Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes
October 9, 2017
3:15pm
Rudder 601
http://facultysenate.tamu.edu
Call to Order
Speaker Price called the meeting to order at 3:16pm.Guest Speaker
Dr. Carol Fierke, Provost & Executive Vice PresidentDr. Fierke indicated that she is doing a visiting tour in an effort to know more about each college and department which includes meeting with both the leadership and the faculty. One of her goals if for department chairs to feel like they are a part of the leadership of the university. She also believes that faculty are most important part of university and as leadership, our most important role is to support faculty and provide mechanisms to help them be successful. University moves forward as faculty moves forward- as they are successful the University is successful.
Dr. Fierke is also looking at ways to optimize student opportunities, improve retention rates, and increase the percentage of students graduated. In addition, she is looking at academic innovation as it applies to teaching to determine what programs we should be offering and how do we support our fourth and fifth year students as well as those life-long learners.
Jorge Alvarado, College of Engineering, asked if the Provost planned to hire an external consultant to evaluate academic units to determine what works/doesn’t work to find opportunities for realignment. The Provost responded saying that was not one of her top priorities. She followed up saying she would like to hear from the faculty where they think there might be opportunities.
Rajesh Miranda, College of Medicine, asked about the bylaws for the College of Medicine stating if there are no active faculty committees and the bylaws are not approved by the faculty, can the administration re-write the bylaws? The Provost responded stating this did not come from her office. Dr. Benedik, Vice Provost, stated that the university rules do not specify what will happen if faculty cannot agree as the Dean and faculty should compromise. The Provost continued stating that the Dean of Faculties Office is working closely to help mediate the situation.
Walter Daugherity, College of Engineering, requested the Provost’s perspective on using things like MOOKS and EdX. The Provost responded stating that there needs to be more discussion and talks about academic innovation to determine what best makes sense for A&M.
Jose Fernandez-Solis, College of Architecture, asked Dr. Fierke about issues pertaining to growth and university studies programs. The Provost indicated that we’re not typically growing on main campus and the university needs to monitor growth in regards to how it affects programs. She is a believer in interdisciplinary programs, but we need to find the best way to support them.
The Chair of Legislative Committee for Graduate & Professional Student Council asked the Provost to elaborate on enhancing the graduation rate. Her response was that she was mainly referring to undergraduate students and increasing those who graduate in four, five, and six years. For graduate students, the university has a higher standard for admission and once we invest in them, we’d like for them to graduate.
Geoffrey Booth, College of Architecture, asked the Provost about how the faculty can help her transition to the new position. Dr. Fierke responded by encouraging faculty to participate in the listening tours and help her gain information. She charged the faculty to be more involved in talking about the direction the university should go.
Debjoyti Banerjee, University Libraries, asked for the Provost’s opinion on open access for scholarly information, particularly faculty publications. The Provost indicated a need for more information about what it would look like and how we could move forward with it. The challenge is to balance open access, which is clearly a good thing, with the economics of publications.
Dr. Fierke concluded by thanking the Faculty Senate for their service.
Speaker Comments
In Process for hiring assistant; over 30 applicants; reviewing and making decisions relatively soon; lot of things office can move forward with once we have a full time person in that positionRequest during Committee of the whole for committee reports (1 minute statement) on charges they are working on; should be on website soon
Meeting with caucus leaders; very engaged and ready to work with departments and faculty
EC looking into the Haven training for our students; questions about the information collected by pre- and post-training survey; tied to registration which is going to be an issue for advisors; looking for justification on data collection
Transportation Services requiring difficult conversations including retiree permits. If you have issues, we can help get an explanation for you.
Approval of September 11, 2017, Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes
The September 11, 2017 meeting minutes were approved as submitted.Consent Agenda
GRADUATE COUNCIL – GC REPORT – September 2017New Courses
ASTR 600 Order-of-Magnitude Astrophysics
INTA 643 International Organizations
INTA 688 Alliance Politics: Theory and Practice
STAT 624 Databases and Computational Tools Used in Big Data
Attachment B
Motion Passed
FS.34.044
Change in Courses
BICH 603 Principles of Biochemistry and Biophysics
HPCH 636 Study in China: Global Health Experience
MGMT 679 International Business Policy
WFSC 639 Wildlife Ecotoxicology
Attachment C
Motion Passed
FS.34.045
Change in Curriculum
College of Science
Department of Statistics
CERT-CG6: Applied Statistics- Certificate
Attachment D
Motion Passed
FS.34.046
Change in Curriculum
College of Education & Human Development
Department of Educational Psychology
CERT-CG43: Prevention Science-Certificate
Attachment E
Motion Passed
FS.34.047
Change in Curriculum
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
CERT-CG39: Military Land Sustainability- Certificate
Attachment F
Motion Passed
FS.34.048
Change in Curriculum
College of Education & Human Development
Department of Educational Administration & Human Resource Development
EDD-EDAD: Doctor of Education in Educational Administration
Attachment G
Motion Passed
FS.34.049
Change in Curriculum
School of Law
JD-JDLW: Juris Doctor
Attachment H
Motion Passed
FS.34.050
Special Consideration Item
College of Education & Human Development
Department of Educational Psychology
CERT-LMH: Latino Mental Health- Certificate
Attachment I
Motion Passed
FS.34.051
Special Consideration Item
Bush School of Government & Public Service
Department of International Affairs
MIP-INTP: Executive Master of International Policy in International Policy
Attachment J
Motion Passed
FS.34.052
Program Inactivation
Mays Business School
Department of Information & Operations Management
CERT-CG52: Supply Chain Management- Certificate (Mays MBA & MS Students Only)
Attachment K
Motion Passed
FS.34.053
UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM COMMITTEE – UCC REPORT – September 2017
New Courses
EVEN 399 Mid-Curriculum Professional Development
EVEN 400 Design Problems in Environmental Engineering I
EVEN 401 Design Problems in Environmental Engineering II
EVEN 404 Environmental Unit Operations Laboratory
Attachment L
Motion Passed
FS.34.054
Change in Courses
ECMT 461 Economic Data Analysis
NFSC 365 Nutritional Physiology of Vitamins and Minerals
NFSC 404 Nutrition Assessment and Planning
Attachment M
Motion Passed
FS.34.055
Course Inactivations
MUSC 354 Individual Performance-- Voice II
THAR 360 Lighting Design
WFSC 423 Aquaculture
WFSC 426 Aquatic Animal Nutrition
Attachment N
Motion Passed
FS.34.056
Change in Curriculum
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Department of Nutrition and Food Science
BS-FSTC-FSO+: Food Science and Technology- BS, Food Science Option
Attachment O
Motion pulled for further discussion; sent back to college for revisions
Change in Curriculum
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Department of Nutrition and Food Science
BS-FSTC-INO+: Food Science and Technology- BS, Food Industry Option
Attachment P
Motion pulled for further discussion; sent back to college for revisions
Change in Curriculum
College of Engineering
BS-ITDE: Interdisciplinary Engineering-BS
Attachment Q
Motion Passed
FS.34.057
Change in Curriculum
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Department of Nutrition and Food Science
BS-NUTR-DPD: Nutrition-BS, Didactic Program in Diabetes Track
Attachment R
Motion pulled for further discussion; sent back to college for revisions
Change in Curriculum
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Department of Nutrition and Food Science
BS-NUTR-GNO: Nutrition-BS, General Nutrition Track
Attachment S
Motion pulled for further discussion; sent back to college for revisions
Change in Curriculum
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Department of Nutrition and Food Science
BS-NUTR-NSO: Nutrition-BS, Molecular and Experimental Track
Attachment T
Motion pulled for further discussion; sent back to college for revisions
Special Consideration Item
College of Liberal Arts
Department of Anthropology
BS-ANTH: Anthropology-BS
Attachment U
Motion Passed
FS.34.058
Special Consideration Item
College of Engineering
Department of Civil Engineering
BS-EVEN: Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering
Attachment V
Motion Passed
FS.34.059
Texas A&M University at Galveston
Special Consideration Item
Texas A&M University at Galveston
Department of Marin Science
Minor-CLBS: Clinical Laboratory Science
Attachment W
Motion Passed
FS.34.060
W-Courses – September 2017
Courses submitted for W Certification:
ANTH 427 Human Variation
BAEN 480 Biological & Agricultural Engineering Design II
HLTH 415 Health Education Methodology
NVSC 402 Leadership and Ethics
UGST 405 Thesis Writing
WGST 401 Feminist Theory
Courses submitted for C certification:
HORT 481 Seminar
Courses submitted for W recertification:
SPAN 320 Introduction to Hispanic Literature
Attachment X
Motion Passed
FS.34.061
__________________________________End of Consent Agenda____________________________________
Committee Reports
Faculty Senate Personnel & Welfare Committee Campus Climate Survey ReportAttachment Y
FS.34.062
Tim Davis, College of Engineering, pointed out that if people are saying they have concealed weapons, then they are not concealed. He asked about the policy for concealed carry and if individuals can publicly state they are carrying. Vice Provost Benedik clarified that it’s implemented by the state and no they cannot disclose they are carrying. Individuals may call the police if they say they are carrying just like if they showed the weapon. By state law, concealed does not mean that you cannot see it in the belt. It means it’s mostly covered.
Tamara Powers, College of Science, asked what is going to be done with the survey information. The response was that the committee wanted to know the climate on campus. The data has been given to Speaker Price and the committee felt like this was good background to see if anything has changed in a few years. Powers pointed out that it wasn’t a climate survey as it was broad and doesn’t ask how you are personally feeling.
Joshua Shifrinson, Bush School, questioned how did people responded to the survey and pointed out that since they are just opting in, the responses are bimodal from people who are passionate on either side of the issue which does not make for a very good baseline.
Jose Fernandez-Solis, College of Architecture and chair of Personnel & Welfare Committee stated that if we wanted to do this research again, faculty are welcome to join committee and help us draft survey with new perspective.
Piers Chapman, College of Geosciences, asked about how many incidents have actually been reported to University Police Department.
Catharina Laporte, College of Liberal Arts, requested that the next time a survey is done that race and ethnicity be separated out since they are two different things. Additionally, she questioned how having faculty who are feeling fearful aligns with our motto of being “fearless” at the University.
Cong Kang, TAMU Galveston, asked about what constitutes accidental vs. intentional disclosure regarding campus carry. Speaker Price explained that accidental exposure is from raising shirt or under a jacket. However, that does not mean that faculty member cannot report it. What police will do depends on what law permits them to do and they will have to investigate.
Unfinished Business
Attachments O, P, R, S, &T
Eric Rowell, College of Science, spoke on behalf of the college Caucus. All five items are BS in Nutrition. Part of change being voted upon is to move from two courses in Calculus to any TAMU course in the math core. The College of Science has concern because core includes philosophy course which is a logic course that is not appropriate for a Bachelor of Science. It was requested that these items be tabled for further discussion with College of Agriculture & Life Sciences.
Nancy Turner, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, indicated they’ve been using PHIL 240 all along for several degrees in the college and it’s in the core as a math course that can be used. The requested change just making it clearer so they don’t have to do course petitions for individuals coming in with different majors.
Eric Rowell, College of Science, pointed out that the previous curriculum has specific calculus courses. Additionally, there has been a similar situation with Forestry in the past and after discussions with them, they agreed that any course in the core with a MATH prefix. There is some precedence and should be discussion between the two colleges.
Motion to table all five items. Motion passed.
Old Business
New Business
Information & Discussion Only (not to be voted upon)
Committee of the Whole
Speaker Price asked each Faculty Senate committee to provide a brief update as to what they are working on.- Planning Committee- looking at the integration of I-School to the University and how that will operate and affect faculty; researching other schools at other institutions as well as other interdisciplinary programs at TAMU to make is successful
- Legislative Affairs Committee- keeping in contact with Senator Schwartner and Representative Raney; working with them as they deal with special items; making sure faculty voice is part of their background information
- Personnel & Welfare Committee- looking at academic analytics; decided to look at how that if affecting faculty promotion and tenure; 3 or 4 other additional issues we are addressing
- Academic Affairs- several issues, but top two are the issue with faculty status at Health Science Center and academic analytics
- Budget Information Committee- have annual meeting with Jerry Strawser to talk through a series of questions; second meeting with top financial decision maker in the university also scheduled
- Core Curriculum- reorganized into three subcommittees looking at (1) international and cultural diversity and cultural discourse implementation process; (2) new core certification; (3) recertifying courses to ensure appropriate materials are provided. Also beginning to look at assessment which is changing in terms of the Core. SACSCOC requiring core curriculum to go through institutional effectiveness and continuous improvement; trying to figure out best way to move forward with that.
- Research Committee- making a recommendation to the full senate for open access for journals and library initiatives; working on improving the relationship with CPI
Walter Daugherity, College of Engineering, suggested a committee review the post-tenure review rule and processes including if the Senate can vote on the issue.
David Earnest, College of Medicine, provided an update on the situation with College of Medicine faculty. He mentioned being concerned about the HSC Faculty Senate Caucus being disbanded by the administration. Speaker Price stated that it was not the administration, but the rules of the Senate. There is nothing prohibiting the HSC Caucuses from meeting together, but each college has their own vote.
Walter Daugherity, College of Engineering, asked where are college Bylaws are posted. Some colleges have them and some don’t. Dr. Lupiani, Associate Dean of Faculties, stated most colleges don’t have bylaws, but many departments do.