Faculty Senate Meeting

November 5, 1996

Present: M. Abbott, J. Brunski, B. Carlson, A. Desrochers, M. Hanna, T. Harrison, G. Judd, M. Kalsher, J. Newell, B. Racicot, A. Wallace

Guests: B. Drobnicki, J. Buttridge, T. Yurkewecz

A. Desrochers announced replacements for faculty senate and other committees.

• Prabhat Hajela will replace Norm Stoloff on the Promotion and Tenure Committee (term expires in 1999)
• Lois Peters will replace Bill Boyce on the Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee (term expires in 1997).
• Joyce Diwan will replace Dan Berg on the Promotion and Tenure Committee (term expires in 1997).
• Don Vitaliano will replace Paul Hohenberg on the Faculty Senate Planning and Resources Committee (term expires in 1997).
• Tom Willemain and Dave Spooner were appointed to the Review Board (term expires in 1998).

What Can Faculty Do to Help Insure Security at Rensselaer – B. Drobnicki, Director, Public Safety; J. Buttridge, Director, Department of Risk Management; T. Yurkewecz, Vice President, Administration

Drobnicki presented nationwide crime statistics and the classification instrument used to categorize various types of crimes. Public Safety uses this instrument to track Rensselaer’s crime statistics. At Rensselaer, the most prevalent crime is theft. The most typical items stolen from Rensselaer fall into the $200 and over category. He then provided a breakdown of theft by year, noting an unusual decrease in 1994, although the rate of theft has since returned to “typical” levels during 1995 and 1996.

He related that crime at Rensselaer seems to occur in cycles; lab thefts seem to be “thefts of opportunity”, sometimes because of distribution of practices, access, etc. Theft deterrent security devices are being added to existing buildings and as others are renovated. This is a very expensive practice; as much as $3000 per door, plus maintenance costs. There are less costly alternatives, such as changing the lock cores; however, there are many, many cores on campus. Presents a logistical problem; plus begins to infringe on individuals’ rights and access. The estimated cost of “re-coring” the entire campus is approximately $155,000.00.

The Rensselaer community must weigh whether its loss pattern warrants the kinds of investments necessary to increase the level of security. He added that most thefts are perpetrated by persons from within the RPI community and not from people outside the institute.

J. Buttridge, Director, Risk Management, then discussed the insurance aspects of losses due to theft- especially computer losses. Current institute policy is as follows:

• In instances of equipment theft where there is no evidence of forced entry, the department suffering the loss pays a $350 deductible and the balance of the replacement cost is shared by the department and Risk Management.
• In instances in which forcible entry is evident, regardless of whether the equipment is insured, there is a $100 deductible charged to the department, the rest of the replacement cost is covered by Risk Management.
• Equipment insurance can be purchased from Risk Management for 4.85 per $100 of value (of the equipment). This insurance is 100% replacement cost with a $100 deductible paid by the department. See Jack Buttridge for details of the program.

Last year, there were 62 instances of Campus thefts, amounting to $277,000.00.

Peer Intervention Team – B. Racicot, Secretary of the Senate

Racicot noted that the Peer Intervention Team was created to deal with violations of students’ rights. Noted that many of these instances can be solved easily, or are sometimes the fault of the student. However, she noted that they are concerned with the few serious instances of student abuse that occur involving physical abuses or chronic verbal abuse.

This group wishes to erect a structure with some “teeth.” Raised the possibility of forming a faculty senate standing committee for student issues. The purpose of the group would be to investigate serious infractions. First problem is to establish criteria for what constitutes a “serious” instance. Should be carefully defined and followed consistently. Also noted that this problem is occurring with a very small percentage of the faculty, but this can be problematic, especially for a faculty member who deals with large numbers of our students.

Another goal of the group is to focus on providing feedback to violators, perhaps helping them find counseling if the problem stems from personal problems. There was a motion to have B. Racicot continue with the development of the program and to report no later than December 17. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

Report of the Board of Trustees Meeting of October 12, 1996 –

Al Wallace reporting for Shirley Molloy

A. Wallace reviewed highlights of S. Molloy’s report, adding that the report would be included as an attachment to the meeting minutes (see detailed minutes for a copy of this document.) He also reminded the group of the upcoming faculty senate sponsored meeting on institute priorities.

a. Desorchers then reported on the President’s Retreat on Institute Priorities.

There was a motion to adjourn at 3:49 p.m. Motion passed unanimously.

Adjournment.