June 10, 2013
Faculty Senate Meeting
Minutes
June 10, 2013
3:15 p.m., 601 Rudder Tower
http://facultysenate.tamu.edu
Present: Louise Abbott, Jorge Alvarado, Carisa Armstrong, Joe Arosh, Raymundo Arroyave, David Baca, Judith Ball, Leonard Bierman, Doug Biggs, Tiffany Boudreaux, Joseph Boutros, Leonard Bright, Edward Brothers, John Carhart, William B. Clark, Charles Criscione, Richard Curry, Swaroop Darbha, Walter Daugherity, Janice Epstein, Edward Funkhouser, Clare Gill, Melinda Grant, Ira Greenbaum, Janet Hammer, Julie Harlin, Kevin Heinz, Shelley Holliday, Wendy Jepson, Andrew Klein, Karen Kubena, Reza Langari, Thomas Linton, Igor Lyuksyutov, Clint Magill, Sam Mannan, Miguel Mora, Jeffrey Morris, Michelle Pine, Deva Reddy, Dale Rice, Eric Rowell, Karen Snowden, Richard Stadelmann, John Stallone, Grace Townsend, Wyoma vanDuinkerken, Gary Varner, William West, Matt Whiteacre, Richard Woodman, Jim Woosley
Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 3:15 p.m.
Opening Ceremonies
Guest Speaker – President R. Bowen Loftin
President Bowen Loftin, the guest speaker updated the Senate on the session of the Texas Legislature that had concluded on Memorial Day. The Legislature, he noted, added funding to the higher education finance formula compared to this biennium and returned the Competitive Knowledge Fund closer to its original amount. Altogether, the university recovered approximately two-thirds of what it lost in the current biennium. “That’s the good news,” Loftin said.
According to Loftin, the university’s Council for Strategic Budgeting recommended placing the highest priority on attracting and retaining faculty. Thus, he said, the highest priority is to provide a merit pool to help increase compensation for faculty and staff. He said he could not yet say what the amount would be, but hoped to resolve it quickly.
Senator Jorge Alvarado of the College of Engineering expressed a concern over the amount of compensation for teaching assistants and said that if the university wanted to remain competitive it would have to pay more.
Loftin said it was an issue of particular concern to him. But these types of decisions were decentralized long ago, allowing departments to set those rates based on their resources.
Provost Karan Watson further explained that money was not set aside specifically for teaching assistants, noting that departments can move funds around.
In other matters, Watson said student enrollment was expected to climb significantly in the next academic year, as more students opted to come to A&M than had been predicted. She said the administration has worked hard to make sure the units teaching those freshmen will have resources so they can accommodate the increased enrollment.
Senator Alvarado asked if the time has come to ask colleges to come up with review process to see which ones doing a good job in terms of revenue.
Watson responded that had been done, with three colleges exceeding their weight, four covering their weight and three that do not. “We will never try to shut those three colleges,” she said.
Senator Wendy Jepson of Geosciences said she was concerned about standards of transparency across colleges.
The provost replied that she had asked the deans for the right metrics for each of their departments. “We don’t want to use same metric for Electrical Engineering as the Department of Geography,” she said. It’s necessary for the measures of a department to be based on the game the department plays, she said.
The provost wrapped up by discussing massive online courses and what was currently happened at A&M in regard to them. She formed a committee to look at MOOC companies and what they’re doing, asking how this strategically helps the university to move forward. She said A&M might want to join one of those companies that has many of our peers, enabling us to share material across courses. However, no decision has been made.
Speaker Comments
Speaker Daugherity, in his comments to the Senate, said welcomed “all of you, and welcome to the new faces and roles on the platform: Jim Woosley, our new Speaker-Elect, and Dale Rice, our new Secretary-Treasurer. I have also asked Senator Richard Stadelmann from Philosophy in the College of Liberal Arts to serve as Senate Chaplain [since withdrawn] and Senator Julie Harlin from Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences to serve as Senate Parliamentarian.
I am presently soliciting nominations for the following positions:
- Senate Sergeant-at-Arms
- Vice Chair, Committee on Academic Freedom, Responsibility, and Tenure (CAFRT)
- Faculty Senate representative, Tuition and Fees Sub council
Please send me any nominations, including self-nominations (otherwise known as volunteers!).
Most of the caucuses have submitted their selections for standing committee positions; we still need those from the Bush School (Senator West), the College of Science (Senator Epstein), TAMU-Galveston, and TAMU-Qatar. Please turn your selections in to the senate office as soon as possible.
Also, if you will have an excused absence in July, please submit that form if you haven’t already, so that your absence will not count against the quorum threshold.
One of my goals for the coming year is to improve the Faculty Senate; the Executive Committee will have a planning retreat at TAMU-Galveston July 28-29. (Our thanks to Tom Linton and Galveston provost Patrick Louchouarn for the invitation!) Part of becoming a “better senate” is
acting more like a senate and
looking more like a senate. Regarding the latter, one thing I noticed was that most senates (U.S., state, and student) have “opening ceremonies,” typically including the Pledge of Allegiance and an invocation. Today we had the Pledge of Allegiance, and the Executive Committee is discussing having Senator Stadelmann give a brief, inspiring, inclusive invocation as part of our opening ceremonies.
A larger purpose is for us as senators to model one of our core Aggie values, namely, “respect,” as General Weber recently challenged us to do. In the case of the Pledge of Allegiance, “respect” includes remaining silent if one chooses not to participate (for example, a non-citizen or someone whose religious beliefs forbid it), and not disrupting those who do choose to participate.
Finally, by now you should all have seen the remarkable news from Chancellor Sharp that health care premiums for most faculty, staff, and students will
decrease this fall. Plan enrollment will be in July as usual. All I can say is “Everybody stay really healthy, to prevent a huge increase in subsequent years.”
Approval of May 13, 2013 Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes
Following the speaker’s comments, the minutes of the May meeting of the Faculty Senate
were declared approved as submitted.
Attachment A
Motion Passed
Consent Agenda
The consent agenda was approved as presented.
GRADUATE COUNCIL – GC REPORT
New Course Requests – May 2, 2013
AERO 621 Aeromechanics of Wind Turbines
BICH 667 Molecular Probes
ECEN 735 Electromagnetic Field Theory
ECEN 754 Optimization for Electrical and Computer Engineering Applications
ISEN 631 Cognitive Systems Engineering
MEEN 620 Kinetic Processes in Materials Science
MSEN 620 Kinetic Processes in Materials Science
Attachment B
FS.31.01
Motion Passed
Change Course Requests – May 2, 2013
ATTR 652 Clinical Education II
BICH 667 Molecular Probes
ATTR 653 Clinical Education III
ATTR 654 Clinical Education IV
ATTR 655 Clinical Education V
ATTR 656 Clinical Education VI
CPSY 630 Foundations of Counseling- from Foundations of Counseling to Foundations of School Counseling
Attachment C
FS.31.02
Motion Passed
UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM COMMITTEE – UCC REPORT
New Courses Request – May 9, 2013
ANTH 204 Peoples and Cultures of the Ancient World
BICH 419 Computational Techniques for Evolutionary Analysis
BICH 460 Genome Annotation with Ontologies
BICH 461 Advanced Genome Annotation with Ontologies
BIOL 463 Epigenetic Mechanisms and Inheritance
ENGL 206 Twenty-first Century Literature and Culture
EPFB 301 Teaching Skills I.
EPFB 401 Teaching Skills II
FIVS 123 Forensic Investigations
GENE 419 Computational Techniques for Evolutionary Analysis
MATH 420 Application of Actuarial Science II
MUSC 221 Guitar Heroes
MUSC 222 Music of the Americas
MUSC 225 History of Jazz
MUSC 226 History of Rock
MUSC 227 Popular Music of India
MUSC 228 History of Electronic Music
MUSC 301 Performance in World Cultures
MUSC 386 Evolution of the American Musical
RELS 312 Contemplative Practices in the Modern World
SOCI 212 Sociology of Popular Culture
SPAN 409 Photography in the Hispanic World
SPMT 220 Olympic Studies
THAR 301 Performance in World Cultures
THAR 386 Evolution of the American Musical
Change Course Requests – May 9, 2013
AFST 327 Popular Musics in the African Diaspora
ANSC 303 Principles of Animal Nutrition
ANSC 320 Animal Nutrition and Feeding
ANSC 439 Feedlot Risk Management
ANTH 324 Music in World Cultures
CLAS 351 Classical Mythology
EHRD 101 Introduction to Leadership Development in Higher Education
ENGL 302 Environmental Literature
EPFB 428 Collaboration in School Settings
MATH 419 Applications of Actuarial Science
MUSC 324 Music in World Cultures
MUSC 325 Dance and World Cultures
MUSC 327 Popular Musics in the African Diaspora
NUTR 303 Principles of Animal Nutrition
PERF 301 Performance in World Cultures
PERF 325 Dance and World Cultures
PERF 327 Popular Musics in the African Diaspora
RELS 351 Classical Mythology
SEFB 310 Instructional Strategies for Students with Disabilities
SEFB 314 Effective Mathematics Strategies for Students with Disabilities
SEFB 320 Education and Employment Issues in Secondary Special Education
SEFB 414 Methods and Issues in Low-Incidence Disabilities
SEFB 425 Student Teaching in Special Education
SEFB 442 Teaching Students with Emotional Disturbances and Behavior Disorders
SPED 302 Instructional Design for Students with Disabilities
THAR 407 Oral Interpretation
WFSC 303 Fish and Wildlife Laws and Administration
Attachment D
FS.31.03
Motion Passed
Change in Curriculum – May 9, 2013
Dwight Look College of Engineering
Certificate in Engineering Therapeutics Manufacturing
Attachment E
FS.31.04
Motion Passed
W-COURSES
Courses submitted for W recertification –May 14, 2013
ARAB 491 Research: Capstone Project
Course submitted for W recertification – May 14, 2013
GEOG 476 GIS Practicum
MARB 482 Seminar in Marine Biology
POLS 352 Empirical Democratic Theory
Attachment F
FS.31.05
Motion Passed
Core Curriculum Council – Report
Foundational Component Area: Communication
COMM 203 Public Speaking
COMM 243 Argumentation and Debate
Attachment G
FS.31.06
Motion Passed
Foundational Component Area: Language, Philosophy and Culture
AFST 204 Introduction to African American Literature
ENGL 204 Introduction to African American Literature
ENGL 221 World Literature
ENGL 222 World Literature
ENGL 227 American Literature: Beginnings to Civil War
ENGL 228 American Literature: Civil War to Present
MODL 221 World Literature
MODL 222 World Literature
ANTH 205 Peoples and Cultures of the World
ANTH 210 Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology
ARAB 201 Intermediate Arabic I
ARAB 202 Intermediate Arabic II
CHIN 201 Intermediate Chinese I
CHIN 202 Intermediate Chinese II
CLAS 220 History of Christianity: Origins to the Reformation
CLAS 221 Intermediate Latin
CLAS 222 Intermediate Latin II
CLAS 250 Greek and Roman Civilization
HIST 101 Western Civilization to 1660
HIST 102 Western Civilization Since 1660
HIST 104 World History Since 1500
HIST 210 Russian Civilization
HIST 213 History of England
HIST 214 History of England
HIST 220 History of Christianity: Origins to the Reformation
HIST 221 History of Islam
HIST 234 European Military History
INTS 251 Contemporary Issues in the Middle East
ITAL 201 Intermediate Italian I
ITAL 202 Intermediate Italian II
JAPN 201 Intermediate Japanese I
JAPN 202 Intermediate Japanese II
RELS 220 History of Christianity: Origins to the Reformation
RELS 221 History of Islam
RUSS 201 Intermediate Russian I
RUSS 202 Intermediate Russian II
Attachment H
FS.31.07
Motion Passed
International and Cultural Diversity
ARAB 201 Intermediate Arabic I
ARAB 202 Intermediate Arabic II
CHIN 201 Intermediate Chinese I
CHIN 202 Intermediate Chinese II
ENGL 221 World Literature
ITAL 201 Intermediate Italian I
ITAL 202 Intermediate Italian II
JAPN 201 Intermediate Japanese I
JAPN 202 Intermediate Japanese II
MODL 221 World Literature
RUSS 201 Intermediate Russian I
RUSS 202 Intermediate Russian II
Attachment I
FS.31.08
Motion Passed
International and Cultural Diversity (from the April CCC meeting)
FREN 201 Intermediate French I
FREN 202 Intermediate French II
GERM 201 Intermediate German I
GERM 202 Intermediate German II
Attachment J
FS.31.09
Motion Passed
__________________________________End of Consent Agenda____________________________________
Committee Reports
Unfinished Business
Aggie Highway Resolution
In unfinished business, Secretary Rice moved to take the Aggie Highway Resolution from the table.
It was removed from the table on 20-18 vote.
After a number of questions were raised, Senator Richard Stadelmann of Liberal Arts moved to postpone consideration of the resolution to the September meeting of the Senate. The motion was approved.
Attachment K
Postponed
New Business
Workplace Bullying Policy
In new business, Secretary Rice moved the Workplace Bullying Policy. It was adopted and will
be sent to the Dean of Faculties and college deans, stating its importance as viewed by the Senate.
According to Senator Jepson, the intent is to ask the deans that language be incorporated in
grievance policies so that all faculty realize the issue of workplace bullying is covered.
Attachment L
FS.31.10
Motion Passed
Committee of the Whole
In the Committee of the Whole, several senators strongly challenged the speaker’s plan to appoint a chaplain and have an invocation at the beginning of Senate meetings. Speaker Daugherity said he would take the issue to the Executive Committee and would not act without further discussion and EC approval.
Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 5:09 p.m.