Meeting Minutes
ACADEMIC SENATE MINUTES
February 6, 2017
Call to Order
The regular meeting of the Academic Senate, held on February 6, 2017, was called to order at
3:00 pm by Xan Johnson, Senate President. The meeting was held in the Health Sciences
Education Building, Alumni Hall.
Present: Shundana Yusaf, Sarah Hinners, Brenda Scheer, Robert Allen, Todd Zenger, Dianne
Harris, Alberta Comer, Olga Baker, Rajeev Balasubramonian, Chuck Dorval, Mathieu
Francoeur, Sudeep Kanungo, Hanseup Kim, Ken Monson, John Regehr, Denny Berry, Michael
Chikinda, Michael Cottle, Stacy Manwaring, Jim Martin, Julie Metos, Susan Naidu, Nelson Roy,
Les Podlog, James Anderson, Karin Baumgartner, Disa Gambera, Eric Hinderaker, Lex
Newman, Adrian Palmer, Terry Kogan, Tom Lund, John Bramble, Alicia Brillon, Julie
Barkmeier–Kraemer, Nadia Cobb, Julio Facelli, Mia Hashibe, Katherine Kendall, Antoinette
Laskey, Maureen A. Murtaugh, Ravi Ranjan, Brad Rockwell, Robert A. Stephenson, Thomas
Winter, David Dinter, Paul Jewell, Lauren Clark, Sara Simonsen, Lynn Hollister, Donald
Blumenthal, Randy Dryer, Joel Brownstein, Tommaso de Fernex, Yekaterina Epshten, Thomas
Richmond, Pearl Sandick, Michael Shapiro, Jennifer Shumaker–Parry, John Sperry, Andrejs
Treibergs, Adrienne Cachelin, Wade Cole, Thomas Cova, Korkut Erturk, Duncan Metcalfe, Paul
White, Zhou Yu, Edmund Fong, Jason Castillo, Joanne Yaffe, Caroline Li, Zach Zundel, Zach
Marquez, Robert Coffman, Rachel Petersen, Carley Herrick, Sabrina Hancock, Jake Knight,
Kyndle Pardun, Connor Roach, Jack Bender
Absent: Elena Asparouhova, Brian Cadman, Adam Meirowitz, Jeff Nielsen, David Plumlee,
Mark Durham, Leticia Alvarez, Yongmei Ni, Xiaoyue Liu, Ning Lu, Joe Marotta, Nadja
Durbach, Avery Holton, David Hill, Per Gesteland, John T. Langell, Frederick Strathmann, Ravi
Chandran, Andrea Bild, Baodong Liu, Lina Svedin, Mary Beth Vogel–Ferguson, Lauren Adams,
Madison Day, Ashley Wilcox, Edwin Lin, Caleb Hoffman
Ex–Officio: Bill Johnson, Robert Flores, Xan Johnson, Paul Mogren, Margaret Clayton, David
Pershing, Ruth Watkins
Excused with proxy: Luke Leither, Linda Tyler
Excused: Vivian Lee, Kevin Yang, John Funk, Melonie Murray, Sean Lawson, Nicole
Mihalopoulos, David Goldenberg, Dmytro Pesin
Others: Greg Hatch, Dan Witt
Approval of Minutes
The minutes for January were approved with a motion by Jim Anderson. Motion passed
unanimously.
The current list of appointments and resignations dated February 6, 2017 were approved with a
motion by Jim Anderson and second by Joanne Yaffe. Motion passed unanimously.
Executive Committee Report
Mardie Clayton said that everything seen by the Executive Committee in its previous meeting
would be seen by the Senate today.
Request for New Business
Liz Winter, Sherrie Hayashi, and Lori McDonald passed out new tear–off cards that will help U
faculty, staff, and students in case of reported sexual misconduct.
Report from Administration
President Pershing gave a report regarding the university administration’s recent activities. The
legislative session is the main priority for administration this month. U administration has
testified before the Higher Education Joint Appropriations Committee, to talk about the
importance of compensation, funding market demand and growth for the university, and the
success of student retention (90% first to second year retention) and graduation rate (65%, the
highest in the state). U administrators also testified before the capital facilities committee on the
topic of the Medical Education building; the U is asking the state for $50 million in funding for
the building. Other news included that the Bob and Cathy Goff Executive Education Building
groundbreaking took place last week. President Pershing also addressed the status of foreign
faculty, students, and staff in light of the recent White House executive order restricting travel
into the US. The U is reaching out to those affected by the order. Ruth Watkins explained further
about the U’s commitment to its role as an international institution. A communication was sent to
international faculty, students, and staff immediately and was proactive in alerting them to
resources available to them and actions they should take. There will be a campus rally on
Thursday, February 9, in support of the U’s international presence. The U has been successful in
diversity initiatives related to students and faculty, and the U will be working with the Division
of Workforce Services in the state to create yearlong apprentice employment opportunities to
increase staff diversity on campus.
Report from ASUU
Jack Bender gave a report on ASUU’s activities. The Class of 2016’s senior class gift was
directed toward the Counseling Center and the Mindfulness Clinic. A total of $12,500 was
allocated for the Mindfulness Clinic, for new couches, computers, and updates for the center.
The money has yet to be spent, but the Clinic is collecting more funding for a full renovation.
Student body presidents across the country are working on promotion of mental health on
campus. There is a bill in the state legislature to promote mental health in Utah. ASUU will
release a video in the upcoming weeks about the extent of the problem, and how the universities
across the state are working to make a change in this area. Recommendations show that at least
five to seven more counseling centers are needed across the state. A bill with a funding request
for more FTE will be proposed at next year’s legislative session.
Notice of Intent
No items of intent.
Patricia Hanna, Hank Liese, and John Bartley presented the proposal for new Policy 6–321
governing Tenured Faculty Reviews, and accompanying revisions of Policies 6–303 and 2–005.
An earlier draft was presented in January. The version proposed today has been refined through
further consultation since January. As compared to the existing Policies the major changes of the
policy are a) shifting the process into the hands of faculty members as opposed to administrators
and b) moving the schedule up so that salary decisions may be made following the review
process.
Motion was made by Joanne Yaffe to approve the policy changes and forward to the Board of
Trustees. Motion seconded by Chuck Dorval. Motion passed unanimously.
Information and Recommendations Calendar
The following items were presented for the information and recommendations of the Academic
Senate:
Ruth Watkins and Mary Parker presented information regarding student enrollment
management on campus, which includes recruitment, entry, retention, and completion.
The U has improved outreach and recruitment. Undergraduate admissions applications
have increased dramatically in the past year. The U is reaching out earlier to potential
students, starting prior to their senior year in high school. The campaign was particularly
targeted to women and minorities; applications for both demographic groups have
increased substantially following these efforts. Another key effort is bringing more
potential students on campus for campus tours. Other areas for improvement include
increasing numbers of out–of–state students, increasing FAFSA completion rates, and
reducing the number of potential students lost to other in–state or regional institutions.
Affordability has been identified as an issue that affects whether admitted students
choose to attend the U, as opposed to other in–state and regional schools. Mary Parker
and Ruth Watkins are asking for faculty support on events and communication to help
commit admitted students.
Katie Ullman presented reports of the seven–year Graduate Council reviews for the
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the Division of Physician Assistant
Studies, and the Division of Public Health.
Todd Zenger presented a proposal for the new Goff Strategic Leadership Center. The
center has been provisionally approved by central administration. It will promote
research, support curricular initiatives in various degree programs, and develop executive
programs and trainings focused on strategic leadership, with the aim for providing
revenue for the new Goff Executive Education building. The administration’s decision to
approve establishment on a provisional basis (rather than seeking permanent status from
the outset) is due to a tight timeline for the donor funding. As per the rules applicable for
provisional establishment of a center/ institute/ or bureau, once it has been provisionally
approved on an expedited basis by the administration, then within three years a proposal
of permanent status for the center will come back through the Executive Committee and
Senate for full approval.
New Business
No new business.
Meeting adjourned at 4:29 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Maddy Oritt