Sept. 28, 2020 – minutes

  1. Call to Order – The September 28, 2020 meeting of the University Senate was called to order at 4:00 p.m. in Wyly Auditorium/Zoom Session by President Michael Swanbom.
  2. Welcome – President, Michael Swanbom, COES
    1. Welcomed all new and returning senators
      1. Discussed the important roles the University Senate serves
      2. A communal voice
  3. Approval of May 2020 Minutes – a motion to approve the minutes was made by Jane Jacob and seconded by Louis Reis; all approved
  4. Update on Initiatives Already Completed
    1. UNIV 289A was phased out this year
    2. Office Hours Proposal has been finalized and is up on the website
  5. Update on Initiatives Already Underway/Pending
    1. Overload Compensation
      1. Adjusting the overload compensation that comes from teaching a class
    2. Endowed Professorships for Promoted Lecturers
      1. Including lecturers that have been promoted
    3. University Strategy for Salary Competitiveness
      1. Looking at average salaries again to see where we stand comparable to other universities
    4. Roth 403B
      1. Payroll deduction proposal; may be easier to implement after Workday is live
    5. Tenure Clock Extensions Due to COVID-19
      1. Working on previous proposal to add more information
  6. University Policy Revisions
    1. The Senate will review and make requests for revisions that will include more up-to-date information on certain policies
    2. A document or proposal will be created to rescind certain policies that are no longer needed
    3. Senate has requested to weigh in on any changes/revisions before university leadership makes the final decision
    4. A request was made to table any policy revisions so that the senate has more time to review them
    5. Mikey Swanbom will schedule an optional Zoom meeting with Justin Kavalir in the next week or two to allow the senate members to ask questions about specific policies
  7. Brainstorming Session
    1. Mikey Swanbom asked senate members the question “What is the most important issue for Senate to address in 20-21?”
    2. Answers were placed in a word cloud to determine the top issues that seemed of greatest concern to the members
  8. Senate Sub-Committee Work
    1. A link was provided for senate members to sign up for the various sub-committees available for the year; descriptions for each sub-committee were provided
  9. Adjournment
    1. Meeting was adjourned at 5:04 p.m.