University Council Minutes

04/23/2014 03:30 PM - Tate Theater, Tate Student Center
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The University Council met on April 23, 2014 in the Tate Theater. President Jere Morehead called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m.

The minutes of the March 26, 2014 meeting were approved as distributed.

President Morehead's report to the Council included the following remarks:

  • President Morehead opened his remarks by acknowledging recent successful events on campus that have occurred such as the Honors Week celebration and the Office of the Vice President for Research-sponsored Thinc.Week at UGA.
  • Sarah Mirza, a Spanish and Geography major, has been awarded the 2014 Harry S. Truman Scholarship. She is the 19th UGA recipient of this award. The President congratulated Sarah on this accomplishment.
  • Congratulations was also extended by the President to several UGA athletic teams, including the UGA Women's Swimming and Diving team and the UGA Women's Equestrian team, both of which recently won national championships. The UGA Women's Tennis team was also congratulated for winning the SEC tournament.
  • The President announced that a record number of applications have been received by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. The final days of recruitment for the class of Fall 2014 are now underway. The President congratulated Nancy McDuff and the Undergraduate Admissions staff for their fine work.
  • The President called the Council's attention to several student events on campus. The Earth Week four day celebration is currently occurring on campus. As well, the recent Relay for Life rally at the Ramsey Center raised over $200,000. The President stated that he takes great pride in this tremendous work accomplished by students.
  • The President took a moment to recognize the three newly-elected members of the Student Government Association: Drew Jacoby, president; Jim Thompson, vice president; Brittany Arnold, treasurer. The President stated he looks forward to working with the new SGA leadership in the coming year.
  • Dr. Gregory Robinson, a Foundation Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, has been named the 2014 recipient of the Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award.
  • A $3.6 million NIH award has been received as the result of a UGA/Emory partnership in the area of influenza research. Dr. Ralph Tripp of the College of Veterinary Medicine is the project leader, along with co-project leader Dr. Mark Thompkins. The President stated that partnerships such as these are important to UGA and represents that UGA is committed to fostering relationships between institutions like Emory and Georgia Tech.
  • Kelly Kerner has been named as the new Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations. He will assume that role on July 1 after the retirement of Tom Landrum.
  • Dr. Ben Ayers has been named the new dean of the Terry College of Business. The President took a moment to express his profound appreciation to Charles Knapp for returning to serve as interim dean of the Terry College. President Morehead thanked President Emeritus Knapp for his extraordinary leadership in that role and for serving as a mentor to him during his first year as UGA President.
  • The President mentioned a couple of important items that emerged from the recent Board of Regents meeting. The Board approved a new tuition rate for UGA. The President stated that he and the Provost are using all of their efforts to ensure that students continue to have a positive academic experience on campus. Last week, several new initiatives that will be moving forward on the student learning front were announced. These include adding sections to high demand courses, having more advisors out working with first year and transfer students, focusing more on career opportunities, building the undergraduate research program with new stipends and scholarships, operating the Miller Learning Center 24 hours a day, raising the graduate assistant stipend rates for next year, and rolling out new online degree programs and courses. The President's top priority remains improving the academic experience at UGA. He commended Provost Whitten in developing these bold new initiatives.
  • The President restated his commitment to making UGA affordable for students. He reminded Council members that residence and dining hall fees will be frozen next year. Fees for parking, campus transit, and health services will remain the same next year as well. In fact, student fees will increase next year less than 1%. The entire increase is related to the new ConnectUGA system, which is driving the new Athena system. Athena has successfully registered over 10,000 students for the Fall semester since its launch. On balance, the President stated that he believes UGA will continue to compare favorably with our peer institutions in terms of affordability.
  • The Board of Regents also approved a merit-based salary pool for faculty and staff. This was the President's top priority this year. Those increases will go into effect on July 1. The President thanked the Board of Regents and the Chancellor for their efforts in this area.
  • The President thanked Governor Deal and the General Assembly for their support of UGA's initiatives on the capital front. The Science Learning Center's construction is expected to get underway this summer as well as additions and renovations to Baldwin Hall and facilities that have been approved for the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at Athens, Tifton, and Griffin.
  • The new retirees reception will take place on April 24 at 4:00 p.m. at the Georgia Center.
  • A candlelight memorial service will be held on April 29 at 7:00 p.m. outside the Chapel to honor those UGA faculty, staff, and students who have passed away in the last year.
  • Spring semester will conclude with Commencement on Friday, May 9. U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson will be the speaker at the undergraduate ceremony which will be held at 7:00 p.m. at Sanford Stadium. At the graduate ceremony that morning, an honorary degree will be awarded to federal judge Horace Ward.
  • Upon concluding his report to the Council, the President took a moment to recognize the service of University Council parliamentarian Dr. Charles Gruner, who recently informed the President that he would be stepping down from that role this year. The President issued a presidential proclamation to Dr. Gruner celebrating all of the great work he has done for the Council in his role as parliamentarian. A framed copy of the proclamation was then presented to Dr. Gruner.

The floor was then opened for the following reports:

The following Action Items were presented to the Council for consideration:

There being no old or new business, the Council adjourned at 5:13 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Dr. Jan Hathcote, Registrar
Secretary to University Council



University Council Roster

Abbott, Jennifer

Gordon, Robert

Nadenicek, Daniel

Allen, Sheila

Graff, Jennifer

Nairn, Joe

Alworth, Leanne

Griffin, Michele

Nesbit, Ryan

Anderson, Mark

Grossman, Barbara

Oie, Svein

Arabnia, Hamid

Hall, Jori

Orpinas, Pamela

Ashley, Louise

Harrison, Mark

Owsiak, Andy

Atkinson, Eric

Harshman, Melissa

Pagnattaro, Marisa

Azadi, Parastoo

Hathcote, Jan

Pendergrass, Jan

Bailey, Deryl

Haynes, Audrey

Peterson, Thomas

Bayer, Lisa

Hazinski, David

Popik, Vladimir

Becker, Lee

Heiss, Christian

Quesada, Margaret

Bierema, Laura

Henry, Gerald

Riley, David

Bivins, Danny

James, Jennifer

Roman, Paul

Boyhan, George

Jolly, Laura

Rosemond, Amy

Buntin, David

Jones, Betty

Rossbacher, Brigitte

Burd, Adrian

Jutras, Peter

Sarasvati, Bala

Cahoon, Lynn

Kaplan, Betina

Sarmiento, Fausto

Carswell, Andy

Keadle, Tim

Sellers, Holly

Chepyator-Thomson, Rose

Keen, Brenda

Shipley, David

Chumbler, Neale

Kennedy, Craig

Smalley, Tim

Coker, Vickie

Kirin, Asen

Smith, Amanda

Colquitt, Jason

Lai, Ming-Jun

Spooner, David

Cramond, Bonnie

Lamb, Taylor

Stabb, Eric

Daniel, Jerry

Lee, Kyunghwa

Starai, Vincent

Davis, Charles

Leonard, Elizabeth Weeks

Stephens, Amanda

Dorfman, Jeff

Lewis, Michael

Stooksbury, David

Dotts, Brian

Lindstrom, Jennifer

Taha, Thiab

Dove, Robert

Luken, Emily

Tessman, Brock

Eberle, Roxanne

Mativo, John

Tollner, Bill

Ellis, Angela

Mauricio, Rodney

Trap, Diane

Foretschel, Mark

Maynard, John

Tschepikow, Kyle

Frum, Jennifer

McDonald, William

Vandenberg, Robert

Gallagher, Megan

McEwen, Dee Dee

Wallinga, Charlotte

Gandhi, Kamal

McNulty, Tom

Weber, Brett

Giraudo, Silvia

Medine, Carolyn

Wesolowski, Brian

Gittleman, John

Meller, Abbey

Whitten, Pamela

Glass, Anne

Melnik, Beth

Wilder, Lance

Goodhue, Dale

Moore, Mary

Williams, Phillip

Gordon, Leslie

Morehead, Jere

Williams-Woodward, Jean

Morse, Jack

Wilson, Victor

 

Zhao Yiping







Represented by Proxy

Angle, J. Scott

Baginski, Steve

Chapman, Sue

Darbisi, Carolina

Dorsey, Alan

Filipov, Nikolay

Garfinkel, David

Infante, Carlos

Kalivoda, Karen

Knapp, Charles

Laufersweiler, Austin

Lee, David

Matthews, Paul

McDuff, Nancy

Naeher, Luke

Potter, William

Poulsen, Annette

Roberts, Andrew

Schuster, Barbara

Shelley, Clay

Wilson, Jim

 

Please contact Neal Lawson at neal@uga.edu if you require these minutes in an alternative format.