I.            Call to Order

 

Mr. Welther (in the absence of Ms. Cantu) called the November 19, 2004 meeting of the Academic Senate to order at 1:10 p.m. in SETB 2.548.

 

Members of the Senate in attendance included: Dr. Betsy Boze, Mr. Roberto Cortina (s), Dr. Charles Dameron, Mr. Dough Ferrier, Ms. Linda Fossen, Mr. Victor Fuhro, Dr. Therese Gallegos (s), Mr. Bill Harris (ex-officio), Ms. Mabel Hockaday (s), Dr. Gerald Hollier (s), Dr. Edward Hymson (*), Mr. Joe Lacher (s), Dr. Charles Lackey, Ms. Julie Larson (*), Dr. Jose Martin, Mr. Domingo Molina (s), Dr. Rafael Otero (s), Dr. Gerson Peltz (s), Mr. Jay Phillips, Dr. Renee Rubin (s), Dr. Carl Stockton, Ms. Thelma Sullivan (s), Dr. John Sutterby (s), Mr. Tom Welther (*), and Dr. Paul-Hermann Zieschang (s).

 

Visitors included:  Dr. Jeffrey Coleman.

 

 

 

II.           Review and Approval of the Minutes from the October 22, 2004 Academic

               Senate Meeting

 

Mr. Welther called for review of the minutes from the October 22, 2004 Academic Senate meeting.  Before the minutes were approved, Ms. Larson thanked Ms. Phelps for recording the minutes in Ms. Larson’s absence.  Hearing no corrections or additions, the minutes were approved as distributed.

 

 

 

III.          Senate President’s Report

 

Ms. Cantu had three items in her report.

 

  • TSC Board Meeting November 11, 2004- the only business before the TSC Board was a canvas of the results of the bond election, which had an affirmative vote of 56%.  The next meeting of the Board of Trustees is November 22.

 

  • University Council November 3, 2004- Hector Castillo and Ruth Ann Ragland conducted a debriefing of the successful bond election.  The discussion on “what we did right” centered on the team effort to bring information to voters in a variety of modes.  Much credit was given to students, faculty and staff involvement.  The discussion of “what’s next” focused on ways to keep the public informed about UTB/TSC, campaign to foster voter registration and voting as part of the campus culture, and consideration of the expansion of the TSC district.  The discussion on “how do we thank folks?” included personal notes, ads in the media and UTB/TSC promotional literature, and an open house.  The last discussion “voting beyond the immediate time”  identified strategies to move registered voters to real voters in future elections at all levels from local to national.

 

  • Holiday Social December 10- this year’s Holiday Social will be held in the Gran Salon on Friday, December 10 beginning at 6 p.m.  There will be a sit-down dinner, door prizes, and dancing to the music of Gilbert Fasci.  Tickets are $10 per person and may be purchased from Ethel Cantu.  Join your UTB/TSC colleagues for an evening of holiday cheer and camaraderie.

 

 

 

IV.           Texas Council of Faculty Senates (TCoFS) Report

 

Ms. Larson reported that she attended the Texas Council of Faculty Senates meeting in Austin on October 22-23, 2004.  Ms. Larson reported that the Council heard from four speakers about various issues.  She reported that the Council heard from Ruth Flowers, Executive Director of the Association of University Professors, who talked about academic freedom and the importance of faculty to belong to some organization representing faculty.  Ms. Larson reported that the second speaker was Dr. Catherine Parsoneault from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board who presented an update on the work of the Coordinating Board and talked about the recently approved AA in Teaching.  Ms. Larson reported that the third speaker who addressed the Council was Dr. Flavis Killebrew, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost, West Texas A&M University.  Dr, Killebrew spoke about the funding of higher education in Texas.  Ms. Larson reported that the last speaker was Dr. Raymund Paredes, Commissioner of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, who spoke about his view of the his job and the work of the Coordinating Board.

 

 

V.            Partnership Reports

 

A.     Business Affairs Partnership Committee- no report.

 

B.     Institutional Effectiveness Partnership Committee- no report.

 

 

 

VI.           Appointments to Admissions Appeal Committee

 

Mr. Welther reported that eight faculty members volunteered to serve on the Admissions Appeal Committee.  The Executive Committee of the Academic Senate recommended the following four people to serve:  Gayle Brogdon from the School of Education, Bea Castillo from the School of Business, Marty Lewis from the College of Liberal Arts, and Laura Villarreal from the College of Science, Math, and Technology.  Mr. Welther said that the nominees need to be approved by the Senate.  Dr. Hymson moved to approve the nominees, with a second from Dr. Hollier.  The motion carried, and the nominees were approved.

 

 

 

VII.          HOOP Policies

 

There were three HOOP policies under consideration at this meeting.

 

A.  HOOP 5.2.11- “Graduate Committee”- this was the second reading of

HOOP 5.2.11- “Graduate Committee” before the Academic Senate.  After

senators had a opportunity to review the policy, Dr. Hymson moved to

approve the policy.  Dr. Peltz seconded the motion and the motion carried.

The policy was approved.

 

B.  HOOP 5.2.12- “Biological, Chemical and Radiation Safety Committee”-

this was the second reading of HOOP 5.2.12- “Biological, Chemical and

Radiation Safety Committee” before the Academic Senate.  After reviewing

the policy, senators discussed the policy.  Dr. Hymson said he was concerned

with the words “undue hazards”.  Mr. Philips suggested that the words,

undue hazards’ be replaced with “within safety protocols”.  Senators agreed

to the change.  With that in mind, Mr. Lacher moved to approve the policy as

change.  Dr. Hymson seconded the motion and the motion carried.  The

policy was approved as changed.

 

C.  HOOP 7.5.1- “Selection of Department Chairs and Academic Program

Directors”- this was the first reading of HOOP 7.5.1- “Selection of

Department Chairs and Academic Program Directors” before the Academic Senate. 

Dr. Otero presented the policy and pointed out the changes to the policy.  Basically the changes to the policy occurred under clause “B”- Selection of the Department Chairs”. After reviewing the policy, senators discussed the policy.  Dr. Boze asked about the definition of faculty.  Dr. Otero replied that faculty are tenured and tenure-track faculty.  Dr. Davis suggested that perhaps the ballot received by a faculty member voting for a department chair could have a box supporting the candidate and a box marked none of the above so a faculty member could have a choice.  Mr. Phillips said that when we consider policy we consider policy and we try not to put too much procedure into the policy.  He said we need to allow for flexibility.   Dr. Gallegos wondered if people want policy or procedure.  Dr. Rubin asked for information on what the senators wanted to terms of clarification of this policy.  Two issues seemed to surface:  clarification on how long an interim chair can serve and the election process for a department chair (referring to Dr. Davis’ comment on the formulation of the ballot).  Since this was the first reading, senators agreed to send this policy back to the committee for clarification of the issues pointed by the Senate.  This policy will return to the Senate for a second reading.

                         

 

VIII.         New Business

 

There were two items of “New Business”.

 

  • Mr. Molina asked that when appointments are made to committees technical division faculty be considered.  Mr. Welther replied that technical division faculty are considered as evidenced by Bea Castillo being appointed to the Admissions Appeal Committee.

 

  • Mr. Harris commented on the recent email calling for part-time faculty needed for UTB/TSC Community Outreach sites in Port Isabel, Raymondville, and San Benito.  Mr. Harris said that while he understands the need to staff outreach sites, he believes that we need to take care of staffing needs at the main campus first.

 

 

IX.           Provost/VPAA’s Report

 

Dr. Martin had six items in his report.

 

  • The most important event, since October 22 of course, was the “bond election”.  We are facing major challenges related to both the philosophy and the funding of higher education, and the election does not provide answers to all of those challenges.

 

However, that result is a very important element as we address the challenge.  I want to thank everyone for what they did as we all strive to provide information that allowed voters to make an informed decision, and I particularly want to thank the members of the faculty and the professional staff.

 

One of the poorest communities in the country voted, once again, to tax itself so as to improve the chances of the members of the community to access educational pathways to realize their personal and professional potential, and I thank you all for making us deserving of the community trust, and I vow to do everything to continue being worthy of that trust.

 

  • We have received official notification from the THECB of their authorization to grant an MS degree in Mathematics.  We want to congratulate the faculty of the Department of Math, in particular  Dr. Paul-Hermann Zieschang, who with his colleagues, Dr. Jorge Navarro, Dr. Jerzy Mogilski and others prepared the submission.  The Math Department has an extraordinary record in many different areas:  its work on the alignment of curriculum in the P-16 initiative, its major achievements in the improvement and effectiveness of its departmental offerings, its extraordinary and legendary output- as you know, we are constantly among the top two institutions in the US in the granting of mathematic degrees to Hispanics, and its effectiveness in granting professional pathways to its own people.  Dr. Deloria Nanze- Davis should be thanked and congratulated for this effort.
  • Scorpio Online training will take place on January 13, 2005 from 2-3 p.m.  There will also be a professional development workshop called “Watch Your Wallet and Computer sponsored by the Division of Business Affairs.

 

  • University email service will be upgraded and be ready for the spring.

 

  • There will be a major effort to upgrade Colleague during the holiday break.

 

  • New academic advisors are in place.  There have been issues of space for the new advisors and those issues have been addressed.  There is a request for collaboration between faculty and advisors to improve retention and graduation.

 

 

X.            Announcements

 

There were two announcements.

 

  • Mr. Philips, on behalf of Dr. Nelson, announced the 7th Annual UTB/TSC Research Symposium will be held on Friday, April 15, 2005.  Mr. Phillips has information if anyone is interested.

 

  • Mr. Welther announced that the next Academic Senate meeting is at 1 p.m. on December 17, 2004 in the SETB 3rd Floor Conference Room.

 

 

XI.           Adjournment

 

The meeting stood adjourned at 3:30 p.m.

 

 

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

Julie Ann Larson, Academic Senate Secretary