University Council Minutes

03/15/2023 03:30 PM - Tate Theater, Tate Student Center
View Related Documents Online The University Council met on March 15, 2023, in the Tate Theater. A quorum being present, President Jere Morehead called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. Parliamentarian Usha Rodrigues provided remarks regarding the voting and debate procedures for the meeting to the Council.
 
As the first order of business, the president asked for a motion to approve the minutes of the November 30, 2022, meeting. A motion to approve the minutes was made by Stephen Harvey and was seconded by David Okech. A motion was made by Scott Nelson to amend the minutes that was not approved. A vote was then called, and the minutes were approved.
 
President Morehead then delivered his report to the Council:
  • The president began his report by stating that he hoped faculty and students enjoyed Spring Break and that staff members enjoyed the Staff Appreciation Event that took place in the Tate Student Center.
  • The president then updated Council members on several recent announcements:
    • Vice President for Student Affairs Victor Wilson has announced his retirement as of September 30 of this year. He has served as Vice President for Student Affairs for the past 10 years but has served his alma mater in a number of roles over the last 40 plus years. To solidify his legacy on the UGA campus, the president announced a campaign to name the Memorial Hall Ballroom in his honor. Senior Vice Provost Michelle Cook has been named the next Vice President for Student Affairs.
    • Kevin Abernethy has been named the new Vice President for Government Relations.
    • Dr. Alan Dorsey will be returning to the faculty after leading the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences as dean since 2012. Dr. Anna Stenport, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Rochester Institute of Technology, has been named the next dean of the Franklin College. She will join the UGA faculty as the University of Georgia Athletic Association Professor in Communication Studies on April 1 and will assume the role of dean on June 1.
    • Dr. Dan Silk, Chief of the UGA Police Department, has been named Associate Vice President for Public Safety effective March 1.
    • Kelly Kerner, Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations, will step down at the end of March to become the chief philanthropy officer of Piedmont Health System. He has made significant contributions to the university during his time at UGA, including his leadership of the Commit to Georgia campaign, which was the largest fundraising initiative in the university’s history and helped secure over 3,600 scholarships, nearly 100 endowed professorships, and significant support for new and renovated facilities. Jill Walton will serve as interim Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations beginning April 1.
  • The president highlighted several measures from this year’s State of the University Address for the Council:
    • Investing in classroom renovations, faculty training, and student programming in support of the Active Learning Initiative.
    • Continuing to build the strength of faculty to drive discoveries that improve the world.
    • Launching a Field Study Fellows Program in June to help faculty develop a suite of new field study programs.
    • Committing an additional $1 million to support and expand experiential learning scholarships.
    • Launching the new Connect and Complete program to assist students experiencing academic difficulties and at risk of early withdrawal.
    • Piloting a project to assist third- and fourth-year students who are in good academic standing but who face growing financial challenges.
    • Developing the one-stop shop this spring and summer, with a launch planned by fall 2023 to consolidate key services utilized by students.
    • Continuing to recruit and retain excellent staff by investing another $200,000 in the Engage & Learn program to address critical workforce and development needs across the campus.
    • Launching the Innovation District’s newest initiative, the UGA Industry Ambassador Program to further strengthen industry engagement.
  • The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs named the University of Georgia a top producer of Fulbright students, marking the fifth time in 11 years that the university has received this recognition.
  • UGA recently ranked number 2 among U.S. universities sending new products to market. This is the seventh straight year that UGA has been among the top two in this category.
  • UGA was also recognized once again as the top military friendly tier 1 research university.
  • Track and field student athletes had a strong showing in the NCAA nationals that took place in Arizona. The men’s team recorded their best finish in program history, finishing as the national champion runner-up, while the women’s team secured their second fifth place finish in three years.
  • The president congratulated Coach Abe and the Women’s Basketball team for making the NCAA tournament.
  • The Georgia General Assembly remains in session, and the House and Senate are working on a number of priorities that affect UGA. The governor’s recommended budget includes several items that are top priorities for the University of Georgia, including:
    • $2,000 cost of living raises for all full-time, benefit-eligible state employees.
    • Funding to support growing health care costs.
    • Additional support for the Hope Scholarship program.
    • Equipment funding for Phase I and construction funding for Phase II of the Science and Ag Hill Modernization project.
    • Design, construction, and equipment funding for Phase I of the Poultry Science Complex renovation.
    • The president stated that advocating for pay increases will remain his top priority this legislative session.
  • Admissions decisions for the fall 2023 class will be released soon, and the president stated he looked forward to sharing more about what is shaping up to be another strong class at the next Council meeting.
  • This concluded the president’s report.
 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 meeting adjourned at 4:48 p.m.
 
Respectfully submitted,

Fiona Liken, Registrar
Secretary to University Council

 
Council Member Name Name of Substitute
Addison, Donald  
Altizer, Sonia (Ex-Officio)  
Andrews, Tessa  
Archuleta, Kristy  
Atkins, Rebecca  
Auer, Matthew (Ex-Officio)  
Ayers, Benjamin (Ex-Officio)  
Barnett, Kent  
Barnett, Mason Cruz Willis
Bartges, Joe  
Beer, Jenay  
Biesecker, Barbara  
Birgisson, Bjorn  
Blankenship, Sara Matthew Seivert
Boudreau, Maric  
Bourlai, Thirimachos Haijian Sun
Bouwman, Kimberley  
Branan, Trisha  
Britton, Benjamin  
Brocato, John  
Burg, Karen (Ex-Officio)  
Cain, Taylor  
Camus, Al  
Carlson Welch, Annie Shari Crandall
Carpenter, Tina  
Carters, Rayna  
Cherkinsky, Alexander  
Chess, Shira  
Christ, Margaret  
Colson, Gregory  
Cook, Michelle  
Cotterell, Michael  
Cullen, Thomas  
Darley, Andrew  
Davis, Brad  
Davis, Marsha (Ex-Officio) Erin Lipp
DeMaria, Don  
DeVault, Travis  
Dorsey, Alan (Ex-Officio)  
Duberstein, Kylee  
Ehlers, Benjamin  
Emerson, Kerstin  
Farmer, Mark  
Ferreira, Susana Berna Karali
Fu, Joseph  
Fuhrman, Nick Joseph Dahlen
Gerlach, Chris  
Glenn, Travis  
Gottdenker, Nicole  
Graham, Toby (Ex-Officio)  
Greene, Dale (Ex-Officio)  
Grey, Timothy  
Gueneli, Berna Alexander Sager
Hall, Cassandra  
Halper, Edward  
Hammock, Alexandra  
Hanawalt, Christina  
Harvey, Stephen  
Hembree, Savannah (Ex-Officio)  
Henriott, Bryson (Ex-Officio) Emily Prosser
Herndon, Keith  
Hirt, Sonia  
Holladay, Steven  
Hong, Philip (Ex-Officio)  
Hu, Jack (Ex-Officio)  
Injaian, Allison Lewis Bartlett
Jantzi, Sarah Hai Pan
Ji, Pengsheng  
Jones, Diann  
Jones, Shana  
Jones, Stephanie  
Jones, Tom  
Ke, Yuan  
Kempski, Jeffrey  
Lakuriqi, Enkeleida  
Leach, Erin  
Leahy, Brendan  
Leo, Donald  
Liken, Fiona  
Lindgren, Kate Claire Myers
Little, Laura  
Lollis, Mary Nichols  
Madonna, Anthony  
Maillo-Pozo, Sharina  
Malladi, Anish  
Manning, Frank  
Markewitz, Daniel  
Marotta, Anthony  
Martin-Williams, Jean Skip Taylor
Mason, Charlotte  
Mason, William  
Matthews, Paul  
McBride, Walt  
Medeiros, Patricia  
Meskin, Aaron  
Miller, Kristen  
Mojock, Christopher Ginny Frederick
Moore, Myra  
Morrison, Alison  
Mouilso, Emily  
Muszynski, Artur  
Navara, Kristen  
Nelson, Scott  
Nesbit, Ryan (Ex-Officio) James Shore
Netter, Jeff Annette Poulsen
Nolan, Lisa (Ex-Officio) Jesse Hostetter
Nuss, Michelle (Ex-Officio) Clive Slaughter
Okech, David  
Pagnattaro, Marisa (Ex-Officio)  
Palmer, Chadwick  
Park, Andrew  
Peduzzi, Alicia  
Peroni, John  
Perren, Samuel  
Peterson, Thomas  
Place, Nick (Ex-Officio) Josef Broder
Poland, Mary  
Poproski, Ruth  
Poulson, Rebecca  
Pringle, Catherine  
Reed, Rachel  
Renwick, Margaret  
Renzi-Hammond, Lisa  
Rice, Jennifer  
Roberts, Jessica  
Rodgers, Lauren  
Rogers, Toni  
Royer, Angie  
Rutledge, Peter B. "Bo" (Ex-Officio)  
Saleh, Eman  
Samples, Tim  
Santesso, Esra  
Sartorato, Matt Marena Fleming
Severns, Paul  
Sheagley, Geoffrey  
Shelton, Kisha  
Shipley, David  
Singh, Rakesh  
Smith, Kelly (Ex-Officio)  
Smolenski, Craig  
Smolko, Timothy  
Spangler, Denise (Ex-Officio)  
Sperling, Lisa  
St. Pierre, Elizabeth  
Stone, Rebecca  
Taha, Thiab  
Templin, Dawson  
Tucker, Bram  
Turner, Pamela  
Walcott, Ron (Ex-Officio) Anne Shaffer
Watson, Richard  
Westpheling, Janet  
White, Elizabeth  
Wieling, Elizabeth  
Wilson, Victor (Ex-Officio)  
Wolf, Montgomery  
Woods, Beth  
Worthy, Sheri  
Wright, Bradley  
Wurzburg, Elizabeth  
Xiao, Qian  
Yao, Angela  
Zhao, Dehai  
Zhen, Chen Mateusz Filipski
Zheng, George   
Zvonkovic, Anisa (Ex-Officio) Allisen Penn
   

Voting Record of March 15, 2023, Meeting