[Faculty] Faculty Senate Meeting Agenda and Discussion Points

[Goyal, Ravi - (goyalr)]

Dear CALS Faculty,



Happy grading! Here are some updates from the last December Faculty Senate meeting



  1.  During the open session, Eric Lyons reported on the concerns related to the UITS centralization project. If you’d like to read them, his remarks are attached to this email.
  2.  The Committee of Eleven (C11) Chair, Wolfgang Fang, reported on changes to UHAP 5.2, described in detail here<https://facultygovernance.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/2022-10/Proposed_Changes_to_UHAP%205.2_Senate_0.pdf>. A resolution to “endorse C11’s proposed changes and support advancing them to the next step in the policy-making process” passed.
  3.  Two members of the University Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committee discussed their report that was emailed to President Robbing and Provost Folks (the report is attached).
  4.  Secretary Tessa Dysart reported on changes to the bylaws outlined here<https://facultygovernance.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/2022-11/10.13.22%20Bylaws%20Committee%20Suggested%20Changes.pdf>. Most of the changes were voted on (and passed), with the exception of one change, which will be brought back to the Senate in the new year.
  5.  There was a brief discussion about the Nominating Committee. If faculty are not aware, last year, the Nominating Committee’s practices came under scrutiny, as documented in this Higher Chronicles of Education article<https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2022/09/29/u-arizona-professors-say-theyre-blackballed-service>. There is currently an internal investigation about the matter by the C11, and when that is completed, we will send the report along. Do note, however, that the current Nominating Committee (which includes Katie Zeiders and Ravi Goyal) read a statement in Faculty Senate to assure faculty that they are working towards a more transparent process and one without staff or administrator influence.
  6.  Faculty Chair, Leila Hudson, proposed a resolution to support Tom Meixner’s family<https://facultygovernance.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/2022-12/Faculty%20Senate%20Resolution%20Meixner%2012.pdf>, who lost health care benefits on October 16th, 2022. The resolution passed and called for the President, ABOR, University of Arizona Foundation, and/or AZ legislature to allocate general funds to pay for the Meixner family’s COBRA and retirement healthcare benefits until Mrs. Meixner becomes eligible for Medicare benefits. Here is a news article that describes it in more detail: https://tucson.com/news/local/u-of-a-faculty-want-health-benefits-for-family-of-slain-professor/article_9ac45cce-7656-11ed-a24b-ab10027504d0.html
  7.  Finally, concerns about the Graduate College’s new procedure to disclose felonies in graduate applications have been brought up in the CALS Faculty Council meetings. During the end of the Faculty Senate meeting, the Graduate Council gave updates, and CALS senators asked about this specific topic. Given time constraints, the discussion was limited, but we plan to follow up with the Graduate Council to get further information.


The next Faculty Senate meeting is Monday, Jan. 23rd, 3-5 pm. You can attend via zoom (registration link:https://arizona.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Dq3wtb7oSKSFR7O-UB-z-w) or in person (LAW Room 160).


Also, just a reminder: You can give us anonymous comments/feedback on any faculty-related issue in this qualtrics survey:https://uarizona.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4ZXIgJJOLxYVaD4.<https://uarizona.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4ZXIgJJOLxYVaD4>

We appreciate those who have left us comments and will follow up soon. You’re also welcome to email us directly.


Have a wonderful holiday break,


Ravi Goyal, Tim Ottusch, Katie Zeiders

Faculty Senators, CALS



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://list.cals.arizona.edu/pipermail/faculty/attachments/20221212/72fd1b9c/attachment-0001.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: DEIC Full Statement (1).pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 106238 bytes
Desc: DEIC Full Statement (1).pdf
URL: <https://list.cals.arizona.edu/pipermail/faculty/attachments/20221212/72fd1b9c/attachment-0002.pdf>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Faculty-Senate-UITS-Lyons-Dec-5-2022 (1).pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 78052 bytes
Desc: Faculty-Senate-UITS-Lyons-Dec-5-2022 (1).pdf
URL: <https://list.cals.arizona.edu/pipermail/faculty/attachments/20221212/72fd1b9c/attachment-0003.pdf>