From: "Gross, Louis J" Date: Wednesday, July 14, 2021 at 5:16 PM To: "Spurgeon, Shawn Lamont" , "Skolits, Gary J" , "Gimmel, Millie" , "Bernard, Ernest C" , "Spirko, Robert L" , "Anderson, Joel Gwyn" , "Baker, Kenneth Howell (Ken)" , "Black, Monica Ann" , "Broemmel, Amy (Amy D. Broemmel)" , "Caldwell, Rachel" , "Griffin, Martin" , "Jaekel, Julia" , "Kojima, Cheryl Jean" , "Langendorfer, Anne" , "Lyons, Beauvais" , "Maclennan, Bruce J" , "Madison, Stephanie Lin" , "Mockus, Audris" , "Ownley, Bonnie H" , "Patterson, David A" , "Williams, James Arthur" , "Daves, Phillip R" , "Brannen, Michelle" , "Collins, Mark" , "Issa, Bernard Ibrahim (Bernie)" , "Jennings, William Andrew" , "Devlin, Joanne Lorraine" , "Maroulas, Vasileios" , "Ohnesorg, Stefanie" , "Schussler, Elisabeth Ellen" Cc: "Zomchick, John P" , "Neisler, Gretchen" , "Hinde, Robert J" , "Gross, Louis J" , "Killion, Brooke" Subject: Senate Exec Council - 2 items: (i) new Senate Administrative Assistant Position and (ii) GlobalTech Program Members of the Summer 2021 Senate Exec Council (and new incoming Committee Chairs), This is to first ask your assistance in encouraging appropriate individuals to apply for the new full-time Faculty Senate Administrative Assistant position. This position carries all standard UT benefits and will provide a wide array of administrative support for the Senate, its Committees and Councils and its officers. The position is based in the Provost Office, is open to those with and without UT experience and the details are available at https://ut.taleo.net/careersection/ut_system/jobdetail.ftl?job=21000001BV&tz=GMT-04%3A00&tzname=America%2FNew_York Second, this is to report on the outcome from our discussion earlier this summer about the GlobalTech program and the subsequent correspondence with the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration concerning it. I and Joanne Devlin, the incoming Chair of the Undergraduate Council, met with Provost Zomchick, Vice Provost Neisler and Vice Provost Hinde this morning about the program. We had a frank discussion about the concerns of the Senate on oversight of curriculum and the process by which the GlobalTech program was developed, which did not adhere to standard procedures for such oversight. The Provost agreed that (i) moving forward, communication and approval through Senate procedures will be the standard for any academic program that reports through the Office of the Provost; (ii) the GlobalTech program will not move forward beyond this summer semester until after there has been consultation with and agreement from the variety of academic units with curricular offerings on topics that overlap those included in this summer Global Tech program; (iii) the Provost's Office will work with the Undergraduate Council (and the Graduate Council as appropriate) as it moves forward with considering global engagement opportunities for UTK students that could complement study-abroad programs; and (iv) the Provost concurs that it is appropriate as the Budget Allocation Model process moves forward that the Undergraduate and Graduate Councils take the lead in considering the budgetary implications of new course proposal changes, since the Councils already have a process in place to consider financial impacts arising from curricular initiatives. Additionally, the Provost will consult with the Office of General Counsel regarding the use of private company logos on a UTK website, as has been done on the GlobalTech website. Please note that I have established the President's website at http://lgross.utk.edu/facpres2021.html to provide information and correspondence about issues I am dealing with throughout my term. It is my intention to meet with all new Committee and Council Chairs prior to the start of the semester so please contact me about setting up a meeting if we have not already talked. Thanks for all you do to enhance shared governance at UTK. Stay well, Lou -- Louis J. Gross (he, him, his) Chancellor’s Professor and Alvin and Sally Beaman Distinguished Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Mathematics Director Emeritus, National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS.org) Director, The Institute for Environmental Modeling University of Tennessee - Knoxville President, 2006-2007, 2021-2022, UTK Faculty Senate Past-President, 2003-2005, Society for Mathematical Biology http://lgross.utk.edu/