March 11, 2024

Mar 11 2024
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Meeting Minutes

ACADEMIC SENATE

Minutes

March 11, 2024

 

  1. CALL TO ORDER AND Announcements
    The regular meeting of the Academic Senate, held on March 11, 2024, was called to order at 3:00 pm by Senate President Shanti Deemyad. The meeting was held using the Zoom online meeting platform. 

 

Present:Michael Abrahamson, Andrew Anderson, Jensie Anderson, Yoshimi Anzai, Ademuyiwa Aromolaran, Pinar Bayrak-Toydemir, Erin Beeghly, James Bekker, Adrian Bell, Melissa Bobick, Kenneth Bromberg, Luca Brunelli, Timothy Brusseau, Sarah Bush, Robert Campbell, Marjorie Castle, Jon Chaika, Doug Christensen, Kevin Coe, Katharine Coles, Frank Drews, Nanette Dudley, Katie Durante, Jada Easterly, Atif Ellahie, Lee Ellington, Korkut Erturk, Zhigang (Zak) Fang, Noreen Farley, Stacy Firth, Rick Forster, Leslie Francis , Julia Franklin, Gina Frey, Eric Handman, Rachel Hayes-Harb, William Holland, Heather Holmes, Martin Horvath, Bryan Jones, Jay Jordan, Sarang Joshi, Seijin Kim, Kai Kuck, Shelley Lawrence, Mark Loewen, Alysse Loomis, Nancy McLaughlin, Huong Meeks, Meeyoung Min, Anna Neatrour, Will Nesse, Curtis Newbold, Dave Norwood, Jack O’Leary, Patrick Panos, Kevin Perry, Lynn Reinke, Lorie Richards, Alessandro Rigolon, Hollis Robbins, Carol Sansone, Nathan Seegert, Paul Shami, Chris Simon, Jamesina  Simpson, Paula Smith, Ginger Smoak, Wayne Springer, Sondra Stegenga , Casey Tak, Abigail Taylor, Maggie Tesch, Patrick Tripeny, Hannah Truax, Jessica Van Der Volgen, Jim VanDerslice, Margaret Wan, Roseanne Warren, Melodie Weller, Peter West, Mia Woychick, Julie Wright-Costa, Zhou Yu

Excused with substitute: Yihui Pan, Tucker Hermans, Sarah Lucas, Stacy Manwaring, Susie Porter, Wayne Potts

Excused: Lela Graybill, Naomi Schlesinger, Jaclyn Winter

Absent: Rohit Aggarwal, Lourdes Alberto, Lillian Ault, Bryan Bonner, Jen Brown, Marc Calaf, Cate Carson, Andrea Garcia, Jesse Graham, Kerry Herman, Rory Hume, Jack Israelsen, Lindsey Kisielewski, Feng Liu, Janis Louie, ShawnaKim Lowey-Ball, Brent Milne, Eugene Mishchenko, Spencer Mukai, Austin Neff, Anna Roelofs, Savannah Romney, Talea Steele, Caroline Stephens, David Turok, Samantha Watrin, Jennifer Williams, Kilo Zamora

Ex Officio: Mike Braak, Shanti Deemyad, Angie Fagerlin, Harriet Hopf, Savannah Manwill, Paul Mogren, Mitzi Montoya, Sarah Projansky, Taylor Randall, Sonia Salari, David Thomas, Jane Laird

 

Announcements

Senate President Shanti Deemyad announced that starting with the March 11th meeting, the Academic Senate would be receiving regular updates from Vice President for Research Erin Rothwell during the Reports section of the meetings. 

 

  1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
    The minutes from the February 5, 2024, Academic Senate meeting were approved following a motion from Patrick Panos and a second from Sonia Salari with one abstention. 

 

  1. REQUEST FOR NEW BUSINESS

There were no New Business requests.   

 

  1. CONSENT CALENDAR

Senate President Shanti Deemyad noted the items on the meeting’s Consent Calendar: 

  1. Faculty Matters Report Review 
  1. Program Discontinuation: Data Center Engineering Certificate   
  1. Teaching Awards                                                                                    
  1. Early Career Teaching Awards 
  1. 2024 Distinguished Professors 

Shanti congratulated the individual nominees for the Early Career Teaching Awards and the Distinguished Professors Awards presented. The Consent Calendar items were approved after a motion from Katherine Coles and a second from Jay Jordan with one abstention. 

 

  1. REPORTS (ADMINISTRATION; EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE; ASUU)    

 

Report from Administration 

President Taylor Randall congratulated student athletes for their achievements in a variety of sports. He also highlighted the Wilkes Center Climate Solutions Hackathon and current strategic planning efforts under the purview of the Impact 2030 initiative. 

 President Randall also addressed the results of the legislative session and ongoing work with the Office of General Council to interpret newly signed bills. Vice President Jason Perry shared this year’s legislative updates including the approval of a 3% raise pool and approved funding for a variety of UofU projects such as $75 million for the Huntsman Cancer Institute Vinyard campus. Attendees, including guest Gabriel Lozada from the Economics Department, raised questions regarding House Bill 438, which seems to make changes to faculty review processes. Senate Past President Sonia Salari echoed faculty concerns that this, the proposals in the bill, is another thing that increases faculty workload, which is already a serious problem. President Randall identified the University’s strategy to fully address this question and relayed he will continue to keep the Senate informed.  VP Perry and President Randall thanked Senate President Deemyad for her advocacy during the year’s legislative session and said they would be working with faculty actively on these issues into next year’s legislative session. 

 SVP Mitzi Montoya congratulated the faculty who were nominated for the awards listed in the Consent Calendar, announced the appointment of Charles Musgrave as the incoming Dean of the Price College of Engineering, and encouraged faculty participation in the upcoming Truth in Tuition session scheduled for March 13th.  

 

Report from VPR  

Vice President of Research, Erin Rothwell, announced the launch of a fourth research hub, focused on aerospace technology advancement, and four new working groups including Women’s Health and Pandemic Preparedness. She then encouraged faculty to connect with her office if they are interested in getting involved with the research-focused working groups, and to participate in the quarterly VPR town halls, including the upcoming March 29th event. 

 

Executive Committee Report  

Senate President-elect Harriet Hopf outlined the reports and proposals included on the meeting’s agenda following the February 12th Academic Senate Executive Committee Meeting 

 

Report from ASUU 

ASUU President Jack O’Leary highlighted the record turnout for the most recent ASUU election, which concluded on February 29th. He congratulated Joe Boyden on his election as ASUU President for the next academic year. Jack shared information on the number of seats filled in the ASUU senate, praised the work of the student leaders on the election board, and noted ongoing efforts to advocate for funding to meet the needs of student organizations. 

  1. INTENT CALENDAR

There were no items for the Intent Calendar

 

  1. DEBATE CALENDAR

Dual/Combined Degrees: BA/BS with MED Educational Psychology 

Julia Hood, Assistant Professor (Clinical) in Educational Psychology, and Kirsten Butcher, Dean of Faculty and Student Affairs with the College of Education, discussed the proposal to create a pathway for undergraduate students to complete their bachelor’s and master’s degrees in five years, rather than six if the degrees were pursued consecutively. Butcher also discussed the competitive advantage this would provide qualified applicants, plus address industry demand for instructional design professionals, especially following the disruption of the Covid-19 global pandemic. Following a motion by Harriet Hopf and a second from Sonia Salari, the proposal passed with one abstention. 

 

Three Health and Kinesiology Curriculum Proposals 

Janet Shaw, Associate Dean of Faculty and Academic Affairs with the College of Health, and Anita Leopardi, Director of Undergraduate Studies with Health and Kinesiology, offered background on the proposed curriculum restructure within the College of Health. This restructuring is necessary due to the importance of meeting USHE requirements.  

The three curriculum proposals presented will align program offerings with USHE Common Core Requirements by creating separate BS degrees for Kinesiology, Emergency Medical Services, and Community Health Promotion and Education. They also elaborated on the specific degree programs and emphases within the three proposals. Katherine Coles moved to approve the three proposals and, following a second by Jensie Anderson, they were approved with one abstention. 

 

  1. INFORMATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS CALENDAR

Senate Personnel and Elections Committee Updates 

Senate Personnel and Elections Committee (SPEC) Chair Ken Monson updated Senators on the status of the committee nominations process including the timeline for the Faculty Committee Interest Survey closing on March 11th, 2024, and the subsequent SPEC nominations meeting scheduled for March 21st. He reminded Senators that Senate committee voting would be conducted via electronic ballot open from April 5th to April 22nd, with results announced on April 29th. Finally, he discussed the timeline for the elections of Senate President and Executive Committee, and the anticipated vacancies on SPEC for the following academic year, which include senators from Nursing, Humanities, Libraries and Pharmacy. 

 

Senate Leadership 2024-25 Nominations: Senate Executive Committee and Senate President-elect 

Current Senate President Shanti Deemyad, President-elect Harriet Hopf, and Senate Past President Sonia Salari shared their experiences serving within the leadership of the Academic Senate. They discussed the benefits of serving in the role of president including a reduction in FTE, opportunities for professional development, and the opportunity to work in collaboration with leaders at the University and peer institutions. Harriet also shared the Academic Senate Calendar for the 2024-2025 Academic year, highlighting the orientation session scheduled for August 20th, 2024. 

 

Athletics Director Report 

Athletics Director (AD) Mark Harlan and Faculty Athletic Representative (FAR) Jason Burrow-Sanchez outlined the AD’s report materials including benchmarks for the academic performance of student athletes, efforts to manage the transition from the PAC 12 to the Big 12, and conversations regarding compensation and athlete transfers. It has been a complex couple of years because of the NCAA transitions. In response to a question regarding student athlete compensation, Mark discussed multiple options for how to respond to the impacts on recruiting, collective bargaining, and media contracts.  

 

Policy 3-163: Trademark & Licensing Policy  

Director of Auxiliary Business Development Brett Eden and Abby Hirshberg, Trademarks & Licensing Manager, discussed the role of their office, distinctions between Auxiliary Business Development and University Marketing and Communications, and the importance of trademark protections within the University of Utah. Brett explained that this proposal would more closely align written policy with existing practices, and more closely match the expectations of the United States Patent Trademark Office (USPTO). 

  

Emeriti Club  

Current Emeriti Club President Herta Teitelbaum described the role of the club, which has been in existence for 80 years and serves the needs of Emerita through all stages of retirement and their tenure. Past Emeriti Club President Ken Jameson noted the importance of diversity in the club and the profession and encouraged attendees to reach out to them with any questions about the Club’s role in the university community. 

 

Reports and Information  

Senate President Deemyad reviewed the following informational reports posted for this meeting: 

  1. SFRSC Annual Report 
  1. Senate Report to BoT 
  1. UofU President Report to BoT 

 

 

  1. NEW BUSINESS

There was no New Business at this meeting. 

                      

  1. OPEN DISCUSSION

There was no Open Discussion at this meeting. 

 

  1. ADJOURNMENT
    Meeting adjourned at 5:02 pm