UTMB Faculty Senate
May 9, 2005
Caduceus Room
4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

MINUTES

Senators Present: T. Albrecht; S. Ayachi; C. Baker; C. Boodley; B. Budelmann (Chair); J. Dallas; B. Camune; A. Cass; C. Cooper (ex-officio); J. Gallagher; P. Gallagher; A. Hudson-Jones; M. Kanz; R. Leonard; H. Li; M. McGinnis; K. Mossberg; V. Parisi (ex-officio); P. Watson (ex-officio); M. Winter (Chair Elect).

I. Approval of Agenda of 05/09/05

II. Approval of Minutes of 04/11/05

III. President’s Report – Dr. Stobo
• President Bush’s visit to Galveston and utilizing UTMB as a venue was a success. For 3 to 4 days prior to the President’s visit, many UTMB staff members worked long hours to prepare for the President’s visit. In a brief meeting afterwards, the President’s staff told Dr. Stobo that this was the best-organized visit by the President to this type of venue.
• The Galveston National Laboratory has passed the environmental impact statements, which were accepted by EPA and NIH. Construction of the facility will begin in 1 to 2 weeks, which is slightly ahead of schedule. Completion of the facility must be by January of 2008, with full operation by June 2008. There are plans for a groundbreaking ceremony in August when the UT Board of Regents will be meeting in Galveston.
• The UTMB capital campaign to raise $250M over 5 years is in its second year. So far $70M have been raised (which is on track to attain the $250M goal). The UTMB Family campaign will be kicked-off on June 24th, 2005.
• Legislature Update. This has been a slow process and there are many concerns. There is hope that the UTMB budget will not be affected. These changes, however, will not be known until the end of May when the current legislature adjourns.
• Dr. Stobo reported on a trip to Washington D.C. to talk with legislators. He met with Hutchinson and Cornin to discuss the possibility of line item funds for UTMB in tele-medicine.

IV. Chair’s Comments – Dr. Budelmann
• A UTMB Scenario Planning Task Force, with 60 members, was charged to develop plausible views of the future environment of UTMB for 2008 to 2013. The UTMB Faculty Senate Chair (Budelmann) and Chair-Elect (Winter) are members of the task force.
• Dr. Budelmann commended Dr. Parisi for her presentation at the last Faculty of Medicine meeting on ”The State of the School of Medicine”. A copy of her presentation can be viewed at: http://www.som.utmb.edu/State_of_School/

V. COMPACT 2006-2007 – R. Guerrero
• Mr. Guerrero requested that the members of the Faculty Senate give input into the COMPACT between UTMB and the UT Board of Regents.
• Please go to: http://www.utmb.edu/avpplanning/subweb/utcompact/compact06-07.asp for online input.

VI. Support for Graduate School Education – Dr. Cooper
• Dr. Cooper presented data on the decline in the numbers of applicants to the GSBS at UTMB. Current application data show a decline in the number of applicants over the last 2 years, with the numbers of international applicants significantly affecting the downward trend. Major problems are: o Tightened VISA procedures o Increased competition from competitors
o Declining state resources for number of first year stipends
o Direct relationship between student population and training grant success
o Difficulty supporting expanding research programs
• What the GSBS is currently doing:
o Bridging Grants
o Summer Undergraduate Research Program
o Training Grant template initiative
o Enhanced recruiting
o Mexico outreach
o Baylor and Texas A&M initiative
o Value added programs
o ABMP
o Concurrent MBA with UT-Telecampus
o Science and Law Course
o GSBS sponsored CCD events/workshops
• Possible Solutions
o Increase the number of first year stipends offered
o Increase training grants and individual fellowship awards
o Intensify recruitment activities

VII. Senate Business.
• Nominations for Faculty Senate Chair-Elect. On or before the next meeting (June 13), nominations for the upcoming Faculty Senate Chair – Elect position need to be made. According to the bylaws, senators from all schools can be nominated except from the School of Medicine since the incoming chair (M. Winter) is a representative of the School of Medicine. Election for the position will be held at the July 11 meeting.
• Faculty Senate Representation on Research Services Steering Committee. Dr. T. Albrecht was unanimously elected to be the Faculty Senate representative to the steering committee.
• University Service Core Support – Letter of Recommendation: The letter, originally drafted by T. Albrecht, was approved by the Senate; it asks for support of UTMB’s University Service Cores. The letter will be given to Dr. Stobo, with copies to C.H. Christiansen, C.W. Cooper, V.M. Parisi, P.G. Watson, and W. New.
• Senators and Faculty Concerns - Update
o A brief discussion of the 360 Degree evaluations of Department Chairs was undertaken. It will be researched at to the individuals that would be part of this evaluation process.
o Questions on the validity of the campus surveys was raised:
 Response rate “You Count Survey” (as per R. Guerrero after checking with Human Resources): 41.5 % (for Fall 2004).
 Response rates “Patient Satisfaction Survey” (information from Department of Patient Services, revised May 13, 2005):
 Period 06/01/04 – 08/31/04:
• Emergency Room: 9.73%
• In Patient: 18.22%
• ObGyn: 16.24%
• Medical Practice: 16.57%
 Period 09/01/04 – 11/30/04:
• Emergency Room: 8.50%
• In Patient: 18.03%
• ObGyn: 17.50%
• Medical Practice: 15.31%
 Period 12/01/04 – 02/28/05:
• Emergency Room: 9.53%
• In Patient: 18.83%
• ObGyn: 18.70%
• Medical Practice: 16.15%
• Discussion of the new Faculty Satisfaction Survey Tool.
C. Baker gave a report from the 2 Faculty Senators who were part of the committee to revamp the survey tool. It was suggested by the Senate to add a section that includes questions as to why, or why not, faculty would choose to utilize UTMB as their health care provider.
• Committee Reports
o The reports were tabled due to time constraints. It was suggested that the reports could in the form of an addendum to the minutes for review by the senators (see addendum below).

Meeting adjourned at 6:00 p.m.
Committee Meetings followed.
Next Faculty Senate Meeting 06/13/05.

Addendum to the Minutes of the UTMB Faculty Senate Meeting of May 9, 2005.

Committee Reports:

Faculty Quality – C. Baker: An update regarding the parking issue. Some Senators had asked if there might be some short-term parking options for those who come to campus for regularly-scheduled meetings and wish to park closer to the meeting location. Also, there was a request to see if parking could be attained closer to the Administration Building for persons attending Senate meetings. According to the UTMB parking office:
• Those who want to secure short-term ‘dual parking’ (so they can be closer to a particular building) should put their request in writing to Bruno Cristelli with as much info as possible (where they usually park, where they want to be and the dates/frequency needed); he will get back to them after determining what might be available.
• Those who might want to have parking closer to the Senate meetings: this can be arranged in a nearby garage (access is after 4:00 p.m.). Interested persons can call the parking office (772-4786) to have a form faxed to them; complete it to request ‘on call/after hours’ parking; there is no charge for this if the person currently pays for campus parking. This would also be useful for those that might have a ‘temporary’ disability due to surgery, etc. and want to attend the Senate meetings but are unable to endure the long walk across campus.

Governance: No report received.

Academic and Administrative Affairs – M. McGinnis:
Tenure and Part-Time Employment. Our current Policy No. 5.3.9 from the UTMB Handbook of Operating Procedures (HOP) under Tenure states that: "A change from full-time to part-time, without termination of employment, must be approved by the Institution. In this case, the matter of continuation of tenure for a tenure faculty member is to be determined by the Institution." Suggested change: “A change from full-time to part-time, without termination of employment, must be approved by the Institution. Tenure for a tenured faculty member remains in effect.” Rational based upon Policy No. 5.3.9:
• “Tenure clearly is valued and should be continued as a reward for faculty, as presently provided for in the UT System Regents’ Rules and Regulations.” Tenure is a reward based upon performance regardless if the faculty member is full or part-time. Based upon our current system, faculty performance is periodically evaluated to insure that the reward should be maintained.
• “ Proposals for…the award of tenure are peer-reviewed by faculty in the Schools. Recommendations are made to the appropriate Dean. The Deans of the Schools review and, if they approve, forward recommendations to the Vice President for Academic Affairs who, in turn, reviews and presents his recommendations to the President. The President reviews and submits the recommendations to the Board of Regents through the UT System Administration.”
• Tenure is awarded through a vigorous evaluation process to insure that the award is given to faculty members who have earned the recognition through performance. The same level of performance is expected regardless if the faculty member is full time or part-time to maintain the award of tenure.

Little appreciated facts:
• The Department Chair can request from the Dean, when a faculty member is changing from full-time to part-time, to have his or her tenure remain in force. This is a separate request from obtaining approval to change from full-time to part-time.
• When a new budget is prepared, an existing full-time tenure position that becomes part-time is re-coded as non-tenure. If the proposal is accepted, this will need to be changed.
• The review process for the evaluation of a faculty person’s tenure award will need to be changed if this proposal is accepted.
• The reward of tenure for part-time faculty could have a negative impact upon a manager’s ability to manage.