September 9, 2026

Faculty Senate Minutes

President called the meeting to order at 1:06 p.m.

14 senators were present.

1. Call to Order and Procedural Items
   1. Only items on the agenda will be discussed in the meeting
   2. Public Comment time is available for members of the public attending in person. Those wishing to sign up for public comment must arrive and sign up at least 5 minutes before the scheduled start time. Public comment is limited to 3 minutes per person. Comments will not be discussed at the meeting when they are raised but may be added as agenda items for future meetings.
2. Roll Call
3. President’s Report
   1. Board Meeting
      1. Information regarding the Waller Building, Retirements, and the 2% Raise were addressed.
   2. Faculty Handbook
      1. Confirmation of completion and implementation.
4. Old Business
   1. Approval of Minutes of May 1st, 2026.
      1. The May 1st, 2026 minutes will be approved during the October Faculty Senate meeting.
   2. Divisional Townhall-style meetings with Faculty Senators: progress report.
      1. This will be postponed until September
5. New Business
   1. Voting of the parliamentarian
      1. Dustin Levein was nominated for and elected as Parliamentarian for the 2026-2027 academic year.
   2. Monthly Meeting Dates
      1. Confirmed that Faculty Senate will meet on the 1st Friday of each month.
         1. Fall: September at Bryan, October at RELLIS, and November at Brenham
         2. Spring: February at Bryan, March at RELLIS, April at Brenham, and May at Bryan.
      2. The meeting dates will be posted on Faculty Senate webpage.
   3. Committees
      1. Nominating committee
         1. This currently consists of Issac Martinez, Kimberly Paulhill, and Michelle Chmelar.
      2. Advisory committee
         1. This currently consists of a total of 5 officers from the Senate and division senators which shall assist the Executive Committee in fulfilling the purposes of the Faculty Senate.
            1. Any changes to the Constitution regarding the advisory committees’ duties and responsibilities must go through Leighton Schubert.
               1. West Gurly will be notified as well.
            2. A question was raised as to whether we can and will meet informally.
            3. A question was raised regarding the Faculty Senate’s website (e.g. who to contact?).
               1. The video link to May 1st, 2026 Faculty Senate meeting will be uploaded after the approval of the May 1st, 2026 minutes.
   4. Shred Bins
      1. Clarification explained as follows.
         1. No additional pickup dates will be set due to budgetary reasons.
         2. No new shred bins will be added because of lack of appropriate space.
         3. Administration encouraged faculty to lean more on digital application of assignment to ease load on shred bins.
         4. Administration noted that excess overflow cannot be placed outside of the shred bins.
            1. Any such excess overflow should instead be placed outside of Debora Kleiber’s office (G133) with the label “shred bin,” and she should be sent an email to alert her to such.
         5. A recommendation was made to put the scheduled collection dates on shred bins.
            1. The RELLIS campus currently has these dates applied.
            2. The Bryan and Brenham campuses need these dates applied.
         6. A recommendation was made that an email be generated from the Faculty Senate to the faculty regarding shred bin collection dates.
         7. A recommendation was made that a map of all shred bins be posted or made available.
            1. This was expressly denied by Debora Kleiber.
      2. Faculty Senate will readdress this in the next fiscal year on the progress of the shred bins (e.g., how it is functioning, should more bins be added, etc.).
      3. A comment was made regarding the internet’s recent unreliability and how it may affect notifications regarding the shred bin collection.
      4. The Nursing Department at the RELLIS campus noted that they have a laminator.
   5. Travel Procedures Training
      1. Confirmation that this will occur Oct 2nd, 2026 via Zoom from 10-11 am. Senators were encouraged to remind/inform constituents of this meeting.
   6. Update on the 40-hour Workweek
      1. It was reiterated that your schedule may require modification to the standard 40-hour workweek. Faculty are expected to act in compliance with the 40-hour workweek in a reasonable manner (e.g., night classes, morning classes, weekend classes, and transit may modify the standard 8-5 model).
      2. Expectations are as follows.
         1. Maintain compliance with the law (i.e., SB2615).
         2. Expected to work a 40-hour traditional workweek.
         3. Faculty are not expected to exceed a 40-hour workweek.
         4. Maintain legal and Blinn policy compliance.
         5. Any “policing” should be reported to your Faculty Senator.
      3. If your contract exceeds the 40-hour workweek, you are to note that in your schedule
      4. Travel between campuses counts as part of 40-hour workweek.
      5. The following questions were raised regarding the 40-hour workweek and will be addressed in the October 2nd, 2026 Faculty Senate meeting.
         1. Does an overload count within 40-hour workweek or is this “overtime”?
         2. Does the wording in the current full-time contracts or the new policy apply?
6. Announcements
   1. The next meeting will be on October 2nd, 2026 from 1-3 pm on the RELLIS campus.
   2. The next Board of Trustees meeting will be on Tuesday 15th, 2026.
7. Adjournment called at 2:05 pm.

Meeting adjourned at 2:07 p.m.