{"id":6439,"date":"2026-02-19T10:26:41","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T15:26:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/facultysenate\/?p=6439"},"modified":"2026-03-16T12:29:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T16:29:12","slug":"draft-faculty-senate-minutes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/facultysenate\/2026\/02\/19\/draft-faculty-senate-minutes\/","title":{"rendered":"Minutes 11 February 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Attendance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a><\/a>Present:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Senators: <em>Henri Akono, Dean Astumian, Jonathan Barron, Seth Campbell, Erin P. Carter, Sudarshan Chawathe, Matthew Chatfield, Bill DeSisto, Paula Drewniany, Heather Falconer, Sara Flanagan, Kathleen Gillon, William Gramlich, Michael Grillo, Jianjun Hao, Nils Haentjens, Liliana Herakova, Greg Howard, Kelly Jaksa, Lauren Jacobs, Lee Karp-Boss, <em>Steven Kimball, <\/em>Benjamin L. King, Amanda Klemmer, Eric Landis, Sarah Lindahl, Will Manion, Colleen Marzilli, Craig Mason, Brian McGill, Shannon McCoy, Robert Muelenberg, Grant Miles, Derek Michaud, Camerin Seigars, Kathryn Slott, Jennifer Perry, Danielle Pelletier, Amber Roth, Timothy Waring, Jay Wason III, Vince Weaver, William Otto<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Guests: <em>Debra Allen, Jenny Boyden, Will Biberstein, Hannah Carter, Kevin Coughlin, Scott Delcourt, Joseph DiSalvo, Sara Henry, Carter Emerson, Angela Fileccia, Joan Ferrini-Mundy, Andrea Gifford, Abigail Goodspeed, Giovanna Guidoboni, Emily Haddad, James Ward IV, Jude Killy, Adam Kirkland, Nicole Lawrence, Scott Marzilli, Gabriel Paquette, Karen Pelletreau, Diane Rowland, Daisy D. Singh, Ryan Weatherbee, Ellen Weinauer<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a><\/a>Absent:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Senators: <em>Karen Beeftink, Keith Berube, Timothy Bowden, Jack Buttcane, Phillip Dickens, Alexis Foster, C. Matt Graham, Matt Hawkyard, Ellen Hostert, Bashir Khoda, Roberto Lopez-Anido, Nicholas May, Glenda Pereira, Susan Smith, Ek Han Tan<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a><\/a>Call to Order<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The meeting was called to order at 3:03 pm. The <a href=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/facultysenate\/\">land acknowledgement<\/a> was read by Sen. Roth.<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a><\/a>Approval of Minutes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The minutes from the previous open senate meeting on <a href=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/facultysenate\/2025\/12\/12\/draft-minutes-10-december-2025\/\">December 10<\/a> were approved with no revisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a><\/a>Announcements<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Debra Allen, Assistant Provost for Institutional Research and Assessment, and Kevin Wentworth, Assistant Director of Advanced Research Computing, Security, and Information Management, gave a presentation at the last Executive Committee meeting on the new faculty activity reporting online information management system, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.interfolio.com\/\">Interfolio<\/a>. The <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/presentation\/d\/1TVWhfACjmn8MGjlaMtWXx-cbsu9-edh5\/edit?usp=drive_link&amp;ouid=101222198588824247399&amp;rtpof=true&amp;sd=true\">slides<\/a> from this presentation have been uploaded to the Faculty Senate\u2019s shared drive. A call was made for volunteers to sit on the implementation committee for Interfolio. Sen. Miles put his name forward, and Sen. Lindahl volunteered to represent non-tenure track faculty on the committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The President of the University of Maine, Joan Ferrini-Mundy, announced that she would give a State of the University Talk at Minsky Recital Hall on March 4, 2026 from 1-2:30pm. The talk will focus on Strategic Re-Envisioning and the budget. The President invited senators to provide input on other topics they would like to be addressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a><\/a>Presentation from the Counseling Center (Angela Fileccia)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"mailto:angela.fileccia@maine.edu\">Angela Fileccia<\/a>, Director of the Counseling Center, gave a brief update on counseling resources available to students on the UMaine campus. She noted that consulting services are also available to faculty and staff. Please find <a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/drive\/folders\/1mWCUi79JBZWwfIpKzLxh3NS9oFOV328V?usp=drive_link\">additional resources<\/a> in the public materials folder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a><\/a>Presentation on Title II Requirements (Sara Henry)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"mailto:shenry@maine.edu\">Sara Henry<\/a>, Director of Equal Opportunity and Title IX Services, gave a presentation on Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Americans with Disabilities Act was approved by Congress in 1991, mandating that public programs need to be accessible to all individuals. In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ada.gov\/resources\/2024-03-08-web-rule\/\">April of 2024 the Department of Justice<\/a> set a requirement that digital content must meet the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/WCAG21\/\">Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1<\/a> AA conformance level. This requirement applies to all public institutions, including public universities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a><\/a>Resources:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1ijocQ-zfUnZjQUK65HiGwxx3h5m2v2eeZSad1JckXNQ\/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.voblhw9tyyoy\">Report from the UMaine System Working Group on Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.maine.edu\/content-management\/accessibility-resources\/\">Accessibility Resources: Training and Assistance from UMS<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Discussion:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Question and Answer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q<\/strong>: What does it mean to be compliant?<br><strong>A<\/strong>: Compliance means that all digital and web-based assets meet the WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria by April 24, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q<\/strong>: As a faculty member who uses Brightspace, I am watching for the red, yellow, and green markers by my web-based assets. Is the goal to achieve the \u201cgreen\u201d marker, which appears at around 85% compliance, or am I responsible for getting every asset to 100% compliance?<br><strong>A<\/strong>: The requirement is to make all web-based assets accessible, and the \u201cgreen\u201d marker indicates substantial progress. As of today\u2019s meeting, no punitive measures are planned for faculty that are not compliant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q<\/strong>: Since various softwares (e.g., PowerPoint, Ally, etc.) measure compliance differently and inconsistently, how do we know if we are actually compliant?<br><strong>A<\/strong>: Ally is not a perfect tool and should be used as a guide to indicate progress towards compliance. The University of Maine System (\u201cthe System\u201d) has a three year contract with Ally, which was used successfully at UMaine Augusta previously. It is possible that the System may select a different product in two years. Please send all feedback about Ally to <a href=\"mailto:shenry@maine.edu\">Sara Henry<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q<\/strong>: If two documents with different formats have the same content but only one is accessible, is it okay if both are posted?<br><strong>A<\/strong>: No. Any content that is not accessible is not compliant, regardless of whether another document with the same content is compliant. PDFs should be avoided whenever possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q<\/strong>: Should faculty remove content from Brightspace that is not accessible by April 24th?<br><strong>A<\/strong>: Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q<\/strong>: Will Ally be used to determine whether or not a faculty member is in compliance?<br><strong>A<\/strong>: Ally will be used as a guidepost to suggest faculty that might need some additional help bringing their materials into compliance. For now, the System is only looking at aggregate data for the System as a whole and at data for its individual campuses\u2014but not individual faculty or courses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q<\/strong>: The preview tool in our learning management software does not accurately represent content on PowerPoint and Word documents. Can we make the preview tool better?<br><strong>A<\/strong>: The question was presented as \u201cfood for thought\u201d and no answer was offered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q<\/strong>: What do I do if there are external documents that are an indispensable part of my curriculum but that are not accessible?<br><strong>A<\/strong>: The question was presented as \u201cfood for thought\u201d and no answer was offered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sen. Perry commented that some of the changes faculty will have to make to bring their courses into compliance will negatively impact students without accessibility needs. The experiences of students who are negatively impacted may be reflected on student evaluations of teaching (SETs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q<\/strong>: What should I do with non-compliant documents that are posted on Brightspace but that are hidden and not publicly available to students?<br><strong>A<\/strong>: All non-compliant documents, whether they are publicly available or not, should be removed from digital platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q<\/strong>: Do external sources that are linked from Brightspace also need to be compliant?<br><strong>A<\/strong>: Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q<\/strong>: Why did the System not notify campuses earlier about these requirements if they knew since April of 2024?<br><strong>A<\/strong>: This is a valid question and concern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q<\/strong>: Can scanned documents be accessible?<br><strong>A<\/strong>: If you scan documents to email using a campus device, be sure to enable Optical Character Recognition (OCR). This will tell the scanner to scan the document as text, however please note that this will not automatically mean the document is accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q<\/strong>: Many of the tools currently being used to assess compliance with Title II requirements are artificial intelligence-based (AI) tools, including Ally. Some faculty have expressed concerns about how the data being assessed by these tools is being handled or stored. This has implications for the intellectual property rights and surveillance of faculty. Is there a clause in the contract with Ally that specifies what information can and cannot be used and how?<br><strong>A<\/strong>: Sara was unable to comment on the contract directly, but said that the contract underwent the information security review process which normally entails questions about how data is stored, accessed, and shared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q<\/strong>: Why does this law apply to digital content of individual courses, which are only made available to people who are enrolled in the course and therefore not \u201cpublic\u201d?<br><strong>A<\/strong>: Both the classroom and the course itself is being provided by a public institution, and therefore <em>all<\/em> of the university\u2019s digital assets are being regulated under the law. This is the interpretation of General Counsel and of other public universities across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q<\/strong>: If I stop using the internet, hand out printed PDFs in my classroom, and show PowerPoints in class but do not distribute any of these materials electronically, will this make me compliant?<br><strong>A<\/strong>: Yes, however if a student with an accommodation to have a digital version of course materials were to make a request, the instructor would be required by law to provide that to the student within 48 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q<\/strong>: Has the System, either through General Counsel or through other means, tried to lobby or communicate with the federal government about any of the issues raised in today\u2019s meeting?<br><strong>A<\/strong>: No, but there are discussions in professional groups and in colleges and universities across the country that are giving similar feedback to the Department of Justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a><\/a>Update on the Budget<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a><\/a>Fiscal Year 2026<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Jenny Boyden, Interim Vice President for Finance and Administration and Chief Business Officer (VPFA &amp; CBO) gave a report on the budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 and 2027. On the FY26 budget, progress is being made to resolve the revenue shortfall. Steps that have been taken include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Pulling back all vacancy savings (as positions are authorized and filled, this money will be put back)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Emailing all employees with restricted use gift funds to see whether these funds can be used to cover some other expenses as appropriate.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Changes to the indirect cost return (ICR) policy, including the following*:<ul><li>Return unspent ICR balances associated with faculty who are no longer employed by the University (balances prior to FY26)<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Return unspent ICR balances associated with faculty who are no longer employed by the University (FY26 July-Dec amount not yet transferred)<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Return unspent ICR balances originating prior to FY21<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Proportionally reduce the remaining ICR balances above the median. Remaining balances will then be reduced only for those with balances over $2,000, based on each individual\u2019s percentage above that threshold. Balances under $2,000 will not be reduced. (Details in the attached file)<\/li><\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Effective immediately, <strong>staff <\/strong>in large centers currently receiving their own return of indirects will not be eligible for individual returns (does not impact faculty)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>* <strong>Please note that all these policy changes have been <em>paused<\/em> temporarily following discussion at the Open Senate meeting. <\/strong>The administration welcomes all suggestions for alternative ways to reconcile the budget deficit for Fiscal Year 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a><\/a>Discussion of Fiscal Year 2026:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Question and Answer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q<\/strong>: Please provide more information on the plan to reduce ICR balances above $2,000.<br><strong>A<\/strong>: Giovanna Guidoboni offered context and additional details on the proposal. Major points included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Pullback of a percentage of accounts that have balances over $2,000.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The formula to calculate the pullback amount is: ((<em>Total Account Balance<\/em> \/ <em>Median of $1,188<\/em>) \/ 100) multiplied by the <em>Total Account Balance<\/em>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>For example, an account with ~$10,198 would have a return amount of ~$876.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q<\/strong>: Have the faculty who will be affected by these pullbacks been notified?<br><strong>A<\/strong>: An email was sent to the deans and center directors on February 10. Communications to individual faculty members affected are forthcoming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q<\/strong>: Is there a way for faculty members to request that the pullback amounts be returned if the faculty member can demonstrate they had a specific plan to use those funds in the near future?<br><strong>A<\/strong>: Contact the leader of your unit who can contact the Finance Office. We would like to hear about concrete plans to use these funds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sen. King commented that this decision comes as a surprise. Many faculty have been trying to accumulate funds in these accounts to be used as bridge funding. Sen. Mason agreed. Sen. King continued to say that at some point, the reality may be that faculty will not be able to support graduate students and will have to close their labs. Funds can take years to accumulate and would need to have begun accumulating in some cases before FY21 to be usable. Sen. King commented that he is part of two research centers and yet still had not been formally notified of this decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sen. Gramlich commented that these indirect funds are also used to repair equipment and spaces in laboratories. Pulling back a percentage of these funds without consultation is a breach of trust. Sen. Herakova agreed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sen. McGill expressed that there have been many events over the last several months that have been demoralizing to faculty. Some faculty have been working to accumulate funds in these accounts for over a decade. Making this decision without consulting the faculty to whom these funds are committed makes it very difficult to plan and to execute research. Finally, the pullback formula reflects a perverse incentive structure where the most money is lost by those faculty who received bigger grants or who saved money for use after receiving a grant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q<\/strong>: How much money does the university expect to receive through this measure?<br><strong>A<\/strong>: Jenny Boyden replied that she would need to look up the exact numbers. After the meeting, she shared the following estimates with the Faculty Senate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Overall, there is an anticipated one-time savings of <strong>$825,340.80<\/strong> in FY26 related to changes with the Indirect Cost balances. There are several pieces to the proposal:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Return unspent Indirect Cost Recovery (ICR) balances associated with faculty who are no longer employed by the University (balances prior to FY26) &#8211; <strong>$268,726.72<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Return unspent ICR balances associated with faculty who are no longer employed by the University (FY26 July-Dec amount not yet transferred) &#8211; <strong>$43,037.00<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Return unspent ICR balances originating prior to FY21 &#8211; <strong>$62,210.96<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Proportionally reduce the remaining ICR balances above the median. Remaining balances will then be reduced only for those with balances over $2,000, based on each individual\u2019s percentage above that threshold. Balances under $2,000 will not be reduced. (Details in the attached file) &#8211;<strong> $423,129.46<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Effective immediately, <strong>staff <\/strong>in large centers currently receiving their own return of indirects will not be eligible for individual returns (does not impact faculty) &#8211; <strong>$28,236.66<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Following the discussion on ICR balance changes, President Ferrini-Mundy said she will pause all pullbacks while the finance office investigates other options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a><\/a>Fiscal Year 2027<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Jenny Boyden said that deans, financial managers, and unit leaders reported their proposed budget cuts to the Finance Office in December, 2025. Debra Allen, Assistant Provost for Institutional Research and Assessment, has been working with the Finance Office to evaluate impacts to revenue from these cuts. The deadline to present the FY27 budget to the System is March 3, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Important upcoming dates:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Board of Trustees meeting on March 16, 2026 to present the FY26 forecast<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Finance, Facilities and Technology Committee (FFT) meeting on March 25, 2026 to read the budget presentation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Budget Town Hall (Date <strong>TBD<\/strong>, possibly March 18)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Budget workshop with the FFT on April 15, 2026<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Second reading of the budget on April 29, 2026<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The University of Maine is facing a structural deficit where collective bargaining pressures are anticipated to continue outpacing revenues for the foreseeable future. One challenge for the Finance Office is finding a way to address this gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>President Ferrini-Mundy announced a proposed one-time $2 million injection of funds into the University of Maine System as part of Governor Janet Mills\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.maine.gov\/governor\/mills\/news\/governor-mills-unveils-supplemental-budget-proposal-advancing-affordability-agenda-maintaining\">supplemental budget proposal<\/a>. These funds were requested by the System, have been earmarked for research and innovation, and would largely be directed to the University of Maine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a><\/a>Questions of the Administration<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q<\/strong>: Secretary Wason shared concerns from several faculty regarding the failure of the second provost search and asked for an update on both the search for a permanent provost and the search for a permanent Vice President for Research (VPR).<br><strong>A<\/strong>: President Ferrini-Mundy acknowledged the validity of faculty\u2019s concerns and said that while she is unable to share details about the specific reasons the search did not result in an appointment, she was very thankful for the work of the search committee and for the input of students, faculty and staff across campus throughout the process. She promised to keep the Senate apprised of any updates regarding the searches for both the provost and VPR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q<\/strong>: Sen. McGill asked why faculty are unable to see the proposed budget until it is presented to the Board of Trustees.<br><strong>A<\/strong>: President Ferrini-Mundy explained that the university is required to follow formal processes as a result of the Board of Trustees being the primary entity entrusted with the governance and fiduciary management of the System. She also said she would look forward to continued conversations with the senate\u2019s Finance and Institutional Planning Committee (FIPC) and the President\u2019s Budget Committee, where many of the options being considered are discussed. The administration is looking at March 18, 2026 as a potential date for the town hall where the proposed budget can be discussed more openly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Faculty Senate President Amanda Klemmer and VPFA &amp; CBO Boyden added that they would both welcome having a more in-depth conversation and question-answer session with the senate as a whole, in addition to the town hall and committee meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q<\/strong>: Sen. Waring asked why the university has a structural deficit and why it is projected to grow by millions of dollars every year.<br><strong>A<\/strong>: Jenny Boyden\u2019s response included the following facts and figures:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>45% of revenues come from net tuition, 39% from the state appropriation, 9% from indirect cost recovery, 5% from sales and services, and the remaining is from miscellaneous sources.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Finance Office projects what these numbers will look like in future years based on assumptions about tuition increases, student credit hours, the proportion of in-state\/out-of-state students, and the rising cost of compensation and benefits.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Of the ~$20 million deficit the university faces for FY27, $10 million comes from costs associated with collective bargaining and the 4% universal compensation increase for employees anticipated in July.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Projections factor in 4% increases in the state appropriation and 4% increases in the price of tuition per credit hour. However, collective bargaining is outpacing these increases.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q<\/strong>: Sen. Waring asked what has been driving declining out-of-state enrollments.<br><strong>A<\/strong>: Kevin Coughlin, Vice President of Enrollment Management, responded that out-of-state enrollments had increased in previous years due to the \u201cflagship match\u201d program the university was running, which allowed out-of-state students to attend the University of Maine for the same tuition as the flagship in their home state. This program was known to be a short-term solution to a particularly rough enrollment period from 2012-2018. The market has since adjusted and other flagships are discounting their tuition as well, which makes it difficult for UMaine to compete. Raising the discount rate further than we have already carries additional risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a><\/a>Forthcoming Motions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>SM 2605<\/strong>: Resolution Regarding Evaluation of a Per-Credit-Hour Fee Model for Artificial Intelligence Tools (Faculty Information Technology Committee)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>SM 2606<\/strong>: Resolution Regarding Use of Ally for Title II Compliance and Protection of Faculty Intellectual Property (Faculty Information Technology Committee)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is expected that these motions will come up for a vote at the next Faculty Senate meeting. To see a draft of these motions or to ask questions, please contact <a href=\"mailto:colleen.marzilli@maine.edu\">Colleen Marzilli<\/a> (Co-Chair) and <a href=\"mailto:sudarshan.chawathe@maine.edu\">Sudarshan Chawathe<\/a> (Chair) with the Faculty Information Technology Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a><\/a>Adjourn<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There was no new business. The meeting was adjourned at 4:38pm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Attendance Present: Senators: Henri Akono, Dean Astumian, Jonathan Barron, Seth Campbell, Erin P. Carter, Sudarshan Chawathe, Matthew Chatfield, Bill DeSisto, Paula Drewniany, Heather Falconer, Sara Flanagan, Kathleen Gillon, William Gramlich, Michael Grillo, Jianjun Hao, Nils Haentjens, Liliana Herakova, Greg Howard, Kelly Jaksa, Lauren Jacobs, Lee Karp-Boss, Steven Kimball, Benjamin L. King, Amanda Klemmer, Eric Landis, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2551,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-minutes"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Minutes 11 February 2026 - Faculty Senate - University of Maine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/facultysenate\/2026\/02\/19\/draft-faculty-senate-minutes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Minutes 11 February 2026 - Faculty Senate - University of Maine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Attendance Present: Senators: Henri Akono, Dean Astumian, Jonathan Barron, Seth Campbell, Erin P. Carter, Sudarshan Chawathe, Matthew Chatfield, Bill DeSisto, Paula Drewniany, Heather Falconer, Sara Flanagan, Kathleen Gillon, William Gramlich, Michael Grillo, Jianjun Hao, Nils Haentjens, Liliana Herakova, Greg Howard, Kelly Jaksa, Lauren Jacobs, Lee Karp-Boss, Steven Kimball, Benjamin L. 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