Call to Order – The November 16, 2020 meeting of the University Senate was called to order at 4:00 p.m. in Wyly Auditorium/Zoom Session by President Michael Swanbom.
Welcome – President, Michael Swanbom, COES
Roll Call – Alicia Kimbell recorded the attendees as they logged into Zoom as well as those that attended in person; a quorum was met
Approval of October 2020 Minutes – a motion to approve the minutes was made by Joseph Williams and seconded by Joanna Ward; all approved
Review of Recent Progress on Pending Initiatives
Salary Competitiveness Updates
Mikey Swanbom shared information from several emails between Dr. Guice, Dr. Henderson, and himself regarding the $90 fee (applied per student/per credit hour above 8) that was implemented back in Winter Quarter 2018-2019)
In response to these emails, Mikey Swanbom presented the senate with an official reply to be sent back to leadership
asking them to hear concerns on behalf of the senate
stating the desire for our institution to reach a higher level of salary competitiveness
observing no improvement in salary competitiveness since 2007
expressing concern that if the issue is not addressed, the university will be unable to fulfill its mission
Members were asked to read the response and offer suggestions or edits before proceeding
A motion was made by John Worsencroft/Joseph Williams to approve the response on behalf of the senate
Two individuals expressed dissent of this motion
One dissent was resolved with an amendment to the original response including a statement regarding before/after COVID-19 plans regarding the amount collected through this fee as well as an acknowledgement that COVID-19 may have caused certain impacts in its use
The other dissent remained unchanged after the remainder of the senate approved the motion to proceed with the response; motion passed