The University of Texas at Dallas Academic Governance 800 West Campbell Road, AD43, Richardson, TX 75080-3021 (972) 883-4791
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11/05/2019 The University of Texas at Dallas Academic Governance 800 West Campbell Road, AD43, Richardson, TX 75080-3021 (972) 883-4791 MEMORANDUM October 17, 2019 TO: Academic Council* COPY TO: Richard C. Benson Nils Roemer Rafael Martin Anne Balsamo Inga Musselman Steve L. Small Calvin Jamison Jennifer Holmes Abby Kratz Stephanie Adams Jessica Murphy George Fair Juan Gonzalez Hasan Pirkul Edward J. Harpham Bruce Novak FROM: Office of Academic Governance Christina McGowan, Academic Governance Secretary SUBJECT: Academic Council Meeting The Academic Council will meet on WEDNESDAY, November 6, 2019 at 1:00 p.m. in ATEC 1.201. Please bring the agenda packet with you to the meeting. If you cannot attend, please notify me at [email protected] or x4791. 2019-2020 ACADEMIC COUNCIL Dinesh Bhatia Matt Brown Adam Chandler R. Chandrasekaran Jill Duquaine-Watson Bill Hefley ** Joe Izen Murray Leaf*** Syam Menon Ravi Prakash* Richard Scotch *** Tres Thompson Ayoub Jamal Mohammed- Student Government Pres. Brooke Schafer– Staff Council Pres. *Speaker **Secretary *** Vice-Speaker AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION UNIVERSITY Page 1 of 130 11/05/2019 The University of Texas at Dallas Academic Governance 800 West Campbell Road, AD 23, Richardson, TX 75080-3021 (972) 883-4791 FAX (972) 883-2101 AGENDA ACADEMIC COUNCIL MEETING November 6, 2019 ATEC 1.201 1. Call To Order, Announcements & Questions Richard Benson 2. Approval of the Agenda Ravi Prakash 3. Approval of Minutes Ravi Prakash 4. Speaker’s Report Ravi Prakash 5. THECB/ Legislative Updates Serenity King 6. TXCFS/FAC REPORT Murray Leaf & Bill Hefley 7. Student Government Report Hope Cory 8. Presentation: Comprehensive Campus Climate Survey Collen Dutton Presentation: Update on Immigration Climate and Status of Immigration 9. Josephine Vitta Resources on Campus 10. CEP Recommendations Syam Menon A. Undergraduate Courses for 2019-2020 B. Graduate Courses for 2019-2020 11. Committee on Committees Recommendations Ravi Prakash 12. Approval of Fall 2019 Graduates Bill Hefley 13. Revisions to UTDPP-1017 : Campus Wellness Committee Ravi Prakash 14. Guidance Regarding Testing for Students with Disabilities Bill Hefley 15. Informational – Revisions to UTDPP1050- Faculty Grievance Ravi Prakash 16. Title IX Timeline Ravi Prakash 15. Adjournment Richard Benson AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION UNIVERSITY Page 2 of 130 11/05/2019 Item #3 UNAPPROVED AND UNCORRECTED MINUTES These minutes are disseminated to provide timely information to the Academic Council. They have not been approved by the body in question, and, therefore, they are not the official minutes. ACADEMIC COUNCIL MEETING OCTOBER 2, 2019 PRESENT: Richard Benson, Inga Musselman, Dinesh Bhatia, Mathew Brown, Adam Chandler, R. Chandrasekaran, Jill Duquaine-Watson, Bill Hefley, Joe Izen, Murray Leaf, Syam Menon, Ravi Prakash, Richard Scotch, Tres Thompson ABSENT: None VISITORS: Hope Cory, Gene Fitch, Juan Gonzalez, Serenity King, Abby Kratz, Rafael Martin, Ramachandran Natarajan 1. Call to Order, Announcements & Questions President Benson called the meeting to order at 1:00 PM. President Benson reminded the Academic Council that the State of the University address will be on October 15, 2019. The new titles allow faculty to progress in their careers in Non-Tenure System. Any new positions may use the new titles. This will be an aggressive year on hiring tenure-track faculty. The University expects to make 60 new tenure system hires by Fall 2020. The Strategic plan notes that the university has a goal of 710 tenure system faculty by 2023. President Benson opened the floor to questions. There were none. 2. Approval of the Agenda Dinesh Bhatia moved to approve the Academic Council agenda. Syam Menon seconded. The motion carried unanimously. 3. Approval of the Minutes Richard Scotch moved to approve the Academic Council minutes. Murray Leaf seconded. The motion carried unanimously. 4. Speaker’s Report – Ravi Prakash 1. Senate Bill 18 on Freedom of Speech has required the university to review the Freedom of Speech University Policy. Speaker Prakash spoke with the University Attorney, Tim Saw, on the issue. He will continue to engage with Mr. Shaw on this issue. UT Austin has a very useful FAQ on this SB. VP Gene Fitch stated that his office is working on a draft on this issue. Speaker Prakash asked for a copy of the draft. 2. The university has changed significantly since many committee charges were written. There are some committees that need to be revisited in regards to their role. For instance, the workload of the CQ committee has increased greatly as our schools have grown. At other universities there are equivalent CQ committees by school, and not a single overreaching committee. Discussions will continue to occur on which committee charges need to be revisited. 3. With Juan Gonzalez taking the lead, the discussion on Optional Practical Training (OPT) continues with other UT System components. 4. All other items that I have been working on are on the agenda. 5. Legislative / THECB Updates – Serenity King 1 Page 3 of 130 11/05/2019 Item #3 Dr. King will cover in depth the items on the circulated handout at the October Academic Senate meeting, however, there are a few updates that needed to be shared in the Council meeting. On September 23, 2019, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board assistant commissioner of P-16 Initiatives Rex Peebles died unexpectedly. Dr. Peebles had been a great asset to our university in the past. Stacey Silverman was named as his interim replacement. She is familiar with our university. The new higher education commissioner, Harrison Keller, took office on October 1, 2019. 6. FAC / TXCFS Report – Ravi Prakash, Murray Leaf, and Bill Hefley Richard Scotch gave a report from the September 26-27, 2019 Faculty Advisory Committee meeting. Report on UT System Faculty Advisory Council Meeting, September 26-27 2019 The UT System Faculty Advisory Council (FAC) convened for its first meeting of the 2019-2020 academic year at the UT System headquarters in Austin. UT Dallas was represented by Drs. Ravi Prakash and Richard Scotch. Following introductions, the group elected a new co-chair for the Health Affairs Committee and discussed several items of business held over from the previous year. A presentation was made by two representatives of the UT System Employee Advisory Council (EAC), and there was discussion of potential collaboration between the FAC and the EAC. Following reports from the various campus representatives, a presentation was made by Dr. Rebecca Karoff, the Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, on the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) course on teaching effectiveness. The course has been offered on a trial basis to some UT System faculty. Participants found the course, which took place over a number of months, to be very worthwhile, but costly and requiring extensive time, and thus of uncertain scalability. The System was seeking a budgetary commitment from the Regents to support expanding the course. The three committees met for much of Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. The Governance Committee, attended by Dr. Scotch, worked on suggested revisions to two System policies/Regents Rules: the campus grievance policy and the procedures for conducting a presidential search. The Health Affairs Committee, which did not include a UTD representative, addressed issues relating to faculty retention, salary compression, physician burnout, and faculty contracts. The Academic Affairs Committee, attended by Dr. Prakash, discussed several topics, including best practices for student evaluations, faculty morale and retention, salary compression and inversion, and the status of non-tenure-system faculty. A proposal was made to add an ad hoc committee on research to promote research and research collaboration within the system, an idea that was supported by the group. On Friday morning, following committee meetings, Dr. Karoff returned, along with Dr. Kevin Lemoine, to discuss Senate Bill 25, which was passed in the last legislature session and concerned rules relating to student transfers, particularly from community colleges to four-year universities. Concerns were shared about some provisions of the bill that would mandate the acceptance of transfer credits, and there was discussion about institutional roles in the transfer process as well as fields of study and meta-majors. The meeting concluded with a lunch discussion with Dr. Steve Leslie, Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, about proposed rules governing the use of endowment funds for faculty salaries of chaired professors, particularly in the health institutions. The next Texas Council of Faculty Senates meeting will be October 18-19, 2019. 2 Page 4 of 130 11/05/2019 Item #3 7. Student Government – Hope Cory SG is working with the Democratic Student Organization to have a debate on campus. The names for the dorms are being finalized. SG is drafting a resolution responding to the Washington Tech lawsuit on OPT. It is Ms. Cory’s hope that full Student Government will pass the resolution at their October 5, 2019 meeting. 8. Committee on Educational Policy Recommendations – Syam Menon Murray Leaf moved to place the recommendations on the October 16, 2019 Academic Senate meeting agenda. Matt Brown seconded. Motion carried unanimously. 9. Committee on Committees Recommendations – Ravi Prakash Murray Leaf moved to place the nominations on the Academic Senate meeting agenda. Tres Thompson seconded. Motion carried