University Senate - February 24, 2020 Meeting Minutes

Call to Order and Announcements

The University Senate was called to order at 3:30 p.m., in Room 111 Harrison Hall, Oxford Campus, on Monday, February 24, 2020. Members absent: Kenya Ash, Dan Bosworth, Shelby Frye, Lei Kerr, Julia Koenig, Jaylen Perkins and, Dante Rossi.

  1. Announcements and Remarks by the Chair of Senate Executive Committee, Dana Cox.

    1. Each year, the Provost’s Office recognizes faculty and staff members who exemplify the outstanding academic advising service to undergraduate students and who have exhibited exceptional leadership in advancing academic advising at Miami. The Provost Award for Excellence in Academic Advising represents some of the very best work that is performed by our academic advisors. More information about the award and the nomination process can be found here. The deadline for nominations for the 2020 awards is March 15, 2020. Two nomination letters are required for each nominee and these should be sent to Jeffrey Wanko. No more than two nomination letters will be accepted per candidate.

    2. James Bielo gave an update on the Ad-Hoc Committee on the proposed Arrest Reporting Policy. He wants you to advertise these dates where open discussion sessions will be held: Regionals: March 13, 10-11:30am, Wilks Seminar Room 3 (Hamilton campus) video feed with Middletown; Oxford: April 9, 3-4:30pm, 204 Harrison

    3.  Senate is creating a nice buzz around campus. Senator Cox informed everyone that she is hearing good feedback about their work this year. She also spoke on our behalf to the Board of Trustees and to the Miami Student on the record. She recognized our Miami Student beat reporter, Madeline Phaby.

    4. Today there will be a number of new resolutions. It would be helpful to come to a decision about the Senate Reapportionment today and Executive Committee would hope to address them in a timely way so that elections can get underway. However, the remaining two resolutions will be presented with limited or no discussion today so that there will be time to read carefully and come to our March 9 meeting prepared for discussion and a decision.

    5. The two remaining resolutions emerged through discussion and debate at the Senate Retreat. These are direct responses to the problems shared and solutions imagined by those in attendance. This represents a full course of action from raising a problem or question through to finding a way senate can make things better. In particular, the changes that were recommended by senators to SR 14-01 were designed in workshop to make things less onerous for departments.

    6. There are a few decisions made by prior senates that Senator Cox reminded us of:

      • We meet for 90 minutes (thank goodness), and we meet every week in April.

      • We do not make video or audio recordings of senate meetings. Please refrain from this behavior. This was a social decision made by the entire body and was intended to support our body through healthy deliberation and debate. If Senate wants to revisit this, it needs to be done officially and as a body.

Approval of University Senate Minutes

  1. A motion was received, seconded, and carried to approve the February 10, 2020, minutes of University Senate.

Consent Calendar

  1. The following items were received on the Consent Calendar:

    1. Curriculum

    2. Graduate Council Minutes – January 30, 2020

    3. Governance Committee Minutes – February 3, 2020

New Business

    1. Sustainability Committee Update – Helaine Alessio and Suzanne Zazycki, Co-chairs, MIami University Sustainability Committee

      1. Suzanne Zazycki, Associate Director, IES and Co-chair of the Miami University Sustainability Committee presented to the Senate that Miami is embarking on a climate action plan. The plan is the Presidents’ Climate Leadership Commitment (PCLC), which will affect everyone at Miami.

      2. President Crawford charged the Sustainability Committee to examine the issues associated with creating a plan for carbon neutrality within the PCLC or to create an independent plan. The Committee recommended that Miami proceed with the PCLC. A Climate Action Task Force is being formed, and it is recommended that Senate have a representative on the Task Force. The Task Force will be chaired by Jonathan Levy and Adam Sizemore and its working groups will include persons from all campuses, external partners, and the city of Oxford.

      3. The President is making a decision as to what commitment he is signing: resilience commitment; carbon commitment; or, a combination of the two.

      4. PCLC has to work with the surrounding community and is integrated into the curriculum and research. Miami will be responsible for carbon neutrality for both direct and indirect emissions.

      5. The President will sign the agreement on April 22, 2020, which is Earth Day.

      6. This presentation will be given at the Faculty Assembly meeting on March 10, 2020.

      7. Senators had the following comments and questions:

        1. Are there plans to work with communities of the regional campuses - Hamilton, Middletown, and West Chester? Not sure if they are included at this time, but this was noted as a good suggested and will be investigated.

        2. Is there any insight as to if other universities are similar? The Ohio PCLC table was shown listing other universities.

        3. A comment was made that a presentation was made to the Board of Trustees and that the Board is supportive of this. The Board has to look at cost and impact on the budget. Cody Powell and Doug Hammerle will be talking about utility master plan. The president is probably not considering the resilience plan.

        4. A student expressed concern that we are waiting until Earth Day (due to its symbolism) to sign the agreement. Why do we have to wait? It was explained that the utility master plan is built out to 2026 and that nothing is slowing down.

    1. Senate Reapportionment – Joe Carlin and Gerald Granderson, Governance Committee

      1. Reapportionment of the 34 faculty Senate seats occurs every three years. The goal is to have similarly sized groups and to logically group units when two or more departments have to be grouped together. The size of Faculty Assembly for this distribution was 885 for 34 seats, which equated to each senator representing, on average, 26.8 constituents.

      2. The College of Arts and Science had a reduction of representatives and went from 16 to 15. The College of Engineering and Computing gained a representative and now has three representatives.

      3. The groupings were explained, including details regarding the newly formed Sport Leadership and Management Department as well as the faculty involved in the Classics consolidation.

      4. Senator Cox also mentioned that the ten at-large faculty elections will take place very soon, and senators wishing to run should make their intentions known.

      5. SR 20-10 was unanimously approved.


SR 20-10

February 24, 2020

              BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED that University Senate endorse the recommendations of the Governance Committee for the redistribution of University Senate seats and therefore proposed revisions to the Bylaws of University Senate, Section 1, as stated below.

              AND FURTHERMORE, that proposed revisions to the Bylaws of University Senate will become effective immediately thus enabling the University Elections Coordinator to proceed with the elections of the 2020-2023 Senate cohort.

1.D.       Within each division, the seats shall be apportioned as indicated below:

College of Arts and Science

Humanities

English +French & Italian Spanish & Portuguese+ ACE...... 2

 Classics +Spanish & Portuguese                         1

French & Italian (includes transfers from Classics) +

German, Russian, Asian and Middle Eastern

Languages & Cultures + Philosophy.................................. 1

 History (includes transfer from Classics) + Philosophy

 + Comparative Religion................................................... 1

 Anthropology + Global and Intercultural Studies +

Political Science + Western Program.......................... 2

Science - Biological

Biology + Microbiology.................................................... 2

Science - Physical

Chemistry & Biochemistry + Geology &

Environmental Earth Science + Inst. Env. & Sustainability

+ Physics + Statistics.................................................. 2

 Geography + Geology & Environmental Earth Science

 + Inst. Env & Sustainability                        1

 Mathematics .................................................................. 1

Science - Social

Media, Journalism, and Film............................................. 1

 Psychology + Sociology & Gerontology + Speech Pathology

& Audiology............................................................. 2

Anthropology + Geography + Political Science +

Speech Pathology & Audiology.................................. 2

College of Creative Arts

Architecture & Interior Design + Theatre + Creative Arts

Admin...................................................................... 1

 Art + Interactive Media Studies....................................... 1

 Music............................................................................. 1

College of Education, Health, and Society

EHS (Non-departmentally affiliated faculty) Admin+

Educational Leadership + Educational Psychology....... 1

 Kinesiology & Health + Sports Leadership & Management 1

 Family Science & Social Work + Teacher Education +

EHS (Non-departmentally affiliated faculty)................ 1

College of Engineering and Computing

Computer Science & Software Engineering           Electrical &

Computer Engineering + Chemical, Paper, and Biomedical

Engineering                                                     1

 Electrical & Computer Engineering +

Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering........................ 1

 Computer Science & Software Engineering                1

Farmer School of Business

Accountancy + Economics + Finance................................. 2

 Information Systems & Analytics + Management +

Marketing................................................................. 2

 FSB Divisional Rep........................................................... 1

College of Liberal Arts and Applied Science

Biological Sciences + Computer & Information Technology

+ Engineering Technology + Mathematical & Physical

Sciences + Nursing                                 12

 Commerce + Education & Society + Interdisciplinary &

Communication Studies + Justice & Community Studies +

Social & Behavioral Sciences...................................... 1

Commerce + Computer & Information

Technology + Engineering Technology........................ 1

Interdisciplinary & Communication Studies + Humanities

& Creative Arts + Languages, Literatures & Writing..... 1

Libraries (all campuses).................................................................. 1

SR 20-10 was unanimously approved.

  1. Redefining SR 14-01 – Carolyn Haynes, Associate Provost

    1. Associate Provost Haynes reminded senators that the discussion is to change Section 8.A. of ByLaws. SR 14-01 simply refers to the resolution that originally created Section 8.A. The issue is that Section 8.A. is very vaguely worded and the scope is too broad since it currently pertains to both academic units and degree programs. It assumes that a program deletion is going to be contentious, when in reality it may be State mandated or a unanimous decision by the department. When the program deletion process is controversial, the steps outlined in Section 8.a. are needed. Department Chairs are not going to think to look in Senate Bylaws for curriculum changes; instead, they will look in MUPIM.

    2. Proposing three approaches:

      • Focus Senate ByLaws 8.A. on academic units that need deliberative process;

      • Create a policy for a deliberative procedure where the decision to change an academic degree program, major, or co-major are initiated outside the home department or program;

      • Allow departments to follow normal governance processes for curricular decisions that they initiate.

    3. The action steps include revising Senate ByLaws 8.A., and asking the Academic Policy Committee to create a new policy relating to changes to academic degree programs, majors, and co-majors. The proposed changes that are initiated by the department will follow standard approval process, and proposed changes initiated outside the department will undergo a procedure similar to what is in Section 8.A. If the change is contentious, what constitutes a majority vote?

    4. A question was asked as to whether request could come from the outside? Yes, it could be proposed by a Dean. Only in the case where a department wants to eliminate a degree program, they would go through these steps. If there was a more complex department with multiple programs, the departmental governance document would need to be consulted.

    5. There will be more discussion regarding these proposed changes at the March 9, 2020, Senate meeting.

  2. Resolution regarding changing governance – Senator Tom Poetter

    1. Rationale was given regarding the proposed resolution to extend the term of the Chair of Senate Executive Committee to allow the Chair to sit for a third year as Past Chair. It would help with depth of knowledge and clarify the role of the Chair of Executive Committee.

    2. The chair-elect is usually a first year senator. It is problematic to add faculty seats; therefore, if the Past chair goes beyond their three-year term, they become a non-voting member.

    3. There will be more discussion regarding this proposed resolution at the March 9, 2020, Senate meeting.

  3. Board of Trustees Update – Jason Osborne, Provost (Attachment A-IV)

    1. Faculty promotions were highlighted at the February meeting. There are four senators who received Promotion and/or Tenure: James Bielo (Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor); Marianne Cotugno (Promotion to Full Professor); Dana Cox (Promotion to Full Professor); and, Jonathan Grenier (Promotion to Full Professor). Congratulations to all.

    2. A ‘Pillars of success’ presentation was done at the Board meeting showcasing all of the work that is done outside the classroom. Senator Robinson was one of the presenters at the Board meeting. Provost Osborne suggested that The Office of Student Life do a presentation at a future Senate meeting.

    3. Retirements and transitions in Academic Affairs were mentioned. Deans Rubin and Dollȧr are retiring as well as Celia Ellison, Director of Academic Personnel. Dean Makaroff was reappointed Dean, College of Arts and Science.

    4. There are four searches occurring in Academic Affairs: Dean, Farmer School of Business; Dean, College of Engineering and Computing; Dean, Graduate School; and, Vice President for Research and Innovation.

    5. The Board has approved funding for the clinical health sciences building, a digital innovation building, and renovations to Bachelor Hall. Paperwork is being submitted for a bond at the state level. The Clinical Health Sciences and Wellness Facility will be part of the Health Quad/Corridor of Excellence. Renderings of the facility were shown.

    6. Miami continues to achieve in rankings, both in Ohio and nationally. Among those noted were the Public Relations major (B.S.) in the Department of Media, Journalism & Film, which is Ranked #1 nationally by Best Colleges Grad Reports.

    7. Update on budget: Net revenue is declining and there is an unpredictable environment (coronavirus was cited as an example). Miami is down 2% in applications - in state applications have increased while international applications have decreased. There is a 10 million dollar shortfall. RCM has not gone away; there isn’t any money to distribute.

Adjournment

The regular meeting of University Senate was adjourned at 5 p.m.