UTMB Faculty Senate Minutes
Monday, June 10, 2024
Teams Virtual Meeting
4:30 PM-6:00 PM 

Open Senate Meeting:

Call to Order – Shannan Rossi, PhD, MBA, Faculty Senate Chair

Attendance “Roll Call” & Establishing Quorum

    • GSBS – Dr. Maureen Laroche
    • JSSOM – Dr. Sreeram Parupudi
    • SHP – Dr. Crystal Douglas
    • SPPH – Dr. Brian Downer
    • SON – Dr. Juan Feng
  2. Agenda Adoption
    1. Consent Agenda Adoption – Approved
  3. Review & Approval of Minutes– May minutes are approved and uploaded to Faculty Senate website.
  4. Guest Speakers
    • None
  5. Updates
    • None
  6. Unfinished Business & General Orders
    • None
  7. New Business
    • None Currently.

      Dr. Sharon Petronella motioned to move into executive session. Dr. Jacquelyn Svoboda provided the second.

  8. Executive Session
    • Faculty Compensation Committee – Nominations were provided for the School of Population and Public Health to reflect equal representation on this committee for all schools.
    • Call for nominations for FY 25 Chair-Elect. Voting will take place during the July meeting.
    • Annual Meeting Chair Reports- Annual meeting will take place September 9, 2024, 11:30 am-1:00 pm. All chairs of sub-committees to provide reports (1-2 slides) during meeting.
      1. In person attendance is encouraged, registration form will be distributed soon.
    • UTMB Senate Governance Committee
      1. IHOP Policy Reviews-May
        • Policies are sent from the compliance office (Mari Robinson) to the Senate Chair and Chair-Elect. Then the policies are distributed to the Faculty Senators for review and to provide feedback. Feedback is due the Friday before the monthly Senate meetings.
      2. Faculty Senate Survey (Distributed in March)
        • Senate must assess when the optimal time is to distribute survey.
          • Dr. Shinu Joy suggested distribution at the beginning of fiscal year.
      3. Proposed Newsletter
        • Originated as survey suggestion.
        • First draft sent to Cortney Martin for review to ensure formatting and information follows institutional guidelines.
        • To be distributed quarterly.
        • Senate leadership working on obtaining distribution list for the newsletter. Newsletter will also be posted on the Faculty Senate website.
    • Bylaw Review & Discussion
      1. Article 3 – Section 6 & Section 7
        1. Modification to make verbiage consistent in section 6 and 7 referring to senators being absent more than three consecutive meetings a year.
        2. Dr. Karren Lewis motions to modify language between section 6 and 7 to clarify the policy on senator absences. Dr. Christen Sadler provided the second.
          • Motion passed by majority vote.
      2. Article 4 – Section 5
        • The re-introduction of a Parliamentarian position within the Faculty Senate to serve as a designee of maintaining the Robert’s Rules. The Parliamentarian will further develop procedures for voting during meetings. Parliamentarian will also inform the Chair and Executive Secretary about the presence of a quorum during Faculty Senate meetings.
        • Dr. Karren Lewis motions to approve Parliamentarian section as written. Dr. Karthik Mani provided the second.
          • Motion passed by majority vote.
      3. Further revisions will be tabled until the next meeting in July.
    • Dr. Karren Lewis presents “UTMB RVU Faculty Survey Results” and the Clinical Subcommittee findings.
      1. 73% of respondents indicated RVU’s are a part of their salary.
      2. There is low satisfaction with the RVU system and a low understanding of how the system works.
      3. Areas of greatest satisfaction with the RVU system: Incentivizes Hard work, Fair Compensation, Income augmentation and motivation, Value and Dedication.
      4. Top five themes of dissatisfaction:
        • Compensation inequity and lack of transparency.
        • Complexity and lack of understanding.
        • Focus on quantity over other academic activities.
        • Caps impact on salary.
        • Uneven distribution of work and opportunities.
      5. No better alternative was better received by the faculty respondents. Salary based system was favored more than a group RVU system.
      6. Suggested Changes:
        • Uncapping incentives and improved compensation.
        • Improve fairness and equity.
        • Incorporate scholarly efforts.
        • Simplification and clarity
  9. Committee Reports
    • Will revisit in July meeting.
  10. Announcements:
    • The election for the Faculty Senate Chair-Elect and the voting for approval of bylaws revisions will take place during the July meeting.

Adjournment at 6:00 p.m