Faculty Senate Oct 18, 2021
President's Report:

1. Thanks to all for your efforts on behalf of shared governance

2. Welcome to Vice President Linda Martin in her role as Interim Vice Chancellor and Vice President for UTIA
Chancellor and Provost are both traveling today but the Provost is joining us for his report

3. Delighted to welcome Loretta Link as the new FS Administrative Assistant. Loretta brings to us her prior experience servings the administrator for a Faulty Senate at Appalachian State. Please include her in any correspondence to the Senate leadership and as she gets acclimated to the processes at UTK she will be assisting the various Senate Committees that do not have other staff assisting them.

4. Appointments since Senate meeting - Stephanie Ohnesorg from Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures will serve on Executive Academic calendar Committee,  Erik Lukosi, Nuclear Engineering, will be the Senate representative on the BAM Allocation Review Committee and Kellie Fecteau, College of Veterinary Medicine, will be the representative to the BAM Space Allocation Committee

Welcome the Brian Long from Chemistry as new Chair of Research Council

Still need reps on Student Media Board, Campus Planning Design Committee, Classroom upgrade committee (not a Senator - meetings are Mondays at 3:30) and the COIA. Will work on process once we get a list of appointments needed for these to be allocated to Senate Committees to make recommendations

5. The Exec Council passed a motion at its Oct 4 meeting that "The UTK Faculty Senate Executive Council urges the Chancellor and Provost to follow the CDC guidelines for masking and other Covid-19 safety protocols using the data from Knox County." In his report, the Provost has informed me that he will address this motion as well as the Senate resolution on course modality that passed at the September Senate meeting. 

6. The Senate leadership has been in conversation with the Chancellor and Provost on issues regarding 9-month faculty expectations given the new academic calendar. We expect these conversations to continue and hope that there will be further guidance provided to ensure that faculty and Heads are aware of potential flexibility and constraints on this. 

7. The Senate leadership has been following up with the Provost and others regarding notifications of employees if information involving them is requested to be released by UT. A first step we have requested is that some clarity be provided of the current processes used when an external request s made to UT for release of information that involves an employee. The OGC has a variety of liability protections in place for faculty acting as part of their employment - see the OGC website. Related to this the UTK Chapter of AAUP is hosting an event with 3 speakers on the topic "Faculty: does UT have your back?" on Thursday Nov 4 from 5-6:30 see the link in the chat

8. The Senate Faculty Affairs Committee met with the Provost and Office of General Council regarding the status of a position for former Professor Hu. There is a brief summary of this in the Faculty Affairs report from Professor Lyons, but given the legal situation, there is little more I can say about the situation except that I am hopeful an agreement can be come to soon. I have posted my remarks made to the APA Justice organization on Oct. 5. 

9. I had correspondence with Provost regarding class time scheduling changes and impacts on units - this is an administrative responsibility so there was not consultation with faculty leadership about the details 

10. There were discussions with the Provost and OGC on a matter related to academic freedom arising from a departmental newsletter and this situation has been resolved. There was very professional behavior of the faculty and administrators involved and I thank Professor Lyons for his extensive efforts to foster an effective resolution. Heads are being informed about how this was resolved to avoid similar situations. 

11. T here were discussions with Provost and General Counsel regarding status of Senate meetings with the conclusion that Senate meetings are generally considered not subject to State Open Meetings requirements. The Senate Bylaws indicate that meetings may be attended by invitation but my plan is to continue as the Senate has historically done to have meetings that are open to any who wish to attend with interest in the proceedings. 

12. I have conferred with Provost's staff and Chairs of Undergrad and Grad Council regarding process to consider proposals for courses/curricula that have budgetary impacts

13. Global Tech - summary of last correspondence is posted on website - CGE encouraged to work with academic un its to broaden opportunities for electronic engagement of UTK students with students in other countries. Podium is not involved.

14. Meetings next term - at the November meeting we will need to decide whether by zoom or in-person. Perhaps we can have a straw poll now on this as to your preference - totally zoom , or in-person with zoom allowed for those who wish.