University Council Minutes

03/18/2026 03:30 PM - Tate Theater, Tate Student Center

View Related Documents Online The University Council met on March 18, 2026, in the Tate Theater. A quorum being present, President Jere Morehead called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m.
 
Parliamentarian Randy Beck provided remarks on the procedures for voting and debate.
 
As the first order of business, a motion to approve the minutes of the February 11, 2026, meeting was made by Brian Seagraves and seconded by Joe Eustace. A vote was called and the minutes were approved.
 
Before beginning his report, the President congratulated Elizabeth Weeks on her appointment last month as the permanent Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Dr. Santanu Chatterjee on his appointment as the next dean of the Terry College of Business. 
 
President Morehead then delivered his report to the Council:

• The President congratulated the Women’s Track and Field Team on winning the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship. This national championship came after their national outdoor title last spring and the dedication of UGA’s new world-class Track and Field Complex last month. The President also congratulated the men’s and women’s basketball teams for making the NCAA Basketball Tournaments.
• The Liaison Committee on Medical Education granted the UGA School of Medicine preliminary accreditation on February 13. This designation allowed the University to begin recruiting and admitting its inaugural class of medical students for this fall. The School of Medicine began accepting applications for admission on February 19, and as of the March 11 deadline 2,046 students had applied for 60 slots in this year’s inaugural class.
• The President congratulated Keaton Coletti, a Ph.D. student in the College of Engineering, for being named a Truman Fellow.
• On March 6, the University extended offers of admission to the Class of 2030. This year, more than 51,600 students applied for admission to UGA — a record number and an 8% increase over last year. This admitted class of first-year students has an impressive array of achievements and includes students from 156 Georgia counties and all 50 states, as well as Washington, D.C.
• Last month, the University announced the winning projects selected for the 2025 Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grant program. Eleven projects were selected for grants of up to $100,000 each and will address challenges in areas ranging from brain disease and the global food supply to cancer and environmental sustainability. Since this initiative was launched in 2017, grants awarded through the program have brought together dozens of research teams and generated an average return of fifty dollars in external funding for every dollar awarded in seed grants.
• The University has raised $52.4 million over the past three years to support graduate and professional student scholarships and fellowships, reinforcing the University’s ongoing commitment to these critical members of our community. This total reflects significant growth in funds raised year over year. In 2025, the University raised nearly $28 million to support graduate and professional students, up significantly from the $9.7 million that was raised just two years earlier in 2023. The President thanked the UGA Foundation Board of Trustees, who have continued to provide significant matching funds to accelerate private support in this area. Last fall, the Trustees made available an additional $25 million to provide matching funds for scholarships and graduate fellowships, as well as matching funds for professorships and capital projects across campus during the coming year.
• The President thanked the UGA Humanities Council for organizing the fourth annual UGA Humanities Festival, which runs March 16-April 2.
• The President also thanked everyone who participated in the University’s fourth annual Active Learning Summit, which took place last month and showcased the remarkable impact of the campus-wide Active Learning Initiative. To date, over 1,500 UGA instructors have participated in introductory sessions on active learning, while more than 91,000 students have benefited from courses redesigned to incorporate active learning techniques.
• On March 3, Governor Brian Kemp signed the Amended Fiscal Year 2026 Budget into law, and several items within the budget will positively impact the University of Georgia. The amended budget included over $11 million in bridge funding to support start-up costs for the UGA School of Medicine, while $5.6 million was allocated for the design of a new School of Nursing building on the Health Sciences Campus. The budget also includes funds for a variety of facilities, equipment, and infrastructure needs across the institution, as well as funding to provide a one-time salary supplement of $2,000 to faculty and staff. The President expressed his appreciation to Governor Kemp and the General Assembly, as well as the Chancellor and Board of Regents, for their continued support of the University of Georgia and higher education across the state.
• Dr. Meg Amstutz, Dean of the Morehead Honors College, will deliver the Commencement address at the graduate ceremonies on May 7 in Stegeman Coliseum. DJ Shockley, a highly awarded former University of Georgia and Atlanta Falcons quarterback and TV commentator, will deliver the undergraduate Commencement address on May 8 in Sanford Stadium. 
• This concluded the President’s report.

 The floor was then opened to the following reports:

• Executive Committee, presented by Chair 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 Vice President Aishat Aina, substituting for President Emerson Moon

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 Minor in Communication in Healthcare. A vote was called, and the proposal was approved.
  • Proposal for a Minor in Communication, Leadership, and Advocacy. A vote was called, and the proposal was approved.
  • Proposal for a Minor in Geospatial Applications in Natural Resources. A vote was called, and the proposal was approved.
  • Proposal for an Undergraduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence – Pharmaceutical Sciences. A vote was called, and the proposal was approved.
  • Proposal for an Undergraduate Certificate in Ecological Restoration and Nature-Based Engineering. A vote was called, and the proposal was approved.
  • Proposal for an Undergraduate Certificate in Religion and Politics. A vote was called, and the proposal was approved.
  • Proposal to terminate the Graduate Certificate in Educational Leadership Tier I on the Athens campus only. A vote was called, and the proposal was approved.

The following information item was submitted to the Council:

• From the Educational Affairs Committee:
  • 2024-2025 Academic Honesty Report. Phillip Griffeth, Director of Academic Honesty and Student Appeals, was on-hand to answer questions about the report.

There being no old or new business, the meeting adjourned at 3:58 p.m.
 
Respectfully submitted,
 
Fiona Liken, Registrar
Secretary to University Council

 

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

Voting Record for March 18, 2026, Meeting