October 11, 2021

TAMU Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes

October 11, 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 fifth meeting of the 39^th 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. He then proceeded to swear in newly elected and reelected Senators who were not at the September meeting.

GUEST SPEAKER

Speaker Rice welcomed guest speaker Mr. John Sharp, Chancellor of the Texas A&M System. With Chancellor Sharp was Dr. James Hallmark, Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs and Mr. Billy Hamilton, Deputy Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer.

Chancellor Sharp spoke briefly before answering questions. He raised the issue of the contradictory vaccination mandates from the Texas Governor (cannot mandate vaccinations) and President Biden (federal contractors must be vaccinated). As a federal contractor receiving two billion dollars in funding, Texas A&M likely needs to comply with the federal mandate. The Office of the General Counsel is working with both entities to determine the course of action.

He shared that faculty members have expressed to him the interest in taking graduate courses at other system schools. He is looking into the possibility of making this a perk, especially for online programs.

Questions asked concerned the topics of transportation (highways and high speed train), the consulting contract with MGT and the possibility of merging colleges, addressing COVID on campus and in the classrooms, funding of universities in Texas, and the level of the system’s autonomy from the legislature.

Questions were posed by the following Senators: Senator Jorge Alvarado, College of Engineering; Senator Tracy Vemulapalli, College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences; Senator Adam Kolasinski, Mays Business School; Senator Catharina Laporte, College of Liberal Arts; Senator Tracy Hammond, College of Engineering; Speaker Dale Rice, College of Liberal Arts; Senator Rob Carpenter, College of Medicine; Senator Joan Wolf, College of Liberal Arts; and Senator Terri Pantuso, College of Liberal Arts.

Speaker Rice thanked Chancellor Sharp and his team 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.39.065

Dr. 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 Senators posed a question or offered comments:
Senator Stephanie McCartney, College of Science; Senator Asha Rao, College of Science; Senator Matt Taylor, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences; and Senator Andy Banerjee, College of Engineering.
Speaker Rice thanked Dr. Widmer and Dr. Garza.

SPEAKER COMMENTS

Speaker Rice began his comments by acknowledging the difficulty of the semester and ongoing concerns related to COVID. He referenced the MGT consulting contract with President Banks that has been circulating and affirmed his belief that faculty deserve to be heard and their views taken seriously in the final outcome. The Senate will continue to push for shared governance on this issue.
He further shared that the new chair of the Board of Regents was invited to meet with the Executive Committee and he declined with the disappointing response that he would attend when the Senate is meeting in person again.
Several announcements included:

The Senate would be hearing from the three Executive Committee candidates later in the meeting, prior to voting.
The Provost appointed a task force to develop a policy concerning the observers in Canvas classes. Four Senators are serving on this taks force: Janice Epstein, College of Science; Patti Smith, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences; Terri Pantuso, College of Liberal Arts; and Andy Tag, College of Science.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The motion passed to approve the September 13, 2021 minutes as presented. Attachment B – Passed – FS.39.066

CONSENT AGENDA

The motion passed to approve the October 11, 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.39.088
The 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

Election for Vacant Seat on the Executive Committee
The three candidates for the vacant seat on the Executive Committee were Senator Daniel Collins, College of Science; Senator Trevor Hale, Mays Business School; and Senator Michael Howell, Bush School of Government and Public Policy. Each presented a brief statement on their candidacy. This was followed by a vote in which no one received a majority, leading to a run-off between Senator Dan Collins and Senator Michael Howell. Senator Howell was elected to serve on the Executive Committee for the remainder of the year.

Proposed Revisions to Student Rules
Student Rule 16 – Honors Program – Attachment D – Passed – FS.39.089
Senator Kathryn Falvo, TAMU Galveston, shared information in support of this rule revision. A question was asked by Senator Adam Kolasinski, Mays Business School. The motion was made to approve Student Rule 16, Honors Program, which passed.

Graduate & Professional Student Government’s (GPSG) Resolutions – Attachments E & F – For Informational Review – FS.39.090
There were no comments or questions related to the resolutions.

Proposed Academic Calendar for 2022-2023 – Attachment G – For Informational Review – FS.39.091
Comments and questions were offered by the following Senators: Senator Stephanie McCartney, College of Science; Stefanie Harris, College of Liberal Arts; Senator Megan Reynolds, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences; Catharina Laporte, College of Liberal Arts; Senator Grace Townsend, TAMU Galveston; and Senator Theresa Ofili, College of Pharmacy. Joe Pettibon, Vice President for Enrollment and Academic Services, was present to answer questions and provide information.

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

Speaker-Elect Patti Smith convened the Committee of the Whole. She reminded the Senate that issues of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) remain important to the Faculty Senate and the campus community. She encouraged Senators to use Committee of the Whole to report positive actions or items of concern on this issue. This will be a regular feature this year in the Committee of the Whole.

Senator Tracy Vemulapalli, College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, asked if the Senate might receive an update on the status of the library’s contract and relationship with Elsevier.

Senator Janice Epstein, College of Science, expressed concern over new processes used by Disability Resources since COVID, and asked if the Executive Committee (EC) might follow up on these problems.

Senator Alvarado, College of Engineering, asked what role the Senate and Executive Committee would have in the potential merger of the colleges of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Speaker Rice stated that until the report is released and President Banks proposes specific actions, no one knows if this merger will be pursued. Once this becomes known, the EC will be very engaged in providing feedback and input.

Senator Tracy Hammond, College of Engineering, shared information about an inaugural DEI event held on September 17, 2021: the Biannual Texas Land Grant Day, dedicated to building a bridge between TAMU and Prairie View A&M campuses.

Senator Joan Wolf, College of Liberal Arts, stressed the Senate’s role shared governance and emphasized the need for the Senate to be involved in things such as the potential merger between Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Senator Adam Kolasinski, Mays Business School, emphasized that there was more that the university can do on COVID, specifically more testing. He asked that the EC consider a resolution on this.

Speaker Dale Rice, College of Liberal Arts, responded to some concerns he had received prior to the meeting. He assured the Senate that he had repeatedly encouraged the administration to conduct more COVID testing. He further shared that due to low attendance at previous pop-up vaccination sites, the administration is reluctant to hold more. Of concern to many is the discrepancy between the reporting on the county COVID site and the TAMU COVID site, with only 1-2 students self-reporting the week prior. Speaker Rice had heard from multiple people that many students are not getting tested on campus in order to avoid self-reporting positive results.

Senator Rob Carpenter, College of Medicine, shared that the recent event for flu and COVID vaccinations saw an increase in people receiving their first dose of the COVID vaccination.

Senator Andrew Klein, College of Geosciences, provided background on the issue of creating a fall break on the academic calendar, stating that has been considered for several years, but had been put on hold due to the pandemic.

Senator Asha Rao, College of Sciences, called attention to the report on the academic calendar created by the Academic Affairs Committee, hoping it would be considered by the administration. Speaker Rice informed the Senate that the report would be going to administrators, and Interim Provost Scott confirmed that they would consider the recommendations.

Interim Provost Scott shared that there is a backlog in pursuing the students who did not complete the first round of testing this semester, as testing 70,000 was a huge undertaking. The administration lacks the resources to do more testing of the whole campus community.

Speaker-Elect Smith returned the meeting to Speaker Rice.

ADJOURNMENT

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