May 2026 Meeting Minutes

Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes

May 19, 2026
12:00-2:00pm
Zoom

Members present

Amanda Rioux, Amit Tandon, Anna Dempsey, Anupama Arora, Brian Ayotte, Cait Lanza, Caroline Gelmi, Catharine Urbano, Chad McGuire, Christopher Eisenhart, Crystal Lubinsky, Dario Borim, David Manke, Devon Lynch, Emma Wood, Eric Casero, Firas Khatib, Frank Scarano, Grant O’Rielly, Heidi Berggren, Heloisa Alves, Jennifer Mammen, Jennifer Mulnix, Jennifer Viveiros, Julie Bowman, Katherine DeLuca, Kenneth Manning, Keota Fields, Kristen McHenry, Lorraine Heffernan, Maricris Mayes, Martha Whitfield, Mary Wilson, Matthew Sneider, Matthew Sylvain, Megan Dawe, Meghan Fair, Neal Olitsky, Patrick Cappillino, Pia Moisander, R. Thomas Boone, Robert Darst, Robin Arkerson, Robin Kish, Saeja Kim, Scott Ahrens, Shari, Evans, Shuowei Cai, Sonia Pacheco, Timothy Shea, Wei-Shun Chang, Wencheng Chang, Yuzhu Li, Ziddi Msangi

Members absent

Bharatendra Rai, Caterina Miraglia, Christopher Clinton. Dapeng Li, David Kagan, Dilshod Achilov, Douglas Marshall, Douglas Roscoe, Elena Peteva, Erin Bromage, Geoffrey Cowles, Glaucia Silva, James March Mistler, Jennifer Clark, Joshua Botvin, Kristopher Jackson, Lisa Owens, Liudong Xing, Margaret Drew, Mark Silby, Megan Fletcher, Nicholas Santavicca, Nikolay Anguelov, Peeranuch LeSeure, Richard Peltz-Steele, Sankha Bhowmick, Shakhnoza Kayumova

38 Guests

Faculty Senate meeting agenda

May 19, 2026, 12:00-2:00pm, Zoom

• Call to Order at 12:05pm
• Approval of April minutes
  • Motion made (Dario Borim) and seconded (Firas Khatib)
  • No objections – Minutes approved
• President’s Report (Brian Ayotte)
  • Not running for another term next year – expression of appreciation
  • Update on LARTS construction
    • Went on a tour of the building
    • Project manager stated the drop-dead date is December 18th and they are on track to meet it
  • Update on the budget transparency motion
    • Chancellor is working on the request with the CFO
• Committee Reports
  • Facilities Committee (Kate Boylan, Rose Botti-Salitsky, Firas Khatib)
  • Committee has met monthly since receiving its charge in February
  • Running document to keep track of facilities-related issues and input from constituents
  • Co-chairs meet monthly with David Gingerella
  • Learned about the structure of Facilities and the range of work being done by different areas under Facilities
  • Stairs near Foster Administration, the Library, and the Quad are being repaired in the summer
  • Stairs near Violette will be repaired with the Bright Act funds
    • Currently being designed
  • One paper towel dispenser is being replaced by a hand dryer in each restroom
• Invited Guests
  • None
• Unfinished Business
  • Motion on Graduate Transfer Credit (Patrick Cappillino)
    • Increasing the possible allowed transfer credits from 6 to 12
    • Motion made (Robert Darst) and seconded (Catharine Urbano) to update language to “maximum of 6 to 12 credits”
      • Friendly amendment (Chad McGuire) so language reads “the maximum number of graduate credits that may be transferred into any UMass Dartmouth graduate degree program is 12 credit hours, but this may vary by program.”
      • Vote – 40 Yes, 0 No, 0 Abstention
        • Amendment passes
    • Vote on Amended Motion – 42 Yes, 0 No, 0 Abstention
      • Motion passes
  • Motion on First-Year Grading (David Cabral)
    • Extension of the withdrawal deadline for first-year students
    • Discussion of the proposed motion
    • Motion to refer back to committee made (Grant O’Rielly) and seconded (Crystal Lubinsky)
      • Vote – 39 Yes, 0 No, 1 Abstention
      • Motion passes – Current motion referred back to committee
  • Motion on Blended Learning Guidelines (Brian Ayotte)
    • Recommending the proposed definitions and guidelines for blended learning
    • Second reading
    • Motion to strike item 3 from the proposed motion made (Jennifer Mulnix) and seconded (Chad McGuire)
      • Vote – 32 Yes, 2 No, 4 Abstentions
      • Motion passes
    • Vote on Amended Motion – 28 Yes, 3 No, 11 Abstentions
      • Motion passes
  • Motion to Update Existing Outcomes for Cluster 1E with Proposed Outcomes (Matthew Sneider)
    • Second reading
    • Discussion about proposed motion
    • Vote – 34 Yes, 2 No, 4 Abstentions
      • Motion passes
• Provost’s Office (Shannon Jenkins)
  • Recognition of Faculty Emeritus Awards
    • Dwight Duncan
    • Justine Dunlap
    • Qinguo Fan
    • John Fobanjong
    • Wenzhen Huang
    • Mark Millstein
    • Judith Farrar
    • June Horowitz
    • Ken Oliveira
    • Chris Papenhausen
• New Business
  • Candidate statements
• Motion to adjourn (Chad McGuire) and seconded (Robert Darst)
• Meeting adjourned at 2:24pm