Grundy Reporter

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Senate Executive Committee met Nov. 4.

Here is the minutes provided by the committee:

Present: Chair Rob Kar, Vice-Chair John Dallesasse, Michael Bohlmann, Brian Brauer, Nicholas Burbules, Bettina Francis, Shawn Gilmore, Kim Graber, Ane Icardo Isasa, Eric Meyer, Gay Miller, Nathan Poulosky, Christopher Span, Susan Zhou

Guests: Andreas Cangellaris (Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost), Chris Harris (Senior Director of Strategic Communications), Robin Kaler (Associate Chancellor for Public Affairs), Sharon Reynolds (Assistant Provost for Administrative Affairs)

A regular meeting of the Senate Executive Committee (SEC) was called to order at 3:10 pm with Chair Kar presiding.

I. INTRODUCTIONS

Introductions were made.

II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The minutes of the October 7, 2019 meeting were approved as distributed.

III. PUBLIC COMMENT

No requests received.

IV. CHAIR’S REMARKS

Chair Kar stated that he is proud to be part of an institution where people with disparate views and can find a place for discussion about difficult issues.

Chair Kar announced that at the December SEC meeting, two of the Vice Chancellors will give presentations with an opportunity to give feedback. This will better prepare SEC members when the Chancellor requests advice on the reappointment of the Vice Chancellors at the end of the academic year.

V. CHANCELLOR’S REMARKS

Provost Cangellaris gave remarks in the Chancellor’s absence. Provost Cangellaris mentioned the Faculty Sexual Misconduct Report and Recommendations and thanked Chair Kar and his committee for all of their hard work. There will be an increase in transparency in processes and allow a more responsive way to address sexual misconduct. The Provost and other members of his team are working on prioritizing the recommendations and determining the best method for implementation.

The University-level committee coordinated with the system-level committee. Executive Vice President Barbara Wilson chaired the system-level misconduct committee and the committee is in the process of finalizing their report. These reports will help to establish a climate that is intolerant of sexual misconduct.

The Sexual Harassment Summit hosted by the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Sean Garrick. The objective of the Summit was to present, inform, and help campus administrators understand the issues of sexual misconduct in higher education and to change the culture around misconduct and harassment.

Proposals are now being accepted for the Investment for Growth Program with a deadline of December 13. This Program supports activities that strengthen our deep commitment to public engagement and to improve our academic excellence by investing our resources the best way possible.

Provost Cangellaris travelled with President Killeen to Taiwan to explore ways to broaden our scholarly endeavors. There are more than 5,000 alumni many of whom serve as government officials and important private sector leaders. Our partnership is valuable and the Provost looks forward to working with them as a significant partner in the Discovery Partners Institute (DPI).

The Celebration Women Faculty at Illinois is an annual event sponsored by the Offices of the Chancellor and the Provost and the Gender Equity Council. The event recognizes women faculty at Illinois who have recently been promoted and/or tenured; honored as named professors or chairs; named University Scholars; and elected to national academies. We are making good progress in increasing the size of the women faculty, but there is still more room to grow.

In response to questions regarding the committee working on the consensual relationship policy recommendations, Cangellaris stated that many stakeholders were reached out to, including students, and that there will be actionable items from the consensual relationship report just as there are actionable items from the sexual misconduct report.

Zhou mentioned a resolution recently approved by the Illinois Student Government (ISG) and noted that the resolution requests the Chancellor retract part of the Mass mail sent on October 9 that conflated Anti-Zionism as Anti-Semitism.

Icardo Isasa added that some student sponsors of the resolution received negative calls and text messages. Zhou expressed her concern that people speaking out on this issue could now be in danger. Cangellaris stated that the University is concerned about the significant negative impact. The Office of Student Affairs is working to discover how the personal information was obtained. Resources are provided to safeguard our cyber technology, but these safeguards are not foolproof.

VI. OLD BUSINESS

XSR.19.01, Report of the Eighth Senate Review Commission

Chair Kar reported that this item would be ongoing as committees review their Bylaws and other recommendations continue to be reviewed. The Senate Committee on University Statutes and Senate Procedures (SP) has received a number of suggested Bylaws revisions from the committees, and the Senate Committee on Educational Policy (EP) continues to work on revisions to their Bylaws and Standing Rule 13.

SC.20.04, Review of the Bylaws, Part D.1 – Senate Executive Committee

SEC members discussed the composition of the SEC. Suggestions were made to add the chair of the Senate Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure (AF) and possibly remove the chair of the Senate Committee on Information Technology (IT) as automatic members. Discussion followed with the support of adding the AF chair, but discussion did not support the removal of the IT chair. If the AF chair is added as an automatic member, the number of at-large chair seats would be reduced from three to two.

Proposed Future Presentation to the Senate by Research IT (a unit of Tech Services)

Chair Kar reported that Amy Hovious, former SEC member, would like to discuss the available resources for faculty by Research IT. Kar suggested and SEC members agreed that a short presentation be given at an upcoming Senate meeting with a follow-up email that senators can share with their units.

VII. SEXUAL MISCONDUCT

Committee on Faculty Sexual Misconduct Report and Recommendations

Kar noted that as Chair of the Faculty Sexual Misconduct Committee, he worked very hard to get consensus on all 65 recommendations. Kar also noted that these are only recommendations and the Office of the Provost is establishing an implementation committee to address the recommendations.

The system-level sexual misconduct committee considered the issue of sexual misconduct more broadly and also examined consensual relationship policies. Chair Kar noted that these are complimentary issues and hopefully the University of Illinois can be a national leader in higher education in how to address misconduct. It has been 30 years since Title IV passed and not much has changed. A short discussion followed.

SC.20.06, Resolution to Support Implementation of the Report and Recommendations on Faculty Sexual Misconduct

Chair Kar presented resolution SC.20.06 and noted that Burbules and Dallesasse assisted in developing the resolution. It was made clear that this resolution does not mean SEC members endorse every single recommendation in the Faculty Sexual Misconduct Report. Burbules made a motion to include resolution SC.20.06 on the November 11 Senate agenda with minor edits and the addition of all SEC members’ names. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously.

RS.20.01, Proposed Resolution to Publish Sexual Misconduct Data

In student senator John Bambenek’s absence, Chair Kar presented resolution RS.20.01 and gave his opinion that because this resolution is so specific, it may be difficult to fulfill the requests stated in the resolution. Discussion followed. The resolution will be included on the November 11 Senate agenda.

VIII. NEW BUSINESS

SP.20.03, Revision to the Bylaws, Part D.1 – Senate Executive Committee

Gilmore noted that SP currently has two documents under discussion regarding the SEC Bylaws, and SEC also has a document under discussion to review the SEC Bylaws. Gilmore suggested that SEC discuss combining the documents. SP will send forward SP.20.03, Revision to the Bylaws, Part D.1 – Senate Executive Committee and Standing Rule 11 – Election of a Senate Executive Committee Member from the Committee on the University Senates Conference to the Senate. Once SEC has completed its review of the Bylaws, SC.20.04 will be forwarded to SP to become part of SP.20.06.

Setting of the November 11, 2019 Senate Meeting Agenda

The November 11, 2019 Senate agenda was set as amended.

IX. ANNOUNCEMENTS/VERBAL REPORTS FOR INFORMATION

Urbana Senate Observer for the November 14 Board of Trustees Meeting in Chicago

Clerk Roether will send an email to SEC members requesting a volunteer to serve as the Urbana Senate Observer at the November Board meeting.

X. ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 5:07 pm.

https://uofi.app.box.com/v/SenateExecutiveCommittee/file/573165708945