President's Report - March 21, 2022 Faculty Senate Exec Council

1. Prior to the University Faculty Council meeting held on March 16, I had transmitted to President Boyd three emails. I will summarize each of these and the President's responses:

(A) I expressed concerns about the bill before the legislature on the new Civics Institute and how it would be structured. The Senate leadership team had discussions with the Chancellor about this and I also had a conversation with Professor Wanamaker in her role as Baker Center Director. I had expressed to President Boyd issues regarding accreditation given potential interference of the legislature in curricular issues and degree programs. President Boyd assured me that the Institute would be subject to UTK’s existing policies and procedures. At the UFC meeting I expressed the excitement that Baker Center faculty have about the potential for the new Institute but also their concern about the process for choosing a Director for it, which should follow UT policies not those developed by an external Board of Fellows. At the UFC meeting, President Boyd noted that he expected the Chair of the Board of Fellows to be a UT faculty member and that the Board would be advisory to a formal search committee, at least that was his expectation at the time. He noted that procedures for tenure for a Director would follow standard procedures if tenure is appropriate.

(B) I transmitted the Senate Resolution on the Divisive Concepts bills. The President was aware that the Senate had passed this and noted that he would prefer that a discussion of resolutions involving legislation involve his office. I should note that I and other Senate leaders had discussions with VP Carey Whitworth but not about the details of the resolution the Senate passed. I pointed out to President Boyd that the current wording of the bill notes academic freedom rights of faculty, but not all instructors such as graduate students. I suggested that it use the term "instructors" rather than "faculty" - he said he would work on this matter with legal staff.  

(C) I transmitted the Senate resolution on establishment of a UT System Code of Conduct policy and requested that President Boyd move expeditiously to incorporate a policy on bullying System policies. He noted that he would work with System staff to move forward on this and expressed surprise that it was not already in policy.

2. At the UFC meeting it was noted that UTK did not receive approval from the Board of Trustees for the pilot program that removed the ACT/SAT requirement for admissions and that the Board is reviewing all this at its June meeting. Also the Research Visitors policy is being considered for changes and I encourage anyone with concerns over constraints this System policy has created to send notes to Research Council Chair Brian Long so that he can compile them. 

3. Regarding academic restructuring, I attended two sessions moderated by external facilitators and my understanding is that none of these meetings were very well attended. I again encourage you to submit feedback through the forms online and particularly to submit process changes that will help you and colleagues meet your responsibilities more effectively. I also hope that you encourage colleagues to attend the meetings with the Provost that have been set up. 

4. Last week the Provost send me a request to nominate a faculty member to serve a one-year term on the Board of Trustees Education, Research, and Service Committee (ERC). By Board policy the Senate and Deans each nominate one faculty member and the Chancellor and Provost choose one to be recommended to the Board. Note that there are constraints on who can serve (Full Professor for at least 5 years, exceeds or far exceed expectations for 3 years). This position rotates around the campuses and the last UTK person to serve was Bonnie Ownley four years ago.The process used at the time for the Senate nominee was to request nominations from the Exec Council, verify eligibility through the Provost office, and then poll the Senate (or Exec Council - I am not clear on what was done). This process must occur quickly (nominee and all materials are due to the Provost by April 8). It makes sense to me that the nominee be someone very knowledgeable about the University Faculty Council, academic affairs and the Senate. Individuals serving in this role in the past have all been past presidents of their respective campus Senates. Beauvais Lyons has agreed to be nominated for this role but other nominations are welcome. I suggest that this be on the agenda for vote at the Full Senate meeting. 

5. I have been asked whether there s something concrete that UTK might do to assist at least a few Ukrainian refugees. One possibility is to offer scholarships and admission to a small number of students whose studies have been disrupted. Another is to offer temporary instructor positions to faculty at Ukrainian colleges. A New York Times article today notes that there is an outpouring of position offers from many countries in the EU but I didn't see anything about faculty. I'd be interested in comments about this - please send them to Loretta so she can compile them prior t the next meeting the Senate leadership has with the Chancellor and Provost on Thursday.