The seventh regular Meeting of the Faculty Senate for the academic year 2004-2005 was held April 14, 2005 at 3:30 p.m. in the Business Building University Room (BB 2.06.04) with Dr. Mansour El-Kikhia, Chair, presiding and Dr. Steven Boyd, Secretary.
Present: Diane Abdo, Ron Ayers, Stephan Bach, Guy Bailey, Thad Bartlett, Manuel Berriozábal, Ron Binks, Lorenzo Brancaleon, Aaron Cassill, Anthony Chronopoulos, Stacey Davis, Mansour El-Kikhia, Daniel Engster, Timothy Goles, Eugene John, Richard Lewis, Frank Pino, Alyson Ponomarenko, Robert Renthal, Michael Ryan, Carlos Salinas, Rudy Sandoval, Rocky Shih, L.J. Shrum, Ted Skekel, Thankam Sunil, Betty Travis, Raydel Tullous, Sandra Welch, Venetta Williams, Wan Yao
Absent: Rosalie Ambrosino, Ronald Bagley, Robert Bayley (excused), Fred Bonner, Steven Boyd (excused), Felecia Briscoe (excused), John Byrd, Roger Enriquez, Damon Garcia, David Hansen, Lars Hansen, David Johnson, Craig Jordan, Michael F. Kelly, Kerry Kennedy, Kenneth Masden, Hayley Mayall (excused), Patrick McDaniel (excused), James McDonald, Bill Mullen, Dianne Rahm (excused), Joseph Stafford, Yiuman Tse, Jude Valdez, Karen Williams (excused)
Total members present: 31
Total members absent: 25
Dr. El-Kikhia attended the UT System Faculty Advisory Council meeting and reported that the Board of Regents welcomed input from the system faculty. The Board of Regents asked the system faculty to make a permanent place at these board meetings for them so that they may attend, give reports, and make suggestions on how to help the system perform better.
Dr. El-Kikhia also reported on the Permanent University Fund, and said that they are doing very well and increasing. He said that 32 percent of the budget in Texas is being consumed by Medicaid and public education.
Dr. El-Kikhia also reported that an attempt at making all universities teach from the same textbooks had been decided against.
Dr. El-Kikhia said that a number of resolutions had been passed regarding the Handbook of Operating Procedures. He said that the Faculty Senate must approve all changes to the Handbook of Operating Procedures first. Dr. El-Kikhia reminded the Faculty Senate that he is currently developing a committee that will begin rewriting the Handbook of Operating Procedures. He said that he currently has three members, but needs two more to serve on this committee.
None
Dr. Renthal discussed recommendations for policy changes from Provisional Admission at UTSA and Concurrent High School Program Admission. A motion was made to change the GPA of 2.25 to 2.0 in the Provisional Admission at UTSA policy.
Motion seconded and approved.
Dr. Renthal said that the Concurrent High School Program Admission policy is to create a program in which high school students may enroll concurrently at UTSA before they graduate from high school. Dr. Renthal added that this document simply states the admission criteria, application procedures, and enrollment requirements. A motion was made to discuss this policy. The following concerns were raised regarding Concurrent High School Program Admission:
Dr. Renthal responded to these questions by suggesting that a portion of the policy should be re-written to include the concerns listed above.
A motion has been made to return the Concurrent High School Program Admission policy to the Academic Policy and Requirements Committee. Motion approved.
Dr. Engster reported that the Evaluation, Merit, Rewards, and Workload Committee had been in a holding pattern over the last month. He said that the committee had been waiting for many policies to be reviewed, and he should have these policies to present in the May meeting.
Dr. Salinas discussed recommendations for policy changes in bylaws to the Faculty Senate. A motion was made to include two changes in the bylaws. These changes are listed below:
Motion to approve bylaws to the Faculty Senate and all changes made, seconded, and approved.
Dr. Sandoval reported that this committee had been established for the purpose of looking into the administrative leave concerning Dr. Berriozábal. He reported that he has reviewed the administrative due process and plans to make recommendations to the system that produced them. Dr. Sandoval also added that the intent of this committee is to identify the due process procedures that are defective, and it is not the intent of the committee to find anyone at fault. Dr. Sandoval concluded that at the completion of its inquiry, the committee would provide an opinion of the Senate of it’s finding, and provide recommendations to correct, if necessary, the procedural deficiencies to improve the University as a whole.
Dr. Cassill reported that the purpose of the Ad Hoc Committee on Administration of UTSA Centers and Institutes is to review the hiring procedures that centers and institutes use. Dr. Cassill discussed three recommendations that the committee had developed. First, the committee was unanimous that quality assurance of hiring must be retained with the faculty in the department, and the department must be an integral part of the hiring process. Second, Dr Cassill felt that the faculty who are brought in as tenure track or tenured should be housed within departments. Dr. Cassill concluded that the commitment of hiring resources must go to the institute or centers as early as possible in the hiring process.
Recommend approval for Substantive Program Proposal for a Ph.D. degree in Anthropology-
Approved
Dr. El-Kikhia discussed a situation in the College of Engineering regarding the dean. He said that the dean’s spouse was hired as tenure track faculty and at a high salary, although, he did not teach any courses at UTSA. Dr. Guy Bailey was asked to respond to this issue, and he discussed the reasons for this hire. He responded that the dean negotiated a position for her spouse, and the University found a position outside of the institution. This position did not become permanent, so the spouse was appointed as visiting professor. Dr. Bailey added that if any faculty members want to investigate a similar issue, they should write a memo to the Provost and copy the memo to Liz Mitchell asking to investigate the situation. Dr. Bailey concluded that faculty members should send memos to all of the chairs stating that any person who moves from visiting professor to a tenure track position must have approval, and he will investigate this situation further. A motion has been made for Dr. Bailey to report back to the Faculty Senate the results of the investigation. Motion approved.
Dr. Bailey discussed the Legislative Session update, Part-Time Employment policies, Time and Effort policy, dean’s search and evaluation, and college compacts. Main points about the Legislative Session update are as follows:
Dr. Bailey discussed Part-time Employment Policies as well as the Family Leave Policy, temporary reduction in paid work effort, and the Part-Time Tenure policy. Main points are as follows:
Dr. Bailey discussed the Time and Effort Policy, and made the following points:
The more control the University has over the budget, the more control and flexibility departments will have over the courses taught.
Dr. Bailey reminded faculty members who are in the College of Sciences to provide feedback regarding candidates for dean. He also added that an evaluation of the College of Engineering is currently being implemented through random sample.
Dr. Bailey briefly discussed college compacts in regards to developing a systematic way in evaluating the effectiveness of departments and colleges. He reminded faculty members to work with their deans and departmental chairs in regards to their goals in relation to UTSA.
Comments or questions to spottorff@utsa.edu
Last updated May 18, 2005