ACADEMIC SENATE MINUTES

May 4, 2015

The regular meeting of the Academic Senate, held on May 4, 2015, was called to order at 3:01 p.m. by Steve Alder, Senate President. The meeting was held in HSEB 1730.

Present: Ole Fischer, Stephen Goldsmith, Lyda Bigelow, Jeff Coles, Melissa Lewis, Gary Lowder, Leanne Hawken, Janiece Pompa, A.K. Balaji, Robert Hitchcock, Peter Jensen, Xiaoyue Liu, Meredith Metzger, Edward M. Trujillo, Michael Cottle, Justin Diggle, Xan Johnson, Steve Roens, Lien Fan Shen, Kelly Bricker, Julie Metos, Les Podlog, M. Pollie Price, Lorie Gage Richards, Chrisoula Andreou, Karin Baumgartner, Disa Gambera, Anne Jamison, Adrian Palmer, Matthew Potolsky, Gerald Root, Robin Craig, David Hill, Christian Johnson, Alicia Brillon, Sandra McIntyre, Jill Moriearty, Alfred Mowdood, Jennifer Garvin, Mary Elizabeth Hartnett, Michelle Hofmann, Katherine Kendall, John T. Langell, Maureen A. Murtaugh, Ingrid E. Nygaard, Christy Porucznik, Ravi Ranjan, Jody Rosenblatt, Paul J. Shami, Debra Simmons, Robert A. Stephenson, Scott T. Youngquist, Marjorie Chan, Paul Jewell, Mollie Cummins, Lynn Hollister, Stephanie Richardson, Thomas Cheatham, Brandon Jennings, Jindrich Kopecek, Randy Dryer, David Ailion, John Conboy, Jordan Gerton, John (Jack) Longino, Michael Shapiro, John Sperry, David Temme, Andrejs Treibergs, Nilufer Cagatay, Thomas Cova, Frances Friedrich, Richard Paine, Lina Svedin, Norman Waitzman, Ming Wen, Caren Frost, Patrick Panos, Joanne Yaffe, Amy Simonsen, Cindy Chen, Daniel Barber, Hannah Stinson, Gaby Zumaeta, Conrad Dean, Ambra Jackson

Absent: Keith Bartholomew, Kate Canas, Kristin Smith-Crowe, Olga Baker, Yongmei Ni, Orly Alter, Joe Marotta, Reva Rauk, Avery Holton, William Lowrance, Peter Alfeld, Joel Miller, Jingyi Zhu, Joan Brenner-Coltrain, Michael Hawkins, Lori Kowaleski-Jones

Ex-Officio: David Pershing, Stephen Alder, William Johnson, Allyson Mower, Paul Mogren, Robert Flores, Amy Wildermuth, Carrie Byington, Harriet Hopf

Excused with Proxy: Lex Newman for Anne Jamison, Karen Gieseker for Christy Porucznik, James Lehning for Nadja Durbach, Margaret Toscano for Maria Dobozy, Misha Bradford for Reva Rauk, Sarah Projansky for Raymond Tymas-Jones

Excused: Ruth Watkins, Vivian S. Lee

Others: Dan Bowden, Kiston Finney, Krista Pickens, Katie Carreau, Donna White, David Perrin, Karen Paisley, Ed Barbanell, Tim Ebner, Jennifer Reed, Erika George, Hank Liese

Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the Academic Senate meeting on April 6, 2015, were approved without objection.

Request for New Business

No new business

Consent Calendar

The resignations, retirements, and faculty and administrator appointments dated May 4, 2015 received approval to forward to the Board of Trustees on motion by Joanne Yaffe and seconded by Harriet Hopf. The motion passed unanimously.

Executive Committee Report

William Johnson, Senate President-Elect, gave an update on the Executive Committee. He mentioned that everything discussed in the April Executive Committee meeting is now on the agenda for the full Senate. He also mentioned that PAC-12 Academic Senate leaders recently met at a conference, and they have decided that a campaign against campus sexual assault is their main priority for the next year.

Report from Administration

President David Pershing gave an update on University events. He mentioned that commencement will be on Thursday night, with special speaker Robert McDonald. The Honorary Degree dinner will be held the night before, where the Rosenblatt Prize winner will also be revealed. College convocations will be held on Friday. President Pershing also mentioned that the U’s administration has begun work on the next legislative session, and he will be traveling the state to build relationships with legislative representatives. The OSH building will also be renamed after its new individual donors.

Report from ASUU

Ambra Jackson, ASUU President, gave an introduction of herself and her new administration. The new ASUU administration is based on three core platforms: integrating students with one another and University traditions, informing the student body of financial, legislative, and administrative happenings, and improving campus climate.

Special Orders—annual Senate elections

Ballots were passed out for voting on the Senate President-Elect, and the two candidates nominated, Xan Johnson of Fine Arts, and Margaret Clayton of Nursing, were given a platform to speak about themselves and why they would like to serve as President-Elect. Ballots were distributed on-line for election of members of the Senate Executive Committee.

Notice of Intent

Ed Barbanell and Tim Ebner presented proposed revisions to Policy 6-100 regarding course add and drop dates. The policy is meant to align both the last day to add and the last day to drop a course to the same day, which is the second Friday of the semester. The second part of the policy would implement a change so students would no longer need to contact the Registrar’s Office to find out the last day to add or drop miscellaneous session courses. Motion was made by Joanne Yaffe to immediately move to the Debate Calendar. Motion seconded by Harriet Hopf. Motion passed unanimously. Motion was made by Joanne Yaffe to approve the proposal and pass to Board of Trustees. Motion seconded by Randy Dryer. Motion passed unanimously.

Krista Pickens, Director of OEO, and Katie Carreau, Office of General Counsel, presented a proposed Policy 1-015 Safety of Minors Participating in University Programs or Programs Held on University Premises. They mentioned that this policy was brought forth because there has been an increased awareness of how many minors come up to the University of Utah for programs. They have identified 450 such programs that engage minors, and it has been acknowledged by University administration that such a policy needs to be in place. The proposed policy has four specific requirements: (1) all programs involving minors are to register with the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action, (2) all adults working with minors on campus require background checks, (3) all adults working with minors must undergo a training, and (4) all adults working with minors must abide by a certain standard of conduct. The policy also requires that any adult on campus that has a reasonable suspicion of minor abuse has an obligation to report such activities to the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action. The policy would not apply for minors who are University students, and so would not affect University courses. Motion made by Joanne Yaffe to immediately move to the Debate Calendar. Motion seconded by Harriet Hopf. Motion passed with three objections.

There was further discussion regarding the policy. It was clarified that any minor who is paid as University employee or is a student receiving University credit would be exempt from this policy. There were concerns that the policy is too invasive and that it infringes on civil liberties, and ability of faculty members to educate and guide non-student minors Several senators expressed that they are committed to the safety of minors, but they do not support the policy as written because they believe it will unduly hinder outreach programs. Motion was made by Patrick Panos to table the issue and return to it in the fall semester. Motion seconded by Peter Jensen. Motion passed, with several objections. After discussion of other agenda items, this topic was discussed further later in the meeting. Motion was made by Joanne Yaffe to create a Senate Ad hoc committee appointed by the Academic Senate President charged to work on the Policy on the Safety of Minors. working with the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action to do further research, have more consultation with faculty and others who interact with minors, and refine the proposal before returning it to the Senate in the fall. Motion was seconded by Randy Dryer. Motion passed with one abstention.

Debate Calendar

Daniel Bowden, Chief Information Security Officer, presented the revised Information Security Policy and Rules 4-004. Dan mentioned that he has met with several senators and the Senate Faculty IT Ad hoc Committee to address departmental and faculty concerns. The policy is more in line with FERPA and HIPAA standards, and Dan will be working with the committee for the ongoing implementation of the policy. Motion was made by Peter Jensen to approve the Policy and Pules and pass on to the Board of Trustees, but on the condition that the Rules come back for re-approval of the Academic Senate within the next year and meanwhile remain unenforceable until April 2016. Motion seconded by Joanne Yaffe. Motion passed unanimously. Under this arrangement the Policy and Rules will be distributed to the University community and training regarding them will be conducted from now through the next year, and refined versions of the Rules will be brought to the Senate for approval within the year.

David Perrin, new Dean of the College of Health, presented the College of Health Realignment Proposal. He mentioned that five divisions/departments would be created from the college’s seven previous ones. David is hoping to get the proposal approved as soon as possible so as to open for fall semester 2016. Motion was made by Joanne Yaffe to approve the realignment of these academic units and pass to the Board of Trustees. Motion was seconded by Harriet Hopf. Motion passed unanimously.

Ed Clark and Harriet Hopf presented a set of proposals for creating five new divisions within existing academic departments in the School of Medicine. These academic units would be non-free-standing divisions. First, the Department of Pediatrics proposes to establish a Division of Pediatric Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in order to centralize the care of children with disabilities and functional limitations. Motion was made by Norman Waitzman to approve and pass to the Board of Trustees. Motion was seconded by Joanne Yaffe. Motion passed unanimously.

Second, third, and fourth, the Department of Population Health Sciences proposes to establish the Division of Health System Innovation and Research, the Division of Biostatistics, and the Division of Cancer Population Science. Motion was made by Joanne Yaffe to approve and pass to the Board of Trustees. Motion was seconded by Xan Johnson. Motion passed unanimously.

Fifth, the Department of Surgery proposes to establish the Division of Transplantation and Advanced Hepatobiliary Surgery. Motion was made by Joanne Yaffe to approve and pass to the Board of Trustees. Motion was seconded by Peter Jensen. Motion passed unanimously.

Randy Dryer and Hank Liese, as co-chairs of the Task Force on Career-line Faculty, presented an updated version of the proposal to revise Policies 6-310, 6-302, and 6-300. This was updated from the version the Senate previously approved at its April 2015 meeting. These Policies govern reappointments and promotions of Career-Line faculty members. The proposal has come back for reapproval, with addition of clarifying language developed with the help of the Office of General Counsel. Randy and Hank mentioned that the policies only impact reappointment disputes. The key provision is to establish a new University Committee to advise the senior vice president in cases of disputes regarding reappointments/ promotions of faculty members in the three career-line categories. The changes made subsequent to the April meeting are primarily to clarify the distinction between a person’s appointment to a faculty member position (with a specified rank and for a specified durational term), and being made an employee of the University with a specified workload, compensation, and term of employment by means of an employment agreement. Motion was made by Joanne Yaffe to approve the proposal as updated, and pass to the Board of Trustees. Motion was seconded by Harriet Hopf. Motion passed unanimously.

Information and Recommendations Calendar

The following items were presented for the information and recommendations of the Academic Senate:

Ed Barbanell, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies, discussed a set of Guidelines being developed for implementing the regulation of excused absences from class attendance, under Policy 6-100. He mentioned that faculty members have no legal obligation to excuse a student for jury duty but faculty members should be reasonably accommodating. With the input received at today’s discussion, the administration will proceed to refine these Guidelines and then publish them and make them available to guide faculty members and students in addressing questions regarding excused absences.
Jennifer Reed, Director of Auxiliary Services, briefly discussed Rule 3.160, Policy 3-150, and Procedure 3-160 regarding competition with private enterprises, auxiliary enterprises operation, and unfair competition grievance procedures. These Regulations, which the Senate Executive Committee determined where not academically significant and therefore did not require Senate approval, will now be implemented by the University President.
Donna White, Associate Dean of the Graduate School, was available to answer questions for the University’s Seven-Year Review of the Department of Chemical Engineering.
Erika George, Professor of Law,and chair of the Senate Ad hoc Committee on Investment Responsibility, discussed that committee’s work for the past year. She presented three resolutions of acceptance. Motion was made by Joanne Yaffe to approve the resolutions of acceptance. Motion was seconded by David Ailion. Motion passed with one objection.
The annual Senate Standing Committee reports presented to the Academic Senate included reports from the Senate Committee on Academic Freedom and Faculty Rights, the Senate Advisory Committee on Salaries and Benefits, the Senate Personnel and Elections Committee, the Senate Advisory Committee on Academic Policy, and the Senate Faculty Review Standards Committee.
Outgoing Senate President Steve Alder gave a brief overview of some the Academic Senate’s accomplishments through the 2014-2015 year, including the Asia campus, career-line faculty representation on the Executive Committee, the PAC-12 Faculty Leaders Association, and several ad hoc committees, among other activities.

Special Orders—annual Senate elections

Xan Johnson, Professor of Theatre, was elected as President-elect of the Senate to serve as President-elect for 2015-2016 and then as President for 2016-2017). Bill Johnson, Professor of Geology and Geophysics will take office as Senate President for 2015-2016.

When on-line voting was concluded, the faculty members elected for the 2015-2016 Senate Executive Committee were announced as Olga Baker, Dentistry; Karin Baumgartner, Humanities; Lyda Bigelow, Business; Randy Dryer, Interdisciplinary Teaching Programs; Ole Fischer, Architecture + Planning; Disa Gambera, Humanities; Robert Hitchcock, Engineering; Lorie Richards, Health; Jill Moriearty, Libraries; Patrick Panos, Social Work; Debra Simmons, Medicine; and John Sperry, Science.

Results of voting being conducted on-line for new members of the other Senate Standing Committees will be published on the Senate website.

Adjournment

Meeting adjourned at 5:07 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Wogai Mohmand (interim Secretary, filling in for Shawnee Worsley)