During its final meeting of the academic year Tuesday, members of UT Health Science Center’s Faculty Senate celebrated the year’s accomplishments, elected new officers, and honored UT System President Randy Boyd and Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally for their outstanding support of the university and its missions.
Outgoing President Paul ‘PJ’ Koltnow, MS, MSPAS, PA-C, praised the members for their commitment and diligence in completing several of the organization’s longstanding projects. “Much of what we have gotten done is because of what has been done before,” he told those attending in person and via Zoom.
Among the accomplishments are:
- A new procedure for offering multiyear appointments to non-tenure track faculty members. The multiyear appointments can be made at the discretion of the deans, department chairs, and program directors for up to three years, instead of the one-year appointments offered previously. “This is vital to our growth,” Koltnow said.
- Recommendation for a set schedule for regular replacement of computers and other technology for faculty.
- Updating the Faculty Handbook for the first time since 2018.
- An increase in representation on the senate from 93 to 110, including representatives from Knoxville and Chattanooga. “To be part of the growth of UT, this is a shared opportunity for success,” Koltnow said, encouraging new faculty membership.
Chancellor Peter Buckley, MD, who joined the meeting via Zoom from Knoxville, said the faculty organization had a “great year” that exemplified the “strong shared governance model.”
Read more at our UTHSC news site.