Meeting Minutes
ACADEMIC SENATE MINUTES
November 3, 2008
Call to Order
The regular meeting of the Academic Senate, held on November 3, 2008 was called to order at 3:03 p.m. by Paul A. Mogren, Senate President. The meeting was held in room 115 C. Roland Christensen Center.
Roll:
David Ailion, Peter Alfeld, Tim Ameel, Ali Amundsen, James Anderson, Richard Barton, Shmuel Baruch, Jessica Batty, Paul S. Bernstein, John Bowman, Jennifer Buhler, Connie Bullis, Vincent Cheng, Hiram Chodosh, Suzanne Darias, David Derezotes, Larry DeVries, Marianna DiPaolo, Nadja Durbach, Daniel Dustin, Eric Eddings, Marlene Egger, Kasi Goodwin, Pat Hanna, Cliff Drew for Michael Hardman, Sandra Hasstedt, Greg Hath, Bob Hill, Vladimir Hlady, Lauren Holland, Garry Hrechkosy, Tom Huckin, Randy Jensen, Steve Kern, David Kiefer, Thomas Kontuly, Karol Kumpfer, Bruce Landesman, Stephane LeBohec, Edward M. Levine, Joelle Lien, Janet E. Lindsley, Uri Loewenstein for Karl Lines, Lawrence Loeb, Zheng-Rong Lu, Brad Lundahl, Peter Martin, William C. Michel, Kathryn Morton, Nathan Mounteer, Maria Newton, Jim Svendsen for Erin O’Connell, Kevin Perry, Mollie Poynton, R. Lor Randall, Rita Reusch, Nelson Roy, Brock Royall, Donn Schaefer, Bam Dev Sharda, Randy Silverman, Xan Johnson for Tim Slover, Paula Smith, Josh Solarez, Nancy Staggers, Paul Stout, Tevita Uesi, Cecilia Wainryb, Sharon M. Weinstein, Robert Wendel, Adam Wolfe
Excused: Harriet Hopf, Daniel Medwed, James Metherall, Andrea Rorrer, Margaret Toscano
Ex-officio: Penny Brooke, Robert Flores, John Francis, James Graves, Nancy Lines, Susan Olson, Michael Young
Others: Deb Hobbins, Ann Floor, David Kieda, Barbara Cox, John Stoddart, Ed Trujillo Brad Nelson, Laura Howat, Theresa Ashman, Nancy Lombardo
Approval of Minutes
The minutes of the Academic Senate meeting of October 6, 2008 were approved unanimously following a motion by James Anderson, seconded by Eric Eddings.
Request for New Business
Senate president, Paul Mogren, introduced the new senate intern, Debra Hobbins, a doctoral student in the School of Nursing. Paul also announced that the Utah Council of Faculty Senate Leaders has been re-established and will meet throughout the year to discuss issues of common interest. He will provide a report of those meetings to the senate.
Rick Anderson, Associate Director for Scholarly Resources and Collections in the Marriott Library, presented a ‘White Paper’ entitled “Scholars and Libraries in a Radically Changed—and Changing—Publication Environment. He indicated that there are two major problems facing working scholars: 1) how to get the needed information (access), and 2) how to distribute results (publication). He presented new ways for the libraries to help scholars in adapting to the new environment. His presentation was warmly received and he encourage faculty to contact him at rick.anderson@utah.edu or by phone at 587-9989.
Consent Calendar
The resignations, retirements, faculty appointments, auxiliary and limited term appointments, appearing in Appendices I dated October 20 and November 3, 2008 received unanimous approval to forward to the Board of Trustees following a motion from James Anderson which was seconded by Randy Silverman.
Executive Committee Report
James Anderson, Executive Committee Secretary, summarized his written report from the October 20, 2008 Executive Committee meeting.
Report from Administration
David Pershing, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, reported that the Campaign Kickoff was attended by approximately a thousand friends. So far, of the $1.2 billion goal over a seven plus year period, they have raised $550 million in the silent phase with five years left to meet or exceed that goal. He indicated that the next year or two will likely be challenging because of the economy.
SVP Pershing reiterated the information from the special legislative session and indicated that the 4% budget cut which was enacted for the current year will translate into a permanent, base cut for the 2009-10 year and beyond. He suggested that the leaders think strategically where reductions can be made in ways that are least harmful to our core mission. He also informed the senators that the administration is working on reducing administrative costs. He fears that there will probably be more cuts in the future as the economy continues to decline.
Pershing confirmed that the number one issue in the upcoming legislative session is faculty and staff salaries. The capital facilities first choice would be the Business building that is so desperately needed for the use of the entire main campus.
Nancy Lombardo, chair of the Faculty Budget and Planning Committee, was invited to present the results of an informal survey done by her committee. The 27 responses had an overriding sentiment for faculty salaries, programs, administration growth, and better communication of plans and processes going forward. A question was asked about raising tuition and the senior vice president responded with a promise that the University would not raise tuition this academic year. Responding to other questions, the vice president concluded that there is no rainy day fund and no faculty salaries will be cut. The University will also continue to work on attracting more top students to increase revenue.
Report from ASUU
Patrick Reimherr, ASUU President, commented on the Election Night Party that will be held on Tuesday at the Hinckley Institute. The early voting station accommodated approximately 7,809 registered voters which turned out to be the eighth largest voting station in the county and applauded the hard work of the ASUU Government Relations board. He gave a brief report of the upcoming events and past activities including the UVOTE Concert tonight; the free film, ‘Invisible Children’ on November 17; the New York Times speaker, Patrick Healy on November 17; the monthly Campus Forum on November 5; and the Rock the U (dance marathon) fundraiser for the Huntsman Cancer Institute. The Trick or Can event collected over 2,000 pounds of food.
Notice of Intent
There were no items of intent.
Debate Calendar
There were no debate items.
Information Items
Theresa Ashman, controller in Financial Management, explained the new University Policy 3-070 – Payment Card Acceptance which is fraught with rules and regulations and encouraged all who use credit cards to be responsible and follow the rules. The standards are in place and all information is secure and protected.
Ed Trujillo, chair of the University Diversity Committee, presented their Biennial Report. He asked that the Senate consider their recommendations and provide comments to this and previous years’ reports. They would also like to receive a report from the Graduate Council in reference to the Graduate Council’s offer to make diversity an important issue in their periodic reviews of the departments that offer graduate degrees. To date no report has been forwarded generating their findings. Lastly, they would like central administration to put in place a system that rewards those colleges and departments that are excelling in improving diversity and encourage other departments to increase their efforts.
New Business
There was no new business.
Adjournment:
The meeting adjourned at 4:47 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by:
Nancy Lines, Secretary to the Faculty