Meeting Minutes
ACADEMIC SENATE MINUTES
February 2, 2015
Call to Order
The regular meeting of the Academic Senate, held on February 2, 2015, was called to order at 3:04 p.m. by Steve Alder, Senate President. The meeting was held in HSEB 1730.
Present: David Ailion, Peter Alfeld, Orly Alter, Chrisoula Andreou, Olga Baker, A.K. Balaji, Karin Baumgartner, Kelly Bricker, Alicia Brillon, Nilufer Cagatay, Marjorie Chan, Thomas Cheatham, Cindy Chen, John Conboy, Michael Cottle, Thomas Cova, Robin Craig, Mollie Cummins, Angel Demirev, Justin Diggle, David Dinter, Maria Dobozy, Randy Dryer, Ole Fischer, Frances Friedrich, Caren Frost, Disa Gambera, Jordan Gerton, Stephen Goldsmith, Mary Elizabeth Hartnett, Leanne Hawken, Robert Hitchcock, Michelle Hofmann, Lynn Hollister, Avery Holton, Brandon Jennings, Peter Jensen, Paul Jewell, Xan Johnson, Christian Johnson, Nisha Kavalam, Katherine Kendall, Jindrich Kopecek, Lori Kowaleski-Jones, John T. Langell, Eric Leishman, Melissa Lewis, John (Jack) Longino, Gary Lowder, William Lowrance, Matthew Markham, Joe Marotta, Julie Metos, Meredith Metzger, Anthony Minjarez, Tatiana Mixco, Jill Moriearty, Alfred Mowdood, Maureen A. Murtaugh, Ingrid E. Nygaard, Richard Paine, Adrian Palmer, Les Podlog, Janiece Pompa, Christy Porucznik, Matthew Potolsky, M. Pollie Price, Ravi Ranjan, Lorie Gage Richards, Steve Roens, Gerald Root, Jody Rosenblatt, Paul J. Shami, Lien Fan Shen, Debra Simmons, Kristin Smith-Crowe, Robert A. Stephenson, David Stevenson, Lina Svedin, David Temme, Andrejs Treibergs, Edward M. Trujillo, Raymond Tymas-Jones, Norman Waitzman, Ming Wen, Rachel Wootton, Joanne Yaffe, Jingyi Zhu
Absent: Keith Bartholomew, Ana Christine Bentz, Lyda Bigelow, Joan Brenner-Coltrain, Kate Canas, Ryann Cooley, Devin Daniels, Xiao Fang, Anna Ferguson, Camille George, Michael Hawkins, David Hill, Maritza Lara, Xiaoyue Liu, Uri Loewenstein, Sandra McIntyre, Yongmei Ni, Patrick Panos, Stephanie Richardson, Lauryn Roth, Michael Shapiro, John Paul Soares, Justin Spangler, John Sperry, Taryn Young
Ex-officio: Stephen Alder, Robert Flores, Harriet Hopf, William Johnson, Wogai Mohmand, Paul A. Mogren, Allyson Mower, David Pershing, Shawnee Worsley
Excused with Proxy: Reva Rauk for Heidi Lane, Thomas Richmond for Joel Miller, Lex Newman for Anne Jamison, Catherine Staes for Jennifer Garvin, Barry Weller for Nadja Durback
Excused: Carrie Byington, Vivian S. Lee, Ruth Watkins, Amy Wildermuth
Others: Dean McGovern
Approval of Minutes
The minutes of the Academic Senate meeting on January 5, 2015, were approved with a motion made by Joanne Yaffe, and seconded by Maria Dobozy. Motion passed unanimously.
Request for New Business
No new business
Consent Calendar
The resignations, retirements, and faculty and administrator appointments dated February 2, 2015, received approval to forward to the Board of Trustees on motion by Xan Johnson and seconded by Joanne Yaffe. The motion passed unanimously.
Executive Committee Report
William Johnson, Academic Senate President Elect, provided a summary of the Executive Committee meeting held January 12, 2015.
Report from Administration
President Pershing gave an update on campus activities. He talked about U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s campus visit. He gave a campus construction update; the Student Life Center grand opening will be held February 26, and the Ray & Tye Noorda Oral Health Sciences Building will open on February 8 and any additional information is available on their website. Last, the S.J. Quinney Law School building will open Summer 2015. The business loop parking structure is anticipated to be open for commencement.
President Pershing gave an update about the Legislative Session. The top priorities are faculty and staff compensation, the Crocker Science building, Orson Spencer Hall, and the Brown building expansion.
Report from ASUU
Rachel Wootton, ASUU Senate Chair, filling in for ASUU President Justin Spangler, gave an update on student activities. ASUU has begun the budget process for student groups to request funding for next year. Elections will begin at the end of February. Rachel presented the It’s On Us campaign that ASUU is supporting to stop sexual assaults on campus, and encouraged faculty and staff to take the pledge. Information is available at www.asuu.utah.edu/itsonus.
Notice of Intent
No items of Intent
Debate Calendar
The proposals for a new Music Technology Minor and a new Music Technology Undergraduate Certificate were presented by Miguel Chuaqui.
The Music Technology Minor is in response to the student need to provide a coherent structure for Music Technology instruction. The students who would typically enroll in this program would be undergraduate non-Music majors who are interested in music performance and composition using technology. It is anticipated this program will be successful and effective for students with a music performance background majoring in Sciences, Engineering, Visual Arts and Media Arts.
The Music Technology Undergraduate Certificate is in response to student need. Students in any major may enroll in the proposed certificate, but the program is especially suited to Music students completing our liberal arts degree in performance and/or composition with technology. This certificate will allow the University to meet Music student needs and enhance student success in our community and beyond, by helping our students to compete with students graduating from colleges with these programs already in place across the country.
The motion to approve and forward to the Board of Trustees both proposals was made by Joanne Yaffe and seconded by Peter Jensen. Motion passed unanimously.
Information and Recommendations Calendar
The following items were presented for the information and recommendations of the Academic Senate:
- Senate Learning Enhancement and Outcomes Assessment Ad Hoc Committee, Draft Recommendations—was presented by Dave Kieda, Dean of the Graduate School, representing the committee in the absence of chair Jennifer Garvin. This project is to implement the University’s response to an accreditation requirement in the accreditation review underway this year. There was extensive discussion about the core principles identified and other recommendations included in the report, and the plan of action for the remainder of this academic year. The dialogue will continue, and the committee welcomes feedback about the report or the overall project, which may be submitted to jennifer.garvin@hsc.utah.edu, or dave.kieda@utah.edu.
Adjournment
Meeting adjourned at 3:51 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Wogai Mohmand (interim Secretary, filling in for Shawnee Worsley)