UNIVERSITY SENATE

Meeting Minutes

November 20, 2023

The University Senate was called to order at 3:30 p.m., in 111 Harrison Hall on Monday, November 06, 2023. Members absent: Kenya Ash, Lee Biggerstaff, Ginny Boehme, Rodney Coates, Riley Crabtree, Steven Elliott, Carol Fabby, Evan Gallagher, Venus Harvey, Drew Hebbard, Patrick Houlihan, Cynthia Johnson, Yon Ling.

1. Call to Order and Announcements and Remarks – Tracy Haynes, Chair of University Senate Executive Committee
   1. We have had a few 2 minute speaking slots claimed by our community members.  We were asked if these speeches could be a part of our record. We are currently working on a possible solution. Once we have outlined a process for this we will provide more information, but we did want you to know this is something that we are working on.
   2. We have an ad-hoc committee for midterm grade reporting and they have gotten started. Committee members:  Amy Bergerson (Co Chair), Amanda Euen (Co Chair), Lewis Magruder (CCA), Lea Minitti (Assistant Dean in EHS for Student Success Committee Representative), Donna Evans (Regionals), Carol Fabby (CAS-elected Senator), Andrew Hebard (CAS-elected Senator), Katherine Allison (ASG), Vivian Chen (FSB), and David Hartup (CEC)
2. Approval of University Senate Minutes
   1. University Senate Full Meeting Minutes_10.23.2023  (Results: 46 -Yes, 00-No, 00-Abstain)
3. Consent Calendar: The following items were received and accepted on the Consent Calendar:
   1. Curricular Items_10.31.2023 
   2. Graduate Council Minutes_10.24.2023
   3. LEC Meeting Minutes_10.10.2023
4. Old Business
   1. SR 24-04 Management of Conflicts of Interest in Projects with External Funding Policy Update - Sue McDowell, VP Research & Innovation -  (Results: 46 -Yes, 00-No, 00-Abstain)
      1. Senator Question and Comments
         1. Senator: I am interested in how this issue occurred. Was it a failure of our processes, something we could not have foreseen, or other? Have we taken steps to ensure that this issue doesn't happen again with NIH or other funding agencies? How the issue occurred - Was it a failure of our processes, something we could not have foreseen, or other? (A) Long-standing limited infrastructure for research. Steps we have taken to ensure this issue does not happen again with NIH or other funding agencies:
            1. Use of Facilities & Administrative cost recovery dollars and E&G funds to: (1) Hire three full time assistant directors within Research Ethics & Integrity area of the Office of Research and Innovation to assist Director in administration of research compliance programs (Responsible Conduct of Research, Financial Conflict of Interest, Institutional Review Board, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, Institutional Biosafety Committee, Export Control, Controlled Substances); (2) Fund annual training for research compliance personnel to ensure compliance areas are following best practices; (3)Contract export control specialist on-demand
            2. Office of General Counsel convened the Compliance Coordinating Committee to assist in ensuring compliance programs are up to date across campus.
            3. Office of Internal Audit requiring regular reports from VP for Research and Innovation.
5. New Business
   1. Proposed Revisions to Internship Policy (Undergraduate) - Carolyn Haynes, Senior Associate Provost Honors College Faculty in Residence  -  Presentation only; Discussion and Anticipated Vote on November 20, 2023
      1. 1. Internship Policy
            1. Proposed by Jennifer Benz, Center for Career Exploration & Success (Oxford); Doug Reichenberger, Career Services & Professional Education (Regionals)
            2. Current policy dates back 2019
            3. Process was to benchmarked similar policies at other institutions & NACE literature and involve key stakeholders such as University Registrar, Student Financial Assistance, General Counsel, Academic Policy Committee, Academic Deans
         2. Key Revisions
            1. Revised terminology, particularly the terms, “curricular,” “co-curricular” and “extracurricular,” which are confusing since they carry different connotations in the professional literature for experiential learning and student life;
            2. Consideration of students who are undecided in terms of major or who may wish to pursue an internship not related to their major, or who cannot secure a faculty supervisor; 
            3. Clarification of the “zero credit” option for students who are pursuing internships in the summer (and thus do not need to pay)
         3. New Policy Components
            1. Terms changed from “curricular, extra-curricular & co-curricular” to “optional/noncredit, optional/for credit and required program-related”
               
            2. Students may elect to take a zero-credit internship course (cost-effective option during summer or winter term).
            3. Students may also take an independent study course (X77 with the I designation) for one or more credits during the semester following the internship experience to reflect on the learning gained during the internship experience.
            4. In rare situations, students pursuing optional, for credit Internship may seek a qualified professional staff member (with at least a master’s degree) to serve as the Miami supervisor.
         4. Senator Question and Comments
            1. Senator: The zero credit in the summer and then earn a credit in the fall is new and differs from what we’ve advised in the past. Does that require a faculty member to oversee and work with the student? (A) That’s correct. It would be an independent work course and they would need to do some kind of reflection or project to reflect what they did over the summer.
            2. Senator: Is that followed by faculty compensation?(A) Faculty are paid in the fall. A compensation package is not currently part of the policy.
            3. Senator: Is it required by students to take it in the fall?(A) No, this is negotiated when doing your internship with the faculty member.
            4. Senator Comment: The internship term came from those students doing summer internships. At the regionals, we have many of our students who work more than 25 hours a week, many full time. We’ve been using the 340 program all semesters for students working full time and going to school full time. We now have more than 50 students who have taken advantage. The zero credit is a great option for winter/summer, but faculty need to do independent study. It’s some work. (A) Yes, I agree it is a change.
            5. Senator: Regarding the Miami Supervisor piece of this, the use of the term “may” indicates that the student might not have a Miami supervisor. But it's impossible to do that and also do an Independent study? I just don’t want to mislead students into thinking that they can go do this on their own. (A) They couldn’t enroll when there is no supervisor, but we can re-word that to make it more clear.
            6. Senator Comment: This body should know that for years, a tremendous amount of work falls on faculty uncompensated. Only recently were stipends offered. This is a lot of responsibility and risk. This is separate from this policy. 
            7. Senator: Can a student do a zero credit in the summer and not do the 1 credit follow-up? (A) There is no requirement as it is all negotiated. 
            8. Senator: If they are avoiding tuition in the summer, is there a way we could prevent them from paying additional tuition if they go over the 18 credit hour limit in the following semester. Is there a way to make this waived so that it does affect their tuition either way? (A) I don’t know the answer to that question.
            9. Senator: This is for internships for majors that don’t have an internship that is part of their curriculum already, correct? For the ones that do have  internships included this doesn’t involve them, correct? (A) Yes, that is correct. 
            10. Senator: Students who may not want to do internships if they have to pay an additional tuition fee. (A) That’s why we made it so that it could be zero. So it gives them an option to try to save them money.
            11. Senator: Can they still enroll in zero credit if they are doing the internship during the year, the option for zero is still there when they have 18 other credits, correct with no fees? (A) The option is there, yes.
            12. Senator: Students can not just enroll as this is a process that has to get approved through multi-layers of people, department and registration office, correct? (A) Yes, that is correct they can not just enroll on their own.
      
      
      1.  
6.  Special Reports
   1. Studying Abroad - Cheryl Young, Associate Vice President, Global Initiatives
      1. Studying abroad is within the context of Comprehensive Internationalization (6 pillars) which includes global Initiatives which is the pillar we are talking about today.
         1. International Student & Scholar Services - Molly Heidemann, Director
            1. International Student Center
            2. English Language Learner Writing Center 
         2. Global Partnerships - Karla Guinigundo, Director
            1. Fulbright
            2. National Scholarships and Fellowships
            3. Partnerships and Grant Development
         3. Continuing Education - Donna Gouvan, Assistant Director
            1. Credit and not for credit opportunities beyond traditional courses
         4. Center for American & World Cultures - (thru 12/23)
            1. Intergroup Dialogue - Voices of Discovery (eliminated)
            2. Global Readiness Certificate (moving to GLI Admin)
            3. Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS) (Cheryl Young)
         5. Education Abroad - Marnie Nelson, Director
            1. Education Abroad and Away
            2. Faculty Led
            3. Direct Enroll
         6. MUDEC
            1. Oxford: Kimberly Miller, Assistant Director
            2. Luxembourg: Raymond Manes, Executive Director
      2. MUDEC Enrollments 2012-2024 = Please see graph provided in slides for Mudec Enrollment (320 is our goal for enrollment, we’ve rebounded)
      3. Why did enrollment dip? In a review of everything, we agreed that there were three areas that needed attention.
         1. Communication & Leadership
         2. Housing & Space
         3. Curriculum
      4. Communication - Leadership Bridging Continents & Perspectives
         1. Leadership Changed, Raymond has hit the ground running. 
         2. Atmosphere is more welcoming, according to alumni.
         3. Communication pathways opened and staying open through Daily/Weekly meetings via Zoom or in person. 
      5. Housing Options – Home stays weren’t as attractive to students, the Lux economy was making it harder to get home stays, the reality was that housing is hard for citizens and we compete with other programs. There has always been a mix of housing.
         1. Chaves Studios include 8 studios - 11 beds, remodeled on the Rue de la poste, and 7 mins from Chateau
         2. Gravity: Co-living Project
            1. Project Gravity: Live, Work, Meet in the Heart of the City
            2. Living space - all ages
            3. Mixed use - shopping, restaurants, banking, coffee shop, day care
            4. Co-living meeting spaces
            5.  Opened July 2023
            6. 50 Studios - 2 floors
      6. Who is the MUDEC Student? 201110 - 202330 (Core + Cohorts + Winter + Summer)
         1. Division of Major 1: FSB 37%, CAS 37%, EHS 14%, CCA 8%, CEC 3%,  and CLAAS >1%
         2. Class Level: Junior 47%, Senior 43%, and Soph 10%
         3. Top 20 Majors (bold emphasizes consistency) - Marketing, Finance, Accountancy, Psychology, Political Science, Strategic Communication, Kinesiology, Supply Chain & Operations Management, Architecture, Early Childhood Education, Business Economics, International Studies, Speech Path & Audiology, Biology, History, Economics, Journalism, Diplomacy and Global Politics, Interactive Media Studies, Management and Leadership
         4. Other Facts: Female 65%, Honors 16%, Ohio Residents 59%, First Gen 9%, US Citizens 97%, and Avg GPA 3.44
      7. Curriculum & Co-Curriculum Update
         1. Designated recruitment/ enrollment cohorts - Architecture, Student Teaching (STEP), SLAM, KNH, Lux Digital Innovation, Honors, Business (a “natural” cohort)
         2. Study Tours - Standardized
         3. Discovery Tours (funded by donations)
         4. Partnerships for internships
         5. Core Curriculum Redesign
      8. Luxembourg Miami Presence beyond the Chateau
         1. TransAtlantic Dialogue
            1. A cooperation between the University of Luxembourg and Miami University, won the Luxembourg Peace Prize 2020 for “Outstanding Peace Education” recognizing efforts for fostering a culture of peace.
            2. Explores the significance of culture and liberal education for fostering global citizenship from U.S. and European perspectives. 
            3. CfP is out for 2024 - housing available for faculty
            4. Possible: other meetings and conferences  
         2. Oxford - Differdange Sister City (25 years in Differdange)
         3. International School EIDE (7 years+)
         4. University of Luxembourg collaboration
         5. Luxembourg Institute Science & Technology (LIST) collaboration
         6. Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce and LACC
            1. Professional development education and executive education
            2. Amazon, DuPont, Goodyear, KPMG, etc.
            3. Internship development opportunities
      9. 55th Anniversary - Celebration, fund raising, and building partnerships
         1. Great work at Convocation and honoring others with degrees.
         2. Foundation – European citizens can donate without tax implications
         3. Campaign - $2.5 Million, we are a part of that.
      
      
      1. LIST - Luxembourg Institute of Science & Technology
         1. LIST is a Research and Technology Organization (RTO) that develops competitive and market-oriented product/service prototypes for public and private stakeholders.
         2. Current MOU allows for faculty exchanges and partnerships 
         3. Focus on:
            1. Environment - strategies, tools, and technology to better monitor, asses, use and safeguard natural and renewable resources (water safety, plant science, and biotechnologies)
            2. IT for innovative services - big data operational issues, quality of services in networks, and tools to support innovation processes
            3. Materials research & technology - advanced materials and nanotechnologies
            4. Space (an emerging area)
      2. University of Luxembourg - Research oriented international university
         1. Launched in 2023 - 20th anniversary celebrations on-going this year
         2. Moved to Esch-Belval in 2018
         3. Updated MOU - Fall 2023
      3. MUDEC - Faculty Appointments Options for faculty at MUDEC
         1. Faculty led programs – two slots, one filled by the former director. We aren’t getting many applications and many are faculty who were on return trips or duplicated curricular offerings. 
         2. We are currently under a moratorium on this. Now we are thinking about what courses we want to offer and secondarily who to bring to teach them.
         3. We don’t have the bandwidth to support faculty, we need to focus on student support. Further, the funds aren’t there to send faculty over.
         4. Faculty can bring credit workshops or non-credit programs and research is supported.
            1. Accommodations and support structure
            2. Access to UniLu library
            3. Collaborate with research(ers) in EU (i.e., LIST)
         5. Future state - under discussion due to budget constraints
            1. CfP will focus on courses and expertise needed to support students to move forward in their academic, personal, and professional lives
            2. Possible: International campus located in Junglinster, Luxembourg (north of the city) with Miami as the “anchor”; graduate programs
      4. Questions can be directed to Cheryl Young - Global Initiatives 210 B MacMillan Hall at 513-461-2264 or via email at YoungCD@MiamiOH.edu
      5. Senator Question and Comments
         1. Senator: I know that faculty used to go throughout the year, but do they go just for the summer?(A) There is still a summer program for workshops, but just workshops and it’s course-driven. It’s hard to figure out what students need.
7. Provost Update
   1. Shout out to Cheryl and her staff–you’re doing great work (with less)
   2. Shout out to everyone who participated in the AI symposium last week. Troy Travis’ group put on a great program.
   3. Get Humanities Futures announcement here. We are hosting a focus group with partners who will help us brainstorm and come up with strategies and ideas.
   4. A big university communication is coming, but this is a teaser about the Miami University Strategy Project (no name yet).
      1. Current Context
         1. The higher education landscape is evolving significantly, creating both opportunities and pressures for all universities
         2. For Miami, we have continued to innovate our offerings, programs, services, and approaches to stay in front of these changes 
         3. Given the increasing pace of change and level of disruption that is taking place in our industry, the Board of Trustees has initiated a project to identify opportunities to strengthen Miami to better support its teaching, research, and service missions
         4. A key focus of this effort will be on reimagining Miami to better serve the dynamic needs and interest of students now and in the future
         5. We have hired Bain and Company to do an environmental scan. They have helped the University of Texas and I hope they find ways to save money.
      2. Approach and nest steps
         1. Stand up a Steering Committee and working teams comprised of 60+ people including faculty, staff, Board, and student leaders from across Miami University
         2. Launch workstreams focused on Miami’s future strategy, academic programs, enrollment strategy, and operational improvements
         3. Conduct an inclusive process to gather ideas and inputs from faculty, staff, and students – near-term actions will include survey of all Associate Deans and Department Chairs and additional touchpoints led by members of the project working teams
         4. Provide additional opportunities for involvement and input through the effort, with more information to be shared in the coming weeks
         5. Continue to share updates as the work unfolds.If an idea comes up, they cluster around it. So, final recommendations will be socialized well before they come up in the final report.
      3. Senator Question and Comments
         1. Senator: New York Times Article that came out yesterday do you have any comments regarding that article? (A) Our decision to consolidate/eliminate some low-enrolled majors has made a lot of press. Very little of what I shared was included. It was an attempt to talk about what we’re doing as the opposite of UWV. The whole idea behind Humanities:Future is to get ahead, but we didn’t have enough time to get ahead. We’re innovating while eliminating and consolidating. There is no more national press that is going to come out (that I know about).
8. Adjournment