UTMB Faculty Senate

May 9, 2011

4:30 – 6:00 pm

MINUTES

 

Present:   Drs. C. Utsey, Chair, G. Anderson, K. Beal, I. Boldogh, B. Bryant, C. Cooper, P. Crane, S. Croisant, Y. Davila, L. Farmer, S. Gerik, S. Higgs, C. Houston, C. Jansen, N. Mendias, M. O’Keefe, H. Pine, D. Powell, P. Singh, E. Smith, H. Spratt, C. St. John, A. Torres, C. Wiggs, D. Wild and C. Wisnewski

 

Absent:  Drs. J. LeDuc, L. Massey, T. Riall and D. Solanki

 

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

 

II.    The Approval of the April 11, 2011 minutes.  The minutes of April 11, 2011 were approved by email sent 4/25/11.

 

III.  Dean’s and VP Report

·      Dr. Anderson followed up on Dr. Cooper’s report on the increased graduate school enrollment stating several things contributed to the increased enrollment: 1) GSBS made a real push in updating their website, since, all websites need to be updated every six months and 2) GSBS increased graduate students salaries to what other local medical centers are  paying.  Dr. Cooper stated that Dr. Coppenhaver attended a national meeting for student recruitment, and from a survey they reviewed showed that websites were the best tool for recruiting.

·      Dr. Anderson talked about the legislative session and that we may not know until August 1.  The Legislation has 3 weeks left to finish in the regular session and then the Governor will have 21 days to veto any bills.  It is unlikely that there will be a Special Session before July and so will they finish by August 1?  The House and Senate both passed the $150 million tuition revenue bill, which the Board of Regents wanted approved before we could move on the surgical building.  The tower has been approved by local and regional FEMA and we are waiting for national approval.

·      Dr. Anderson said we had a great year with recruiting Graduate students, thanks to the websites being updated, faculty involvement, and increasing salaries for the students.  68% of the graduate students could be on training grants.

Dr. Jansen asked a question relating to Faculty Development to see how to get a list of faculty by school and by tenure track and non-tenure track and Dr. Anderson asked her to send him an email and he will see that she receives the faculty list.

·      Dr. Anderson answered a question regarding background checks stating around 1200 have not been checked to date and will be checked if they are promoted or have a change in job title.

 

·      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. Academic & Research IT Steering Committee Update – Mr. Todd Leach, MBA, Associate Vice President, Information Services and Mr. Ralph Farr, Vice President, Information Services

·      Mr. Leach presented the Senate with a PowerPoint presentation (place link here) and some highlights from his presentation include:

1.     Committee Membership:  Dr. Trish Richard, Dr. Bruce Luxon, Dr. Jon Nilsestuen, Dr. Norbert Herzog, Dr. Steve Lieberman, Dr. Vince Loffredo, Mr. Brett Kirkpatrick, Mr. William New, Mr. Ralph Farr and Mr. Todd Leach

2.     Guiding Principles:  Enable healthcare, education or research; manage IT as an investment; consider sustainability and business opportunity; and identify process improvements prior to system acquisition to name a few.

3.     What projects will this committee review?  The following questions should be used to determine whether a project with an IT component should be directed to the Academic and Research IT Governance Steering Committee:  1) Does it contain PHI or student record information? 2) Will it require any resources from Academic Resources or Institutional Information Services to support it? 3)  Does it affect the operational processes of areas other than the requestors? and 4) Does it connect to the network and integrate with an existing information system? 

4.     If there are any projects you have in mind, please contact one the committee members and they will present it to the Academic & Research IT Steering Committee for review.  A project approval routing process is documented in the PowerPoint slide.  Mr. Leach and Mr. Farr addressed the questions from the Senators Mendias, Jansen, Pine, Smith, Torres and Croisant.

 

V.   Reports by Faculty Senate Executive Committee and Committee Chairs

·      Dr. Utsey discussed the April UT Sys Fac Advisory Committee meeting, no new updates on the legislative session.  The UT benefits person reported saying that they were optimistic and we will not lose a lot.  We looked good compared to other places.  Dr. Utsey stated that Dr. Cigarroa discussed the importance of research, which he reported to the legislators? and the UT Sys Fac committee sent him a resolution thanking him for efforts.

·      Dr. Utsey stated it is that time to start thinking about electing the Chair elect and this rotation would now be someone from the School of Medicine.  Also, Dr. Utsey announced the Senator elections will be coming soon.

·      Dr. Croisant discussed the hot topic of to date of the concealed gun bill, which was recently attached to another bill, then that bill was later withdrawn because of the attached concealed gun bill.

·      Dr. Croisant talked about the results of the Communication Survey which resulted in 11% participation and in summary, faculty want to hear about the Faculty Senate work and also to give their input to Senators and would like detailed information on what the Senate does.  Drs. Utsey, Croisant and Wisnewski will review the results in more detail and get back to the Senate.

·      Dr. Smith reported for the Faculty Quality Committee:  They will be meeting after this meeting with the IHOP committee to go over some preliminary information.   

·      Dr. Jansen reported for the Academic and Administrative Affairs Committee:  The Committee is working on the Faculty Development Plan and stated we need to invite back Frances Streeter for the export controls issue.

·      Dr. Davila reported for the Governance Committee:  Nothing to add on the background checks.

·      Ms. St. John reported for the IHOP Committee:  The Committee is working with the Faculty Quality Committee on reading and revising some policies. 

 

5:47 pm, the meeting was adjourned.  The Committees met following the general meeting.