Approved minutes of senates and their committees will be posted on Fridays, when available.

​Classroom Advisory Subcommittee (CAS), October 2, 2017
In these minutes: Office of Classroom Management Updates; Academic Technology Updates

​P&A Senate, October 13, 2017
In these minutes: ​P&A​ ​Consultative​ ​Committee​ ​Report; Subcommittee​ ​Reports; Civil​ ​Service​ ​Senate​ ​Report; Student​ ​Senate​ ​Report; Wellbeing​ ​Program​ ​Updates; Open​ ​Enrollment​ ​and​ ​Benefits​ ​Changes; Discussion​ ​on​ ​Engaging​ ​with​ ​Constituents

Senate Committee on Finance and Planning (SCFP), September 19, 2017
In these minutes: Economic Impact Study Update; Institutional Mission and Scope in a Reduced Budget Environment; Follow-up on Student Food Concerns; SCFP Agenda Planning for 2017-2018

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Approved minutes of senates and their committees will be posted on Fridays, when available.

​Twin Cities Delegation of the Faculty Senate, October 5, 2017

​Student Senate Consultative Committee (SSCC), October 26, 2017

Approved minutes of senates and their committees will be posted on Fridays, when available.

​P&A Consultative Committee (PACC), September 14, 2017
In these minutes: Welcome and Introductions, and Governance Overview; Chair’s Report;
Subcommittee Reports; Discussion on Unionization and Role of Advocacy in Governance

​Intercollegiate Athletics Committee (IAC), September 14, 2017
In these minutes: Welcome and Governance Overview; Intercollegiate Athletics Department
Updates; Equity & Diversity Subcommittee Report; IAC Statement; Time Management Policy

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Approved minutes of senates and their committees will be posted on Fridays, when available.

​Senate Research Committee (SRC), September 11, 2017
In these minutes: Fringe Pool for Unplanned Leaves; Introductions and Orientation; Research Misconduct Policy Review; Agenda Planning and Brainstorming

Disabilities Issues Committee, September 20, 2017
In these minutes: Welcome and Introductions, and Overview of Governance; Disability Resource Center Updates; Update on the Organization for Graduate and Professional Students with Disabilities; Update on Training Videos; Agenda Planning and Brainstorming

Civil Service Consultative Committee (CSCC), September 21, 2017
In these minutes: Employee Engagement Plan; Health Care and Employee Benefits Update; Civil Service Rules and Regulations Update; Committee Chair Report; Compensation and Benefits Subcommittee Update; Communications Subcommittee Update; Job Family Study Strategy

Senate Library Committee, September 27, 2017
In these minutes: Welcome and Introductions; Overview of Governance; Reports from Librarians; Discussion of Proposed Revisions to the Charge; Discussion of Priorities for the Year

Senate Committee on Educational Policy (SCEP), October 4, 2017
In these minutes: Announcements; Action on Administrative Policy: Undergraduate Degrees with Distinction & Degrees with Honors; Next Steps on Mental Health Recommendations; Liberal Education; Undergraduate Policies; Follow-up on Preferred Name Discussion

Civil Service Senate, October 5, 2017
In these minutes: Civil Service Senate Orientation; Civil Service Consultative Committee Report; Employment Rules Revisions; Parental Leave Equity Resolution; Civil Service Subcommittee Reports; Topics for 2017-18

Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee (AF&T), October 6, 2017
In these minutes: Team Science; Discussion of Administrative Policy: Sexual Harassment, Assault, Stalking and Relationship Violence; Other Business

Senate Research Committee (SRC), October 9, 2017
In these minutes: Fetal Tissue Policies and Review Committee; Discussion of Immigration and DACA Changes in Relation to Research; Vote on Request for an Exception to the Openness in Research Policy; Update on PETA; Minimum Wage

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Approved minutes of senates and their committees will be posted on Fridays, when available.

​Faculty Consultative Committee (FCC), October 5, 2017
In these minutes: Unionization Update; Miscellaneous Committee Business; Sexual Misconduct Training Module

​Senate Committee on Finance and Planning (SCFP), October 17, 2017
In these minutes: ​Finance Academy Update; Restructuring of Board Committees; Facility/Building Condition Report; Inequity in University Benefits Given to RAs and TAs as Compared to Fellowship Recipients

Senate Committee on Information Technology (SCIT), October 17, 2017
In these minutes: Storage Redesign and Restructure Committee; Eduroam Update; Next Generation Network Project, Recent Outages and Lessons Learned; Duo Two-Factor Authentication

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“Did you know that only certain birds sing?” asks Professor William Beeman, long-time participant in University Senate governance, breaking into a grin that belies his delight at the idea. Professor Beeman is not an ornithologist; his interest in birdsong is just one example of the varied facets of his career in linguistic anthropology. He gives off a similar sense of wonder about other aspects of his work: having had the pleasure of taking one of Professor Beeman’s courses, Biology, Evolution, and Cultural Development of Language, in grad school, I remember this infectious sense of delight as one of the reasons I found his course so engaging.

Beeman completed his undergraduate work in anthropology at Wesleyan University, and then went on to a Master’s and PhD at the University of Chicago. While doing doctoral work on discourse analysis in Iran, Beeman became interested in traditional performing arts in Asia. Eventually, this led to an unusual path in his career: although he was already tenured faculty at Brown University, he felt that he lacked an “insider’s” view of performing arts, and decided to attend the Boston Conservatory to study vocal performance. He later spent three years performing as an operatic bass in Germany.

In addition to serving as chair of the anthropology department, Professor Beeman maintains faculty affiliations with the Center for Cognitive Sciences and the program in Second Language Studies. He is a world-renowned expert on the Middle East, the Gulf Region, and Central Asia and has published dozens of works on myriad subjects, such as Iranian performance traditions, the neurobiology of opera, and language and identity politics. He served for several years as the secretary of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), and the president of the Middle East Section of the American Anthropological Association. He also speaks over ten languages, including Hindi, Turkish, Bengali, and several European languages.

As with so many other aspects of his career, Beeman demonstrates an enthusiasm for governance that is contagious. He first got involved in governance at Brown University, where he served on the Faculty Executive Committee from 2001-2004. At the University of Minnesota, he served on the Faculty Senate from 2007 to 2013, as well as on the Senate Committee on Faculty Affairs (SCFA) from 2011 to 2013. He is currently serving his second term on the Faculty Senate, from 2014-2017. Known for being unafraid to voice a dissenting opinion, he believes in shared governance because he feels that proper consultation, cooperation and transparency are critical, as is faculty input.

When I ask him what he does in his spare time, he half-jokes that between his duties as professor and department chair and his governance participation, spare time is somewhat elusive. Nevertheless, Beeman continues his singing career, and has also written, directed and produced various plays. Recently, in conjunction with the University of Minnesota Department of Theater Arts and Dance and the Elemental Ensemble, he directed and produced a reading of It Can't Happen Here, a play written in 1936 by Sinclair Lewis and John C. Moffitt, which explores life in the U.S. under an authoritarian leader elected on a populist platform.

— Amber Bathke