FACULTY SENATE STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING
February 9, 2021
ZOOM
ATTENDING: Barb Dahlbach, Rona Donahoe, Chapman Greer, Ignacio Rodeno, Lyndell McDonald, John Vincent, Barbara “Babs” Davis, Rainer Schad, John Van Zee, Matthew Hudnall, Patrick Kung, Ajay Agrawal, Kelly Shannon-Henderson, Jennifer Dempsey, Joy Burnham, Steven Yates, Susan Appel, Christopher Lynn, Ibrahim Cemen, Jeri Zemke, Parliamentarian Robert Riter, Past Pre4sident Donna Meester.
ABSENT: Ruth Ann Hall.
GUESTS: Andre Denham, Erik Peterson, Grace Shepis – Crimson White
Roll call and quorum check by Faculty Senate Secretary Barb Dahlbach.
The Faculty Senate Steering Committee meeting minutes of January 11, 2021 were approved.
Andre Denham, Chapman Greer, and Erik Peterson began the meeting with a General Education Taskforce update. The taskforce has been working with liaison members to define Student Learning Outcomes at the committee level. This will be distributed to the Faculty Senate, UA Faculty and UA Community for input and revision. Pathway allows students the ability to explore many type disciplines. Core plus distribution plus high impact educational practices are important. Centrally themed set courses that all students will take are specific to the University of Alabama. The concept is that general education is not separate. UA101 is designed around the Capstone Creed related to ethics, diversity and inclusion and civic responsibility. Students will be under the concept of teaching UA curriculum the next four years and learning the reasoning behind general education. The groundwork is being laid for the student to learn exactly what it means to be a student at The University of Alabama under the Capstone Creed. There are three high impact practices in the first year experience – community engagement, Capstone course and project. There are twelve high impact practices so designated by AAC&U and all exist at UA in various forms. The taskforce presented the walking tour. They talked to stakeholders including colleges and departments. There will be two forums to be held in March and April and upon confirmation of the dates an invitation will be sent out to the entire University community. Feedback will be gathered along the way and presented for a feasibility study by a third party reviewing the rank order, cost and all the pieces not thought about and to iron out any conflicts. The General Education Taskforce with twelve members started in 2018 and will go through the following organizations not necessarily in this order – CCOC, CAAD, UGC, COD, UA-AAA, SGA, Faculty Senate, Provost, and UA-BOT. The final models will be presented to the Faculty Senate for a vote in September with implementation to begin in October of 2021. Three models will be ranked and voted on. Further discussion included how foreign language would fit into the curriculum, language, core and hour requirements, impact on transfer students and specifics of pathway choices leading to a degree. The goal is to give students the very best education possible.
President’s Report – (Rona Donahoe) The UAB Institutional meeting of the Board of Trustees met Thursday and Friday. Items considered during the meeting included: four physical projects at UA – $9.1 million dollar energy plant serving Bryant Conference Center and Moody Music Building will be built with money from Continuing Studies reserves $7.625 million dollars to be located behind Alumni Hall taking out thirteen parking spaces in that parking lot and will cut off that road leaving only handicapped parking spaces; USGS instrumentation cost funded by the Federal Government creating a huge building behind Cyber Hall implemented in the next couple of years; Bryce Main originally $40 million dollars now is projected at a $83.75 project sheltering a museum, cultural center, art collection, administrative offices, theater and dance, and special equipment with $22 million dollars coming from public bonds; a tornado and storm shelter located on Partlow campus serving 600 employees costing $6.6 million dollars partially funded ($2.2 million dollars) from Alabama Mental Health.
A web site is being developed to report any changes in the Research Center and Institute for the purpose of a Board of Trustee review. Apparently all three campuses are in noncompliance with rule 503 which mandates all three campuses report changes creating a backlog of items for the Board to review.
There were nine emeritus faculty resolutions from the UA campus alone.
A roadway on campus is being renamed Randall Way honoring Kathleen and Pettus Randall. UAB is renaming their residence hall honoring John McMann.
UAB Chancellor spoke praising the institution. UAB President Watts gave a summary of the value of the institution to the State of Alabama, particularly the impact on the Covid situation including the treatment of patients and the development of medication to treat the virus plus administering a preventive vaccine. UAB’S enrollment has increased 2.9% with a current enrollment of 22,563 students.
The Presidential Advisory Committee met last Wednesday and will meet again tomorrow. The Covid positive rate among students has dropped. There were 244 last Friday with 142 reported this Friday. The numbers from DCH continue to drop from 199 the previous Friday to 107 and down to 91 in patients with Covid. Even with those decreasing numbers the sentinel testing numbers remain elevated. The increase comes from a greater number of tests given and a better representation across campus. More than 1,300 were in testing last week. UAH has 0% positives in sentinel testing and UAB has .47%. Faculty and staff had 25 test positive last week-almost all staff. The Athletic Department is testing between 200-300 athletes every day with an average of no more than one positive case. DCH is receiving 5,000 doses this week. Double appointments must not be made. Dr. Ricky Friend and staff have done an outstanding job. UA received 8,000 doses of Moderna vaccine and expect another 1,000 by the weekend. Multiple plans are being made for May commencement. Graduate teaching students are eligible for the vaccine. The suggestion was made to officially recognize the outstanding job done by administrators during the pandemic.
Secretary’s Report – (Barb Dahlbach) The faculty count for the election of senators is on track. Election results are coming in with committee preference forms to be done by Qualtrics.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion – (Lyndell McDonald & Ignacio Rodeno) The committee met with Dr. Christine Taylor, Vice President for Diversity, and was given an update on events this month. Dr. Dyson’s event was last Thursday and went really well. The “Good Trouble” book read starts this week. Email the DEI committee to get more information. The African American exhibit is on display until Thursday with Ms. Jennings giving the presentation. The focus on civil rights is on February 17 with registration required. DEI events will be presented between the hours of 12:00 and 1:30 to encourage more participation. The Path Forward plan and implementation continues to be a project in progress. The committee is pursuing a disability and caregiver infinity group. Darren Griffin was suggested as a good contact to move these ideas forward.
Faculty & Senate Governance – (Ibrahim Cemen & Jeri Zemke) There are two nominees for Faculty Ombudsperson – Cathy Pagani (A&S) and Steven Jacobs (A&S). The elected candidate will begin serving in this position on January, 2022. Mediation Committee nominees are – Laurie Bonnici (SLIS), Ron Dulek (Business), Ann Graves (Nursing), Darrin Griffin (CCIS) and Sara Kaylor (Nursing). No more than one can be elected from a single college. Voting will close on February 24 at 5:00 PM. Letters-of-intent have been received from Chapman Greer for Faculty Senate President, Matthew Hudnall for Faculty Senate Vice President and Barb Dahlbach for Faculty Senate Secretary. Election will be held at the March Faculty Senate meeting.
Community & Legislative Affairs – (Steven Yates & Joy Burnham) The committee met last week with Dr. Samory Pruitt and regular meetings will be scheduled. The committee continues to work on a reception for Legislators. The later in the semester this could be held will give more time for the vaccine to be administered and people would be more open to meeting face-to-face. Meeting space in Gorgas is being considered possibly on a Monday in April.
Everyone was encouraged to vote in the mayoral election.
Academic Affairs – (John Vincent & Babs Davis) The committee is reviewing the proposed Faculty Leave policy associated with distinguished fellowships, awards and grants to have in line with sabbatical guidelines. The committee suggested eliminating the long list of awards and to substitute a link to that information. Generally they agreed with the proposed changes. This will be sent to the Faculty Senate to consider and vote on at the March meeting. The committee was encouraged to do more research on the language around the sabbatical and applying for awards. There was discussion concerning the final exam schedule.
Research & Service – (Sriram & Ajay Agrawal) The contract manager has been invited to meet with the committee to assist in understanding the contract process including the process at the University level.
A replacement is needed for Kelly Shannon-Henderson as co-chair.
IT & Strategic Communications – (Matthew Hudnall & Patrick Kung) Recording within Zoom is a problem. The Zoom account is under the Systems Office and operates under UAB IT department. There are violations with HIPPA agreements. All Zoom accounts are under the UAB IT personnel umbrella. The committee is pursuing some solutions to this operation.
The agenda will be sent out for the next meeting with the Faculty Leave policy attached.
Meeting adjourned 5:30 P.M.
PDF Version Steering Committee Meeting Minutes, February 9, 2021