Resolutions 2018-2019

Resolution 2018-2019-1 Faculty Senate Bylaw Change, Faculty and Staff Benefits Committee Membership

Whereas, the Faculty & Staff Benefits Committee makes recommendations on policies and programs and other benefits and services provided faculty and staff; and

Whereas, the current membership includes a faculty member from each academic unit, seven USPS staff members, and one retired faculty member and one retired staff member of the UCF Retirement Association; and

Whereas, the Faculty & Staff Benefits Committee recommends modifying the committee membership to include three A&P employees to enable their input to discussion and decisions; and

Whereas, to fairly balance the membership, reduce the USPS employees from seven to three by 2020 as terms expire or members step-down; therefore

BE IT RESOLVED that the Bylaws of the Faculty Constitution be amended as follows:

Faculty and Staff Benefits Committee

1. Membership.
   The committee shall consist of one faculty member from each academic unit, selected by the Committee on Committees, three staff members selected by the USPS Staff Council, three A&P employees selected by the Associate Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer, and two members from the Retiree Association (one retired faculty and one retired staff) nominated by the president of the UCF Retirement Association. A benefits representative from the Office of Human Resources and the Associate Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer (or designee) shall serve as ex officio members. The chair is appointed annually by the Associate Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer from the faculty members of the committee. Terms of service shall be two years, staggered.

Approved by the Faculty Senate on September 27, 2018.
Transmitted to interim Provost Elizabeth Dooley on September 28, 2018 for information.

Resolution 2018-2019-2 Guidelines for Centers and Institutes at the University of Central Florida

Whereas, in 2016-2017 the Faculty Senate passed resolution 2016-2017-14 Guidelines for Academic Structure at the University of Central Florida; and

Whereas, these guidelines emphasized the need for tenure to be granted in Departments and Schools within the academic unit structure at UCF (Colleges); and

Whereas, faculty traditionally have tenure homes in academic departments or similar units; therefore

Be it Resolved that the Faculty Senate supports tenure being granted only within established Departments or Schools that fall within an academic college (including Graduate Studies and Undergraduate Studies) at UCF, in line with the previous resolutions of the Faculty Senate. The Faculty Senate urges the administration to work with faculty who are tenured or tenure-earning in a research center or institute to find a tenure home within an academic unit (Department or School within a College); and

Be it Further Resolved that the Faculty Senate supports the following guidelines for centers and institutes at UCF, and that these guidelines be appended to the original guidelines for academic structure at the University of Central Florida. In addition these guidelines are supplementary to the definitions of centers and institute in BOG Reg 10.015 and UCF Reg 2.035.

Definitions of Centers and Institutes

Existing Definitions from BOG Reg 10.015 (repeated in UCF Reg 2.035)

1. State of Florida Institute or Center: An entity with statewide mission, that may include two or more State universities, established to coordinate inter-institutional research, service, and teaching across the State University System. State of Florida institutes and centers must be approved by the Board of Governors. State of Florida institutes and centers’ operational budgets reside within the bases of their host institutions; additional budget requests must be reviewed by the Council of Academic Vice Presidents (CAVP), and only those with a positive recommendation are carried forward to the Board of Governors for consideration.
2. University Institute or Center: An entity that is generally established by a single university to coordinate institutional research, service, and/or educational/training activities that enhance existing instruction, research, and service at the university. The budget of a university institute or center and any requests for additional funding are wholly within the purview of the host university.
3. Exclusions: There are entities that use the term “Institute” or “Center” in their titles, as well as some other service units, that are excluded from this policy. Examples of these units include the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS); the University of Florida Health Sciences Center; the University of South Florida Health Sciences Center; the Florida State University Health Sciences Center; the Florida Mental Health Institute; incorporated institutes and centers with university affiliations, such as the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition and the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute; and university advising, student health, computing, and certain other centers. However, excluded entities such as IFAS and the health sciences centers may have institutes or centers under their purview that are covered by the policies referenced in this document.

Note that exlcusions listed include major university medical divisions and student service units. The definitions also exclude faculty support units and auxiliary units.

Proposed Criteria and Definitional Language for Centers and Institutes
UCF’s centers and institutes are formally recognized university entities established to enhance research and possibly educational and/or public service efforts to fulfill the university’s mission and goals. They generally meet the following criteria:

• The unit coordinates and supports research and/or creative activities (and, accordingly, fits the definition of an organized research unit), and can also conduct instruction/training, public service, and/or other activities.
• The unit has a distinct mission and activities that are closely tied to the university’s mission and goals.
• The unit conducts continuing work in a well-defined area, and work that would be more difficult to undertake if the unit did not exist.
• The university has existing strengths aligned with the unit.
• The unit’s budget and operations are overseen by the university, and the unit is typically supported, at least in part, by recurring external funding (e.g., from grants/contracts or legislative appropriations).
• Faculty are not tenured in the unit unless it is also an academic unit such as a college or school.

UCF uses the following definitions to generally distinguish between centers and institutes:

• Centers are single or multidisciplinary units organized to support research and, in some cases, other interdisciplinary activities around a specific topic or issue. They are typically characterized by a narrower scope and less autonomy than institutes, they are typically located within colleges/schools or institutes, and they typically have recurring external funding. Some also have dedicated administrative staff, commitments from faculty (FTE), and evidence of long-term sustainability.
• Institutes are generally multidisciplinary units organized to support research and, in some cases, other interdisciplinary activities around a cluster of related topics or issues. Institutes are generally characterized by more organizational stability, research program autonomy, and a broader scope of focus than centers. They often have recurring external funding from multiple sources, dedicated administrative staff, commitments from faculty (FTE), and evidence of long-term sustainability.

Types of UCF Centers and Institutes
UCF acknowledges the following four types of centers and institutes, distinguished in part by their levels of registration and oversight.

Type 1: State of Florida Centers and Institutes
These centers and institutes meet the definition and requirements listed in “a” from BOG Regulation 10.015 (see above). In some instances they are established as a result of legislative intent. If hosted by UCF, they must be approved by the Office of Research and Commercialization (ORC), the UCF provost, the UCF president, the UCF BOT, and the BOG. They must be registered with the BOG, and are overseen at UCF by ORC. They must submit annual reports to the BOG and to ORC and the UCF provost (or designee), and they must undergo cyclical review at least every five years.

Type 2: State University System (SUS) Centers and Institutes
These centers and institutes meet the definition and requirements listed in “b” from BOG Regulation 10.015 (see above). They must be approved by ORC, the UCF provost, and the UCF president. They must be registered with the BOG, and are overseen at UCF by ORC. They must submit annual reports to the BOG and to ORC and the UCF provost (or designee), and they must undergo cyclical review at least every seven years. These units generally have a primary research, development or capacity building, and/or commercialization mission; some may additionally have a service delivery mission. They are generally supported by legislative line-item appropriations and/or other recurring external funding.

Type 3: UCF Recognized Centers and Institutes
These units are recognized by UCF as centers and institutes and meet UCF’s criteria (see above), but they do not meet the BOG definition and therefore are not registered with or report to the BOG; accordingly they do not submit annual BOG reports or undergo BOG-required cyclical review.

They must be approved by ORC. They must submit annual reports to UCF accounting for their mission and location; ORC determines with their home colleges (and other units, if applicable) the appropriate lines of reporting and oversight. Their range of primary missions includes research and/or creative activity, public service/outreach, and dual research and public service.

Type 4: Other Named Centers and Institutes
Because they do not meet BOG and UCF definitions and criteria, UCF views these units as centers or institutes in name only. Accordingly, they do not require state or university-level registration or oversight. However, any unit not already using and wishing to use the term “center” or “institute” in their names must seek and receive approval from Academic Affairs to do so. They are overseen by and report to their UCF home unit (e.g., college, school, and/or department).

Examples of excluded centers and institutes include service units that primarily provide services to the UCF community, research support units for UCF faculty, units that provide student awards and exchanges, public service units without a significant research element, auxiliary units, and buildings or facilities. Existing excluded centers and institutes, and units wishing to use the term “center” or “institute” in their names are strongly encouraged to consider whether the unit meet’s UCF’s definitions and criteria (see above) and whether one of the following designations would be more suitable:

• Research groups, collaboratives or alliances are generally groups of investigators aligned around a shared topic or set of topics, but are less formally and tightly connected than clusters.
• Initiatives are generally units organized to complete limited-term projects or efforts with specific foci and objectives. They typically do not have separate administrative structures but can involve members of multiple units and distinct resources, budgets, and lines of funding. (e.g., UCF Literacy Initiative)
• Offices are generally permanent units organized to oversee and administer a specific set of ongoing duties and/or services. They can range from university-level administrative or support units to units that support colleges or departments.
• Consortia are generally partnerships among institutions (higher ed, public, private) that cooperate and/or combine resources around a shared problem or issue. (e.g., Florida Consortium of Metropolitan Research Universities)
• Programs
• Laboratories

The following table summarizes UCF’s types of centers and institutes and their corresponding registration, approval, oversight, and reporting requirements:

Level	Registered with BOG?	Approval/Disbandment	Oversight	Reporting
State of Florida	Yes	ORC/Provost/President/CAVP/BOT/BOG	ORC/Provost (designee)	BOG, Annual & 5
SUS	Yes	ORC/Provost/President (Notify BOG)	ORCProvost (designee)	BOG, Annual & 7
UCF Recognized	No	ORC	ORC/College	Annual (Internal)
Exempt	No	AA	Internal Unit	Internal Unit

Approved by the Faculty Senate on August 30, 2018.
Transmitted to interim Provost Elizabeth Dooley on August 31, 2018.
Approved by Provost Dooley on October 26, 2018.

Resolution 2018-2019-3 Faculty Senate Bylaw Change, Committee Membership

Whereas, the Bylaws for each Senate operational, curricular, and joint committee and council requires a chair be elected at the first meeting for each committee in the Fall semester; and

Whereas, many committees have experienced an instance of the chair not being able to make a scheduled meeting due to illness, travel, or other conflict; therefore

BE IT RESOLVED that the Bylaws for each Senate operational, curricular, and joint committee and councils be modified to add an elected vice chair.

Approved by the Faculty Senate on August 16, 2018.
Transmitted to Provost Elizabeth Dooley on October 26, 2018 for information.

Resolution 2018-2019-4 Faculty Senate Bylaw Change, Senate Membership

Whereas, in 2008 the Faculty Constitution was amended to include instructors and librarians in apportionment; and

Whereas, on November 19, 2009, the Senate passed Resolution 2009-2010-1 Promotion Stream for Instructors/Lecturers recommending that administration develop policy and procedures giving all full-time instructors and lecturers an opportunity for advancement; and

Whereas, on October 16, 2014, the Senate passed Resolution 2014-2015-1 Amend the Definition of Faculty and Eligibility for Election to the Faculty Senate in the Bylaws of the Faculty Constitution to include Senior Lecturer, Associate Lecturer, Lecturer, Senior Instructor, Associate Instructor, Instructor, and Instructor Librarian in apportionment; and

Whereas, on June 16, 2016, UCF Regulation 3.0176 Instructor and Lecturer Faculty Promotion was created to provide a formal promotion path; and

Whereas, the majority of aspirational peers, comparison peers, and other State Universities already include instructor and lecturers in eligibility for the Senate; and

Whereas, instructors and lecturers are an integral part of many UCF departments and colleges and participate to some degree, in teaching, research, and service; therefore

BE IT RESOLVED that the Bylaws contained in Section II. Senate Membership be modified to allow instructors and lecturers to be elected as faculty senators as followed:

1. General Eligibility
   Those defined as members of the general faculty in Bylaws, Section I.A shall be eligible to be elected to the Faculty Senate , with the exception of Senior Lecturer, Associate Lecturer, Lecturer, Senior Instructor, Associate Instructor, Instructor, and Instructor Librarian. Visiting faculty, regardless of their rank or duration of appointment, are not eligible to serve on the Faculty Senate.

Approved by the Faculty Senate on October 25, 2018.
Transmitted to Provost Elizabeth Dooley on October 26, 2018 for information.

Resolution 2018-2019-5 Faculty Senate Bylaw Change, Senate Operational and Curricular Councils Membership

Whereas, the Bylaws for the Budget and Administrative, Information Technology, Personnel, and the Parking, Transportation and Safety operational committees in addition to the curricular councils require the chair/vice chair be a current Faculty Senate member; and

Whereas, the Senate operational and curricular council chairs each provide a committee report at each Faculty Senate meeting; and

Whereas, this requirement limits the leadership opportunities for general faculty while placing a heavy service load on faculty senators; and

Whereas, many long-time committee members would like the opportunity to chair the committees; therefore

BE IT RESOLVED that the Bylaws for each Senate operational, curricular councils, and the Committee on Committees be modified to allow any committee member to chair/vice chair the committee and to appoint a committee faculty senator liaison to provide monthly committee reports to the Senate as followed:

1. Budget and Administrative, Information Technology, Personnel, and the Parking, Transportation and Safety Committee
   
   Membership:
   The committee chair must be a current Faculty Senate member and shall be elected annually by its membership at the first meeting of the committee after the new Faculty Senate is elected, normallyin the early fall term.
2. Undergraduate and Graduate Councils
   
   Membership:
   The council chair and vice chair must be current Senate members and are elected annually by the membership of the council at the first meeting after the new Senate is elected, normally early in the fall term.
3. Committee on Committees.
   1. To solicit committee preferences from senators for membership on the committees of the Senate, and to review and recommend committee membership, and to appoint a Senate liaison to provide monthly committee reports to the Senate.

Approved by the Faculty Senate on November 15, 2018.
Transmitted to Provost Elizabeth Dooley on November 16, 2018 for information.

Resolution 2018-2019-6 Faculty Senate Bylaw Change, Graduate Appeals Committee

Resolution denied at the Faculty Senate Steering Committee on October 11, 2018.

Resolution 2018-2019-7 Faculty Senate Bylaw Change, Graduate Council Membership

Whereas, the bylaws of the Graduate Council state committee members of the Graduate Council (and all graduate committees) must be tenured or tenure-earning faculty holding the rank of assistant professor, associate professor, or professor; general faculty of comparable rank with multi-year appointments; or professional librarians of comparable rank; and

Whereas, the membership criteria further specifies that all members must meet the qualifications for participating in graduate education as specified by the Council and published in the Graduate Catalog; and

Whereas, the qualifications in the Bylaws for the council do not match the qualifications specified in the qualifications of Graduate Faculty in the Graduate Catalog; therefore

BE IT RESOLVED that the Bylaws for the Graduate Council membership be amended to make the only requirement for serving refer to the qualifications of Graduate Faculty in the Graduate Catalog as follows:

Graduate Council

b. Membership

The council shall consist of all of the members of the committees of the Graduate Council and the vice president for Research and dean of the College of Graduate Studies (ex officio). All members of the Council must be tenured or tenure-earning faculty holding the rank of assistant professor, associate professor, or professor; general faculty of comparable rank with multi-year appointments; or professional librarians of comparable rank. All members of the Graduate Council must meet be Graduate Faculty, the qualifications for participating in graduate education as specified by the Council and published in the Graduate Catalog as Graduate Faculty. The Committee on Committees shall select the faculty members for all committees of the Graduate Council and shall solicit nominees from the deans of the respective academic units as well as from the vice president for Research and dean of the College of Graduate Studies, among others. The council chair and vice chair must be current Faculty Senate members and are elected annually by the membership of the council at the first meeting after the new committee is constituted, normally early in the fall term. The elected chair of the council will serve as the chair of the Graduate Policy Committee. The vice chair of the council will serve as the chair of the Graduate Curriculum Committee.

Approved by the Faculty Senate on March 21, 2019.
Transmitted to Provost Elizabeth Dooley on March 22, 2019 for information.

Resolution 2018-2019-8 Student Perception of Instruction Processing

Whereas, the purpose of the Student Perception of Instruction is primarily to provide feedback to faculty in order to continually improve courses and teaching methods; and

Whereas, Resolution 2011-2012-7 Student Perception of Instruction Administration Period was approved by the Senate and the provost to specify that the online Student Perception of Instruction (SPoI) survey be administered during the last 15 days of instruction in each term, closing one hour before the official final exam period opens; and

Whereas, the Registrar’s Office defines the opening and closing of the SPoI survey based on each specific course end date, regardless of the semester end date; and

Whereas, many courses have an abbreviated or customized course length that ends prior to the end of a semester (such as a 7-week course); and

Whereas, UCF IT processes SPoI data at the end of each semester resulting in faculty teaching a course with an abbreviated or customized course date waiting until the end of the semester for data to improve instruction; and

Whereas, UCF IT has requested that a change in the processing of the SPoI survey be voted on by the Faculty Senate; therefore

BE IT RESOLVED that the Faculty Senate requests that UCF IT process and distribute all SPoI reports for abbreviated or customized courses based on the course end date, regardless of when the semester ends.

Approved by the Faculty Senate on January 24, 2019.
Transmitted to Provost Elizabeth Dooley on January 28, 2019.
Approved by Provost Dooley on February 8, 2019.

Resolution 2018-2019-9 UCF Conference Rooms

Whereas, collaboration and participation in virtual meetings is required for the normal and effective functioning of the university; and

Whereas, UCF, its programs, its faculty, and its faculty’s external collaborators are progressively more interdisciplinary and geographically distributed, resulting in greater demand for teleconferencing and technologies to support distributed meetings and collaborative work; and

Whereas, delays in room scheduling and collaboration software failures result in wasted faculty and support-staff time as well as embarrassment and lost opportunities for UCF; and

Whereas, UCF conference rooms have inconsistent teleconference technology, with many providing no or inadequate teleconference technology; and

Whereas, many faculty and staff lack the technical knowledge to operate the ever-expanding array of conferencing hardware and software, and many conference rooms lack instructions for using the conference systems and obtaining help with their technology; and

Whereas, like all technology, teleconference hardware and software experience various failures – they break, become misconfigured, require updates and upgrades, and generally require regular maintenance and, at times, immediate troubleshooting and support; and

Whereas, over 40% of the main-campus conference rooms are available to all units to schedule and be used for meetings; and

Whereas, the majority of those schedulable conference rooms are assigned to a specific unit, requiring that unit to fund all technology and furniture; and

Whereas, using unit funds to supply the needs of non-unit users is an inappropriate use of a unit’s funds; therefore

BE IT RESOLVED that the administration identify and take responsibility for generally available conference rooms and:

1. Develop a minimum standard for items to be installed in each conference room, including at least:
   1. A computer
   2. A video camera viewing the audience
   3. Microphones that cover all potential speakers
   4. Powered loudspeakers
   5. Software for document collaboration, including simultaneous group editing
   6. Software for reliable and consistent audiovisual remote participation that enables viewing and hearing of remote participants as well as remote presentations
   7. Display devices that make a presentation visible to all in the room

1. Supply technology, maintenance, and upgrades consistent with item 1 in each generally schedulable UCF conference room; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the administration make available user support services for all UCF conference rooms and:

1. Provide remote voice and real-time, on-site user support in conference rooms.
2. Post instructions for use, troubleshooting, and how to get immediate on-site support in conference rooms.
3. Provide (or, with consent of a unit, delegate) conference-room scheduling, with an immediate response to meeting requests (accepted or declined); and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that nothing in this resolution should be construed as an intention to reduce or change the scheduling priority that units may have over conference rooms.

Approved by the Faculty Senate on January 24, 2019.
Transmitted to Provost Elizabeth Dooley on January 28, 2019.
Pending by Provost Dooley onSeptember 10, 2019:

I support this resolution in principle, however, I cannot approve it at this time as more information is needed to determine the costs associated with developing the minimum technology standards for each conference room as presented in the resolution. Therefore, the recommendations need to be reviewed and vetted by the appropriate division. I am forwarding this to UCF IT for a cost analysis and implementation plan.

Resolution 2018-2019-10 Faculty Senate Bylaw Change Research Council

Whereas, UCF strives to become the recognized leader among 21st century universities; and

Whereas, a key metric for research in the Collective Impact Strategic Plan is to double research awards from $133 million to at least $250 million; and

Whereas, the Research Council is a university-level joint committee that annually reports to the Senate and doesn’t reflect the high faculty interest needed to achieve the key metric; and

Whereas, the membership of the Research Council consists of faculty, while most joint committees have a broad membership; therefore

BE IT RESOLVED that the Bylaws for the Faculty Constitution be amended to elevate the Research Council to a Senate Operational Committee with automatic updates to the Faculty Constitution as follows:

Research Council

1. Duties and Responsibilities.
   1. To recommend to the Faculty Senate such policies as it deems necessary and appropriate with respect to research activities, facilities, personnel, and patents to the vice president for Research and dean of the College of Graduate Studies.
   2. To consult with and advise the vice president for Research and dean of the College of Graduate Studies on the stimulation of and support for research activities, including policies for allocation of monies to be invested in UCF research endeavors.
   3. To assist in the evaluation of research programs within the university and advise on new research centers and institutes and the evaluation of performance of existing centers and institutes.
   4. To recommend policies that will foster a strong, mutually productive relationship between research centers and institutes and departments.
   5. To speak for the faculty on governmental, industrial, and other private sector and foundation support of the research programs of the university.
   6. To review the activities of the committees that deal with the use of human subjects or animals in research.
   7. To review the activities of the committee that deals with copyrights and patents.
   8. To review and make recommendations to the vice president for Research and dean of the College of Graduate Studies on internal research grants and awards.
   9. To work with the vice president for Research and dean of the College of Graduate Studies in establishing guidelines for submissions and review of research proposals.
   10. To recommend policies to promote the responsible conduct of research by UCF faculty, staff, and students.
   11. To make recommendations to the Faculty Senate Steering Committee of the Faculty Senate.
2. Membership
   The committee shall consist of eighteen one eighteen faculty members with at least one representative from each of the the academic units (selected by the Committee on Committees, in consultation with the vice president for Research and dean of the College of Graduate Studies and the college deans) and two additional faculty members from the institutes and/or centers (will be designated by the vice president for Research and dean of the College of Graduate Studies). Academic unit faculty membership shall proportionally represent the number of faculty of the colleges. Selection criteria shall include a productive record of research/scholarly activity. Only faculty members holding the rank of associate professor or professor or professional librarians of comparable rank shall be eligible for membership. The vice president for Research and dean of the College of Graduate Studies (or designee) shall serve as an ex officio member. Terms of service shall be three years, staggered. The chair and vice chair of the council shall be elected annually by its membership.

Approved by the Faculty Senate on March 21, 2019.
Transmitted to Provost Elizabeth Dooley on March 22, 2019 for information.

Resolution 2018-2019-11 Statement of Civil and Inclusive Discourse in the Campus Environment

Resolution denied at the Faculty Senate Steering Committee on February 7, 2019.

Resolution 2018-2019-12 Student Perception of Instruction (SPoI) Accessibility and Improvements

Whereas, The Student Perception of Instruction (SPoI) survey is primarily used to provide feedback to faculty in order to continually improve courses and teaching methods and is the primary data used by administrators to evaluate faculty teaching; and

Whereas, the revised online SPoI survey was approved by the Faculty Senate and Provost Waldrop in 2012. In 2013, the Faculty Senate approved publishing the average responses for all nine questions on the university website; and

Whereas, in 2017 and 2018, the Student Government Association made several requests to make the SPoI data available in a transparent manner and in a format easier to locate course and instructor information with information to make the data understandable; and to allow students the possibility to affect, reflect upon, and take responsibility for their own learning while providing important information for course enhancements; and

Whereas, many faculty believe the SPoI data does not relate to learning, is subjected to bias, and is provided to students without context which can skew a student’s impression of a course; and

Whereas, many faculty believe the SPoI data contains data errors due to multiple instructors or teaching assistants, and due to other faculty members teaching a course designed by a different faculty member; therefore

BE IT RESOLVED that the Faculty Senate recommends the administration carry out the following:

1. Short-Term
   1. Make the SPoI results easily accessible to students and faculty on myUCF.
   2. Provide students with information to interpret the data and a disclaimer regarding bias.
   3. Pilot making the evaluations optional to complete with active reminders.
   4. Add a link to the email sent to students to the SPoI results so students have a purpose to complete the survey.
2. Long-Term
   1. Form a Task Force to include the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning, students from SGA, administration, Center for Distributed Learning, faculty senators, and faculty to review questions, validity, recommend better methods to evaluate teaching, and define the role of SPoI in the evaluation.
   2. Purchase a software package to easily capture and report SPoI data.

Approved by the Faculty Senate on February 21, 2019.
Transmitted to Provost Elizabeth Dooley on February 22, 2019.
Approved by Provost Dooley on September 10, 2019.