Meeting Minutes
ACADEMIC SENATE
February 5, 2018
Call to Order
The regular meeting of the Academic Senate, held on February 5, 2018, was called to order at
3:01 pm by Senate President Margaret Clayton. The meeting was held in the Moot Courtroom of
the College of Law.
Present: Sarah Hinners, Nitin Bakshi, Shmuel Baruch, Annie Fukushima, Alberta
Comer, Darryl Butt, James Winkler, Rajeev Balasubramonian, Sudeep
Kanungo, Ken Monson, John Regehr, Frank Sachse, James Sutherland,
Denny Berry, Laurel Caryn, Michael Chikinda, Melonie Murray, Bo
Foreman, Stacy Manwaring, Jim Martin, Susan Naidu, Nelson Roy, Alex
Terrill, Katharine Coles, Patricia Hanna, Lauren Liang, Maureen
Mathison, Lex Newman, Randy Dryer, Terry Kogan, Luke Leither, Julie
Barkmeier–Kraemer, Pinar Bayrak–Toydemir, Nadia Cobb, Julio Facelli,
Per Gesteland, Antoinette Laskey, Nicole L. Mihalopoulos, Kalani
Raphael, Brad Rockwell, Amnon Schlegel, Debra Simmons, Thomas
Winter, Ravi Chandran, Lauren Clark, Susanna Cohen, Sara Simonsen,
Donald Blumenthal, Ann Engar, Tommaso de Fernex, Ilya Zharov, David
Goldenberg, Sarah Bush, Dragan Milicic, Jennifer Shumaker–Parry,
Gunseli Berik, Sheila Crowell, Kim Korinek, Sharon Mastracci, Duncan
Metcalfe, Kathleen Nicoll, Zhou Yu, Jason Castillo, Mary Beth Vogel–
Ferguson, Micah Smith, Valerie Guerrero, Chase Peterson, Emina
Tatarevic, Jacob Lopez, Elizabeth Pohl, Carley Herrick, Trevor Annis,
Michael Stapley, Abigail Stover, India Kozlowski, Zach Berger
Absent: Brenda Scheer, Shundana Yusaf, Robert Allen, Elena Asparouhova, Brian
Cadman, Jeff Nielsen, Todd Zenger, Olga Baker, Mark Durham, Leticia
Alvarez, John Funk, Chuck Dorval, Hanseup Kim, Winston Kyan, Ning
Lu, Eric Hinderaker, Sean Lawson, Tom Lund, John Bramble, Ken
Johnson, Shaji Menon, Diego Fernandez, Jessica Wempen, Andrea Bild,
Linda Tyler, Joel Brownstein, Dmytro Pesin, Adrienne Cachelin, Baodong
Liu, Nicholas Gochnor, Chandler Dean, Melanie Barber, Ailien Luu,
Summer Mikkelsen, Kaitlin McLean
Ex Officio: Margaret Clayton, Robert Flores, Xan Johnson, Paul Mogren, Tom
Richmond, David Pershing, Ruth Watkins
Excused with proxy: Gema Guevara, Yekaterina Epshteyn, Pearl Sandick, Korkut Erturk,
Nathan Ong
Excused: Lorris Betz, Jim Anderson, Anne Lair, Brandon Patterson, Mia Hashibe,
Jon Seger, Joanne Yaffe
Others: Chris Lewis, Sasha Balk, Doug Bergman, Norm Waitzman, Emily Kam,
Emily Beard, Andrew Roberts
Approval of Minutes:
The minutes dated January 8, 2018 were approved with a motion from Xan Johnson and a
second from Patricia Hanna.
Consent Calendar:
The Consent Calendar dated February 5, 2018 were approved with a motion from Katie Coles and a
second from Randy Dryer.
Executive Committee Report
Tom Richmond gave an update on the activities of the Executive Committee. He noted the
tremendous participation of the Senate in the University presidential finalist interviews and
feedback process. He also mentioned that Senate leadership is looking for nominations for the
Senate president–elect vacancy for the upcoming academic year.
Request for New Business
No new business
Report from Administration:
President Dave Pershing gave an update on the recent activities of the U’s administration. He
first introduced Ruth Watkins as the next president of the University of Utah, which was
followed by an enthusiastic standing ovation. President Pershing noted the strength of the three
finalists, but commended the Board of Trustees for selecting the strongest candidate. The
transition will occur on April 2, 2018. SVP Watkins then gave a update on the two SVP searches.
Both searches are moving forward. The SVP–HS started in late fall; a search firm is working on
actively recruiting candidates. Tom Richmond, as president–elect, is representing the Senate on
the search committee. The SVP–AA search will be launched on February 6. Bob Fujinami will be
one of the representatives of the faculty on that committee. There are approximately 25 people
on that search committee. President Pershing mentioned that we recently lost two major
supporters of the University, Jon Huntsman, Sr., as well as Ian Cummings, on Friday, February
2. Mr. Huntsman’s memorial service will be Monday at 11 am at the Huntsman Cancer Institute.
President Pershing also gave a legislative update– he and Dr. Watkins testified in front of the
Joint Appropriations Committee recently, and will testify in front of the Infrastructure and
General Government Committee this week, in which they will ask permission to build, and bond
for, the new freshman residence hall on campus. There are nearly 1,200 bills that the legislature
will consider this session; administration is monitoring those that would affect higher education
and the U.
Report from ASUU
Zach Berger gave an update on the recent activities of ASUU. The annual Conference on Diverse
Excellence was held on February 2. The keynote speaker was Jesse Williams, and turnout was
great. The headliners for the annual concert will be announced shortly. ASUU is also continuing
its proposed amendments and changes to the ASUU constitution and bylaws, in an effort to
reevaluate the place for ASUU on campus. ASUU elections are March 12–15, and faculty are
encouraged to remind their students to vote in elections.
Notice of Intent
No items of intent
Debate Calendar
Dean Rory Hume presented a proposal for a revision to Policy 5–204, with regards to dentistry
faculty working in private practice. Policy currently allows dentistry to practice external to the
university up to one day per week. However, the policy is now being changed to prohibit faculty
from doing so. The change would not limit the rights of faculty to consult externally, but would
limit their rights to practice, primarily to just practicing internally within the school’s clinics,
(except as otherwise approved by the dean). The change is in pursuit of the long–term interests of
the school and would allow the School of Dentistry to build a robust faculty body. This would
also align the School of Dentistry with other units in Health Sciences. Motion was made by Katie
Coles to approve the proposal and forward to the Board of Trustees. Motion seconded by Nikki
Mihalopoulos. Motion passed unanimously.
Mike Gardner presented a proposal for a new graduate certificate in Statistics. It would be
implemented in three of the five tracks that currently exist in the Masters of Statistics program–
biostatistics, economics, and educational psychology. Statistics and quantitative skills are highly
valued in the workforce. The current master’s degree is intensive; this certificate would be less
demanding and would thus reach a wider audience across campus. There is funding to teach
additional courses, that would not require the same level of mathematical expertise that the
MSTAT courses require. They hope to expand the certificate to other departmental tracks in the
future. Motion was made by Pat Hanna to approve the proposal and forward to the Board of
Trustees. Motion seconded by Chase Peterson. Motion passed unanimously.
Chong Oh presented a proposal for a new minor in Information Systems. There is a large
demand for students with IS skills in the job market, particularly locally, in the Silicon Slopes
area that is highly concentrated with tech companies. This minor is geared toward School of
Business students who wish to expand their IS skills but who do not want to undertake an IS
major. It will only be open to students in the School of Business, because the minor requires the
base Business core, which is 30 credit hours. Motion was made by Randy Dryer to approve the
proposal and forward to the Board of Trustees. Motion seconded by Chase Peterson. Motion
passed unanimously.
Bob Kessler and Corrinne Lewis presented a proposal for a new minor in Games. Since the
Entertainment Arts and Engineering program was started and has been offering an undergraduate
major, the program has expanded its capacity and now wishes to offer its courses to students
from other departments and majors. This minor is geared toward such students, who might wish
to apply game skills to other areas and departments. There are four courses and several electives
to allow students to add depth in their desired area. Motion was made by Pat Hanna to approve
the proposal and forward to the Board of Trustees. Motion seconded by Maureen Mathison.
Motion passed unanimously.
Mark Parker presented a proposal for a new BS/MS in Accounting. The Masters of Accounting
is a professional program, so most students are also pursuing CPA licensure, which requires a
large number of credits. Combining the BS and master’s degree allows more flexibility for
students, and allows them to get into graduate–level courses sooner. The individual degrees still
hold the same number of credits, but the joint degree will allow a greater amount of flexibility
for students. Motion was made by Xan Johnson to approve the proposal and forward to the
Board of Trustees. Motion seconded by Nikki Mihalopoulos. Motion passed unanimously.
Information and Recommendations Calendar
The following items were presented for the information and recommendations of the Academic
Senate:
Bob Marquardt gave a presentation on a public education investment initiative entitled
Our Schools Now. It will raise funding for public school and higher education. Over the
past several years, primarily due to tax cuts, approximately $1.2 billion in education
funding has been reduced each year. Additionally, $600 million in state funding that
previously went to education now goes to transportation. Furthermore, last year, only 23
percent of Utah students tested as college– or career–ready. Additionally, less than 50
percent of publicly–educated students in Utah are proficient in math, reading, or science,
at any grade level. More funding would help address these disparities. The campaign has
to gather 113,000 signatures to get its initiative on the ballot this fall; they currently have
108,000 signatures. The proposals on the initiative include the following: increasing the
state income tax from 5 percent to 5.45 percent, and increasing the state sales tax from
4.7 percent to 5.15 percent (however, this will not affect the food sales tax). This would
generate over $28 million in funding for the University of Utah each year. Overall, 15
percent of the funds would go to higher education in Utah. The funding would be
distributed to institutions via performance funding, as defined by SB 117, which was
passed during the 2017 legislative session. The campaign encourages senators to inform
their faculty and student constituents about this project being underway, given that it is of
significant interest for higher education in the state. And faculty and students are being
encouraged , as private citizens, to: sign the initiative, donate to or volunteer for the
campaign, and promote the campaign on social media and by word of mouth.
Katie Ullman presented the report of a seven–year review for the Department of
Geography. The department was commended for student satisfaction and high scholarly
productivity among faculty. Challenges have been identified, on which the department
has begun taking action and making progress.
Jeff West presented a proposal to retire Policy 3–193, which describes procedures for use
of campus orders as a means of payments made between departments. The policy is
neither relevant nor timely; it was written in 1981 in the form of a procedure. The
wording is now arcane, and with the modernization of all financial transactions
procedures across campus, the policy no longer needs to exist.
Randy Dryer gave an update on the activities of the Senate Personnel & Elections
Committee. There are approximately 123 vacancies on 25 committees that SPEC will
work to fill this year. Additionally, SPEC is reviewing three Senate standing committees
that have been relatively inactive in recent years; the Senate Advisory Committees on
Library Policy, Budget and Planning, and Salaries and Benefits, and similarly reviewing
another University committee— the Financial Aid and Scholarships Committee. SPEC
will make a recommendation, regarding whether these committees should be reorganized,
disbanded, etc., to the Senate Executive Committee. Also members of SPEC and the EC
will be making presentations to their departments and colleges to engage faculty in
committee service. The Faculty Committee Interest Survey (to match interested faculty
members with committee vacancies) is now live, and will remain open through March 9.
Randy encourages that Senators help in getting the word out and sending the link to the
interest survey to faculty in their areas.
Tek Kilgore, as chair of the Senate ad hoc Committee on the Tobacco Free Campus Rule
3–300A, accompanied by Campus Wellness Officer Robin Marcus, gave an interim report
on the activities of the ad hoc Committee. The committee’s charge from the Senate
included to consider whether there should be additional surveys to gather campus
opinions on the issues, to understand policies at peer institutions and campuses, and
specifically to make recommendations for amendments to the tobacco–free policy,
including whether to amend it to allow for having tobacco–friendly zones convenient for
use of students, faculty, and staff. The committee has held two town hall meetings,
including one focused on student feedback and another focused on venues that bring
visitors to campus, such as Red Butte Garden, Kingsbury Hall, and others. There is a
third meeting scheduled for Wednesday. Fraternity and sorority houses, being private
property not within the University campus, are not included in the policy. Other topics
discussed include issues of addiction, enforcement, tobacco–friendly zones, signage costs,
budgeting for offices, smoking regulations as part of employment contracts, etc. The
committee has discussed possibly recommending changing the enforcement methods
from those currently in the initial written policy—such as enforcement being planned to
be primarily educational, although there is likely to be a fine schedule for “egregious”
violators. There are over 1,600 tobacco– or smoke–free campuses across the country.
Additionally, most medical campuses in Utah are smoke–free. Enforcement (by whom
and punishment), warnings and fines, and smoking–tolerant zones continue to be the most
prominent issues in the committee’s discussions. The committee is finalizing its
recommendations, which it will present to the EC and Senate this spring. The final
implementation date in the current version of the policy is scheduled for July 1, 2018.
University–controlled properties in Research Park and other University–controlled sites
which are off the main campus are currently included in the policy to be tobacco–free as
well, and signs will designate which spaces prohibit tobacco. The policy includes e–
cigarette use. The policy will also include a map of the university, which will explicitly
show the boundaries of the policy, as well as any tobacco–friendly zones that may be
included in the policy. The committee has begun to address the issue of smoking in
private personal vehicles. Discussion revealed that there are differences of opinion on
whether the current version of the policy is or is not intended to ban smoking in such
private personal vehicles while parked or operating within the campus (i.e., the current
policy may be unclear on that crucial point—so that revision for clarification would be
needed), and differences of opinion on whether or not such vehicles should be included
as part of a general ban on outdoor smoking on campus.
The membership of the Senate ad hoc Committee on Centers, Institutes, and Bureaus, as
approved by the Senate Executive Committee, was brought forward with no objection.
The December University President’s Report was brought forward with no objection.
New Business
No new business
Open Discussion
The following remarks were made during the Open Discussion portion of the meeting.
Jim Martin, Health– Jim has been in contact with Alma Allred regarding his question
about parking costs (an issue raised at the January meeting). Alma responded that
Commuter Services (in charge of parking) cannot receive tax appropriations or tuition
funds, and must thus be self–sufficient, which explains the high, and increasing, cost of
parking on campus.
Adjournment
Meeting adjourned at 4:44 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Maddy Oritt