September 9, 2019

Printable minutes

TAMU Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes
September 9, 2019
3:00pm
Rudder 601
http://facultysenate.tamu.edu

CALL TO ORDER
Speaker Andrew Klein called the meeting to order at 3:00pm. After roll call, newly elected Senators were sworn in and took their seats at the tables.

GUEST SPEAKERS
Speaker Klein introduced guest speakers TAMU President Michael K. Young and Dean of Faculties Blanca Lupiani, and welcomed President Young to the podium.

President Young began by expressing his gratitude and pleasure at working with the Faculty Senate. He shared the University’s budget process and decisions about budget allocation, stating that the recently concluded legislative session was relatively positive.

The two main sources of funding from the state include: 1) the formula funding based on the number of students attending and the kinds of classes they take, and 2) the Texas Research University Fund (TRUF), which is allocated based on how many research dollars are brought in by TAMU and UT Austin.
The legislature put additional funding into both types of funds, although it has not kept pace with the increasing number of students.
The third source of funding is tuition revenue bonds issued by the state in order to fund buildings. The legislature opted not to issue any revenue bonds.
Texas A&M University asked for increased money this year and received some equity funding, although it is half of what is needed to match UT Austin’s funding.
President Young presented his slides on funding and allocation. (See attached presentation for details.)

President Young then fielded questions from the following Senators:

Jorge Alvarado, College of Engineering
Ulisses Braga-Neto, College of Engineering
Geoffrey Booth, College of Architecture
Catharina Laporte, College of Liberal Arts
Clint Magill, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Adam Kolasinski, Mays Business School

Speaker Klein thanked President Young for speaking to the Senate. He then welcomed Dean of Faculties Blanca Lupiani to the podium.

Dr. Lupiani spoke about the variety of opportunities available through the Dean of Faculties office. She introduced:

The vision: to create a supportive, collaborative, inclusive and respectful environment where every faculty member can excel, feel empowered, inspired, and represented;
The staff and the responsibilities of the office;
Opportunities for professional development, assisted by Department Head Fellows;
Interfolio faculty search web application for recruiting;
Task forces for Academic Professional Track Faculty concerns and a Faculty code of conduct; and
The opportunities to celebrate Faculty excellence.

Dr. Lupiani then answered questions from the following Senators:

Hank Walker, College of Engineering
Jay Ramadoss, College of Veterinary Medicine & Biological Sciences
Jorge Alvarado, College of Engineering

Speaker Klein thanked Dr. Lupiani for speaking to the Senate.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
No announcements.

SPEAKER COMMENTS
Speaker Klein shared only brief comments due to time constraints. He welcomed Senators, then reminded three caucuses of the need to select their Caucus Leaders, and encouraged all to expect a request for members to serve on the Bylaws and Election committees.
Speaker Klein highlighted two items of information:

The Faculty Senate’s second Speaker, Dr. Murray Milford, recently passed away. He asked the Senate to recognize Dr. Milford’s dedicated service to Texas A&M and the Faculty Senate with a moment of silence.
Former Senator and long-time parliamentarian Richard Stadelman was on campus to celebrate Walter Daugherity's retirement party. I am happy to report that at 89 he retains his clarion voice and eloquence of speech that many of you may remember from his days in the Senate.
Speaker Klein stated there is a good slate of guest speakers for the Senate meetings this fall; Athletic Director Ross Bjork will speak at the October meeting. He closed his comments with a reminder of the annual fall reception immediately following the meeting in the University Club.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The motion passed to approve the August 12, 2019 minutes as distributed. Attachment A – Passed

CONSENT AGENDA Attachments B-I – Passed
The motion passed to approve the Consent Agenda after the removal of the following courses:

NURS 670 Introduction to Psychopharmacology
NURS 671 Pre-Clinical Essentials for the Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
NURS 672 Family Psychiatric-Mental Health I--Adult/Acute
NURS 673 Family Psychiatric-Mental Health Clinical I.pdf
NURS 674 Family Psychiatric-Mental Health II_ Child-Adolescent
NURS 675 Family Psychiatric-Mental Health Clinical II
NURS 676 Family Psychiatric-Mental Health III_ Older Adult and Chronic Mental Illness
NURS 677 Family Psychiatric-Mental Health Clinical III
NURS 678 Family Psychiatric-Mental Health Clinical Practicum
SPMT 402 Sport Management Pre-Internship Seminar

(Full Consent Agenda with FS #’s can be found below Adjournment.)

UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Faculty Senator Beth McNeill, College of Education & Human Development, requested that SPMT 402 Sport Management Pre-Internship Seminar be removed from the Consent Agenda at the request of the Department of Health & Kinesiology to make necessary changes. A motion was made to return the course to the department per their request, was seconded, and passed.

The Nursing courses removed from the Consent Agenda (NURS 670, 671, 672, 673, 674, 675, 676, 677, and 678) found in Attachment B, were re-introduced for discussion. Faculty Senator Darlene McLaughlin from the College of Medicine, who requested the items be tabled, stated her concerns about the courses: on every syllabus the required text Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, published by the American Psychiatric Association, was incorrectly attributed to the American Psychological Association. Senator and Parliamentarian Dale Rice suggested the option to approve the courses with editorial changes; the motion was made and seconded, and the courses were approved pending the correction to the syllabi.

COMMITTEE REPORTS
Core Curriculum Council Course Report
There was no CCC Course Report, as the CCC did not meet this month.

Other Committee Reports
No other committee reports were heard.

OLD BUSINESS
No old business was conducted.

NEW BUSINESS
Proposed Revisions to Student Rules
Rule 5      Change of Curriculum – Attachment J – Passed – FS.37.038
Attachment J, Student Rule 5, was approved with no discussion.

Rule 14    Degree Requirements – Attachment K – Passed – FS.37.039
Senator Jay Ramadoss, College of Veterinary Medicine & Biological Sciences, asked if there is a time limit to the process. Senator Angie Hill Price, College of Engineering, who serves on the Student Rules & Regulations Committee, asked Speaker Klein to recognize both Tim Powers, and later Kristin Harrell, both of whom addressed this question to the satisfaction of the Senate body. Attachment K, Student Rule 14, was then approved.

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
Speaker-Elect John Stallone convened the Committee of the Whole.

Len Bierman, Mays Business School
Senator Bierman highlighted the significance of the $55 million equity adjustment to TAMU from the legislature, and recognized the efforts of Senator Angie Hill Price, Chair of the Legislative Affairs Committee (2018-2019); Speaker Julie Harlin (2018-2019); and Speaker-Elect Andrew Klein (2018-2019).

Lou Tassinary, College of Architecture
Senator Tassinary asked for updates on the two items he brought up at the May Faculty Senate meeting: 1) the standard of evidence used at Honor Council meetings and 2) if Honor Codes will be followed, we should reconsider how exams are proctored.

Hank Walker, College of Engineering
Senator Walker stated his belief that take-home exams would not work here as an alternative to proctoring.

Bob Strawser, Mays Business School
Senator Strawser shared the opinion stated by Senator Walker.

Julie Harlin, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Senator Harlin responded to Senator Tassinary’s request, stating that the Executive Committee did take up the issues last year and decided not to take action. It was felt the current standard of evidence was working.

Ira Greenbaum, College of Sciences
Senator Greenbaum pointed out other reasons for proctoring than to prevent cheating. He proctors to be able to answer questions about the exam.

Andrew Klein, College of Geosciences
Speaker Klein shared an observation by one of the University’s student leaders that some students pay $20 to be proctored online. This is another concern about current proctoring practices.

Speaker-Elect Stallone turned the meeting back over to Speaker Klein.

ADJOURN

The meeting was adjourned at 4:50pm.

ATTACHMENTS BELOW: Approved Consent Agenda, President Young’s slides

CONSENT AGENDA
GRADUATE COUNCIL
New Courses – Attachment B – Passed – FS.37.030
ANSC 642          Advanced Quantitative Genetics
BICH 684            Professional Internship in Biochemistry
GENE 656            Bioinformatics: Metagenomics Data Analysis
NURS 670            Introduction to Psychopharmacology
NURS 671            Pre-Clinical Essentials for the Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
NURS 672           Family Psychiatric-Mental Health I--Adult/Acute
NURS 673            Family Psychiatric-Mental Health Clinical I.pdf
NURS 674            Family Psychiatric-Mental Health II_ Child-Adolescent
NURS 675            Family Psychiatric-Mental Health Clinical II
NURS 676            Family Psychiatric-Mental Health III_ Older Adult and Chronic Mental Illness
NURS 677            Family Psychiatric-Mental Health Clinical III
NURS 678            Family Psychiatric-Mental Health Clinical Practicum
POSC 637            Application of Gene Expression Methods in Avian Science
TCMT 619            Personal Leadership Coaching

Change in Courses – Attachment C – Passed – FS.37.031
ALEC 640             Methods of Technological Change
ECEN 687            Introduction to VLSI Physical Design Automation
GENE 603            Genetics
POSC 609            Avian Physiology
POSC 611            Advanced Egg & Poultry Meat Processing
TCMT 634            Value Chain Management

New Miscellaneous Request – Attachment D – Passed – FS.37.032
College of Dentistry
165            Grade Scale Changes

UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM COMMITTEE
New Courses – Attachment E – Passed – FS.37.033
KINE 282               Culture of Wellness
PERF 223               Aesthetics of Activism
WGST 320             Feminist Inquiry and Research Methods

Change in Courses – Attachment F – Passed – FS.37.034
AGEC 325             Principles of Farm and Ranch Management
AGLS 125              Life Sciences Learning Community I
BICH 303               Elements of Biological Chemistry
CHEM 327             Physical Chemistry I
CHEM 468             Materials Chemistry of Inorganic Materials
HIST 106               History of the United States
HIST 226               History of Texas
HLTH 334              Women's Health
MASC 320             Inquiries in Physical Science
MASC 420             Inquiries in Life and Earth Sciences
SCSC 301            Soil Science
SPMT 402             Sport Management Pre-Internship Seminar
THAR 420              Directing Live Performance
WFSC 408             Techniques of Wildlife Management

Change in Courses – Inactivation Proposal – Attachment G – Passed – FS.37.035
      College of Liberal Arts
            Department of Performance Studies
                  THAR 302                    Dramaturgy

Change in Courses – Inactivation Proposal – Attachment H – Passed – FS.37.036
      College of Education & Human Development
            Department of Health & Kinesiology
                  BS-USEH-SCN                        University Studies - BS, Sports Conditioning Concentration

W&C COURSES
Courses Submitted for W Certification – Attachment I – Passed – FS.37.037
KNFB 416-W        Middle and Secondary School Physical Activities
RELS 312-W        Contemplation in the Modern World
RELS 491-W        Research
SCMT 300-W       Business Communications I
SPMT 265-W       Sport Communication
SPMT 370-W       Consumer Behavior in Sport
WGST 320-W       Feminist Inquiry and Research Methods
WGST 481-W       Senior Seminar

______________________________End of Consent Agenda____________________________________

President Young’s slide presentation