I.
Call to Order
Mr. Harris called the September 20, 2002 meeting of the Academic Senate to order at
1:05 p.m. in the SETB 3rd Floor Conference Room.
Members of the Senate in attendance included: Dr. Warren Anderson, Dr. Betsy Boze,
Dr. Steve Chamberlain, Ms. Carol Collinsworth, Mr. Roberto Cortina, Mr. Victor Fuhro,
Mr. William Harris, Ms. Mabel Hockaday, Dr. Deborah Huerta, Dr. Edward Hymson, Dr.
Farhat Iftekharrudin, Dr. Charles Lackey, Ms. Julie Larson, Dr. Jose Martin, Mr.
Domingo Molina, Ms. Kim Morris-Garcia, Dr. Eldon Nelson, Dr. Rafael Otero, Dr.
Sylvia Pena, Ms. Cheryl Phelps, Mr. Jay Phillips, Dr. Ruth Ann Ragland, and Mr. Tom
Welther.
II.
Approval of the Minutes from the June 28, 2002 and August 23, 2002
Academic Senate Meetings
Mr. Harris entertained a motion to approve the minutes from the June 28, 2002 and
August 23, 2002 Academic Senate meetings. Before the minutes from the August 23,
2002 meeting could be approved, Mr. Welther pointed an error in the minutes. Mr.
Welther said that in the August 23, 2002 minutes under the heading, “Provost’s Report”
the minutes read, “Dr. Martin had eleven items in this report.” Eleven bullets follow with
one bullet having no narrative next to it. Thus, as Mr. Welther pointed out, Dr. Martin
had only ten items in his report.
After reviewing her notes from the August 23, 2002 meeting, Ms. Larson reported that
the first bullet should read, “Dr. Martin confirmed that no classes are scheduled on the
Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Staff must work but faculty and students have the day
off. Dr. Martin said this decision was made because the school districts have the day off.
Dr. Martin also said that staff may opt to take the day off as a vacation day.”
With the August 23, 2002 minutes corrected, Ms. Collinsworth moved to approve both
sets of minutes. Mr. Molina seconded the motion and the minutes were approved.
III.
School of Business (SCOB) Special Election Results
Mr. Harris asked Ms. Collinsworth to report on the results of the School of Business
(SCOB) special election. Ms. Collinsworth reported that she conducted a special election
to replace Dr. Douglass Cagwin. Ms. Collinsworth sent out the ballots and Ms. Larson
tabulated the results. Dr. Rafael Otero was declared the winner of the special election.
Congratulations, Dr. Otero.
IV.
Service Learning Grant Program- Father Armand Mathew
Mr. Harris reported that Father Mathew could not attend this meeting but asked Mr.
Harris to stand in for him. Mr. Harris said that Father Mathew received a grant in the
amount of $25, 000. Father Mathew asked that the grant be amended so that he could
issue mini grants to faculty interested in Service Learning and related projects. Mr.
Harris said the mini grants range from $500.00 to $1500.00. Mr. Harris said that if
anyone is interested in funding a project, he/she should contact Father Mathew in the
Office of Civil Engagement.
V.
Bookstore Issues- Mr. Jules Frapart
Mr. Harris reported that several faculty members have contacted him with concerns and
problems connected with the bookstore. Mr. Harris invited Mr. Jules Frapart from the
bookstore to the Academic Senate to answer faculty questions and concerns. Mr. Harris
also invited Dr. Gallegos to the Academic Senate to voice her concerns about the
bookstore.
Dr. Gallegos said that in an upper-division English class she is teaching the textbooks for
that class did not come in. The bookstore staff told her that the books would not be in
until November. She said she can’t stop teaching class because of no books and she
believes it is unacceptable not to order enough books. She thinks students in her class
will drop because they don’t have a book.
Hearing Dr. Gallegos’ concerns, Mr. Harris asked the senators if anyone else has
experienced problems with book orders. Dr. Hymson, Ms. Morris-Garcia, and Ms.
Phelps all answered that they have experienced problems with book orders. Dr. Hymson
said that it appears that the bookstore is minimizing their returns. He said they (the
bookstore) don’t order enough books and then the books are on back order and come in
several week later. Dr. Gallegos said she thinks it would be better to send books back
and feels the bookstore policy should be changed.
Mr. Frapart responded by saying that the ideal situation is to have enough books to sell.
He said in order to accomplish this mission the bookstore relies on past history and
UTB/TSC online enrollment to order books. He said the bookstore tries to minimize
returns in order to minimize losses. Mr. Frapart said the bookstore needs to
accommodate students because students now have other means to acquire books. He said
the bookstore won’t make money unless students buy books. Mr. Frapart said that he
will talk to the bookstore manager, regional manager, vice president, and president of his
company to resolve faculty concerns. Mr. Frapart also said he will be happy to meet with
faculty to discuss their concerns and problems with the bookstore.
VI.
Other Business
There were four items of “other business”.

Mr. Harris reported that he has received Dr. Mike Sullivan’s nomination for
inclusion on the Graduate Committee. Mr. Harris entertained a motion to approve
Dr. Sullivan’s nomination. Dr. Hymson so moved, with a second from Ms.
Collinsworth. The motion passed and Mr. Harris will forward Dr. Sullivan’s
name to the Executive Council.

Mr. Harris reported that the building that houses the RAHC’s School of Public
Health has a parking lot designed as RAHC Faculty Parking Only. Mr. Harris
said he has received several complaints about this situation.
In response, Dr. Hymson told Dr. Martin that if this is the case then he wants Dr.
Martin to provide separate parking areas for the College of Liberal Arts and
College of Science, Math, and Technology as well as the Schools of Business,
Education, and Health Sciences. Dr. Hymson said this is a clear problem of
discrimination. Dr. Hymson also said that some faculty shouldn’t have rights that
other faculty members do not have. Dr. Hymson said that it doesn’t cut it that the
RAHC is a guest on our campus.
In reference to parking, Dr. Anderson, Ms. Colllinsworth, Dr. Hymson, and Mr.
Welther commented on enforcement of parking regulations. Mr. Harris
commented that he counted fifteen cars illegally parked in the Music lot. Mr.
Cortina said we need to find out who owns the RAHC parking lot. Mr. Harris
asked Dr. Nelson to make inquiries as to who owns the parking lot. Dr. Nelson
agreed to do so.
Dr. Martin said the RAHC is part of the University of Texas Health Science
Center. He said the RAHC is responsible for the building, although they pay
UTB/TSC for services like utilities and police coverage. Dr. Martin said that he
was surprised when he saw the sign in the parking lot restricting parking. He said
he will see what can be done to clarify this matter. Dr. Martin said nobody is
underestimating the challenges of parking. He said if we don’t have parking for
students then we won’t have any students. He said parking tops the list of
complaints in terms of student level of satisfaction. Dr. Martin said that he is
committed to enforcement and he will work on the problem.
Mr. Harris said he would invite Chief Cardoza to the Senate to discuss
these issues.

Mr. Welther expressed his concern that at the beginning of the semester, class
rosters were sent out two weeks after the date that appeared on the roster.

VIII.
Last, Mr. Welther expressed his concern over the Early Alert Warning System.
He said because the rosters were sent out late, faculty members didn’t know what
student were registered in their classes. He wondered how we could alert students
about problems if we don’t know who is supposed to be in class.
Senate President’s Report
Mr. Harris had four items in his report.

Mr. Harris reported that the Faculty Advisory Council (FAC) Executive
Committee met. Mr. Harris said that the new UT-System Chancellor, Dr. Mark
Yudof, has been busy shaking up the system. Mr. Harris said the new Chancellor
is replacing UT-System administrators with his own people. Mr. Harris said that
a new administrative position has been created in the UT-System- Vice
Chancellor for Compliance. Mr. Harris also said the FAC is concerned with
campus issues regarding the UT-System. Mr. Harris asked anyone with concerns
on the System level to email Ms. Collinsworth. Mr. Harris ended his FAC
Executive Committee report by saying that the news is bad in terms of the state
legislature and higher education funding.

Mr. Harris reported that he attended the UTB/TSC birthday celebration on Friday,
September 20, 2002. He also said that the UTB/TSC Anniversary Celebration
will close at 7 p.m. on September 20, 2002 in the ballroom of the Student Center
with a book signing. All are invited to attend. Mr. Harris also thanked Dr. Olivia
Rivas for her time and hard work in planning and carrying out anniversary
activities.

Mr. Harris congratulated Dr. Hilda Silva who was recently named Vice President
for Student Affairs.

Last, Mr. Harris reported that he asked the ex-presidents of the Academic Senate
to meet with him in reference to the bond issue. He will take their
recommendations to Executive Council.
VIII.
Provost’s Report
Dr. Martin had six items in his report.

Dr. Martin reported that the Search Committee for the Associate Vice President of
Enrollment Services has made a recommendation to Dr. Martin. Dr. Martin
accepted the Committee’s recommendation and Ms. Linda Pimley Fossen from
Skagit Valley Community College has accepted the position. She will assume her
new duties on Monday, October 14, 2002.
IX.

Dr. Martin reported that he attended the Texas Latino Economic Summit
sponsored by Texas A&M University. Dr. Martin said that one of the speakers at
the Summit was Dr. Steven Murdock, the State of Texas Demographer, who
talked about the level of educational preparation for students in the State of Texas.
Dr. Murdock, according to Dr. Martin, said that if something in not done in the
next couple of years in terms of educating the people, Texas will be a developing
country. Dr. Murdock also said that we have a situation in Texas where upper
middle-class people have said that they will not pay more taxes to educate people.
He said if we don’t have a support system- there won’t be any system to support.
Dr. Martin also said that Dr. Peter Rodriguez, Professor of International
Economics at Texas A&M University, also spoke at the Summit. Dr. Rodriguez
said only 1% of members of corporate boards are Hispanic and that number is not
much higher for Hispanics in executive positions.

Dr. Martin reported that he recently read an article from the Pew Charitable Trusts
on minorities in education. Dr. Martin said that according to that article the
percentage of Hispanics attending institutions of higher learning nationwide is
higher than the in previous years. He said that, according to the article, the higher
percentage does not necessarily translate into higher rates for graduation of
Hispanics. Dr. Martin said that the article also reported that Hispanics attend
institutions of higher education on a part-time basis and they tend to quit their
higher education before graduating. Dr. Martin said that a large number of
Hispanics go to 2-year institutions not 4-year institutions. He said that the
graduation rate of Hispanics from 4-year institutions is much lower than the
graduation rate for nonHispanics. Dr. Martin said that offshoot of this article
indicates that Hispanics have fewer college graduates and thus reduce the chance
of changing their economic status.

Dr. Martin reported that Dr. Olivia Rivas’ father passed away.

Dr. Martin reported that the enrollment for fall, 2002 stands at 9,937 students.

Last, Dr. Martin reflected on the bond election. Dr. Martin said it is very
important that people vote- it is their right. Dr. Martin said that if the people
don’t vote, the government could impose alternative forms of expression. Dr.
Martin thanked the many people who contributed to the bond election. Dr. Martin
then solicited suggestions about what could have been done differently in the
bond election. A discussion of the bond election followed with senators
expressing their opinions.
Adjournment
Mr. Harris entertained a motion to adjourn. Mr. Cortina so moved, with a second by
acclamation. The meeting stood adjourned at 3:25 p.m.