UTMB Faculty Senate
November 8, 2004
Caduceus Room
4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

MINUTES

Senators present: J. Alperin; S. Ayachi; C. Baker; C. Boodley; D. Breitkopf; B. Budelmann (Chair); B. Camune; C. Christiansen (ex officio); C. Cooper (ex officio); J. Dallas; P. Gallagher; J. Gallagher; A. Hudson Jones; M. Kanz; R. Lederman (Past-Chair; ex officio); R. Leonard; H. Li; C.; K. Mossberg; Phillips; R. Rahr; K. Rasmusson; M. Winter (Chair Elect).

Faculty Guests: S. Carlton; J.M. Chung; K. Chung; L.-M. Huang; A. Pajor; S. Trocme.

I. Approval of Agenda of 11/08/04.

II. Approval of Minutes of 10/11/04 meeting.

III. Chair’s Report – Dr. Budelmann
The chair attended the Faculty Advisory Council (FAC) meeting of the UT System in Austin October 7-8, 2004.
• The FAC met with Regent John Barnhill. The FAC requested that the Regents consider compression of salaries of upper level faculty because in some UT components new faculty are hired at salaries equal to or above those of senior faculty. The FAC alerted John Barnhill that current hiring of new faculty puts emphasis on research; this may result in a lack of good teaching faculty in the future.
• The FAC met with Dan Stewart (Vice Chancellor for Administration), who talked about “Paid Time Off (PTO)”. PTO is an alternative leave plan that pools the different leave accounts and gives employees more flexibility to use leave time. It is “on trial” at MD Anderson (major problem is administrative difficulties). Currently UT components do not seem to have much interest to implement PTO.
• The FAC met with Geoff Leavenworth (Special Assistant to the President of UT Austin). He talked about the “Commission of 125” report. The report expresses a vision for UT Austin for the next 25 years and includes two strategic initiatives:
1. Develop a new undergraduate core curriculum to better prepare students for lives of accomplishment.
2. Establish a more demanding standard for leadership of academic departments and research centers, and give those leaders the authority and resources to succeed.
• The FAC met with Raymond Paredes (Commissioner, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB); he talked about “Closing the Gaps”. Its goal is to significantly raise the level of participation in Texas colleges and universities. By 2015, expected student increase is 200,000; THECB’s goal is 500,000 (which would take Texas to average level in US. Teaching is an important component of meeting THECB’s goals.

IV. Past Chair’s – Dr. Lederman
The Past Chair reported that while she was Co-Chair of the Health Affairs Committee of the FAC this past year, there was a proposal made for part-time appointments for faculty members for reasons of personal exigency or concerns, such as expectant motherhood, birth of a child, caring for elderly parents who are ill, aging and valued faculty, etc. Small business initiative grants (STTR, SBIR) also necessitate part-time faculty appointments. Several other major U.S. universities, both with liberal arts and with medical campuses have extensive statements in their Regents Rules. In March 2004 the Board of Regents (BOR) approved a plan that permitted each University of Texas component to develop their own policy for tenured faculty to request part-time appointments. When the plan presented to the BOR was recommended to UTMB, it met resistance from the President and the Deans because there is already a one-sentence statement in IHOP indicating faculty at UTMB may request part-time status. Recommendation from the Senate: The matter should be addressed by the Senate with input from the Core Committee for the Advancement of Women Faculty and Administrators (A. Speer, M.D.; Chair).

V. Academic Executive Council Chair’s Report – Dr. Christiansen
The AEC Chair asked for volunteers from the Faculty Senate to participate in three new projects; their goals are to advance the educational mission of UTMB.
1. Identification of interdisciplinary curriculum content for UTMB students in the health professions.
2. Planning and hosting a university-wide teaching-learning conference (retreat) in Spring 2005 on best practices.
3. Creating an Academy of Master Teachers at UTMB An email will be distributed to all Senate members containing more details and a request for participation.

VI. Budget Issues – Larry Revill (Chief Financial Officer of UTMB)
Larry Revill highlighted the following issues (taken from his Power Point Presentation):
• Adjusted Operating Margin before Depreciation is important.
• All fund groups are included in Adjusted Operating Margin before Depreciation.
• Operating Fund Balance Trends 2001-2004 (in millions): E&G: 2001 – 15.6; 2002 – 30.6; 2003 – 27.4; 2004 – 35.8 Designated: 2001 – 66.2; 2002 – 77.5; 2003 – 81.3; 2004 – 84.2 Auxilary: 2001 – 4.9; 2002 – 4.5; 2003 – 4.2; 2004 – 6.1 Restricted: 2001 – 50.7; 2002 – 50.1; 2003 – 50.1; 2004 – 36.5
• UTMB has an obligation to satisfy restrictions on gifts.
• The “Good Old Days” aren’t coming back.
• Today, the working capital in all fund groups is essential to maintaining liquidity at UTMB, and some restricted funds may be necessary to meet capital requirements.
• The Fiscal 2005 budget has been written with restricted funds at breakeven – all current revenues can be expended.
• By Mid-Year Finance will be budgeting and reporting operating results by fund group and for major fund accounts.
• The schools should develop processes for review, authorization, monitoring and management of individual accounts.
• The schools should adopt a dynamic budgeting process.
• UTMB should not remove all oversight and control from expenditures of these Accounts. Dr. Parisi (Dean SOM) and Larry Revill will be present at the next Faculty Senate meeting to re-address budget issues.

VII. Senate Business.
Time constraints did not permit discussion of Senate business. The Chair will send an email to all Senate members regarding those issues (done 11/11/2004).

Meeting adjourned at 6:00 p.m.

Next Faculty Senate Meeting: December 13, 2004.