TAMU Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes

April 8, 2024

CALL TO ORDER

Speaker Dr. Tracy Hammond called the tenth meeting of the 41^st session to order at 3:00pm the meeting was conducted via Zoom.

Senator Andrew Klein monitored the raised hand function and the chat. Zoom’s registration function was used to track attendance.

SPEAKER COMMENTS

First, I want to give full respect to our faculty in Qatar. The faculty at Qatar, are TAMU faculty, just as any faculty in Texas is TAMU faculty. They are part of our family. We are in a very difficult time right now, with not much leverage. But I will say what I have said to the press that the TAMU administration and Qatar Foundation are working hard to support the TAMU faculty in Qatar. As President Welsh has said, the claims about their work are wrong and based on false information. We, I included, have been meeting with the faculty every week, and they have just asked me to visit in two weeks to help understand the individual needs of each faculty member. This is a very complicated time, and I see a lot of our administration working 24/7 to help our faculty over in Qatar, including providing support letters to individual faculty members.

Next, I would like to address our email list, faculty discuss. Faculty have been posting without thought to the effects of their posts. I understand that the world is unfair. But that does not mean you can post libelous posts about our faculty. I would like to create a faculty group to moderate the list. I am hoping that no posts ever need moderation, but let's remember that any post represents Texas A&M University.

First off, this is a personal statement and not one regarding any role I may play at the Texas A&M University System or its affiliated universities, agencies, and centers. 

First, I need to state that not everyone has the same definition of DEI.  I want to start by referencing SB17 stating that only merit should be considered in hiring.   I am in 100% agreement with this statement. Before SB17, after the chancellor stated that all hiring should be 100% merit, I stood up and made the following statement: "All of you are part of our faculty hiring committees. You watch the faculty candidate talks. You participate in our faculty discussions about the candidates. And you know that this is true when I say this. At the end of the day, we always hire the best person for the job. It is only about merit. Nothing else." Then, my department head followed up, and he agreed that was true. 

So, I want to emphasize that this has always been true across all of your departments. And those of you who serve on faculty decision-making committees, prospective candidate discussions, etc. I hope you have always made sure that that was the case as well.

Second, I recognize that DEI has taken on many new meanings over the past. And I have no intention of engaging DEI in the way SB17 has said we should not. I would like to clarify what I think DEI is from my experience in research and teaching that I do, to ensure there is no confusion and no misunderstanding in future conversations, as I have seen a lot of miscommunication and misinformation recently regarding DEI.

What DEI is NOT

Before I say what DEI is to me. I would like to first state what DEI is not.

DEI is NOT: Hiring someone for any reason other than merit. The best person for the job should always be hired. Period. Any other reason sets the person up for failure, both undermining their successes and causing others to doubt their abilities for success.

DEI is NOT: Giving someone something “easier” or something they think someone would “prefer” because of social or cultural identity or demographics. For example, I often ask people from other schools for insight into how to address the low Hispanic and female student representation in computer science. I often hear responses such as “When on a team, I will assign them the easier part of the project, or the visualization part of the project.” That is inappropriate and insulting. 

DEI is NOT: Having a different standard for individuals who identify as members of a social or cultural identity group. For example, a female computer science faculty colleague shared with me that when she was in school, she was assigned to an all-girls project team. She was fine with this, and her experience on the team was fine. However, when it came to the time of project evaluation, she felt like she was being held to a lower standard being on the girls' team. This was not okay with her.

DEI is NOT: Expressing surprise when someone performs above “expectations for their social or cultural identity group”. For example, I regularly have been told throughout my academic career how unusual it is for a woman (me) to be so good at math. I began internalizing this and my processing of these repeated comments influenced my performance which led to worrying about other people’s perception of me (by the way, this is what psychologists call “stereotype threat”).

DEI is NOT: Asking someone who identifies as a member of a social and cultural identity group to speak for all members of their group. We should not assume that the perspective of someone from any social or cultural identity group represents that demographic. Would you do that for someone who is part of the majority and dominant group?

So then, What is DEI? 

DEI IS:

DEI IS: Being mindful that history, life experiences, neurodiversity, and cycles of socialization both personally and professionally across and within disciplines, etc. have unintended consequences.

DEI IS: Measuring differences that may unintentionally occur from unconscious bias. For instance, when I ask my students to think about the unintended ethical consequences of AI technologies, they mention how facial recognition technologies don’t work well on black and brown faces, causing inequities among asylum seekers. Recently deployed chatbots have learned to parrot biased information about people based on stereotypes. AI systems are built by and trained by humans, who are imperfect and biased. It is important to be aware of this and its potential repercussions.

DEI IS: Performing research across our disciplines to identify what may be causing these differences to occur. 

DEI IS: Creating braver spaces where our students, staff, and faculty can share their own experiences relevant to DEI for perspective-taking and relevant action. When students graduate from TAMU, our society and their future workplaces expect them to demonstrate cultural competency and emotional intelligence. Companies are well aware that diverse staff and teams make significantly better products and more money than non-diverse companies. In my class, we discuss this from a frame of looking at their own and their peers’ natural talents through the CliftonStrengths model, making it clear that everyone brings something different to the team, and that is a good thing.

DEI IS: Creating courageous spaces where members of our campus community feel a sense of belonging to engage in uncomfortable conversations and learn from conflict. Research shows that the first two greatest dysfunctions of a team are lack of trust, followed by fear of conflict. Colleges and universities are learning spaces, and it is easy to quickly judge what we don’t fully comprehend. Our campus community shares different life experiences. Thus, it is important to be mindful of where we are so that we model an inclusive campus where a sense of belonging is present for all to see, feel, touch, and hear.  Inclusivity is for everyone. In my classes, I interview every single student one-on-one every semester to get to know them as individuals and ask them what I can be doing better as an instructor.  

Most importantly and finally, DEI is often invisible. Every single one of us has had different life experiences, and that includes neurodiversity. We don’t know what we cannot see, and it is unfair for us to expect one to announce their differences. DEI is meant to increase fairness in all walks of life. DEI is for everyone. Inclusivity includes everyone.

DEI actions have not always been perfect, and there may have been many missteps in the past, but inclusivity is important, and we need to keep moving forward.

There were several comments by various senators after the speaker comments regarding the comments content.

GUEST SPEAKER

Dr. Nancy Farenwald, Associate Vice President for University Health Services provided an update on new JED Campus Program (10 minutes) 

https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:fb6b0657-5426-3668-bc45-e53af8dc5487  - FS 41.415

Mr. Ethan Braden, Vice President and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer (15 minutes) introduced himself and updated the Senate on the mission and vision of the Marketing and Communication across Texas A&M.

https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:7d8a36d9-cd7a-3553-bcf0-3b6f00bcd43f – FS 41.416

APPROVAL OF MINUTES 

March 18, 2024 , minutes were approved as distributed. - Attachment B  - Approved  FS.41.417

CONSENT AGENDA 

The April 8, 2024 Consent Agenda was approved as presented.

Graduate Council – Passed FS.41.418

New Courses 

INTA 660: Diplomacy and International Sports

INTA 740: Latin American Politics and Regional Affairs

INTA 741: People, Regimes and Power

PSAA 628: Professional Local Government Management

Change in Courses  - Passed FS.41.419

BAEN 683: Peer-Review Process and Publication

Change in Programs – Passed FS.41.420

Bush School of Government and Public Service

Department of Public Service and Administration

MPS-PSAA: Executive Master of Public Service and Administration in Public Service and Administration

Change in Programs – Passed FS.41.421

Bush School of Government and Public Service

Department of Finance

MS-FINC: Master of Science in Finance

Special Consideration – New Program Proposal – Passed FS. 41.422

Bush School of Government and Public Service        

Department of International Affairs

BA/MIA-INTA-BIA: 5-Year Bachelor of Arts International Affairs and Master of International Affairs

Undergraduate Curriculum Committee 

New Courses 

Change in Courses – Passed FS.41.423

BMEN 469: Entrepreneurial Pathways in Medical Devices

GEOL 440: Engineering Geology

MATH 365: Structure of Mathematics I

MATH 366: Structure of Mathematics II

MATH 367: Structure of Mathematics III

SCMT 361: Operations Planning and Control

SPMT 370: Fan Behavior in Sport

VTPP 452: Fetal and Embryo Physiology

Change in Programs 

NONE

W&C Courses

Courses with C – Certification – Passed FS.41.424

ISEN 460-C: Capstone Senior Design

Courses with C – Recertification

NONE

Courses with W – Certification – Passed FS.41.425 

ACCT 407-W: Auditing

GEOG 309-W: Geography of Energy

MARE 452-W: Senior Design Project II

OCNG 303-W: Professional Communication in Oceanography

PHIL 305-W: Philosophy of the Natural Sciences

PHIL 336-W: Advanced Topics in Philosophy of Law

Courses with W – Recertification – Passed FS.41.426

COMM 453-W: Communication and Video Games

COMM 460-W: Communication and Contemporary Issues

COMM 470-W: Communication in Health Care Contexts

VIST 375-W: Foundations of Visualization

End of Consent Agenda_____________________________

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

COMMITTEE REPORTS –Core Curriculum Council Report – Attachment C

Core Curriculum Recertification: - Passed FS.41.427

Foundational Component Area:  Life & Physical Sciences

ECCB 215-GE: Fundamentals of Ecology--Laboratory

NEW BUSINESS

Student Rule 16.1.1 – University Honors Program – Attachment D1 – Passed FS.41.428

Spring 2024 Degree Candidate Count –Attachment D2 – Passed FS.41.429

TAMU Main Campus -                                   10,561

(Includes: AG, AC, AT, GB, BA, EH, EN, VF, VT)

TAMU Galveston -                                               182

TAMU Qatar -                                                      131

TAMU Law -                                                        400

TAMU Health Science Center-                          1,166

            Includes: DT, MN, NS, PM, PH

            Total Degree Candidates for Spring 2024        12,440

The following Committee Chairs provided updates on the work of their committees.

• Legislative Affairs Committee – Speaker Elect Angie Price
• Elections Committee – Senator Kolasinski
• Planning Committee – Senator Catharina Laporte
• Bylaws Committee – Senator Mark Sicilio
• Core Curriculum Council – Senator Tamy Frank-Cannon
• Budget Committee – Senator Irene Moyna

Google update:

Changes to Collaborative Platform Storage in Higher Education Presentation

INFORMATIONAL ITEM

NONE

DISCUSSION ITEM

NONE

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

Speaker Elect Price – College of Engineering, shared about the Aggie Spirit Award and how Senators have historically funded this award. While it’s  not a large monetary award,  it is a way to recognize with a plaque and a letter students who have shown extraordinary spirit through very trying circumstances, whether it be health or other external circumstances that have impacted their studies, and that they've come through remarkably to represent that true Aggie spirit.  Historically, the Senate has literally passed the hat in Senate meetings to collect the funds. Now we are going to pass the hat virtually. A QR code will be provided to Senators so they can donate funds. The requests for nominations for the Aggie Spirit award will be coming out soon.   An email will out to all the Senators and across the campus community. The nominations come through Senators. Other people may have a student whom they recognize that they feel really ought to be awarded the Aggie Spirit Award.

Senator Jorge Alvarado – College of Engineering, asked why the invitations to meet with some of the candidates for assistant Provost for Strategic Educational Partnerships were withdrawn and inquired as to the applications submitted for this position. Speaker-Elect Price- College of Engineering indicated that one of the candidates had withdrawn their application.

Speaker Tracy Hammond – College of Engineering, shared links for the Google Storage presentation, which will be added to the Faculty Senate website.

Senator Clint Magill – College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, mentioned DEI and the concerns surrounding it and the suggestion of doing a resolution.   Senator Jorge Alvarado, College of Engineering, asked if there is new terminology for DEI given by the legislation of just discussion among faculty.  Are there formal definitions?  Speaker Tracy Hammond, and Speaker Elect Price – College of Engineering made additional comments to the question of if there is a formal definition.  Further comments were made that faculty are still able to talk about or to teach DEI related things in their classes, we can’t have any programs.  It’s repositioning as Speaker Hammond talked about, how you make sure that people feel included.  Other discussion evolved that the State has limited us with SB.17. Senator Robert Carpenter – School of Medicine, mentioned discussion in the Legislative Affairs Committee and that there is an ongoing need for messaging from the administration of the University, including General Counsel about how SB.17 should be interpreted, as there is a great deal of misunderstanding of what is allowed, and with regard to first generation programming.  Senator Adam Kolasinski – Mays Business School, provided comments that DEI has often become synonymous with racial preferences, and that SB.17 is saying we can’t have racial preferences.  He doesn’t see anything in the bill that would preclude from having special programs for students from low income backgrounds.

ADJOURN 

5:03pm