FPC Meeting, January 26 2026

FPC Meeting — January 26, 2026

Time & Location: 2:00pm, Rosenberg Room

Attendees

  • Chair & Chair Elect: Tara Mathien, Caitie Gallingane
  • HDOSE: Lindsay Byron, Sara Jean-Philippe, Tuuli Robinson, Chris Redding
  • SESPECS: Nelson Brunsting, Katy Chapman, Hannah Matthews
  • STL: Brady Nash, Avery Closser, Suzanne Chapman
  • Guests: Larisa Olesova, Lori Dassa
  • Absent: Melissa Mariani, Kyena Cornelius

Welcome & Approval of Agenda

Meeting called to order at 2:04 pm. Motion to approve agenda by Brady Nash at 2:05 pm. Avery Closser seconded with consensus of the group. No abstentions or objections.

Approval of Last Meeting’s Minutes (November 17, 2025)

Motion to approve November minutes by Sara Jean-Philippe at 2:09 pm. Seconded by Nelson Brunsting and approved by consensus of the group. Minutes stand approved at 2:09 pm.

Announcements / Reminders

  • N/A

Deans’ Reports

Associate Dean Thomasenia Adams (presented by Associate Dean Elayne Colón)

  • Grant Activity for 2025–26:
    • December: 3 awards totaling $115,000; 10 proposals submitted
    • Fiscal year to date: 29 awards, $5.4 million, 88 proposals submitted
  • OER Team is actively supporting faculty in pursuing funding; targeted searches available upon faculty request
  • COE Professorships and Awards will be announced soon
  • Upcoming events:
    • Feb 3, 11am–12pm: All Things Tenure/Promotion (Tenure Track Faculty) — hosted by Thomasenia Adams via Zoom
    • March 24, 11am–12pm: All Things Pre- and Post-Award — hosted by Thomasenia Adams and Rosabel Ruiz via Zoom
    • March 31, 11am–12pm: All Things Promotion (Non-Tenure Track Faculty) — hosted by Thomasenia Adams via Zoom
  • Faculty Processes: 2025–26 T/P process is at the university level; 2025–26 PTR process is underway within the college

Associate Dean Elayne Colón

  • Recruitment & Admissions:
    • EduGator Central staff attended the Florida Future Educators of America Conference, focusing on high school students considering education majors and careers; recruitment targeted all three COE undergraduate programs, especially online programs
    • Admissions team processing applications for summer and fall 2026 cohorts for Master’s, Specialist, and EdD programs, including high volumes for EdD in Educational Technology and Teachers, Schools & Society, and Counselor Education programs
  • Spring 2026 enrollment is generally steady compared to last year: undergraduate courses down 3%, graduate course enrollment up 2% after add/drop
  • State-Approved Programs:
    • Educational Leadership certification program will be reviewed by FLDOE next fall; Continued Program Approval Review commences this March; assessment team will support Ed Leadership faculty
    • Final FLDOE approval received for spring 2026 course offerings; all syllabi, program materials, websites, and catalogs will be updated with approved materials
  • EduGator Central Staffing: On-campus interviews completed for Advisor I position; offer details being finalized; anticipate hire by end of February

Associate Dean Erica McCray

  • Searches: Many searches continuing across the college; thank you to those serving on search committees
  • FEAS (Faculty Excellence Advancement System): Being used for annual evaluations; faculty going up for future promotion will already have data in the system. Report any issues entering data or downloading materials to your school director
  • Collective Bargaining: University passed the collective bargaining agreement; discussions will continue toward a new agreement
  • H-1B Visas: Board of Governors will vote next week on possibly suspending H-1B visas for new employees starting January 2027; search committees have raised questions; college is monitoring and will provide guidance on hiring impacts
  • Community Engagement: Thank you to those who joined recent events; well-attended
  • PK Yonge: breaking ground on a new gym in a couple of weeks

Dean Glenn Good

  • Enrollment doing well; President Landry aims to raise the undergraduate admissions floor; 97,000 early action applicants with limited available slots
  • Finances remain solid; CFO confirmed schools with positive budgets will not be penalized to cover others
  • Online Rankings: UF undergraduate programs ranked #1; announcement pending
  • President search is ongoing; dean searches underway for most colleges lacking deans (exceptions: College of Medicine and CLAS)
  • Building: no heat tomorrow; faculty may work remotely
  • Parking issue: will follow up with parking team
  • Courtyard: estimate promised by Friday
  • University Academic Strategic Plan shared by Sarah Lynn; forwarded to Long Range Planning by Tara Mathien
  • News from University of Kentucky: 1,200 organizations removed from membership list (including AERA, CACREP, and others citing race in governance); faculty encouraged to watch Chronicle for updates
  • Hannah Matthews raised concern about supporting colleagues and college climate in light of national trends; Dean Good recommended individual responses and noted it will be especially impactful on Colleges of Medicine and Engineering; Associate Dean McCray noted the college is seeking additional guidance on visa-related impacts for current faculty

Invited Guest: Aldreka Everett, Office of Advancement

  • Associate Director of Alumni Affairs & Strategic Partnerships
  • Advancement is exploring ways to engage alumni in college development and partnerships
  • Created a brief faculty and staff survey (under 3 minutes) to learn about faculty work and identify opportunities for alumni involvement, including mentorship, career path guidance, and internships
  • Survey will go through COE channels; alumni survey will launch on Stakeholders Day

Discussion and Action Items

Committee Discussion Follow-Up

  • N/A

Committee Updates

  • Budgetary Affairs (Tuuli Robinson): Working on updating the committee website (confirmed chairs can request updates). No January meeting scheduled yet. Budget outlook is positive based on Dean Good’s update
  • College Curriculum (Caitie Gallingane): Current system still active but submissions may not appear the next day; review in progress. Simple Syllabus platform is coming — new syllabus tool integrated into Canvas, launching summer with syllabi due 45 days before class; summer syllabi due in March; platform available by end of February. If submitting a new curriculum request, proceed with caution; submitting outside the system to committee members for feedback is also an option
  • Faculty Affairs (Nelson Brunsting): No updates
  • Lectures, Seminars & Awards (Suzanne Chapman, alternate for Magdi Castaneda): Last met Nov 21 to review doctoral dissertation advisor/mentor award nominees; award season ramping up with additional deadlines in March
  • Long Range Planning (Kyena Cornelius): Anthony is chairing; preparing a Qualtrics survey for spring; feedback on survey content welcome — share with Kyena or Anthony via your schools. Next meeting will discuss the strategic plan document; may need to wait until President is in place
  • Research Advisory (Hannah Matthews): No updates
  • Technology & Distance Ed (Katy Chapman): Met Jan 21; discussed accessibility review and April deadline; all faculty now have access to Adobe Acrobat for PDF remediation; Canvas now supports auto-captions for uploaded videos. Reminders: weekly video announcements and student video responses must be captioned. February workshops planned. Amy Peeples (AI, university level) will attend February committee meeting; potential college-level AI workshop discussed. Dean Good mentioned an AI Literacy symposium in March. Topics discussed included global AI literacy and Notebook LM
  • Elections Committee (Nelson Brunsting, Hannah Matthews, Sara Smith): Spring elections timeline set by university; senate election results due by April 17. Elections and FPC elections traditionally held together in spring. Committee needs representatives from each school — volunteers needed from HDOSE and STL. Sara Smith has left the college; Suzanne Chapman (alternate) already activated. Volunteers: Avery Closser (STL) and Sara Jean-Philippe (HDOSE)

Discussion: AI² Center Guest Visitor for February — Hans van Oostrom

  • Hans van Oostrom will attend the February FPC meeting to discuss AI ethics, student conduct, and the university’s position
  • Theme emerging from prior discussions: AI policy should be program-level; when violations occur, a clear plan is needed
  • Key discussion points:
    • Brady Nash: graduate assistant instructors are navigating AI use by students; some program directors discourage instructors from making violation determinations and instead direct cases to Honor Court
    • Katy Chapman: Laura Peeples from Student Conduct Center may be invited to the next committee meeting
    • Nelson Brunsting: asked whether a policy or program-level statement currently exists to address these concerns
    • Tara Mathien: AI detection tools are being used (including by academic editors); raises questions about fairness and student relationships
    • Brady Nash: AI checkers can be useful when combined with other approaches, but are labor-intensive and may affect student relationships
    • Avery Closser: faculty want to understand how AI tools and the AI² Center want to partner with faculty — as advisors or resources, not just enforcers
  • Tara Mathien: bring this back to your schools and ask colleagues what would be most helpful to hear about; encourage attendance at February FPC meeting

University College Council Updates — Tara Mathien

  • Institutional Neutrality: no longer just a suggestion or recommendation — now a policy
  • Hannah Matthews: questions about scope (e.g., whether email signatures are considered non-neutral)
  • Brady Nash: one school director indicated the policy applies only to leadership, but a university HR email confirmed it applies to anyone with a UF email address. Clarity is needed
  • Tara Mathien: will share concerns with appropriate parties for clarification

Adjournment

Motion to adjourn by Hannah Matthews at 3:08 pm. Brady Nash seconded with no objections or abstentions. Motion passed unanimously.

Remaining Meetings

  • February 23 — Rosenberg
  • March 23 — Rosenberg
  • April 20 — Spring Faculty Meeting