Academic Senate

Meeting Minutes

 ACADEMIC SENATE MEETING MINUTES

January 5, 2026

 

 

1. CALL TO ORDER AND Announcements
   The regular meeting of the Academic Senate, held on January 5, 2026, was called to order at 3:01 pm by Senate President Richard Preiss. The meeting was held using the Zoom online meeting platform. The meeting is recorded only for the purposes of meeting minutes accuracy. Although Senate meetings are not required to be public under Utah law, the Senate has elected to conduct its business in a transparent way and all attendees are welcome.

 

Present: Taslim Al-Hilal, Elizabeth Archuleta, Ademuyiwa Aromolaran, Eli Asay, Donna Baluchi, Cynthia Berg , Jace Boyd, Timothy Brusseau, Sarah Bush, Thomas Cheatham, Doug Christensen, Richard Clark, Katharine Coles, Marla De Jong, Teresa DeAtley, Frank Drews, Katie Durante, Teppo Felin, Nina Feng, Pamalatera Fenn, Jon Fisk , Matthew Flatt, Rick Forster, Leslie Francis, Maggie French, Alborz Ghandehari, Ramesh Goel, Ken Golden, Rachel Hayes-Harb, Davidson Heath, Brenda Heaton, Teresa Hebron, David Hill, Andy Hong, Sarang Joshi, Shaiban Khan, David Kieda, Sejin Kim, Peggy Kong, Rebeccah Kurzhals, Joshua  LaReaux, Lisbeth Louderback, Crystal Lumpkins, Jay Mace, Douglas Mackay, Maureen Mathison, Lacey Murphy, Michael Nigra, Chris Pantelides, Xiaoxia Peng, Wayne Potts, Lorie Richards, Thomas Richmond, Paula Smith, Kathleen Strickland-Cohen, Rhet Tucker, Robert Wuebker, Rohit Aggarwal, Christian Brockmann, Jeffrey Druck, Laura Grantier, Jia-Wen Guo, Hailey Lawrence, Mark Loewen, Christine McMillan, Curtis Newbold, Thi Nguyen, Rodrigo Noriega, Jack O’Leary, Edward Quigley, Firas Rassoul-Agha, Lynn Reinke, Ariel Richer, Marcy Rogers , Yvette Romero Coronado, Alex Rose, Suva Roy, Mike Scarpulla, Breann Schiffer, Elizabeth Siantz, Ginger Smoak, Oleg Starykh, Caroline Stephens, Karley Swallow, Jason Tanner, Matthew Thiese, Norman Waitzman, Roseanne Warren, Rachel Wittman, Kari Woodruff, Julie Wright-Costa, Dave Young

Excused with proxy: Sydney Cheek-O’Donnell, Sarah Shreeves, Chris Simon

Excused: Ravi Chandran, Therese De Raedt, Henry Becker, Kennon Buss, Henry Fu

Absent: Ana Sanchez Benet, Bryan Bonner, Cameryn Coffey, Mark Crowley, Elisabet Curbelo González, Brigham Daniels, Brooke Davies, Brooke Fernandez, Eric Herschthal, Jill Jeffe, Kateryna Malaia, Huong Meeks, Juniper Nilsson, Mayette Pahulu, Sofia Perez, Bryce Perkins, Naomi Schlesinger, Sherin Shaaban, David Turok, Ingrid Weinbauer, Berkley Wiseman

Ex Officio: Bob Carter, Ashley Glenn, Angie Fagerlin, Mitzi Montoya, Sarah Projansky, Taylor Randall

Senate Officers: Harriet Hopf, Brent Milne, Allyson Mower, Richard Preiss, Jane Laird

Senate Office Staff: Maddie Hile, Bailey Lavallee

 

Senate President Preiss reminded members of the upcoming January 28^th Senate Social at the Natural History Museum of Utah. Families are welcome. He also clarified that the meeting’s agenda compression was due to the peak of new and revised academic program proposals needing to meet catalog deadlines as well as current major academic multi-policy revisions that require Senate input.

 

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Upon a motion from Mark Loewen, seconded by Rohit Aggarwal, the December 1, 2025, Senate meeting minutes were approved. There were 2 abstentions.

 

3. REQUEST FOR NEW BUSINESS

There were no requests for New Business

 

4. CONSENT CALENDAR

Senate President Preiss reviewed and summarized the Consent Calendar items for the meeting:

1. Faculty Appointments Report
2. Community Engaged Scholarship Award Recipient Akiko Kamimura
3. New Emphases and Program Update: Elementary Education BA/BS
4. Gender and Ethnic Studies Restructure

1. Ethnic Studies BA/BS
2. Gender Studies BA/BS

1. English Department Program Changes

1. Program Update and Name Change: English Education BA
2. Name Change: English Education Minor

• Discontinue: British Studies Minor

1. Name Change and Program Change: Spatial Data Science MS
2. Undergraduate Certificate Restructure: Computational Linguistics CRU
3. New Graduate Certificate: Student Financial Aid
4. New Graduate Certificate: STEM Leadership & Management
5. New Graduate Cert: Fintech
6. Program Change Graduate Certificate: Education in Health Professions CRG

 

In response to being urged to make an infrequent practice of sending so many items to the Consent Calendar, Senate President Preiss acknowledged that while review of academic programs was an inalienable responsibility of the Senate he did not wish to infringe, a balance continuously needs to be struck between debates of short-term and long-term significance, and in the case of this month’s agenda the sheer volume of curricular proposals required triage if time was to be saved for major policy discussions. As urged in all meeting notices, Senators can send in questions they have in advance to ensure these get answered satisfactorily. All Consent Calendar items were approved after a motion from Shaiban Khan and a second from Kate Coles.

 

5. REPORTS (ADMINISTRATION; SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE; ASUU; UUSC)

  

Report from Administration

President Taylor Randall and Athletics Director Mark Harlan presented the decision priorities set by the Board of Trustees and financial context behind the innovative creation of a Utah Brand Initiatives (previously titled Utah Brands & Entertainment). A presentation previously given to the UofU Board of Trustees to obtain approval and directives for the new university foundation entity was provided, emphasizing the imperative to address current and foreseeable structural deficits brought about by fundamental legal and economic changes to college sports. An innovative response is necessary to avoid alternatives that could compromise academic excellence priorities, increase fees, diminish support of UofU sports such as Olympic sports, and preserve student sports governance, compliance, and philanthropy inside the university. The establishment of a separate revenue-oriented entity transfers risk to private investors and aligns with goals to address state funding priorities, maintain university oversight, and encourage higher education affordability. Discussion included clarifying the risks the new structure poses to the university as well as donor diversion aversion, governance structures, and contingency plans.

EVP for Health Sciences Bob Carter announced notable search and hiring updates to health sciences leadership. EVP Mitzi Montoya congratulated Chase Hagood and Brendan Johnson for recent national recognition for student success leadership achievements.

Report from the Senate Executive Committee

Senate President-elect Brent Milne reviewed the meeting’s agenda item placements identified by the Senate Executive Committee (EC) at its December 15^th meeting. Milne also summarized the December 2025 Report of the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Service Workloads, which was included in the meeting materials, thanking the committee members, whose members encompassed campus-wide representation, for the substantial effort required to meet a tight deadline. The Senate Executive Committee exercised its authority to immediately release the report to deans, who were then directed to forward it to the colleges’ department chairs, directors, and associate deans for academic affairs. This initiative is another great example of collaboration and cooperation between the administration and the Academic Senate to address the rapidly changing regulatory landscape and develop positive outcomes from some of the complex state authority directives received. Senate President Preiss encouraged faculty to review the report and its appendices and discuss its recommendations within departments and colleges.

 

Report from ASUU

ASUU President Alex Rose provided an update on ASUU leadership activities and reported on the upcoming ASUU leadership election deadlines. He asked faculty to consider encouraging students to run for these leadership positions.

 

Report from UUSC

Marie Wintress, UUSC Past President and substituting for Allie Menzdorf, gave highlights of current Council activities and its current initiatives.

 

6. INTENT CALENDAR

There were no items on the Intent Calendar.

 

7. DEBATE CALENDAR

 

Policy 6-001 and Policy 6-002 Updates-including associated updates to Policies 2-003 and 2-004

Proposed updates to Policies 2-003, 2-004, 6-001, and 6-002 and related rules were introduced by Allyson Hicks, Director of the University Regulations Office, Trina Rich, Director Academic Affairs Policy Administration, Sarah Projansky, Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs, and Kristin Keefe, Assistant Vice President for Faculty Health Sciences. The presentation explained that state law requires updates to university policies to reflect the specifications of rights and authority of the faculty and president at institutions of higher education. The purpose of the proposed policy changes is to comply with SB 192, to document and codify shared governance existing practice rather than introduce new authority, to improve regulation library organization, and to increase clarity where there was ambiguity, repetition, or contradiction. Much of the revision effort involved documenting more clearly university practices that are already in place rather than creating new ones. The presenters summarized the updates for each policy, which included moving some unchanged sections to more logical and updated policies and rules. Two university policy rules were also revised for consistency:

• Rule R6-001A: Creation, Significant Modification, and Discontinuance of the Academic Units of Free-standing Division, Department, School, College, and Library
• Rule 6-001D: Meeting Procedures for the University Faculty as a Whole

 

The presenters also reviewed the extended, consultative policy update feedback process and a proposed timeline for all approvals that will be needed. Senators raised questions about definitional clarity, particularly where language could be interpreted ambiguously in practice, encouraging the policy team to continue to clarify ambiguous areas as the policy develops in the future. Richard Preiss summarized that the revisions to Policy 6-001, Policy 6-002, Rule 6-001A and Rule R6-001D will need Senate approval. Policies 2-003 and 2-004 would not be included in a motion to approve; those are informational updates. Kate Coles’ motion to approve Policy 6-001, Policy 6-002, Rule 6-001A and Rule R6-001D passed, after a second from Lisbeth Louderback, with 2 abstentions.

 

8. INFORMATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS CALENDAR

 

Policies 2-003 and 2-004 Update

Due to their parallel association with Policies 6-001 and 6-002, updates for Policies 2-003 and 2-004 were included in that discussion above. No action on these were taken because those policies are informational.

 

Policy 6-100 Revision: Sections A-E

As part of the robust ongoing feedback process being used to finalize revisions of the academically significant Policy 6-100, now in its third iteration, the most current drafts of sections A-E of the policy were presented for discussion by Vice Provost Chase Hagood, Assistant to the Vice Provost Lindsay Coco, University Registrar Erin Mason, Senior Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management Anthony Jones, and Director of the University Regulations Office Allyson Hicks. Presenters reviewed the topics that Sections A–E of Policy 6-100 cover: academic year and credit hour definitions, minimum enrollment thresholds for course sections, training for graduate students who are instructors, and standard class schedule blocks.

 

Extensive discussion primarily focused on the establishment and tracking of minimum enrollment thresholds and the need for clarity on the class cancellation exception process. Questions and comments highlighted the wide variety of class offerings that might not meet minimums but that need to be offered to support student progress, curriculum coherence, and quality education. Senators agreed that it was important to balance the need for a university-wide minimum enrollment threshold number with locally controlled cancellation criteria and cancellation decisions. Multiple suggestions were offered; Senate President Preiss offered to assist the policy writers in developing either policy language or separate appendices to the policy that would address Senator feedback. Hagood also reminded members of an upcoming virtual town hall where discussion can continue to take place.

 

Information and Reports

Senate President Preiss noted the reports and information items included in the meeting materials:

1. 1. Eccles Health Science Library Charter Amendment
   2. Music BMU Emphasis Restructure: Jazz Studies
   3. Data Science New Emphasis: Artificial Intelligence
   4. Software Development New Emphasis: Artificial Intelligence
   5. Computer Science 3 New Emphases:

1. Artificial Intelligence
2. Secure Computing
3. Application Development

1. 1. Linguistics 2 New Emphases:

1. TESOL
2. Computational Linguistics

1. 1. Writing and Rhetoric Studies New Graduate Emphasis: Teaching Reading & Writing at Access-Oriented Institutions
   2. Senate Report to BOT
   3. Administration Report to BOT

 

9. NEW BUSINESS

There were no requests for New Business for this meeting.

 

10. OPEN DISCUSSION

There was no Open Discussion at this meeting.

 

11. ADJOURNMENT

Meeting adjourned at 5:51 pm.