Page 1 of 6 UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI FACULTY SENATE August 22, 2012 Proposed Faculty Senate Minutes The meeting, held in the McLamore Executive Dining Room, third floor, opened at 3:35 p.m. CHAIR S REMARKS The Chair announced that: Art and Art History Emeritus Faculty member Dr. Paula Harper recently passed away. A moment of silence was observed. Kudos to o Senate member Herman Cheung, James L. Knight Professor of Biomedical Engineering for being selected for the S. Florida Federal Employee of the Year Award in the Scientific Division. This award is selected from over 165,000 federal employees in S. Florida. o Last year at the Distinguished Scholar Award ceremony, awardee Mary Bartlett Bunge s work with Schwann cells and the search to cure paralysis was presented. More recently, Miami Project to Cure Paralysis received permission from the FDA to begin a revolutionary Phase 1 clinical trial to evaluate the safety of transplanting human Schwann cells to treat patients with recent spinal cord injuries. The Senate office staff has been working very diligently all summer getting ready for the fall, and also rolling over the old web site into the new web site format. It continues to be a challenge, and they will continue to hone it and keep it updated with the most current information. Meanwhile, please be patient if the website is not as convenient as we would like. The Faculty Senate received notice of a new BS-MS in Biology. Because none of the requirements for either degree changed, only Senate notice is needed. The university-level Biomedical Nanoscience Institute s provisional status is up this year. The presenters are out of town for the August round of meetings, but will be presenting it for formal approval at the October round of meetings, assuming all other prior approvals are received. The Senate officers met last term and over the summer with key administrators and Senate members to discuss some of the privacy issues relating to the CaneWatch hotline, door entry and exit data, etc. He asked the Senate for an ad hoc committee that would look at a broad range of privacy issues, rather than considering these things piecemeal, as has been done. There were no objections. Due to the high amount of fraudulent use of the free Emeritus parking passes, the Parking authorities initiated a policy to charge a nominal amount per year for these passes. After
Page 2 of 6 objections from faculty and discussion with us, the authorities decided to table the charge until they can determine other ways to curb the misuse. Today we have unusually lengthy and weighty agenda. It is important that voting members make every effort to stay for the entire meeting. Two items were not ready to be brought forward and were taken off the agenda, the Nutrition track request and the briefing of this year s benefits. They will be coming forward at the September meeting. As we have done for the past few years, the Senate officers are planning to attend an early meeting of each school or college s faculty council to introduce ourselves and give an overview of the Senate s role. All of the standing committees, save one, have been appointed and members have been requested to send in their availability schedules so the Office personnel can schedule meetings for the semester. If this applies to you, please send in your schedule as soon as possible. The Chair entertained questions from the floor. PRESIDENT S REMARKS The President noted that Professor Paula Harper was a world-class art critic and art historian whose death was noted in an obituary in the New York Times. She pointed out that Professor Harper had convinced her to add art to the campuses and to include catalogues for the art on campus and at the President s house. Additionally, Professor Harper also arranged to have most of this art donated. She said that she would always be grateful to Harper for these contributions. The President noted that the fall semester was beginning with a superb undergraduate class; saying that each incoming class is better than the last. The Provost is to give his presentation of the incoming admission statistics at the next Senate meeting. She outlined the construction that has taken place over the summer on all campuses; which is nearing completion as the semester opens. She explained that there is support of the Coral Gables neighbors to not complete the second interior road construction among our first phase was very disruptive to the surrounding area. Additionally, she pointed out the new construction on RSMAS campus, Cox Science Building, and renovations on the Medical campus. Now that alums have reached the stage in their lives when they are thinking about planned gifts, the campaign is receiving that type of donation. The Medical School is going through a difficult time which she expects to be resolved in about a year. The administration is working to balance the clinical, research and academic areas of the enterprise. She explained that NIH grants do not cover all of the expenses associated with the grant; receiving grants actually results in expenses to UM, and the Clinical Enterprise needs to earn enough to cover those costs. She also mentioned that she had read the Faculty Senate Medical Issues ad hoc committee report and will be meeting with the Medical School administration to discuss it. She explained that Steve Falcone was to come to the Faculty Senate to give updates on the annual operating agreement with JMH. She explained that JMH no longer has the resources it once had, and UM is working with them to effect all of the changes by next year. That is when the new health care legislation takes effect, meaning that a large number of
Page 3 of 6 patients will then have insurance. She expects that the teaching mission will continue at JMH, and they will continue to use our doctors there. She noted that it was important that UM has its own hospital to help with private patients. She explained that one way to keep from increasing the cost of tuition was to extend the sharedservices model, including IT, compliance offices, and Human Resources offices. HR will come to the Faculty Senate to give a briefing on the Penn. State Human Resources recommendations. She noted that there have been discoveries of long-term fraud in certain areas that did not have enough oversight. Both the new Compliance Office and the HR Office will report directly to the President. Currently, there has been no report from the NCAA, but she will keep the Faculty Senate informed of any updates. This year was declared the year of the Humanities and the Arts in an effort to try to build audiences in the University community for these types of events. She explained that there is an effort underway to get both presidential candidates to come to campus this election year. An invitation has also been extended to the non-partisan comedy troupe Capital Steps to come to campus. The President entertained questions from the floor. INTRODUCTION OF NEWLY APPOINTED VICE PROVOST FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS AND DEAN OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL, M. BRIAN BLAKE Dr. Blake acknowledged Dr. Scandura for creating an expanded role for the Graduate School and ensuring that those involved were aware of the role and vision of the School. He explained that he was appointed in part in response to the urging of the Faculty Senate Women and Minorities Committee that there be a new senator position to enhance the recruitment of women and minorities on campus. He explained that the university has the attractive quality of a global, diverse student body that should be celebrated. Over the past ten years, the university has become more diverse, and at the same time has risen in the US News and World Report rankings. He noted that this was an opportunity to study how the unique diversity played a role in the increased rankings. He would like to keep the broad mandate of the role of Vice Provost for Academic Affairs to see if there are ways to be an advocate for research. He is a software engineer and is known as an expert in web systems. STUDENT GOVERNMENT REP RESENTATIVE S REMARKS There were no remarks by Student Government representatives. However, the Medical School student representative, Chanelle Diaz, introduced herself. # APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF APRIL 18, APRIL 25 AND MAY 9, 2012 A motion was made, seconded and the minutes were approved unanimously. APPROVAL OF TODAY S AGENDA A motion was made, seconded and the agenda was approved unanimously. OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS There were no other announcements.
Page 4 of 6 # PROPOSAL TO CHANGE THE NAME OF THE (NCMHD), NATIONAL CENTER ON MINORITY HEALTH AND HEALTH DISPARITIES UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR HISPANICS HEALTH DISPARITIES RESEARCH: ELCENTRO to UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF NURSING AND HEALTH STUDIES CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR HEALTH DISPARITIES RESEARCH: EL CENTRO Professor Victoria Mitrani explained that five years ago the School of Nursing and Health Studies was awarded a grant. At the time, the Faculty Senate and the President approved the name of the Center. At the Center s recent review for renewal, it was determined that the name should be changed to more accurately reflect the activities of the Center. The General Welfare Committee unanimously recommended the proposal. The motion was approved unanimously. # PROPOSAL TO CREATE FOUR DEPARTMENTS WITHIN THE SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION Vice Dean of Academic Affairs Paul Driscoll outlined the steps that the School had taken to establish departments within the School. Last year the Senate and the President approved the principle of departmentalization and this proposal is to establish the specific departments. The General Welfare Committee unanimously recommended the proposal. The motion was approved unanimously. # PROPOSAL FOR A NEW DEGREE PROGRAM, MASTER OF MUSIC IN SOUND RECORDING ARTS Vice Dean Shannon de l Etoile and Associate Professor Colby Leider explained that the proposal was revised based on suggestions from the General Welfare Committee. The proposed degree program would not replace the Master in Music Engineering, but offers additional training for those in the field. The General Welfare Committee unanimously recommended the proposal. The motion was approved unanimously. # INFORMATION ITEM FACULTY SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS It was agreed by consensus to move to item E to allow time for the next item s presenters to arrive since the meeting was running ahead of schedule. The Chair gave a brief overview of the appointment of this year s standing committee members. # EXECUTIVE SESSION [This portion of the meeting was open to voting members of the Faculty Senate, the Secretary of the Faculty Senate, and invited parties. The related portion of the minutes for item C1 are not included in this version of the minutes. Participants and absent senators can view these minutes by contacting the Faculty Senate office.]
Page 5 of 6 GENERAL WELFARE COMMITTEE ELECTION OF A REGULAR AND ALTERNATE MEMBER FOR MUSIC, AND ALTERNATES FOR EDUCATION AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, LAW LIBRARY, MUSIC, AND NURSING AND HEALTH STUDIES ELECTION OF MEMBERS OF THE HEARING PANEL AND THE COMMITTEE ON PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT Three separate ballots were distributed for these elections. Results will be posted on our website on each of these committees web pages. RESUME GENERAL MATTERS AD HOC COMMITTEE ON MEDICAL ISSUES REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS The Senate Chair gave the background information that the Senate adopted a proposal to have an ad hoc committee to deal with a variety of Medical questions, of which there were three primary questions: the finances of the Miller School; the ancillary services, i.e. billing, appointments, wait time, etc.; and the role that the Miller School will play in the University s health care plan. An ad hoc committee was established. At the request of the Miller School members of the committee, additional faculty from other campuses were approved by the Senate and added. The report and recommendations are included with the agenda. The Senate needs to vote on accepting the report and recommendations, including broadening the mandate, with additional specifications. If the latter is approved, the Chair will constitute a very small working committee to flesh out additional details as to what the committee will be doing. He introduced the committee chair, Samuel Terilli. Dr. Terilli gave an overview of the committee s activities over the summer, that is, how many meetings were held and the faculty and administrators that were interviewed. He pointed out that none of the interviewed faculty from the Miller School of Medicine were willing to let it be known that they had come to meet with the committee and therefore no names are included in the report. He reviewed the main points of the report and the recommendations, and discussion followed. The report and recommendations were recommended by consensus of the General Welfare Committee. The motion to accept the report was approved unanimously. The motion to accept the recommendations of the committee was approved unanimously. There was unanimous approval for the Senate chair to establish a small committee with the mandate to see if more specificity can be added to the charge of the existing ad hoc committee with the implementation to be carried out by the committee as a whole, not by the small group.
Page 6 of 6 The meeting adjourned at 7:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Robyn Hardeman Secretary of the Faculty Senate Elected Senate officers: Richard L. Williamson, Jr, Chair (Presiding) R. Stephen Cantrell, First Vice Chair Tomas Salerno, Second Vice Chair # Background materials attached to hard-copy minutes.