Friday, December 6, 2024
2:00 PM
Zoom
Senators Present: Huiwang Ai, Aaron Bloomfield, Juliet Hatchett, Brad Kesser, Jim Lambert, Alicia Lopez Opere, Andrew Pennock, Lisa Colosi Peterson, Brian Pusser, Sue Saliba, Jim Savage, Jeri Seidman, Jessica Sewell, Brian Wright
Ex-Officio & Guests Present: Maite Brandt-Pearce, Brie Gertler, Ian Mullins, Melissa Riley, Walt Heinecke, Nina Tripp, Anne Garland Mahler, Wynne Stuart
Jim Lambert called the meeting to order at 2:02
Brian Pusser motioned to approve the November 1, EXCO minutes. Aaron seconded; all approve. Motion passes.
Maite: The Promotion and Tenure policy is currently with Ian, then it will go under a 30-day review. During the 30-day review period, additional documentation will show what and where changes were made. The 30-day review will extend into the third week of January due to the holiday break. The policy number is not being changed since the policy is referenced in so many places.
Prov-004 Employment of Academic General Faculty Members: will start work with the Faculty Advisory Panel. Make changes and then share for feedback. Maite mentioned that she would really like for junior AGF faculty to give feedback as it affects them the most. The advisory panel consists of one person from each school then representative from faculty counsel and faculty senate. GFC and Senate will choose their own and the schools are asked for a representative. Brian P stated that Faculty Senate bylaws should come from Senators because they are the chosen reps. The President and Provost should come to Faculty Senate to present their idea for a committee and senators are on the committee. Motion was tabled at the request of Brian so he’s asked to take it off and put it back in.
Brie: Provost Office is continuing to implement the religious task force recommendations. EOCR expanded resources for religious accommodations and created a template to help request accommodations. Provost Baucom has announced five new endowed chairs so far, four have been selected. Student Affairs has posted a position to focus on coordination between religious groups. UPD is in the final stages of a search for a Victim’s Advocate. Brie is meeting with students to work on Ramadan accommodations. The email received asked for specific accommodations such as moving afternoon and evening exams and projects to the morning. She has an additional meeting coming up to see how technology can help.
Setting the agenda for the faculty senate
Provost Policy 004 has been moved from the table
President Ryan
Provost Baucom
Michael Kennedy BOV report
Bill Kean from the AAUP
AI and shared governance
What issues are we looking at and working on regarding AI?
Dave Strite, Assistant VP for Support Services and Learning Technologies: each faculty member decides on the use of AI in their class. Senators stressed the need to be proactive vs reactive. Brian Wright stated that they are finding AI unreliable and noted that the market revenue has leveled or drop off. Brian Pusser suggested everyone think about the process going forward. Others mentioned the usefulness or AI varies between classes.
Brie would like 5-7 minutes at the full faculty senate meeting to discuss three initiatives out of the Provost Office around AI: teaching and learning, research, operations. It was noted that send ahead information would be helpful.
Institutional Neutrality: The language in statement sounds like it’s more for Administrators but then adds the wording that applies to department chairs, centers, and programs. Brian Pusser mentioned that people should be talking about protecting professional expertise. He also suggested creating a committee on Governance and Communications. Discussion should come from a committee to EXCO then to the full senate. It was decided to start with an ad hoc committee then next year, it can be a standing committee called Governance and Communications. Brian Pusser made a motion, and Alicia seconded. No one opposed.
Jim will invite Scott Ballinger back to the full meeting so the senators can provide ideas to him.
RTS: Huiwang stated that the committee is in conversation with OSP. They are discussing how to make post award more effective by having a help email and different reports to show PIs spending.
Policy: Lisa stated that the committee is gearing up to receive feedback on P&T and Prov Policy 004.
Grievance: Juliet stated that the committee has a couple of grievances under review. Subcommittees are working on them. The committee will need a chair starting in January.
DEI: Committee met with Rachel Spraker, Assistant VP, Equity and Inclusive Excellence to discuss the SERU Survey and the system integrations. The committee has a meeting in early March to discuss religious freedom.
Finance: The committee is meeting with Adam Daniel and Michael Phillips before the December full meeting to go over the UVA financial model.
FRRRW: The committee is looking into the Dual Career Office. The committee is also asking members to review the COACHE Survey and provide suggestions on how to improve faculty welfare. Maite is coming to meeting December 11 meeting to talk about exit interviews. They’ve talked to Stu Abbott about building an academy on retirement. Dr. Kesser also noted that the committee working on childcare facilities is close to choosing a vendor to run the centers.
AAC: Sue stated the committee has a meeting on Monday to discuss six concentrations in Data Science. Since these are concentrations, they will not require a senate vote.
Athletic Advisory Council: the committee discussed student absences but did not come to a resolution.
January Faculty Senate meeting: Dean Roberts is coming to discuss admissions. Everyone would like to have Carla Williams back on the meeting schedule for a full senate presentation.
Bylaws: Aaron is reviewing the bylaws and would like 10 minutes during the December meeting to discuss some small changes that are not controversial.
Brian Pusser motioned to end the EXCO meeting, Jessica Sewell seconded. All in favor, motion passed.