20 November 2024

November 20, 2024 Minutes

Attendance

Present:

Senators: Henri Akono, Jonathan Barron, Karen Beeftink, Amy Booth, Timothy Bowden, Sudarshan Chawathe, Bill DeSisto, Sabrina DeTurk, Paula Drewniany, Alexis Foster, Allison Gardner, Nils Haëntjens, Jianjun Hao, Matt Hawkyard, Liliana Herakova, Ellen Hostert, Kelly Jaksa, Lee Karp-Boss, Jesse Kaye-Schiess, Amanda Klemmer, Garret Lee, Sarah Lindahl, Roberto Lopez-Anido, Ivan Manev, Will Manion, Craig Mason, Derek Michaud, William Nichols, William Otto, Elizabeth Payne, Jennifer Perry, Aaron Putnam, Deborah Rogers, Amber Roth, Kathryn Slott, Rosemary Smith, Timothy Waring, Jay Wason, Manuel Woersdoerfer, Todd Zoroya

Guests: Debra Allen, Beth Campbell, Dean Hannah Carter, Vice President Kevin Coughlin, Dean Robert Dana, President Joan Ferrini-Mundy, Angela Fileccia, Dean Emily Haddad, Jude Killy, Associate Provost Scott Marzilli, Nolan Merz, Peter Schilling, Michelle Rogers, Dean Diane Rowland, Hazel Sparks, Vice President Kelly Sparks, Vice President Kody Varahramyan, Provost John Volin, Dean Megan Walsh, Dean Ellen Weinauer

Absent: 

Senators: Mahdi Al Badrawi, Keith Berube, Jack Buttcane, Seth Campbell, Phillip Dickens, Esther Enright, C. Matt Graham, Cynthia Isenhour, Bashir Khoda, Steven Kimball, Benjamin King, Sara Lello, Danielle Levesque, Roberto Lopez-Anido, Colleen Marzilli, Shannon McCoy, Glenda Pereira, Robert Rice, MJ Sedlock, Susan Smith, Peter Van Walsum, Tingting Ye

Welcome & Announcements

  • Amanda Klemmer opened the meeting with the Land Acknowledgement.

Announcements and Updates from Administration

  • Dean Dana announced that the President is interested in reconstituting the President’s DEI Council as a DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging) Council. Commissioned a study over the summer to look at possible frameworks and to consider appropriate structures for such a council. Dean Dana also did some benchmarking and the result of that work has been shared with a number of parties (including Tim Bowden, chair of Senate DEI committee) and there will be further conversations in December about how to move forward.

Questions of the Administration

  • Amanda Klemmer asked on behalf of Sara Lindahl if there is support from the University or System for faculty, staff and students experiencing feelings of concern post-election.
    • President Ferrini-Mundy recognized this as an important topic of discussion and encouraged utilization of existing resources.
    • Dean Dana acknowledged that offices such as Multicultural Center, Rainbow Resource Center, and Office of International Programs, among others, are available to provide support. He further noted that the experience on campus around the election felt different than 2016 when far more candidates came to campus. He suggested the EAP and Counseling Center as a resource for faculty as well as students.
  • Dee Nichols asked for clarity on the actual amount of the University’s structural deficit.
    • President Ferrini-Mundy stated that the number shared in the BOT meeting reflected the amount of reserves being used in FY25. She acknowledged that there is a number out there of $12 million which is what we would face in FY26 if no changes are made but suggested that work is already being done to address some of that gap.
    • VP Sparks acknowledged that two years ago the structural deficit was $28 million but use of strategic reserves and other cuts and adjustments has brought that down to a structural deficit of $12 million and $2.5 million use of strategic reserves in FY26. She again noted that this could change and that work is being done to mitigate the structural deficit.
    • Dee followed up with a question about impacts on hiring decisions. President Ferrini-Mundy acknowledged that there will be impacts and suggested that a formal presentation on this issue might be helpful. She further stated that there will soon be an announcement of a partial hiring pause.
  • Paula Drewniany asked for clarification on what a partial hiring pause entails.
    • President Ferrini-Mundy stated that the coming announcement (expected on Thursday) will detail this, however she acknowledged that areas such as health and safety as well as grant-funded positions would be examples of where hiring might still move forward.
    • VP Sparks suggested that the pause will give an opportunity to investigate areas such as consolidation of positions where possible.

Update on SRE Process

  • President Ferrini-Mundy provided a recap of the SRE work done between May 2024 and today, focusing on phases 1 & 2 of the process. She acknowledged that several clear themes emerged from this work, including the concept of UMaine being a learner-centered R1. At the same time, many individual ideas were also proposed through this work.
  • Provost Volin reminded the senate that the SRE process ended up with 14 working groups around various themes, with participation from over 175 faculty and staff. He explained that in Phase 3 of the process two different working groups were created, to focus on portfolio review (academic, research, and innovation) and the learner-centered R1 concept with a goal of presenting actionable change proposals for consideration by the Executive Cabinet and the President.
  • VP Sparks emphasized that work done today by these two Phase 3 groups has moved us much closer to ideas for structural change that reimagines the university. These ideas will be further vetted and fleshed out to provide different options for a re-envisioned institution that will be ready for community feedback. 
  • Provost Volin emphasized that any proposed structural changes will be considered through the shared governance process. President Ferrini-Mundy also stated that collective bargaining will be engaged as appropriate as well.
  • Jennifer Perry noted that most of the community will not be involved in determining whether an idea is good or bad; will there be visibility into that process?
    • PFM noted that there will need to be ways to make ideas public, but also acknowledged that some decisions will be made at the executive level.
    • Provost Volin reminded the senate that there have been town halls during the process that have invited engagement and interaction from the community and there will be another one in December.
    • VP Sparks offered to share data that has been used in the process but acknowledged that data is not a perfect measure or guide for what decisions to make.
  • Tim Waring raised the concern from faculty that the process is complex, the stakes are high and despite updates that have come out there is a sense that more information is needed. For example, could the final report from each theme be made available?
    • VP Sparks noted that information from each theme’s Phase 2 work is available on the SRE website.
  • Allie Gardner asked how faculty workload is being accounted for in the SRE process. For example, the concept of learner-centered R1 creates concern for many faculty that they will be asked to do more on both research and teaching sides of their responsibilities.
    • President Ferrini-Mundy noted that the learner-centered R1 can be seen as embodied in the new GEM facility in ways that don’t necessarily impact things like workload.
    • Provost Volin noted that there is not a plan to add more teaching responsibilities but there may be conversations about efficiency and distribution of assignments.
  • Lee Karp-Boss asked what kinds of ideas are coming forward to raise new funds for the University?
    • PFM referred to her visit to Arizona State University as an example of creating structures that allow innovative new work that might attract more funding and students.
    • Provost Volin acknowledged the work of the SRE working group that analyzed entrepreneurial revenue sharing opportunities and stated that their analysis will lay the groundwork for growing those types of opportunities.

New Business

  • October 23, 2024 minutes were approved.
  • Academic Affairs presented a motion to support the work of the General Education Stewardship Committee to revise the categories and outcomes associated with the Core. Dee noted that there will be faculty forums to discuss this work and these will be accessible to UMM faculty as well.
    • Amber Roth raised concerns about interdisciplinary majors requiring more courses to account for the general education requirements in those majors. Dee acknowledged that these concerns will be considered.
    • Tim Waring noted appreciation for the timeline and schedule presented.
    • The motion was approved.

Maine Day Meal Packout – Melissa Ladenheim & Honors students

  • Melissa Ladenheim explained the history and process of Maine Day Meal Packout and emphasized how many Maine communities are served through this service activity which engages many students each spring.
  • Several Honors College students shared their experiences with the program and encouraged members of the senate to support the MDMP and to ask their colleagues to do so as well.

Committee Updates

Committee on Committees – Esther Enright

  • The Provost’s Office is looking for nominations for the third year administrative review for Daisy Singh, Dean of Libraries.
    • 4-6 nominations of faculty (then, the Provost will choose 2-3 representatives to serve on the committee)
    • Serve for 4 months (~10 meetings), starting January 2025
    • Qualifications:
      1. Tenure Required? No
      2. Member of Faculty Senate Required? No
      3. Ideally, we will fill the review committee with faculty from various titles (Lecturers, Assistant, Associates, Professors)

Academic Affairs – Dee Nichols and Allie Gardner

  • Credit for Prior Learning Endorsement
  • UTC Recommendations to support formative course observations – Endorsement
  • Active Learning Classroom Orientation – Endorsement
  • Academic Freedom Guidelines – Revised Motion in progress
  • Faculty meeting (SMS) a concern was raised about the elimination of funds for field trips. Could be explored with FIPC.
  • Motion to Endorse General Education Categories, Outcomes and Policies
  • OIRA General Education Assessment Dashboard for January 29th Committee Meeting 

Research & Scholarship – Danielle Levesque and Ben King

  • Met with Karissa Tilbury from SRE Theme 5 (Research Centers) to discuss research centers, faculty participation in research centers, and research center evaluation. 

Finance & Institutional Planning – Henri Akono

  • October 30th, 2024 (elected only)
    • Heard from Provost’s fellows about, and discussed, work done by SRE #1 and SRE#12 working groups
  • November 1st, 2024: met with senior administration
    • Focus was on a preliminary report in relation to admin growth motion
    • VPFA & CBO Kelly Sparks went over some preliminary headcount data and discussed various issues related to putting together the data; work ongoing with feedback being generated by FIPC senators
  • October 21st, 2024: Scholarship pilot motion meeting,
    • with VP Coughlin, Dean Guidoboni, and Dean Rowland to discuss key objectives; future meetings being planned
  • November 18th, 2024 (elected only)
    • Heard from Provost’s fellows about, and discussed, work done by SRE #7
    • Work on feedback generated by senators on the preliminary report – admin growth motion

Environment Committee –Elizabeth Payne and Timothy Waring

  • Met Oct 30th
    • Discussed pressing issues in campus infrastructure for environmental sustainability, especially progress toward our 2040 zero carbon commitment. We have been encouraged to meet with SRE Theme 1 on this matter.
    • Shared numerous updates on faculty morale and mental health. Examples include responsibility and task creep, the impossibility of more with less, for example, Mechanical and Civil engineering both have concern around the “more for less” issue, being pinched on all sides (R1, declining support, increased teaching etc)
    • Agreed that faculty morale remains more pressing, and resolved to gather more information, and consider alternatives means of addressing the issue.

Program Creation & Reorganization Review – MJ Sedlock

  • No report.

Library – Jonathan Barron

  • No report.

Faculty Information Technology Committee

  • No report. This committee is still in need of a faculty senator as chair.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – Timothy Bowden

  • Committee met on November 4th
  • Short discussion about advising and supporting neurodivergent students
  • Presentation by Anila Karunakar, director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, about their role. Discussion about how to get greater involvement between faculty and ODI students, to improve visibility.
  • On November 15th Tim Bowden met with Scott Marzilli to discuss broader actions regarding neurodivergent students. We are creating a provisional working group to look at processes to support advising and instruction. Confirmed membership includes; Scott Marzilli, Amanda Gifford, Julia Van Steenberghe, Sarah Howroth, Sara Flanagan, Karen Pelletreau, Peter Schilling and Tim Bowden. If anyone else is interested or has input please let me know.
  • Also, it appears that the President is trying to reconvene the President’s Council on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. An initial meeting is set for December 6th. Tim Bowden was invited.

Board of Trustees Representative – Ivan Manev

  • Board working group to develop policies related to AI. Trustee Owen McCarthy and VCFA Ryan Lowe co-chair. President Joan Ferrini-Mundy is the representative from UMaine. I told Trustee McCarthy that the faculty on this campus can offer a lot of expertise on AI. 
  • There was discussion on Board Policies 212 Free Speech, Academic Freedom and Civility and 214 Institutional Comments on Political Matters, which will be offered for a vote in January (The Senate reviewed the draft policies in September.) 
  • Significant growth in enrollment (up 4.2% SCH) and retention (75.5%) across UMS campuses was reported. UMaine’s numbers (up 11.4% in FY class; substantial increase in retention) were cited as excellent. 
  • New program at UMaine BS in Computer Science and Business was approved.

Faculty Governance Committee – Bill DeSisto

  • Two program proposals are moving forward, nearing final stages: M.S. in Business at UMPI and B.A. in Criminal Justice at UMaine. An intent to plan for an A.A. in Psychology at UMA.
  • Administrative Practice Letters for addressing transfer, student veterans and Annual Academic Program Report are also nearing completion. 

Adjourn

Time adjourned: 4:32pm

Prepared by,
Sabrina DeTurk