THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO

 

DOCUMENTS AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE GENERAL FACULTY

 

SUMMARY MINUTES OF THE

FACULTY SENATE MEETING

OF DECEMBER 13, 2007

 

The regular meeting of the Faculty Senate for the academic year 2007-2008 was held December 13, 2007 at 3:30 p.m. in the Assembly Room (JPL 4.03.08) with Dr. Mansour El-Kikhia, Chair, presiding.

 

I.          Call to order and taking of attendance

           

Present  Diane Abdo, Marian Aitches, Mark Allen, Thad Bartlett, Karen Bhanot, Rena Bizios, Rajendra Boppana, Lorenzo Brancaleon, Susan Bruenger, Aaron Cassill, Fengxin Chen, Sara Deturk, Mansour El-Kikhia, Margaret Flores, Mary Ellen Garcia, Kirsten Gardner, Julius Gribou, William McCrary, John McCray, Patricia McGee, Jolyn Mikow, Sandy Norman, Debajyoti Paul, Dianne Rahm, Robert Renthal, Cherylon Robinson, Alan Shoho,  Monga Ashwani, John Simonis, Ted Skekel, Jon Thompson, Raydel Tullous, Judith Walmsley, Karen Williams, Wan Yao

 

 

Absent  Ron Binks (excused), Lorenzo Barncaleon (excused), John Byrd, Juanita Firestone (excused), Timothy Goles (excused), Amy Jasperson (excused), Edwardo Jimenez , Eugene John (excused), Craig Jordan, Melvin Laracey (excused), Melody Lo (excused), Nester Sanchez, Rocky Shih (excused), Mary Zey

 

 

Total members present: 34Total members absent:  14

 

 

II.         Approval of minutes of November 8, 2007.

 

III.       Reports

 

A.        Senate Chair – Dr. Mansour El-Kikhia

Dr. El-Kikhia announced that a decision had been made to hire Ms. Marjie French as Vice President for Advancement effective January 28. He also announced that Dr. John Frederick has been selected as the new Provost. 

 

Dr. El-Kikhia expressed a concern regarding the issue of salary compression and the cost of living. He requested that the System Faculty Governor’s Committee draft a recommendation to the Board of Regents to ask the legislature to consider cost of living increases. 

 

Another issue discussed at System Faculty is whether the State will pay for health insurance for retirees.  As information becomes available, Dr. El-Kikhia will keep the Faculty Senate informed.

 

Dr. El-Kikhia also requested that the Faculty Senate begin thinking about who would replace him as Chairman.

B.                 Secretary of the General Faculty – Dr. Sandy Norman

 

Dr. Sandy Norman announced that three new Regents were introduced at the System Faculty meeting; work is in progress to develop a faculty regent.

 

He reported that the university conducted a compression study this past year, which the Provost may be using it to make decisions regarding salary adjustments for individuals.

 

Dr. Norman reported that the university and the faculty are still working on the HOP.

 

He also reported on a discussion at the System Faculty meeting which related to money available for retirement and health insurance.

 

Dr. Norman reported that the anti-immigration act has the border fence running through the middle of the UT Brownsville campus.  Half of the campus will be on one side and half will be on the other.  He recommended the Faculty Senate might want to make a statement regarding the academic implications of that sort of governmental behavior.

           

C.        Unfinished Business

                       

                  Dr. Bernadette Andrea reported that she was filling in for Dr. Elaine Sanders and will be assisting Dr. David Johnson with the HOP Review and Revisions Committee starting in the spring.  She will be replacing Dr. Sanders.

 

                  Dr. Andrea read Dr. Sanders’ report on the work which has been completed thus far by HOP Review and Revision Committee. 

D.        Committees

 

1.      University Curriculum Committee—Dr. Robert Renthal

 

a.   COE Admission Proposal.  The Faculty Senate motioned to approve the COE Admission Proposal.  Motion Seconded.  Approved.

 

b.   Core Curriculum Course Proposals (GRK 2113, ARA 1014, CHN 1014). The Faculty Senate motioned to approve the Core Curriculum Course Proposals.  Motioned Seconded.  Approved.

 

c.   Undergraduate Catalog Approval.  The Faculty Senate motioned to approve the revisions pending the completion of the work by the committee.  Motioned Seconded.  Approved.

 

2.   Evaluation Committee—Dr. Rajendra Boppana

 

Dr. Boppana reported that after receiving the students’ comments his committee is ready to form three focus groups. The focus groups will be assigned tasks and an instrument will be developed.  This instrument will be compared with the results of IDEA sometime in the Spring.

 

            E.         Graduate Consent Calendar—Dr. Bill McCrary

 

Dr. McCrary reported that the Graduate Council approved the Graduate Certificate in Urban and Regional Planning and the Graduate Certificate

In Historic Preservation.  Dr. McCrary introduced Dr. Nishimoto and Dr. Tangum from theCollege of Architecture to explain the two certification programs.

 

            F.         Open Forum

 

None

 

            G.        Provost’s Report—Mr. Julius Gribou

 

Mr. Gribou reported that the Strategic Plan is on course and the final draft should

be available by December 31st. 

 

Ms. Marjie French has been hired as the new Vice President of Advancement.   She was the Associate Vice President for Advancement at UT Dallas.  Dr. John Frederick has been hired as the new Provost.  He was the Provost at the University of Nevada— Reno.  He will begin on February 18.

 

The University’s Master Plan is in the final stage of negotiations.  This has been a lengthy process due to the budget, but the university has identified what will be included in the Master Plan and the entire community will be involved.

The Inclusiveness Taskforce is providing the university community and the Provost’s office with recommendations on the minority programs at UTSA.

 

The Provost’s office has distributed $200,000 to the colleges for additional faculty travel and $100,000 for graduate recruitment.                                                                                                   

 

IV.       New Business

           

            A.        Tuition & Fee Proposal for FY 2009 and 2010—Ms. Janet Parker

 

Ms. Janet Parker reported on the tuition and fee proposal for the next biennium.  She distributed two proposals, one marked “Draft” and one marked “Original.”

 

She reported that the committee came up with an agreed proposal; however, after UT Austin announced their tuition and fee rates, the System passed a resolution to cap the fee rates at 4.95% for the next two years for tuition, mandatory and incidental fees. The budget is set by the State on a biennium basis.  The first year money can be used for merit raises and new faculty benefits.  The second year money is received from discretionary tuition rate increases.  The university’s physical infrastructure is dependent upon the university to cover the debt service from fee increases to students.  A letter has been sent to System requesting an exception to the cap; however, this exception may not be granted.  This proposal is due to System by January 16th, and because of the timing, the committee will not have an opportunity to review this proposal with the students, which was one of the original requirements of the guidelines set by System.

 

Ms. Parker discussed which fees would be affected by this requested exception and stated that in terms of dollars and cents, it would only be $33.00 more per student per semester than what the fees would be at the 4.95% rate.  She then explained to the Faculty Senate how the biennium budget would be affected if the exception was disapproved.

 

 

V.        Adjournment