Faculty Senate

March 9, 2022

FACULTY SENATE MINUTES
March 9, 2022 

Present: Henri Akono, Elizabeth Armstrong, David Batuski, Carla Billitteri, Debbie Bouchard, Tim Bowden, Alice Bruce, Stephanie Burnett, Ana Chatenever, Mauricio da Cunha, Paula Drewniany, Phil Dunn, Nuri Emanetoglu, Allison Gardner, Michael Grillo, Mark Haggerty, Heather Hamlin, Sam Hanes, Andre Khalil, Amanda Klemmer, Eric Landis, Sarah Lindahl, Margo Lukens, Natalie Machamer, Ivan Manev, Dmitri Markovitch, Derek Michaud, William Nichols, Deborah Rogers, Deborah Rooks-Ellis, Amber Roth, Mary “MJ” Sedlock, Kathryn Slott, Rosemary Smith, Sean Smith, David Townsend, Peter Van Walsum, Matthew Wallhead, Tim Waring, President Joan Ferrini-Mundy, John Volin Provost, VP Research Kody Varahramyan, Joanne Yestramski, Robert Dana, Emily Haddad, Jen Bonnet (PEAC) 

Absent: David Barrett, Donald Beith, Susan Bennett-Armistead, Catharine Biddle, Amy Booth, Kristina Cammen, Emily Haigh, Anil Raj Kizha (class conflict), Sara Lello, Renae Moran, Harlan Onsrud, Elizabeth Payne (sabbatical), Robert Rice, Deborah Saber, Michael Scott, Mohsen Shahinpoor, Todd Zoroya,Peter Altmann (CEAC), Hannah Holbrook (Grad Rep), Jacob Chaplin (Undergrad Rep)  

I would like to open our meeting today, by acknowledging our presence on Marsh Island, which is the traditional homeland of the Penobscot Nation, where issues of water and territorial rights, and encroachment upon sacred sites, are ongoing. This Penobscot homeland is connected to the other Wabanaki Tribal Nations—the Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, and Micmac—through kinship, alliances, and diplomacy, and the University of Maine recognizes that the Penobscot Nation and the other Wabanaki Tribal Nations are distinct, sovereign, legal and political entities with their own powers of self-governance and self-determination. As we conduct our business this afternoon, I invite us all to consider how we live and work on this land, and to attend carefully to the roles we play as elected faculty senators in shaping future relationships with the land and among people. 

I.  Welcome, Announcements and Comments 

No announcements. 

II.  Approval of Minutes
February 9, 2022
Approved   

III.  Announcements and Updates from the Administration
Provost Volin announced that Joyce Rumery is retiring this summer. The administration will be meeting with library staff and the Library Advisory Committee to discuss the search. Monique LaRocque is also retiring in July. She will be taking a position at St. Joseph’s College. He stated that he and President Ferrini-Mundy were at the UMaine Machias campus recently to discuss the search for the Dean/Director position. There will also be a search for Vice President of Finance, Joanne Yestramski’s position.  

Earlier in the week, at the BOT Academic and Student Affairs (ASA) meeting, Provost Volin was able to highlight 28 faculty up for tenure. The BOT will be voting on those later in the month. He said it is an exceptional group and he talked about each one including five that are National Science Foundation Career Award Members. He said he was pleased to talk about all of those up for tenure. He was also asked to do a presentation to the BOT regarding Research Learning Experience (RLE). Last year there were 30 sections and this coming year there will be 45. Ten percent of the first-year students were enrolled in RLE’s last year. If all seats were filled in all sections it would account for approximately 40% of the incoming class.  

Dee asked that given the searches for Dean of Libraries, Assistant Provost of Distance and Lifelong Learning (DLL), Vice President of Finance, and Dean/Director of UMaine Machias, was there also a search for the Dean of the Maine Business School? Provost Volin said Dean Gilbert is going back to Business Information Systems and Security Management (BISSM) in July for a couple of years so there will be an Interim Dean of the Maine Business School and a search in September. He said he forgot to add the Maine College of Engineering, Computing, and Information Science (MCECIS). He will be meeting tomorrow with the faculty and staff of The College of Engineering and the Department of Physics and Astronomy, since they are involved, in an open forum with the search firm. An email will go out today sharing the names of the search committee members. 

IV.  Questions of the Administration
Q.  Is there an interest in reviewing the mission of DLL? It has been around for a while but was very different at that time. With the shift to online education and overload teaching, there may be an opportunity to explore what the DLL mission is and can that be accomplished in academic departments?
A.  DLL did have a self-study last summer by an external firm with great recommendations. DLL has been implementing changes suggested in that review. There are a lot of student success pieces; TRIO has gone under Brian Olsen with his Student Success. There was an interim Associate Dean position that they no longer have which created savings. Some things are not always in a college, for instance, the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning. There is an opportunity to look more closely at the overall structure.

Since CITL serves the whole campus, it may be more effective in the Provost’s Office. Is the self-study available for public view? Yes, and the provost said he would share that. 

Q.  Who benefits from the centralized scheduling of Infosilim?
A.  Emily Haddad said it benefits the institution by allowing more effective use of classrooms, especially since there are few mid to large sized classrooms, so spreading use throughout the day is helpful. It also minimizes schedule conflicts for students taking classes across programs. However, departments are very good at figuring it out for their own students and programs.

Comment: So, it benefits students who are in different programs? All students are in different programs until maybe senior year. Before that all students are in different programs. 

The schedule is already locally developed and if a student needs a course from a different college, Eric Landis said he can call the other department. The effect seen from Infosilm is more conflict now than before. Classrooms yes but not for student schedules. Faculty Senate did do an examination a couple of years ago, so there are some data available from departments. It could be looked at again to see how to make it more effective for programs. 

It could be looked at again, it has been a few years. Maybe looking at the end of this year or beginning of next year. Eric said he asks who benefits instead of what are the benefits because he already knows it is a nightmare for the department administrative assistant. 

Q.  Are there comments from President Ferrini-Mundy?
A.  President Ferrini-Mundy arrived and said the Legislature has honored UMaine for the R1 designation. She said she was late because she was on the phone discussing what it means as a research institution and Land Grant University. She talked about that and what it means for the instructional mission with undergraduate and graduate students. People seemed happy with the discussion they had with her.

With spring break coming it will help everyone regroup. There have been questions about what it means to be R1. She said they will hold open forums to answer those questions. Before those forums, keep doing what has been done.  

Comment: It has been asked how R1 affects students and who UMaine is. Senators should ask their unit if they have questions and then bring them forward.  

Amanda Klemmer said search candidates for an open position in her unit already know UMaine is R1.  

Q.  Is Kody Varahramyan setting up talks or webinars and how will that work with the forums?
A.  Kody said with the feedback they have received they have scheduled meetings. 

Q.  How is the semester schedule decided? Spring has 15 weeks but that is reduced by one week for spring break. So, that leaves 14 weeks of classes unless you teach Monday, Wednesday, or Friday. It seems like holidays fall on those days so that means faculty need to fit 15 weeks of instruction into 13 weeks of classes.
A.  The scheduling is done in advance at the UMaine System level.

Comment: Is there consideration given to those that teach Monday, Wednesday, or Friday? Provost Volin said he is not sure about that.  

Comment: When it is at the proposal phase, it has been brought to Faculty Senate for comments but not sure if that ever changed anything. It seems like faculty teaching Monday, Wednesday and Friday need to fit in the same amount of material as the Tuesday/Thursday faculty but losing days for holidays and snow days.  

Q.  Also, has there been any discussion on snow days and using technology instead of cancelling classes? If technology is an issue possibly having engagement within a certain amount of time on Brightspace. Or build reading days to accommodate for the lost days.
A.  In the past, there has been negative feedback having snow days as class days. So snow days are just that, snow days. Also, reading days are not for work, they were days for students to catch up prior to exams.

Comment: There is something faculty can do, have things that need to be completed on the syllabus. The calendar for finals is set so dates cannot be added. Also, in the fall there is more time than spring. Some students do not have resources to complete assignments on snow days. Rather than waiting for a draft to come to the Academic Affairs Committee maybe the committee can have those discussions now.  

V.  New Business
Motion to Change By-Laws Article IV, Section 2, Academic Affairs Committee
Faculty Senate, Academic Affairs Committee, 9 March, 2022   

Introduction
In keeping with the Faculty Senate’s review of its Constitution and By-Laws over the past two years, the Academic Affairs Committee has reviewed Article IV, Standing Committees, Section 2, Academic Affairs Committee, and recommends the following change to open up its membership to a representative from the Graduate Student Government so that we can include their perspectives in our discussions. Especially at a time when the University has achieved Carnegie R1 status, the Academic Affairs Committee needs a Graduate Student Senate representative to complement the Undergraduate Student Senator whom our current By-Laws include. 

Current By-Laws 

Section 2. ACADEMIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
A.  Function. The Committee on Academic Affairs reviews and makes recommendations to the Senate in regard to academic matters including university‑wide degree requirements, curriculum matters involving two or more colleges, the academic calendar, academic freedom, academic standards, academic performance, the assessment of academic outcomes, academic titles, criteria for ranks, admission standards, grading, evaluation of teaching, student academic standing, honorary degrees, and the library.
B. Membership. The members of the Committee on Academic Affairs are the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost and, as much as possible, one Faculty Senator from each college and Cooperative Extension, and one Student Senator. 

Motion
The Academic Affairs Committee asks that the University of Maine adopt the following language for Article IV, Standing Committees, Section 2, Academic Affairs Committee, of the Faculty Senate By-Laws.   

Section 2. ACADEMIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
A.  Function. The Committee on Academic Affairs reviews and makes recommendations to the Senate in regard to academic matters including university‑wide degree requirements, curriculum matters involving two or more colleges, the academic calendar, academic freedom, academic standards, academic performance, the assessment of academic outcomes, academic titles, criteria for ranks, admission standards, grading, evaluation of teaching, student academic standing, honorary degrees, and the library.

B.  Membership. The members of the Committee on Academic Affairs are the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost and, as much as possible, one Faculty Senator from each college and Cooperative Extension, one Undergraduate Student Senator, and one Graduate Student Senator.

Vote: Approved 

Dee mentioned that he would like to bring forward all changes to the Constitution and Bylaws including all final committee reports. Article VII, changes to Gen Ed Committee, FIPCE, Research and Scholarship, and PCRRC. Changes have already been submitted to Debbie Saber so Dee will use those if new changes do not come from each committee.  

Sam Hanes presented an update on revising Gen Ed. He said there is little guidance for students in the way Gen Ed is presented and that makes it hard on them and creates an emotional burden that can lead to dropping out. There were some delays for the committee due to covid but there were three forums and a survey that went out.  

The committee is looking at two recommendations: Stewardship and Spiritual Learning. One thing would be to set up a committee for Stewardship. There are other universities using it; Universities of Vermont, New Hampshire and Rhode Island are a few. Information collected was that students would also like pathways. Students can build a pathway, for instance, in global affairs choosing courses from each Gen Ed section that fit that pathway.  

Spiritual Learning would help students feel more engaged. The same way RLE’s helped freshman feel less alienated. Six credits were recommended consisting of a freshman RLE, a study abroad, or an internship, etc.   

The committee will present at the next Faculty Senate meeting and answer any questions. 

Comments: Several colleges have their own pathways but having Gen Ed’s to help all students navigate things is great.  

Q.  Is the committee still open to additional feedback?
A.  Yes

VI.  Committee Reports
BOT – Mike Scott
Mike sent Dee his report: he thought the Faculty Senate Academic Affairs Committee should review the UMaine and UMaine Machias Integrated Organizational Chart that the full BOT approved. Provost Volin said it was the ASA that approved it not the full BOT. March 27, 2022, will be the full vote. Everyone has seen the chart, but it would still be of interest to have the Faculty Senate Academic Affairs Committee review it. Once UMaine Machias becomes a permanent part of UMaine, what will become of Machias’ FGC member? Do they become part of UMaine’s Faculty Senate? Dee said it may be good to reach out to UMaine Machias again. There will also be a presentation regarding RLE’s at the next meeting.  

Academic Affairs – Michael Grillo
Michael said he would welcome reviewing what Mike Scott discussed in his BOT report and would appreciate the information to review. Dee said it is the Organizational Chart Mike Scott was talking about; it brings up the governance structure with Machias. 

The committee met on Monday and continued discussions about student success within majors. They are currently creating a questionnaire. Deb Allen, and others, have sent a list of departments with high transfer rates in and out so they are now getting a pilot survey together to be distributed in the next couple of weeks. They are looking at how students find majors and what changes will happen with Gen Ed.  

Gen Ed – Subcommittee of Academic Affairs – Sam Hanes 
See the report by Sam at the end of New Business.  

Constitution & Bylaws – Amanda Klemmer & Kathryn Slott
No report. 

Research & Scholarship – Sean Smith   
The committee met last Friday and again today with Kody Varahramyan. Some things discussed were the R1 classification and its meaning. The faculty would like clarity on expectations and demands on them. Second, the committee discussed strategy for support and safety. The information forums will be helpful to answer those questions. 

Comment: Kody commented on how Carnegie classifies, what are the eight parameters, numbers used for UMaine and how those relate to the eight numbers. The meetings are also for feedback and issues so they can come back and have a plan and collaborative process. President Ferrini-Mundy said there is not now a set of expectations: they will talk about how UMaine got to R1 and how to maintain it, not add new expectations.  

Questions related to assistantships: someone asked if there would be any expansion of TA and RA stipends. Assistantships have grown but not on internal funding, so Sean wondered if there was any feedback. Sean said they were told they may find input from the fiscal officers about options for using fringe rates for post docs because they are becoming cost prohibitive. There were also discussions about facilities and support for research; requests for backup power supplies also came up. 

Also discussed were research vehicles being an issue on campus. There had been a fleet of vehicles and when those were gone there was some ability to lease vehicles. Now there may be liability insurance issues with that. Faculty are trying to figure out how to proceed and do field work this summer. Are there plans or forecasts for research vehicles? Joanne Yestramski said regarding the benefit rate 57%, it is updated annually through the UMaine System. The rate is high. Regarding vehicles, call Ryan Ward and he can help you learn how leasing vehicles works.  

At the last committee meeting research and compliance came up and issues with administration staff for compliance. They were told to look at the ownership of each lab, but they are not sure how it filters to faculty, so help on that would be useful. One item, tracking the Office of Research Administration, two of four hires have been completed.  

Regarding IT, there are processes in place for research computing equipment, and review of governance models for IT are also in place. Sean said they were happy to hear that to help avoid delays. Working on the pandemic survey it was clear that some issues already existed but became more apparent with the pandemic. They are trying to bring those to the forefront. 

Comment: For lab safety, faculty have a lab and Kody said that lab and faculty are under someone’s supervision. That level has part of the responsibility. First, faculty need to go to their supervisor or owner of that lab to see what kind of support they can get. The Office of Research Compliance here is not that kind of resource. Sean said the concerns were brought to him multiple times because of safety. The committee is putting together a new survey on facilities and who owns the facility and what support is available. 

President Ferrini-Mundy said these are great questions and she would like to be involved in some of the discussions. She said when deans and directors come together it would be a good time to discuss these issues for compliance. For instance, having R1 means there is a need for higher function than before.  

It came up last year when the RLE’s were being discussed and the potential of having many more students in labs and needing another level of safety. 

Comment: At a school meeting there was a question about international travel for conferences. Provost Volin said the requests go to his office for approval and usually he approves them. He said he gets three or four a week that he approves. President Ferrini-Mundy said some are looked at through Research Compliance. 

Finance & Institutional Planning – Mauricio da Cunha & Mike Scott
The committee will be meeting over break. They will be speaking with Deb Allen for more focused survey questions. 

They need to schedule data for the survey and discuss feedback that Provost Volin provided. 

He asked if there was a list to mail the next survey out, and Dee said yes.   

University Environment – Amanda Klemmer
Today was the Provost Advisory Council on Equity (PACE) subcommittee meeting on partner accommodations. They are working on a pathway to add clarity to get partner accommodation on campus. They will be working on a survey to address the need.  

The committee met a month ago to talk about the role of senators and how to better serve faculty within units. A few recommendations were to have orientation for new senators, so they know their role and to change how meetings are run to have committee reports only once a month at full senate meetings. That could allow more in-depth discussion during the elected member meetings. More discussion on this topic at the April meeting.  

Comment: Regarding partner accommodation, there is an opportunity for administration and campus to use it as a tool for retention but also a strategic tool. It is also a good way to bring in talent. In a survey there will be a place for comments. If senators could participate, that would be very helpful. 

Provost Volin said this is a standing conversation at PACE and very important. The work now is looking at pathways and a strategic element and retention tool. Since he arrived there have been forty-two partner accommodations made: that is a lot. That came from working with deans who know their faculty. Partner accommodation is important but also to keep the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) aspect. Amanda said a lot of what they are trying to accomplish is to get more clarity to the process not just partner accommodation.  

The Zero Carbon Subcommittee is compiling feedback on the white paper and campus survey. Extensive feedback was received from across campus. They are meeting Friday to look at comments and do a rewrite on the paper. Check the committee pages that Harlan maintains for details with a goal of zero carbon commitment by 2040.  

Service & Outreach – Debbie Saber
No report. 

Committee on Committees – Heather Hamlin
For Faculty Senate elections will be in April. Currently nominations are President MJ Sedlock, Vice President Todd Zoroya, Secretary Kathryn Slott and Allie Gardner. The ballot will be set on March 23, after that nominees will be write-in only. The election will be held on April 6 during the full senate meeting. There is one question with Honors College: if we cannot find representation, that may be a topic for discussion at another time. 

Mark Haggerty said there are very few Honors faculty and those are already involved in college business. Mark said there are 2 full-time faculty and only about six cooperating.   

Program Creation & Reorganization Review – David Townsend
There has been no meeting because the committee needs members; two from each college are needed. There will be something coming formally for MCECIS. Provost Volin said there will be an Intent to Plan eventually for programs but not the entire college.  

There is a proposal from the Maine Business School (MBS) for a multi-campus degree program. The committee will do a review once the committee is filled. 

Margo commented that when she was chair of PCRRC they worked with only one person from each college. 

Library Committee – Deborah Rogers & Robert Rice 
No report except to say that the last meeting minutes are uploaded to Google Drive and that the committee looks forward to working with Provost Volin on the search committee for the new Dean of the Library. 

Faculty Information Technology Committee – Todd Zoroya
No report. 

Elected Members Committee – Ad Hoc System Shared Governance – Ivan Manev
The Faculty Governance Council met in February and discussed modifying the policy of naming academic units, but there has not been a follow-up yet. They also discussed the Administrative Practice Letters (APL’s) for programs for examination, but no response yet. The function of FGC is as a sounding board for policy and APL’s. Another APL will be transfer credit. That will be discussed at the next meeting. There was also talk about ratification of the FGC document from UMaine and the disagreement from other campuses. Eventually he sent a detailed document of changes, and he is hopeful the reasons the changes were made will be accepted. Provost Volin stated that what was called the Program for Examination is now the Annual Academic Program Report. It has changed because it was historically thought of as looking to eliminate programs, but it looks at areas that may have lower numbers but are growing. It puts things into context and UMaine is in good shape. 

Comment: The FGC meeting was a misunderstanding; the memorandum was sent to each campus on the same day. Some other campuses have very small senates/assemblies and were able to look it over and say okay immediately. With UMaine, such a large campus, it took time. The contention came from the section on voting and asking that it be removed. Other campuses thought UMaine was being disrespectful until the intention was explained. 

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – M.J. Sedlock
The committee is looking at Peer institutions and how they handle their pronouns and name changes, email changes etc. Also discussed was getting members of this committee connected with PACE and other system level committees of DEI. She asked who the best person was to connect with to help make that happen before the end of the semester. 

Reports of Faculty Members on Committees of the Administration – Heather Hamlin
No report.
Dee said this is where anyone on any committee or search should report about those.  

VII.   Old Business
Dee mentioned that pre pandemic there was an end of year reception hosted by the president. So, will there be a reception?  

President Ferrini-Mundy said there will be conversations about masking/face covering with a possible change. Once back from spring break, give it a couple of days and then there will be discussions. There will be questions of how faculty feel and what it would look like if everyone could decide for themselves. 

Adjourned 4:45 pm 

Respectfully submitted,
Kathryn Slott  

Prepared by Kim Junkins