August 26, 2024 – Academic Senate

Meeting Minutes

ACADEMIC SENATE AGENDA

Minutes

August 26, 2024

CALL TO ORDER AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
The regular meeting of the Academic Senate, held on August 26, 2024, was called to order at 3:01 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.

There were subsequently corrections made to the Attendance list which fixed the initial documentation.

Present: Rohit Aggarwal, Andrew Anderson, Elizabeth Archuleta, Ademuyiwa Aromolaran, Maile Arvin, Pinar Bayrak-Toydemir, Henry Becker, James Bekker, Melanie Biviano, Christian Brockmann, Timothy Brusseau, Sarah Bush, Marc Calaf, Jon Chaika, Thomas Cheatham, Sydney Cheek-O’Donnell, Doug Christensen, Richard Clark, Kevin Coe, Benjamin Cohen, Katharine Coles, Mark Crowley, Marla De Jong, Kathy Doom, Jack Doughty, Jeffrey Druck, Katie Durante, Atif Ellahie, Lee Ellington, Zhigang (Zak) Fang, Rick Forster, Julia Franklin, Henry Fu, Alborz Ghandehari, Ashley Glenn, Laura Grantier, Rachel Hayes-Harb, Davidson Heath, Brenda Heaton, Teresa Hebron, Kerry Herman, Tucker Hermans, William Holland, Heather Holmes, Jill Jeffe, Mercedes Johnson, Bryan Jones, Sarang Joshi, Myrna Kearse, Seijin Kim, Kai Kuck, Feng Liu, Mark Loewen, Alysse Loomis, Janis Louie, Kateryna Malaia, Stacy Manwaring, Maureen Mathison, Christine McMillan, Huong Meeks, Kate Menlove, Brent Milne, Will Nesse, Curtis Newbold, Thi Nguyen, Matthew Nielsen, Olive Nyiramwiza, Yihui Pan, Emma Parkin, Sofia Perez, Kevin Perry, Lynn Reinke, Lorie Richards, Thomas Richmond, Hollis Robbins, Yvette Romero Coronado, Alex Rose, Suva Roy, Carol Sansone, Naomi Schlesinger, Nathan Seegert, Sherin Shaaban, Elizabeth Siantz, Chris Simon, Jamesina Simpson, Paula Smith, Ginger Smoak, Wayne Springer, Oleg Starykh, Talea Steele, Caroline Stephens, Kathleen Strickland-Cohen, Casey Tak, Matt Tokson, Patrick Tripeny, Jack VanDerHeyden, Roseanne Warren, Rachel Wittman, Dave Young, Zhou Yu

Excused with substitute: Jensie Anderson, Nanette Dudley, Lisbeth Louderback, Margaret Wan, Jim VanDerslice, Joe Boyden, Julie Wright-Costa, Noreen Farley, Frank Drews, Corrine Rada

Excused: Firas Rassoul-Agha,

Absent: Bryan Bonner, Brigham Daniels, Martin Horvath, Shelley Lawrence, Katherine Pagano, Christo Pinknys, Anna Roelofs, David Turok, Elvis Valenzuela

Ex Officio: Angie Fagerlin, Mitzi Montoya, Sarah Projansky, Taylor Randall, Harriet Hopf, Paul Mogren, Allyson Mower, Richard Preiss, Shanti Deemyad, Ashley Glenn, Marie Wintriss, Jane Laird

Senate President Harriet Hopf welcomed Senate members to the first meeting of the 2024-2025 academic year. She announced that the first Senate Social of the year would be Monday, Sep. 23, 3-5pm and hosted by President Randall at Eccles House. She also reviewed the Zoom meeting procedures that help make meetings efficient and effective.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The April 29, 2024, Academic Senate meeting minutes were approved upon a motion from Heather Holmes, seconded by Julia Franklin. There were 4 abstentions.

REQUEST FOR NEW BUSINESS

There was no New Business for this meeting.

REPORTS (EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE)

Senate President-elect Richard Preiss reported on actions of the Senate Executive Committee (EC) that were taken this summer using its provisional summer authority to act on behalf of the Senate:

Ratification of Interim Rule R7-001A: Prohibition of Participation in Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Programs

Ratification of Interim Policy 1-012

SCHC Panel Chair Appointments

SACUSP 2024-25 New Member Appointments

He also reviewed the items that the EC had placed on this meeting’s agenda.

CONSENT CALENDAR

Senate President Harriet Hopf reviewed the items on the meeting’s Consent Calendar:

Faculty Appointments Report

Program Change: Diplomacy

Name Change: Department of Sociology and Criminology

Annual Appointments for Senate Officers – Parliamentarian and Policy Liaison

The Consent Calendar items were approved after a motion from Katherine Coles and a second from Jack VanDerHeyden. [Senator Thomas Richmond also pointed out an error in the Faculty Appointments Report that was subsequently sent to the Office of Faculty for correction.]

REPORTS (ADMINISTRATION; ASUU)

Report from Administration

University of Utah President Taylor Randall highlighted notable events happening at the U. These included the exciting move-in day for residential students, the current search for the next SVP Health Sciences position, and the Army Reserves move from Fort Douglas that will free up about 50 acres for the campus.

President Randall presented some important issues and questions concerning House Bill 261 legislation changes. He explained what segments of the Bill identify the parts of academic and sports endeavors that are not affected. He then outlined activities and programs that are affected. Guidance suggested that the UofU initially create one umbrella center to offer cultural engagement programs, and that, and any other new cultural program, would need state approval. The center established is the Center for Community and Cultural Engagement. Along with Brian Hubain, AVP Student Affairs, he explained the importance of getting information out to the campus community because it has been a complicated change.

President Randall, along with AVP Hubain, SVP Mitzi Montoya, and Chris Nelson, Chief University Relations Officer, addressed the Senators’ individual questions in-depth. Harriet also added that more details about changes enacted to meet H.B. 261 regulations will be offered in later meeting agenda presentations.

Report from ASUU

ASUU Senate Chair Mercedes Johnson gave the ASUU report because ASUU President Joe Boyden had to excuse himself from attending due to a class conflict. Mercedes summarized current ASUU activities such as organizing Red Fest and a petting zoo event for the campus. ASUU looks forward to a year full of events to support UofU students. Student clubs or affinity groups that are looking for funding can attend a workshop on September 4 in the Union Building.

Report from UUSC

University of Utah Staff Council President Marie Wintriss offered a presentation for the University of Utah Staff Council (UUSC). Representing almost 38,000 staff members, the Council advances staff support and professional growth through seven subcommittees such as events planning, communications facilitation, community outreach, and more. UUSC holds a monthly general meeting that all can attend.

INTENT CALENDAR

There were no items for the Intent Calendar

DEBATE CALENDAR

New Policy 7-200: Research Administration Policy

This presentation was postponed to the September 30 Senate Meeting due to time overruns.

New Center: University of Utah Stillbirth Center

A proposed new center, University of Utah Stillbirth Center, was introduced by Susannah Leisher, Vice Director, and Bob Silver, Director. It will be a comprehensive center aimed at ending preventable stillbirths through initiatives and research, in addition to delivering clinical care, bereavement support, education, advocacy, and health outcomes equity. It would be the first comprehensive center of excellence for stillbirth research and advocacy on this scale in the United States, and its establishment will strengthen its NIH funding requests. The proposal was approved after a motion from Katherine Coles and seconded by Jack VanDerHeyden. There was 1 abstention.

New Minor: Legal Studies

Randy Dryer, College of Law Associate Dean, presented a proposal to create a Minor in Legal Studies. The minor would be intentionally interdisciplinary in content and structure. This minor program is primarily responsive to student interest and a growing market for legal knowledge and skills. He walked through the reasons to offer this new minor and the support it has, and explained it is a result of a year-long collaboration with partners prior to finalizing. David Hill’s (proxy for Jensie Anderson) motion to approve the proposal passed after a second by Mark Crowley.

New Undergraduate Certificate: Behavioral Health Technician

Jason Castillo, College of Social Work Dean for Academic Affairs, explained the reasons that the College proposes to offer a new Behavioral Health Technician undergraduate certificate program. The state of Utah is experiencing a shortage of behavioral healthcare workers, and this program is in response to that need. The key curriculum points were summarized; it will train students to assist licensed professionals in health settings. Once approved and established, it will be available to all enrolled students at the university. Mark Loewen’s motion, seconded by Lorie Richards, to approve the new certificate program passed.

Compliance Change to Policy 6-411: Student Records

Director of Policy Allyson Hicks, AVP of Student Affairs Jason Ramirez, and Senior AVP for Enrollment Management Erin Mason explained that the Utah Board of Higher Education enacted a policy last spring that specifies how long a student’s transcript must reflect a suspension for sexual misconduct or sex discrimination and harassment. This required updating the student records policy for the University, and they reviewed these revisions. These compliance updates need Senate review and approval. After a second from Heather Holmes, Bryan Jones’ motion to approve this policy change passed with 1 abstention.

Ratification of Interim Policy and Rule Change Required by H.B. 414: Due Process Amendments

Associate Vice President of Student Affairs Jason Ramirez summarized revisions to several policies that were updated to include House Bill 414 due process requirements for disciplinary cases for students and student organizations. Utah Board of Higher Education Policy R256 requires the University to have a policy establishing these due process requirements. Many of the requirements for students were already established under UofU policy, so there were few updates needed there. Student organizations did not have a prior stated policy of due process protections, so this part of the revision was more substantive. Policy updates also included clarifications that further help students and organizations to understand their due process protections. Director of University Policy Allyson Hicks explained that if the Senate chooses to ratify these interim policy updates at this time, these will become permanent UofU policies. Jack VanDerHeyden moved to ratify the list of policy revisions, so that these become permanent changes. After a second from Lorie Richards, the motion passed with 3 abstentions.

INFORMATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS CALENDAR

Viewpoint Diversity Training for Students

Part of House Bill 261 requires universities to promote viewpoint diversity through multiple strategies. Vice President of Student Affairs Lori McDonald explained that the University is engaging the Constructive Dialog Institute (CDI), as one pilot tool and strategy, to provide additional resources to educate students and staff on how to facilitate dialogues between groups that do not share the same views, with the goal of gaining mutual understanding of a diversity of viewpoints. The program details were also made available in the meeting materials for further review.

Report on Faculty Policy Changes Required by Legislation

Director of University & Academic Affairs Policy Administration Trina Rich reviewed the academic affairs policies that have been updated to meet Utah legislation requirements. These policy revisions have been approved on an interim basis; they will go through the full policy review and approval process in the next academic year. The policies affected are:

Policy 6-011: Functions and Procedures of the Senate Consolidated Hearing Committee

Policy 6-303: Reviews of Tenure-Line Faculty Members (RPT Criteria, Standards, & Procedures)

Policy 6-313: Terminations and Program Discontinuance

Policy 6-316: Code of Faculty Rights and Responsibilities

Policy 6-321: Tenured Faculty Reviews (TFR)

HB 261 Administrative Guidance

Chris Nelson, Chief University Relations Officer, Andrea Thomas, Chief Student Experience Officer, Robert Payne, Office of General Counsel, and Rebecca Walsh, Director of Communications, attended to continue to answer questions about guidance received to ensure meeting H.B. 261 requirements by the deadlines. Chris explained that one of the challenges that the UofU faces now is making sure these communications reach all community members. Senators can advise whenever possible that folks take a few minutes to read their weekly @theU newsletter. The goal has been to summarize changes so to get quite a bit of information as concise as possible. Included in the meeting materials was an informational packet that identified the Utah System of Higher Education guidance on meeting state regulations and a timeline. Faculty members who have ongoing questions can expect to get a timely response by emailing University Communications at this email: president@umc.utah.edu.

Regulations Changes in Response to HB 261

Director of Policy Allyson Hicks presented the changes made to university regulations that met the requirements in H.B. 261 by the July 1 deadline. These updates were completed under Rule R1-001, which allows for expedited policy updates in response to changes in the law. That Rule does require reporting policy modifications as soon as feasible to university governing bodies. The list of detailed policy modifications was also made available in the meeting materials.

Information and Reports

Senate President Hopf noted the informational reports in the meeting materials for Senate review:

May 2024 AS President Report to Board of Trustees (BoT)

Jun 2024 University President Report to the Board of Trustees

June 2024 AS President Report to Board of Trustees (BoT)

Revised Policy 5-003: University of Utah Staff Council

Appointment of Senate Standing Committee Chairs 2024-2025

Senate Advisory Committee on Student, Faculty, and Staff Success (SACSFSS) UUSC Member Appointment