an undergraduate, I was a math major. The subject always fascinated me. It's beautifully abstract, yet has countless practical applications. It's so orderly, yet at the same time pleasantly quirky. I regret having abandoned it so early in my life.
What question do you wish I had asked, and how would you have answered it?
What's your favorite pastime? Simply being out in nature-hiking, birding, observing animals, identifying and learning more about plants, rocks and minerals, stars. I live in the country-woods, wildlife, well water, the works. Life there is more immediate, more direct and helps put everything into perspective.