Student and faculty senators met to discuss the academic calendar, future senate size and the final report of the University Space Priorities Working Group on March 4 during a University Senate Meeting.
SCPS senior and senator Brian Plaut represented the Academic Affairs Committee and presented the academic calendar proposal for the 2015-2018 years to the senate. The committee worked to maintain the current calendar parameters and even made consultations, but said the fall 2015 academic term would begin before Labor Day.
Faculty Senator Arthur Tannenbaum expressed concern for faculty who have children, because New York Public Schools usually do not start school until after Labor Day.
Plaut said families were taken into consideration, but if the semester started after Labor Day there would not be enough time in the semester for full academic credit and vacations such as fall break, Thanksgiving break and reading days.
Additionally, the proposal recommended that move-in day be on a Saturday as opposed to Sunday, with exceptions for Jewish students. The calendar also proposed taking off the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and having only one day of fall break.
The calendar proposal passed the senate’s vote with only two abstentions and no nays from the senators present.
Faculty Senator and Langone professor Warren Jelinek, representing the Senate Committee on Organization and Governance, gave a verbal presentation of SCOG’s proposal for a change in senate size. The committee will send the proposal to the university senators once it is written.
The proposal involved adding faculty from NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU Shanghai to the committees and changing each faculty council name.
The SCOG proposal will be voted on during the next senate meeting on April 17.
Tannenbaum reported to the senate on behalf of the Public Affairs Committee, which recently met and discussed labor rights of the workers who produce goods sold in NYU stores, such as the apparel in the bookstore. Tannenbaum said PAC would have recommendations concerning these issues by the next senate meeting.
The meeting concluded with a presentation by the University Space Priorities Working Group about their final report which was published March 4. For a detailed account on the report, see: “Group finalizes NYU 2031 proposals.”
A version of this article appeared in the Wednesday, March 5 print edition. Ann Schmidt is a news editor. Email her at [email protected].
