Faculty senators will vote on proposed changes to the Faculty Organization Plan during the Faculty Senate meeting Friday.

The Professional Ethics and Academic Freedom Committee will present recommended changes to the plan, like instituting procedures for determining whether Faculty Assembly meetings are held virtually or in a hybrid format, updating the official titles of administrators and incorporating gender-neutral language into the document. The committee’s resolution decreases the number of faculty needed to call a special meeting of the Faculty Assembly to 10 percent of the Faculty Assembly from 50 or more members.

The changes come after the senate voted to send a resolution on proposed changes to the plan, like the number of faculty needed to call a special meeting, back to the committee in May until a task force could revise the changes and present the revisions to the senate again.

The resolution states that the University President – or in the president’s absence, the Provost – in consultation with the chair of the Executive Committee, can determine if any regular or special meeting of the Faculty Assembly is held virtually or in a hybrid format. The Executive Committee chair can consult with the president to decide the format of regular or special senate meetings, according to the resolution.

The resolution also strikes any gendered references to positions in the senate, like “chairman,” from the faculty organization plan.

Pam Norris, the vice provost for research, will also present an annual report on research. Last years’ annual report detailed federal research funding expenditures in Fiscal Year 2021 and announced a new research platform, which allowed faculty to better track research proposals and awards.

The senate will also vote to approve a nominating committee to choose the 2023-24 senate executive committee.

Kim Roddis, a professor of environmental and civil engineering, will also request senate consent to modify the School of Engineering and Applied Science senate membership terms.

Interim University President Mark Wrighton and Provost Chris Bracey will present reports to the senate. Jim Tielsch, the chair of the executive committee, will also deliver a report from the executive committee to the senate.