Meeting Minutes
ACADEMIC SENATE MINUTES
October 1, 2012
Call to Order
The regular meeting of the Academic Senate, held on October 1, 2012, was called to order at 3:01 p.m. by Robert Fujinami, Senate President. The meeting was held in room 215 C. Roland Christensen Center.
Present: David Ailion, Lisa Aspinwall, Keith Bartholomew, Barton Blackburn, Kathy Chapman, Thomas Cheatham, Kuan Chen, Miguel Chuaqui, Ronald Coleman, Charlotte Conerly, Kevin DeLuca, Marianna Di Paolo, Lee Dibble, Richard Dorsky, Mary Elizabeth Hartnett, Kristina Evans, Aria Flatau, Leslie Francis, Sabine Fuhrmann, Bruce Gale, Timothy Garrett, William Gershan, Franz Goller, Gary Grikscheit, Charles Grissom, Thad Hall, Tom Henderson, Howard Horwitz, Eric Hutton, Thunder Jalili, Christian Johnson, William Johnson, Bradley Katz, Sharee Lane, Anthea Letsou, Karl Lins, John Longino, Kim Martinez, McKenna Menees, Duncan Metcalf, Harvey Miller, Anne Mooney, Alfred Mowdood, Patricia Murphy, Chris Myers, Ingrid E. Nygaard, Patrick Panos, Lester Partlow, M. Pollie Price, Hannah Pratt, Gerald Root, Gary Rose, Sonia Salari, Clough Shelton, Orine Shine, Kristin Smith – Crowe, Gregory Smoak, Steven Sternfeld, Jeff Stratman, Orest Symko, Taylor Thompson, Norm Waitzman, Li Wang, Molly Wheeler, Wynchester Whetten, Bryce Williams, Angela Yetman, Aaron Young, Jingyi Zhu
Absent: Clayton Beckett, Tully Cathey, Reaz Chaudhuri, John Conboy, Alicia De Leon, Justin Diggle, L. Eric Huang, Michael Gardner, Michael Hawkins, Evert Lawton, Melissa Meeks, Heather Melton, Dragan Milicic, Tatiana Mixco, Trevor Myrick, Marlene Plumlee, Martin Rechsteiner, Alison Regan, Stephanie Richardson, David Rudd, Paul Shami, Janet Shaw
Excused: James Graves, Theresa Martinez, Geneva Thompson, Vivian Lee
Ex-officio: Robert Flores, Robert Fujinami, Pat Hanna, Paul Mogren, Allyson Mower, David Pershing, Amy Wildermuth, Shawnee Worsley
Excused with Proxy: Stephen Alder, Joan Gregory, Matthew Potolsky, Joanne Yaffe
Approval of Minutes
The minutes of the Academic Senate meeting on August 27, 2012 were approved following a motion from Kim Martinez which was seconded by Karl Lins.
Request for New Business
A description and discussion of plans for restructuring governance of the University’s Information Technology systems was slated as new business (see further description under the Information Calendar below).
Consent Calendar
The resignations retirements, faculty appointments, auxiliary and limited term appointments, appearing in the Appendices dated October 1, 2012, received approval to forward to the Board of Trustees (after the removal of the listed appointments of Dr. Elise Boxer and Dr. Cathleen A. Power for correction of errors), on motion made by Anthea Letsou and seconded by Patricia Murphy.
Executive Committee Report
Allyson Mower, Executive Committee Secretary, provided a summary of the Executive Committee meeting held September 17, 2012.
Report from Administration
President David Pershing spoke to the Senate regarding the Great Red Road Trip. He wrapped up his trips this week with his visit to Moab. He spent an afternoon at the Rio Mesa Center. It is about an hour northeast of Moab and is a great place for a retreat.
The open house for the Donna Garff Marriott Honors Residential Scholars Community was held on September 21st. It will house 309 Honors students ranging from first-year students to seniors, and resident advisors in 161,000 square feet of apartment-style living. Located next to the Donna Garff Marriott Honors Residential will be the new student life building. The construction on the student life building will begin next spring.
The University of Utah was selected as one of the ten best universities to work at in the United States. This honor is shared with University of California – Berkley, MIT, Caltech and Texas A&M.
The Presidential Inauguration will be held October 25th at 11 am and to minimize cost inauguration events will be combined with other events on campus. Tuesday, October 23rd will be the Community Engagement Day. Community Engagement Day celebrates the connection between the University of Utah and the greater community. Wednesday, October 24th will be the Student Social at the Union building. There will be an Inauguration Reception on the 25th of October after the Inauguration at 11am. The football game on Saturday, October 27th will be the wrap up for the week of events.
A senate member asked President Pershing about the plans to replace Orson Spencer Hall. Being that OSH is one of the most used buildings, houses three departments, the Hinckley Institute of Politics and is not earthquake proof; it is felt that this building should be replaced prior to other buildings on campus. President Pershing advised that if the new funding model is approved by the Legislature, OSH will be at the top of the list. March 2013 is the estimate given for the approval.
Report from ASUU
Molly Wheeler and Bryce Williams provided an update to the Senate regarding ASUU. ASUU is in the process of updating its constitution and bylaws. ASUU is also working to get polling stations set up on campus for voting. Training for Student Advisory Committees was held on September 17th at the Union building and 130 students attended. The game on the green will be held on October 20th for the Football game against Oregon State. Also, in collaboration with the Marriott Library Geek Week will be held again during finals week.
Notice of Intent [No items for this meeting]
Debate Calendar
The proposal for permanent establishment of an Environmental Humanities Education Center was presented by Mark Jon Bergstrom. This Center was provisionally established in 2010 and represents a unique partnership between the College of Humanities and the International Center for Earth Concerns, a non-profit corporation, which stewards the 385,000 acre beautifully restored Centennial Valley Center in Lakeview, Montana. The agreement was approved by the University legal counsel and requires no funding from the College of Humanities. All costs are paid by the profits of educational programming, and there are no financial risks for the University of Utah. This center is already fulfilling its responsibility for research. The Montana Natural Heritage Program has rated the Centennial Valley as one of the most significant natural landscapes in Montana, a tribute to its intact ecological systems, expansive wetlands, diverse native fauna and flora, and concentrations of rare species. The EHEC includes existing facilities for housing, educational conferences, seminars, and retreats. The motion to approve and forward to the Board of Trustees was made by Kim Martinez and seconded by Pat Murphy. Motion passed unanimously.
The proposal for a MA degree in Latin American Studies was presented by Rebecca Horn. The Master’s degree will be a flexible, interdisciplinary two-year post-baccalaureate degree providing advanced language study and specialized area studies education. The program will draw on existing faculty and curricular resources across departments at the University. The program will require a total of 30 credits, including 8 (eight) three-credit classes, a Master’s Thesis (6 credits), a minimum of third-year competency in Spanish or Portuguese, and a minimum of first-year competency in an additional language spoken in Latin America. To ensure breadth and depth in their graduate work, students will be required to have one field concentration and fulfill a regional breadth requirement developed in consultation with the program advisor. MA students must also fulfill a regional breadth requirement by taking classes or writing a thesis that examines at least two of four broad regions in Latin America. Since its inception in 2002, the Latin American Studies minor has graduated 127 students. Currently there are 14 Latin American Studies minors. The Latin American Studies major has graduated 8 students and enrolled another 26 declared majors since its creation in fall 2009. For the new Master’s degree we anticipate two students the first year and three to five in the next three years, it is not anticipated this will be a rapid growth. The motion to approve and forward to the Board of Trustees was made by Thad Hall and seconded by Ron Coleman. Motion passed unanimously.
Information Calendar
Jeff West, Associate VP for Finance provided information and invited questions and recommendations regarding the planned revision of Policy 3-052 Institutional Debt. A recommendation was made, and agreed to, for revising certain phrasing. The proposal will now be presented to the Board of Trustees for final approval.
Donna White, Associate Dean of the Graduate School provided invited questions and recommendations reqarding the report of the Graduate Council review of the Department of Anthropology. No recommendations were made, and the report will now be forwarded to the Board of Trustees.
Cynthia Furse, Associate VP for Research, led a lengthy presentation and discussion about plans to restructure governance of the University’s Information Technology systems, with the primary change being to greatly increase the involvement of faculty in a set of new or restructured councils and committees. Eventually, there will be a formal proposal submitted for Senate approval to establish certain of these committees. Further information will be provided as the project develops.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 5:25 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Shawnee Worsley