I.
Call to Order
Mr. Harris called the February 21, 2003 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. Illiana Alanis, Dr. Warren Anderson,
Mr. Steve Benton, Dr. Betsy Boze, Mr. Roberto Cortina, Mr. Doug Ferrier, Ms. Linda
Fossen, Mr. Victor Fuhro, Ms. Kim Morris-Garcia, Mr. Bill Harris, Ms. Mabel
Hockaday, Dr. Deborah Huerta, Dr. Farhat Iftekharuddin, Dr. Anthony Knopp, Mr. Joe
Lacher, Dr. Charles Lackey, Ms. Julie Larson, Dr. Jose Martin, Ms. Rosemary Martinez,
Mr. Domingo Molina, Dr. Rafael Otero, Dr. Sylvia Pena, Ms. Cheryl Phelps, Mr. Jay
Phillips, Dr. Ruth Ann Ragland, and Mr. Tom Welther.
Visitors to the Senate included: Ms. Suzanne Acevedo, Ms. Ethel Cantu, and Dr. Charles
Dameron.
II.
Approval of the Minutes from the November 22, 2002 and January 10,
2003 Academic Senate Meeting
Mr. Harris entertained a motion to approve the minutes from the November 22, 2002 and
January 10, 2003 Academic Senate meetings. Before the minutes could be approved,
three errors in the January minutes needed to be corrected. All three of the errors
appeared in the section entitled, “Other Business”. Mr. Welther pointed out two errors in
his report under “Other Business”. He said information in the first bullet should be
corrected to read, “Mr. Welther reported that the following items were discussed at the
meeting: (1) 5,000 new faculty members will be needed across Texas by the 2015 to
replace the member of retiring faculty and 2,000 new faculty members will be needed by
2015 to teach the growing number of students in higher education; (2) Texas pays its
faculty the lowest salaries among the ten most populous states in the United States”. Ms.
Larson also pointed out that Mary Ann Lubno’s name was accidentally misspelled. Her
name is Lubno not Lubnow.
With the minutes corrected, Mr. Harris once again entertained a motion to approve both
the January minutes as amended and the November minutes as written. Mr. Cortina so
moved, with a second from Mr. Lacher. Both sets of minutes were approved.
III.
Ombudsman Resolution
Mr. Harris passed out two ombudsman resolutions, one drafted by Dr. Hymson and the
other drafted by Mr. Harris. Mr. Harris then explained that the draft resolution provided
by Dr. Hymson was circulated as information only but the draft resolution submitted by
Mr. Harris was the one for Senate consideration. Mr. Harris next read the Senate draft
resolution on an ombudsman into the record. This draft resolution read as follows:
“Whereas, the faculty assembled in convocation in August of 2002 expressed an interest
in the creation of an ombudsman to serve as a contact point and interface with the
Academic Senate in situations where mediation might be useful,
Resolved that, the Senate will appoint a tenured faculty member who has received formal
training in mediation to serve as an ombudsman. The ombudsman’s role shall be as
follows:
--to act as an informal mediator in disputes between individual faculty members and
their colleagues or administration at a level below that of the formal grievance
procedures;
--to assist Senate officers in determining broader issues that may arise as a result of
specific problems of disputes;
--to ensure that all parties to disputes receive due process;
--to act as a fact-finder for the Senate where Senate intervention may be called for.”
After reading his proposal into the record, Mr. Harris commented that this proposal
would catch personnel problems before they reach the Senate and that he knows of
several qualified faculty members who may be interested in serving in the capacity of
ombudsman.
A discussion followed with Mr. Welther expressing his concern that this policy may
interfere with the grievance policy. Mr. Welther said that if an individual is
contemplating filling a grievance and elects to have it reviewed by an ombudsman, then
the individual might miss the grievance deadline. Both Mr. Benton and Ms. Larson
expressed concern over the idea that the ombudsman would act as a fact-finder for the
Senate.
Following the discussion, Mr. Benton made a motion to remove the words in the fourth
bullet, “for the Senate where Senate intervention may be called for”. Mr. Welther
seconded the motion. The motion passed and the resolution was amended. Mr. Harris
then entertained a motion to approve the resolution as amended. Dr. Knopp so moved,
with a second from Mr. Cortina. The resolution passed as amended.
IV.
HOOP Policy 7.4.8- “Faculty and Staff Outside Employment”
Mr. Fuhro presented HOOP Policy 7.4.8- “Faculty and Staff Outside Employment” to the
Senate for a first read. The purpose of this policy is to “provide guidelines for full-time
faculty and staff outside employment”. Mr. Fuhro said that the word “staff” has been
added to the policy, thus the policy how includes both faculty and staff. Mr. Fuhro said
that this policy basically addresses the outside employment of any faculty or staff
member with outside employment defined as “any activity performed by a member of the
faculty or staff other than fulfilling employment obligations at the University of Texas at
Brownsville, for which remuneration is received”. Senators then read through the policy.
After reviewing the policy, Mr. Harris at the request of Dr. Hymson read the following
statement into the record.
“Under the rules of ethics for attorneys in Texas an attorney working for the University is
prohibited from doing anything that would result in a conflict of interest with that
attorney’s University duties. Similarly, agreeing to perform legal work for any other
client that would interfere with the attorney’s University duties must be rejected by the
attorney under the ethical rules applied to lawyers by the State of Texas.
The rules contained in proposed HOOP 7.4.8 other than the requirement that an attorney
secure prior approval to accept a client are consistent with the ethical standard imposed
on attorneys.
Securing prior approval by a third party prior to agreeing to represent a client constitutes
an interference with the independent practice of law that is prohibited under the ethnical
rules of the State of Texas. The Ethics Board of the State Bar of Texas is authorized in
the first instance to rule on whether the terms of HOOP 7.4.8 constitutes a conflict with
the ethnical rules of the State of Texas.
As I was required to be a member of the Bar of the State of Texas as a condition of
employment I respectfully request that the Senate direct the University to seek a written
ruling from the State Bar with respect to enforceability of this portion of paragraph 5
prior to attempting to enforce this paragraph with respect to lawyer decisions to legal
representation. Absent an opinion from the Ethics Board, lawyers aware of the ethics
rules who to avoid being in violation will be required to annotate any signature
requirement and point out the void provision”.
{Point of information: Dr. Hymson’s response to paragraph 5 in HOOP 7.4.8 refers to
the following: “No full-time faculty or staff member shall be employed in any outside
work or activity or receive from an outside source a regular fee or salary until a
description of the nature and extent of the employment had been filed with and approved
by the appropriate administrative officers. Any proposed outside employment involving
continuing and repetitive activities must be approved in advance by the faculty or staff
member’s chair, dean/director, vice president and the president. Any proposed outside
employment which involves activities of a non-continuing and non-repetitive nature, such
as consultation activities, must be approved in advance by the faculty or staff member’s
chair, dean/director, vice president and president.”}
Mr. Harris said that Dr. Hymson’s concern refers to the clause that suggests that a faculty
or staff member must secure prior approval before engaging in any outside employment.
Dr. Hymson feels that securing prior approval by a third party before agreeing to
represent a client would be a violation of an ethnical standard as imposed on attorneys by
the State Bar of Texas.
Dr. Boze commented on Dr. Hymson’s concern by saying that she has several attorneys
in her school and has not has a problem with attorneys representing clients. Dr. Boze
said that every semester those faculty members who are engaged in outside employment
fill out a form indicating what type of and where he/she will be engaged in outside
employment. Dr. Boze said that the faculty member engaged in outside employment
does not have to reveal specific client information but rather can list self-employed and
representing a client. She said the form does not ask to reveal information about clients
but simply asks what the nature of the outside employment is.
Hearing no further discussion on this policy, Mr. Harris said HOOP 7.4.8 will be back in
the Senate for a second read.
V.
Draft of HOOP Policy on Criminal Background Checks
Mr. Harris said this proposed HOOP Policy on Criminal Background Checks was drafted
at the request of the UT-System and is based on a policy found in the UT-System
Business Procedures Memorandum (BPM). Mr. Harris reported that people have been
working feverishly on this policy because a draft of the policy needs to go to Austin next
week. He said Ms. Martinez has been working on editing the policy and is with us today
to read through and make suggestions to the policy.
The Senate then reviewed the policy, the purpose of which is to “provide for the
administration of criminal background checks for positions designated as securitysensitive at the University of Texas at Brownsville in order to promote campus safety and
the security of personnel or university property, consistent with the requirements of the
law and prudent financial and programmatic practices”. In addition to defining the
purpose of the policy, the policy also spelled out the procedures, definitions, criminal
history record/conviction information investigation procedures, and general
responsibilities.
A discussion followed as the Senate read through the policy. Mr. Harris said that a lot of
work went into defining what a security-sensitive position is. He said at first the term
could be used to describe anyone who worked with a computer but the term has been
refined since the first definition.
Dr. Knopp expressed his concern over the fact that the drafting of this policy was a rush
job and this might set a precedent in drafting future HOOP policy. Dr. Boze wondered
who would pay for criminal background checks. Dr. Anderson asked how criminal
background checks would be completed if the person’s last place of residence was
outside the United States. Several senators, including Mr.Harris expressed their concern
over the idea of fingerprinting potential faculty members. Ms. Larson objected to the
Clause 5.14 which read: “this policy gives notice to all current and future employees of
UTB that a criminal history or conviction record investigation may be conducted from
time to time without the employee’s signature on the Criminal Background Check Form.
By continuing or accepting, respectively, employment with UTB each current and future
employee consents to the implementation of this policy and procedure”. Ms. Martinez
agreed to strike this clause. Ms. Martinez also agreed to strike Clause 6.12, which reads,
“to remove from consideration any applicant whose criminal background and information
proves to be unacceptable”.
After discussing this policy thoroughly line by line, Dr. Knopp moved to sent the draft
policy to the UT-System Office of General Counsel (OGC) for their review and have it
returned to the Senate after OGC reviews it. Mr. Welther seconded the motion. The
motion passed.
VI.
Committee Reports
Mr. Harris reported on two committee meetings he attended: Academic Affairs
Partnership Committee and Institutional Effectiveness Partnership Committee.
A. Academic Affairs Partnership Committee- Mr. Harris reported that the committee
met on January 23, 2003 and heard about the following items: (1) Mr. Phillips
presented to the committee an update on the assessment of the General Education
core courses; (2) Dr. Dameron reported on the status of the proposed
Communication degree; (3) Dr. Gawenda reported that the Bachelor of Applied
Technology (BAT) degree is a finalist for the 2003 Community College Futures
Assembly Bellwether Awards; (4) Dr. Pearson updated the committee on the
Dual Language Initiative; and (5) the committee also received an update on the
Associate degree in Web Design.
B. Institutional Effectiveness Partnership Committee- Mr. Harris reported that this
committee discussed preparing a needs assessment survey to see what the
community needs and/or wants from us.
VIII.
Other Business
There were four items of “Other Business”.
 Dr. Knopp expressed his dissatisfaction over the change in the student
evaluation of instructor summary sheet. He said the current summary sheet
makes no sense and is totally worthless. He asked who asked for the changes.
He asked for a return to the old summary form.
Dr. Boze responded that the Deans had asked for a summary sheet that would
compare how a faculty member matches up against his/her department,
school/college, and university. She said they did not ask for the form as it
currently appears. Dr. Ragland said she would look into the problem.
 Mr. Welther asked about the Faculty Satisfaction Survey currently being
conducted by the Faculty Advisory Council. Mr. Welther asked if people were
responding.
Mr. Harris reported that there are problems with the survey. He said faculty at
UTB are experiencing difficulties in responding to the survey because their
browsers are too old. Mr. Harris noted that Netscape 4.0 will not allow the user
to respond to the survey. The browser has to be updated to Netscape 7.0.
Mr. Welther asked if Mr. Harris could send out an email message with this
information. Mr. Harris said he would.
 Mr. Benton once again asked that the senators listed on the agenda by identified
by some of identifying mark, similar to what indicates executive officers. He
said this would help in identifying who is a senator and who is not.
 Last, Ms. Larson reminded the Senate that elections are coming up.
VIII.
Senate President’s Report
Mr. Harris had two items in his report.

Mr. Harris reported that he has been busy during the last week attending meetings
based on drafting the proposed HOOP Policy on Criminal Background Checks.
He reported that there has been compromise by all persons involved in drafting
this policy. He said he would continue the monitor the progress of the policy.

Mr. Harris reported that he attended the February TSC Board of Trustees meeting.
Mr. Harris said that at this meeting both Dr. Sylvia Pena and Dr. Jose Martin were
honored as the first recipients of Endowed Chairs from the Houston Endowment.
Mr. Harris congratulated both recipients during the Senate meeting. Mr. Harris
also reported that Dr. Gawenda presented to the Board his presentation on the
BAT degree and reported Dr. Gawenda told the Board that the BAT degree
finished as a finalist for the Bellwether Award.
(In reporting to the Senate about the BAT degree, Mr. Harris used a bit of sarcasm to
convey this information, which prompted Mr. Phillips to request that Mr. Harris refrain
from using sarcasm in his report and report information accurately and without prejudice.
Mr. Phillips said that this was a huge achievement for UTB/TSC to have a degree finish
as a finalist for the Bellwether Award. Mr. Harris apologized and told the Senate that he
did not mean to offend anyone with his sarcasm. Mr. Harris thanked Dr. Gawenda and
Mr. Phillips for their work on the BAT degree.)
XI.
Provost’s Report
Dr. Martin had ten
items in his report.

Dr. Martin reported that today (February 21, 2003) is the last day for nominations
for the CASE Professor of the Year Award. Dr. Martin also reported that his
office has received twenty nominees for the Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence
Award. He said that a committee made up of prior award winners will review
portfolios of nominees for this award and make a recommendation to Dr. Martin.

Dr. Martin reported that one of Ethel Cantu’s students, Corina Noriega, received a
$25,000 Rotary Ambassador Scholarship to study in Brisbane, Australia. Ms.
Noriega will be working on her Master’s degree in Conflict Resolution.

Dr. Martin reported on two grants awarded to UTB/TSC. The first grant from the
Department of Defense in the amount of $1 million was awarded to UTB/TSC to
study the low incidence of breast cancer in Hispanic women. Dr. Gerson Peltz,
Associate Professor of Biological Sciences is the principal investigator for this
grant. The second grant was awarded to UTB/TSC from the National Institute of
Health in the amount of $1.7 million. Dr. Eldon Nelson is in charge of this grant.
Kudos to both Dr. Peltz and Dr. Nelson.

Dr. Martin reported on the opening of the new community-counseling clinic
located next to the Student Health Center at UTB/TSC. Dr. Comeaux is
responsible for the new clinic.

Dr. Martin reported that the last “Diamonds Among US” celebration will be held
tonight (February 21, 2003) at 7:00 p.m. in the Student Union Ballroom. The five
honorees at this celebration include: Yolanda Gonzalez, the late Oscar Guettler,
Homer Pena, the late Walter “Wally” Pierce, and the late Oscar Tullos.

Dr. Martin reported on the Dual Language Initiative under the direction of Dr.
Pearson. Dr. Martin reported that 10 courses and 10 instructors will participate in
the Initiative, which will begin in the Fall 2003.

Dr. Martin reported on the budget. Dr. Martin said that the budget is present in
everyone’s mind. Dr. Martin reported that Dr. Garcia received a directive from
Governor Perry requesting that our budget be cut by 7% retroactively. Dr. Martin
said it was time to push the panic button because the Governor requested that the
cut be done fast. Dr. Martin said that Dr. Garcia gathered representatives from all
divisions, and the Presidents of the Academic and Staff Senates and looked at
areas where the cuts could be made. Dr. Martin said in the end the University was
able to meet the Governor’s request by returning our HEAF allocation of
$900,000, which is generally earmarked for major equipment purchases. Dr.
Martin said we had not used our HEAF allocation this year so the money was
available. Dr. Martin reported that all hiring is frozen for this semester. He also
reported that we will not cut any current faculty and staff lines. He also said that
the budget was cut without cutting into M&O and travel budgets. Dr. Martin also
said that next year we will be facing a zero budget with a request from the
Governor to cut 12.5%. Efforts are currently underway to create a scenario to
come up with ways to cut the budget by 12.5%.
X.

Dr. Martin reported that he and President Garcia met with local legislators in
Austin to talk with them about the reduction of funding.

Dr. Martin reported that on February 19, 2003 President Garcia made a
presentation in Austin before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Higher
Education. Her presentation was well received by subcommittee members.

Last, Dr. Martin reassured the Senate that the priority under this budget crisis is
not to lose any faculty lines.
Announcements
Mr. Harris reminded Senators of the “Diamonds Again Us” celebration tonight at 7:00
p.m. in the Student Union Ballroom.
XI.
Adjournment
After a very lengthy meeting, Mr. Harris entertained a motion to adjourn. Dr. Knopp so
moved, with a second from Mr. Cortina. The meeting stood adjourned at 5:00 p.m.