Brockport University Senate Proposal Submission Process
The Senate follows a thorough process before recommending a proposal to the University President. Proposals take approximately one calendar year from submission to Senate until they can be implemented. After the Senate votes to recommend your proposal to the President, your proposal must be signed by the Senate President, the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, the Appropriate VP and then the University President. At each stage, the administration may need to discuss your proposal with you or with the Senate office. Therefore, we are setting the following due date for proposals. We will accept proposals after the deadlines, but cannot guarantee that they will be reviewed by committees and Senate before the corresponding schedule is finalized.
| Complete Proposals Received by | Should be Able to be Implemented by |
|---|---|
| Third Monday in Fall | Following Fall Schedule |
| Second Monday in Spring | Following Spring Schedule |
Please do not expect proposals recommended at the end of the Spring semester to be implemented before the Fall semester.
If your proposal requires revision and/or questions are not responded to in a timely manner, we may not be able to send your proposal to the Senate until the following academic year.
Types of Proposals
The forms you submit depend on the type of proposal you wish the Senate to recommend to the President for signature. See the specifics of each type of proposal below:
Distinction between Significant and Slight Proposals
The Executive Committee determines whether a proposal is significant (requiring a first read followed by a voteat a second meeting) vs slight (announced at Senate with the option to convert to first read followed by a voteat a second meeting). Significant proposals are usually characterized by one or more of the following:
- Credits change within the existing program (Example: increasing or reducing the total number of required credits).
- Increases in requirements for the existing program (Examples: altering the number of required vs. elective credits; changes that could prove a burden to current majors/minors who are “legacied” into the older program; etc.)
- One or more other departments affected by the change(s) without a letter from the department supporting the change (Examples: eliminating or adding prerequisites, co-requisites or requirements that are provided by other programs; one major adds a requirement offered by another department; one major discontinues requiring a course offered in another major; one major drops a course that is required by other majors.
Article III C 2 specifies the procedure for requesting a vote on an item deemed slight by the Executive Committee.
Please Note
Education Proposals
Several proposals interact with our teacher certification programs. If you are preparing a proposal that may affect teacher candidates, please reach to the appropriate person listed below for a letter of acknowledgement:
- Dr. Allison Wright - Childhood programs
- Dr. Carol Wade - Adolescent programs
- Dr. Marissa Kofke - SWD/Inclusive programs
Letters of Intent
The SUNY Letter of Intent should not be submitted as a proposal to Senate. Submissions to SUNY and/or NYSED take place after Senate and administrative approval.
After Submission
Once proposals are received by the Senate office, they are numbered and sent to the respective committee chair for review.
Committees review proposals and once approved by committee the proposal is moved to the Executive Committee for review.
After Executive Committee review, the proposal may be sent back to the proposer for more information or put on the agenda for a first read or announcement at Senate.
Proposals that are announced at Senate do not need a vote unless a Senator calls for one.
Proposals that need a vote are presented and Senators vote at the next Senate meeting.
It is the job of the Senator to share all information that occurs at Senate with their respective Departments or Unit.
If a proposal is passed, it becomes a resolution and the resolution is signed by the President of Brockport University Senate. From there, the resolution is forwarded to the Associate Provost for review to determine if the resolution needs to go to SUNY and/or NYS Department of Education. The resolution is then forwarded to the President of the University, who seeks input and either approves, asks for further clarification or denies.
Brockport University is a Recommending Body in the process of Shared Governance, however, ultimately, the President of the University makes the final determination on the approval of all Resolutions.
Signed Resolutions that are approved by the President are then shared with the proposer, the Registrar’s Office and the Library for upload into the SUNY Digital Repository.
Questions can be directed to the Senate Office at (585) 395-2586 or senate@brockport.edu.