April 13, 2015
Printable Minutes
Faculty Senate Meeting
Minutes
April 13, 2015
601 Rudder Tower
http://facultysenate.tamu.edu
In Attendance: Gamal Akabani, Ergun Akleman, Derya Akleman, Stephen Alton, Carisa Armstrong, Joe Arosh, Raymundo Arroyave, Judith Ball, Debjyoti Banerjee, Guy Battle, Michael Benedik, Leonard Bierman, Doug Biggs, Carlos Blanton, Joseph Boutros, Edward Brothers, Christine Budke, Tahir Cagin, Richard Carlson, Jeff Cirillo, William Clark, Greg Cobb, Jonathan Coopersmith, Walter Daugherity, Nimir Elbashir, Janice Epstein, Margaret Ezell, Jose Fernandez-Solis, Athony Filippi, David Ford, Tamy Frank-Cannon, Gerald Frye, Clare Gill, Daniel Gomez, Elsa Gonzalez, Melinda Grant, Ira Greenbaum, Ayeman Hamouda, Greg Heim, Kim Quaile Hill, Angie Hill Price, Brian Holland, Shelley Holliday, Richard Hutchinson, Jon (Sean) Jasperson, Mark Johnson, Bita Kash, Karen Kubena, Reza Langari, Charles Long, Igor Lyuksyutov, Clint Magill, Vanita Mahajan, June Martin, Catherine McNeal, Beth McNeill, Rajesh Miranda, Leslie Morey, Christine Murray, Bimal Nepal, Bruce Neville, Mohammad Nutan, Calvin Parnell, Sorin Popescu, Heather Ramsey, Deva Reddy, Dale Rice, James Rogers, Eric Rowell, Karen Russell, Laura Sare, Emet Schneiderman, Jorge Seminario, Robert Shaw, Nancy Simpson, Karen Snowden, Joe Spurlock III, Bob Strawser, Cecilia Tamborindeguy, Gabriela Thornton, Grace Townsend, Kim-Vy Tran, Nancy Turner, Gretchen Tyson, Evan Vestal, Coran Watanabe, Mathew Whiteacre, Jim Woosley
Call to Order
The meeting was called to order by Speaker Jim Woosley at 3:18 p.m.
Guest Speakers
Guest speaker Karan Watson, Provost of Texas A&M University, opened with a discussion of the posting of faculty social security numbers that accompanied information about teaching loads at the university. The information was posted for three weeks, Watson said, and if faculty members’ names were posted, they received an email notifying them. The problem was the result of a new employee who was not properly trained and managers who did not follow the mandated process, she said. Ultimately, the information was accessed by 32 computers, 18 of which belonged to people at A&M. None within the university had downloaded the information, Watson said. University officials reached out to the other 14, who said they had no reason to even look at the part of the report with social security numbers. If A&M employees are attributing all recent identity theft problems with the release of the social security numbers, including fraudulent tax returns, they may not understand the bigger problem, Watson said. About 90 faculty members had fraudulent filings last year or this year, based on information at the time, she said. More than likely, Watson said, other major hacks were responsible. “We are taking care of the bad mistake our employee made, but the bigger problem is the effects of myriad ID theft taking place in different venues,” the provost said, noting the university was providing two years of LifeLock monitoring for those who were affected. In addition, she said, university officials are asking “since we found so many other people dealing with a crime, is this a benefit service we can afford or should provide for everyone?” She said she hopes to soon have an answer whether and how that could be handled. There is an additional problem for staff, who have less flexibility with time than faculty to work on to fix an identity theft problem. “We are working on that as well,” Watson said.
Rajesh Miranda from the College of Medicine, asked if Texas A&M employees are at a higher level of risk because of details about them, such as salaries, that are public.
Watson replied, “I don’t have a strong sense of that.” By the nature of what many faculty post to be helpful – such as cell phone numbers on syllabi – they may have more information posted than many people, she said. “I’m not sure we are more susceptible, but I am concerned that we need to see what is the trade-off for providing more security,” she said. “This is a growing crime that’s not going to go away.
Ira Greenbaum of the College of Science noted that he was one of the people whose social security number was posted and he had recently received an email from LifeLock that that there had been no fraudulent activity involving him.
Sean Jasperson of Mays Business School asked what other steps might be taken to protect faculty members, such as using numbers other than social security for filing reports.
Watson responded that the breach did not occur because of sending the report to Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. It was made because of human error here, she said, adding that if A&M employees had run their own processes, this would not have happened.
The provost then moved to the subject of strategic planning. The state requires A&M to have a strategic plan in place, and the current one ends in 2015. The Faculty Senate and CPI hosted four forums, with faculty offering many suggestions that were both substantive and editorial on a proposed strategic plan. “We would welcome you to keep giving us input,” Watson said, noting that she was going to visit Qatar, the Law School and the Dentistry School to discuss the strategic plan with faculty in those locations. President Michael Young will take office on May1, the provost said, and he is the one who will need to submit a final strategic plan to the chancellor, with the aim to do that in the fall.
Kim Hill of Liberal Arts cited a news story in the Houston Chronicle about anticipated additional expenses dealing with carrying concealed handguns on campus. He asked if A&M had developed any cost estimates and submitted them to state budget writers. Hill also asked the provost if she had any perspective or concerns on cost estimates.
“Our main concern is for human beings and resident halls being one of those areas where we have concerns,” Watson responded. She said that nationally the most suicide-prone group is males 18-24. Currently, the university can restrict concealed carry from buildings, but not the sidewalks of campus. The proposed law would allow 21-year-olds to carry concealed weapons for which they have a permit into our buildings. A second bill that has been filed in the Legislature deals with open carry – where a person would not be required to have a permit. A&M officials have been in consultation with other states that have had the change, she said. One particularly worrisome aspect is to our security and police force. In a rare circumstance in which a campus police officer needed a weapon, they are afraid of coming on the scene and not knowing who the bad guy is, Watson said.
Doug Biggs of Geosciences noted that AAUP had prepared a paper on potential costs.
Speaker Comments
Approval of February 9, 2015 Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes— Attachment B
The minutes of the February 9, 2015, Senate meeting were approved as submitted.
Consent Agenda
GRADUATE COUNCIL – GC REPORT
New Course Request – February 5, 2015
Graduate Council Report
AGEC 608 Economics of Foreign Intervention, Conflict, and Development
AGEC 642 Dynamic Optimization in Agricultural and Applied Economics
BICH 678 Metal Ions
EPSY 633 Qualitative Research Design and Data Collection
GEOG 634 Hydrology and Environment
ISEN 665 Management of Engineering Systems.
ISEN 670 Theory of Socio-Technical Systems
NUEN 657 Emergency Response Dose Assessment
OCNG 655 Experimental Design and Analysis in Oceanography
VSCS 697 Teaching Anatomy Lab
Attachment B
FS.32.239
Motion Passed
Course Change Request
HPCH 670 Seminar in History and Context of Public Health
HPCH 671 Seminar in Public Health Theory
HPCH 672 Seminar in Public Health Interventions
HPCH 673 Seminar in Public Health Evaluation
HPCH 674 Seminar in Social and Behavior Health
HPCH 685 Directed Study
HPCH 686 Directed Research
HPCH 689 Special Topics- Health Promotion & Community Health Science
PHEB 685 Directed Study
PHEB 686 Directed Research
PHEB 689 Special Topics- Epidemiology and Biostatistics
PHEO 685 Directed Study
PHEO 686 Directed Research
PHEO 689 Special Topics- Environmental and Occupational Health
PHPM 685 Directed Study
PHPM 686 Directed Research
PHPM 689 Special Topics- Health Policy and Management
WMHS 601 Applications and Problems in Hydrological Sciences
Attachment C
FS.32.240
Motion Passed
GRADUATE COUNCIL – GC REPORT
New Course Request – March 5, 2015
Graduate Council Report
ACCT 705 Accounting for Business Results
ACCT 710 Accounting for Managerial Decision Making
BIOL 653 Digital Biology
BUAD 700 Value Creation
BUAD 701 Business Collaboration
BUAD 702 Career Management
BUAD 705 Business Communications and Professional Presence
BUAD 710 Ethical Decision Making and Conduct
BUAD 715 International Business Environment
BUAD 720 Integrated Business Experience
EDCI 710 The Hispanic Learner in Urban Settings
ENTO 631 Principles of Integrated Pest Management
FINC 705 Corporate Finance
FINC 710 Entrepreneurial Finance
ISYS 705 Information Management for Decision Making
MGMT 705 Strategic Human Capital
MGMT 710 Crafting Business Strategy
MKTG 705 Market and Customer Insights
MKTG 710 Strategic Marketing Decisions
POLS 673 Seminar in Gender and Politics in Comparative Perspective
SCMT 705 Global Operations
Attachment D
FS.32.241
Motion Passed
Course Change Request
MKTG 670 Marketing Leadership
Attachment E
FS.32.242
Motion Passed
Curriculum Change Request
Master of Science in Marketing
Attachment F
FS.32.243
Motion Passed
Special Consideration Item
Department of Public Service and Administration
Executive Master of Public Service and Administration
Proposal for new Master’s Program
Attachment G
FS.32.244
Motion Passed
Special Consideration Item
Mays Business School
Master of Science in Business
Proposal for new Master’s Program
Attachment H
FS.32.245
Motion Passed
UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM COMMITTEE – UCC REPORT
February 13, 2015
Special Consideration Item
Dwight Look College of Engineering
BS in Interdisciplinary Engineering
Request for a new degree program
Attachment I
FS.32.246
Motion Passed
UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM COMMITTEE – UCC REPORT
March 13, 2015
New Courses
PHLT 314 Public Health Data Management and Assessment I
PHLT 315 Public Health Data Management and Assessment II
PHLT 333 Accident Investigation
PHLT 334 Fire Safety and Workplace Hazards
PHLT 335 Hazardous Materials
PHLT 416 Public Health Leadership and Ethics
PHLT 441 Strategies for Population Health Improvement
PHLT 445 Population Health Culminating Experience
Attachment J
FS.32.247
Motion Passed
Change in Courses
HISP 364 Diversity Lessons from Medieval Spain
HISP 371 Hispanic Religions
RELS 312 Contemplative Practices in the Modern World
RELS 364 Diversity Lessons from Medieval Spain
RELS 371 Hispanic Religions
Attachment K
FS.32.248
Motion Passed
Special Consideration Item
School of Public Health
Department of Public Health Studies
Minor in Public Health Studies
Request for a new minor
Attachment L
FS.32.249
Motion Passed
W-COURSES
February 6, 2015
Courses submitted for W certification
EHRD 490 Research in Human Resource Development/Technology Management
PERF 101 Introduction to Performance Studies
POLS 412 International Political Economy
Courses submitted for C certification
PERF 481 Senior Project
Courses submitted for W recertification
SOCI 328 Sociology of the Environment
WGST 200 Introduction to Women’s & Gender Studies
Attachment M
FS.32.250
Motion Passed
Core Curriculum Council—Report
February 20, 2015
International and Cultural Diversity
MARS 432 Peak Oil, Global Warming and Resource Scarcity (Galveston)
Attachment N
FS.32.251
Motion Passed
__________________________________End of Consent Agenda____________________________________
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Planning Committee Report
Doug Biggs, chair of the Planning Committee, reported that the committee had been discussing three areas of interest: shared bicycle, pedestrian and skateboard use of campus sidewalks; attendance at strategic planning forums; and full-class photos of students tied to the Howdy page.
Core Curriculum Council Report on ICD Forums
Dale Rice, co-chair of the Core Curriculum Council, updated the Council’s plans for a new recertification program for all International and Cultural Diversity (ICD) courses. The Council’s timeline includes developing the new certification guidelines by September, holding a series of public meetings on the proposed guidelines in October and bringing the final recommendation to the Faculty Senate in November.
Budget Information Committee Report
Greg Heim, chair of the Budget Information Committee, presented an in-depth report of his committee’s examination of areas of concern, including the evaluation of outsourcing. (See the attached report for details.)
Informational Review Items
Unfinished Business
Old Business
New Business
Steven Alton of the Law School moved to table the proposed student rules until the next meeting. The motion was approved.
Proposed Revisions to Student Rule 24
Attachment O
Motion Tabled
Proposed Revisions to Student Rule 26
Attachment P
Motion Tabled
Proposed Revisions to Student Rule 51
Attachment Q
Motion Tabled
Proposed Revisions to Student Rule 58
Attachment R
Motion Tabled
Proposed Revisions to Student Rule Appendix IX
Attachment S
Motion Tabled
Committee of the Whole
Speaker Woosley then turned the meeting over to Speaker-elect Strawser for the Committee of the Whole.
Doug Biggs introduced Wendy Jepson, a faculty member and former senator from Geosciences. Jepson said she was concerned about the university’s plan to use Veterans Park as a park-and-ride location during football games. Provost Watson said that proposal was “off the table.”
Jonathan Coopersmith of Liberal Arts noted that a number of buildings have recycling containers and suggested trying to expand that program across campus to have one container on each floor with a classroom.
Walter Daugherity of Engineering suggested the university should consider several vehicles for improved personal computer security. Best practices for going forward, he said, include encrypting all personal information at rest and having the university continuously checking computers for personally identifiable information.
Speaker-elect Strawser then turned the meeting back over to Speaker Woosley.
Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 4:50 p.m.