Academic Senate

Meeting Minutes

ACADEMIC SENATE AGENDA 

Minutes 

November 4, 2024 

1. CALL TO ORDER AND Announcements
   The regular meeting of the Academic Senate, held on November 4, 2024, was called to order at 3:01 pm by Senate President Harriet Hopf. The meeting was held using the Zoom online meeting platform. The meeting is recorded only for the purposes of meeting minutes. 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: Rohit Aggarwal, Elizabeth Archuleta, Ademuyiwa Aromolaran, Maile Arvin, Donna Baluchi , Pinar Bayrak-Toydemir, Henry Becker, James Bekker, Melanie Biviano, Erik Bond, Christian Brockmann, Timothy Brusseau, Sarah Bush, Marc Calaf, Jon Chaika, Thomas Cheatham, Sydney Cheek-O’Donnell, Doug Christensen, Richard Clark, Kevin Coe, Benjamin Cohen, Katharine Coles, Mark Crowley, Brigham Daniels , Marla De Jong, Kathy Doom, Jack Doughty, Jeffrey Druck, Nanette Dudley, Katie Durante, Atif Ellahie, Lee Ellington, Zhigang (Zak) Fang, Rick Forster, Julia Franklin, Alborz Ghandehari, Laura Grantier, Rachel Hayes-Harb, Brenda Heaton, Teresa Hebron, Kerry Herman, William Holland, Heather Holmes, Martin Horvath, Jill Jeffe, Mercedes Johnson, Bryan Jones, Sarang Joshi, Myrna Kearse, Seijin Kim, Scott King, Kai Kuck, Mark Loewen, Alysse Loomis, Lisbeth Louderback, Janis Louie, Kateryna Malaia, Stacy Manwaring, Maureen Mathison, Christine McMillan, Huong Meeks, Kate Menlove, Will Nesse, Curtis Newbold, Thi Nguyen, Matthew Nielsen, Olive Nyiramwiza, Katherine Pagano, Yihui Pan, Emma Parkin, Sofia Perez, Kevin Perry, Firas Rassoul-Agha, Lorie Richards, Anna Roelofs, Yvette Romero Coronado, Alex Rose, Carol Sansone, Naomi Schlesinger, Sarah Shreeves, Elizabeth Siantz, Chris Simon, Jamesina  Simpson, Paula Smith, Ginger Smoak, Wayne Springer, Oleg Starykh, Talea Steele, Caroline Stephens, Casey Tak, Matt Tokson, David Turok, Elvis Valenzuela, Jack VanDerHeyden, Jim VanDerslice, Roseanne Warren, Rachel Wittman, Julie Wright-Costa, Dave Young, Zhou Yu 

Excused with substitute: Jensie Anderson, Joe Boyden, Brent Milne, Lynn Reinke, Suva Roy, Margaret Wan 

Excused: Sherin Shaaban, Kathleen Strickland-Cohen, Norman Waitzman, Frank Drews 

Absent: Andrew Anderson, Bryan Bonner, Elisabet Curbelo González, Henry Fu, Davidson Heath, Tucker Hermans, Shelley Lawrence, Feng Liu, Christo Pinknys, Thomas Richmond, Nathan Seegert, Patrick Tripeny 

Ex Officio: Angie Fagerlin, Ashley Glenn, Michael Good, Harriet Hopf, Jane Laird, Paul Mogren, Mitzi Montoya, Allyson Mower, Richard Preiss, Sarah Projansky, Marie Wintriss  

Senate Office: Allyson Rocks, Maddie Hile  

Senate President Harriet Hopf welcomed new Senate Office staff member Maddie Hile. She also reminded Senate members to access CDC fall vaccine recommendations and guidelines for COVID-19 flu and RSV vaccinations. There are more details posted in the meeting materials. The upcoming Senate Social is November 13th from 4:30 to 6:30 PM at the Officer’s Club. There is a faculty virtual forum discussing budget model refinements on Thursday, November 14th at 1:00 PM and so look for a calendar invite.  

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The September 30, 2024, Academic Senate meeting minutes were approved upon a motion from Jeff Druck, seconded by Anna Roelofs.  

3. REQUEST FOR NEW BUSINESS

There was no New Business for this meeting.  

4. REPORTS (EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE)

Senate President-elect Richard Preiss discussed the items that the Senate Executive Committee (EC) had placed on this meeting’s agenda at its October 21, 2024, meeting.  

5. CONSENT CALENDAR

Senate President Harriet Hopf reviewed the items on the meeting’s Consent Calendar: 

1. Faculty Appointments Report 

1. Policy 6-406: Special Student Course Fees 

The Consent Calendar items were approved after a motion from Jack VanDerHeyden and a second from Caroline Stephens.   

6. REPORTS (ADMINISTRATION; ASUU; UUSC)    

Report from Administration 
SVP Michael Good provided an update on the search for the Senior Vice President position; a designee may be identified by Thanksgiving. He then shared guidance on fostering civil post-election conversations and resources for students, staff, and faculty. SVP Montoya announced the appointments of Martell Teasley as the acting Dean for the Honors College and Wanda Pillow as the acting Dean for Humanities. She also reminded participants about the November 14th budget model forum and provided an update on the Honors program initiative. Recommendations made by the Academic Excellence Task Force included streamlining requirements with major and general education courses, as well as eliminating the degree conferral in favor of a transcript designation. Next steps include solidifying the curricular model and developing a phased implementation plan for the spring. 

Vice Provost for Student Success Chase Hagood shared Navigate U program updates including syllabus transparency, Policy 6-100 review processes, and the general education taskforce, noting the University’s commitment to fostering an environment that supports student success, faculty engagement, and institutional excellence.  

Report from ASUU 

ASUU Senate Chair Mercedes Johnson reported on Rivalry Week, highlighting a video created by ASUU students and local television news coverage. She noted a variety of events taking place throughout the week. Additionally, Johnson announced that a Town Hall will be held to assist clubs with funding, and Red Fest is scheduled for November 15th. 

Report from UUSC 

University of Utah Staff Council President Marie Wintriss gave UUSC updates including committee efforts promoting Giving Day donations and upcoming events which include a Staff & Faculty Night at a UofU basketball game. She expressed gratitude to the Faculty Club for its generous donation to the staff scholarship fund.  

7.  INTENT CALENDAR 

 Policy 6-321 (TFRs) Revision Recommendations 

Vice Provost Sarah Projansky provided an overview of proposed Policy 6-321 Tenured Faculty Review revisions, thanking the Ad Hoc Committee for TFR Regulations that met throughout the summer to address changes needed due to new state legislation, Utah Board of Higher Education (UBHE) regulations, and internal requests to improve the TFR process. She pointed out the legislative requirements that are already addressed in the existing TFR process policies, and so there is no need for substantial changes for some areas. She also provided clarifications on improvement/remediation plans, standards, and the role of UPTAC in the process. Projansky also emphasized solutions and options to state law requirements which state a TFR committee must include two faculty members from outside the department. Discussion included each unit’s role in designating TFR subcommittee members and defining processes that align with the unit’s needs. Members also discussed how information regarding faculty resources, either within the policy or designated by academic units, would be useful. After a second from Mercedes Johnson, Lorie Richards’ motion to place this item on the December 2 Senate Debate Calendar passed.  

8. DEBATE CALENDAR

Policy 3-044 Revisions: Museum and Library Collections and Non-Museum Decorative Items
Utah Museum of Fine Arts Executive Director Gretchen Dietrich presented proposed Policy 3-044 updates that reflect the evolution of industry standards. UMFA, NHMU, and the Marriott Library–the collections institutions at the University–adhere to the professional standards set by, American Alliance of Museums Code of Ethics for Museums. The AAM industry standard is that funds that come from deaccessioning, for instance in a sale of a collection piece, continue to be restricted from being applied towards operation funds, but now funds received in these cases can be used for the direct care of the collections. Dean of Libraries Sarah Shreeves and Executive Director of the Natural History Museum of Utah Jason Cryan also shared how this policy applies to collections of Libraries and NHMU. Dietrich reported that deaccessioning is good for the institution when done well. Kate Coles motion to approve of Policy 3-044 passed after a second from Bryan Jones. There was 1 opposed and 1 abstention.  

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9. INFORMATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS CALENDAR

Two presentations were postponed to the December 2 Senate Meeting due to the meeting running behind: Athletics Director Report and Cybersecurity Initiative Program 

Impact 2030 Update  

Chief Strategy Officer Brett Graham shared resources and information regarding Impact 2030 strategic planning project. He briefly updated the Senate on the initiative’s activities and timelines. He was invited to come back to another Senate meeting to discuss this with the Senate further. 

Demonstration Activity Resource Team (DART) 

Josh Shulruff, Campus Dialogue Program Manager, explained that a new Demonstration and Action Resource Team (DART) has been launched. He is currently seeking faculty who are interested in volunteering to be on the team. DART is focusing efforts on providing information, resources, and other support to student organizers and activists on campus. Interested faculty can contact him for more information. 

Information and Reports 

Senate President Hopf noted the informational reports in the meeting materials for Senate review:  

1. Policy 3-019 Revisions: Internal Audit Policy     

1. Academic Senate Report to the BOT 

1. UofU Administration Report to the BOT 

10. NEW BUSINESS

There was no New Business at this meeting. 

11. OPEN DISCUSSION

Harriet explained that she had followed up on the concerns raised about the quality of recent free speech videos released by Marketing and Communications. The videos were made by and aimed at Gen Z students, and student reaction is being monitored.  

12. ADJOURNMENT

Meeting adjourned at 5:39 pm