February 6, 2026

Call to order

Call of senators and introduction. 3 senators were missing or late.

Explanation of new Faculty Senate modality.

Representative body. Participation limited to Faculty Senators and invited guests.
Public can appear at meetings in person at Brenham STEI #105 and can sign up for public comment, limit to 3 minutes per person.
1. Public comments will be reviewed by Faculty Senate members for inclusion in future meetings and will not be discussed at that time.

New Business

ByLaws vote
1. Review of ByLaws for vote.
2. Clarifications
  1. Staggering the vote for elected senators. Applied Technology, Workforce, and Economic Development; Math, Business, Engineering, and Technology; Humanities; and Social Sciences will have elections in spring of even numbered years. Arts, Kinesiology, and Agriculture; Health Sciences; and Natural and Physical Sciences will have elections in spring of odd numbered years.
  2. Appointed senators can serve up to 6 consecutive one-year terms, then are not eligible for two years.
  3. Elected senators can serve one two-year term, then are not eligible for re-election for two years from the last day of their term. Faculty Senate will review with Executive Vice Chancellor Schubert regarding if previously elected senators are eligible to be appointed as senators by the Chancellor during the period they are not eligible for re-election.
  4. Election results are to be shared in the April Faculty Senate meeting or no later than April 15 if no late spring meetings are scheduled.
  5. Officers – President, Vice President, and Secretary – are appointed positions. Parliamentarian is not stipulated by the law but will be elected by Faculty Senate to ensure following of Roberts Rule of Order and the Faculty Senate ByLaws. Parliamentarian is elected each year with no term limits but cannot be a current sitting Senator. The nominating committee for the Parliamentarian will provide the slate of potential candidates to be elected.
  6. Elected senators are responsible for running the election for the next elected senator position, with assistance from the appointed senator.
  7. The Advisory Committee should be the four (4) officers of the Senate, updated from the five (5) officers from the previous Senate. This was updated prior to vote.
3. Vote – passed.
Service points
1. SB37 does not allow compensation for serving on the Faculty Senate. Service points are not counted as compensation. It should appear under Service to the College – Committees.
2. Service points required changed from 5 to 3.
3. Faculty members no longer receive service points for attending Faculty Senate meetings.
4. Seeking additional information from April Kinkead, Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs regarding service points for attending graduation/pinning ceremonies or student events such as theatrical performances.
5. Faculty Senate will pursue questions regarding these service to students options and if they can continue to apply.
6. Additional question if required attendance to these outside the normal 40 hour week would or could be counted as part of the 40 hour week.
Upcoming Meeting Schedule
1. Posted to Faculty Senate Website
2. March 6, April 10, and May 1.
Future consideration – Service to the College
1. Sharing of protocols regarding student use of generative AI. Faculty Senate may offer a facilitation of cross-disciplinary sharing between divisions to allow understanding of policies students will encounter when taking courses outside of their major division.
2. This would be for understanding and perspective purposes when discussing outcomes with students. Individual syllabi will still be the final determinate of the AI policy for the individual course.

Adjourn