Meeting Minutes
ACADEMIC SENATE
Minutes
April 29, 2019
Call to Order
The regular meeting of the Academic Senate, held on April 29, 2019, was called to order at 3:05 pm by Senate President Thomas Richmond. The meeting was held in the Moot Courtroom of the College of Law.
Present: Alan Abbinanti, Rima Ajlouni, Bob Allen, Olga Baker, Nitin Bakshi, Rajeev Balasubramonian, Julie Barkmeier-Kraemer, Amy Barrios, Shmuel Baruch, Pinar Bayrak-Toydemir, Gunseli Berik, Donald Blumenthal, Bryan Bonner, Joel Brownstein, Kirsten Butcher, Adrienne Cachelin, Brian Cadman, Devon Cantwell, Laurel Caryn, Mike Caserta, Nadia Cobb, Susanna Cohen, Katharine Coles, Randy Dryer, Ann Engar, Diego Fernandez, Haley Feten, Kenneth Foreman, Leslie Francis, Thomas Crane Giamo, Valerie Guerrero, Gema Guevara, Patricia Hanna, Eric Hinderaker, Christel Hohenegger, Christopher Hull, Howie Huynh, Emily Kam, Anne Lair, Rich Landward, Dale Larsen, Stephane LeBohec, Lauren Liang, Brad Lundahl, Sharon Mastracci, Maureen Mathison, Claire McGuire, Kaitlin McLean, Dragan Milicic, Ken Monson, Krystal Moorman, Connor Morgan, Susan Naidu, Kathleen Nicoll, Rick Paine, Brandon Patterson, Lauren Perry, Wanda Pillow, Elizabeth Pohl, Ravi Ranjan, Kalani Raphael, Angela Rasmussen, Georgi Rausch, Brad Rockwell, Nelson Roy, Frank Sachse, Jon Seger, Peyden Shelton, Helene Shugart, Debra Simmons, Sara Simonsen, Carol Sogard, Dustin Stokes, Taylor Stringham, James Sutherland, Thomas Swensen, Alex Terrill, Emily Thomas, Neil Vickers, Jessica Wempen, James Winkler, Tom Winter, Julie Wright-Costa, Joanne Yaffe, Taryn Young, Zhou Yu
Excused with proxy: Sheila Crowell, John Funk, Mia Hashibe, Tom Lund, Sylvia Torti
Excused: Anne Kirchhoff, Michael Larice
Absent: Elena Asparouhova, Sarah Bush, Darryl Butt, Ravi Chandran, Tommaso De Fernex, Chuck Dorval, Mark Durham, Korkut Erturk, Candace Floyd, Per Gesteland, Amanda Goodner, Kim Hackford-Peer, Ken Johnson, Kaelin Kaczka, Hanseup Kim, Kim Korinek, Winston Kyan, Sean Lawson, Kaden Madson, Jim Martin, Jon Rainier, John Regehr, Alejandra Sanchez, Pearl Sandick, Amnon Schlegel, Jennifer Shumaker-Parry, Aryana Vadipour, Brenda Van Der Wiel, Shundana Yusaf
Ex Officio: Daniel Reed, Lisa Hutton, Margaret Clayton, Julio Facelli, Robert Flores, Robert Fujinami, Dave Hill, Paul Mogren, Thomas Richmond, Jane Laird
Others:
Approval of Minutes
The minutes dated April 1, 2019 were approved upon a motion from Joanne Yaffe and a second by Kate Coles.
Consent Calendar
The Consent Calendar (faculty and administrative appointments list) was approved upon a motion from Joanne Yaffe and a second by Pat Hanna.
Report from Administration
Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs Daniel Reed extended sincere appreciation to Senate members for all their support and work this academic year, and he added that he looks forward to working with the new Senate in the upcoming academic year. He also updated the Senate on the current status of open University administration positions. An inaugural Vice President for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion has been announced, as has a new Dean of the College of Science. The searches for a VP Student Affairs and VP Enrollment are in the final stages, and announcements for those positions are forthcoming. Administration is currently launching searches for an Associate Vice President for Faculty and a full time University Sustainability Officer. The Senior Vice President’s office is planning an Air Quality Symposium for this fall, and he reminded the Senate that General Commencement is May 2, 2019.
Senate Executive Committee Report
Academic Senate President Tom Richmond acknowledged the members of the Senate Executive Committee, who have worked diligently this year to study and discuss proposed items for the Senate meeting agendas. He also thanked Anne Whitaker, a colleague from the Chemistry Department, for assisting with the microphones at this meeting.
Report from ASUU
ASUU President Connor Morgan thanked the Senate for its support this year, in his last appearance at a Senate meeting as ASUU President. He introduced the newly elected ASUU leadership for the 2019-2020 academic year: ASUU President Anna Barnes; ASUU Vice President of University Relations Latifa Yaqoobi; ASUU Senate Chair Damon Ngo.
Special Order – Annual Elections
Olga Baker, Co-Chair of the Senate Personnel and Elections Committee, explained the processes for the annual Senate committee and president elections, including the elections during this meeting of the Senate President-elect and of the members of the Senate Executive Committee for 2019-2020. James Sutherland (Engineering) and Randy Dryer (Law/Honors) introduced themselves as candidates for President-elect. Ballots for the meeting’s two elections were distributed to the eligible voting members (see results below). Elections for all other Senate-elected standing committees were conducted online, and the results were posted ahead of the meeting on the Senate Canvas site.
Notice of Intent Calendar
Revision of Policy 6-002 Senate Executive Committee Membership—quorum count
Kaitlin McLean and Connor Morgan summarized a proposed revision to Policy 6-002 that would change the quorum calculation for the Academic Senate Executive Committee. Currently, the quorum calculation for this committee asks for a majority of voting faculty members (of which there are 12). This proposal would change the quorum definition to include the three voting student members of the Executive Committee, therefore the change would mean a majority of all 15 voting members. Kaitlin explained that ASUU elected representatives are now asked to be available during the summer months, so assembling a quorum that includes students should not be an issue in the future. Devon Cantwell moved to place this proposal on the Senate Debate Calendar. Pat Hanna clarified that the reasoning for asking to appoint a special committee tasked to look at this was because it is a change to Senate policy. Leslie Francis offered that this revision does not change the substance of the policy, just a process, and seconded the motion to move it to Debate. The motion from Devon Cantwell, seconded by Leslie Francis, to move this proposal to the Debate Calendar was approved by the requisite two-thirds of the Senate—with 2 opposed and 1 abstention.
In further discussion, Zhou You asked about cost ramifications, and it was clarified that no additional costs would be incurred by this change. Pat Hanna moved to accept the proposed policy wording change. After a second by Kate Coles, the motion passed with 2 opposed and 2 abstentions. {Note: Along with initially placing this item on the Intent Calendar for today (so that voting as a Debate item would not be expected to occur before fall 2019), the Executive Committee had placed on the Debate Calendar a companion item, –a proposal to appoint a Senate Special Committee to explore this quorum count revision more carefully. However, as a result of today’s actions of the Senate immediately approving the Policy revision, the committee formation proposal was removed from today’s Debate Calendar.} {Additional update note: The Executive Committee was subsequently informed of certain technical problems with the Policy change version which the Senate had approved today, and so using its summer recess authority on behalf of the Senate at its June 2019 meeting the Committee approved a revised version of the Policy correcting those technical problems.}
Debate Calendar
National Center for Veterans Studies (conditional three-year approval)
Craig Bryan, NCVS Executive Director, explained that this proposal would formalize the current center that has been expanding in staff and funding since its inception in 2010. Its primary research areas span disciplines, so the NCVS will serve as a catalyst for researchers across the U who are interested in conducting research with the military and veteran communities and will also foster new collaborations across departments and colleges. Although it will support undergraduate and graduate students in gaining research experience, NCVS will not offer any courses, degrees, or certificate programs. A motion from Kate Coles, seconded by Kathleen Nicoll, to approve the proposed Center for a conditional three-year status passed with 1 abstention.
New Policy and Rule 4-050 University Enterprise Software
Ken Pink, University Deputy Chief Information Officer, explained that the proposed new Policy and Rule will reduce overall expenditures and increase security and efficiency—through better identification of software acquired by the University–as these Regulations will centralize enterprise software purchases, rentals and development approval processes. University enterprise software is software that either affects the operations of more than one unit and/or requires integration with an enterprise software system currently in use (e.g., PeopleSoft, Canvas, Epic). Not included in the scope of these Regulations are software purchased, rented or developed by individuals for individual use, and software that is purchased, rented, or developed by a unit for its own use, and does not require integration with an existing enterprise software system. The Policy 4-050 provides definitions of covered categories of software. Rule 4-050 describes the acquisition approval process, provides a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) template, and an example TCO statement. He thanked the Institutional Policy Committee and Bob Flores for their assistance and input. A motion from Pat Hanna, seconded by Kathleen Nicoll, to approve the proposed Policy and Rule was approved.
Resolutions Calendar
An ASUU-sponsored Equity–in-Facilities Resolution was introduced by Devon Cantwell, Clair McGuire, and Clifford Rosky. Devon explained that the goal is to ask for Academic Senate support so that the Resolution has University-wide visibility. In sum, the resolution asks for four things: that the University explores a bulk purchasing plan for menstrual products and changing tables for every bathroom on University property; develops a plan to place menstrual products in all restrooms on the University of Utah campus beginning in FY 2020; develops a plan to install changing tables in men’s and gender-neutral restrooms beginning in FY 2020; agrees to provide a minimal number of menstrual products free of charge to students, staff, faculty and visitors on campus. The Resolution as proposed is a result of gender equity, health, and inclusion considerations. Devon explained that the additional costs could be minimized by bulk purchasing agreements, and the most expensive items would be the changing tables. James Sutherland moved to change the resolution wording to ask that menstrual products be solely placed in women’s and gender-neutral bathrooms to cut down on costs. Devon offered that if the products are in low demand in men’s bathrooms, there will not be large replacement costs, just an initial charge for the dispenser and installation. The motion was therefore not seconded. Susanna Cohen asked if it would be better to separate the changing table items from this resolution so to reduce resistance due to the expense. The presenters indicated that the preference is to keep the facilities items packaged together. Devon agreed to add language that asks the University to require access to changing tables in every University building. A motion from Kathleen Nicoll, seconded by Kate Coles, to support the Resolution was approved with 1 opposed and 2 abstentions.
Information and Recommendations Calendar
Presidential Anti-Racism Task Force
David Derezotes, Teshia Griswold and Amaris Leiataua presented an update on the Presidential Anti-Racism Task Force, asking members of the task force in attendance to also stand up to be recognized for their work. The report explained that the PARTF was formed in the Fall of 2017, and the group of about 25 students, staff and faculty was charged in the Fall of 2018 with developing recommendations for improving retention of faculty and staff of color. Two working groups were formed, one for staff and one for faculty. The Co-Chairs are Teshia, Amaris (for the staff working group), and May Anne Berzins (for the faculty). PARTF collected data and conducted research in order to develop recommendations. Internal data was compiled and studied by Wendy Peterson’s team of data analysts at University Human Relations. The PARTF findings will be submitted to President Watkins in May 2019.
CIB2 Committee Annual Report
Andrea Rorrer, Chair of the Senate Special Committee on Centers, Institutes, and Bureaus, Phase 2 (CIB2), reviewed its report on recent and current activities. She said the Committee’s work could be understood to be instructive, inclusive and iterative. The Committee has learned, and continues to learn, quite a lot about the array of centers and institutes at the University. It also has incorporated a broad spectrum of input and ideas from all areas of campus. Because of this, the process has been iterative, revising as it continues to learn and incorporate ideas. The Committee has now drafted CIB Guidelines, and will be meeting this summer with an aim to have policy revision suggestions by Fall 2019.
Senate Committee Annual Reports: SACD
Kelly MacArthur, Chair of the Senate Advisory Committee on Diversity, presented its annual report. SACD discussed and developed a project this year, which was to gather the information together regarding all activities, committees, offices on campus focusing on diversity/equity/inclusion and then make an official proposal to the Office of Equity and Diversity of how to organize and present that information on a U of U web page. In addition, it will additionally propose an additional charge to collaborate with the office of the new Vice President for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion so to maximize the Committee’s effectiveness in supporting diversity efforts at the University.
Senate Committee Annual Reports: SFRSC
The Chair of the Senate Faculty Review Standards Committee, Lincoln Davies, highlighted the Committee’s activity. SFRSC has made a lot of progress over the past several years. Both RPT and Career-Line Statement templates have been completed and implemented, and this has proved to be very helpful. Twenty-eight department/college Statements came to the SFRSC this year-to-date, and many have been processed; the Committee will meet one or two more times this year to continue to finish any outstanding projects. Pat Hanna thanked Lincoln and the Committee for regularizing the process.
New Financial Record Retention Policy and Rule 3-014
Laura Howat, Interim Associate Vice President of Financial & Business, and John Nixon, Vice President for Administrative Services, gave an overview of new Policy and Rule 3-014. A frequent question that gets asked concerns financial document retention requirements. These Regulations will clarify the definition of a financial record, how long to retain records according to type, where/how to retain them, and disposal requirements. The Regulations cover University Colleges, departments and units, including University Hospital and Clinics.
Distinguished Scholarly and Creative Research Awards 2019
Tom Richmond recognized the winners of the 2019 Distinguished Scholarly and Creative Research Awards: Mladen Bestvina, Distinguished Professor, Mathematics; Lisa Diamond, Professor, Psychology; Feng Liu, Professor, Materials Science and Engineering; Valeria Molinero, Jack and Peg Simons Endowed Professor of Theoretical Chemistry.
Resolutions of Appreciation Calendar
Two resolutions were presented by Paul Mogren to honor the service to the University of (i) Vice President for Institutional Advancement Fred C. Esplin (on the occasion of his retirement from the University), and (ii) Vice President for Student Affairs Barbara Snyder (on the occasion of her retirement from the University). They were approved by the Academic Senate by acclamation.
Special Order: Announcement of President-Elect and Senate Executive Committee
The ballot count was submitted by Dave Hill and Paul Mogren, and Senate President Tom Richmond announced that Randy Dryer will be Senate president-elect, beginning May 15, 2019. The 2018-2019 Executive Committee voting faculty membership will be: Laurel Caryn, Thomas Cheatham, Susanna Cohen, Shanti Deemyad, Diego Fernandez, Leslie Francis, Crane Giamo, Patricia Hanna, Kelly MacArthur, Kathleen Nicoll, Christy Porucznik, James Sutherland.
Special Order: Year in Review
Tom Richmond presented Past Academic Senate President Mardie Clayton a plaque of appreciation for her years of Senate leadership, and then reviewed the Senate accomplishments of the 2018-2019 academic year. As per its charter, the Senate had debated and approved many new policies and academic opportunities that affected students, staff, administration and faculty across the University. Among the accomplishments identified were a new student feedback tool that had been developed and approved, and approval of a Policy that outlined career-line faculty requirements for election to the Academic Senate Presidency. After receiving a gift of appreciation for his work as Senate President, Tom then introduced incoming Senate President Julio Facelli.
Adjournment
Meeting adjourned at 5:00 pm.