Academic Senate

Meeting Minutes

ACADEMIC SENATE

 April 28, 2025

Minutes

 

1. CALL TO ORDER AND Announcements
   The regular meeting of the Academic Senate, held on April 28, 2025, was called to order at 3:00 pm by Senate President Harriet Hopf. The meeting was held using the Zoom online meeting platform. The meeting is recorded only for the purposes of meeting minutes. Although Senate meetings are not required to be public under Utah law, the Senate has elected to conduct its business in a transparent way, and all attendees are welcome.

 

Present: Jensie Anderson, Andrew Anderson, Elizabeth Archuleta, Ademuyiwa Aromolaran, Maile Arvin, Pinar Bayrak-Toydemir, Henry Becker, James Bekker, Erik Bond, Timothy Brusseau, Sarah Bush, Marc Calaf, Thomas Cheatham, Sydney Cheek-O’Donnell, Doug Christensen, Richard Clark, Kevin Coe, Benjamin Cohen, Katharine Coles, Mark Crowley, Elisabet , Brigham Daniels , Marla De Jong, Kathy Doom, Frank Drews, Jeffrey Druck, Nanette Dudley, Katie Durante, Atif Ellahie, Lee Ellington, Rick Forster, Julia Franklin, Henry Fu, Alborz Ghandehari, Laura Grantier, Rachel Hayes-Harb, Davidson Heath, Brenda Heaton, Teresa Hebron, Kerry Herman, Tucker Hermans, William Holland, Martin Horvath, Jill Jeffe, Mercedes Johnson, Bryan Jones, Sejin Kim, Scott King, Kai Kuck, Alysse Loomis, Lisbeth Louderback, Janis Louie, Kateryna Malaia, Stacy Manwaring, Maureen Mathison, Christine McMillan, Huong Meeks, Kate Menlove, Brent Milne, Will Nesse, Curtis Newbold, Thi Nguyen, Matthew Nielsen, Katherine Pagano, Yihui Pan, Kevin Perry, Christo Pinknys, Cordina Rada, Firas Rassoul-Agha, Lynn Reinke, Lorie Richards, Thomas Richmond, Yvette Romero Coronado, Suva Roy, Naomi Schlesinger, Nathan Seegert, Sherin Shaaban, Elizabeth Siantz, Chris Simon, Jamesina Simpson, Paula Smith, Ginger Smoak, Wayne Springer, Oleg Starykh, Talea Steele, Caroline Stephens, Alec Stevens, Casey Tak, Matt Tokson, Patrick Tripeny, Jack VanDerHeyden, Jim VanDerslice, Margaret Wan, Rachel Wittman, Julie Wright-Costa, Zhou Yu

Excused with substitute: Sarah Shreeves, Roseanne Warren, Dave Young, Kathleen Strickland-Cohen, Carol Sansone, Donna Baluchi, Heather Holmes

Excused:

Absent: Rohit Aggarwal, Bryan Bonner, Joe Boyden, Christian Brockmann, Jon Chaika, Jack Doughty, Zhigang (Zak) Fang, Sarang Joshi, Myrna Kearse, Shelley Lawrence, Feng Liu, Mark Loewen, Olive Nyiramwiza, Emma Parkin, Sofia Perez, Alex Rose, David Turok, Elvis Valenzuela

Ex Officio: Angie Fagerlin, Ashley Glenn, Mitzi Montoya, Sarah Projansky, Taylor Randall, Marie Wintriss

Senate Officers: Harriet Hopf, Paul Mogren, Allyson Mower, Richard Preiss, Shanti Deemyad, Jane Laird

 

Senate Office Staff: Maddie Hile

 

Senate President Harriet Hopf expressed great appreciation to Senate members for their participation and efforts during the academic year and then presented several announcements. The end-of-year Senate reception will be held on Tuesday, May 13^th, at 5 pm at the Law Building, sixth floor. The AY26 Senate meeting schedule has been posted so returning Senators can begin to plan their calendars.

 

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The April 7, 2025, Senate Meeting Minutes were approved upon a motion from Julia Franklin and a second from Mark Crowley. There was 1 abstention.

 

3. REQUEST FOR NEW BUSINESS

Senate President Hopf discussed the distribution, on Sunday, April 27, of a memo, from some emeriti and retired faculty that was sent to many current Senate members, expressing strong concern with the direction of the role of the Senate as a shared governance body; the memo recommended actions to university administration and Senate members to address concerns listed. She explained that the Senate takes distinguished retired faculty members’ concerns seriously, however there has not been time to fully process the letter, and it has not been reviewed by the Executive Committee (EC). Policy does empower the Senate President to call a special meeting of the Senate outside the regularly scheduled meetings if necessary. If the Senate thinks it would be productive, she plans to call a special EC meeting to prepare and vet approaches to subsequently bring to the Senate. She explained that some options for consideration include holding a special Senate meeting for AY25 members in the summer as soon as the Senate officers can coordinate a time or wait until faculty and students return to campus in the fall. She will bring up this topic later in the meeting under New Business to canvas members on whether to hold an extension meeting.

 

She reminded members that Policy 6-002 states that New Business be submitted in writing to the Senate President the Friday prior to a Senate meeting.

 

4. REPORTS (EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE)

Senate Parliamentarian Paul Mogren presented a Resolution Recognizing Senate President Harriet Hopf for her contributions this year.  The Resolution was adopted by acclamation and included in the minutes’ appendices. Senate President-elect Richard Preiss then reviewed the items placed on the agenda by the Senate Executive Committee during its meeting on April 14, 2025.

           

5. CONSENT CALENDAR

Senate President Hopf reviewed the Consent Calendar items:

1. Faculty Appointments
2. New Degree: Bachelor of Music Education
3. Program Restructure: Parks, Recreation and Tourism
4. New Minor: Minor in Hospitality Management
5. Discontinue Program: BA Recreational Therapy

The Consent Calendar was approved after a motion from Lori Richards and a second from Brent Milne. There was 1 abstention.

 

6. SPECIAL ORDER– Annual SPEC Report and Elections

Ken Monson, Senate Personnel and Elections Committee Chair (SPEC), summarized the committee’s presentation slides identifying the SPEC Annual Report, results of the 2025-26 Senator college elections, results of the 2025-26 Senate Committee Elections, and remaining Senate committee vacancies.

 

An important task for all end-of-year Senate meetings is conducting next year’s Senate leadership elections. He explained which positions will be voted on during the meeting. The candidate for Senate President-elect, Brent Milne, was asked to give his candidate statement.

 

Monson then explained that voting-eligible Senators would have received an electronic ballot link from the Senate Secretary earlier that day. He gave in-meeting voting instructions, plus how to get a ballot if someone had not received it and announced that the electronic vote would be open for 30 minutes. Results of the in-meeting vote would be compiled by the election officials, Paul Mogren, Maddie Hile, and himself, at the end of the meeting. He also provided election officials’ contact information.

 

7. REPORTS (ADMINISTRATION; ASUU; UUSC)    

 

Report from Administration

President Randall joined the meeting from Washington, DC., where the presidents of the AAU institutions were meeting. He celebrated the 8908 upcoming graduates from 27 Utah counties and 70 countries and summarized commencement details. Randy McCrillis, AVP Office for Global Engagement, provided an update on international students who recently had their visas revoked by the State Department: 21 of the 22 restricted students had their visas reinstated by the time of the meeting. Provost Mitzi Montoya gave updates from her office, as well as thanking AVP McCrillis’ office for its efforts to develop a single point of contact for the issues that did and will come up.

 

Vice Provost for Student Success Chase Hagood briefed members on the updates to requirements for portfolio-based assessment credit assignments to those students who file a request. He articulated that awarding credit continues to need faculty approval in all cases. AVP for Health Sciences Education Wendy Hobson-Rohrer offered the report from health sciences area, including faculty accomplishments and health sciences program rankings of note.

 

Senate President Hopf and Senate Parliamentarian Paul Mogren presented a Resolution of Appreciation for Michael Good to reflect Senate appreciation of his substantive contributions during his term as Senior Vice President for Health Sciences. The Resolution was adopted by acclamation and is included in the attached appendices.

 

Report from ASUU

A Resolution Recognizing Student Senators was announced and read aloud by Parliamentarian Paul Mogren; it was adopted by acclamation and copied below in the minutes’ appendices.

 

ASUU Senate Chair Mercedes Johnson, substituting for ASUU President Joe Boyden, gave the year-end report of ASUU accomplishments. These included important ASUU budget allocations of $280,000 for 250 student organizations, as well as the numerous actions benefiting students and its outreach projects identified in the ASUU year-end report to the Senate that was posted in the meeting materials. Harriet Hopf expressed appreciation for the thorough report and the year-long ASUU leadership assistance supporting the Academic Senate and its Executive Committee.

 

Report from UUSC

University of Utah Staff Council (UUSC) President Marie Wintress announced that the incoming UUSC President is Bryant Gordan as of July 1. She noted that this year has been one of collaborations, including with the Senate presidential officers. Other important developments were the inaugural President’s Luncheon and expanded outreach to faculty.

 

8. DEBATE CALENDAR

 

Nursing Program Restructure Proposals
The BS, MS, and DNP Nursing Programs require substantial restructuring to align with updated standards outlined by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). The presenters were Melody Krahulec, Assistant Dean, BS Program; Cynthia Beynon, Assistant Dean, MS and DNP Programs; Paula Meek, Assistant Dean, PhD Program; Julie Gee, Associate Dean, Academic Affairs. They explained that the restructuring will maintain the programs’ alignment with accreditation standards and will better prepare students at a lower cost for them.

 

The proposed PhD program implements a problem-based learning approach that integrates content across courses and is designed to be consistent with the PhD programs in other disciplines and University of Utah standards. No new funding is required. After a second from Maureen Mathison, Caroline Stephens’ motion to approve the Bachelor of Science in Nursing was approved. After a second from Jack VanderHayden, James Bekker’s motion to approve the Master of Science in Nursing was approved. After a second from Maureen Mathison, Kate Coles’ motion to approve the Doctor of Nursing Practice in Nursing was approved. After a second from Jack VanderHayden, Lynne Reinke’s motion to approve the Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing was approved.

New Degree: Legal Studies BA/BS

Randy Dryer, Associate Dean for Non-JD Programs in the College of Law, reviewed a proposal for a new BA/BS in Legal Studies program. The proposed major is interdisciplinary in nature, based on student and industry demand, and broadly supported across the University. It would be the first of its kind in the region and has strong support from deans across campus. The Legal Studies major proposal was approved after Lee Ellington seconded Jack VanderHayden’s motion.

 

Proposed Utah Congressional Delegation Senate Letter of Collaboration for International Student Advocacy

Michael Mejia, Associate Professor in the English Department, and Senate President Hopf explained that the Senate Executive Committee agreed to ask the Senate to sponsor a letter of appreciation and collaboration for the Utah congressional delegation’s efforts to support the U’s community of international students and scholars. Hopf explained that faculty are concerned about the recent revocations of international student visas by the State Department and expressed appreciation for university administration and the state’s congressional delegation’s work to resolve major disruptions to student education. A draft of a proposed letter, composed by Senate leadership and Professor Mejia, with input from Jason Perry and the Office of General Counsel, was posted with the meeting materials. She asked that the Senate approve that the Senate leaders sign and deliver the letter, along with the authority to include helpful suggestions from Senators offered in the meeting. Discussion subsequently included adding information about international faculty issues and the important economic impacts of hosting international scholars and students. Kate Coles’ motion to approve that the Senate leadership sign and deliver the letter to the Utah Delegation after incorporating offered suggestions was approved after a second from Jack VanderHayden.

 

New Program: Electrical Engineering Minor

Electrical and Computer Engineering Associate Professor David Schurig explained a proposal for a new Electrical Engineering Minor. The goal is to increase enrollment, enhance awareness of electrical engineering’s value, provide a pathway to the electrical engineering major, and equip students with essential skills. Many engineering and non-engineering jobs require basic electrical engineering knowledge, and this minor will provide formal recognition of this expertise, benefiting students in various fields and improving their career prospects. Upon a second from Douglas Christensen, Brent Milne’s motion to approve the new minor passed.

 

9. INFORMATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS CALENDAR

 

Revision to Policy 1-011 to Comply with Federal Stop Campus Hazing Act

Todd Justesen, Associate Director of Clery Programming & Compliance, summarized revisions to Policy 1-011. The Stop Campus Hazing Act requires institutions of higher education participating in federal student aid programs to report hazing incidents, implement prevention programs, and publicly disclose hazing policies and violations.  These changes will modify Policy 1-011 to include the elements of the Stop Campus Hazing Act to comply with federal law.

SACUSP Annual Report

Shanti Deemyad, Chair of the Senate Committee on University Strategic Planning and past Senate President, summarized the annual SACUSP report, emphasizing its core mission and itemizing the key accomplishments of the year.

 

Policy 3-030, R3-030A, & R3-030B: Travel Policy and Rule Updates
A team from UofU Financial Services reviewed updates to Policy 3-030 that simplify travel policies for faculty and staff: Melanie Conover, Associate Director–Service Delivery; Melaney McKellar, Travel Manager; and John Nilsson Senior Director–Communication, Training & Outreach. The aim is to revise current travel policies to make them more straightforward and user-friendly. Senator members were asked to email the Senate Office if interested in serving on a travel process focus group.

 

Open Enrollment Changes –2025/2026

Benefits Director Wendy Poppleton gave the Senate an advance overview of proposed health plan changes for the 2025/2026 plan year.

 

Information and Reports

Hopf pointed to the reports that had been posted with the meeting materials for Senate review.

1. Academic Senate BOT Report (April Revised)
2. BOT Administration Report

 

10. SPECIAL ORDER: ELECTIONS RESULTS

SPEC Chair Ken Monson and Parliamentarian Paul Mogren announced the election results for 2025-226 President-Elect and Senate Executive Committee Members. Brent Milne was elected as 2025-2026 Senate President-elect, and all remaining Senate Executive Committee candidates were ratified for next year’s faculty voting-membership to that body. He gave special thanks to Jane Laird and Maddie Hile for organizing Senate elections this year.

 

11. NEW BUSINESS

Senate President Hopf inquired if there was enthusiasm to call a special summer AY25 Senate meeting to discuss the call for action expressed in the letter from some emeriti faculty, introduced in the prior announcement. Some hands went up in support, and she indicated she would therefore organize a special non-public Senate meeting to discuss the memo with AY25 Senators. Some Senators expressed a preference for holding this kind of meeting as soon as possible, but there could be issues with attendance, so there was a call for Senators to send in their comments to Hopf to collect just in case they could not make that, which she also recommended.

 

She advised that the next steps would be that Senate Leadership will initially meet with the memo spokespersons, and she will also immediately call a special meeting of the AY25 Senate Executive Committee before terms expire on May 14 to determine the best follow-up actions. She offered that Senate officers would aim to get the best attendance level of last year’s voting Senators as soon as possible for an extension meeting and explained that although it is an aggressive goal to have an AY25 Senate meeting prior to term expiration, she would aim for that. It is possible though that a reconnection with the AY25 Senate membership will happen in August.

 

12. SENATE PRESIDENT CLOSING REMARKS

President Harriet Hopf thanked members of the Senate, staff, Executive Committee, and university administration for their energy, experience, perspective, and knowledge that individuals brought to each Senate meeting this year. Hopf’s letter of AY25 Senate closing remarks is included in the appendices of these minutes.

 

13. 2024-2025 ADJOURNMENT

Meeting adjourned at 5:55 pm.

 

 

 

April 28, 2025, Senate Meeting Appendices

I.

Resolution Recognizing Harriet Hopf
as President of the Academic Senate
University of Utah
2024-2025

 

Whereas Harriet Hopf, Professor of Anesthesiology in the Depart of Anesthesiology, Perioperative & Pain Medicine in the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine, has served as President of the Academic Senate for 2024-25; and

Whereas she is an advocate for, a strong participant in, and a leader dedicated to the success of shared governance at the University; and has been an effective communicator with the University Administration on behalf of the faculty; and

Whereas she demonstrated dedication, intelligence, responsibility, patience, respect, inclusion, attribution, and consideration, especially in her work for the Senate and the Executive Committee; and

Whereas she has skills to ensure good outcomes by bringing people together to work collaboratively while graciously recognizing and crediting the contributions of the many people who work together in the Senate on behalf of the University; and

Whereas she gave the University community a voice through exceptionally challenging moments and helped navigate throughout; and

Whereas she has presided over significant Senate actions, including proposals for new and revised policies, tenured faculty review, and research administration; proposals for new and restructured programs and UACI Centers; and creation of the Day 1 Access Program, which gives students coordinated access to course materials by the start of classes; and

Whereas her efficient leadership of Senate meetings helped the Senate manage its complex agendas more effectively, including her implementation of the (truly inspired) mid-meeting break; and

Whereas Harriet is an accomplished leader and a genuine pleasure to work with; therefore,

Be it resolved that the Academic Senate lauds Harriet Hopf for a job well done as President of the Academic Senate; and

Be it further resolved that the entire University community thanks Harriet for her leadership, dedication, commitment, and enthusiasm.

Adopted this 28^th day of April 2025, in Salt Lake City, Utah

===================

II.

Resolution Recognizing Student Senators
in the Academic Senate
University of Utah
2024-2025

 

Whereas ASUU President Joe Boyden and all Student Senators demonstrated a high level of engagement and participation in University affairs; and

Whereas they showed a commitment to actively governing in the Academic Senate; and

Whereas they showed leadership in raising concerns and issues relevant to students both in Senate meetings and directly with Senate Officers; and

Whereas their reports to the Senate about ASUU highlighted the effective and significant contribution student government has made to the University; and

Whereas the student senators on the Executive Committee, Joe Boyden, Mercedes Johnson, and Jack VanDerHeyden, were outstanding in their role in shared governance at the University with active participation, thoughtful and insightful contributions, and cogent and useful solutions;

Therefore be it resolved that the Academic Senate lauds the 2024-25 Student Senators for a job well done; and

Be it further resolved that the Academic Senate wishes them success and joy in their future endeavors; and

Be it further resolved that the entire University community thanks these students for outstanding service and commitment to shared governance.

 

Adopted this 28^th day of April, 2025 in Salt Lake City, Utah

=================

III.

Resolution of Appreciation
for Michael L. Good
University of Utah
2024-2025

 

Whereas Michael L. Good, Senior Vice President for Health Sciences, Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative & Paine Medicine, and Interim President (in 2021), University of Utah, provided significant leadership in these roles prior to now returning to the faculty; and

Whereas his leadership has strengthened the University’s patient care, research, education, and service enterprises to leave the University well-positioned as we enter a period of unprecedented growth; and

Whereas his leadership enhanced U of U Health’s reputation as an academic health system that provides world-class healthcare, research, education, and service to the state of Utah, the region, the nation, and globally; and

Whereas he has led the organization through a period of remarkable growth, including but not limited to the naming and reconstruction of the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine, opening the U of U Health Sugarhouse Clinic, the Craig H. Neilsen Rehabilitation Hospital and the Kathryn F. Kirk Comprehensive Cancer Care and Women’s Cancers Center; and

Whereas Dr. Good was one of the most trusted and calming voices during the tumultuous COVID pandemic and recovery; and

Whereas he guided the implementation of transformational educational and research initiatives, growing the University’s Health Sciences research operations, grant funding, and research faculty; and

Whereas he was a strong advocate for and participant in shared governance at the University, providing informative and timely reports to the Senate on Health Sciences matters, helping to cement the integration of all parts of campus as OneU;

Therefore, be it resolved that the Academic Senate lauds Dr. Good, offers him thanks for his significant leadership to the University of Utah, and wishes him well in his future endeavors.

 

Adopted this 28^th day of April 2025, Salt Lake City, Utah

 

IV.

Senate President Closing Remarks

Harriet W. Hopf

28 April 2025

 

It has been an honor to preside over the Senate this year. In the face of many stressors, a high workload, a lot of change, and external pressure from the state legislature and federal transition, I’m proud of the accomplishments of this year’s Senate. We don’t always agree, but we have harnessed our wide range of experiences, expertise, and perspectives to vet and improve an impressive number of formal academic and policy proposals, along with providing input on a wide array of administrative, policy, and strategic topics. I did an informal count and, among lots of other topics and proposals on the agenda, the Senate approved 20 new, restructured, or discontinued degrees; 13 academically significant new or revised regulations; and 7 UACI Centers.

I have been impressed by the level of engagement in the Senate this year, with voting numbers well above quorum at every Senate meeting, and near perfect attendance at EC meetings. That has enabled us to have meaningful discussions that have resulted in visible benefits.

Shared governance is most visibly represented by the Academic Senate, but most of the heavy lifting is done before anything reaches the senate, by committees and leaders at the departmental, college, and university levels. The quality and value of that work is evident every month in the proposals that arrive at the Executive Committee and full Senate where most proposals require only brief discussion before they are advanced. Of course, not every proposal arrives at the Executive Committee fully formed—and that is when the EC and Senate step up to consult, advise, and facilitate refinement until the proposal is ready to move forward, sometimes at the meeting, and sometimes at a future meeting. The discussions are not always elegant, but they are the core of the value of multiple groups with diverse (and sometimes competing) perspectives working together toward shared goals of success.

Thank you to President Randall, Provost Montoya, and SVPs Mike Good and Bob Carter for prioritizing time with the Senate, being open to discussion and questions, and often sticking around for more than an hour to keep us updated on the myriad issues and initiatives that required our attention and understanding. And thank you to the many leaders from across the university who brought their expertise to the Senate during the report from administration, the debate calendar, and the information calendar.

Thank you to every Senator for volunteering to serve, showing up prepared, engaging, sharing, deliberating, and bringing your energy and ideas to the Senate, for speaking up, and for being willing to discuss and work through differences.

Thank you to our student senators for their full participation in EC and Senate discussions, advocating for what students need, making motions, and making sure that student perspectives were shared.

Thank you to our two staff representatives to the Senate, Marie Wintriss and Ashley Glenn, who similarly and importantly shared staff perspectives.

Thank you to our deans, who actively participated and provided their expertise when needed, without unduly influencing Senate actions.

Thank you to the many non-senators who showed up to listen to Senate meetings, often increasing total attendance to 150-200, and expanding the reach of the Senate.

Thank you to the Committee Chairs and committee members, who kept the work of the Senate moving.

Thank you especially to President-Elect Richard Preiss, Past President Shanti Deemyad, Senate Policy Liaison Allyson Mower, and Parliamentarian Paul Mogren, who were always available as sounding boards, and whose creativity, expertise, and enthusiasm were a valuable resource.

And finally, deepest thanks to the Senate Office, Jane Laird, Ally Rocks, and Maddie Hile who stayed on top of every deadline and kept Senate and EC meetings running smoothly.

I know the Senate is in good hands next year with Richard Preiss, and the year after with Brent Milne. I know that, despite some headwinds, they will continue our long tradition of strong and influential shared governance across all levels of the university.

And with that, unless I hear an objection, the Senate is adjourned. And I hope to see you in person to celebrate on May 13.