Meeting Minutes
ACADEMIC SENATE MINUTES
October 3, 2016
Call to Order
The regular meeting of the Academic Senate, held on October 3, 2016, was called to order at 3:03 pm by Xan Johnson, Senate President. The meeting was held in the Carolyn Tanner Irish Humanities Building, room 109.
Present: Shundana Yusaf, Sarah Hinners, Brenda Scheer, Robert Allen, Elena Asparouhova, Brian Cadman, Dianne Harris, Alberta Comer, Mark Durham, Leticia Alvarez, Yongmei Ni, John Funk, Rajeev Balasubramonian, Chuck Dorval, Mathieu Francoeur, Sudeep Kanungo, Hanseup Kim, Xiaoyue Liu, Ken Monson, Michael Chikinda, Ning Lu, Melonie Murray, Stacy Manwaring, Jim Martin, Julie Metos, Susan Naidu, Nelson Roy, Les Podlog, James Anderson, Karin Baumgartner, Disa Gambera, Eric Hinderaker, Lex Newman, Adrian Palmer, David Hill, Tom Lund, John Bramble, Alicia Brillon, Luke Leither, Julie Barkmeier-Kraemer, Nadia Cobb, Julio Facelli, Per Gesteland, Mia Hashibe, Katherine Kendall, John Langell, Antoinette Laskey, Nicole Mihalopoulos, Maureen Murtaugh, Brad Rockwell, Robert Stephenson, Thomas Winter, Ravi Chandran, David Dinter, Paul Jewell, Lauren Clark, Lynn Hollister, Donald Blumenthal, Randy Dryer, Tommaso de Fernex, Yekaterina Epshten, David Goldenberg, Thomas Richmond, Jennifer Shumaker-Parry, John Sperry, Andrejs Treibergs, Wade Cole, Thomas Cova, Korkut Erturk, Duncan Metcalfe, Paul White, Zhou Yu, Edmund Fong, Mary Beth Vogel-Ferguson, Lauren Adams, Caroline Li, Madison Day, Ashley Wilcox, Zach Marquez, Skyler Walker, Carley Herrick, Edwin Lin, Sabrina Hancock, Jake Knight, Kyndle Pardun, Connor Roach, Franco Jin, Rachel Petersen, Jack Bender
Absent: Jeff Nielsen, Todd Zenger, Edward Trujillo, Michael Cottle, Joe Marotta, Nadja Durbach, Avery Holton, Sean Lawson, Ravi Ranjan, Andrea Bild, Joel Brownstein, Michael Shapiro, Dmytro Pesin, Baodong Liu, Aaron Kc Hsu, Caleb Hoffman, Jake Tschirhart, Anthony Minjarez
Ex-Officio: Bill Johnson, Robert Flores, Xan Johnson, Paul Mogren, Margaret Clayton, David Pershing
Excused with proxy: Mollie Cummins, Denny Berry, Lina Svedin, Jason Castillo, Joanne Yaffe
Excused: Ruth Watkins, Vivian Lee, Adam Meirowitz, David Plumlee, Olga Baker, Terry Kogan, Frederick Strathmann, Linda Tyler, Pearl Sandick, Adrienne Cachelin
Others: Christina Gringeri, Tasha Seneca Keyes, Bob Nelson, Steve Ott, Sara Simonsen
Approval of Minutes
The minutes for August were approved with a motion by Jack Bender. Motion passed unanimously.
Consent Calendar
The current list of appointments and resignations dated October 3, 2016 were approved with a motion by Duncan Metcalfe and second by Eric Hinderaker. Motion passed unanimously.
Executive Committee Report
Mardie Clayton gave a brief update on the Executive Committee’s activities. She noted that the Senate will hear everything that was on the Executive Committee agenda, with the exception of an update from the Counseling Center, which is working to better serve U students. The Senate will likely see this topic in later meetings.
Request for New Business
No new business
Report from Administration
President Pershing gave an update on U administration. He discussed the new first-year class, which is the largest freshman class ever, with over 3,600 students. It is also diverse, nearly equally split between male and female students, and the academically strongest class ever, with an average GPA of 3.61 and an average ACT composite score of 25.1. Two new facilities opened have recently opened- the Thomas S. Monson Center and Lassonde Studios. The Monson Center is the newly restored Wall Mansion; it is a conference and event space available to the U and the Salt Lake community, and is also the home of the Kem Gardner Policy Institute. Lassonde Studios is a residential space for 400+ students, from first-year to graduate students and with more than 30 disciplines represented. It also has the goal of fostering creativity and entrepreneurship. Additionally, the Farmington Multi-Specialty Clinic will open on October 4, and will help serve U patients closer to their homes in northern Utah. On October 28, ground will be broken for the new OSH building. President Pershing also gave an update on legislative activities. The Board of Regents has passed the budget request for higher education, which will now move forward to the Utah Legislature. The first priority is compensation; the U is asking for a 3% increase. Other focuses include funding for high-demand programs, enrollment growth, and performance funding. The U is also asking for $50 million for the new medical building, which will supplement a recently-received $47.5 million donation from a foundation in California.
Report from ASUU
Jack Bender gave an update on ASUU activities. One of ASUU’s focuses this year is promoting mental health awareness among students. ASUU is working with the Utah Student Association to draft legislation related to mental health promotion. Another goal this year is campus safety, and ASUU has created the Get Campus Lit initiative to improve campus lighting and make it more effective and efficient across campus. A survey is now available where people can submit areas on campus that are dim or dark, and campus facilities will respond and improve the lighting within two weeks. Finally, the homecoming dance was held on September 30; attendance was double that of last year’s dance.
Notice of Intent
No Items of Intent
Debate Calendar
Bobbi Davis presented a proposal for the discontinuation of the social science teaching composite degree. The degree had very low enrollment; at most, 10 students were enrolled at a time. The degree was also very intensive, requiring around 190 hours total. The last three students have graduated from the program, and no students have shown any interest. Motion was made by Jim Anderson to approve the proposal and forward to the Board of Trustees. Motion seconded by Nikki Mihalopoulos. Motion passed unanimously.
Jennifer Watt and Brett Clark presented the degree program modification and emphases for environmental and sustainability studies. Over the last several years, they have met with representatives from departments across campus, reviewed other programs across the country, surveyed students about general needs and interests, and consulted with employers about skillsets they want to see in graduates. The new program includes two new required classes, and adds five distinct emphases. The emphases are made up of already existing electives, as well as some recently added classes in various departments. Road maps were also created, to facilitate advising with students and help with integration in other departments across campus. Motion was made by Jim Anderson to approve the proposal and forward to the Board of Trustees. Motion seconded by Ravi Chandran. Motion passed unanimously.
Michael Barber presented the MS in Construction Engineering. The degree is an online, coursework-only program, with 10 classes. This is the department’s first attempt at distance education; they look forward to creating more online programs if this is successful. An industrial advisory board, including local contractors and engineering firms, helped shape the program. It is also made possible through the Engineering Initiative, which helped with the hiring of three new faculty to help support the program. Motion was made by Jim Anderson to approve the proposal and forward to the Board of Trustees. Motion seconded by Maureen Murtaugh. Motion passed unanimously.
Kip Solomon and Brenda Bowen presented the graduate certificate in hydrology and water resources. Paul Brooks, who drove the creation of the program, discovered that over 15% of the U faculty list water as an expertise, and over 80 degree programs on campus have ties to water. Additionally, the Congressional Budget Office, Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Academy of Science have noted need for broad professional training related to water, in light of the rising expenditures on water-related infrastructure, both domestically and abroad. This program will help prepare graduate students to fill this growing need. The certificate largely takes advantage of existing courses and administrative infrastructure to provide STEM-based graduate students with a certificate that will be advantageous in many industries. The 15-hour certificate includes two new courses, one lecture and one seminar, and the remaining nine courses are electives that may be selected from a list of 49 existing courses taught by eight different departments across campus. The certificate creates a powerful recruiting tool for existing graduate programs, and will provide a competitive advantage for graduates seeking jobs. Motion was made by Jim Anderson to approve the proposal and forward to the Board of Trustees. Motion seconded by Sarah Hinners. Motion passed unanimously.
David Blair presented revisions to the previously-presented proposal for a BS/MS in biology. The previous proposal had inconsistencies in its language. The language has been standardized across the proposal, and the menu of courses has been expanded. The structure of the proposal is the same, but has been broadened in scope. Motion was made by Jim Anderson to approve the proposal and forward to the Board of Trustees. Motion seconded by Sarah Hinners. Motion passed unanimously.
Information and Recommendations Calendar
The following items were presented for the information and recommendations of the Academic Senate:
- Chris Hill presented the State of Athletics report. Athletics has worked with the Athletic Advisory Council to make the athletics budget more transparent and widely available. Dr. Hill noted that the biggest challenge in college athletics is coaches’ salaries, primarily in football and men’s basketball. It is hard to get this issue under control, particularly because schools don’t want to lose their coaches to schools that offer higher salaries, so they pay more. Dr. Hill discussed the various sources of revenue for athletics. He noted that ticket sales and donations come primarily from football, basketball, gymnastics, and fundraising, and that PAC-12 distributions come from bowl games and basketball tournaments. All revenue besides student fees and university support are generated; student fees and university support are allocated by the U. He also discussed the breakdown of expenses. He described the breakdown of salaries, which are not solely comprised of coaches’ salaries, but also academic support, training room staff, strength and conditioning staff, a clinical psychologist, etc. Dr. Hill also discussed medical care for athletes; the U provides medical care for four years after a student finishes playing a sport for the U, and/or until he/she is cleared by a doctor. However, concussions still pose a troubling question, due to the potential for long-term consequences. Athletics has a very good relationship with the U hospital, and all student-athletes who do not have health insurance through their parents are offered comprehensive health insurance through the U. Dr. Hill also answered a question regarding future plans for stadium expansion. He said that the south end zone needs to be redone, as the facilities are subpar. However, athletics needs to create a financial plan that takes into account the market, as well as ticket demand.
- Seven-year program review report from the Graduate Council for the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy
- Peter Jensen presented the upcoming implementation of two-factor authentication (2FA). The current implementation date is November 1, 2016, but it may be pushed back. Current practice for logging in to university systems is to use a password, which is one-factor authentication. 2FA is a mechanism to provide a second assurance, which thus provides greater security and protection of information. This is needed because of multiple data breaches and security compromises that have caused issues on campus. Highly sensitive information, such as logging in for payroll, and restricted data will have this level of authentication required for access.
- Bob Flores presented a request from the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Faculty Review of Administration to review the draft document and provide feedback and suggestions related to the process. The draft will be disseminated via email. It has been vetted through the Council of Academic Deans and Health Sciences, and is currently in place but is still open to modification.
New Business
No new business
Adjournment
Meeting adjourned at 4:36 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Maddy Oritt