TAMU Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes
August 9, 2021
3:00pm
Via Zoom
http://facultysenate.tamu.edu
The full video recording of the meeting can be accessed on the Faculty Senate website: https://facultysenate.tamu.edu/Faculty-Senate-Meeting-Recordings.
CALL TO ORDER
Speaker Dale Rice called the third meeting of the 39th Session to order at 3:00pm. Due to ongoing social distancing practices resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting was conducted via Zoom. Speaker Rice reminded Senators of the Zoom features to be used during the meeting.GUEST SPEAKER
Speaker Rice welcomed guest speaker Dr. Alicia Dorsey, Assistant Provost for Institutional Effectiveness & SACSCOC Liaison. She presented on the decennial review by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) occurring in the upcoming academic year. Dr. Dorsey identified three components of the review:- An off-site review of the university’s initial report by a team of peer evaluators for compliance certification.
- Crafting a second report to update the on-site team of any changes and developing the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP).
- A series of on-site visits to all TAMU campuses (depending on travel restrictions) in March.
During Dr. Dorsey’s presentation, Speaker Rice stopped the meeting so that problems with the meeting’s livestream could be addressed to ensure the Senate’s meeting was available to the public. After an eight-minute break, Dr. Dorsey was able to finish her address to the Senate.
A question was posed by the following Senator: Senator Clint Magill, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences.
Speaker Rice thanked Dr. Dorsey for speaking to the Senate.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Dr. Jocelyn Widmer, Assistant Provost for Academic Innovation, and Dr. Juan Garza, Assistant Vice President for Academic Services & Director of Provost Information Technology Office – Attachment A – For Informational Review – FS.39.040Dr. Widmer provided her monthly update on the progress of Canvas (LMS) via a video, and the meeting time was devoted to questions only. The following Senator posed a question or offered comments:
Senator Adam Haney, TAMU Galveston.
Speaker Rice thanked Dr. Widmer and Dr. Garza.
SPEAKER COMMENTS
Speaker Rice began his comments by acknowledging faculty concerns about returning to classrooms during the surge of new COVID cases in Texas due to the Delta variant. He noted that a COVID syllabus statement would soon be completed by the Provost’s office. He emphasized the resilience of Texas A&M faculty and encouraged all to remain flexible. Speaker Rice closed by announcing the departure from the University of Senator and Executive Committee (EC) member Jay Ramadoss, and that an election would be conducted in September to fill his seat on the EC.APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The motion passed to approve the July 12, 2021 minutes as presented. Attachment B – Passed – FS.39.041CONSENT AGENDA
The motion passed to approve the August 9, 2021 Consent Agenda as presented.(Full Consent Agenda with FS #’s can be found under Adjournment below.)
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
None.COMMITTEE REPORTS
Core Curriculum Council Course Report – Attachment C – Passed – FS.39.056The motion passed to approve the Core Curriculum Course Report as presented.
(Full CCC Report can be found under Adjournment below.)
OTHER COMMITTEE REPORTS
None.NEW BUSINESS
Recommendation of August 2021 Degree CandidatesSecretary Tracy Hammond made the motion to certify the August 2021 degree candidates.
TOTAL – 2,040
TAMU-Main – 1685
TAMU-Galveston – 85
TAMU-HSC – 121
TAMU-Law – 30
TAMU-Qatar – 11
TAMU-VMBS – 108
The motion was approved unanimously.
Proposed Revisions to Student Rules
Student Rule 5.1 Change of Curriculum – Attachment D – Passed – FS.39.057
The motion to approve Student Rule 5.1 was passed unanimously.
Proposal for the Intercollegiate School of Engineering Medicine (ENMED) at Texas A&M University – For Informational Review
Interim Provost Mark Weichold presented on the proposed Intercollegiate School of Engineering Medicine. Access the slide presentation here.
Questions and comments were then made by the following Senators: Senator Andrew Klein, College of Geosciences; Senator Catharina Laporte, College of Liberal Arts; Senator Heather Ramsey, College of Science; Senator Julian Leibowitz, College of Medicine; Senator Raymundo Arroyave, College of Engineering; Senator Joan Wolf, College of Liberal Arts; and Senator Debjyoti Banerjee, College of Engineering. Questions were answered by Provost Weichold; Dean Amy Waer, College of Medicine; Dr. N.K. Anand, Executive Associate Dean of Engineering; and Dr. Roderick Pettigrew, Executive Dean of the EnMed program.
Emergency Item: Proposed Resolution on COVID-19 Guidelines for Fall 2021 – Attachment E – Passed – FS.39.058
This item was added to the agenda due to the time-sensitive nature of the resolution. The EC drafted the resolution believing it was the moral responsibility of the Faculty Senate to express their concerns regarding the inadequate protections faculty would be facing when classes begin. Speaker Rice outlined the approval process to be used where each “whereas” line of the resolution would be addressed one at a time including discussion, revision, and a vote to approve. This process was followed while Betsy Peterson, Executive Assistant to the Faculty Senate, made the revisions while sharing her screen so that each item could be clearly seen for voting.
Speaker Rice continually checked to make sure a quorum was present and the Senate voted to extend the meeting past 6:00pm to continue work on the resolution. The final vote to approve the amended resolution passed.
Speaker Rice shared he that had just received a message that the Faculty Council at the University of Texas Austin also approved their version of the resolution.
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
Speaker-Elect Patti Smith convened the Committee of the Whole.Senator Catharina Laporte, College of Liberal Arts, congratulated retiring Senator Bruce Neville, University Libraries, and thanked him for his service. Senator Janice Epstein, College of Science, also thanked Senator Neville, and expressed confusion over recent parking lot changes.
Speaker-Elect Smith returned the meeting to Speaker Rice.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 6:10pm.APPROVED CONSENT AGENDA for August 9, 2021
GRADUATE COUNCILNew Miscellaneous Request – Bulk/Mass Prefix Change – Passed – FS.39.042
PSYC to PBSI (Graduate level)
New Courses – Passed – FS.39.043
OCEN 665: Computational Fluid Dynamics
PERF 684: Professional Internship
SOPH 694: Advanced Public Health Practice and Capacity Building
Change in Courses – Passed – FS.39.044
CSCE 612: Applied Networks and Distributed Processing
CSCE 664: Wireless and Mobile Systems
ECON 656: Field Experiments in Economics
EDCI 710: Latinx Students and Education
EPSY 637: Qualitative Grounded Theory Methodologies
MGMT 629: Financial Analysis Modeling in HR
MMET 629: Leadership and People Management in Technology Enterprises
NUEN 630: Monte Carlo Methods for Particle Transport
NUEN 647: Uncertainty Quantification and Data Science for Engineering Applications
OBIO 674: Immunology
PBSI 623: Psychological Assessment I
RPTS 674: Administration, Management and Leadership in Youth Programs
UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM COMMITTEE
New Miscellaneous Request – Bulk/Mass Prefix Change – Passed – FS.39.045
PSYC to PBSI (Undergraduate)
New Courses – Passed – FS.39.046
ITAL 221: Field Studies I
ITAL 222: Field Studies II
PBSI 445: Psychological and Social Determinants of Health Disparities
Change in Courses – Passed – FS.39.047
AERO 211: Aerospace Engineering Mechanics
AGLS 436: Insurance and Estate Planning
AGLS 437: Tax Planning
AGSM 335: Water and Soil Management
AGSM 435: Irrigation Principles and Management
AGSM 477: Air Pollution Control and Regulatory Compliance
BICH 414: Biochemical Techniques I
BUSN 203: Statistical Methods for Business
CSCE 421: Machine Learning
CSCE 449: Applied Cryptography
ENGL 203: Writing about Literature
GEOG 309: Geography of Energy
PBSI 235: Introduction to Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience
PBSI 306: Abnormal Psychology
PBSI 311: Psychology of Animal Behavior
PBSI 320: Sensation-Perception
PBSI 323: Psychology of Adolescence
PBSI 330: Personality
PBSI 332: Neuroscience of Learning and Memory
PBSI 333: Biology of Psychological Disorders
PBSI 336: Drugs and Behavior
PBSI 340: Psychology of Learning
PBSI 345: Human Cognitive Processes
PBSI 346: Psychology of Language
PBSI 350: Cognitive Neuroscience
PBSI 352: Organizational Psychology
PBSI 353: Personnel Psychology
PBSI 360: Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine
PBSI 371: Forensic Psychology
PBSI 440: Hormones and Behavior
PBSI 450: Clinical Psychology
SPMT 295: Introduction to the Culminating Experience
Change in Programs – Passed – FS.39.048
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Department of Agricultural Economics
BS-AGBU: Agribusiness - BS
Change in Programs – Passed – FS.39.049
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Department of Agricultural Economics
BS-AGEC-FMS+: Agricultural Economics - BS, Food Marketing Systems Option
Change in Programs – Passed – FS.39.050
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Department of Agricultural Economics
BS-AGEC-FRE+: Agricultural Economics - BS, Finance and Real Estate Option
Change in Programs – Passed – FS.39.051
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Department of Agricultural Economics
BS-AGEC-PEA+: Agricultural Economics - BS, Policy and Economic Analysis Option
Change in Programs – Passed – FS.39.052
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Department of Agricultural Economics
BS-AGEC-RUE+: Agricultural Economics - BS, Rural Entrepreneurship Option
Change in Programs – Passed – FS.39.053
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics
BS-GENE: Genetics - BS
Change in Programs – Inactivation Proposal – Passed – FS.39.054
TAMU Qatar
Department of Mechanical Engineering
MINOR-MEEQ: Mechanical Engineering - Minor (Qatar)
W&C COURSES
Courses Submitted for W Certification – Passed – FS.39.055
MEEN 401-W: Introduction to Mechanical Engineering Design
NUEN 303-W: Nuclear Detection and Isotope Technology Laboratory
PHIL 336-W: Advanced Topics in Philosophy of Law
PHIL 352-W: Africana Philosophy
PHIL 371-W: Philosophy of Literature
PHIL 413-W: Eighteenth-Century Philosophy
PHIL 415-W: American Philosophy
______________________________End of Consent Agenda_______________________________
CORE CURRICULUM COUNCIL COURSE REPORT – Attachment C – Passed – FS.39.056
Recertification for Foundational Component Area: Creative Arts
FILM 251-GE: Introduction to Film Analysis
Recertification for Foundational Component Area: Language, Philosophy & Culture
ENGL 207-GE: Human Thinking and Digital Culture
Recertification for Foundational Component Area: Life and Physical Sciences
ATMO 201-GE: Weather and Climate
BIOL 111-GE: Introductory Biology I