The University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College
Academic Senate Minutes
June 16, 2006
I.
Call to Order
President, David Pearson, called the June 16, 2006 meeting of the Academic Senate to order at
1:14 p.m. at the SET-B Third Floor Conference Room.
Senate Members in Attendance: Cantu Ethel (*), Celaya Pat (*), Collinsworth Carol (s),
Dameron Charles, Ferrier Doug, Fuss-Sommer Karen (*), Gallegos Therese (s), Heise Elizabeth
(s), Hockaday Mabel (s), Lacher Joe (s), Lackey Charles, Maldonado Maxwell Virginia (s),
Martin Jose, Morgan Bobbette (s), Nelson Eldon, Pearson David (*), Phelps Cheryl (s),
Rajasuriar Mahandran (s), Stockton Carl, Sullivan James (s), Sullivan Thelma (s)
Senate Members Absent: Corbeil Rene (s), Davis Bill (s), Fossen Linda, Fuhro Victor, Hollier
Gerald (s), Holt Jim, Larson Julie (s), Martinez, Rosemary, Otero Rafael, Peltz Gerson (s), Pena
Eli, Phillips Jay, Ragland Ruth Ann, Silva Hilda, Sullivan Mary, Sutterby John (s), Zieschange
Paul Hermann (s), Zavaleta Anthony.
Guests in Attendance: Price Betsy, Ortiz Dennis, Arney Doug
II.
Review and Approval of the Minutes
Dr. Pearson called for review and approval of the minutes from the May 5, 2006 Academic
Senate meeting. There were no corrections to the minutes. Dr. Nelson complimented Dr.
Jones on the completeness of the minutes. Joe Lacher moved the minutes be approved as
distributed. Bobbette Morgan seconded the motion. Motion carried.
III.
Presentations/Discussion:
Hurricane Preparedness – Doug Arney
Mr. Arney gave a presentation on hurricane preparedness. Topics included the hurricane plan
for departments, pre-hurricane planning, the alert status and preparedness plan, securing
facilities, internal damage assessment, and how to stay in touch. More details can be obtained
from the UTB/TSC Web page. Click on the “Hurricane Alert Page” link.
Adjunct Faculty Issues and Recommendations – Pat Celaya and Bobbette Morgan
Ms. Celaya and Ms. Morgan paired up those in attendance and distributed surveys requesting
recommendations for new and adjunct faculty. The results will be presented at the next
Academic Senate meeting.
IV.
Senate President’s Report
Dr. Pearson gave the following report:
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Commencement
The 79th Commencement for TSC and the 15th Commencement for UTB was held on Saturday,
May 13. More than 800 students received a total of 956 certificates and degrees. The weather
was good, and most people remained until the end of the ceremony.
Johnny and Nena Cavazos, this year’s TSC Distinguished Alumni honored at Commencement,
have used money from their insurance business to establish a $1 million scholarship
endowment at UTB/TSC for kinesiology and elementary education majors.
Speaking of commencements, Dr. Garcia received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
degree from Brown University during the university’s 238th commencement. She also gave the
baccalaureate address to graduating seniors.
Administrative Vacancies and Changes
We are currently in a period of substantial administrative overturn, resulting in the need to hire a
number of new administrators.
As of May 30, Vice President for Academic Affairs Ruth Ann Ragland assumed the position of
Vice President for Institutional Advancement. A national search is under way to fill the position.
Dr. Charles Dameron, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, has agreed to serve as Interim
VPAA. Ethel Cantu, Assistant Dean of Liberal Arts, will replace Dr. Dameron as Interim Dean.
A new position, the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, has been created. A
national search to fill the position was conducted during the spring, but the search committee
recommended that the position be kept vacant until after the new VPAA is hired. In the
meantime, Dr. Janna Arney, Associate Professor in Business Technology, has agreed to serve
as Interim Associate VPAA.
At the end of the Spring semester, Dr. Emir Macari, Dean of Science, Math, and Technology,
left UTB/TSC for a position as Dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at
California State University at Sacramento. A national search will be conducted to hire his
replacement, and until then, Jay Phillips, Dean of Developmental Education, will serve as
Interim Dean.
On June 1, the Vice President for Administration and Partnership Affairs, Dr. John Ronneau,
departed UTB/TSC to head the School of Social Work at the University of Central Florida in
Orlando. A search is currently underway to fill the position, which has been re-named the Vice
President for Partnership Affairs. Dr. Wayne Moore has agreed to serve as Interim Vice
President until the position is filled.
Beginning on July 1 we will have a new Dean of the School of Business. Dr. H. Martin Shane
comes to UTB/TSC from Norfolk State University, where he was Dean of the School of
Business.
Finally, we are currently in the process of hiring a new Chief Information Officer. The search
committee has made its recommendations, and these have been forwarded to the Provost. A
decision will be made shortly.
TSC Board Meeting
The regular meeting of the Texas Southmost College Board of Trustees took place on Monday,
May 22, 2006, in the TSC Board Room. A number of items were discussed:
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The Board was introduced to the first recipient of the Praxedis Orive, Jr., Memorial Scholarship,
David Hinojosa. David is a student who is helping with the renovations of the Commandant’s
House and the Neutra House.
The Board was informed that we have budgeted and received approval for men’s and women’s
soccer teams to be fielded in the fall of 2007, and that we are breaking ground this summer for
our new Wellness, Recreation and Kinesiology Complex.
A first reading of the proposed budget took place. The total new requests are $10.9 million,
which includes $1.0 million for faculty merit and $3.6 million for new faculty. The final reading of
the budget will take place at the next TSC Board meeting.
In her President’s Report, Dr. Garcia discussed the legislative approval of a $33.8 million Tuition
Revenue Bond for UTB/TSC. The money is slated for construction of a 130,000 square foot
state-of-the-art Science and Technology Education classroom building. This would be our
fourth state-appropriated building, the others being SET-B, the Life and Health Sciences
building, and the Education and Business complex.
Dr. Garcia also paid tribute to our colleague the late Bill Wilkinson, Professor of Criminal
Justice.
Faculty Advisory Council
Carlos Martinez, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Governmental Relations & Policy, noted that HB
153 passed the legislature on the last day of the legislative session. Tuition Revenue Bonds
were authorized for $1.8 billion in projects throughout the state. UT got $846 million, about 40%
of the total. Unfortunately, the legislature issued an IOU for the TRBs, saying they will come
back in the next legislative session to pay for these projects. Dr. Martinez suggested that there
will be an overall budgetary shortfall of about $5 billion over the next few years, and there is a
fear that, to pay for the TRBs, the money will be taken from other areas of higher education
support.
The FAC also heard from Geri Malandra, Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, and
Associate Vice Chancellor for Institutional Planning & Accountability, about the proposed UT
System Plan. The plan is intended to better align campus compacts with system mandates,
such as student success, and is unlike previous UT system plans in that it reflects the desire of
the Chancellor and the Chairman to be more specific about intended goals. A draft of the plan
is now on the Chancellor’s desk awaiting approval. It will then be sent to the Board of Regents,
the component Presidents, and the Chair of the FAC.
Dr. Malandra then noted that UT System is concerned with system and institution processes
associated with investments in faculty and leadership development. What this means is making
available to faculty, experiences that will allow them to make the jump to top-level
administration. One effort to this end on several campuses is the establishment of Chancellor’s
Fellows, and the FAC was asked to help develop other initiatives to promote faculty leadership
development.
Dr. Malandra noted that we are now in the conceptual stage of developing a series of global
initiatives for the system. There is an interest in developing research partnerships
internationally as well as nationally and statewide. Some questions being considered are: How
do we determine the footprint of the UT system globally? What are the gaps? What are the
opportunities? It is anticipated that, beginning in the fall, participants from each campus will be
identified to help with this effort, the idea being to come up with a set of recommendations for
areas to pursue by the end of next year.
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Dr. Malandra also discussed the possibility of introducing system-wide teaching awards to
supplement the Chancellor’s Council Outstanding Teaching awards, which are administered
individually by the component campuses. The idea is to have up to three system-wide awards
for which faculty from all nine campuses, either individually or in teams, could compete.
Selection would be handled by a committee appointed by the Executive Vice Chancellor. The
competition will be announced in the fall, and awards will be announced in December to allow
the awardees to be introduced at the Chancellor’s meeting in January or February.
The FAC then heard from Fred Heath, Vice Provost, Director of the University of Texas
Libraries, UT Austin, and a member of the UT System Advisory Council. According to him, the
UT system shared collection consists of over 300,000 electronic books, over 200 digital
encyclopedias and other reference materials, and over 4,600 current electronic full-text
scholarly journals. These resources are available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week,
365 days a year. Beyond this there is a substantial collection of digital images of architecture,
painting, sculpture, photography, and other artistic media, digital copies of all books published
worldwide in English before 1800, and various other holdings. Access to the system-wide digital
libraries is through the website at each campus, with licensing of search engines up the
individual libraries. Because of the importance of this material to faculty research, the FAC
recommended that all campuses have faculty representation on their Library Advisory
Committee.
Retirement Planning
The FAC was informed that the Board of Regents has approved retirement program vendors for
UT System, to take effect September 1, 2006. The approved vendors include:
 AIG Valic
 Fidelity Investments
 ING Life Insurance and Annuity Company
 Lincoln Financial Group,
 MetLife Resources (formerly Citistreet Associates)
 TIAA-CREF.
SACS Accreditation: Dr. Robert Nelsen, Associate Provost, UT Dallas
Perhaps the most informative talk was given by Robert Nelsen, the Associate Provost at UT
Dallas, on SACS re-accreditation. There are many things both administrators and faculty need
to know:
SACS no longer comes on campus for the initial evaluation. Rather, the SACS representatives
will set up computers and printers in a hotel room and start evaluating a campus. Each
university will write a self description, which is of extreme importance because it will form the
basis of all subsequent evaluation. SACS will then match the university with three other
universities. SACS will bring in experts in credentialing, Quality Enhancement Plans, outcomes,
financial affairs, student affairs and two additional evaluators. These individuals evaluate and
compare the four matched universities. This offsite review is conducted electronically on the
four universities at the same time. After this audit, the onsite team is appointed, focusing on
areas the offsite SACS team identified as weak. The onsite team will take an aggressive stance
in looking at these areas. These areas of weakness, to repeat, are identified on the basis of the
university’s own self-description. So how does a university prepare? Nelson had a number of
very helpful suggestions.
Each university must conduct an audit to determine where they are in preparing for SACS. The
audits must occur for departments, then faculty. Elements include specifying the mission,
learning objectives, assessment data, and so on, all of which must be aligned with the
institution’s strategic plan.
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Develop a calendar with everything documented. SACS is emphatically data-driven, so take
minutes and notes of all meetings and efforts. Document when you have accomplished each
evaluation element. Develop a calendar and adhere to it.
To ensure success, establish a leadership team. It is a hugely complex process, and there
needs to be a knowledgeable team to guide everyone through its complexities and help teach
everyone “SACS-ese.”
Nonetheless, universities must ensure that SACS preparation is a bottom-up effort, not a top
down one. A major reason for this is the federal government. The government told SACS they
wanted accreditation evaluation every five years, rather than every ten years. SACS said this
was too often, and offered the creation of the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) as a
compromise. The QEP is a five-year plan of measurable indicators to improve student learning.
Institutions must dedicate 1% of their total budget to the QEP project. The project must be
student-oriented and must bubble up from forums among the community. There must be
minutes of meetings about the project. The QEP cannot consist of something already ongoing
on campus, but must instead address something new created for the SACS process and
approved by SACS prior to initiation.
Appoint a committee for each set of principles described in SACS. Just six weeks ago SACS
changed all of the principles. For example, SACS now defines graduate education as
knowledge of the core literature in the discipline. This means they will expect that ongoing,
original research among faculty in graduate departments be evident. Additionally, the definition
of the faculty is now different. Principle 2.8 states that the university must have an adequate
full-time faculty, but what’s “adequate”? It depends on how you have described yourself!
Every course must have stated objectives. To determine objectives, ask: what do you want
your students to know? Faculty members define the objectives themselves, for SACS is all
about self definition. All syllabi must contain a statement of course objectives, and all syllabi
must be on the web.
For every objective, SACS expects a minimum of three assessment factors for that goal. Each
course objective has to have multiple assessments, and not just final grades.
Objectives and assessment go beyond individual courses. Similar objectives and multiple
assessments are required for every program and every certificate the institution offers. It will
also be applied to all other employees, even janitors and groundskeepers, who must have
outcomes that can be measured to show they have improved students’ lives.
In assessing outcomes, samples are acceptable. In a course of less than 25 students, however,
all course materials must be kept. SACS requires three years of data, with five years of data on
the business side. Preparation for SACS will cost UT-Dallas approximately $3 million.
Assessment data come in two types: direct and indirect. Direct data are hard data, such as
embedded questions in exams, portfolios of materials, etc. Indirect, or soft data, include
surveys of employers, surveys of students, exit interviews, surveys of alumni, and course
evaluations. Course grades of students do not count as assessment data.
Universities must have some sort of “rubric.” Essentially what this means is that we will be
required to explain why students meet, exceed, or fail to meet our standards. Why did they fail?
Why did they succeed? What will we do to change?
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SACS is tough. It is particularly tough on certificates, because they think that most are bogus.
They are also tough on distance learning because they think most distance learning is
ineffective. SACS also expects each institution to have a Center for Teaching Effectiveness on
campus.
V.
Committee Reports
Business Affairs Partnership Committee: Pat Celaya
Ms. Celaya reported that the Business Affairs Partnership Committee met on May 16, 2006 and
acted on the following items:
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
VI.
approved the minutes of the previous (April 3, 2006) BAPC meeting
approved four budget amendments to the TSC FY06 budget
Old Business
Exceptional Merit: David Pearson, Senate President
The Senate has been reviewing and acting upon recommendations from the Academic Senate
Committee on Guidance for Personnel Committees throughout the year. The following
recommendations have already been approved by the Senate:




All departments should establish criteria for exemplary performance.
Faculty applying for exceptional merit should submit a written statement identifying those
areas in which performance has been exemplary.
A separate chairs merit process should be established.
Faculty who are themselves applying for exceptional merit should not participate in the
evaluation of exceptional merit applications.
Today, the Senate acted on three more of the Committee’s recommendations. The first
recommendation for consideration was: Exceptional merit may be received no more than once
in any three-year period. After much discussion Dr. Heise moved there be no time restrictions
on exceptional merit. Ms. Fuss-Sommer seconded the motion. Motion carried.
The second recommendation considered by the Senate was: Application for exceptional merit
may not be made simultaneously with application for tenure and/or promotion. Dr. Heise moved
to approve this recommendation. Ms. Fuss-Sommer seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Finally, the Senate acted on the following recommendation from the Committee: Application for
exceptional merit may be made simultaneously with application for post-tenure review. It was
noted that this is the current policy. Ms. Fuss-Sommer moved to re-affirm the policy. Ms.
Phelps seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Vote on Resolution on Classroom Size: Karen Fuss-Sommer, Senate VP
Ms. Fuss-Sommer stated that although the revised resolution on classroom size was presented
at the last Senate meeting, no action was taken. Consequently, she presented the resolution
again so it could be acted upon at today’s meeting. The resolution is as follows:
Whereas, class size should be governed by the pedagogy employed by faculty in an
effort to maximize retention and other positive student outcomes and
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Whereas, some courses require more student-faculty interaction, hands-on help, and
detailed instruction than others (i.e., those developing critical thinking skills and writing
across the curriculum),
Therefore, be it resolved that class size should be determined by the dean in
consultation with the chair and the department curriculum committee based on
recommendations from the faculty who teach those classes.
Ms. Celaya moved to accept the resolution as written. Dr. Gallegos seconded the motion.
Motion carried.
VII.
New Business
Resolution for Establishing a Faculty Club in the Cavalry Building: Karen Fuss-Sommer,
Senate VP
Ms. Fuss-Sommer presented a resolution that would establish a faculty club in the Cavalry
Building. The resolution is as follows:
Whereas, the members of the Academic Senate of the University of Texas at Brownsville
and Texas Southmost College believe that the institution has a responsibility to support
faculty, and
Whereas, UTB/TSC must be committed to supporting continued efforts to retain and
recruit faculty.
Therefore, be it resolved that the UTB/TSC administration allocate space for a faculty
club with offices for the academic senate on campus, and that the Calvary building be
used these purposes until a more permanent site becomes available.
Dr. Martin asked that the resolution be amended to include professional staff. Ms. FussSommer said she would make that change. Dr. Heise moved to accept the resolution with
changes. Dr. Morgan seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
VIII.
Provost’s Report
Dr. Ruth Ann Ragland has taken over her duties as Vice President for Institutional Advancement
on a full-time basis. We are lucky to have a reserve of talent and dedication to draw upon, and
grateful to Dr. Dameron, Professor Ethel Cantu, and Dr. Janna Arney for their willingness to
serve where needed.
Dr. Wayne Moore has agreed to serve as Interim Vice President for Partnership Affairs.
The Executive Council reviewed the Senate’s No Smoking resolution. It resolved to send the
resolution for consideration to the Staff Senate and the Student Government Association.
Dr. Martin Shane has agreed to join us as Dean of the School of Business and will be
participating in the Deans and Chairs Workshop at the end of this month. Dr. Shane has
previously served as Dean of the School of Business at Norfolk State University in Virginia. Dr.
Martin thanked Professors Mary Sullivan and Rafael Otero for serving as co-deans of the
School of Business for the past year and a half and for providing valuable leadership through
this period of transition.
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We continue to move forward with proposals for new programs for our students. We are doing
the final editing on our proposal for our Doctoral program in Education and will be forwarding it
to UT System within the next three weeks. We recently sent our proposal for preliminary
planning authority for a Doctorate in Physics to UT System. Two other proposals currently at
UT System for review are a Master’s in Music Education and a Master of Arts in History.
Finally, an 18-hour concentration in Computer Science as part of our MSIS degree is under
consideration at the Coordinating Board.
We have just initiated a summer internship in research for selected high school students on
campus in coordination with the School of Public Health.
In May, we completed the fourth annual Pre-Law Academy, which helps to prepare students for
applying to law school, including preparation for the LSAT exam.
Dean Charles Lackey has just made arrangements for a national expert to come to campus
during the meeting week in August for a day-long workshop on recruiting graduate students for
our programs.
Architects have been selected for the bond projects. They are busy preparing the plans for the
projects for consideration by the CACs and BBACs. Groundbreaking for the Wellness,
Recreation & Kinesiology Complex will take place in August. Campus will be a dusty place for
the next couple of years.
You may have observed work on the old compress and the Kreigher House on Paredes Line
Road. The goal is to stabilize the structures before the first hurricane threatens our city.
Work is well advanced on the renovation of most of Rusteberg for use of the Fine Arts faculty
and students. The most dramatic changes will be outdoors. The outside parking will be turned
into a Sculpture Garden, and the Calvary Square into a small campus park. The other units that
will be housed in the renovated Rusteberg space will be ITNet, under Dr. Fitra Khan, and
Printing Services. The new Art Gallery will also be housed in Rusteberg, with access from the
Sculpture Garden.
We had a team attend the SACS orientation meeting in Atlanta last week. We will need
everybody’s effort on this, and a main component of SACS will be the Quality Enhancement
Plan. So the next two years will be both dusty and full of paperwork.
We have received the recommendations for the CIO. We have some extraordinary candidates,
both internal and external, and we are now in the process of final negotiations and last checks.
We have increased security because of this yesterday’s carjacking. We had already approved a
camera system two days before the carjacking, and we are also investing in equipment to
communicate with police and other law enforcement.
IX.
Announcements
Karen Fuss-Sommer announced that the General Faculty meeting will be part of the Provost’s
meeting on Wednesday, August 16. She also suggested a social at the beginning of the school
year to introduce the new faculty to the Senate.
The next meeting of the Academic Senate will be Friday, August 18.
UTB will have its own Sigma Xi.
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Ms. Thelma Sullivan announced that a copy of the no-smoking resolution has been sent to all of
the members of the Staff Senate. She also informed the Academic Senate that the Washington
Group represents students from other states who are attending school and paying out-of-state
tuition.
X.
Adjournment
Professor Rodney Sullivan moved the meeting be adjourned. Professor Carol Collinsworth
seconded the motion. Motion carried and the meeting was adjourned at 4:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by
Pat Celaya, Senate Treasurer
Note: Welfare Committee did not meet this month.
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