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January 24, 2022

  1. Call to Order – The January 24, 2022 meeting of the University Senate was called to order at 4:00 p.m. on Zoom by President, Louis Reis.
  2. Welcome and Opening Remarks – President, Louis Reis, COES
  3. Roll Call – Alicia Kimbell recorded attendance; a quorum was met
  4. Approval of December 2021 Minutes – a motion was made by Judith Roberts/Joan Lynam; all approved
  5. Policy Updates
    1. Policy 1405 – Evaluation of Administrators
      1. request that employees have an annual opportunity to evaluate their immediate supervisor AND all administrators above them within each college or division
      2. Due to holiday schedule, will be voted on in March
    2. Policy 2311 – Policies and Procedures of the Graduate Council
      1. Was approved by the APC
      2. Includes specific language that 400-level UG/G shared courses must contain a more difficult/suitable assignment for graduate credit
    3. COVID-19 Updates
      1. Vaccination rates:
        1. Students – 60% fully vaccinated (with 2 shots of Pfizer or Moderna or 1 shot of J&J; 10% partially vaccinated
        2. Faculty – 85% vaccinated (73% reporting) 
        3. Shot for $100 is still going on
      2. Case numbers:
        1. About 2 times more cases than seen in September
        2. Quarantine has been shortened to 5 days instead of 10-14 days
      3. Expected to be back to lowest transmission rates by Feb. 13
  6. APC Meeting Update (Jan. 18)
    1. Title IX (Mortissa Harvey)
      1. Annual training will start soon; must be completed before next academic year
      2. There is a new website for reporting Title IX incidents (https://titleix.latech.edu/)
    2. Renovations and Future Projects
      1. GTM will be the first to receive updates and renovations (likely sometime this year)
      2. CTH will be next on the list
    3. Budget
      1. Pending legislature salary increase for faculty/staff (being optimistically cautious)
      2. Meeting with Dr. Guice – attending the March 28 plenary senate meeting
      3. Senate members are encouraged to submit specific questions for Dr. Guice to answer
  7. Committee Updates
    1. Communication – John Worsencroft – no updates
    2. Workload – Kathleen Heiden – no updates
    3. Technology – Tom Stafford
      1. Expressed concerns with acceptable use policy
        1. Responsibility of researcher to secure against access
        2. No protection against password provisions
        3. Will provide a letter expressing concerns
      2. Additional concerns over the policy protecting personal intellectual property
    4. New Concerns with COVID Policies and/or Actions
      1. When is it appropriate to change the modality of courses?
        1. Example: when schools are closed for a few days and unable to get childcare on short notice
        2. Would be on a case-by-case basis; Dr. McConathy/Department Heads/Deans would need to be emailed to determine what type of accommodations can be made
      2. Why is information not given out to faculty/staff/students regarding COVID #’s on campus, modality of courses, etc.?
      3. Are there consequences for faculty members that choose not to wear masks? How is mask wearing enforced when there is not a policy in place?
      4. Is work in the Cares committee still ongoing? Any recent updates?
    5. Policy 2106 – Workload Policy
      1. Kathleen Heiden and Louis Reis will draft letter to be sent to CADS detailing concerns and requests for policy changes with minimum expectations
        1. Louis received an email with proposed changes
          1. Any workload change by faculty would need to be submitted in writing by 16th class day of the quarter
        2. Is there a mechanism for filing a grievance for workload amount (doing more work but receiving less pay than other areas)?
  8. Senate Awards Committee
    1. Alicia Kimbell will head the staff awards committee
    2. There needs to be one representative from each college for the faculty awards committee
      1. Jane Jacob, Joan Lynam, Avery Broussard, and Rebecca Clark agreed to serve
    3. Will post more information on Moodle for volunteers
  9. Other New Business
    1. Future Senate guests – possibly Donna Thomas to speak on her new position or Stacy Gilbert to speak on COVID info
    2. Pharmacy benefits have dramatically been reduced; out of pocket for meds could be higher
  10. Adjournment
    1. The meeting was adjourned at 5:02 p.m. by a motion from Kris Harris/Matthew Hartmann