State University of New York at Albany. University Senate.

The earliest predecessor of the University at Albany Senate was the Faculty Council. The Faculty Council, whose members consisted of the President, Deans, and faculty representatives, functioned as an advisory body on campus policy and academic affairs. In June 1944, at the urging of the New York State College for Teachers' chapter of the American Association of University Professors, a Faculty-Administration Council was formed to facilitate cooperation between faculty and administration. While the Faculty-Administration Council seems to have dissolved in 1955, the Faculty Council continued to function until it was replaced by the Faculty Senate in 1966. As the Faculty Council was transformed into a strictly faculty body, other councils were created to deal with increasingly complex problems of college governance. In 1953, the Academic Council was created. A Graduate Academic Council was created in 1963 consisting of the Director of Graduate Studies and eight members of the graduate faculty. Shortly after the Graduate Academic Council was formed, President Collins dissolved the Academic Council and created an Undergraduate Academic Council whose membership and functions paralleled those of the Graduate Academic Council. In the spring of 1966, the University Faculty created the Faculty Senate out of the formerly independent councils of the University including the Faculty Council, the Undergraduate Academic Council, the Graduate Academic Council, and the Student Personnel Council. The Faculty Senate changed its name to the University Senate in October 1969 when student representation was added to the body. Beginning in the fall of 1970, student representation consisted of 33 Senators, one third elected from the graduate body and two thirds from the undergraduate body. In the 1980s and 1990s, student representation decreased. The University Senate remains the principal policy-making body of the University.

From the description of University Senate records, 1915-1999. (University at Albany). WorldCat record id: 122514611