ACADEMIC SENATE MINUTES

April 6, 2015

The regular meeting of the Academic Senate, held on April 6, 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, Jeff Coles, Lyda Bigelow, Gary Lowder, Olga Baker, Janiece Pompa, Leanne Hawken, Yongmei Ni, A.K. Balaji, Edward M. Trujillo, Meredith Metzger, Peter Jensen, Robert Hitchcock, Xiaoyue Liu, Joe Marotta, Justin Diggle, Michael Cottle, Steve Roens, Xan Johnson, Julie Metos, Kelly Bricker, Les Podlog, Lorie Gage Richards, M. Pollie Price, Adrian Palmer, Chrisoula Andreou, Disa Gambera, Gerald Root, Karin Baumgartner, Maria Dobozy, Matthew Potolsky, Nadja Durbach, Christian Johnson, David Hill, Robin Craig, Alfred Mowdood, Alicia Brillon, Jill Moriearty, Sandra McIntyre, Debra Simmons, Ingrid E. Nygaard, Jennifer Garvin, Jody Rosenblatt, John T. Langell, Katherine Kendall, Mary Elizabeth Hartnett, Maureen A. Murtaugh, Michelle Hofmann, Ravi Ranjan, Robert A. Stephenson, William Lowrance, David Dinter, Marjorie Chan, Paul Jewell, Lynn Hollister, Mollie Cummins, Stephanie Richardson, Jindrich Kopecek, Thomas Cheatham, Randy Dryer, Andrejs Treibergs, David Ailion, David Temme, Jingyi Zhu, John (Jack) Longino, John Sperry, Frances Friedrich, Lina Svedin, Ming Wen, Nilufer Cagatay, Norman Waitzman, Richard Paine, Caren Frost, Joanne Yaffe, Patrick Panos, Angel Demirev, Anthony Minjarez, Cindy Chen, Eric Leishman, Matthew Markham, Rachel Wootton, Tatiana Mixco

Absent: Keith Bartholomew, Stephen Goldsmith, Kate Canas, Kristin Smith-Crowe, Melissa Lewis, Xiao Fang, Raymond Tymas-Jones, Orly Alter, Avery Holton, Paul J. Shami, Scott T. Youngquist, John Conboy, Jordon Gerton, Michael Shapiro, Peter Alfeld, Joan Brenner-Coltrain, Lori Kowaleski-Jones, Michael Hawkins, Thomas Cova, Ana Christine Bentz, Anna Ferguson, Camille George, Devin Daniels, John Paul Soares, Justin Spangler, Lauryn Roth, Maritza Lara, Nisha Kavalam, Ryann Cooley, Satin Tashnizi, Taryn Young

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

Excused with Proxy: Peter J. Stang for Joel Miller, Lex Newman for Anne Jamison, Karen Gieseker for Christy Porucznik, Connie Wilkerson for Lien Fan Shen, Brandon Bellows for Brandon Jenning, Misha Bradford for Reva Rauk

Excused: David Pershing, Vivian S. Lee

Others: Maureen Condc, Mardie Clayton, Scott Smith, Dave Kieda, Martha Bradley, Cassandra Van Buren, Stephen Hess, Steve Corbato, Brendan Duffy, Kenneth Pink, Clayton Norley, Lauren Kirwan, Tom Greene, Kyle Colbert, Kacey Campbell

Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the Academic Senate meeting on March 2, 2015, were approved without objection.

Request for New Business

No new business

Consent Calendar

The resignations, retirements, and faculty and administrator appointments dated April 6, 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 the Personnel and Elections Committee met and ballots are populating to fill Senate committees. Annual elections will occur in conjunction with the May meeting. The rest of the items discussed at the Executive Committee meeting are on the agenda for the full Senate.

Report from ASUU

Rachel Wootton, ASUU Senate Chair, filling in for ASUU President Justin Spangler, gave an update on student activities. Rachel mentioned that ASUU has partnered with the Hinckley Institute of Politics for HIP Talks, a speech competition in which students give a two-minute presentation to win cash prizes. She also discussed a change to the ASUU Constitution, which alters the Vice President and Senior Class President into a VP for University Relations and a VP for Campus Relations. Tatiana Mixco, ASUU Director of Academic Affairs, also mentioned that Geek Week will be beginning soon. ASUU has funded a program called Ready, Set, Geek for Geek Week in which relaxation sessions, food, and drinks will be provided to students.

Report from Administration

Vice President of Academic Affairs Ruth Watkins, filling in for President David Pershing, gave an update on administrative activities. She mentioned the legislature will pay for 75% of compensation increases. The University of Utah received funding for several different buildings on campus. Ruth mentioned that faculty recruitment is ongoing and her office is working to incentivize hiring diverse faculty. The administration is also preparing for an accreditation review to occur in October. In response to a question, Ruth also spoke about the Associate VP of Equity and Diversity. Currently, Kathryn Stockton is serving as interim and she has agreed to serve through the next academic year. The search for a new AVP will begin in the fall.

Notice of Intent

Dan Bowden, the University of Utah’s Chief Information Security Officer, presented the proposal for a revised Information Security Policy and Rules 4-004. Dan mentioned that the information security measures outlined in the policy would take more of a risk-based approach to security and would be more in line with HIPAA and FERPA standards. Dan also pointed out the acceptable use rule, which was put in place after a research attorney looked at other PAC-12 information security policies and affirmed that this rule should be in place at the University of Utah as well. Robert Flores, Senate Policy Liaison, commented on the current information security policy in place. He stated that an interim security rule is in place and a full reconfiguration of the rule is needed. The Executive Committee recommends that the Senate approve the proposed new and revised regulations this spring, with an agreement that most of them will not be enforced for one year, and meanwhile there will be extensive training of personnel and further development of the contents of the regulations-and the full set of regulations will be brought to the Senate for final approval in spring 2016 (i.e., before enforcement begins). The proposal will next appear on the May Debate calendar for approval, and anyone with questions or other input should be in contact with Dan prior to the May meeting.

Randy Dryer and Hank Liese, as co-chairs of the Task Force on Career-line Faculty, presented revisions for Policies 6-310 and 6-302. The proposal would create a new University Career-Line Reappointments Committee to advise the cognizant senior vice president in cases of disputed denials of reappointment or promotion. There was a discussion regarding the tenure- and career-line faculty split. Randy mentioned that a separate policy is needed for career-line faculty because the RPT process for tenure-line facuty and the process for career-line faculty reappointment is drastically different. The policy would not apply to adjuncts and would only affect career-line faculty who have been in their position for three or more years. Motion was made by Joanne Yaffe to immediately move to the Debate Calendar. Motion was seconded by Xan Johnson. Motion passed unanimously. Motion was made by Randy Dryer to approve and forward to the Board of Trustees. Motion was seconded by Joanne Yaffe. Motion passed unanimously. [But see May agenda, reapproval needed after several clarifying changes made in response to concerns from Office of General Counsel].

Amy Wildermuth and Harriet Hopf presented proposed changes to Policy 6-303 RPT procedures for tenure-line faculty. This change would be a one-line change affecting the eligibility of career-line faculty members for election as the chairperson of a departmental Retention, Promotion, and Tenure Advisory Committee for departments within the School of Medicine. Concerns were raised about giving career-line faculty such positions. Amy stated that tenure- and career-line faculty members in the School of Medicine are vastly different from the rest of campus. There was also concern that this type of policy could be adopted in other colleges and departments. Amy stated that this policy would not have as much support in another area of campus and that the change is one the School of Medicine specifically asked for. Motion was made by William Lowrance to immediately move to the Debate Calendar. Motion was seconded by Joanne Yaffe. Motion passed unanimously. Motion was made by Caren Frost to approve and forward to the Board of Trustees. Motion was seconded by Joanne Yaffe. Motion passed with six opposed and five abstaining.

Debate Calendar

Ann Darling and Katharina Gerstenberger presented a proposal for an Integrated Minor in Global Citizenship. In response to concerns raised at the Executive Committee, description has been added to the proposal of a steering committee which would act as the curriculum committee overseeing the addition and deletion of classes. Motion was made by Randy Dryer to approve and forward to the Board of Trustees. Motion was seconded by Harriet Hopf. Motion passed with six abstaining.

Susie Porter presented a proposal for a Graduate Certificate in Gender Studies. She mentioned that the University of Utah would be the last school to have such program in the PAC-12, but it would be the first school in Utah to have it. There was a brief discussion about course revisions. Motion was made by Joanne Yaffe to approve and forward to the Board of Trustees. Motion was seconded by Caren Frost. Motion passed unanimously.

Kacey Campbell presented a proposal to discontinue the ESL Teaching Minor. There is already a similar program in place through the College of Education, there are no courses for the program, and it no longer meets the proper requirements for state credentials. Motion was made by Peter Jenson to approve and forward to the Board of Trustees. Motion was seconded by Jill Moriearty. Motion passed unanimously.

Tom Greene and Lauren Kirwan presented a proposal for a Ph.D. in Population Health Sciences, with two related graduate emphases in Health Systems and Biostatistics. Motion was made by Joanne Yaffe to approve and forward to the Board of Trustees. Motion was seconded by David Ailion. Motion passed with one opposed.

Information and Recommendations Calendar

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

Changes to Policy 3-003 Approvals for Financial Transactions was presented by V.P. Jeff West. The change would alter authorizations and approvals required for financial transactions. The change stemmed from transitioning from paper to electronic processing.
The NCAA Athletics Report was presented by Kate Charipar. The University of Utah has not had any systematic or egregious violations since 2003, and all other violations have been of a lower level.
A proposal for an emphasis in Political Science in Community Involvement and Nonprofit Leadership was presented by Dan Levin (by policy these are approved by Graduate/ Undergraduate Council, and then provided for the Information of the Senate).
Provisional approval for the Center for Innovation in Banking and Financial Services was presented by Troy D’Ambrosio. He mentioned that the Center will be focused on student innovation and that Utah is the fifth largest banking services state.
Sarah Bush of the Department of Biology, Mathieu Francoeur of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, AJ (Amy Jo) Metz of the Department of Educational Psychology, and Michael Teter of the College of Law received the Early Career Teaching Award for 2015.
Rick Ash, Professor of Neurobiology & Anatomy, and Douglas Christensen of Bioengineering were named recipients of the Calvin S. and JeNeal N. Hatch Prize in Teaching. The Hatch Prize is awarded annually to an outstanding faculty member of the University of Utah who has distinguished him or herself in teaching throughunusual motivation and stimulation of students to seek greater learning, noteworthy experience in a given field of study, and other exemplary contributions to university education.
Dana Caroll was recommended to be Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry, Denise Dearing was recommended to be Distinguished Professor of Biology, and Pauline Wiessner was recommend to be Distinguished Professor of Anthropology.
Lisa Cannon-Albright, Professor and Chief of Division in Genetic Epidemiology, and William R. Jenson, Professor of Educational Psychology, were recommended for the 2015 Distinguished Innovation and Impact Award.

Adjournment

Meeting adjourned at 4:53 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

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