Meeting Minutes
ACADEMIC SENATE MINUTES
May 4, 2009
Call to Order
The regular meeting of the Academic Senate, held on May 4, 2009 was called to order at 3:04 pm by Paul A. Mogren, Senate President. The meeting was held in room 115 C. Roland Christensen Center.
Roll: David Ailion, Peter Alfeld, James Anderson, Richard Barton, Shmuel Baruch, Tami Beck, Connie Bullis, David Carrier, Vincent Cheng, John Conboy, Suzanne Darais, Larry DeVries, Marianna DiPaolo, Nadja Durbach, Eric Eddings, Rod Larson for Marlene Egger, Phil Emmi, Michael Hardman, Sandra Hasstedt, Greg Hatch, Vladimir Hlady, Lauren Holland, Harriet Hopf, Tom Huckin, Steve Kern, Cameron King, Thomas Kontuly, Jordan Gerton for Stephan LeBohec, Edward M. Levine, Joelle Lien, Janet Lindsley, Karl Lins, Janis Louie, Brad Lundahl, Peter Martin, Neal Mehta, James Metherall, William C. Michel, Alysha Moore, Katie Moore, David Pendell, Michael Free for Kevin Perry, David Plumlee, Margaret Clayton for Mollie Poynton, R. Lor Randall, Steve Reynolds, Nelson Roy, Donn Schaefer, Bill Schulze, Steven Sellers for Eria Sellers, Tony Serrato-Combe, Bam Dev Sharda, James Sibthorp, Randy Silverman, Nancy Staggers, Paul Stout, Sam Thomas, Irving Torres, Cecilia Wainryb, Sharon M. Weinstein, Lauren Wake for Seth Welborn, Bryce Williams, Lyndsay Williams, Austin Wish for Braden York
Excused: Elizabeth Adoyo, Paul Bernstein, Loris Betz, Pat Hannah, Erin O’Connell, Andrea Rorrer, Harris Sondak, Richard Sperry
Ex-officio: Penny Brooke, Robert Flores, John Francis, James Graves, Nancy Lines, Susan Olson, Rachel Rizzo, Michael Young
Others: Ann Floor, Rebecca Horn, Elizabeth Cashdan, Jon Shear
Approval of Minutes
The minutes of the Academic Senate meeting of April 6, 2009 were unanimously approved.
Special Orders
Senate President Paul Mogren introduced James Metherall, the only president-elect candidate. Jim thanked the senate for the opportunity he had to serve on the Executive Committee and praised the work that the faculty and students do in support of the University. He expressed his willingness to continually serve at the bequest of the senate as president-elect.
Suzanne Darais, chair of the Personnel and Elections Committee conducted the election for president-elect and Executive Committee and called for nominations from the floor. As there were no nominations, she requested that voting on these two ballots be completed now and passed to the aisle so that they could be counted during the meeting. The results will be announced later in the senate meeting.
Request for New Business
Paul Mogren presented a “white paper” entitled Faculty Governance – Are we there yet? The essence of his paper included a philosophical study on what the University is doing with shared governance. The full paper can be viewed on the Academic Senate website.
Consent Calendar
The resignations, retirements, faculty appointments, auxiliary, and limited term appointments, appearing in the Appendices dated April 20, 2009 and May 4, 2009 received approval to forward to the Board of Trustees.
Executive Committee Report
James Anderson, Executive Committee Secretary, summarized his written report of the April 20, 2009 Executive Committee meeting.
Report from Administration
President Young began his remarks by endorsing Jim Anderson and thanked the senators for their good work and complimented them by saying that in his career he had not seen a more dedicated group in doing what is best for the University.
As part of an international effort he assured the senate that the University is watching the H1N1 flue epidemic carefully. The Emergency Response Committee is keeping a close monitoring of the situation and it is clear that there is no anticipation to cancel graduation or classes. The study abroad to Mexico will be cancelled until travel advisories indicate it is safe. Graduation will be held on Friday, May 8, and the commencement speaker, noted author David McCullough, will address 7500 graduating students.
With respect to financing, the good news is that federal research funds are up 30 percent from this time last year. The U has sent in hundreds of applications for all types of funding from equipment and infrastructure to scholarships and research to enhance the mission of the University.
The search for the four open dean positions in the School of Business, College of Social and Behavioral Science, Pharmacy and the Graduate School is going well and President Young anticipates an announcement within the next few weeks.
Report from ASUU
The ASUU vice president, Rachel Rizzo, excused the new president, Tayler Clough, and introduced the incoming senators and the senate chair, Lindsay Williams. She reported on the two current projects underway: 1) a community engagement to encourage high school students not considering higher education by informing them of financial assistance and after-school programs, and 2) the student fee reassessment committee is looking at where student fees are being used.
Notice of Intent
There were no items.
Debate Calendar
The University Student Media Council agenda item was withdrawn from the agenda prior to the meeting and is expected to be added on a later agenda.
Rebecca Horn introduced the proposed Major in Latin American Studies. The significance of this proposal is that it will compliment the existing minor in Latin American Studies instituted in 2002 and currently the only university in Utah offering this type of degree is Brigham Young University. There is a rapidly growing need for this type of degree in the market place. A critical component is that no new resources are required as the degree builds on faculty and staff already in place. Sharon Weinstein proposed that the senate approve the proposal and forward to the Board of Trustees for final approval. The motion was seconded by Cecelia Wainryb and unanimously approved.
David Carrier and Elizabeth Cashdan gave a short synopsis of the proposed inter-college Minor in Integrative Human Biology. The minor will provide a rigorous introduction to the biological and behavioral sciences as they apply to Homo sapiens. The IHB minor will consist of existing courses in the departments of Anthropology and Biology and will give students a broad background in human genetics and evolution, form and function, behavior, and ecology. The minor will provide excellent preparation for entrance into health related professional careers as well as environmental policy, law, science and biomedical research. The program of study is built around existing courses and faculty and not additional funding is anticipated. Marianna DiPaolo made a motion to approve the proposal and forward to the Board of Trustees for final approval which was seconded by Jim Metherall and approved unanimously.
Information Items
John Francis announced that the 25,000 copies of the General Catalog will no longer be printed but will be accessible on-line. This follows the national trend and will provide updated information as it changes. A permanent printed copy will be kept in the Marriott Library for the shelves. For archival purposes, all catalogs from 1880 to now have been digitized and available to view.
The new Identity Theft Prevention Policy, 4-006, outlines the requirements to comply with the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act of 2003 to prevent, mitigate, and respond to identity theft. It was approved by the Executive Committee on April 20, 2009.
The University Investment Banking Policy has been updated to reflect the significant changes in regulations as well as recommendations from the national investment audits for the way operational fund and endowment funds are invested. The management guidelines on-line version is more user friendly. This update was approved at the Executive Committee on April 20, 2009.
Special Orders: Election Results for 2009-2000 Senate President-elect and Executive Committee:
The Senate elected James Metherall, a faculty member in the Department of Human Genetics in the School of Medicine, as the Senate president-elect. The following were elected as members of the Academic Senate Executive Committee: Tim Ameel, John Conboy, Suzanne Darais, Larry DeVries, Marlene Egger, Steve Kern, David Kiefer, Mollie Poynton, Donn Schaefer and Donna White.
Ballots for the other Senate-elected committees will be counted by the chair of the Personnel and Elections Committee and Nancy Lines during the week and the results will be announced at the first Senate meeting in the fall.
New Business
The election results were announced.
Adjournment:
The meeting adjourned at 4:12 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy Lines