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UVI Senate Meeting Minutes ACC 142 (STT) and EVC 807 (STX) Friday, February 13, 2015 MEMBERS PRESENT David Hall Shirley Lake-King Raquel Santiago-Silver Una Dyer E. Aracelis Francis Bernard Castillo Dayle Barry Frank Mills Nereida Washington Maria Fleming Donna Nemeth Lois Sanders Yohance Henley Jeanette Ferdinand Marvin Shelford Dahlia George MEMBERS ABSENT/EXCUSED Tina Koopmans Camille McKayle Haldane Davies Nicole Gibbs Mitchell Neaves Stephan Moore Cherie Wheatley OTHERS PRESENT Dannica Thomas CALL TO ORDER Chair Santiago-Silver called the meeting of the Senate to order at 1:14 pm, Friday, February 13, 2015. ROLL CALL A quorum was established. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR OCTOBER 10, 2014 AND NOVEMBER 14, 2014 Chair Santiago-Silver entertained a motion to approve the minutes of October 10, 2014 and November 14, 2014 as submitted. The motion was moved by Senator Nemeth and seconded by Senator Francis. The motion carried unanimously and was approved. Affirmation Ceremony for New Student Senators – SGA Representatives on the AAS Campus President Hall installed SGA representatives, Jeanette Ferdinand and Dahlia George, who represented the Albert A. Sheen (AAS) campus, into the Senate. REPORTS Presidential Updates – Senator Hall Enrollment increased approximately 1.5 percent as reported at the last meeting. Transferred and returning students have also increased, while graduate student numbers continue to struggle. The purge process for spring 2015 is pending; hence, the enrollment numbers are subject to change. A significant amount of applications were submitted for the fall 2015 semester. President Hall thanked Drs. Gibbs and Allen and the Access and Enrollment Services team for their commendable work. VP Lake King reconvened the University Budget Committee (UBC), which was inactive last year. The Committee was charged with the budget process, possible opportunities that have been overlooked, and long-term spending priorities. The Committee will subsequently provide recommendations to Administration. The Entrepreneurship fund has been approved. Dr. Davies will oversee the fund, while the UBC will serve as the advisory board. More details will be forthcoming at a future meeting. UVI has received the Carnegie Community Engagement Award. The Carnegie Foundation grants this designation to colleges and universities who have an institutional focus on community engagement. Institutions participate voluntarily by submitting required materials describing the nature and extent of their engagement with the community. UVI is one of 361 institutions nationwide who have received this designation since the inception of the program. The School of Medicine preliminary LCME accreditation was approved; hence, a site visit will take place in the near future. No date has been set thus far. The University will proceed with the construction of the classroom and simulation center buildings on the respective island. The building designs remain in progress. Administration will seek a resolution from the Board of Trustees for the loan for both buildings. The University is committed to move forward aggressively. UVINext Task Force is in the process of notifying all programs on the strict scrutiny list. Recommendations will be made available to the shared governance constituency groups during the month of March. Provost Updates – Senator Hall The development of the first PhD programs is moving forward. Administration is currently seeking feedback from Alumni. Thereafter, a proposal will be shared with faculty and subsequently distributed through the shared governance process. Senator Mills confirmed that communication and the survey instrument were sent out alumni. As of 10am on February 13th, there were 54 respondents. Graduate Student Representation in the Senate – Senator Hall Chair Santiago-Silver inquired about the meeting with the graduate council, which was convened by Dr. James Maddirala. Senator Hall confirmed that the group convened; however, notes of the meeting was not made available. Chair Santiago-Silver entertained a motion to table graduate student representation on the Senate. The motion was moved by Senator Barry and seconded by Senator Sanders. Accounting of iPads assigned to UVI Senators – Senator Santiago-Silver To date, eleven iPads were accounted for (out of 12 initially purchased for UVI Senate) by Chair Silver. One iPad remains missing. Chair Santiago-Silver has followed up with all existing and former senators; however, all with the exception of one have confirmed that they have returned their iPads to the Office of the President, while others indicated that they never received one. A former Senator indicated that he returned his iPad to ITS; however, there are no records on file to reflect such. Senators were encouraged to contact Chair Santiago-Silver for an iPad to use during their term. Senator Lake-King advised Chair Santiago-Silver to consult with the Internal Auditor office for further guidance and follow-up on the missing iPad. Chair Santiago-Silver agreed to consider this option. Policy on iPads assigned to UVI Senators – Senator Santiago-Silver Minor changes were made to the policy during the session; however, Senators were asked to send their feedback to Chair Santiago-Silver to incorporate into the policy draft. Senator Barry added that the policy’s penalties are too lenient. Senator Washington suggested that the Senate follow-up with ITS to secure all iPads, which will be checked in and out through the workflow system. This process will provide accountability, which the policy lacks. NEXT MEETING The next meeting was tentatively scheduled for Friday, March 13, 2015 at 1 pm. However, due to Charter Day activities, the meeting must be rescheduled. Ms. Dannica Thomas has agreed to poll Senators after the meeting. The new date will be forthcoming. ADJOURMENT Chair Santiago-Silver entertained a motion to adjourn the meeting at 1:56 pm. The motion was moved by Senator Barry and seconded by Senator Sanders. The motion carried unanimously and was approved.