Senate Meeting Sees Debates Around AI Policy and Committee Appointments
by Brynn Brown | September 28, 2026
The Student Association (SA) Senate went through confirmations for committee appointments, a presentation regarding the new university-wide AI policy and reports about upcoming SA events at their recent meeting on Wednesday, September 23.
This meeting was also the first where Senate Vice Chair Sean Metcalf served in his role, after having been elected at the last meeting on September 14. In his opening remarks, Vice Chair Metcalf acknowledged that, due to an IT issue, the senate’s voting clickers were not present yet, and said that he had set his office hours. He then went on to handle the Certificates and Celebrations among the senate.
AI Policy
After opening remarks, the senate heard from Todd Foreman, the Vice President of Finance and Administration and Chief Financial Officer at the University at Albany, regarding UAlbany’s new campus-wide AI policy.
The policy includes broad principles about the use of generative and agentic AI across administrative, educational and research tasks. Transparency, accountability, inclusion of human judgment, professor choice, AI literacy, and legal and security considerations are among the principles outlined. The policy doesn’t have concrete, actionable steps or restrictions for proper use, which is deliberate, according to Foreman.
“It’s not as prescriptive as some people would like… the policy is meant to be a living, breathing document,” he said to the senate before opening up to questions.
The senators had a myriad of questions for Foreman, concerned about AI's environmental implications and its use in the classroom.
“Do you understand how much of an impact AI literally has on the environment, and how close to marginalized communities AI data centers are being placed? Do you even understand that?” asked Senator Ryan Szepek.
Table knocks—a sign of respect or appreciation in the senate, as a replacement for applause—abounded from the room at Senator Szepek's question, and continued to throughout most of the discussion, as senators continued to inquire about the policy.
“The reality is that AI is here,” said Foreman in response. “We are actually at the forefront of trying to develop AI technology… in ways that are aligned with our values.”
Foreman went on to discuss research towards developing AI hardware and chips that will use less power and less temperature control, resulting in quieter and less power-hungry AI systems.
Senator Carolina Thomas voiced concerns about the campus policy's effects on those who do not want to use AI to complete their work. In response Foreman cautioned students that they would be a disadvantage in the workplace if they do not learn to harness AI as a tool now.
“Because I don’t use AI, and I do the work myself, I’m getting a raw grade for my work,” said Senator Thomas. “But my peers, for the same assignment... are using AI and getting an inflated grade.”
“I think you will find, when you get into the workforce, that you will be at [a disadvantage] if you do the work to do it the hard way and do it the right way—now, I don’t think your choice to not use AI at all is a good thing,” said Foreman in response.
At the end of the presentation, the emphasis was to the future. Students can fill out a feedback form, or can attend an in-person or virtual town hall on the policy to share their feedback. The in-person town hall will be held at 1 P.M. on Monday, October 5, and the virtual town hall will take place on October 8, starting at 2:30 and must be registered for ahead of time.
Executive Reports
Student Association President Ava-Rae Calloway’s report focused largely on what had not been done in the week prior.
Vice President Anastacia Pulman had been away from her office due to personal reasons. President Calloway talked about the issues that occurred in the executive branch with the distribution of the Vice President’s responsibilities during Vice President Pulman’s leave, which led to delays with the appointments for University Auxillary Services Board, which are made by the president instead of the senate chair. The appointments were not known to any until the day before the meeting.
Despite delays, the UAS appointments went through when put to a vote in the senate. Senators Alana Borrero, Imani Smith and Maia Toth were appointed to the board.
President Calloway acknowledged that a mistake had been made, but also that it was made under rare circumstances and that she was learning from it.
Director Raengel Farmer of Academic and Civic Affairs reported on upcoming Student Association events, with a strong emphasis on constituent outreach, as this upcoming year is one in which students will be voting on the Student Association Fees that students get charged.
The upcoming events are as follows:
October 5-9: Thrive Week—Several events will be held intermittently between 11 AM and 10 PM in the Thrive Hub and Thrive Hive on campus.
October 28: Halloween Fair—In the part of CC where the Damien head statue is, there will be fall snacks, a Halloween-themed raffle basket and an opportunity to talk directly to members of the SA government, including senators.
November 11: Professional Development Workshop—Professional headshots, purple threads, catering and several tables will be in the CC multipurpose room, helping students prepare for job applications and future employment.
Director of Marketing and Programming Taquan Saunders reported on overhauls coming to the SA Instagram, where people can find upcoming campus-wide events. As a result of prior discussions, he was asked by Senator Craig Brown if his office uses generative AI in the communications.
“I just want to make this very clear. I have been a graphic designer for around seven years, and I absolutely hate AI… Everything that is made and seen and posted on the Instagram page is me sitting down hours and hours on end on Photoshop.”
All other reports addressed business such as the emergency contraception vending machines, menstrual products in public bathrooms, petition processed and the process for getting a club recognized by SA. No changes are being made right now, but more is expected to come out in future meetings.
Committee Appointments
Senate Chair Jaden Burke made appointments for senate committees prior to the meeting, and drafted them into bills. Almost every committee appointment went through—many by near-unanimous votes. The only exception was Chair Burke’s ethics committee appointment bill, and consequently, the executive committee bill was tabled.
Senator Abdul Kablaoui, who was set to be chair of the ethics committee and who served as ethics committee chair last year, was a point of contention. While Senator Kablaoui served as ethics chair last year, the committee was steeped in controversy and mismanagement, according to the senators who partook in the debate.
“I like to take feedback to heart,” said Senator Kablaoui. “Things happen, but the important thing is to grow and learn from your mistakes… I made mistakes last year.”
Other concerns arose about the ethics committee, too.
“My concern is when we are placing senators in positions of ethical responsibility when there are serious concerns about their own conduct toward other senators,” said Senator Peter Cataldo during a period of debate. “One of the senators being appointed to this committee was reportedly heard using a slur toward another senator while sitting near the live stream.”
Senators Thomas and Szepek both echoed the importance of preventing homophobic rhetoric among members of an ethics committee.
“What the ethics committee was last year is not the ethics committee that we’re going to be running this year,” Chair Burke said. “I have complete faith in this committee, and if I didn’t, I wouldn’t even put it up on the floor.”
The debate went on for over 12 minutes, culminating in the senate voting against the ethics committee appointments. Chair Burke will have to come to the senate with new appointments at the next senate meeting on Wednesday, October 7.
Aside from the ethics committee, several successful appointments went through. Those appointments can be found at the end of this article.
Campus Climate
At the end of the meeting, senators had a forum to discuss issues they saw in the campus climate period.
During this time, Senator Livia Chouraqui discussed the difficulty for students to report broken facilities to maintenance. Senator Brendan Swain brought up issues with the accessibility of mental health services, citing issues of hours and a lack of knowledge on how to access them.
After a variety of other topics, including license plate reader cameras on or near campus, the issue of mics, Title IX and Title XI, a parking safety committee, gym attendance and a few other topics, closing remarks preceded the adjournment of the meeting.
The next meeting will see Audit Committee and Board of Finance Committee appointments, alongside a new set of appointments for the Ethics Committee.
Committee Appointments, Passed and Proposed
First Year Experience and Innovation
Chair – Brendan Swain
Ranking Member – Livia Chouraqui
Members – Miguel Angelo Santos, Casedy McRae and Jordan Forrester
Constituent Relations
Chair – Alana Borrero
Senior Ranking Member – Brendan Swain
Junior Ranking Member – Livia Chouraqui
Members – Rupeeka Reddy Surakanti, Imani Smith, Maia Toth and Rabeya Nezrin
Community Engagement and Outreach
Chair – Peter Cataldo
Ranking Member – Jelani Harris
Members – Imani Smith, Kiera O’Shea, Ryan Szepek, Ali Sina Mustafadza and Colin McMahon
Appropriations
Chair – Ethan Kavalunas
Ranking Member – Amin Mureb
Members – Joseph Leichtner, Chris Clune, Kosta Serlis and Adrian Cummings
Oversight of Government Operations
Chair – Carter Schum
Senior Ranking Member – Will Giannakouros
Junior Ranking Member – Craig Brown
Committee Members – Rabaab Ahsan, Daniel Dai and Maria Mahfuz
Rules and Administration
Chair – Craig Brown
Senior Ranking Member – David Harrison
Junior Ranking Member – Carter Schum
Committee Members – Carolina Thomas, Damean Teagle, Cal Abbassi and Olivia Rose
Tabled
Executive Committee
Chair – Jaden Burke
Ranking Member – Sean Metcalf
Committee Members – Craig Brown, Carter Schum, Abdul Kablaoui, Ethan Kavalunas, Alana Borrero, Peter Cataldo and Brendan Swain
Proposed
Ethics (Not Confirmed; to be re-appointed next week)
Chair – Abdul Kablaoui
Ranking Member – Ben Brussovansky
Committee Members – Prince Ganyani, Jason Guo, Dino Hukovic, Faraz Shaikh
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