UTMB Faculty Senate

March 14, 2011

4:30 – 6:00 pm

MINUTES

Present: Drs. C. Utsey, Chair, G. Anderson, K. Beal, I. Boldogh, B. Bryant, S. Croisant, S Gerik, C. Jansen, L. Massey, N. Mendias, H. Pine, D. Powell, E. Protas, T. Riall, P. Singh, E. Smith, D. Solanki, H. Spratt, C. St. John, P. Watson and C. Wiggs

Absent: Drs. P. Crane, Y. Davila, L. Farmer, S. Higgs, C. Houston, J. LeDuc, M. O’Keefe, A. Torres, D. Wild and C. Wisnewski

I. The meeting was called to order by Dr. Carolyn Utsey, Faculty Senate Chair.

II. The Approval of the February 14, 2011 minutes. The minutes of February 14, 2011 after one change was then voted and approved.

III. Dean’s and VP Report

Dr. Anderson stated that they are close to having a number for the support tower. An environmental impact statement is in the works and is to be completed before any buildings can be torn down. For Budget, we should know by the end of May. A group from China visited to examine our Telemedicine program as 70% of their population live in rural areas and the doctors are in big cities; they hope to benefit from our successful telemedicine setup. Dr. Pine asked about our operating rooms, i.e., whether the new ones would be equipped with state-of-the-art telemedicine capabilities. Dr. Anderson stated that they are talking about this and what should be put in our OR’s. Dr. Pine also asked about Match Day. Dr. Anderson stated that a shortage of residency and D.O. slots is both a state and national problem and students need to have a back up plan. Advisors who suspect students are unlikely to match need to help them with a second plan. Last year we told eleven students to have a back-up plan and out of 11, 5 did not match.

Dean, School of Nursing (SON) and Vice President for Education – reports provided by Dr. Watson.

Dean, School of Health Professions (SHP) – report provided by Dr. Protas.

Dean, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) – report provided by Dr. Cooper.

IV. SACS Report and Three-Year Data Needed – Dr. Chris McKee, Associate VP, Office of Institutional Effectiveness

Dr. McKee presented a PowerPoint presentation and distributed copies. Some highlights of his presentation include:

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), a regional accrediting body has 85 Principles of Accreditation based on the following categories:

Policy: Institutional policies are duly approved, evidence of their operation and institutional compliance with own policies; periodic evaluation and review of policy.

Programs: Instructional programs are of coherent content, are approved by faculty, and are of appropriate rigor for level of degree.

Resources: The institution provides adequate physical, financial and human resources to fulfill its mission.

Process: The institution has adequate and effective processes in place with regards to planning, effectiveness, evaluations, audit, etc.

The Accreditation Process:

Decennial reaffirmation of Accreditation: certify and successfully document compliance with all 85 Principles of Accreditation.

Annual Reports on enrollment, programs and finances.

As needed report when the University is planning a substantive change: Opening a branch campus, adding programs at a new degree level or adding programs in new fields outside of our normal offerings.

Fifth Year Interim Report:

Document and certify compliance with a subset of 15 Principles of Accreditation.

Due to Hurricane Ike, SACS has asked that we document and certify compliance with an additional 10 Principles of Accreditation.

Each of these will require a narrative that persuasively argues for our compliance with the specific Principle and presents our supporting documentation in an organized fashion.

The 25 Principles contained 284 separate citations to supporting documents in 2008.

The compliance certificate is due sometime in mid 2013.

Synergy is required to submit an impact report to accompany the interim report which will address:

The original goals of synergy

Substantive changes made to the program

Degree of attainment of the stated goals

The direct impact on the quality of education at UTMB.

Distance Education. SACS most recent effort has been the development of 3 policy statements and 22 distance education guidelines, which are:

Verification of identity of online students and test takers

Report accurate headcount enrollment for distance education

Ensure that distance education offerings comply with the Principles of Accreditation.

Dr. McKee stated that the THECB is currently reviewing distance education policy. Dr. Gerik added that representatives from all schools are involved. Dr. Mendias stated that students are on hold from enrolling in distance education. Dr. Utsey asked Dr. McKee how the Faculty Senate can help with the SACS report? Dr. McKee stated groups of faculty are reviewing the mandates and asked to edit or add based on their knowledge.

V. Reports by Faculty Senate Executive Committee and Committee Chairs

· Dr. Utsey stated that the Executive Committee recently met with Dr. Callender and they discussed Budget and we should know by May or June what the outcomes will be. We will ask Dr. Raimer to give an update on legislative issues in April.

· Dr. Utsey stated that on March 1, the Executive Committee updated the Council of Deans (COD) on the Faculty Senate. March 24-25 is the next UT Sys Fac Meeting. Regents and Legislators will talk about the Legislative Session on Capitol Hill.

· Dr. Croisant stated that Dr. McKee’s office will assist us with the Faculty Survey.

· Dr. Smith reported for the Faculty Quality Committee: Faculty Quality sub-committee had met with the IHOP sub-committee and that we were jointly working on the IHOP policy for appointment of faculty to the committee that would review termination of faculty after a financial exigency. The committee has not heard back on the Ombudsperson. The ad for this position has been sent out to journals for higher education.

· Dr. Jansen reported for the Academic and Administrative Affairs Committee: The Committee is working on formulating a plan for Faculty Development.

· Ms. Massey reported for the Governance Committee: The Committee is working on the IHOP Security clearance document and had asked a representative from UT Dallas to review their document but theirs is not finalized yet. The committee is moving forward and will proceed with the legal office, COD and IHOP.

· Ms. St. John reported for the IHOP Committee: IHOP distributed some polices which are currently under revision and expect that some of the policies should be resolved shortly. Discussion talked about the budget cuts and abandonment of programs and financial exigency. Dr. Utsey stated they will meet with Dr. Callender April 5 and will ask for clarification on policy.

Have a wonderful Spring Break.

5:30 pm, the meeting was adjourned. The Committees met following the general meeting.