University Council Minutes

09/24/2025 03:30 PM - Tate Theater, Tate Student Center

View Related Documents Online The University Council met on September 24, 2025, for its first meeting of the 2025-2026 academic year. A quorum being present, President Jere Morehead called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m.
 
President Morehead called on Parliamentarian Randy Beck to provide remarks to members regarding the procedures for voting and debate.
 
As the first order of business, a motion to approve the minutes of the April 23, 2025, meeting was made by Brian Seagraves and seconded by Susan Cohen. A vote was called, and the minutes were approved.
 
President Morehead then delivered his report to the Council:

• The President began his report by welcoming new and continuing members to University Council and stated that he looks forward to working with the Council during the academic year.
• The President then recognized those who help to facilitate University Council meetings: Derrick Lemons, who serves as chair of the University Council Executive Committee; Fiona Liken, who serves as Secretary of the Council; and Randy Beck, who is serving as Parliamentarian. Professor Beck replaced Usha Rodrigues who stepped down as Parliamentarian last spring following her appointment as Dean of the Law School. The President thanked everyone for their service in these Council leadership roles.
• The President congratulated several senior administrators on their recent appointments. Dr. Benjamin Ayers is serving as the University’s new Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost after serving as Dean of the Terry College of Business for 11 years. Dr. Stacy Jones is serving as the new Vice President for Public Service and Outreach. Dr. Jones previously served as Associate Vice President for Public Service and Outreach and Director of the Georgia Center for Continuing Education and Hotel. Dr. Santanu Chatterjee is serving as Interim Dean of the Terry College of Business.
• The President additionally thanked Vice President for Government Relations Kevin Abernethy for his outstanding service. He has decided to resume his legal career with a new role at the law firm Miller & Martin, where he also will be involved in government practice. He will be replaced by Associate Vice President Blake Raulerson.
• Last month, the University welcomed an outstanding class of 6,200 first-year students selected from a competitive applicant pool of nearly 48,000 applicants. The class of 2029 enrolled with an average high school GPA of 4.17, marking the ninth consecutive year that the average GPA of entering students exceeds 4.0. This year’s incoming first-year students boast an average ACT score of 31 and an average SAT score of 1356, and the class includes 215 Georgia valedictorians and salutatorians. These first-year students represent 142 out of Georgia’s 159 counties as well as 45 states and 15 countries.
• UGA’s six-year graduation rate has now reached 90 percent, making UGA one of nine public universities in the nation to achieve this milestone.
• For the tenth consecutive year, U.S. News has ranked UGA in the top 20 among the nation's best public universities. Forbes also ranked UGA number 18 on its list of top public universities, up one spot from last year.
• Niche has awarded UGA its highest designation, an overall grade of A+. UGA broke into their top 10 list of best public universities nationally for the first time.
• UGA has experienced yet another record-breaking year in fundraising with total giving surpassing $300 million.
• Construction is underway on new campus facilities, including a First-year Residence Hall on Lumpkin Street and a Dining, Learning, and Well-being Center in the heart of campus, both scheduled to open next fall.
• Last month, a new parking deck opened on West Campus to better serve students and employees.  
• The University also continues to modernize facilities comprising Science and Ag Hill, where hundreds of thousands of square feet of laboratories and classrooms are being updated.
• On the athletic front, completion of a new Track and Field Complex on South Milledge Avenue is expected in January.
• The President provided an update on the School of Medicine. The new Medical Education and Research Building is set for completion in December 2026. The School of Medicine also recently underwent a site visit by the medical school accrediting agency, LCME. As part of this process, a team from LCME spent two days at the Health Sciences campus.
• In May, the Board of Regents authorized UGA to establish its own independent School of Nursing, and Provost Ayers’ office is leading this effort. The search for the founding dean has been launched, and coordination is underway with leadership from Augusta University on how to transition their existing program in Athens to UGA by as early as fall 2027. 
• The President submitted for inclusion in the minutes the annual Ombudsperson report that was provided by interim EOO Director Beth Bailey, with whom the President met recently to discuss the report along with UGA’s ombudspersons Dr. Joseph Bartges, Ms. Anjali Dougherty, and Ms. Charisse Harper.
• This concluded the President’s report.

The floor was then opened for the following reports:

• Executive Committee, 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 President John Neely
• Graduate Student Association, presented by President Emerson Moon

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

• Susan Sancez, chair of the University Curriculum Committee, presented the following proposals:
  • Proposal for a Minor in Cancer Therapeutics. A vote was called, and the proposal was approved.
  • Proposal for a Minor in Children's and Young Adult Literature. A vote was called, and the proposal was approved.
  • Proposal to offer the existing major in Social Studies Education (M.Ed.) online. A vote was called, and the proposal was approved.
  • Proposal to terminate the major in Reading Education (M.Ed.) on the Athens campus only. A vote was called, and the proposal was approved.
  • Proposal to terminate the major in Music Education (Ed.D.). A vote was called, and the proposal was approved.
  • Proposal for the following institute name change.A vote was called, and the proposal was approved.
    • From: Institute on Human Development and Disability
    • To: David Ralston Institute for Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities
  • Proposal to offer the existing major in English Education (M.A.T.) online. A vote was called, and the proposal was approved.
  • Proposal to deactivate the major in Water and Soil Resources (B.S.E.S.). A vote was called, and the proposal was approved.

The following information items were presented to the Council:

• From the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost:
  • Dissolution of the Center for Archaeological Sciences
  • Dissolution of the Center for Business Analytics and Insights

There being no old or new business, the meeting adjourned at 4:11 p.m.
 
Respectfully submitted,
 
Fiona Liken, Registrar
Secretary to University Council

 

University Council Members	Substitute
Abernathy, Rylie
Abrams, Alexander
Aina, Aishat
Ainsworth, Scott
Alabady, Magdy
Allenspach, Karin
Amstutz, Meg (Ex-Officio)
Anderson, Mumbi (absent)
Anthony, Kailyn
Auer, Matthew (Ex-Officio)
Ayers, Benjamin (Ex-Officio)
Bacon Talati, Virginia
Bankert, Alexa
Bar-Peled, Maor
Barnes, Jhaycee (Ex-Officio)
Bendle, Neil
Beyette, Fred
Biesecker, Barbara
Bishop, Matthew
Boakye, Eben (absent)
Bolding, Chad
Bolshoy, Daniel
Bourlai, Thirimachos
Brocato, John (absent)
Brown, Courtney
Cagliani, Rachel
Callands, Tamora
Campbell, Julie
Campbell, Marcia
Campellone, Gianni
Capuozzo, Bob
Carlson Welch, Annie
Carter, Christopher
Chambers, Katie
Chapman, Jennifer
Chapman, Nathan (absent)
Chatterjee, Santanu (Ex-Officio)
Clouser, Sherry
Cohen, Susan
Colker, Ella
Colson, Gregory
Cook, Michelle (Ex-Officio)
Coolong, Timothy
Cotterell, Michael
Coverdill, Jim (absent)
Cramer, Marianne
Crandall, Shari
Crawford, Lori
Cullen, Thomas (absent)
Damiano, Nelda
Daniel, Jeremy
Davis, Charles (Ex-Officio)	Nowak, Glen
Davis, Marsha (Ex-Officio) (absent)
Day, Gregory (absent)
Diamond, David
Dixon, Cindy
Dortch, Corey (Ex-Officio)
Dumas, Denis
Dunn, Laurel
Dunnigan, Allison
Eimers, Jennifer
Elam, Amiyah
Elkins, Jennifer
Estep, Jason	Darbisi, Carolina
Eustace, Joe
Fahmy, Melissa
Farley, Alison
Farmer Ford, Kelly
Farnan, Miranda
Fitt, William
Fulbright, Patrick
Fusillo, Lisa
Galiautdinov, Andry (absent)
Gallagher, Holly
Gingerella, Lauren
Gogal, Robert	Holladay, Steven
Gordon, Jason
Gowda, Grace	Bartlett, Michael
Graff, Jennifer
Graham, Toby (Ex-Officio)	Gore, Emily
Green, Jessica	Lee, Megan
Grey, Timothy	Thompson, Aaron
Gupton, Timothy
Hall, Cassandra
Hamilton-Jones, Bethany (absent)
Han, Rongbin
Harman, Ruth (absent)
Healey, Lauren
Heiss, Christian
Hill, Janette
Hirt, Sonia (Ex-Officio)
Hong, Philip (Ex-Officio)
Housley, Lauren
Howe, Chad
Huang, Ching-Yu
Hunt, Brendan	Champagne, Donald
Hunter, Mark (Ex-Officio)
Jackson, Angel	Richardson, Jimmy
Jackson, Chandra
Johnson, Daniel
Jones, Stacy (Ex-Officio)
Kaixiong, Calvin (absent)
Kajder, Sara
Katiyar, Samiksha
Kazanci, Caner
Keshtgari, Manijeh
King, Christopher (Ex-Officio)
Kinsler, Joshua (absent)
Krause, George
Krunkosky, Thomas
Kumar, Piyush
Kurup, Samarchith
Lam, Son
Lambert, Jimmy
Landers-Potts, Melissa
Landrum, Kim
Leclerc, Monique	Missaoui, Ali
Lee, Jae-Kyung (absent)
Lee, Sungkyung
Lel, Ugur	Kara, Mehmet
Lemons, Derrick
Levi, Eva
Leyting, Jennifer
Liken, Fiona (Ex-Officio)
Lough, Kyser
Malladi, Anish (absent)
Mandal, Abhyuday
Marshall, Michael
Martin-Williams, Jean	Craswell, Brandon
Masciadri, Milton
Mastrovita, Mandy
Mayo, Rebecca (Ex-Officio)
McDaniel, Kenneth
Medlock, Amy
Meyer, Nicholas
Mishra, Abhinav
Moon, Emerson (Ex-Officio)
Morehead, Jere (Ex-Officio)
Mori, Masaki
Morris, Kacy
Mowbray, Orion
Mundy, Mathew	Seals, Noah
Myers, Michael
Naeher, Luke
Nattanmai Parasuraman, Ramviyas
Nayla, Nishat	Lyon, Nico
Neely, John (Ex-Officio)
Neighbour, Amanda
Nesbit, Ryan (Ex-Officio)
Nolan, Lisa (Ex-Officio) (absent)
Nuss, Michelle (Ex-Officio)	Boegehold, Matthew
Olali, David (absent)
Olukosi, Oluyinka (absent)
Orlando, Ron
Orso, Alessandro (Ex-Officio)
Pagnattaro, Marisa (Ex-Officio)	Borst, Andy
Palmer, Chadwick
Peake, Jason (absent)
Peroni, John (absent)
Perry, Hayes
Petrongelli, Amy (absent)
Petty, Jeffrey Todd (Ex-Officio)	Jackson, Rhett
Place, Nick (Ex-Officio)	Singh, Manpreet
Quarles, Brandon
Read, Glenna	Clementson, David
Redmon, Melissa
Reeves, Nancee (absent)
Resutek, Robert
Rice, Jennifer
Roberts-Galbraith, Rachel
Rodrigues, Usha (Ex-Officio)
Rosenhaft, Pierce
Royer, Angie
Rubenstein, Eric (absent)
Saldanha, Terence
Sanchez, Susan
Santesso, Esra
Sargan, James
Sawyer, Laura
Saylor, Elizabeth
Schey, Ryan
Schirmer, Trenton
Seagraves, Brian
Sen, Rik (absent)
Seock, Yoo-Kyoung
Sharma, Suraj
Shelton, Braden
Shelton, Kisha (absent)
Shenoy, Somanath (absent)
Sial, Ashfaq
Sims, Cynthia
Smith, Demetrius	Dudley, Linden
Smith, Kelly (Ex-Officio)
Spangler, Denise (Ex-Officio)
Sperling, Lisa
Sperr, Ed
Standifer, Alton
Standifer, Brittany
Stanton, James
Stelzleni, Alexander
Stenport, Anna (Ex-Officio)
Stewart, Lawton
Stillion Southard, Belinda
Stooksbury, David
Tanner, Susan
Tate, Allan
Taxel, Elizabeth
Templeman, Kellie
Thakur, Neha (Ex-Officio)
Timian, Viki
Tolley, Beth
Turner, Pamela
Turney, Justin (absent)
Urbauer, Jeff
Vallury, Sechindra
Van Rees, Charles (absent)
Villari, Caterina
Walcott, Ron (Ex-Officio)
Walker, Jennifer
Walton, Jill (Ex-Officio)
Weliweriya, Nandana
Winter, Amy	McCracken, John
Wolf, Montgomery
Woods, Chip
Xiong, May
Yager, Patricia (absent)
Yahyaoui Azami, Hind (absent)
Young, Catie
Zhang, Hui
Zhen, Chen
Zvonkovic, Anisa (Ex-Officio)

Voting Record of September 24, 2025, Meeting