Meeting Minutes
ACADEMIC SENATE
January 8, 2018
Call to Order
The regular meeting of the Academic Senate, held on January 8, 2018, was called to order at
3:02 pm by Senate President Margaret Clayton. The meeting was held in the Moot Courtroom of
the College of Law.
Present: Sarah Hinners, Robert Allen, Elena Asparouhova, Nitin Bakshi, Shmuel
Baruch, Brian Cadman, Jeff Nielsen, Annie Fukushima, Alberta Comer,
James Winkler, Lauren Liang, Rajeev Balasubramonian, Chuck Dorval,
Ken Monson, John Regehr, Frank Sachse, James Sutherland, Denny
Berry, Laurel Caryn, Michael Chikinda, Melonie Murray, Bo Foreman,
Stacy Manwaring, Jim Martin, Susan Naidu, Nelson Roy, Alex Terrill,
James Anderson, Katharine Coles, Patricia Hanna, Anne Lair, Lex
Newman, Randy Dryer, Terry Kogan, Tom Lund, John Bramble, Brandon
Patterson, Julie Barkmeier–Kraemer, Pinar Bayrak–Toydemir, Nadia Cobb,
Julio Facelli, Per Gesteland, Antoinette Laskey, Nicole L. Mihalopoulos,
Kalani Raphael, Brad Rockwell, Amnon Schlegel, Debra Simmons, Shaji
Menon, Thomas Winter, Ravi Chandran, Diego Fernandez, Lauren Clark,
Susanna Cohen, Sara Simonsen, Ann Engar, Sarah Bush, Yekaterina
Epshteyn, Dragan Milicic, Jon Seger, Jennifer Shumaker–Parry, Gunseli
Berik, Sheila Crowell, Kim Korinek, Sharon Mastracci, Duncan Metcalfe,
Kathleen Nicoll, Zhou Yu, Jason Castillo, Mary Beth Vogel–Ferguson,
Joanne Yaffe, Nicholas Gochnor, Micah Smith, Chandler Dean, Melanie
Barber, Valerie Guerrero, Chase Peterson, Jacob Lopez, Elizabeth Pohl,
Carley Herrick, Trevor Annis, Nathan Ong, Michael Stapley, Summer
Mikkelsen, Kaitlin McLean, Abigail Stover, India Kozlowski
Absent: Brenda Scheer, Shundana Yusaf, Todd Zenger, Olga Baker, Mark
Durham, Leticia Alvarez, John Funk, Hanseup Kim, Ning Lu, Eric
Hinderaker, Sean Lawson, Maureen Mathison, Luke Leither, Ken
Johnson, Andrea Bild, Linda Tyler, Joel Brownstein, Dmytro Pesin,
Adrienne Cachelin, Baodong Liu, Ailien Luu, Ananya Roy
Ex Officio: Margaret Clayton, Robert Flores, Xan Johnson, Paul Mogren, Tom
Richmond, David Pershing, Amy Wildermuth, Bob Fujinami
Excused with proxy: Gema Guevara, Mia Hashibe, Jessica Wempen, Richard Ernst, David
Goldenberg, Pearl Sandick, Korkut Erturk, Emina Tatarevic
Excused: Darryl Butt, Sudeep Kanungo, Lorris Betz, Ruth Watkins, Winston Kyan,
Don Blumenthal, Tommaso de Fernex, Zach Berger
2
Others: Chris Lewis, Rod Handy, Pratt Rogers, Andrew Roberts, Doug Bergman,
Norm Waitzman,
Approval of Minutes:
The minutes dated December 4, 2017 were approved with a motion from Jim Anderson and a
second from Joanne Yaffe.
Consent Calendar:
The Consent Calendars dated December 4, 2017 and January 8, 2018 were approved with a motion from
Kathleen Nicoll and a second from Jim Anderson.
Executive Committee Report
Tom Richmond gave an update on the activities of the Executive Committee. The EC heard a
report from the Senate Advisory Committee on Student Course Feedback which is developing a
proposal to greatly revise the system of gathering course feedback from students, which will later
be presented to the senate. And the EC had a discussion with representatives of the Credits and
Admissions committee, which will also be giving its required annual report to the Senate later
this semester.
Request for New Business
No new business
Report from Administration:
President Dave Pershing gave an update on the recent activities of the U’s administration. He
welcomed everyone back for the new semester. He gave a shout–out to the College of Nursing,
which received the inaugural American Association of College of Nursing New Era award, given
to the nursing education institution that has made the biggest strides in integrating into an
academic health center. The Utah Board of Regents will shortly appoint a new U president. On
Thursday, January 11, the three finalists will be announced. On Thursday, January 18, the Board
of Regents will vote and announce the new president of the University of Utah, who will take
over at some point in spring/summer 2018. The Senate will have the opportunity to meet with the
three candidates on Wednesday, January 17. President Pershing is currently busy preparing for
the 2018 legislative session, which will begin January 22. The governor’s budget proposal
recommends that U faculty and staff get compensation in accordance with the state system (i.e.
state employees), which is a positive thing. The governor’s proposal also recommends $24
million for programs within higher education in Utah, which will benefit the U and allocate new
program money into areas such as growth and student retention activities, as well as workforce
preparation activities. It also recommends that the legislature completely fund compensation this
year (it is normally funded 75% by the legislature and 25% by the students, i.e. tuition). This
would allow the U to impose a much smaller tuition increase for students. Regarding capital
facilities, the U is looking toward getting the rest of the money for the transition project on the
medical side of campus. The U’s request this session is for the south campus housing project (the
U is asking legislative permission to build, not appropriation of state funding). Finally, there is a
new bill that would change the way that university presidents are selected, by allocating sole
Others: Chris Lewis, Rod Handy, Pratt Rogers, Andrew Roberts, Doug Bergman,
Norm Waitzman,
Approval of Minutes:
The minutes dated December 4, 2017 were approved with a motion from Jim Anderson and a
second from Joanne Yaffe.
Consent Calendar:
The Consent Calendars dated December 4, 2017 and January 8, 2018 were approved with a motion from
Kathleen Nicoll and a second from Jim Anderson.
Executive Committee Report
Tom Richmond gave an update on the activities of the Executive Committee. The EC heard a
report from the Senate Advisory Committee on Student Course Feedback which is developing a
proposal to greatly revise the system of gathering course feedback from students, which will later
be presented to the senate. And the EC had a discussion with representatives of the Credits and
Admissions committee, which will also be giving its required annual report to the Senate later
this semester.
Request for New Business
No new business
Report from Administration:
President Dave Pershing gave an update on the recent activities of the U’s administration. He
welcomed everyone back for the new semester. He gave a shout–out to the College of Nursing,
which received the inaugural American Association of College of Nursing New Era award, given
to the nursing education institution that has made the biggest strides in integrating into an
academic health center. The Utah Board of Regents will shortly appoint a new U president. On
Thursday, January 11, the three finalists will be announced. On Thursday, January 18, the Board
of Regents will vote and announce the new president of the University of Utah, who will take
over at some point in spring/summer 2018. The Senate will have the opportunity to meet with the
three candidates on Wednesday, January 17. President Pershing is currently busy preparing for
the 2018 legislative session, which will begin January 22. The governor’s budget proposal
recommends that U faculty and staff get compensation in accordance with the state system (i.e.
state employees), which is a positive thing. The governor’s proposal also recommends $24
million for programs within higher education in Utah, which will benefit the U and allocate new
program money into areas such as growth and student retention activities, as well as workforce
preparation activities. It also recommends that the legislature completely fund compensation this
year (it is normally funded 75% by the legislature and 25% by the students, i.e. tuition). This
would allow the U to impose a much smaller tuition increase for students. Regarding capital
facilities, the U is looking toward getting the rest of the money for the transition project on the
medical side of campus. The U’s request this session is for the south campus housing project (the
U is asking legislative permission to build, not appropriation of state funding). Finally, there is a
new bill that would change the way that university presidents are selected, by allocating sole
3
responsibility to the Board of Trustees of each university. The U feels that the current process
works well, whereby faculty, staff, students, and community members are involved in the
process, and the final decision is made by the Board of Regents, with consultation from the
University Trustees.
Report from ASUU
Chandler Dean gave an update on the recent activities of ASUU. The Conference on Diverse
Excellence is occurring February 2; the keynote speaker will be announced soon. ASUU is also
currently in the process of undergoing a complete review of Redbook, the ASUU constitution. A
schedule for the review will be released in the coming days.
Notice of Intent
No items of intent
Debate Calendar
Marc Rinehart and Jeff Botkin presented a proposal for a revised permanent Institutional
Conflict of Interest Policy, to replace the existing interim version. This will be the first full–
fledged institutional conflict of interest policy at the U. Two years ago, an Interim Rule was
instituted on an urgent basis to comply with federal requirements regarding regulation of human
subjects research. The proposal is to revise the content significantly and convert the Interim Rule
to a permanent Policy. There are two aspects of conflict of interest– whether the institution has an
intellectual property interest in the item under study, and whether the involved faculty have an
intellectual property interest in the item under study. This will be only related to institutional
conflict of interest (the University already has a separate companion policy governing individual
conflicts of interest). Revisions proposed today have been informed by experience over the last
two years. Motion was made by Jim Anderson to approve the proposal and forward to the Board
of Trustees. Motion seconded by Nicole Mihalopoulos. Motion passed unanimously.
Information and Recommendations Calendar
The following items were presented for the information and recommendations of the Academic
Senate:
Dale Spartz and Sarah Sherer presented proposed Rule 5–111B regarding staff corrective
and disciplinary actions. University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics did not have a rule that
defined the processes it wanted to use, so it looked at the lower campus rule and adapted
it to UUHC. This Rule “B” governs only staff employees of the Hospitals and Clinics. It
does not include staff employees of the academic units of Health Sciences (e.g., colleges
and academic departments), or employees of other academic units of the University
outside the Hospitals and Clinics (who are governed by the separate existing companion
Rule “A”). The main deficiency that resulted from a lack of this type of rule for Hospitals
and Clinics is that managers could give employees written disciplinary “write–ups”
without review by Human Resources. This rule will provide further protections for
employees and the university itself.
responsibility to the Board of Trustees of each university. The U feels that the current process
works well, whereby faculty, staff, students, and community members are involved in the
process, and the final decision is made by the Board of Regents, with consultation from the
University Trustees.
Report from ASUU
Chandler Dean gave an update on the recent activities of ASUU. The Conference on Diverse
Excellence is occurring February 2; the keynote speaker will be announced soon. ASUU is also
currently in the process of undergoing a complete review of Redbook, the ASUU constitution. A
schedule for the review will be released in the coming days.
Notice of Intent
No items of intent
Debate Calendar
Marc Rinehart and Jeff Botkin presented a proposal for a revised permanent Institutional
Conflict of Interest Policy, to replace the existing interim version. This will be the first full–
fledged institutional conflict of interest policy at the U. Two years ago, an Interim Rule was
instituted on an urgent basis to comply with federal requirements regarding regulation of human
subjects research. The proposal is to revise the content significantly and convert the Interim Rule
to a permanent Policy. There are two aspects of conflict of interest– whether the institution has an
intellectual property interest in the item under study, and whether the involved faculty have an
intellectual property interest in the item under study. This will be only related to institutional
conflict of interest (the University already has a separate companion policy governing individual
conflicts of interest). Revisions proposed today have been informed by experience over the last
two years. Motion was made by Jim Anderson to approve the proposal and forward to the Board
of Trustees. Motion seconded by Nicole Mihalopoulos. Motion passed unanimously.
Information and Recommendations Calendar
The following items were presented for the information and recommendations of the Academic
Senate:
Dale Spartz and Sarah Sherer presented proposed Rule 5–111B regarding staff corrective
and disciplinary actions. University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics did not have a rule that
defined the processes it wanted to use, so it looked at the lower campus rule and adapted
it to UUHC. This Rule “B” governs only staff employees of the Hospitals and Clinics. It
does not include staff employees of the academic units of Health Sciences (e.g., colleges
and academic departments), or employees of other academic units of the University
outside the Hospitals and Clinics (who are governed by the separate existing companion
Rule “A”). The main deficiency that resulted from a lack of this type of rule for Hospitals
and Clinics is that managers could give employees written disciplinary “write–ups”
without review by Human Resources. This rule will provide further protections for
employees and the university itself.
4
Robert Payne presented proposed Policy 1–011 and Procedure P1–011, regarding campus
security. The policy and procedure have been in effect in an “interim” status
(implemented by the University President on an urgent basis without ordinary processing
through the Senate); they were implemented in 2011 in conjunction with a Department of
Education audit on Cleary Act compliance. The Cleary Act requires institution to gather
all statistics of crimes on campus, in order to provide a report to students, faculty, and
staff on campus safety procedures. The Act also requires that the institution has certain
policies related to the act. Such policies were not in place when the Department of
Education visited for the audit; thus, the policy and procedure were put into place on an
interim basis. This proposal is to revise the contents with a few clarifications, and put the
regulations into effect on a permanent basis. For the most part the contents are directly
required by the federal law, and the content changes are technical, such as adding
definitions.
Dale Brophy presented an update on Research Park safety. He addressed the perception a
“homeless problem” on campus. Since December 12, campus police have completed 123
directed patrols in Research Park. They found one individual camping in that area,
handled the issue, and did not identify any other individuals. Campus Safety is now
patrolling Research Park more heavily. They also flew a drone over Red Butte Creek and
were not able to locate any transient camps, though they know there have been camps in
that area before. An off–road vehicle has been ordered, and officers will be doing patrols
four days per week in that area. No camping will be allowed anywhere on campus. Red
Butte Canyon Road is likely to get a new gate, that would open at 6 am and close at 10
pm. Campus Safety wants to ensure people can still use the area for recreational
purposes, but want to prevent overnight camping. There is also a homeless issue within
the hospitals, wherein homeless individuals who are discharged after treatment have
nowhere to go, and thus stay in the campus area. The U hospitals are now providing free
shuttles to any location within ten miles of campus, which has helped address this
problem. Chief Brophy also encouraged individuals to call Campus Police if they have
any suspicions regarding trespassing. There are 10–12 officers present during day shirt,
and 3–4 during night shift, so it is important for the campus community to be Campus
Police’s eyes and ears, especially when their staff is low. Individuals should call 585–
COPS with concerns. Chief Brophy also noted that jail restrictions have been removed,
so the U police are now able to arrest and take individuals to jail for non–violent offenses,
if necessary. Finally, Sergeant Garth Smith is a liaison officer between the U Police and
Salt Lake City, and is tasked with keeping up–to–date on progress with the new homeless
shelters, what resources are becoming available, etc., which will help the U better address
the homeless problem on campus.
Katie Ullman presented the report of the seven–year review for the College of Social
Work. During the time in which the review took place, the college hired a new dean, and
so is now developing a more action–oriented plan to take the recommendations from the
review and move forward.
Jordan Gerton gave an update on the new Crocker Science Center. It opened today for
classes. One of the goals of the new center is for every student at the university to take a
Robert Payne presented proposed Policy 1–011 and Procedure P1–011, regarding campus
security. The policy and procedure have been in effect in an “interim” status
(implemented by the University President on an urgent basis without ordinary processing
through the Senate); they were implemented in 2011 in conjunction with a Department of
Education audit on Cleary Act compliance. The Cleary Act requires institution to gather
all statistics of crimes on campus, in order to provide a report to students, faculty, and
staff on campus safety procedures. The Act also requires that the institution has certain
policies related to the act. Such policies were not in place when the Department of
Education visited for the audit; thus, the policy and procedure were put into place on an
interim basis. This proposal is to revise the contents with a few clarifications, and put the
regulations into effect on a permanent basis. For the most part the contents are directly
required by the federal law, and the content changes are technical, such as adding
definitions.
Dale Brophy presented an update on Research Park safety. He addressed the perception a
“homeless problem” on campus. Since December 12, campus police have completed 123
directed patrols in Research Park. They found one individual camping in that area,
handled the issue, and did not identify any other individuals. Campus Safety is now
patrolling Research Park more heavily. They also flew a drone over Red Butte Creek and
were not able to locate any transient camps, though they know there have been camps in
that area before. An off–road vehicle has been ordered, and officers will be doing patrols
four days per week in that area. No camping will be allowed anywhere on campus. Red
Butte Canyon Road is likely to get a new gate, that would open at 6 am and close at 10
pm. Campus Safety wants to ensure people can still use the area for recreational
purposes, but want to prevent overnight camping. There is also a homeless issue within
the hospitals, wherein homeless individuals who are discharged after treatment have
nowhere to go, and thus stay in the campus area. The U hospitals are now providing free
shuttles to any location within ten miles of campus, which has helped address this
problem. Chief Brophy also encouraged individuals to call Campus Police if they have
any suspicions regarding trespassing. There are 10–12 officers present during day shirt,
and 3–4 during night shift, so it is important for the campus community to be Campus
Police’s eyes and ears, especially when their staff is low. Individuals should call 585–
COPS with concerns. Chief Brophy also noted that jail restrictions have been removed,
so the U police are now able to arrest and take individuals to jail for non–violent offenses,
if necessary. Finally, Sergeant Garth Smith is a liaison officer between the U Police and
Salt Lake City, and is tasked with keeping up–to–date on progress with the new homeless
shelters, what resources are becoming available, etc., which will help the U better address
the homeless problem on campus.
Katie Ullman presented the report of the seven–year review for the College of Social
Work. During the time in which the review took place, the college hired a new dean, and
so is now developing a more action–oriented plan to take the recommendations from the
review and move forward.
Jordan Gerton gave an update on the new Crocker Science Center. It opened today for
classes. One of the goals of the new center is for every student at the university to take a
5
class in the new building. It is meant to serve as a home for the entire College of Science,
and should be a place for students, faculty, staff, and the public to come together around
science and math. There are four floors, including a basement, and includes 126,000
square feet, 18 interdisciplinary research labs, seven integrated teaching labs, 10 flexible
classrooms, an integrated tutoring center, an integrated advising hive, a Center for Data
Science, and a technology incubator.
Stan Clements presented information regarding the new test proctoring procedure.
Teaching & Learning Technologies (TLT) has offered test–proctoring services for online
courses. It has now taken over the Testing Center in the Student Services Building, and
will oversee make–up exams for students in face–to–face courses as well. To request the
service, faculty should visit the TLT website (https://tlt.utah.edu/) , go to Exam Services,
and schedule a special arrangement exam. The site will direct to an informational page
explaining the process and the steps. Everything is online and automated. Stan walked
through the process for faculty to set up an exam, as well as for students to “enroll” in an
exam. There will soon be an option for faculty to allow make–up exams only for certain
students. Student ID cards are now being scanned when they enter the testing facility.
The University Distinguished Teaching Awards, Community Engaged Teaching and
Scholarship Award, and John R. Park Teaching Fellowship were brought forward with no
discussion.
The November President’s Report was brought forward with no discussion.
New Business
No new business
Open Discussion
The following remarks were made during the Open Discussion portion of the meeting.
Jim Martin, College of Health– Jim brought up the issue of campus parking permits for
employees, the prices of which are increasing at a rate of approximately 17 percent per
year. The increases have the goal of forcing individuals to find alternate methods of
transportation to and from campus. U employees are state employees, but no other state
employees are required to pay for parking at their workplaces.
Sheila Crowell, Social & Behavioral Sciences– Sheila is following up on a previous open
mic comment regarding mental health services for students on campus. Mental health
issues of students are largely coming to attention in the context of a student failing to
complete an assignment or a need for accommodation from a student, when students have
faced major issues with mental health implications. There is not enough capacity of
mental health services on campus. She suggested creating a small resource information
card that could be distributed at faculty retreats each fall, that faculty could keep on their
desks for distribution to students in need, listing available resources for mental health
services. She is soliciting feedback on whether such a resource card would be helpful
and/or desired.
Adjournment
class in the new building. It is meant to serve as a home for the entire College of Science,
and should be a place for students, faculty, staff, and the public to come together around
science and math. There are four floors, including a basement, and includes 126,000
square feet, 18 interdisciplinary research labs, seven integrated teaching labs, 10 flexible
classrooms, an integrated tutoring center, an integrated advising hive, a Center for Data
Science, and a technology incubator.
Stan Clements presented information regarding the new test proctoring procedure.
Teaching & Learning Technologies (TLT) has offered test–proctoring services for online
courses. It has now taken over the Testing Center in the Student Services Building, and
will oversee make–up exams for students in face–to–face courses as well. To request the
service, faculty should visit the TLT website (https://tlt.utah.edu/) , go to Exam Services,
and schedule a special arrangement exam. The site will direct to an informational page
explaining the process and the steps. Everything is online and automated. Stan walked
through the process for faculty to set up an exam, as well as for students to “enroll” in an
exam. There will soon be an option for faculty to allow make–up exams only for certain
students. Student ID cards are now being scanned when they enter the testing facility.
The University Distinguished Teaching Awards, Community Engaged Teaching and
Scholarship Award, and John R. Park Teaching Fellowship were brought forward with no
discussion.
The November President’s Report was brought forward with no discussion.
New Business
No new business
Open Discussion
The following remarks were made during the Open Discussion portion of the meeting.
Jim Martin, College of Health– Jim brought up the issue of campus parking permits for
employees, the prices of which are increasing at a rate of approximately 17 percent per
year. The increases have the goal of forcing individuals to find alternate methods of
transportation to and from campus. U employees are state employees, but no other state
employees are required to pay for parking at their workplaces.
Sheila Crowell, Social & Behavioral Sciences– Sheila is following up on a previous open
mic comment regarding mental health services for students on campus. Mental health
issues of students are largely coming to attention in the context of a student failing to
complete an assignment or a need for accommodation from a student, when students have
faced major issues with mental health implications. There is not enough capacity of
mental health services on campus. She suggested creating a small resource information
card that could be distributed at faculty retreats each fall, that faculty could keep on their
desks for distribution to students in need, listing available resources for mental health
services. She is soliciting feedback on whether such a resource card would be helpful
and/or desired.
Adjournment
6
Meeting adjourned at 4:17 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Maddy Oritt
Meeting adjourned at 4:17 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Maddy Oritt