FACULTY & STAFF
Monday, April 25th at 4:00-5:00 pm, Wyly Auditorium
1. Call to Order – The April 25, 2022 meeting of the University Senate was called to order at 4:00 p.m. in Wyly Auditorium 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 March 2022 Minutes – a motion was made by Kirby Colvin/Shelcie Menard-Harvey; all approved
5. Dr. Sumeet Dua, Executive Associate Vice President for Research and Partnerships and Chief Research Officer: Remarks and Q & A
a. Thanked the senate for inviting him to speak; gave brief introduction regarding his role in managing research and partnerships for the past five years
b. Discussed the priorities for the division
i. Stewardship for research projects
ii. Cultivate research partnerships
iii. Manage relationships with corporate and federal entities
c. Activities
i. Industry
ii. Focus on the Tech 2030 strategic plan to create scholarship, and advance research and innovation
iii. Survey
iv. Aspire to be a bigger research university v. Focus on partnerships
1. Barksdale – Global Strike Command
a. Has significant research needs and we are here to help
b. Offer instructional support
vi. National Security Fellowship Program
1. Faculty and students from four of our colleges doing highly classified work
2. $2.6m given to us to support program
vii. Cyber Innovation Center
1. Supporting projects on campus
2. Designing cyber curricula – our faculty have been writing these modules
viii. Faculty
1. MEEN, CVEN, CMEN, CS, and Agricultural Sciences & Forestry
a. Forestry innovation research
b. Tremendous opportunity for research purposes
c. Brings multiple disciplines together
2. Delta Region Workforce Training
a. Faculty from ANS/COE
b. Partners with small businesses
c. Best way to leverage capacity is to collaborate
3. CIS and Cyber Engineering
a. $5m worth of funding
4. Untapped Opportunities
a. BISC and BIEN
b. Pursuing in that direction
5. Chief Research Officer
a. Talented student body
i. Scholarship and reimbursement programs
ii. Looking at Ph.D. program in National Security Studies – no date yet
6. Communications development projects
a. Practical cyber work
7. Cost analysis program with the Air Force program
8. B52 overhaul projects
d. Improving Research Communications in General
i. Focusing on new research website
ii. Newsletters to stakeholders to highlight projects and individuals
iii. Press releases
iv. Visit labs for collaborative research
e. Information from Senate Q & A
i. New buildings and tenants
1. Davy Norris oversees innovation aspect, Sumeet Dua handles research aspect
ii. Collaborative conversations happen often on campus
iii. Elizabeth Matthews leads digital screening efforts for partnership and hosts a faculty workshop
iv. Office of Sponsored Projects
1. Becoming fully staffed is a priority
a. Interviewing candidates
b. Planning on appointing an interim director until a full-time person is hired
v. Elizabeth Matthews suggested that a faculty collaborative database be established so we can know others interests/expertise when looking for collaboration opportunities
6. Policy Updates
a. Policy 1405 – Evaluation of Administrators
i. Louis Reis and Kathleen Heiden met with the Provost and Dr. Donna Thomas
ii. Committee members
1. Donna Thomas will be sending out e-mails about committee consideration to those nominated
2. Kathleen Heiden will serve as committee chair
b. Policy 2106 – Workload Policy
i. Currently stalled while Provost works on administrative evaluations
7. Updates from Committees
a. no updates from the Communication, Workload, and Technology committees
8. Senate Awards
a. Poll on Moodle will now close at midnight; please login and submit votes
9. Officer Elections
a. E-mail Louis Reis if interested in holding an office position next year
10. Adjournment
a. The meeting was adjourned at 4:58 p.m. by a motion from Jane Jacob; all approved