Minutes 9 April 2025
Attendance
Present:
Senators: Allison Gardner, Amanda Klemmer (President), Amber Roth, Aaron Putnam, Bill DeSisto, Colleen Marzilli, Craig Mason, Danielle Levesque, Derek A. Michaud, Elizabeth Payne, Ellen Hostert, Esther Enright, Ivan Manev, Jack Buttcane, Jay Wason, Jean Henri Akono Ada, Jennifer Perry, Jianjun Hao, Jonathan Barron, Karen Beeftink, Kathryn Slott, Lee Karp-Boss, Liliana Herakova, Manuel Woersdoerfer, Matt Hawkyard, MJ Sedlock, Nils Haentjens, Paula Drewniany, Rosemary Smith, Sabrina DeTurk (Secretary), Sara Lello, Sarah Lindahl, Seth Campbell, Shannon McCoy, Sudarshan Chawathe, Susan Smith, Timothy Bowden, Todd Zoroya (Vice President), William Nichols, William Otto
Guests: Andrea Gifford, Daisy Singh, Ellen Weinauer, Emily Haddad, Gabriel Paquette, Giovanna Guidoboni, Hannah Carter, James Ward IV, Joan Ferrini-Mundy, John Volin, Kelly Sparks, Kevin Coughlin, Kody Varahramyan, Megan Walsh, Peter Schilling, Scott Marzilli, W. Sam Carrell
Absent:
Senators: Alexis Foster, Bashir Khoda, Benjamin L. King, C. Matt Graham, Cynthia Isenhour, Garret Lee, Glenda Pereira, Jesse Kaye-Schiess, Keith Berube, Kelly Jaksa, Mahdi Al Badrawi, Peter Van Walsum, Phillip Dickens, Robert Rice, Roberto Lopez-Anido, Steven Kimball, Timothy Waring, Tingting Ye, Will Manion
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 3:16pm
Land acknowledgement
Read by Jennifer Perry
Approval of Minutes
Minutes from 12 March 2025 open senate meeting were approved with one abstention.
Election of Officers and Positions
- For President: Amanda Klemmer, nominated by Esther Enright (Uncontested)
- For Vice President: Jean Henri Akono Ada, self-nominated (Uncontested)
- For Secretary: Sabrina DeTurk, self-nominated (Uncontested)
- For Board of Trustees (BoT) Representative: Colleen Marzilli, nominated by Henri Akono (Uncontested)
Elections were conducted separately by secret ballot, in accordance with the bylaws. The results were as follows:
- For President: Amanda Klemmer won with 35 votes
- For Vice President: Henri Akono won with 35 votes
- For Secretary: Sabrina DeTurk won with 36 votes
- For BoT Representative: Colleen Marzilli won with 34 votes
Announcements From the Administration
- President Ferrini-Mundy announced that Kelly Sparks, Vice President for Finance and Administration and Chief Business Officer, will be moving onto a new opportunity at the end of May. She thanked Kelly for her amazing contributions.
- John Volin, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, recognized Tom Peaco (President and CEO of the University of Maine Alumni Association), Associate Provost Scott Marzilli, and Director of Academic Affairs and Operations Dianne Avery for their leadership on commencement.
- Kody Varahramyan, Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School, announced the upcoming Student Symposium at the end of the week and encouraged those present to participate. There are likely over 1,000 students presenting. Kody also announced that there will be over 500 graduate students graduating in May, which is the highest number on record.
- Someone announced that the second reading of the budget will take place on April 16, 2025 at the Finance, Facilities, and Technology Committee meeting. This will be an open discussion with the committee and other team members.
Questions of the Administration
Q: Dee Nichols commented on the amazing attendance at the accepted student day weekend and asked about how we are looking for next year in terms of accounts.
A: Kevin Coughlin, Vice President of Enrollment Management, responded that he is not despondent about the University of Maine’s capacity or likelihood of achieving their goal. We are ahead (not up) in terms of freshman matriculation, and reforms have been made to ensure the University keeps that lead as long as it can. He clarified that the University is on track for meeting its budget.
Q: Esther Enright reiterated complaints she has heard about how commencement overlaps with Mother’s Day this year.
A: Provost Volin and others commented that commencement is frequently if not always scheduled on Mother’s Day at other institutions across the country. He clarified that this year, especially, the University had no choice but to schedule commencement on Mother’s Day due to the Alfond Arena being under construction and Husson University using the Cross Insurance Center for their commencement on some of the same dates. President Ferrini-Mundy and Megan Walsh added that the University of Maine at Machias’s commencement does not fall on Mother’s Day this year, though it normally does.
Q: Allie Gardner asked what legal support the university is offering to people who have to travel overseas for personal or professional reasons.
A: President Ferrini-Mundy affirmed that there are processes in place for work-related international travel, for example review by the Office of Research Compliance in certain cases. For students, she encouraged seeking guidance from the Office of International Programs. She said nothing has changed in terms of the University’s policies. The President also offered that Amon Purinton, the Acting General Counsel for the University of Maine System, could be another person to speak with about related issues, though she cautioned that the system does not give immigration advice.
Q: Paula Drewniany asked a general question about whether faculty should be careful about what they say in virtual meeting rooms in cases where there are AI Notetakers.
A: President Ferrini-Mundy said she shares some of these concerns. She advised that these situations are case-by-case and that there are benefits to having AI Notetakers as well, for example for getting summaries of meetings.
On a related note, Sabrina DeTurk (Secretary) raised a point that the Faculty Senate also keeps recordings of open senate meetings on a temporary basis for the purposes of accuracy in the minutes. She was uncertain about how long the recordings were retained, but clarified that they would never be posted publicly.
Q: Matt Hawkyard asked about a letter he had seen recently regarding USDA targeting maine funding specifically. He said that the University did have a couple grants paused over the past week, which seemed to be connected.
A: JFM: The Administration of the University of Maine, the Governor’s office, the Attorney General, and the General Counsel for the University of Maine System are in close contact about these matters. There are also frequent communications with the Maine delegation. She invited Jake Ward IV, Vice President for Innovation and Economic Development, to give a more detailed answer.
Jake Ward confirmed that the System received notification that payments from several United States Department of Agriculture and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA) related awards had been suspended. Suspensions have raised questions about a) what the agencies are reviewing in relation to the suspension and b) whether the University will receive reimbursements if work continues now. There are currently no answers to these questions, but Jake did say that many agencies were instructed to review grant by grant, and that some have been paused as a result and come back on. President Ferrini-Mundy also cautioned that we all need to be prepared for this to go on for a while. We should pay attention to the federal budget process for fiscal year 2026, which will help us learn more about what’s happening in the long term.
Q: Sarah Lindahl asked for an update on the pause on graduate student offers and hiring, adding that departments such as hers heavily rely on graduate students. She asked specifically whether the University would be able to fill vacancies left by graduating graduate students.
A: President Ferrini-Mundy confirmed that there is still a pause on new offers to graduate students. The University is still gathering information, assessing risk, and conducting analyses. Kody Varahramyan said that colleagues across units have been collaborating to gather the necessary data. Kelly Sparks reiterated that existing graduate students are the first priority when it comes to available funds. Meetings are ongoing and the administration is still aiming to get a response out by the April 15 goal. They are examining multiple funding sources as part of this assessment.
Q: Jennifer Perry asked whether faculty should be expecting a change in the total number of TA positions next year and whether the forthcoming response from the administration would address this.
A: President Ferrini-Mundy said that she and her team were not prepared to answer that at this time.
Q: Allie Gardner expressed some confusion over recent communications she had received implying that a certain number of Graduate applications could be approved.
A: Kelly Sparks said that applications had not been paused, but that TA and GA positions had been. President Ferrini-Mundy said the administration would have to get back to Alli Gardner about the exceptions she referenced.
New Business
- Motion to Change the General Education Core Categories, Outcomes, and Policies
Submitted by: Academic Affairs Committee
Dee Nichols read the motion aloud for the assembly and said that what was done sets the stage for future revisions.
Discussion: No discussion
Vote: The motion was approved with one opposed and one abstention - Motion Supporting the Task Force on UMaine’s Undergraduate Catalog Revision
Submitted by: Academic Affairs Committee
Dee Nichols read the motion aloud for the assembly and said that everyone on the Academic Affairs Committee had offered feedback that was incorporated in the current motion.
Discussion: Associate Provost Gabriel Paquette wanted to acknowledge Sue Sullivan and Sam Carrell for their work on this as well.
Vote: The motion was approved with one opposed and one abstention - Motion to Adopt a Revised Policies and Procedures Manual for the Program Creation and Reorganization Review Committee
Submitted by: Program Creation and Reorganization Review Committee (PCRRC)
MJ read the motion aloud for the assembly.
Discussion:
MJ Sedlock presented the motion in draft form two weeks earlier. The executive committee discussed it, as well as administrators. Only a few updates were made to strengthen and clarify language. The one major change since the last presentation was in the section on evaluating the creation and reorganization of a center. There was a step included there to opt in or out of review, which was considered by the committee to be cumbersome. This step was eliminated and it has been assumed that everything has academic impacts. Importantly, under this new policy, PCRRC has the option to review proposals as quickly as 14 days. MJ said she sees this as a vast improvement, but not a final improvement. This is especially important if we want to participate efficiently in the SRE process.
Q: Matt Hawkyard asked about the mechanism for decisions made in the summer.
A: MJ Sedlock clarified that the current version of the policy does not address this, nor does the updated version. However, she said there is a clause in the constitution that allows the executive committee to act on behalf of the senate or try to get a quorum of senators to opt into reviewing something over the summer. She said the lack of a mechanism is an issue with the bylaws, constitution, shared governance, etc., and not with the current motion.
Vote: The motion passed with 3 abstentions and 1 opposed.
- Motion to Reassess the Structure of UMaine’s Research and Academics
Submitted by: Finance and Institutional Planning Committee, Research and Scholarship Committee
Henri Akono read the motion aloud for the assembly.
Discussion: Henri Akono said that background information is presented in the motion. Despite minor changes in form, the issues contained in the motion remain the same. Henri offered some additional context on the journey of the motion through review by the executive committee and administration. The motion arises out of concerns voiced by faculty about the structure of UMaine’s research and academics. He then listed some of these, as contained in the motion.
Vote: The motion was approved with one abstention.
Officer & Position Reports
President – Amanda Klemmer
- There is an upcoming workshop for faculty working with neurodivergent students being offered through Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning (CITL). The Chair invited Peter Schilling to speak about the 3-day intensive in May to address and explore ways of approaching and supporting faculty with a class containing some neurodivergent students. There is a small stipend for signing up for the workshop.
- Regarding the series of recent invitations to faculty senate meetings scheduled in May, the Chair clarified that the purpose of these meetings will be to review work being done as part of the Strategic Re-Envisioning (SRE) process. There will be a Zoom option for those traveling who cannot attend in person. Members can appoint a replacement, but the replacement must be from the same college.
- The chair has invited Dr. Robert Placido (CIO) to the next elected members meeting that will discuss changes to Google’s storage limits for University faculty and staff. She advised senators to come prepared with questions.
Committee Reports
- Academic Affairs Committee – Dee Nichols and Allie Gardner
- Next meeting for Academic Affairs is scheduled for April 16. Various new topics will be discussed as we close out the semester.
- Looking for New Chair of Academic Affairs and new Faculty Director of the General Education Stewardship Committee
- Finance and Institutional Planning Committee – Henri Akono
- Met with the administration on Friday 3/28/2025
- Topics discussed: 1st FFT budget reading; Risks related to changing federal landscape for research funding; Enrollment trends; Research budgetary planning; Concerns from faculty regarding budgetary impacts of graduate offers pause; Academic planning & strategy; Shared services, Capital improvements, and Industry & commercialization budgetary (initial discussions)
- Met with the administration on Friday 3/28/2025
- Program Creation and Reorganization Review Committee (PCRRC) – MJ Sedlock
- A Reorganization Proposal from the College of Education and Human Development was received: the college is currently structured as a college with schools that offer degrees. The proposal is to eliminate the schools and offer degrees directly from the college level. MJ encouraged senators to take a look at the proposal. As part of the review process, PCRRC will need to hold a campus-wide hearing. MJ has worked with Dean Kimball to schedule this for a morning in April. She asked the Chair for assistance in sending out an email notifying all faculty.
Esther Enright asked whether PCRRC could ensure that the meeting would take place in an accessible location.
Dee Nichols commented that Dean Kimball has run a very transparent process and the faculty are supportive of a reorganization.
- A Reorganization Proposal from the College of Education and Human Development was received: the college is currently structured as a college with schools that offer degrees. The proposal is to eliminate the schools and offer degrees directly from the college level. MJ encouraged senators to take a look at the proposal. As part of the review process, PCRRC will need to hold a campus-wide hearing. MJ has worked with Dean Kimball to schedule this for a morning in April. She asked the Chair for assistance in sending out an email notifying all faculty.
- Information and Technology Committee – Sudarshan Chawathe
- The University’s Information Technology Strategic Council met most recently on 2025-04-07. I brought up a couple of items that had been sent to me via Faculty Senate channels: (1) Issues with missing/misconfigured equipment in some classrooms. (2) Google Drive storage limit having been recently reduced, causing problems for some. I am glad to report that the specific issue related to (1) has been successfully resolved. For (2), there is a process whereby when someone’s storage is close to the limit (within 5%), they may request additional storage. (Campus IT gets notified of such almost-full storage accounts automatically.) I am working on setting up some more systematic documentation of these and other items. The next ITSC meeting is in June. I welcome suggestions for things I should bring up at that meeting. (Please send me an email describing the issue.)
The meeting was adjourned at 4:28pm.