March 6, 2017


Mar 06 2017
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Meeting Minutes

ACADEMIC SENATE MINUTES March 6, 2017 Call to Order The regular meeting of the Academic Senate, held on March 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, room 1750. Present: Shundana Yusaf, Sarah Hinners, Robert Allen, Elena Asparouhova, Brian Cadman, Alberta Comer, Olga Baker, Yongmei Ni, John Funk, Rajeev Balasubramonian, Chuck Dorval, Mathieu Francoeur, Hanseup Kim, Xiaoyue Liu, Ken Monson, John Regehr, Denny Berry, Joe Marotta, Melonie Murray, Stacy Manwaring, Jim Martin, 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 BarkmeierKraemer, Nadia Cobb, Julio Facelli, Per Gesteland, Antoinette Laskey, Nicole L. Mihalopoulos, Ravi Ranjan, Brad Rockwell, Thomas Winter, Ravi Chandran, Paul Jewell, Lauren Clark, Sara Simonsen, Lynn Hollister, Donald Blumenthal, Randy Dryer, Joel Brownstein, Tommaso de Fernex, Yekaterina Epshten, David Goldenberg, Dmytro Pesin, Thomas Richmond, Pearl Sandick, Andrejs Treibergs, Wade Cole, Thomas Cova, Paul White, Zhou Yu, Edmund Fong, Jason Castillo, Mary Beth VogelFerguson, Joanne Yaffe, Caroline Li, Madison Day, Zach Zundel, Zach Marquez, Carley Herrick, Edwin Lin, Nathan Ong, Jake Knight, Kyndle Pardun, Connor Roach, Zoe Tsoutsounis, Steve Ott Absent: Brenda Scheer, Adam Meirowitz, Jeff Nielsen, David Plumlee, Todd Zenger, Dianne Harris, Mark Durham, Leticia Alvarez, Michael Cottle, Ning Lu, Julie Metos, Nadja Durbach, Avery Holton, David Hill, Katherine Kendall, John T. Langell, Robert A. Stephenson, Frederick Strathmann, David Dinter, Andrea Bild, Michael Shapiro, Adrienne Cachelin, Korkut Erturk, Baodong Liu, Duncan Metcalfe, Lauren Adams, Ashley Wilcox, Robert Coffman, Rachel Petersen, Sabrina Hancock, Jack Bender, Kevin Yang ExOfficio: Bill Johnson, Bob Flores, Xan Johnson, Paul Mogren, David Pershing Excused with proxy: Mia Hashibe, Linda Tyler, Michael Stapley Excused: Sudeep Kanungo, Michael Chikinda, Mardie Clayton, Ruth Watkins, Sean Lawson, Luke Leither, Maureen Murtaugh, Jennifer ShumakerParry, John Sperry, Vivian Lee Others: Chris Bell, Kim Shoaf, Dan Witt Approval of Minutes The minutes for February were approved with a motion by Joanne Yaffe. Motion passed unanimously. Consent Calendar The current list of appointments and resignations dated March 6, 2017 were approved with a motion by Jim Anderson and second by Julio Facelli. Motion passed unanimously.

Executive Committee Report Bill Johnson said that everything seen by the Executive Committee in its previous meeting would be seen by the Senate today. He also noted that the U hosted the PAC12 Academic Leadership Coalition conference this weekend; discussions focused on nontenuretrack faculty in shared governance, and campus climate and safety. Request for New Business No new business Report from Administration President Pershing gave a report regarding the university administration’s recent activities. He noted that the legislative session is drawing to a close. It appears that the U will get 2% for compensation, plus increases in health benefits. Regarding programmatic funding for the state, there will be $3.5 million for growth (this is the first time in more than a decade that the legislature has funded student growth), $6.5 million in performance funding (predicated upon graduation rate and other universitywide metrics), additional funding for Regents scholarships, over $6 million for the Huntsman Cancer Institute, and $4 million for engineering initiatives. Medical education building funded over the next three years ($50 million). Report from ASUU No report from ASUU Notice of Intent No items of intent Debate Calendar Brenda Bowen presented the proposal for a new Water Center. The Global Change and Sustainability Center was established in 2009 to facilitate interaction across colleges and departments around sustainability. It has grown from 24 faculty to almost 140 faculty, and has increased in breadth. There is now a need to refocus with the establishment of some subcenters. The first is the Water Center, which will capitalize upon momentum and interest. This is also an opportunity to brand the U as a place with interdisciplinary expertise in water. Motion was made by Jim Anderson to approve the proposal and forward to the Board of Trustees. Motion seconded by Joanne Yaffe. Motion passed unanimously. John Bohnsack and Aimee Hersch presented the proposal for a division restructure within the Pediatrics department. The result will be one nonfreestanding division reorganized into two nonfreestanding divisions. The allergy division was started within the division of rheumatology as a way to give it structure, but both have grown and are distinct enough to require separate divisions. Motion was made by Per Gesteland to approve the proposal and forward to the Board of Trustees. Motion seconded by Joanne Yaffe. Motion passed unanimously. Bart Raeymaekers presented a proposal for a new Manufacturing Extension Partnership Center. The plan is driven by a funding award made to the U to establish this center. There is a center in each state and in Puerto Rico, and Utah’s center was just awarded to the U after a competitive
process. The center will engage in activities such as helping the manufacturing industry with advanced technology and workforce training. The funding award is for five years, with a noncompetitive renewal for another five years. The center will employ ten fulltime staff, two graduate students, and several interns. Motion was made by Jim Anderson to approve the proposal and forward to the Board of Trustees. Motion seconded by Joanne Yaffe. Motion passed unanimously. Randy Dryer, Hank Liese, and Harriet Hopf presented the concluding report for the Senate CareerLine Faculty Task Force. Through surveys and other factgathering methods, the Task Force developed research findings and recommends several actions be taken. Findings include: careerline faculty play an important role of fulfilling the university’s mission by engaging in teaching, research, and scholarship, providing service within and outside of the U, and holding administrative positions at the U; careerline faculty play an important role in fulfilling the U’s commitment to shared governance; and serious issues surrounding compensation and benefits for careerline faculty were uncovered during the survey, despite generally high morale among careerline faculty. The report also includes several recommendations for action that may be taken to increase the stature of careerline faculty on campus. With presentation of this report, the current Task Force has completed its charged responsibilities and will be dissolved at the end of this academic year. The recommendations include forming a new committee for the 20172018 year to carry out further work. The Task Force has proposed that the Senate “endorse” the findings and recommendations of the report. Motion was made by [unclear] to endorse the report. Motion seconded by [unclear]. Motion passed unanimously. Therese de Raedt presented a proposal for name changes for the MA and PhD degrees, from the old names of degrees. Languages and Literature to the new names World Languages and Cultures. The proposal for the name changes follows the recent change in the department name; the new degree names will align with the department name. Motion was made by Joanne Yaffe to approve the proposal and forward to the Board of Trustees. Motion seconded by [unclear]. Motion passed unanimously. Information and Recommendations Calendar The following items were presented for the information and recommendations of the Academic Senate: Karen Paisley, the U’s Faculty Athletics Representative, gave a report about her activities. She monitors the academic experience of studentathletes on campus; time demands and studentathlete welfare have been recent important topics. She also works on U compliance with NCAA and PAC12 regulations. She wants to increase communication and transparency with the academic side of the university. Another of Karen’s focuses is to enable studentathletes to choose majors that are meaningful to them, and work with departments and the studentathletes’ practice and competition schedules to ensure it is possible. She also introduced two studentathletes, who gave brief presentations about what is like to be a studentathlete at the U. Travel presents a challenge for studentathletes, who frequently have to miss classes during their seasons; online courses help with this challenge. Dave Kieda presented report of the provisional approval of a new centertitled as the Consortium for Dark Sky Studies. This has been a collaborative effort across many
departments on campus, as well as state government and national research institute representatives. Utah has some of the darkest skies in the United States, and there are many facets to the implications of dark skies, including bird migration patterns, establishment of microclimates, sleep patterns, city and metropolitan planning concerns, sociological factors, ecotourism economic benefits, etc. The National Park Service is funding this organization, and other grants are likely to follow. The new center has been provisionally approved by the central administration (expedited approval on a provisional basis); which is being reported for the information of the Senate, and within three years a proposal for permanent approval will be brought for Senate debate. Bob Kessler presented the report of the initial threeyear review for the Master of Entertainment Arts and Engineering degree. Since being approved, the new degree program has graduated 94 students, and 90 percent have jobs in the games industry. The program continues to grow; there are currently 120 students in the two current cohorts. The program is ranked third in the world for games design programs. Milind Deo presented the report of the initial threeyear review for the Master of Science in Petroleum Engineering degree. There is a growing demand for petroleum engineers in the US, due to increasing petroleum production. The online program started with a 50student enrollment; enrollment has slowed, due to decreasing oil prices. There is a strong partnership with the Energy and Geosciences Institute to deliver the program. Claudio Holzner presented the report of the initial threeyear review for the Master of Arts in Latin American Studies degree. The program has attracted foreign affairs officers who are seeking advanced training in language and area studies, prior to being placed in offices abroad. All students have graduated on time, and three students have graduated early. Students must specialize in a discipline and an area, and students are required to enter with thirdyear Spanish capabilities. The John R. Park Teaching Fellowship award announcement was accepted. New Business No new business. Adjournment Meeting adjourned at 4:13 pm. Respectfully submitted, Maddy Oritt