Meeting Minutes
ACADEMIC SENATE MINUTES
December 3, 2007
Call to Order
The regular meeting of the Academic Senate, held on December 3, 2007, was called to order at 3:05 p.m. by Penny Brooke, Senate President. The meeting was held in room 115 C. Roland Christensen Center.
Roll:
David Ailion, Tim Ameel, James Anderson, Shmuel Baruch, Margaret Battin, Brooke Bennett, David Krizaj (for Paul Berstein), Susan Bratton, Paul Bresslof, Ronald Bruhn, Jennifer Buhler, Nicola Camp, Kuan Chen, Hiram Chodosh, Liz Clark, John Conboy, David Derezotes, Marianna DiPaolo, Eric Eddings, Jessica Elder, Gary Ellis, Jessie Fan, Gene Fitzgerald, Alan Fogel, Dheerajvalkya Gadicheerla, Pat Hanna, La Var Harline, Greg Hatch, Rachel Hayes-Harb, Bob Hill, David Hillyard, Brooke Hopkins, Tiffany Jack, Randy J. Jensen, Ryan Jensen, Megan Jolley, David Kiefer, Mike Kirby, Thomas Kontuly, Stephane LeBohec, Richard Lemons, Janet E. Lindsley, Karl Lins, Janis Louie, Zheng-Rong Lu, Mary Jane Taylor (for Brad Lundahl), Lex Newman, Maria Newton, Paul Nielsen, Erin O’Connell, Gerado Okhuysen, Richard Paine, Karen Paisley, Lester Partlow, David Pendell, Kevin Perry, David Plumlee, Kathy Pope, A. Lor Randall, Rita Reusch, Donn Schaefer, Tony Serrato-Combe, Leslie Sieburth, Randy Silverman, Tim Slover, Bruce Smith, Sandy Smith, Gerald Spangrude, Nancy Staggers, Paul Stout, Michael Timberlake, Peter Trapa, Andrejs Treibergs, Kimberly Walsh, Lisa Western, Mary Youngkin
Ex-officio: A. Loris Betz, David J. Bjorkman, Penny Brooke, John Francis, Kay Harward, James Graves, Kirtly Parker Jones, Nancy Lines, Paul Mogren, Susan Olson, Spencer Pearson, Stephen Reynolds, David W. Pershing
Excused: Paul Bernstein, Marlene Egger, Ed Levine, Brad Lundahl, Daniel Medwed, Sharon Weinstein, Michael K. Young
Others: Matt Basso, Mark Bergstrom, Martha Bradley, Valoree Dowell, Ann Floor, Robert Flores, Craig Forster, Rochelle McConkie, Wayne McCormack, Alexandra Parvaz, Scott Ward, Jeff West, Joan Gines, Tom Loveridge
Approval of Minutes
The minutes of the Academic Senate meeting of November 5, 2007 were approved following a motion from Jessica Elder, seconded by Gene Fitzgerald, with one abstention.
Request for New Business
There was no new business.
Consent Calendar
The resignations, retirements, faculty appointments, auxiliary, and limited term appointments, appearing in Appendices I, II, and III dated November 19, 2007 and December 3, 2007, were approved on a motion from Dheeraj Gadicheerla, which was seconded by Gene Fitzgerald, and unanimously approved to forward to the Board of Trustees.
Executive Committee Report
Sandy Smith, Executive Committee Secretary, summarized her written report of the November 5, 2007, Executive Committee meeting.
Report from Administration
Senior Vice President David Pershing reported that the working group for the University/Dixie State College affiliation is in process and two new committee members have been added to the committee, Kathi Mooney and James Anderson. Kirtly Parker Jones was appointed to the Task Force.
A major communications plan for USTAR will be rolled out. Nine new faculty have been hired this year from elite universities to be part of the eight USTAR teams. They have also released a request for the second round of proposals and have received twenty proposals to be evaluated for selection in 2008.
Pershing commented that there will be a one-time budget reduction of 1.7% for all non-academic areas. On the academic side similar budget reductions are managed automatically by the budget model where productivity funding follows the SCH within the individual colleges. These budget changes are necessary because summer and fall enrollments were down slightly (about 2%).
Wayne McCormack provided information from the President’s Task Force on Campus Security that was instituted last spring to review existing campus security. Since its origination, there is a higher priority for emergency response. He informed the committee that all units are in place and responded to questions concerning dialogue with other entities, special code numbers for different types of emergencies, best method of communication, and simulation opportunities. Wayne concluded that the best thing to do is to dial 911 or 581-2611as both numbers will immediately trigger all response teams.
Report from ASUU
Spencer Pearson encouraged faculty to attend the COSA Conference that ASUU is sponsoring on campus January 26. Peggy McIntosh and Delores Delgado Bernal will be the keynote speakers.
Notice of Intent
Jeff West represented Financial and Business Services and Investment Management in seeking support of the proposed updates to University Policy 3-4 (Banking Policy). A motion from Sandy Smith, seconded by Jim Anderson, to forward to today’s debate calendar received unanimous approval.
Debate Calendar
Jim Anderson made a motion to accept the changes to the Banking Policy, PPM 3-4 which was seconded by Sandy Smith and unanimously approved to forward to the Board of Trustees for final approval.
Penny Brooke informed the Senate that the Academic Senate undergoes a reapportionment every two years to ensure that each college has a minimum of two senators. This year’s reapportionment reduces the number of senators from the College of Science from ten to nine. Sandy Smith motioned to accept the report, seconded by Dheeraj Gadicheerla, which received approval with one opposing vote.
Kay Harward presented the proposed Spring/Summer Academic Calendar and explained the reason to extend the calendar to 2018. Two years ago the senate approved a revision for the fall calendar through 2017 so that school could begin on a Monday instead of a Wednesday, and extend the fall break from two days to five days. This new calendar will bring both the spring and fall calendars up to the same date. Karen Paisley made a motion to accept, which was seconded by Lisa Western, and was unanimously approved to be forwarded to the Board of Trustees for final approval.
Johanna Watzinger-Tharp presented the College of Humanities proposal to create a Master of Arts degree with an emphasis in World Languages. Students will become certified in two foreign languages, specifically the less-commonly taught languages of Arabic, Chinese, Hindi/Urdu, Japanese, Korean, Persian/Farsi, and Russian, or one of those languages and one other discipline and would be more marketable for existing foreign language programs in the Utah public schools. Gene Fitzgerald made a motion to approve the proposal, which was seconded by Marianna DiPaolo, and unanimously approved to forward to the Board of Trustees for final approval.
Matt Basso and Mark Bergstrom informed the committee of the American West Center’s proposal request to move the center from the College of Social and Behavioral Science to the College of Humanities. Gene Fitzgerald made a motion to approve the request, which was seconded by Bruce Smith, and unanimously approved to forward to the Board of Trustees for final approval.
Craig Forster requested support from the Senate for the Green House network’s sponsored Resolution from the Office of Sustainability, ‘Focus the Nation: Global Warming Solutions for America’, a national organization. Jenn Colby and Lindsay Clark responded to questions and encouraged faculty to include some dialogue in their classrooms during the week of January 28, 2008. More information for the program can be found at http://sustainability.utah.edu. There is a listing of the growing group of faculty instructors and other events planned during January 2008. Faculty can sign up by contacting Lindsay Clark, lclark@sustainability.utah.edu. Tony Serrato-Combe made a motion to approve the request which wass seconded by Jim Anderson, and unanimously approved to adopt the resolution.
Scott Ward explained the proposal request to change the status of the Division of Physical Therapy to the Department of Physical Therapy. The division was established 40 years ago and the change from division to department status will more accurately describe the scope of the curriculum offered. A motion by Bruce Smith, which was seconded by Karen Paisley, received unanimous approval to forward to the Board of Trustees for final approval.
Peter Atherton requested a change in the administrative structure for the College of Architecture+Planning. As a result of the growth of its current programs and internal review, the single department would like to establish formal administrative divisions and become the College of Architecture+Planning with two departments, the School of Architecture, and the Department of City and Metropolitan Planning. A motion from Mary Youngkin to accept the request, seconded by Sandy Smith, received unanimous approval to forward to the Board of Trustees for final approval.
Dean David Bjorkman provided background for the School of Medicine proposal to create a Master of Science in Clinical Investigation (MSCI). The purpose of this degree is to train students in research methods for independent investigation, primarily targeting junior faculty, fellows, and residents, as well as clinical doctoral students in areas of nursing, physical therapy, and pharmacy. The dean promised funding even if the NIH K-Award grant should not continue to be funded. Matt Samore and Don McClain responded to questions concerning other disciplines involvement. Because of modest funding, SOM faculty will teach classes but students will be encouraged to take classes in other disciplines. A motion from La Var Harline to accept the proposal and forward to the Board of Trustees for final approval was seconded by Susan Bratton and approved with one abstention.
Information Items
After a lengthy discussion on the proposed change to PPM 2-21 and 2-22 (Medical and non-medical Leaves of Absence), a motion was made by Marianna DiPaolo to move this item to the January debate calendar which was seconded by Gene Fitzgerald and approved unanimously.
New Business
There was no new business.
Adjournment:
The meeting adjourned at 4:42 pm.