FACULTY SENATE MEETING
NOVEMBER 16, 2021 – 3:30 PM – NORTH LAWN 1018
Approved Minutes
Attendance: Julie Bannerman, Sheila Black, Serena Blount, Seth Bordner, Ibrahim Cemen, Spyridoula (Litsa) Cheimariou, Kim Colburn, Alexis Davis Hazell, Rona Donahoe, Amanda Espy-Brown, Brittany Gilmer, Courtney Helfrecht, Kim Lackey, Matthew Lockwood, Lyndell McDonald, Moises Molina, Alessandra Montalbano, Luke Niiler, Shanlin Pan, Rainer Schad, Edith Szanto, Alexandre Tokovinine, Bulent Tosun, Laura Erin Watley, Bo Zhang, Yong Zhang, Doug Bish, Chapman Greer, Matthew Hudnall, BC Kim, Mary Stone, Brian Britt, Cynthia Peacock, Bharat Mehra, Alyx Vesey, Nelle Williams, Andrea Wright, Tracy Hinton, Joy Burnham, Nirmala Erevelles, Michael Lawson, Sara McDaniel, John Petrovic, Stephanie Shelton, Sriram Aaleti, Jaber Abu-Qahouq, Xiaoyan Hong, Sushma Kotru, Patrick Kung, John Van Zee, John Latta, Carla Blakey, Barbara “Babs” Davis, Amy Ellis, Yeon Ho Shin, Jeri Zemke, Heather Elliott, Paul Horwitz, Barbara Dahlbach, Russel Peterson, Michael Callihan, Rebecca Owings, Kim Parker, Leah Cheatham, Amy Traylor, Robert Riter-Parliamentarian, Hank Lazer-TUARA, Brad Porter-PSA.
Absent with Alternate: Tyler Sasser/Matthew Davis, Jennifer Dempsey/Diana Gomez, Steven Yates/Mary Meares, Cecily Collins/Dale Dickinson, Suzanne Henson/Gregg Bell, Nicole Swoszowski/George Mugoya, Sundar Krishnan/Kaylan Srinivasan, Jialai Wang/Brian Jordon,
Absent without alternate: Paulo Araujo, Jeremy Crawford, Susan Dewey, Nathan Loewen, Christopher Lynn, Regina Range, Laura Erin Watley, Tom Baker, Todd DeZoort, Ruth Ann Hall, Weihua Su, David Taylor, Dan Joyner, Susan Appel,
Press: Laura Braddick-Strategic Communications.
UA Systems Office Senior Vice Chancellor for External Affairs, Clay Ryan, began the meeting addressing Critical Race Theory and Academic Freedom concerns. Protecting academic freedom is a priority along with securing higher education as a laboratory for ideas at all points of the spectrum giving students the opportunity to be educated without agreeing in principal with what is being taught. Higher education is one of the last places ideas can be presented freely even if leading to heated debates and opinions.
There are three pre-filed bills in the State Legislature which will be addressed and could be voted on in January 2022. The primary goal is to modify those bills to prevent any academic freedom restrictions. The sponsors have indicated a willingness to modify the language in those bills.
Questions and comments included: a legal review of the impact the passage of one or more of these bills would have on UA; what input have faculty members had on composing these bills – (none but feedback, conversation and suggestions are welcomed); would any type of public campaign by faculty be helpful – (not advisable); faculty can teach freely only requiring students to be knowledgeable/not agreeing with the subject; AEA collaboration in the future; move to K-12 after higher education is secure; adverse employment action would be in the enforcement mechanism; in Bill 9 Department of Labor more concerned with contractors and diversity, equity and inclusion training; activities by faculty identifying subjects to be taught and avoiding collateral damage when protesting would help maintain academic freedom; failed similar bills have been considered multiple times; decision timeline possibly late January/March; Faculty Senate voice will be heard.
Business Meeting
Roll call and quorum check by Faculty Senate Secretary, Barb Dahlbach.
The Faculty Senate meeting minutes of October 19, 2021 were approved as corrected.
President’s Report – (Chapman Greer) A motion was made via listserv to have zoom meetings for the remainder of this year vs. in-person Faculty Senate meetings. Bob Riter, Faculty Senate Parliamentarian, discussed the options according to the Faculty Senate Constitution and By-laws. Bob Riter, in his role as Parliamentarian, oversees parliamentary procedures of the Faculty Senate, Steering Committee and any functions of those groups pertaining to correct procedures to be followed. The dates and times of Faculty Senate, Steering Committee and committees are set by the Faculty Senate by-laws. The Faculty Senate Steering Committee determines the location of the meetings. Due to Covid and UA mandates concerning gatherings and meetings, Faculty Senate and Steering Committee meetings have been held via Zoom for over a year. Any vote taken would be showing sentiment since the Steering Committee would make final determination of the mode used conducting meetings. The in-person meeting today was held to protect colleagues in expressing opinions since the Faculty Senate has no control over identifying those in attendance during zoom meetings. The Faculty Senate has 56 new senators of 85 senators. Some are not aware of the operational procedures of the Senate. Files have been shared without permission which is a great concern. Hybrid meetings have been tried and do not work making the option to be fully in-person or fully on Zoom. If an executive session is needed where the character of a person is at issue and is being discussed while meeting on Zoom, privacy and safety of the person being discussed and attendance could not be controlled. There must be a motion from the floor to move to executive sessions. Any questions concerning parliamentary procedure should be directed to Bob Riter. Qualtrics can be used to gather the votes/sentiment concerning meeting in-person or via Zoom since this was not presented as an official motion.
The vaccine mandate stipulates there is no need to wear masks or social distance if fully vaccinated. Faculty members may ask students to wear masks but cannot compel them to do so or punish them in any way if they refuse to wear a mask. If infection numbers rise, mask mandates will be reinstated. President Greer will check to see if faculty would be allowed to put mask requests in their syllabus.
The two models being presented by the General Education Taskforce will be voted on by a faculty-wide vote. The Provost will set the date for this vote.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion – (Lyndell McDonald & Luke Niiler) The two resolutions presented by the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee and the Academic Affairs Committee have been sent back for a combination/revision of the resolutions. The Steering Committee offered a revised version with less combative language.
Faculty & Senate Governance – (Jeri Zemke & Ibrahim Cemen) Nominations for the Merger and Discontinuance of Academic Units Committee are needed. An acclimation vote was taken for Dan Chaney as representative for this committee.
No Marshals will be needed for commencement.
Academic Affairs – (Rona Donahoe & Babs Davis) The Academic Misconduct Policy revisions were submitted at the last Faculty Senate meeting. A motion was made and seconded to accept the policy as revised which was approved unanimously.
The Academic Review Council policy will apply University-wide with two members from each college on the council. The Faculty Senate will vote on this policy in December.
It has been proposed to remove the copyright policy from the Faculty Handbook to avoid confusion. It has also been proposed to have a minimum royalty to be 50% for intellectual property.
Community & Legislative Affairs – (Steven Yates & Joy Burnham) The Teacher Appreciation luncheon will be held May 5, 2022. The Legislative Reception will be held January 31, 2022.
Faculty Life – (Heather Elliott & Ruth Ann Hall) No report.
Research & Service – (Shanlin Pan & Douglas Bish) OSP recently implemented a new approach to proposal submission assignments that utilizes the availability and experience of the entire team. While OSP will continue to have the main point of contact for most colleges/departments, proposal deadlines will be reviewed regularly and re-assigned to other team members when the “assigned” specialist has a high volume. A new BOT designated Alabama Mobility and Power Center started on November 25, 2021 for the electric vehicle field.
Financial Affairs – (Mary Stone & Byung-Cheol Kim) This committee is working on airfare and rental issues caused by the Concur financial system. They are working with Strategic Communications and Information Technology issues. Vice President Matt Fajack will be speaking to a Faculty Senate meeting and will have a question and answer period.
Student Life – (Amy Traylor & Jennifer Dempsey) The Student Life Committee is working with the Alabama Reach program to stock the pantry for those special students. The Amazon wish list will be sent to the Faculty Senate via the list serv.
Meeting adjourned 5:30P.M.