THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO
DOCUMENTS AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE GENERAL FACULTY
SUMMARY MINUTES OF THE
FACULTY SENATE MEETING
OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2003
The first regular Meeting of the Faculty Senate for the academic year 2003-2004 was held in room 2.06.04, on September 11, 2003 at 3:30 p.m. in the Business Building with Dr. Aaron Cassill, Chair, presiding.
Present: Diane Abdo, Ron Ayers, Stephan Bach, Guy Bailey, Manuel Berriozabal, Ron Binks, Steven Boyd, Felecia Briscoe, David Bruenger, Janis Bush, Aaron Cassill, Mansour El-Kikhia, Timothy Goles, Lars Hansen, Vic Heller, Eugene John, David Johnson, Michael F. Kelly, Dan Kiley, Melvin Laracey, Randy Manteufel, Kenneth Masden, Hayley Mayall, James McDonald, Melvin Laracey, Sandy Norman, Alyson Ponomarenko, Chris Reddick, John Rundin, Michael Ryan, Carlos Salinas, Rudy Sandoval, Linda Shepherd, Ted Skekel, Raydel Tullous, Sandra Welch
Absent: Rosalie Ambrosino, Gerard Barloco, Fred Bonner, Anthony Chronopoulos, Manual Diaz, Roger Enriquez, James Gallas, Roger Garza, Norma Guerra, David Larson, Raquel Marquez, Frank Pino, Ricardo Romo, Todd Ryska, Joseph Stafford, Armando Trujillo, Yiuman Tse
Total members present: 36 Total members absent: 17
Dr. Cassill noted that he was beginning a one-year term as Chair of the Faculty Senate. He further stated that he was elected under the old Bylaws. In April 2004, there will be a new election for the individual who will serve the first two-year term.
A handout containing the Provost's report was distributed. In addition to the information contained in the handout, Dr. Bailey had other comments. He stated that, relative to the enrollment increase, an important growth element is that the University now has more full-time students. Although UTSA is often referred to as a commuter campus, the reality is that more students are now full time. The chance for student success goes up dramatically when the student population is full time; this transforms the whole character of the University and affects retention rates. Dr. Bailey gave full credit for this transformation to the efforts of the faculty. He stated that this also means that the University is attracting a higher share of very good students due to the good job being done by the faculty members. There is also a transformation in graduate enrollments; in fact, graduate enrollment is growing faster than undergraduate enrollment. He felt that this was attributable to the good educational experience that graduate students are experiencing. Dr. Bailey expressed his appreciation for all that is being done by faculty members to bring about this positive experience.
Dr. Bailey stated that the report from last year's Senate Ad Hoc Committee on New Faculty Issues was the most successful effort he had seen since coming to UTSA. As a result of this report, enormous strides had been made to help new faculty members. Dr. Sandy Welch and Dr. David Johnson were able to solve the majority of the issues presented by the committee.
Dr. Bailey reported the results of the evaluations of administrators conducted in Spring 2003 were extremely helpful. These results are available in the Office of the Provost.
Regarding benefit changes, Dr. Bailey reported a law was passed during the recent legislative session that makes new employees ineligible for insurance benefits for three months from their hire date. UTSA administration made the decision to fund the initial three months of benefits from the University budget. Although this will be a big expense, the decision was made to do it because it would be unconscionable not to do so.
Dr. Bailey elaborated on the information contained in the handout part titled Blueprint for Excellence: An Addendum to the UTSA Action Plan. He said he would provide a copy to be sent to the Senators.
B. Senate Chair - Dr. Aaron Cassill
Dr. Cassill stated that rather than 'try to solve all the ills of the world' he wanted the focus for the year to be on specific areas. Specifically, the Senate would be working on a receivership policy and the grievance procedure.
Dr. Sandy Norman noted that the policy currently in the Handbook of Operating Procedures is not the same policy approved by the Senate and to make changes in the policy would be pointless.
Dr. Cassill responded that, according to the Provost, the policy is being implemented but is not posted appropriately. Focus should be placed on tenure policies and a clear direction to new hiring as well as to the IDEA survey. The Senate should also work with the Graduate Council on its bylaws since the current setup is cumbersome.
In response to a question of whether it will be possible to add to the agenda should pressing issues come up, Dr. Cassill said that other issues would be welcome to discussion.
C. Secretary of the General Faculty - Dr. Mansour El-Kikhia
Dr. El-Kikhia stated elections to the University Assembly for 2003-2004 would be conducted soon. He reported UTSA had a 54% response rate to the UT System survey conducted in Spring 2003. He will make copies of the survey results to distribute to Senators.
D. Committees
1. Nominating, Elections, and Procedures Committee - Elections of Officers and Committees
POST ELECTION RESULTS
Officers and Executive Committee
Aaron Cassill, CoS Chair
A.T. Chronopoulos, CoS Vice Chair
Roger Enriquez, CoPP Secretary
Michael Kelly, UTSA Library Parliamentarian
Victor Heller College of Business
Armando Trujillo College of Education and Human Development
Randy Manteufel College of Engineering
James McDonald College of Liberal and Fine Arts
Chris Reddick College of Public Policy
Sandy Norman College of Sciences
Ted Skekel Chair, Graduate Council
Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee
Diane Abdo, CoLFA
Karan Bhanot, CoB
Fred Bonner, CoEHD
Manuel Diaz, CoE
Kolleen Guy, CoLFA
Ben Olguin, CoLFA
Robin Radtke, CoB
Kenton Wilkinson, CoLFA
Weining Zhang, CoS
Shannon Crum, CoLFA
Kolleen Guy, CoLFA
Melvin Laracey, CoLFA
Hayley Mayall, CoEHD
Bill Mullen, CoLFA
Chris Reddick, CoPP
Rudy Sandoval, CoB
Budget Committee
A.T. Chronopoulos, CoS (Faculty Senate Vice Chair)
Ellen Clark, CoEHD
Manuel Diaz, CoE
Frank Pino, CoLFA
Woodie Spivey, CoB
Arturo Vega, CoPP
Evaluation, Merit, Rewards, and Workload Committee
Thad Bartlett, CoLFA
Janice Bush, CoS
Mary Ellen Cavitt, CoLFA
Thomas Coyle, CoLFA
Roger Enriquez, CoPP
Fred Hudson, CoE
James McDonald, CoLFA
Kenneth Masden, SoA
Mona Narain, CoLFA
John Rundin, CoLFA
Betty Travis, CoS
Yiuman Tse, CoB
Andrew Tsin, CoS
Nominating, Elections, and Procedures Committee
A. T. Chronopoulos, CoS
Ni He, CoPP
Eugene John, CoE
Kim Keller, CoPP
Kenneth Masden, SoA
James McDonald, CoLFA
Armando Trujillo, CoEHD
Raydel Tullous, CoB
Mark Womack, CoLFA
University Curriculum Committee
Ronald Ayers, CoB
Mark Blizard, SoA
Norma Cantu, CoLFA
Shannon Crum, CoLFA
Kolleen Guy, CoLFA
Dan Hogenauer, CoE
Martha Lundell, CoS
James McDonald, CoLFA
Frank Pino, CoLFA
Tom Ricento, CoEHD
Todd Ryska, CoEHD
1. The following items were approved for referral to the appropriate Faculty Senate Committee:
· Proposal to accept the International English Language Testing System, referred to the Academic Policy and Requirements Committee.
· Proposal to accept the International Baccalaureate Individual Courses for Transfer of Credit to UTSA, referred to the Academic Policy and Requirements Committee.
· Nonsubstantive program proposal for a minor in African American Studies, referred to the University Curriculum Committee.
2. Dr. Cassill presented a recommendation to form an ad hoc committee to view faculty diversity at UTSA. He noted this is a very important issue, and the purpose of this committee would be to decide to increase faculty diversity. The need also exists to make proposals for policy changes. A chair has not been named, and Senators will help determine the membership. Input from the Senate members is requested. Discussion followed stating that this was good timing for forming this committee as there is a new director for the Office of Affirmative Action, and this would be a good way to establish a linkage with that office and the Faculty Senate. Questions were also raised as to the scope of the committee: Would diversity be in the strictly legal sense or in a broader sense of what might be needed to develop as a university? While the issue was originally thought of in the legal aspects of the representation, the committee can decide to expand the study. Motion made and approved to establish a committee.
Comments or questions to spottorff@utsa.edu
Last updated June 2, 2005