"Proposed Minutes - 2--24-21" 3/24/2021 FS Agenda Page 1 of 6 Proposed Faculty Senate Minutes February 24, 2021 The meeting was held via the Zoom video-conferencing platform and opened at 3:30 p.m. CHAIR’S REMARKS The Senate Chair welcomed attendees and acknowledged the over 200 attendees at last week’s meeting hosted by the President. The Chair noted that the last few months have been very difficult, but that things seem to be improving, with COVID cases dropping and the positivity rate declining. She pointed out that three Greek organizations have received temporary suspensions pending investigations for COVID violations and thanked the Student Affairs division for addressing these violations. The May graduation ceremony is planned to be live at Hard Rock Stadium providing there are no unanticipated rise in cases. This semester has also seen a rise in the number of students living on campus, and enrollments for the semester are strong. The Chair also noted that the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees approved the reinstatement of contributions to the 403B retirement fund for faculty and staff effective in March, earlier than anticipated. The General Welfare Committee (GWC) had no objections to the formation of two ad hoc committees, one to review the governance structure for the upcoming Frost centers and institutes, and the second to draft a policy to clarify faculty teaching modality rights and policies regarding the make-up of material for students with excused absences. Attendees were encouraged to sign in to join the annual Faculty Senate virtual awards ceremony, Monday, April 12 at 5:00 p.m. Invitations will be sent prior to the event. These awards are given annually for teaching, scholarship/research, and service. This year's awardees are Merle Cohen, Miller School of Medicine, for outstanding teaching; Marvin Dawkins, Arts and Sciences, for exemplary service; and Michelle Wachs Galloway, Arts and Sciences, for preeminent research and scholarship. Additionally, Tomás Lopez who has been a very dedicated member of the Faculty Senate, GWC member, and member of other several other key Senate committees, will be given a special senate chair award to recognize his long service and impending retirement. Architecture Alternate, Germane Barnes, was congratulated for his mixed media collage becoming part of an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art opening this week that examines Black cultural spaces as part of a series, “Reconstructions: Architecture and Blackness in America,” the first to explore “the relationship between architecture and the spaces of African American and African diaspora communities” (https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/5219). With sadness, the Chair announced that Dr. Marvin Mielke, Professor of Mathematics, recently passed away. He had been a UM faculty member since 1966, serving our university for over 55 years. He was planning on retiring this spring. Condolences to his family and colleagues. PRESIDENT’S REMARKS Box:R\Senate/ 2020-2021\March \minutes-2-24-21 "Proposed Minutes - 2--24-21" 3/24/2021 FS Agenda Page 2 of 6 President Julio Frenk addressed three crises facing the University. He started by acknowledging that the pandemic trends are reassuring. The adaptive actions the University has taken are working, as reflected in yesterday’s very low positivity rate of COVID-19 infection. Last week, some restrictions were rolled back in response to the effectiveness of those restrictions. While some of the restrictions will continue to be maintained, the hope is to relax the additional set of measures soon if these positive trends continue. The University continues to maintain a strong protocol for testing, expanded to using a breathalyzer, which produces results more expeditiously. UHealth is conducting tests for variants to COVID, and the rapid pace of vaccinations has worked to lower the rate of infections. The President warned against getting overly confident and relaxing our individual protocols or the numbers will begin to rise again. Currently, things look encouraging. The pandemic has impacted the University’s finances as well —the second crisis— although so far, the mitigation strategies have been very successful in weathering the financial impact. Today, the Board of Trustees approved the recommendation to resume 403B retirement contributions for the last quarter of the fiscal year, one quarter earlier than anticipated. This resumption acknowledges sacrifices made by faculty and staff across all campuses. The Board of Trustees also approved the permanent appointment of Joseph Echevarria as Executive Vice President for Health Affairs and Chief Executive Officer of UHealth, a position he had currently been holding on an interim appointment. The President then noted the third key crisis dealing with our country’s social and racial disparities. To address these issues, the Board of Trustees formed an ad hoc committee. Dr. Spivey, a special advisor to the President in this area, recently presented to the Board of Trustees, progress on the President’s 15-point plan to expand racial justice on campus. Dr. Whitely, the Senior Vice President for Student Affairs, is also taking initiatives with respect to students, and discussed her plan with the Board, as well. Finally, the President noted that the Knight Foundation announced a large gift to data science and computing and will endow the first faculty for that institute. There has been a migration of technology talent to Miami, and with the launch of the new Institute, the University should be able to recruit top talent to capitalize on this migration. This will help to position the University as a comprehensive research university at the core of the innovation hub in Miami. The President entertained questions from the floor. STUDENT GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES REMARKS Student Undergraduate Representative Miles Pendleton introduced himself and fellow representative Roger Saumure. Some Student Government activities include: currently revising their budget, creating new scholarships, creating a new student employment website, and working on public relations for events planned via social media. Mr. Pendleton gave some alarming statistics regarding the impact of the pandemic and noted that Student Government wants to make mental health a priority. Graduate Student Association Representative Jose Fernandez-Calvo noted that they are also seeing an increase in graduate mental health and financial issues. They are planning to extend grants to graduate students, and he gave a “shout out” to Graduate School Dean Prado for his assistance. Box:R\Senate/ 2020-2021\March \minutes-2-24-21 "Proposed Minutes - 2--24-21" 3/24/2021 FS Agenda Page 3 of 6 Medical Student Association Representative Leah Colucci explained that the MSA is focusing on wellness and ensuring that front-line facing students receive the COVID vaccination, when available. # APPROVAL OF PROPOSED FACULTY SENATE MINUTES OF JANUARY 27, 2021 The minutes came forward with the recommendation of the GWC. There were no objections to the approval of the minutes. # APPROVAL OF TODAY’S AGENDA There were no objections to the approval of the agenda. OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS There were no other announcements. General Matters Unanimous Consent Agenda [Unless there is an objection, these materials are submitted and approved on documents only.] # College of Arts and Sciences: • Proposal for a Name Change of the Department of Geography and Regional Studies to the Department of Geography and Sustainable Development, College of Arts and Sciences • Proposal to Change the Name of the Department of Sociology to the Department of Sociology and Criminology # Frost School of Music: • Proposal to Change the Name and Curriculum of the Bachelor of Music in Music Business Entertainment Industries to the Bachelor of Music (BM) in Music Industry, Department of Music, Media and Industry • Proposal to Change the Name and Curriculum of the Minor in Music Business Entertainment Industries to the Minor in Music Industry, Department of Music, Media and Industry • Proposal to Change the Curriculum of the Doctor of Music Arts (DMA) in Choral Conducting, Department of Vocal Performance • Proposal to Change the Curriculum of the Doctor of Music Arts (DMA) in Keyboard Performance, Department of Keyboard Performance [GWC Proposal discrepancy has been corrected.] • Proposal to Change the Name and Curriculum of the Master of Arts in Arts Presenting in Live Entertainment Management (Online Program) to Master of Arts in Live Entertainment Management (Online Program), Department of Music, Media and Industry • Proposal to Change the Name and Curriculum of the Master of Arts in Arts Presenting and Live Entertainment Management to Master of Arts in Live Entertainment Management, Department of Music, Media and Industry # Miller School of Medicine: Box:R\Senate/ 2020-2021\March \minutes-2-24-21 "Proposed Minutes - 2--24-21" 3/24/2021 FS Agenda Page 4 of 6 • Proposal for Retroactive Approval for Curricular Revision for the Master of Science in Climate and Health (MSCH), Department of Public Health Sciences, Miller School of Medicine # Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science: • Proposal for Curriculum Changes to the Bachelor of Science in Marine and Atmospheric Science (BSMAS) in Marine Biology and Ecology There were no objections from the GWC to recommend these proposals to the Faculty Senate. There were no objections to the approval of the Consent Agenda items. # PROPOSED ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION TO THE FACULTY MANUAL, C 10.4