Resolutions 2020-2021

Resolution 2020-2021-1
Faculty Senate Bylaw Change – Resolutions

Whereas, when the Faculty Constitution was separated into two separate documents, Faculty Constitution and Bylaws, language regarding the process of adopting Senate resolutions was inadvertently left out of the Bylaws; and

Whereas, Resolution 2016-2017-17 restored the majority of the resolution language except for the right to a final appeal to the Board of Trustees; and

Whereas, the president of the university is accountable to the Board of Trustees in the operation of the university; therefore

Be it Resolved that the Bylaws of the Faculty Constitution be amended as follows:

Bylaws, Section IV. Meetings of the Senate

I. Resolutions As the elected body of the general faculty, the Faculty Senate may formulate its opinion upon any subject of interest to the university and adopt appropriate resolutions. Resolutions addressing those areas of authority legally reserved to the president and Board of Trustees are advisory. Each resolution adopted by the Faculty Senate is forwarded to the provost and vice president for Academic Affairs who shall act upon the recommendation within 60 days.

The provost and vice president for Academic Affairs shall have veto power over any resolution by the Senate. The veto or denial with rationale shall be communicated in writing to the Faculty Senate and the chair of the Faculty Senate.

The Senate, by a two-thirds majority vote, may appeal to the president any resolution vetoed. A decision by the president is final. A subsequent veto or denial by the president shall be communicated in writing to the Faculty Senate and to the chair of the Faculty Senate within 60 days.

The Senate, by a two-thirds majority vote, may appeal to the Board of Trustees any action so vetoed. A decision by the Board of Trustees is final.

• Approved by the Faculty Senate on September 3, 2020.
• Transmitted to Interim Provost Michael Johnson on November 2, 2020 for information.

Resolution 2020-2021-2
Faculty Senate Bylaw Change
Undergraduate Common Program Oversight Committee

Whereas, the Undergraduate Common Program Oversight Committee members voted to modify the duties of the committee to represent the work of the committee better; therefore

Be it Resolved that the name and duties specified in the Bylaws for the Undergraduate Common Program Oversight Committee be amended as follows with automatic updates to the committee description in the Faculty Constitution:

General Undergraduate Common Program Oversight Requirements Committee

1. Duties and Responsibilities
   1. To monitor university-wide undergraduate curriculum requirements such as the General Education Program, diversity, Gordon Rule, civic literacy foreign language proficiency, and to review any changes, additions, or deletions to those curriculum requirements.
   2. To review, monitor, and make recommendations to the dean of the College of Undergraduate Studies on courses and syllabi submitted to fulfill the university diversity requirement to meet the established definition of diversity.
   3. To make recommendations to the Undergraduate Policy and Curriculum Committee on changes to the General Education Program, diversity, Gordon Rule, civic literacy, and other state-mandated requirements.
   4. To make recommendations to the Undergraduate Course Review Committee regarding course proposals related to the General Education Program, diversity, Gordon Rule, civic literacy, and other state-mandated requirements.

• Approved by the Faculty Senate on September 3, 2020.
• Transmitted to Interim Provost Michael Johnson on November 2, 2020 for information.

Resolution 2020-2021-3
Faculty Senate Bylaw Change
Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning Advisory Committee Duties

Whereas, the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning recommends the duties of the committee be modified to represent the work of the committee better; therefore

Be it Resolved that the name and duties specified in the Bylaws for the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning Advisory Committee be amended as follows with automatic updates to the committee description in the Faculty Constitution:

Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning Advisory Committee

1. Duties and Responsibilities
   1. Supporting and developing faculty professional development in areas of teaching, learning and the scholarship of teaching for all faculty, including full-time, adjunct and graduate teaching assistants..
   2. Overseeing and administering professional teaching development activities..
   3. Coordinating the nomination, review and selection of faculty fellowships and other awards for creative teaching and the innovative use of technology in teaching and learning.
   4. Administering and Reviewing an annual assessment of the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning activities.
   5. Considering and recommending to the Faculty Senate and administration regarding the needs and activities of the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning.

• Approved by the Faculty Senate on September 3, 2020.
• Transmitted to Interim Provost Michael Johnson on November 2, 2020 for information.

Resolution 2020-2021-4
Faculty Senate Bylaw Change
Student Committee Term on Graduate Council Committees

Whereas, the Graduate Appeals, Graduate Curriculum, and Graduate Policy committees specify that the graduate student representative will be appointed by the chair of the Graduate Council based on recommendations made by the President of the Graduate Student Association; and

Whereas, the graduate student is required to serve a three-year term; and

Whereas,it is impossible to know how long a graduate student will remain at UCF beyond the current year; therefore

Be it Resolved that the Bylaws for the Graduate Appeals, Graduate Curriculum, and Graduate Policy committees by modified as follows:

Graduate Appeals, Graduate Curriculum, and Graduate Policy Membership

Terms of service shall be three years, staggered, with the exception of the student member, who shall serve for one year.

• Approved by the Faculty Senate on September 3, 2020.
• Transmitted to Interim Provost Michael Johnson on November 2, 2020 for information.

Resolution 2020-2021-5
Spring Teaching Plan Considerations during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Whereas, by following CDC Guidelines the University of Central Florida has maintained a relatively low campus spread of COVID-19 during the fall semester, in part by allowing faculty that were able to teach remotely or with reduced face-to-face instruction to do so with minimal limitations upon that decision, resulting in a reduced number of face-to-face contact hours and to date, no evidence of classroom transmission of COVID-19 on campus; and

Whereas, the recent UCF Faculty Senate COVID-19 Campus Safety Survey shows that over 55% of Faculty that have been assigned face-to-face instruction modalities in the Spring semester are not comfortable coming to campus in the Spring semester, and that over 30% of faculty still do not know if they will be assigned face-to-face or remote instruction modalities for the Spring semester; and

Whereas,the UCF Provost announced on October 16th that UCF will be offering substantially more face-to-face instruction in the Spring semester than were offered in the fall semester; and

Whereas, given the rising cases of COVID-19 in the community, the push for more face to face classes will expand contact between faculty, staff, students and the community and potentially increase the spread of COVID-19 on campus; and

Whereas, the new process described on October 16th to allow faculty exemptions to face-to-face instruction has several problems, including only considering a subset of the preexisting conditions listed on the CDC website that are known risk factors or might be risk factors for more severe illness, an intrusive form to be signed by a Health Care provider that details multiple aspects of a faculty member’s or household member’s private health information and that may be in violation of standard HIPAA policies, a requirement for the faculty or family member with a pre-existing condition to have health insurance in order to see a medical provider and to complete the required paperwork by November 6th during a time when many medical practices have reduced capabilities to see patients for routine or consultation visits; and

Whereas,some faculty are prepared to make a choice to teach face-to-face in the spring semester despite potential COVID-19 risks; therefore

Be it Resolved that discussions about faculty concerns, course modality preferences and pedagogical effectiveness be a priority for supervisors and faculty; and

Be it Further Resolved that faculty should have the option to choose course modality preference as is required in order to allay fears, anxiety, and stress for themselves and their household members; and

Be it Further Resolved that the UCF COVID-19 exemption form include faculty or household members aged 65 and older and the expanded CDC guidelines, found on the CDC website, for adults and their household members of any age with particular health conditions that might be at an increased risk for severe illness; and

Be it Further Resolved that any University employee that either cannot get a timely appointment with their healthcare provider or is not provided health insurance by UCF, such as adjunct faculty or family members over the age of 65 who qualify for Medicare, may choose to have free access with the Student Health Center or UCF Health for a priority appointment to obtain verification of an exemption but will not be required to use the University Student Health Center or UCF Health; and

Be it Further Resolved that employees who decline to divulge personal health information for themselves or their household members to UCF shall not be placed under duress pertaining to their employment status; and

Be it Further Resolved that the UCF COVID-19 exemption form allow a faculty or household member to check and to certify that one of the conditions exists or is otherwise unable to obtain a Health Care Provider certification at no cost to them. This eliminates the potential violation of employee and household members’ HIPAA rights by surrendering their identity or private information to UCF.

• Approved by the Steering Committee on October 22, 2020.
• Approved by the Faculty Senate on October 29, 2020.
• Transmitted to Interim Provost Michael Johnson on November 2, 2020.
• Denied by Interim Provost Michael Johnson on November 30, 2020.

Resolution 2020-2021-6
Five-Year Review of Faculty-Facing Vice Presidents and Vice Provosts

Whereas, The University of Central Florida is committed to an open and transparent evaluation process for all faculty, staff, and administrators; and

Whereas, many faculty-facing vice presidents and vice provosts have not had an evaluation that included broad and meaningful input from all the stakeholders that the vice presidents and vice provosts interact with and over which they have supervision; and

Whereas,the current evaluation process does not provide adequate input from faculty and other relevant stakeholders into the initial or recurrent evaluation of many faculty-facing vice presidents and vice provosts; and

Whereas, UCF has a well-developed evaluation process for deans at five-year intervals, which includes specific steps such as the charging of an evaluation review committee led by a peer, the filling of the committee with designated categories of faculty, staff, student, and administrative members, campus communication of the evaluation, feedback of the dean’s performance provided by a survey, committee review of the feedback, and delivery of a report to the provost; therefore

Be it Resolved that the offices of the president and provost develop a procedure for five-year evaluation of all faculty-facing vice presidents and vice provosts that mirrors the review committee process developed for deans; and

Be it Further Resolved that faculty and all relevant stakeholders have the ability to provide feedback concerning the strengths and weaknesses of the vice presidents or vice provosts to this review committee; and

Be it Further Resolved that the president or provost shall use the committee report as advisory in nature to make a decision to renew or discontinue appointment of the vice president or vice provost under review.

• Approved by the Steering Committee on November 12, 2020.
• Approved by the Faculty Senate on November 19, 2020.
• Transmitted to Interim Provost Michael Johnson on December 15, 2020.
• Approved by Interim Provost Michael Johnson on December 17, 2020 noting, “I will work with Faculty Excellence to develop processes. They will not be exactly the same as the procedure for deans, but will share the characteristic of getting input from stakeholders across the university.”

Resolution 2020-2021-7
Library Funding

Resolution withdrawn by Budget and Administrative Committee.

Resolution 2020-2021-8
Faculty Senate Bylaw Change Parking, Transportation and Safety Committee

Whereas, for many years Parking and Transportation issues for faculty were significant and challenging; and

Whereas, substantial improvements in Parking, Transportation and Campus Safety have been achieved in the past ten years; and

Whereas, the Parking, Transportation and Safety committee is capable of doing its work as a joint committee with the University; and

Whereas, faculty time spent on operational committees is substantial and represents a key resource that should be used appropriately; therefore

BE IT RESOLVED that the Bylaws for the Faculty Constitution be amended to remove the Parking, Transportation and Safety Committee from a Senate Operational Committee and reinstate it as a Joint Committee without any change to its Duties and Responsibilities or Membership as follows:

1. Duties and Responsibilities.
   1. To evaluate and recommend policies and procedures concerning parking, transportation, and campus safety and security that will foster a mutually beneficial environment for faculty, staff, students, and visitors in the university community.
   2. To make recommendations to the Steering Committee of the Faculty Senate.
2. Membership.  
   The committee shall consist of at least one faculty member from each academic unit, the vice president for Administration and Finance or his/her designee (ex officio), and the UCF Police Chief or his/her designee (ex officio). Committee members shall be selected by the Committee on Committees. The committee chair and vice chair shall be elected annually by its membership at the first meeting of the committee after the new Faculty Senate is elected, normally in the early fall term. The chair of the Faculty Senate Parking, Transportation and Safety Committee or designee will serve as an ex officio member on the University Parking and Transportation Committee. Terms of service are two years, staggered.

• Approved by the Faculty Senate Steering Committee on April 8, 2021
• Approved by the Faculty Senate on April 21, 2021
• Transmitted to Interim Provost Michael Johnson for information only on April 27, 2021

Resolution 2020-2021-9
Eligibility Requirements for the Teaching Incentive Program

Resolution failed at Faculty Senate meeting on February 25, 2021.

Resolution 2020-2021-10
Centralizing the Budget for Staff and Faculty Accessibility Services

Whereas, the University of Central Florida (UCF) strives to provide a fully accessible and inclusive UCF campus for people with disabilities; and

Whereas, UCF has a requirement to ensure equitable access for staff and faculty with disabilities so that they have the ability to complete their assigned duties and may participate fully in the activities of their
department(s), unit(s), college(s), and the University; and

Whereas, UCF’s Office of Institutional Equity (OIE) has the primary responsibility of supporting equitable access through reasonable accommodations or otherwise for staff and faculty through an interactive process, but the burden of any funding required for access and accommodations is the responsibility of the department; and

Whereas, the current budget model unnecessarily creates a high cost to departments for having a diverse and inclusive staff and faculty; and

Whereas, the University’s 2016 Strategic Plan promises to “attract and cultivate exceptional and diverse faculty, students, and staff whose collective contributions strengthen us”: and

Whereas, UCF is an equal-opportunity institution that does not discriminate based on the basis of physical or mental disability as set forth in the Prohibition of Discrimination, Harassment and Related Interpersonal Violence Policy (No. 2-004.1) (Nondiscrimination Policy), and

Whereas, UCF is committed to providing an educational and working environment free from discrimination and harassment; and

Whereas, other universities have promoted accessibility and equity by establishing a centralized budget from which all units can draw from to pay for staff and faculty accommodations; and

Whereas, establishing a centralized budget from which all units can draw from the same, centralized budget to pay for staff and faculty accommodations would further UCF’s mission of attracting and cultivating a diverse staff and faculty; and

Whereas, OIE has the infrastructure for a centralized determination of accommodations without the centralized budget to financially support those accommodations; therefore

Be it Resolved that University departments should not be required to pay for reasonable accommodations for staff and faculty from their unit budgets; and

Be it Further Resolved that the University establish a centralized university budget operated by OIE, or some other central administrative unit, from which units can use funding to pay for staff and faculty
accommodations; and

Be it Further Resolved that the University promote centralized university budgetary resources in all job advertisements to strengthen hiring practices and incentivize hiring people with disabilities in order more fully to achieve the university’s goals of diversity and inclusion.

• Approved by the Faculty Senate Steering Committee on March 11, 2021.
• Approved by the Faculty Senate on March 25, 2021.
• Transmitted to Interim Provost Michael Johnson on April 5, 2021.
• Approved by Interim Provost Michael Johnson on May 18, 2021 stating, “The Office of Institutional Equity will manage a central pot of funds. This is the office that facilitates employee accommodation requests. In the coming year, Academic Affairs will provide nonrecurring funds. In future years, this cost will be built into the budget request submitted by this office as a central support unit.”

Resolution 2020-2021-11
Faculty Senate Bylaw Change Information Technology Committee Membership

Whereas, information technology (IT) support at UCF lags peer institutions in a variety of respects, including in the areas of system support, email services, research computing infrastructure and support, helpdesk hours, timeliness of response to user service requests, support for research and departmental websites, and third-party services available, among many others, and

Whereas, to address these issues, the Information Technology Resource Advisory Committee was elevated from a Joint Committee to an Operational Committee in 2017, to become the current Information Technology Committee, and

Whereas, many problems have been resolved or are now recognized, with improvements expected, but numerous issues remain unresolved, especially related to research, and

Whereas, there have been numerous informal meetings of faculty to attempt to solve their IT problems outside the structure of shared governance, in part because the current structure in the Senate lacks the expertise to address their needs, and with little attempt to ensure the broad input and balancing of needs demanded by shared governance, and

Whereas, the Senate’s usual one-per-college committee structure ensures that UCF’s IT-intensive researchers, working mostly in the largest colleges and in unrepresented research centers, have the least representation on the current IT committee, and

Whereas, the committee cannot effectively address research-related problems without relevant technical and research expertise on the committee, and

Whereas, the current college-based membership does not readily provide for such expertise, and

Whereas, there is a need for some other representation, including the voices of inexperienced users and students, UCF’s customers, and

Whereas, the Graduate and Research Information Technology group is a principal IT contact points for both faculty and students, and the Libraries are key consumers and producers of information technology resources, yet neither has an ex-officio representative on the current committee,

Be it therefore resolved that Section VI.4.2 of the Bylaws of the UCF Faculty Constitution be amended to replace:

The committee shall consist of at least one faculty member from each academic unit selected by the Committee on Committees, the vice president for Information Technologies and Resources or designee (ex officio), and the vice provost for Digital Learning or designee (ex officio).

with:

The committee shall consist of an Instructional Designer from the Center for Distributed Learning; a Librarian from the UCF Libraries; faculty whose work in the areas listed here requires high IT resource or support levels and who are engaged in teaching (two members, one teaching primarily online and one teaching primarily in the classroom), physical or non-human biological research (four members, including mathematical and information sciences), research on humans or human populations (four members, including commerce, social sciences, health, politics, and communication), other research and scholarship (one member, including arts, music, letters and other humanities); an undergraduate student; a graduate student engaged in research requiring high IT resource or support levels; two faculty whose use of and expertise in IT is not above the norm; the Vice President for Information Technology or designee (ex officio); the Vice Provost for Digital Learning or designee (ex officio); the Vice President for Research or designee (ex officio); the Dean of the Libraries or designee (ex officio). At least two of the faculty representatives must work primarily on campuses other than the Main Campus. Student representatives will be selected by the Student Government Association. Faculty will be selected by the Committee on Committees, which will attempt to achieve broad representation among colleges and departments, within the constraints of expertise, above.

• Approved by the Faculty Senate Steering Committee on April 8, 2021
• Approved by the Faculty Senate on April 21, 2021
• Transmitted to Interim Provost Michael Johnson for information only on April 27, 2021

Resolution 2020-2021-12
Faculty Salary Analyses Using Consistent Datasets

Whereas, Senate Resolution 2019-2020-17 established that the University of Central Florida administration in consultation with the Faculty Senate shall, on a regular basis, collect and analyze both tenure-track and non-tenure-earning faculty salary data across the system to determine the extent of 1) salary compression, 2) salary inversion, and 3) salary inequities based on gender/race/ethnicity at a regular periodic interval (years ending in 0 or 5) it does not establish a month that the analysis be presented to Senate; and

Whereas, the prior 2016 Faculty Salary Equity study was delivered to the new Senate in the month of October; and

Whereas, the current Faculty Salary analyses are inconsistent, with the Compression report utilizing 2014-2019 faculty salaries and Equity report utilizing 2020 faculty salaries; and

Whereas, 2020 CUPA faculty salary data is now available to make the Compression and Equity report use consistent faculty salary data; and

Whereas, due to limited UCF analysis resources and time available for the Equity and Compression reports numerous analyses were not completed and validating indices were not measured in the current reports; and

Whereas, the depths of potentially serious inequity and compression issues have surfaced but not been fully understood in both the Equity and Compression reports; and

Whereas, with increased prioritization by University Executive leadership of resources and with additional time the depths of these potentially serious inequity and compression issues may be better measured, validated, and understood; therefore

Be it Resolved that both the Equity and the Compression report be prioritized, updated with the 2020 CUPA faculty salary data and the relevant analyses be completed, level of normality reported, prediction methods implemented and resulting indices measured, and both reports be re-submitted at the same time to the Faculty Senate in an early Fall
2021 meeting.

• Approved by the Faculty Senate Steering Committee on March 11, 2021.
• Approved by the Faculty Senate on March 25, 2021.
• Transmitted to Interim Provost Michael Johnson on April 5, 2021.
• Denied by Interim Provost Michael Johnson on May 11, 2021.

Resolution 2020-2021-13
UCF Faculty Senate Supports the Free Exchange of Ideas on Campus and Therefore Opposes a Legislative Entitlement to Record Classes and Mandatory Survey

Whereas, the members of the Advisory Council of Faculty Senates recently unanimously approved a resolution supporting the free exchange of Ideas on campus and opposing a legislative entitlement to record classes and a mandatory survey, and

Whereas, protecting intellectual freedom and ensuring space for competing ideas and perspectives is vital to the integrity of our member institutions and the SUS as a whole, and

Whereas, the Board of Governors and Presidents of each of the State Universities have endorsed a clear statement on Free Expression to support and encourage full and open discourse and the robust exchange of ideas and perspectives on our respective campuses in 2019, and

Whereas, university campuses and classrooms are environments in which students and faculty openly share viewpoints and ideas alongside opposing viewpoints in a constructive way, and

Whereas, a recording entitlement will have the counterproductive effect of limiting the range of viewpoints expressed in class, because students and faculty will choose not to experiment with new ideas, discuss sensitive or controversial issues, or engage in what they fear will be disfavored speech, when they understand that their speech might be made permanently available without their consent, and potentially out of context, on the internet or in others’ hands, and

Whereas, a right to record and potentially publish classroom activities without consent may violate the intellectual property rights of individual faculty, institutions, and even publishers who make copyrighted material available for instructional use, thus inviting litigation, and

Whereas, there are legitimate reasons to record classes, but it is a highly individualized decision that should be made between students, faculty, and universities in order to account for the pedagogical, privacy, intellectual property, and free speech interests of others in the space, and

Whereas, the ability to recruit and retain faculty in the SUS will be substantially harmed by a student entitlement to record class, reducing the competitiveness of our institutions and threatening the SUS’s recent, hard-won gains in its national ranking, and

Whereas, a legislatively imposed intellectual diversity survey, even if administered well, would create many of the same negative impacts as a recording entitlement—chilling speech, impeding faculty recruitment and retention, and threatening our national standing, therefore

BE IT RESOLVED that UCF Faculty Senate supports the free exchange of ideas that is at the center of the academic experience, and for that reason, strongly opposes a legislative entitlement to record classes and a legislatively mandated intellectual diversity survey. Both mandates will undermine learning, ideological diversity, faculty recruitment, and university rankings, and have the unintended effect of shielding students from viewpoints that make them uncomfortable. We recommit ourselves to hearing all voices on campus and hosting constitutionally protected speech even when it is uncomfortable. Ensuring open access to ideas on campus is the best way to protect the values of free expression and intellectual
diversity that undergird higher education.

• Approved by the Faculty Senate Steering Committee on March 11, 2021.
• Approved by the Faculty Senate on March 25, 2021.
• Transmitted to Interim Provost Michael Johnson for information only on April 5, 2021.