Senate President’s Report

May 14, 2004

TSC Board Meeting

I attended the TSC Board meeting of April 22, 2004. The board first passed a resolution in honor of the late Federal Judge Filemon Vela who was remembered as a distinguished alumnus, advocate for education, and founder of the UTB/TSC Pre-Law Academy. The board next met in executive session to discuss real estate (land use for the Wellness, Recreation & Fitness Center & Ft. Brown Villa Condominium). When the board convened in open session, the board adopted a resolution and contract for purchase of the condominium. The board was also briefed on the Bahia Grande project by faculty members David Hicks and Elizabeth Heise. The TSC district elections were cancelled since there were no candidates opposing the three incumbents seeking reelection. The candidates were elected: Chester Gonzalez, Position 3, Eduardo Campirano, Position 4, and Rosemary Breedlove, Position 5. The board then considered a first reading on Investment Policy, but held no discussion. Under the Business Affairs Partnership Committee, VPAPA John Ronnau recommended acceptance of several items related to expenditures at ITECC, insurance policy renewal and SUJCD budget amendments. He recommended tabling the substantial completion for the ITECC fire alarm system and rejecting the bids for reconstruction and repairs of campus parking lots. All of these recommendations were passed at once, with no questions or discussion. The board then viewed a video update on the construction of ITECC and the Business and Education complex. President Garcia briefed the board on the last Futures Commission meeting and showed a video with excerpts from the meeting. President Garcia recognized Terry Tomlin as this year’s recipient of the Chancellor’s Council Outstanding Teaching Award and announced Al Richardson’s special community Arbor Day recognition. The board then passed a resolution in recognition of Trustee Mary Rose Cardenas for 20 years of service on the SUJCD Board of Trustees. President Garcia also announced Mary Rose Cardenas as this year’s recipient of the TSC Distinguished Alumnus Award. Following adjournment a reception in the rose garden was held to honor Trustee Cardenas. The next meeting of the TSC Board of Trustees will be May 24, 2004.

Academic Senate Social

Lucy Willis, Social Committee Chair, organized a “Celebration of Diversity and Delicacies” that was held at Diamond Freeberg’s home on April 23. We enjoyed the ethnic dishes and shared stories about our diverse cultural backgrounds.

Ombudsman

On April 29, Ombudsman Olivia Rivas and I met with Ruth Ann Ragland to discuss protocol for handling cases that the ombudsman brings. We received assurances that the ombudsman would receive prompt responses to inquiries, generally within two weeks.

Budget Presentation

On April 7, I attended a budget presentation by President Garcia and VPBA Martinez. This is the second year of the biennium and the new revenue sources are from fee and tuition increases. A study done for the Futures Commission revealed that we need $56 million more in revenue to bring us to a reasonable level compared to our peer institutions. Strategic plans were presented for our target budget (compared to peers) and our budget priorities (within existing resources). The budget should be finalized by the end of May.

WAG, Budget, & Campus Compact Briefing

On May 10 I attended a briefing conducted by Provost Martin on the WAG report and the 2004-05 budget. The Washington Advisory Group (WAG) was commissioned by the UT System to identify potential for research at UT institutions. The report on UTB/TSC was puzzling in many respects, showing a lack of understanding of the partnership and its unique mission. Marilyn Woods presented copies of the latest draft of the Campus Compact and asked that feedback be sent to her or Hector Castillo. President Garcia will discuss the Campus Compact, the WAG Report and the budget at today’s meeting.

Committee Structure Review

In an effort to bring consistency and stability to the committee structure and to ensure faculty representation in governance, I reviewed the HOOP for all references to faculty representation on committees and made ten recommendations to Provost Martin. Some sections of HOOP need to be revised to reflect current practice and/or resolve inconsistencies with other HOOP sections on the same topic. The Graduate Committee has already begun a review of HOOP and is in the process of recommending revisions. I encourage other committees to review the relevant sections of HOOP and recommend appropriate revisions. A copy of my review and recommendations is attached to this report.

Appointments

The Executive Committee recommends Teresa Gallegos, who was the faculty representative on the bookstore selection committee, and Joe Lacher to serve as faculty representatives on the Bookstore Advisory Board. The Executive Committee recommends Rafael Otero to serve temporarily during the summer as the faculty representative on the Business Affairs Partnership Committee in place of Ed Hymson.

Agenda Items

Two items of interest to senators at the last Academic Senate meeting have been handled administratively. Dr. Martin will review the procedure for administrator evaluations by part-time faculty. As to the election of chairs, HOOP 7.5.1 specifies that “Chairs are appointed without fixed term and are reviewed annually by the dean. The dean shall initiate the procedures in B.1 above whenever a change of chair may be warranted. Chairs should normally serve three year terms, but this may be extended. There shall be no limit to the number of years a chair may serve.” Dr. Martin did ask deans to review this procedure with their departments and to consider ways to allow interested faculty to serve as chairs. If senators wish to pursue a major change to this procedure, it would be appropriate to first discuss this with the faculty at the fall general meeting.

Faculty Advisory Council

Tom Welther, Vice President, and Julie Larson, Secretary, will attend the FAC meeting in Austin, June 3-4.

Recognition of Senators

I extend my thanks to the following senators for their service on the Academic Senate: Rey Ramirez (Education), Kim Morris-Garcia (Health Sciences), Bill Wilkinson (Liberal Arts), Deborah Huerta (Professional Staff), Luis Colom (Science, Math, Tech), and Pat Wade (Science, Math, Tech).

Respectfully submitted,

Ethel Cantu

Academic Senate President

Announcements

The summer meeting of the Academic Senate will be July 23 at1 pm.

The Academic Budget and Finance Review Committee will need three nominees to recommend to President Garcia to serve two-year terms from September 2004-06. These recommendations will be made at the August 20, 2004 meeting of the Academic Senate. There are five faculty representatives on this committee. Ed Hymson and Terry Tomlin will serve until September 2005. The three whose terms expire in September 2004 are Carol Collinsworth, David Pearson, and Sessia Wyche. Senators are asked to identify and contact prospective appointees and send their names to the Executive Committee c/o Ethel Cantu at least two weeks prior to the August 20 meeting. It is the responsibility of the VPBA to recommend the appointees to President Garcia after consultation with the Executive Committee and the Academic Senate.

Grievance Panel Nominees

The Grievance Panel was reconstituted in October, 2003. One half of the panel members were appointed by President Juliet Garcia to one year terms to expire May 2004. Since the panel has served only six months and has not heard any cases to date, the Executive Committee recommends the nomination of those members whose terms expire May 2004. All were personally contacted by Academic Senate President Ethel Cantu and agreed to be nominated to the Grievance Panel for the 2004-2006 term.

College of Liberal Arts

David Pearson

Terry Tomlin

College of Science, Math, & Technology

Blanca Lozano

Sessia Wyche

School of Business

Irma Jones

School of Education

James Telese

School of Health Sciences

Joe Lacher