University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Senate met Oct. 14.
Here is the minutes provided by the senate:
I. CALL TO ORDER
A regular meeting of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Senate was called to order at 3:10 pm with Chancellor Robert Jones presiding and Professor Emeritus H. George Friedman, Jr. serving as Parliamentarian. Chancellor Jones read the Land Acknowledgement Statement.
Chancellor Jones relinquished his position as presiding officer and designated Rob Kar (LAW), faculty senator and chair of the Senate Executive Committee (SEC), to preside over the remainder of the meeting.
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
10/14/19-01 The minutes of the September 16, 2019 meeting were approved as distributed.
III. PUBLIC COMMENT
David O’Brien, President of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Chapter of the AAUP (American Association of University Professors), addressed the Senate regarding a survey of all tenure-track faculty on shared governance. O’Brien encouraged all tenure-track faculty to complete the survey.
IV. SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHAIR’S REMARKS
Chair Kar reported on the item of new business that was submitted for discussion by student senator Bambenek (GRAD) at the previous Senate meeting. Bambenek met with the SEC and after discussion, Bambenek deferred the item until the November Senate meeting.
V. CHANCELLOR’S REMARKS
Chancellor’s remarks were deferred to the Annual Meeting of the Faculty.
VI. QUESTIONS
Questions were deferred to the Annual Meeting of the Faculty.
VII. CONSENT AGENDA
Hearing no objections, the following items were approved by unanimous consent.
10/14/19-02 EP.20.02* Establish a New Major in Metropolitan Food and Environmental Systems, Leading to the Degree of Bachelor of Science in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences
10/14/19-03 EP.20.06* Revise the BALAS in History, Social Science: History Teaching concentration, Department of History, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
10/14/19-04 EP.20.07* Revise the Minor in Architectural Studies, School of Architecture, College of Fine and Applied Arts
10/14/19-05 EP.20.08* Eliminate via Phase Down the Teaching of Biology Concentration, School of Molecular and Cellular Biology and School of Integrative Biology, Liberal Arts and Sciences
10/14/19-06 EP.20.09* Revise the Bachelor of Music Education Concentration Name of "Elementary General Music" to "General Music," School of Music, College of Fine and Applied Arts
10/14/19-07 EP.20.13* Eliminate (via phase down) the Bachelor of Fine Arts in New Media in the School of Art and Design, College of Fine and Applied Arts
10/14/19-08 EP.20.14* Eliminate (via phase down) the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture in the School of Art and Design, College of Fine and Applied Arts
10/14/19-09 EP.20.15* Eliminate (via phase down) the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting in the School of Art and Design, College of Fine and Applied Arts
10/14/19-10 EP.20.17* Elimination of Requirement of a Master’s Degree for Admission to Agricultural and Applied Economics PhD Program
10/14/19-11 EP.20.18* Change the Name of the PhD Program for School of Information Sciences
10/14/19-12 EP.20.20* Establish a Graduate Concentration in Developmental Psychopathology in the PhD in Psychology, Department of Psychology
10/14/19-13 Faculty senator Burbules (EDUC) made a motion to reorder the items listed under “Proposals” to place SP.19.01 before SP.17.12. The motion was seconded and approved by unanimous consent.
VIII. PROPOSALS
10/14/19-14 CC.20.13* Election of Members on Standing Committees of the Senate
On behalf of the Senate Committee on Committees (CC), Chair Span introduced and moved approval of the slate of nominees in proposal CC.20.13. There were no nominations from the floor and nominations were declared closed.
10/14/19-15 By i-clicker and show of hands, the slate of nominees listed in CC.20.13 were elected with 121 in favor, 0 opposed, and 1 abstention.
10/14/19-16 CC.20.09* Faculty Nominations to the Joint Committee on Investment, Licensing, and Naming Rights
On behalf of CC, Chair Span introduced and moved approval of the slate of nominees in proposal CC.20.09. There were no nominations from the floor and nominations were declared closed.
10/14/19-17 By i-clicker and show of hands, the slate of nominees listed in CC.20.09 were approved with 126 in favor, 0 opposed, and 1 abstention. The names of the nominees will be forwarded to the Chancellor for selection of one faculty member to serve.
10/14/19-18 SP.19.01* Proposed Revisions to the Statutes (USC ST-77)
On behalf of the Senate Committee on University Statutes and Senate Procedures (SP), Chair Gilmore introduced and moved approval of proposal SP.19.01. Gilmore noted that the changes proposed by University Senates Conference (USC) have been categorized into five areas, and that additional changes proposed by SP are highlighted in yellow. A brief discussion followed.
10/14/19-19 By i-clicker and show of hands, proposal SP.19.01 was approved with 130 in favor, 0 opposed, and 0 abstentions.
10/14/19-20 SP.17.12* Revisions to the Statutes, Article II, Section 3 – Faculty Role in Governance and Article X, Section 2 – Academic Freedom (USC ST-72)
On behalf of SP, Chair Gilmore introduced and moved approval of proposal SP.17.12. Gilmore noted that the proposed revisions include broader protection by applying to “academic staff” rather than only “faculty”. Gilmore also reminded senators that the language presented in the proposal has been agreed upon by members of the Office of Legal Counsel and last year’s SP and last year’s Senate Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure (AF). Discussion followed.
10/14/19-21 Faculty senator Rosenstock (LAS) moved to amend the document by adding “,nor shall they be sanctioned for engaging in any of these activities” to the end of the sentence on line 8. The motion was seconded and discussion followed.
At this point in the discussion of proposal SP.17.12, Chair Kar relinquished the position of presiding officer back to Chancellor Jones.
10/14/19-22 Faculty senator Kar (LAW) moved to substitute the following language in place of Rosenstock’s motion, and append the combined language to SP.17.12. The motion was seconded and discussion followed.
“Comment” document language to be substituted for the Rosenstock motion:
The Senate of the Urbana-Champaign Campus supports the statutory changes found in SP.17.12, which are the product of years of deliberation and negotiation. We acknowledge the efforts and good will on all sides to reach this compromise.
At the same time, we would like to register our view that SP.17.12 does not yet go far enough to protect some aspects of academic freedom, which are vital to free thought, shared governance, and excellence at a major research university.
We want to see these changes in SP.17.12 go forward without delay, but also want to register our intention to propose further changes in the future. These further changes may include two textual changes on p. 3.
On lines 7-8, we believe the phrase “and institutional” should be inserted after “academic” because the range of university policies and actions on which faculty might speak goes beyond only the academic.
Lines 7-8 would then read: “As such, faculty members are encouraged to consider, review, analyze, critique, discuss, address, and debate academic and institutional policy and governance.”
On lines 18-19, we believe the phrase “and to engage in faculty governance” should be added after “outside the classroom.”
Lines 18-19 would then read: “Academic Freedom includes the right to discuss and present scholarly opinions and conclusions both in and outside the classroom and to engage in faculty governance.”
Additional changes, of course, might also be proposed and considered at a later time. The Statutes are a living document and are always subject to revision.
10/14/19-23 By i-clicker and show of hands, the motion to substitute failed with 24 in favor, 78 opposed, and 22 abstentions.
Discussion returned to Rosenstock’s original motion.
10/14/19-24 A motion was made to close debate and the motion was seconded.
10/14/19-25 By i-clicker and show of hands, the motion to close debate was approved with 123 in favor, 2 opposed, and 1 abstention.
10/14/19-26 By i-clicker and show of hands, the motion by Rosenstock to add language at the end of line 8 failed with 40 in favor, 82 opposed, and 13 abstentions.
Discussion returned to the main motion to approve proposal SP.17.12.
10/14/19-27 Faculty senator and SEC Vice-Chair Dallesasse (ENGR) made a motion to append Rosenstock’s language to the “Comment” document previously submitted as a substitution, and attach the amended “Comment” document to proposal SP.17.12. The motion was seconded.
10/14/19-28 By i-clicker and show of hands, the motion to amend Rosenstock’s language to the “Comment” document, and then attach the amended “Comment” document to SP.17.12 was approved with 126 in favor, 4 opposed, and 5 abstentions.
10/14/19-29 By i-clicker and show of hands, proposal SP.17.12 was approved as amended with 125 in favor, 4 opposed, and 4 abstentions.
Once discussion and approval of SP.17.12 concluded, Chancellor Jones once again relinquished the position of presiding officer to Chair Kar.
IX. REPORTS FOR INFORMATION
The following reports were received by the Senate.
10/14/19-30 EP.20.16* Administrative Approvals through September 23, 2019
10/14/19-31 EP.20.21* Administrative Approvals through October 7, 2019
X. NEW BUSINESS
No new business.
XI. ANNUAL MEETING OF THE FACULTY
Chair Kar welcomed all faculty to the Annual Meeting of the Faculty and invited
President Killeen to give remarks.
Killeen gave an overview of the following topics: strategically increasing student enrollment, the multiple construction projects planned and underway, making great progress on fundraising goals, surpassing all of our previous student metrics, continued tuition freeze to make the University of Illinois accessible, providing a salary program this year, increasing the number of established faculty along with the planned increase in enrollment, UI-Ride providing transportation between Urbana and Chicago, Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) and Illinois Innovation Network (IIN), and current and future guiding principles.
President Killeen concluded his remarks and invited Chancellor Jones to give remarks.
Chancellor Jones discussed the Massmails that were recently sent regarding the noose incident and anti-Semitism. He clarified that there was a miscommunication in the retelling of someone else’s lived experience.
Professor Rosenstock, Department of Religion, noted that he offered to assist the Chancellor Jones in developing the training program described in the Massmail. Chancellor Jones thanked Rosenstock for reaching out and offering to assist. A robust discussion followed.
Chancellor Jones concluded his remarks by reiterating his commitment to making this great University a safe and accepting place for everyone.
Michael LeRoy (LER) expressed his concern that the Athletic Board only met three times last academic year while peer institutions meet monthly.
XII. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 5:15 pm.
https://www.senate.illinois.edu/20191014senate/20191014m.pdf
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