Dr. Emily Bonner

The April meeting of the Faculty Senate was held April 12, 2018, at 3:30 p.m. in the Assembly Room (JPL 4.04.22) with Dr. Emily Bonner, Chair of the Faculty Senate, presiding. At this meeting, Dr. Bonner said that the Senate executive committee is proposing three changes to the Senate’s bylaws, which will be voted on at the May Senate meeting. The changes are (1) shift Vice Chair position to Chair Elect in alternating years, (2) add one permanent ex-officio non-tenure-track faculty member to the Senate executive committee (elected or selected from ADTS), and (3) add a provision so that anyone who is (a) on FAC executive committee, and (b) currently not on UTSA’s Senate, may serve ex-officio on UTSA Senate and executive committee. At the May meeting the Senate voted to approve the proposed bylaws changes by a vote of 31 approve, 0 do not approve, and 5 abstentions.

 

The May meeting of the Faculty Senate was held May 3, 2018, at 3:30 p.m. in the Assembly Room (JPL 4.04.22) with Dr. Emily Bonner, Chair of the Faculty Senate, presiding. At this meeting, Dr. Bonner said that updates were provided at the most recent SYSFAC meeting regarding the dual credit study, paid family leave policy, and the subcommittee that is finalizing a report on NTT faculty and freedom of speech. The third student success summit is also in the planning stages.

 

Dr. Bonner also said that she has been working with SGA leadership and is proposing a joint statement between Faculty Senate and the Student Government Association to create a taskforce that will investigate possible solutions to plus/minus inconsistencies. If approved, the group (composed of faculty and students) will present their findings by December 2018 to both bodies. The Senate voted to approve the joint statement by a vote of 32 approve, 2 do not approve, and 1 abstention.

 

Finally, Dr. Bonner said that discussions are continuing regarding the budget, and the plan is to run both the current and proposed budget models next year. VP search committees will be formed soon and there may be an opportunity for volunteers to serve on these committees. Dr. Bonner thanked the Senate for their hard work this year.

Dr. Jesse Zapata (for Dr. Mauli Agrawal)

At the April meeting, Dr. Zapata said that the workload policy draft was finished and would be sent out for stakeholder review soon. It was later sent to Senators on May 4th. There will be a 90-day review period and the goal is for the policy to be implemented this fall. Dr. Zapata also mentioned that the gender/pay equity group has completed its work and will be providing results to the department chairs and deans.

Dr. Chris Packham

At the April meeting, Dr. Packham said that the research committee maintained good links with the Vice President for Research’s office this past year. One of the committee’s major activities was reviewing UTSA’s aspirant universities and suggesting what research components found especially attractive at these locations to implement. A key finding was the importance of interdisciplinary centers that encourage breaking through disciplines and fostering collaborations across colleges and departments. One current resource already in place at UTSA is the Center for Civic Engagement, which could benefit from institutional support to create a space for research, service learning, and entrepreneurship activities within the community. Dr. Packham said that the committee feels that it is important for these types of cross-collaborations to be appropriately rewarded. Jaclyn Shaw and Liana Ryan from the Office of Research Support briefly discussed an upcoming incentive option created by the President to reward faculty that obtain certain grants/awards. More information on this incentive will be communicated soon.

New Business

At the April meeting, Dr. Crystal Kalinec-Craig gave an update from the subcommittee on Preventing Sexual Violence on Campus. She said that the committee had drafted an overview of their findings in response to the recently released CLASE report. This data was presented to the Provost who was supportive of the committee’s efforts. The committee drafted a resolution and it gained Senate endorsement at the May meeting. The Senate voted to unanimously approve the resolution by a vote of: 36 approve, 0 do not approve, and 0 abstentions.

 

Also, at the April meeting, Dr. Bonner said that UT Austin has drafted and passed a resolution in which they are seeking UTSA Senate support. The resolution calls for the formation of a taskforce to study methane emissions from hydraulic fracturing operations on university lands, and to determine if action should be taken. After some discussion, the Senate decided to revise/write their own statement to send out for review and a later vote. At the May meeting the Senate voted to unanimously approve the resolution by a vote of: 37 approve, 0 do not approve, and 0 abstentions.

 

At the May meeting, Dr. Can Saygin, Interim Senior Vice Provost for Institutional Effectiveness & Strategic Initiatives, discussed the President’s ongoing initiatives, including the new downtown initiative. He said that the approach is to prioritize initiatives and ideas related to “level 1” goals. These are high impact/low effort goals, which will get things moving quickly with a larger payoff. Other goals within the plan include high impact/high effort (level 2), low impact/high effort (level 3), and low impact/low effort (level 4). Each idea/goal has been grouped into one or more of these levels. Dr. Saygin stressed the importance of communication and involvement related to these ideas. He encouraged the Senate to pick 2-3 issues they would like to see improved or solved and said that once the new Provost is onboard these topics can be further expanded.

Dr. Sakiko Oyama

At the May meeting, Dr. Oyama said that the Curriculum Committee reviewed the proposed 2018-2020 undergraduate catalog. The committee checked to ensure all proposals passed through the Senate last year had been incorporated into the catalog. Only one program was left out of the catalog (B.A. in Cyber Security) due to funding issues. The Senate voted to unanimously approve the committee’s report by a vote of 32 approve, 0 do not approve, and 0 abstentions.

Dr. Chad Mahood

At the April meeting, Dr. Mahood ran the election for 2018-2020 Faculty Senate Chair. Emily Bonner was the sole nominee. There were no other nominations or discussion, so Dr. Bonner was elected by acclamation.

 

At the May meeting, Dr. Mahood first ran the election for 2018-2020 Secretary of the General Faculty. Chris Packham was the sole nominee. There were no other nominations or discussion, so Dr. Packham was elected by acclamation. Additionally, three other Senate officers were elected by acclamation. The elected positions are Faculty Senate Vice Chair (Dr. Chad Mahood), Faculty Senate Parliamentarian (Dr. Raydel Tullous), and Faculty Senate Secretary (Dr. Crystal Kalinec-Craig).