Jan 10, 2022

Jan 10 2022
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Meeting Minutes

ACADEMIC SENATE

Minutes

January 10, 2022

  1. CALL TO ORDER AND WELCOME
    The regular meeting of the Academic Senate, held on January 10, 2022, was called to order at 3:00 pm by Senate President Christy Porucznik. As had been announced on the Senate website and by email, this meeting was held using the Zoom online meeting platform due to COVID-19 pandemic conditions. Attendance was confirmed by requiring Senate members (and invited guests and public attendees) to register in advance for the online meeting.

 

Present: Michael Abrahamson, Serena Aeschilman, Rohit Aggarwal, Sharon Aiken-Wisniewski, Soheila Amirsoleimani, Yoshimi Anzai, Gloria Aquino, Michael Battistone, Erin Beeghly, Matthew Bettini, Melissa Bobick, David Bowling, Simon Brewer, Jonathan Brogaard, Kenneth Bromberg, Jen Brown, Jessica Brown, Richard Brown, Luca Brunelli, Juliet Carlisle, Adrienne Cataxinos, Owen Chan, Promothesh Chatterjee, Thomas Cheatham, Holden Cheney, Gerald Cochran, Hilary Coon, Sarah Creem-Regehr, Stuart Culver, Shanti Deemyad, Nadja Durbach, Stacy Firth, Annette Fleckenstein, Gina Frey, Sydney Gilliand, Ganesh Gopalakrishnan, Manu Goyal, Amos Guiora, Sara Hart, Bill Hesterly, Anna Hodgson, John Hollerbach, Harriet Hopf, Howard Horwitz, Alexander Hyres, Luis Ibarra, Thunder Jalili, Jay Jordan, Youjeong Kang, James Karner, R. James Keddington, Seth Keeton, Keith Koper, Mike Lewis, John Lin, Shane Lloyd, Kerry Lohmeier, Jack Longino, Gabriel Lozada, Robin Marcus, Frank McAlpin, Staci McIntosh, Nancy McLaughlin, Rajesh Menon, Ed Muñoz, Anna Neatrour, Kent Ono, Adrian Palmer, Marcel Paret, Robert Parker, Jeff Pettey, Tom Quinn, Emi Radetich, Kevin Rathunde, Sean Redmond, Alessandro Rigolon, Ofer Rog, Xiaoming Sheng, Doug Shumway, Momina Sial, Roger Silvers, Robert Smith, Tim Smith, Brian Snapp, Taylor Sparks, Ryan Steele, Maggie Tesch, Nick Tygesen , Kent Udell, Hunter Underhill, Jessica Van Der Volgen, Seetha Veeraghanta, Muskan Walia, Maeve Wall, Crystal Wallenius, Melodie Weller, Peter West, Jaclyn Winter, Jessica Wojciechowski, Jaehee Yi, Kilo Zamora, Susan Zickmund, Brandon Zielinski

Excused: Erin Castro, Divya Chandrasekhar

Excused with substitute: Jeremiah Jaggers, Audrey Laney

Absent: Robert Bowles, Eric Handman, Bradley Hunter, Srikanth Iyengar, Matti Koenig, Titus Larrieu, Lakshan Lingam, Kelly MacArthur, Eugene Mishchenko, Susie Porter, Alan Rogers, Jeff Schwartz, Paul Shami, Dave Symons, Daniel Vargo

Ex Officio: Randy Dryer, Robert Fujinami, Michael Good, Lisa Hutton, Paul Mogren, Allyson Mower, Christina Porucznik, Sarah Projansky, Taylor Randall, Martell Teasley, Sonia Salari, Jo Scofield, Jane Laird

 

  1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
    The minutes dated December 6, 2021, and those dated January 7, 2022, Senate Special Meeting were approved upon a motion from Harriet Hopf and a second from Sonia Salari.

 

  1. REQUEST FOR NEW BUSINESS

There were no requests for New Business

 

  1. CONSENT CALENDAR

The Faculty Reports submitted to the Senate Consent Calendar were approved after a motion from Randy Dryer and a second from Sonia Salari.

 

  1. REPORTS

 

  1. Report from Administration

University President Taylor Randall welcomed everyone to the new year and new term. He indicated that he is wrapping up his university-wide Listen and Learn Tour. President Randall and Interim SVPAA Martell Teasley also discussed current pandemic protocols. Both noted that faculty members have different opinions about conducting classes in-person, and the University administration and academic deans will assist faculty in developing teaching plans that are responsive to faculty needs and adhere to Utah State law.

 

SVP Michael Good also updated the Senate on the impact that escalating infection rates from the omicron COVID variant has had on the university’s health system. Self-testing kiosks are now available; locations are found at coronavirus.utah.edu.

 

  1. Executive Committee Report

Senate President-elect Sonia Salari explained that the Senate Executive Committee had met December 13, 2021, and approved the agenda presented to the Senate at this meeting.

 

  1. Report from ASUU

ASUU President Jessica Wojciechowski reported that ASUU members have been identifying activities that increase safety on campus, especially during the ongoing pandemic surge. Other associated projects include working with the UofU Racial Bias Incident Response Team and completing the bathroom hygiene product project initiated by ASUU a few years ago.

 

  1. NOTICE OF INTENT CALENDAR

 

Permanent Policy 1-021 Abusive Conduct Subcommittee Report

Amy Emrazian, Sarah Wilson, and Bob Thompson, from the University of Utah Human Resources Division, presented a newly revised proposed permanent Policy 1-012 Abusive Conduct and its associated Rules that reflected improvements that resulted from meeting with Allyson Hicks, Trina Rich, and a selected Senate Executive Committee subcommittee. Christy Porucznik thanked all those who contributed to the revised set of policies and rules and notified Senators to take this policy back to their constituents for feedback prior to voting to approve final versions at the next Senate meeting.

 

  1. DEBATE CALENDAR

 

  1. Board of Trustees Policy Updates

A recent change in Utah code that removed the requirement that faculty and administrative appointments approval is required from the University’s Board of Trustees affected nine different policies, explained Trina Rich, University & Academic Affairs Policy Administration. Her memo summarized the nine policies and what text updates are necessary to match revised Utah law. The University President is the final approver for these appointments, but if an appointment went to the Senate and was contentious, it would go back to the EC, which would provide an appropriate report to the President. Richard Brown’s motion to approve these updates was seconded by Jay Jordan. The motion passed with 3 opposed and 1 abstention.

 

  1. SACAP Gender-neutral Pronouns in University Policy Resolution

Kent Udell, representing the Senate Advisory Committee for Academic Policy (SACAP), presented a SACAP Resolution for approval: Replacement of Gender Specific Pronouns in University Regulations. SACAP had identified over 50 university documents which could be edited to replace gender specific terms with gender neutral language; there would be no policy updates or changes with these language edits. These updates would be consistent with the University’s core value of celebrating diversity and inclusion. In addition, University Rule R1-001 Oversight and Development of University Regulations states that “policy language should avoid gender-specific pronouns.”

 

Kent asked to approve the following resolution: “BE IT RESOLVED that the Academic Senate supports replacing gender-specific nouns and pronouns with gender-neutral alternatives in University regulations, with a goal of completion by the end of the Spring 2022 semester.” Harriet Hopf’s motion to approve this resolution passed, with 1 abstention, after a second from Sonia Salari.

 

  1. Academic Senate Resolution of Appreciation for SVP Daniel Reed

The Academic Senate reviewed a Resolution of Appreciation for University of Utah Senior Vice-President for Academic Affairs Dan Reed. Written by Senate Parliamentarian Paul Mogren, the Resolution highlighted Dan’s support of the shared model of university governance, his ability to generate and brainstorm creative solutions to university challenges, and his role in the development of the One U concept. His leadership in guiding the University’s academic operations during the COVID pandemic was exemplary. The Academic Senate approved by acclimation this expression of thanks and appreciation for a job well done.

 

  1. Teaching Awards Approval

Senate President Christy Porucznik announced the nominations for the Community Engaged Teaching Award, Hatch Prize, and Distinguished Teaching Awards and recognized the following for their notable achievements:

 

2021-22 Distinguished Teaching Awards

Tabitha Benney Associate Professor Political Science
Tabitha Buehler Associate Professor (Lecturer) Physics & Astronomy
Tim Formosa  Professor Biochemistry
Kim Hackford-Peer Associate Professor (Lecturer) Gender Studies
Matthew Sigman Distinguished Professor Chemistry

 

Community Engaged Teaching and Scholarship Award for 2021-22:

Anu Asnaani, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology

 

Calvin S. and JeNeal Hatch Prize in Teaching

Elizabeth Clement, Associate Professor of History

 

Christy offered congratulations to all the awardees. After Brian Snapp seconded Sonia Salari’s motion to approve the set of award nominations, the motion passed.

 

  1. Information and Recommendations Calendar

 

  1. Campus Safety Discussion Follow Up: University Counseling Center Overview

Lauren Weitzman, Director of the University Counselling Center (UCC), provided an overview of the Center, including staffing, funding, and services. She identified Fall 2021 student appointment utilization statistics and the primary reasons for seeking UCC services. In addition, she outlined other resources that students could access when needing mental health support.

 

  1. Graduate Council Seven-year Reviews

7-year Graduate Council program reviews were presented by the Associate Dean of the Graduate School Katie Ullman for the i) Department of Neurobiology and the ii) Department of Pharmacotherapy. Katie highlighted the programs’ strengths and current needs.

 

  1. Senate Information and Reports

Christy Porucznik noted that a newly updated Senate Photo Roster was available. Senators can also view the Presidents’ Reports to the Board of Trustees in the meeting materials.

 

  1. NEW BUSINESS

There was no New Business requested for this meeting

 

  1. OPEN DISCUSSION

 

  1. ADJOURNMENT
    Meeting adjourned at 4:59 pm.