The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga s1

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga FULL FACULTY MEETING MINUTES UC Auditorium, September 14, 2015, 3:15 PM

Call to Order

Susan Davidson, Senate President, called the meeting of the full faculty to order.

Approval of Minutes

Joanie Sompayrac moved approval of the minutes of the fall meeting and Valerie Rutledge seconded. The minutes were approved by unanimous voice vote.

Call of Nominees

After a call for additional nominees for the Faculty Administration Relations Committee, Sheila van Ness motioned to close nominations. Bob Marlow seconded. Nominees were David Sachsman and Lyn Miles.

Administrative Reports

Chancellor Steve Angle

Dr. Angle presented the latest information regarding the budget rebalancing, noting that the budget rebalancing website has the current status of each recommendation. He also stated that there are no predetermined outcomes and that the emphasis will be on synergies and capitalization.

Dr. Angle stated that everyone except academic affairs had cuts. Everyone else took 4.75% cuts. 82 faculty and staff took the Voluntary Retirement Incentive Plan (VRIP). Overall the requirement of the reallocation by the President will be accomplished. Budget rebalancing also provided cushion for the effects of Tennessee Promise and for strategic investment. We can fully fund the 2015-16 budget due to this planning. He stated that we hope to get enrolment back up to where it was.

Budget process for fiscal year 2016 will provide funding for fiscal year 2017. Dr. Angle said that he hopes for engagement and feedback from all departments. Student Development is engaged with our academic departments. Students want more investment in the Dean of Student’s office. Dr. Angle posed the questions: “How do we incorporate students’ outside activities into the classroom?”

Dr. Angle said that he will let departments know by April 1 what is anticipated regarding new faculty searches and that as much notice as possible will be given to find the best candidates. This is on the UTC website under fiscal year 2016 (academic year 2015-16) budget. 2

Dr. Angle stated that we have to think about this question: “What is the four-year experience for our commuter students, which is where we lost enrolment numbers?” Due to the decrease in revenue from our enrollment drop it is unlikely that there will be a bonus plan this fiscal year.

We are not in a crisis over enrolment but we are concerned. There will be an enrolment management taskforce. This is all of our jobs. We should tell our good stories about the difference UTC makes in students’ lives. We will be purposeful in telling our stories. We are currently searching for vice chancellor in marketing and communications to invest in telling our stories better and to be more strategic in this. Chuck Cantrell will still be here, but doesn’t want to do this job, so we will hire a Vice Chancellor. We have an outstanding pool of candidates for this so far. We will have more local visibility, Dr. Angle said.

Matt Matthews asked: On what basis do we think this is a one year aberration?

The Chancellor responded that it depends on how we can tell our story better to prevent this. We will address financial issues that help students that can come here and those that need a better pathway from community colleges. The heart of our honors college is the freshman experience that helps freshmen grow in ways that transfer students might not be able to.

Dr. Angle said we will need to open doors for transfer students while still promoting our 4-year experience. Success rates of AA transfer students are low (less than 10%). The AA can serve some students well, but we really excel in teaching students for 4 years. Some students don’t understand they are Pell eligible. The benefits of coming here as freshman make opportunities so much easier than transferring, though the transfer students still have good opportunities.

We are looking at what we can do in north GA and Alabama. We have tuition remission at non-resident rate for students coming in with 60+ hours. We are looking at how we can do this for freshmen. It might require us looking at how we fund scholarships.

Vice Chancellor Richard Brown

He said there was “a perfect storm related to parking” this year. A new parking Task Force has been created to look at some things that have not been looked at in 30 years. This task force wants to hear from faculty. They are taking a strong look at how we look at/designate parking. Questions they are asking include: Do we need access control, how do we relate to visitors? How do we become multi-mobile—bikes, shuttles, etc.? Community members are also included on the task force.

We have to set priorities for parking. We are adding parking spaces. Dr. Brown emphasized that “we are listening.” He encouraged faculty to go to the website and look at the minutes of the Task Force for the latest information. 3

Dr. Brown said that they are looking at creating a “Value Lot” (less expensive) using a lot adjacent to Engel Stadium. He hopes students will be interested in this, freeing other spaces.

Marcia Noe asked, “Will we continue to support free parking for 30 year employees?”

Dr. Brown answered, “Yes.”

Dr. Brown is chairing the committee and welcomes emails with questions about parking and travel to campus. Joanie Sompayrac is on the committee as well.

At this point the results of the voting on the Faculty Administration Relations Committee membership were announced. Lyn Miles is going to join the FARC for her first term on the committee.

Committee Reports

Dean Frost announced that there are 60 applications for TEDx speakers. She encouraged everyone to buy a ticket for the Feb. 27, 2016 TEDx.

There were no other committee reports.

New Business

Introduction of New Faculty

College of Arts & Sciences

Jordan Amirkhani is a visiting assistant professor in Art; she holds a Ph.D. from University of Kent; she teaches introductory and upper-level courses on modern and contemporary art history, theory, and exhibition practices. Prior to joining UTC, Jordan held teaching posts in the Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance at Canterbury Christ Church University and in the Department of the History and Philosophy of Art at the University of Kent in England.

Jennifer Danos, lecturer in ART (teaching sculpture); MFA from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Prior to joining the faculty at UTC, Jennifer taught for eight years at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design, primarily in the Fine Arts and Foundation Studies departments. She comes to Chattanooga by way of Berlin, Germany, where she lived for 2.5 years working as a professional artist, gallery assistant, and translator.

Mary Laube, lecturer in ART (painting and drawing), MFA from University of Iowa previously taught at the University of Iowa. She has worked as a visiting artist at the University of Northern Iowa, Eastern Michigan University, Knox 4

College, and most recently as the Fanoon Visiting Artist at Virginia Commonwealth University in Doha, Qatar.

Chandler Harriss joins as an Asst. Professor in the Department of Communication. Chad holds a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Alabama. He is currently teaching INTRO to Mass Communication and Publication Design I.

Courtney Crittenden joins us as an Asst. Professor in Criminal Justice where she is currently teaching Criminology and Race, Class, Gender and Crime. Dr. Crittenden holds a Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina.

Christina Policastro joins us as an Assistant Professor in Criminal Justice. Dr. Policastro earned her PHD at Georgia State University. She is currently teaching Intro to the Criminal Justice System and Victimology.

Joseph Jordan joins us as an Assistant Professor in the Department of English. Dr. Jordan holds a Ph.D. from U of California, Berkeley. His teaching and writing focus on Victorian novels, lyric verse, and aesthetics - subjects brought together in his book Dickens Novels as Verse. He has also published on teaching Byron’s love lyrics, on Tennyson’s verse, and on Paradise Lost.

Sarah Einstein joins us as an Asst. Professor in the Department of English. She holds a PhD from Ohio University. She is currently teaching creative writing, advanced workshops in both fiction and nonfiction writing.

Oren Whightsel joins us as a lecturer in the Department of English. He holds a PhD in English from Illinois State University. He is currently teaching Rhetoric and Composition.

Jessica McCarthy joins us as a lecturer in the Department of English. Dr. McCarthy earned her Ph.D. at Washing State University. She is currently teaching Technical Writing and three section of Professional Writing online.

Russell Helms joins us as a lecturer in the Department of English. Russell teaches scientific writing, composition, and creative writing. He holds graduate degrees in fiction (MFA from Eastern KY University) and public health (an MPH from Yale University). His artistic and professional interests include the design and production of literary books/journals and writing fiction.

Elizabeth (Beth) Pearce joins us as a Visiting Asst. Professor in the Department of English where she is teaching Children’s Literature and Adolescent Literature. Dr. Pearce holds a Ph.D. in English from Illinois State University. 5

Sherry Liu is now a Visiting Asst. Professor in Mathematics. Dr. Liu holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Baylor University. She is currently teaching sections of Precalculus II and Calculus with Analytic Geometry III.

Sandkha Basu joins us as a Visiting Asst. Professor in Mathematics. Sandkha holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Pennsylvania State University. Teaching Precalculus and Calculus for Management, Life and the Social Sciences.

Hannah Green joins us as a lecturer in Mathematics. Hannah holds an MS in Mathematics from UTC. She is currently teaching Intro to Statistics and Mathematics in Our Modern World.

Karen Buntin, lecturer in MCLL, now teaches French and Introduction to French Literature.

Gabriel Santuss, lecturer in MCLL, earned his Ed.D. from the University of Phoenix and his M.A. from the University of Salamanca; currently teaching both elementary and intermediate Spanish.

Amanda Wintersieck (Winterseek) is a new Asst. Professor in Political Science. She is currently teaching POLS 1010 (American Government), Research Methods, and Advanced Topics in Political Behavior. She received her Ph.D. from Arizona State University.

Elizabeth (Liz) Norell joins us as a lecturer in Political Science. Liz holds a Ph.D. from University of Texas at Dallas. She is currently teaching upper division courses public law as well as POLS 1010 (American Government).

Katherine (Kate) Rogers, (in class) Assistant Professor in Psychology. Ph.D., Social/Personality Psychology with minor in Quantitative Methods, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Currently teaching Psychological Tests and Measurements as well as Theories of Personality.

Stephen Sheps, Visiting Assistant Professor in Sociology. Holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Queen's University (Kingston, Ontario). Stephen is currently teaching Introduction to Sociology and Social Inequality.

SunTrust Chair of Excellence in the Humanities is Dr. Carl Springer. Ph.D. Classics, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

College of Business

Dr. Spencer Usrey, Taxation

College of Engineering and Computer Science 6

Dr. Reinhold Mann, SimCenter (Interim Director) Dr. Trevor Elliott – Mechanical Engineering (Assistant Professor) Dr. Bradley Harris – Chemical Engineering (Assistant Professor) Dr. Soubantika “Sou” Palchoudhury – Chemical Engineering (Visiting Assistant Professor)

College of Health, Education & Professional Studies

Interior Design Tonya Miller

Education Dr. Bruce Menchetti

Counseling Dr. Jeffrey Sweeney

Physical Therapy Dr. Betsy Myers

Occupational Therapy Dr. Janice Ryan Jessica Hackathorn

School of Nursing Elizabeth Smith Shirley Scarlatti Alisha Armstrong Brittany Cusack Kelley Obringer Gwen Carlton

Health and Human Performance Amanda Durall Dr. Eric Hungenberg

Integrated Studies Dr. Gretchen Potts

Library

Maggie Herb, Writing and Communication Center, Director Steven Shelton, Web Services Librarian Emily Thompson, Studio Librarian 7

All new faculty were warmly welcomed!!

Faculty Administrative Relations Committee

Lynn Miles is the first year representative by receiving the majority of the votes.

Faculty concerns

There were no faculty concerns

Announcements

There were no announcements.

Adjournment

Anne Pingenot motioned to adjourn. This was seconded by many.

Respectfully submitted, Steve Ray UTC Faculty Secretary