Faculty Senate OKs CCPA doctoral program

The Faculty Senate held its first meeting of the academic year on Tuesday, giving unanimous approval to a doctorate in community and public affairs developed by the College of Community and Public Affairs.

The new program, once approved by SUNY and the New York State Department of Education, will prepare students in three learning areas: research methods and data analysis; community systems, cultural competence and social justice; and leading public and nonprofit organizations.

“It’s been a very considered process as we’ve developed this interdisciplinary doctoral program for CCPA,” said Josephine Allen, professor of social work. The program will involve all departments in CCPA, as well as faculty in the Decker School of Nursing, the Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science and several Harpur departments in the humanities and biological sciences, she said.

“We will be looking at community-based problems addresses by public and nonprofits that find solutions in the complex society in which we now live,” she said. “This program focuses on leadership and the kind of strengths leaders of the future will need to address the problems before us. It will allow us to look through a number of lenses at complex issues we face.”

With Faculty Senate approval, the program proposal will now be submitted to SUNY by the Graduate School. Once SUNY has approved the proposal, it will be forward to the NYSED for approval. Typically, the entire process averages about a year. 

Prior to the Faculty Senate meeting, President Harvey Stenger made his semi-annual address to the full faculty. Stenger touched on topics ranging from enrollment and faculty growth, to national rankings, to the University’s website, to the University’s annual economic impact.

He also spoke about the Road Map strategic planning process, noting that the University is in a very important part of the process now as the nine teams have finalized their vision statements and are drafting proposals.

“The visions will be presented publically on the website soon,” he said, before reviewing the Road Map timeline. “The next meeting of the Steering Committee (team sponsors and co-chairs) will be Nov. 15, when they will hear what I call ‘uncooked’ ideas,” he said. “Teams then have one month to work on more formal proposals, and the Steering Committee will also see where the cross-cutting ideas are.”

Stenger said the vice presidents will meet in mid-December to review the final proposals and develop costs for each one. The proposals will be posted on the website by Dec. 31. “I will ask the Steering Committee to score those proposals in January, and then have those scored proposals reviewed by campus groups in early February.” The draft report on Road Map outcomes will be prepared after that.