ACADEMIC SENATE MINUTES

March 2, 2015

The regular meeting of the Academic Senate, held on March 2, 2015, was called to order at 3:02 p.m. by Steve Alder, Senate President. The meeting was held in HSEB 1730.

Present: David Ailion, Peter Alfeld, Orly Alter, Chrisoula Andreou, A.K, Balaji, Karin Baumgartner, Kelly Bricker, Alicia Brillon, Nilufer Cagatay, Kate Canas, Marjorie Chan, Thomas Cheatham, Cindy Chen, Michael Cottle, Thomas Cova, Robin Craig, Mollie Cummins, Angel Demirev, Justin Diggle, David Dinter, Maria Dobozy, Randy Dryer, Nadja Durback, Ole Fischer, Frances Friedrich, Disa Gambera, Jennifer Garvin, Mary Elizabeth Hartnett, Leanne Hawken, David Hill, Robert Hitchcock, Michelle Hofmann, Lynn Hollister, Avery Holton, Peter Jensen, Paul Jewell, Xan Johnson, Christian Johnson, Katherine Kendall, Jindrich Kopecek, Lori Kowaleski-Jones, John T. Langell, Eric Leishman, Melissa Lewis, Xiaoyue Liu, John (Jack) Longino, Gary Lowder, William Lowrance, Matthew Markham, Joe Marotta, Sandra McIntyre, Julie Metos, Meredith Metzger, Anthony Minjarez, Tatiana Mixco, Jill Moriearty, Alfred Mowdood, Maureen A. Murtaugh, Yongmei Ni, Richard Paine, Adrian Palmer, Les Podlog, Janiece Pompa, Matthew Potolsky, M. Pollie Price, Ravi Ranjan, Reva Rauk, Lorie Gage Richards, Steve Roens, Jody Rosenblatt, Lauryn Roth, Paul J. Shami, Lien Fan Shen, Debra Simmons, John Sperry, Robert A. Stephenson, Lina Svedin, David Temme, Andrejs Treibergs, Edward M. Trujillo, Raymond Tymas-Jones, Norman Waitzman, Donna White, Ming Wen, Rachel Wootton, Joanne Yaffe, Scott T. Youngquist, Jingyi Zhu

Absent: Olga Baker, Keith Bartholomew, Ana Christine Bentz, Lyda Bigelow, Joan Brenner-Coltrain, Jeff Cole, John Conboy, Ryann Cooley, Devin Daniels, Xiao Fang, Anna Ferguson, Caren Frost, Camille George, Jordan Gerton, Stephen Goldsmith, Michael Hawkins, Nisha Kavalam, Maritza Lara, Ingrid E. Nygaard, Gerald Root, Michael Shapiro, Kristin Smith-Crowe, John Paul Soares, Justin Spangler, Taryn Young

Ex-Officio: David Pershing, Stephen Alder, Allyson Mower, Paul Mogren, Robert Flores, Amy

Wildermuth, Harriet Hopf

Excused with Proxy: Peter J. Stang for Joel Miller, Lex Newman for Anne Jamison, Karen Gieseker for Christy Porucznik, Jim Ruble for Brandon Jennings, Rosey Hunter for Patrick Panos, Sue Chase-Cantarini for Stephanie Richardson

Excused: Vivian S. Lee, Ruth Watkins, William Johnson, Carrie Byington

Others: Dave Kieda, Dean McGovern

Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the Academic Senate meeting on February 2, 2015, were approved with a motion made by Joanne Yaffe, and seconded by Randy Dryer. Motion passed unanimously.

Request for New Business

No new business

Consent Calendar

The resignations, retirements, and faculty and administrator appointments dated March 2, 2015, received approval to forward to the Board of Trustees on motion by Joanne Yaffe and seconded by Maria Dobozy. The motion passed unanimously.

Executive Committee Report

Allyson Mower, Academic Senate Past President, provided a summary of the Executive Committee meeting held on February 9, 2015. She mentioned that the only items discussed at the Executive Committee meeting that were not present on the agenda were tuition reduction and implementing a smoke-free policy. The tuition reduction issue was referred to IPC, and a smoke-free policy committee is being formed under Robin Marcus’ leadership.

Report from ASUU

Rachel Wootton, ASUU Senate Chair, filling in for ASUU President Justin Spangler, gave an update on student activities. ASUU Elections were underway from February 23 to March 5. Voting continued until 9pm on Thursday, March 5, with the election results announced the following morning on Friday, March 6. The new ASUU President will be announced to the Academic Senate at the next meeting. The election also brought forth a possible change in the senior class position. In addition, Rachel mentioned that there are 65 new students at the University of Utah’s South Korea location. She introduced Tatiana Mixco as the new director of Academic Affairs in ASUU.

Report from Administration

President Pershing gave an update on campus activities. He mentioned that the Student Life Center had its grand opening. Students have also requested that its hours be extended. The University Hospital recently opened up a new Ophthalmology clinic near Fashion Place Mall.

President Pershing also gave an update about the Legislative Session. He mentioned that faculty compensation remains an issue, and graduate and professional programs may be partially funded. It was also recommended that OSH, the Crocker Science Building, and the Brown Building be funded. The Crocker Building has already been designed, and OSH will start its programming study then design in Summer 2016 if approved by the legislature.

Notice of Intent

No items of Intent

Debate Calendar

No items for Debate

Information and Recommendations Calendar

The following items were presented for the information and recommendations of the Academic Senate:

The Senate Learning Enhancement and Outcomes Assessment Ad Hoc Task Force was presented by Jennifer Garvin. This project is to implement the University’s response to an accreditation requirement in the accreditation review underway this year. There was a discussion about how the document outlines the charge, core principles and vision, the supporting coordination, other recommendations, and next steps. Jennifer also mentioned that the committee will be operationalized in parts.The dialogue will continue, and the committee welcomes feedback about the report or the overall project, which may be submitted to garvin@hsc.utah.edu.
The Graduate Council Review for the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering and the Graduate Council Review for the Department of Bioengineering were both represented by Donna White. She mentioned that she is open to answer any questions about the departments.
The School of Medicine College Charter was presented by Harriet Hopf. The College Charter has created a representative body of academic senators and career-line faculty, but she mentioned that there are some areas, like the curriculum committee, that still need to be more representative of the School of Medicine. There is also a change underway in the College Charter to make a School of Medicine-wide committee, rather than having it focused on medical students.
The Guidance on Ensuring Diverse Nominations Memo from Ruth Watkins was presented by Steve Alder. He encouraged the Senate to keep the memo in mind when selecting individuals for awards or recognition.
The faculty guidance on discussion with the press was presented by Randy Dryer. He mentioned that faculty members cannot usually be disciplined for public statements they make. Legal protections at the University of Utah were passed based on First Amendment free speech rights. University of Utah faculty members are government employees, and thus their limits on speech are very small. Section 2 of Policy 6-316 outlines the Faculty Rights and Responsibilities Policy in which it is stated that faculty members have the same rights as citizens. Section 2D, however, mentions that faculty members must avoid exploiting the name of the University of Utah for personal use and representing the University of Utah when they are not, in fact, acting as a representative for the school. A statement made by a faculty member only prompts disciplinary action if it involves “material and substantial disruption” of University of Utah operations (Policy 6-316). The same policy applies to students, career- and tenure-line faculty, administrators, and staff.

Randy also suggested to faculty members that they put a disclaimer on their blogs or social media accounts stating that their opinions are their own, not those of the University of Utah. Kathy Wilets, Maria O’Mara, and Michelle Balentine are all available to answer questions about speaking with the press.

Adjournment

Meeting adjourned at 3:46 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Wogai Mohmand (interim Secretary, filling in for Shawnee Worsley)