University Council Minutes

04/23/2025 03:30 PM - Tate Theater, Tate Student Center

View Related Documents Online The University Council met on April 23, 2025, for its final meeting of the 2024-2025 academic year. A quorum being present, President Morehead called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. and called on Parliamentarian Usha Rodrigues to provide brief remarks regarding voting and debate.
 
As the first order of business, a motion to approve the minutes of the March 19, 2025, meeting was made by David Okech and seconded by Susan Sanchez. A vote was called, and the minutes were approved.
 
President Morehead then delivered his report to the Council:

• The President began his report by thanking Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Jeanette Taylor for her service to the University. Dr. Taylor has been named Vice President for Faculty Development and Advancement at Florida State University, effective June 2.
• The President also thanked Qiana Wilson, Director of the Equal Opportunity Office and UGA’s Title IX Coordinator. She will serve as senior counsel at the Savannah River National Laboratory and will depart UGA on May 2.
• The President addressed the situation involving international students. The University is aware that several international students on campus have had their student immigration status affected by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The University continues to provide resources and support to these students through the Office of Global Engagement, among other offices. OGE staff members are trained professionals with expertise in these matters and will provide the necessary resources and guidance for students in these very difficult, but also very private, matters.
• Honors Week was celebrated a few weeks ago. This is an annual event where the campus honors exceptional faculty, staff, students, and alumni for their outstanding work during the past year.
• The 26^th annual CURO Symposium was held earlier in April. A record number of over 700 undergraduate students presented their research in collaboration with over 300 faculty members.
• Three UGA students recently earned the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. This is the highest award of its type in the fields of mathematics, engineering, and natural sciences.
• UGA student Sadie Bengs was one of only 54 undergraduates nationally to earn the prestigious Truman Scholarship. Sadie is UGA’s 23rd Truman Scholar.
• The President congratulated the UGA equestrian team on winning the national championship last week in Ocala, Florida.This was the equestrian team’s eighth national title and second in five years.
• The President also congratulated the UGA women’s tennis team, which claimed its 11th SEC championship last weekend.
• On March 27, the University of Georgia’s annual giving day, Dawg Day of Giving, set a single-day record for the fourth year in a row with over 13,000 donations totaling $5.5 million. The generous support resulted in gifts for each of UGA’s colleges and schools.
• The Georgia General Assembly has concluded this year’s legislative session, and several measures were approved that will impact UGA, but which are still subject to the Governor’s final review and consideration.
  • The amended FY25 budget includes $20 million in major repair and rehabilitation funds.
  • The FY26 budget includes construction funds for Phase 3 of the Science and Ag Hill Modernization project as well as design funding for Phase 4 of this multi-year effort.
  • Several smaller capital projects across the University were funded this year as well.
  • The President thanked the Governor, the General Assembly, the Chancellor, and the Board of Regents for their strong support of the University of Georgia during this year’s legislative session.
• Reading Day is next week, and then finals begin followed by Spring Commencement.
• Commencement exercises will begin at Stegeman Coliseum on Thursday, May 8, for those earning graduate degrees. The undergraduate ceremony will take place on Friday, May 9, in Sanford Stadium. Dr. Paige Carmichael, Professor of Veterinary Pathology, Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor, and University Professor, will deliver the graduate commencement address. Mr. Jarryd Wallace, UGA alumnus, four-time Paralympian, and two-time bronze medal winner will serve as the undergraduate commencement speaker. The President thanked Council members for the work they accomplished to help students reach this point in their educational careers and for all they do each day to serve students across campus.
• Before closing, the President addressed the proposals related to targeted salary adjustments that were generated by the Human Resources Committee and approved by the Council on March 19. The President stated that after careful consideration he vetoed the proposals and presented his rationale for this decision to the Chair of the Executive Committee and the Secretary of University Council. A copy of the veto message is available on the University Council website. The President stated he vetoed the proposals for several reasons.The proposals provide no factual basis for the institution to launch what, in essence, would amount to a campus-wide review touching nearly every unit across the University. The UGA Equal Opportunity Office currently has no pending cases regarding discrimination on the basis of race or gender in the allocation of targeted salary adjustments. Within each of its proposals, the Human Resources Committee states explicitly that its goal is to determine whether the University of Georgia’s targeted salary adjustments were distributed evenly with respect to race and gender. However, the University of Georgia’s targeted salary adjustments are designed to award meritorious performance while addressing salary inversion and compression. Any consideration of race or gender in salary adjustment decisions would violate numerous federal and state laws, as well as Board of Regents policy. The President stated he is also concerned about the significant human resource costs associated with the proposals. To execute the proposals, numerous staff members in University Human Resources would be diverted from their normal duties at the same time they continue to support faculty, staff, and students affected by grant postponements and cancellations, in addition to their work to launch the new professional development program for UGA staff members. Despite these objections, the President stated he is sensitive to the desire of the proposals’ sponsors to ensure that targeted salary adjustments at the institution are awarded consistently and fairly. To that end, the President has asked University Human Resources, EOO, and Internal Auditing Division to undertake a sampling exercise to evaluate academic and administrative units’ adherence to salary adjustment guidelines. The review will encompass targeted salary adjustments administered during the past five fiscal years. Human Resources, EOO, and Internal Auditing have been requested to keep the Human Resources Committee informed as they execute this assignment.
• This concluded the President’s report.

 
The floor was then opened for the following reports:

• Executive Committee, presented by Chair Eric Rubenstein
• Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics, presented by Chair Derrick Lemons
• USG Faculty Council, presented by USG Faculty Council Representative Derrick Lemons
• University Curriculum Committee, presented by Chair Susan Sanchez
• Staff Council, presented by President Rebecca Mayo
• Student Government Association, presented by Rock Rogers and John Neely
• Graduate Student Association, presented by President Will Walker

 
The following action items were presented to the Council for consideration:

• Susan Sanchez, chair of the University Curriculum Committee, presented the following proposals:
  • Proposal for a new Minor in Infectious Diseases. A vote was called, and the proposal was approved.
  • Proposal to terminate the Graduate Certificate in Creativity and Innovation. A vote was called, and the proposal was approved.
  • Proposal for an Undergraduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence – Business. A vote was called, and the proposal was approved.
• Barbara Biesecker, chair of the Committee on Statutes, Bylaws, and Committees, presented the following proposal:
  • Second Reading: Proposed changes to the University Statutes. Following discussion, a vote was called, and the proposal was approved.

There being no old or new business, the meeting adjourned at 4:22 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Fiona Liken, Registrar
Secretary to University Council

 

University Council Member	Substitute
Abernathy, Rylie
Ainsworth, Scott
Anderson, Mumbi
Atkinson, Amber	Duepa, Prince
Auer, Matthew (Ex-Officio)
Ayers, Benjamin (Ex-Officio)
Bacon Talati, Virginia
Bankert, Alexa	Maltese, John
Bar-Peled, Maor
Barnes, Brittany
Beasley, Sophia
Bendle, Neil
Beyette, Fred
Biesecker, Barbara
Bishop, Matthew
Bolding, Chad	Kanieski da Silva, Bruno
Bolshoy, Daniel
Bourlai, Thirimachos
Brocato, John
Buck, Mackenzie
Cagliani, Rachel	Bengs, Mercedes
Campbell, Julie
Campbell, Marcia
Capuozzo, Bob
Carlson Welch, Annie	Fishman, Amanda
Cartwright, Katherine
Chapman, Jennifer
Chapman, Nathan
Cohen, Susan
Colson, Gregory	Campbell, Ben
Cook, Michelle (Ex-Officio)
Coolong, Timothy
Cotterell, Michael
Coverdill, Jim
Crandall, Shari
Davis, Charles (Ex-Officio)	Hamilton, John
Davis, Marsha (Ex-Officio)	Lipp, Erin
Day, Gregory
Dumas, Denis
Dunn, Laurel
Durham, Stephan (Ex-Officio)	Awuah-Baffour, Robert
Ehlers, Benjamin
Eimers, Jennifer
Estep, Jason
Eustace, Joe
Farmer Ford, Kelly
Fitt, William
Fuhrman, Nick
Fulbright, Patrick
Fusco, Rachel
Fusillo, Lisa
Gallagher, Holly
Gottdenker, Nicole
Gowda, Grace
Graham, Toby (Ex-Officio)
Grey, Timothy
Gueneli, Berna
Halper, Edward
Hamilton-Jones, Bethany
Hanawalt, Christina
Harman, Ruth
Healey, Lauren
Heiss, Christian	Mulamoottil, Varughese
Hill, Janette
Hirt, Sonia (Ex-Officio)
Holladay, Steven
Hong, Philip (Ex-Officio)
Housley, Lauren
Howe, Chad
Hu, Jack (Ex-Officio)
Huang, Ching-Yu
Hunt, Brendan
Hunter, Mark (Ex-Officio)
Jackson, Angel
Jackson, Chandra
Jackson, Dailey
Johnson, Hunter
Jones, Stacy
Jones, Tom
Kaixiong, Calvin
Katiyar, Samiksha
King, Christopher (Ex-Officio)
Kinsler, Joshua
Klein, Jared
Krause, George
Krunkosky, Thomas
Kurup, Samarchith
Lakuriqi, Enkeleida
Lam, Son
Landers-Potts, Melissa
Landrum, Kim
Lemons, Derrick
Levine, Oliver
Leyting, Jennifer
Liken, Fiona (Ex-Officio)
Lough, Kyser
Makaev, Sergei (Ex-Officio)
Malladi, Anish
Mandal, Abhyuday
Marshall, Michael
Masciadri, Milton
Mason, Charlotte
Mastrovita, Mandy
Mayo, Rebecca (Ex-Officio)
Medlock, Amy
Mishra, Abhinav
Morehead, Jere (Ex-Officio)
Morris, Kacy
Mowbray, Orion
Mundy, Mathew
Myers, Michael
Naeher, Luke
Nesbit, Ryan (Ex-Officio)	Shore, James
Nolan, Lisa (Ex-Officio)
Okech, David
Orlando, Ron
Pagnattaro, Marisa (Ex-Officio)
Palmer, Chadwick
Peterson, Thomas
Petty, Jeffrey Todd (Ex-Officio)
Place, Nick (Ex-Officio)
Pollard, Amy
Raju, Dona
Read, Glenna
Redmon, Melissa
Reeves, Nancee
Resutek, Robert
Rice, Jennifer
Roberts-Galbraith, Rachel
Rodrigues, Usha	Beck, Randy
Rogers, Rock (Ex-Officio)
Rogers, Toni
Royer, Angie
Rubenstein, Eric
Saldanha, Terence
Sanchez, Susan
Santesso, Esra
Sawyer, Laura
Saylor, Elizabeth
Schey, Ryan
Schirmer, Trenton
Seagraves, Brian	Do, Duc
Sen, Rik
Sharma, Suraj
Shelton, Braden	Lent, Turner
Shelton, Robin
Sial, Ashfaq
Sims, Cynthia
Smith, Demetrius
Smith, Kelly (Ex-Officio)
Smith, Sara
Spangler, Denise (Ex-Officio)	Delgado-Romero, Edward
Sperling, Lisa
Sperr, Ed	Summerlin, Donald
St. Pierre, Elizabeth
Standifer, Alton
Standifer, Brittany
Stanton, James	Meichner, Kristina
Stelzleni, Alexander
Stenport, Anna (Ex-Officio)
Stevens, William
Stewart, Lawton
Stooksbury, David
Sullivan, Spencer
Symons, Avery
Tackett, Randall
Tanner, Susan
Templeman, Kellie
Timian, Viki
Tolley, Beth
Turner, Pamela	Goetz, Joseph
Urbauer, Jeff
Van Rees, Charles	Park, Andrew
Walcott, Ron (Ex-Officio)
Walker, Jennifer	O'Donnell, Jason
Walker, William (Ex-Officio)
Winter, Amy
Woods, Chip
Xiong, May
Yager, Patricia
Yahyaoui Azami, Hind
Zhang, Hui
Zhao, Dehai
Zhen, Chen
Zvonkovic, Anisa (Ex-Officio)

Voting Record of April 23, 2025, Meeting