UC members present: Babcock, Bernard-Donals, Li, Papp (chair), Tejedo-Herrero, Thibeault

Others: Greg Bump, Michelle Felber, Jennifer Noyes, Julie Scharm, Jake Smith

Chair Papp called the meeting to order at 1:30 pm.

The minutes for the meeting of November 28, 2022, were approved.

John Zumbrunnen, Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning, shared that he is working to enhance communications on religious observances to create a culture of understanding and expectations.

He is also working on accommodated testing and how to respond to the significant increase in requests (up to 15-20% of students in a class). More instructors are reaching out to testing and evaluation services to provide the testing. They are trying to locate additional space for this spring and will spend the semester trying to better understand the issue.

Every year, we request about 500 student learning assessment reports and probably receive 300 of them. This is part of the institutional assessment plan that was put in place in 2015. They are working to determine whether this makes sense as a plan moving forward.

The staff climate report and visualizations of the report are now available.

Tony Michels, Director of the Mosse/Weinstein Center for Jewish Studies, and Sue Zaeske, Associate Dean for Arts and Humanities in the College of Letters and Science, shared that the Center for Jewish Studies is currently searching for candidates for the Temkin Professor of Modern Hebrew Language and Literature. This faculty position would be housed in the Center for Jewish Studies, which is not a department. The Center for Jewish Studies became a tenure home in 2013 following the dissolution of the Hebrew and Semitic Studies department. This position was endowed by graduates of the department of Hebrew and Semitic Studies.

The University Committee will have the opportunity to officially approve the hire into the Center sometime this spring. The University Committee did not express any concerns with this plan.

Jennifer Mnookin, Chancellor, indicated that they are working to finalize the Provost Search and Screen Committee including the chair. The next search that needs to be started will be for the new Vice Chancellor for Strategic Communications. Two areas of concern are safety with crimes not involving students taking place near campus and frustrations on the lack of progress for finding space for the indigenous student center.

Papp adjourned the meeting at 3:06.