UTMB Faculty Senate Minutes
Monday, February 10, 2025

Open Senate Meeting:

1. Call to Order & Attendance The meeting was called to order at 4:30pm by Dr. Svoboda.

2. Attendance "Roll Call"
Quorum met

3. Agenda Adoption
Consent Agenda Adoption - Approved

4. Announcements & Updates

Guest Speakers & Meeting Format: 

  • No guest speaker was scheduled for today’s meeting.
  • The committee noted that, over the next few months, meetings will be structured so that a guest speaker is not present at every session. However, additional speakers may be invited as pressing issues arise.
  • Two upcoming sessions will be held via Teams only to accommodate faculty traveling across the causeway.

Faculty Advisory Council Update:

  • Dr. Svoboda attended a recent Faculty Advisory Council meeting representing the UTMB faculty.
  • Dr. Samreen and Dr. Chris Messenger (former past chair) were also in attendance.
  • Topics discussed included cross-institutional collaboration within the UT system and updates on legislative matters affecting faculty roles.

Legislative Session Insights:

  • A resource from the American Council on Education was shared (accessible via a provided QR code) that offers podcasts, webinars, publications, and real-time updates on legislative activities.
  • It was noted that the top 25 bills from the recent legislative session did not specifically target faculty roles at UTMB, although subsequent bills (positions 26–40) may include relevant issues.
  • Overall feedback indicated that while enrollment challenges persist across higher education, UTMB is performing relatively better than many peers.

Faculty Engagement Survey:

  • Faculty were reminded to complete the engagement survey distributed by Dr. Chubinskaya’s team.
  • The survey is intended to capture baseline information on faculty recruitment, retention, and overall engagement.

Faculty Senate Chair Information:

  • A QR code was shared for those interested in learning more about or participating in the rotation for the Faculty Senate Chair role.
  • Faculty are encouraged to contact the chair or Dr. Sarah Samreen if they are passionate about contributing to Senate task forces or working groups.

5. Unfinished Business & Open Floor

Open Floor:
Faculty were invited to share additional announcements or raise questions. o No further announcements were made during this segment.

Upcoming Faculty Senate Meeting:
The next meeting is scheduled for March, featuring a presentation by Dr. Bianco and remarks from the vice president/vice provost, research and chief research officer.

Adjournment:

The meeting was adjourned.