Latest news with #FacultySenate
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
WVU research VP urges faculty to remain calm as federal actions foster uncertainty
May 6—dbeard @ MORGANTOWN — Uncertainty remains the key word as WVU continues to work out how Trump administration executive actions will affect the university. WVU Vice President for Research Fred King and WVU President Gordon Gee both addressed that problem for the Faculty Senate on Monday. King spoke in the context of grants and contracts facing possible termination. "Since the end of January it's been very emotional, " he said. On any given Friday, he said, there's a new executive order. Lawsuits opposing it are filed the following Monday, and a court injunction soon follows. "I think it's important to not be emotional as we think about this. Our approach as a university is to be calm and rational." (For example, WVU faces a loss of $12 million in research funding from a National Institutes of Health cap on funding for indirect research costs at 15 %. In early April a federal judge issued a permanent injunction barring that move, which the NIH is appealing.) King said they work with WVU's legal office and appeal an order when it makes sense to do so. They also work with the state's Congressional delegation, often behind the scenes, trying to help them understand the impacts of the various executive actions. Most of the discussion is behind the scenes, he said, because the situations and negotiations are delicate. Internally, he said, they monitor the actions of three groups for guidance: the Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities Council on Research, the Council of Graduate Schools, and the Council of Government Relations. They hold two two meetings per week, he said. One is an administrative group that review executive actions and impacts, and informs the D.C. delegation. They also look at how the university should respond and how to ameliorate the impacts to campus. The other is with deans and the provost's office to share information. "A lot of work is being done on this although it's not necessarily being done wholly in public, " King said. It's a time to respond rationally and calmly, he said. "Fear and panic does us no good. It hurts our blood pressure, but at the end of the day does not really solve the problem." They solve the problem by working collaboratively with the decision makers in D.C. Gee is retiring at the end of June and made his final presentation to the Faculty Senate. Starting from his first term as WVU president in 1980, he said, he's attended about 150 Senate meetings. "Rather than a collection of buildings, a university is a gathering of scholars, " he said. The current faculty is particularly talented and energetic. "I'm grateful to all of you for the work that you've done." This is a period of transition for WVU and himself, he said, and he views it with optimism. "I have no doubt that the best is yet to come for me, for the university, for all of the people in this room. This is a tumultuous time and we've heard that." WVU is a land-grant, R1 university in a small state and he's often asked how it deals with the tumultuous actions out of D.C. He said, "We are a unique American institution and we make our living off of doing things differently, and being very distinctive. And I think that distinction will serve us very well over the next period of time." Gee and the faculty haven't always had the smoothest relationship. In the midst of academic transformation, in September 2023, the faculty overwhelmingly passed a resolution of no confidence in Gee. But on Monday, following Gee's comments, Faculty Senate chair Diana Davis offered a few words of praise for him, noting his support of shared governance and the role of the Faculty Senate in that shared governance. They don't always agree, but that's how shared governance works. "We do appreciate your willingness to consistently engage with us and to include our perspective in the major decisions of this university, " she said. "We wish you well in retirement."
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
FIU police says agreement with ICE is for the best; faculty disagree
Jeanette Nuñez, until recently lieutenant governor, is becoming interim, and likely permanent, president of Florida International University. (Photo via FIU) Florida International University's police chief believes the university community would be best served by the department signing an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, although the faculty is uneasy. During a Faculty Senate special meeting Friday, interim President Jeanette Nuñez, the former lieutenant governor, and FIU Police Department Chief Alexander Casas fielded questions from faculty members about what a 287(g) agreement with ICE will mean for students and faculty, particularly ones fearing detainment. Under the agreement, FIUPD officers could act as immigration enforcement officials to question and detain people they suspect are in the country without authorization. 'If we have to deliver someone, we're the ones you want to do it, because it will be done in the most FIU way, the most Panther way, we can think of,' Casas said. Casas signed the agreement with ICE, as have several other university police departments in the state, and is awaiting a response from the federal agency before officers can begin training. When it's signed, Casas said, he will choose his 'best officers' to be trained. 'If I don't sign that agreement, we open the door for other agencies who are on this agreement, whether they're federal agencies in power to do so or state agencies directed by our governor or local agencies that have agreed,' Casas said. Casas told faculty he wants his department to have a say in how immigration enforcement goes at the South Florida institution. 'Once I deliver someone to Krome or turn them over to ICE, you're right, I lose control. But, absent this agreement, I don't even have input. At the very least, once they execute it, at least now I have input and my officers do have a little say in what could be the outcome,' Casas said. 'If it has to happen because there's a warrant in the system, who do you want interacting with you? God, I hope you say it's me,' Casas said. Nuñez said she spoke at length with Faculty Senate Chair Noël Barengo earlier in the week after he reached out. She added that she wants to make sure she is 'constantly addressing concerns.' Faculty Senate members were not so convinced. Florida universities have made national news for signing the agreement with ICE. Students live in fear for their ability to remain in the United States, faculty members said. One professor shared about a student who is not a citizen who came to him worried after receiving a parking ticket. Juan Gómez, director of the Carlos Costa Immigration Human Rights Clinic at FIU, said students have approached him to say they are afraid to look up items on their computer. Some, in abusive relationships, are afraid to call police. 'I don't know the status of any of our students. PD does not have access to any of that information,' Casas said, adding that his department has to follow FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Casas said he did not get a call from the governor encouraging him to seek a 287(g) agreement; instead, he approached Nuñez after conversations with other law enforcement convinced him it 'really is with our best interest at heart.' Faculty senators approved a resolution opposing the agreement, saying it 'goes against the university's values of truth in the pursuit, generation, dissemination, and application of knowledge, freedom of thought and expression, and respect for diversity and dignity of the individual.' The resolution called for the university to withdraw. Well into the two-hour meeting, Philip Carter, an FIU professor, remained unconvinced. 'It's been good to hear you,' Carter said. 'I haven't heard anything that convinces me that this is a good agreement. It still sounds like a really bad agreement. I still worry about the safety of our students on campus who fear for their status and their safety. I worry, frankly, about all of us, I worry about faculty, I worry that there's a slippery slope beneath us.' Nuñez stressed that visa revocations and ICE agreements are different but sometimes get conflated. FIU has no control over visa revocations, she said. Earlier this week, FIU confirmed to the Phoenix that 18 students have had their visas revoked since Jan. 1. The University of Florida told the Phoenix that eight visas have been revoked; Florida State University, three. Alana Greer, director of Community Justice Project, said the FIU 287(g) is 'deeply unprecedented' and the 'agenda behind relaunching these 287(g)'s is specifically engineered to break trust, to tear apart our communities and to get us to see our neighbors, our peers, our students as 'other.'' Greer referenced her involvement with a story the Phoenix reported on Thursday, when 20-year-old Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a U.S. citizen, was arrested by a Florida Highway Patrol trooper as an 'unauthorized alien' and held for ICE. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
More than 100 international students' immigration statuses revoked across Texas universities
AUSTIN (Texas Tribune) — At least 122 international students at Texas universities have had their legal status changed in a wave of removals from a federal database that have swept across the state and the nation, according to university officials and media reports. The students learned in recent days their visas were revoked or their immigration status was marked as terminated in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, or SEVIS database. Visa revocations prevent re-entering the U.S. but do not immediately end an individual's status. SEVIS removals do, limiting students' options and causing a much more immediate effect. As of Thursday, the following universities have confirmed the number of international students who have been affected: University of North Texas: 27 University of Texas at Arlington: 27 Texas A&M University: 23 University of Texas at Dallas: 19 University of Texas Rio Grande Valley: 9 Texas Woman's University: 4 Texas Tech University: 3 The University of Texas at Austin, where police arrested dozens for protesting the Israel-Hamas war, and the University of Houston told the Houston Chronicle on Wednesday that some of their international students had a change in their immigration status. Both declined to say how many. KFOX14 also reported on Wednesday that 10 University of Texas at El Paso students had their visas revoked. Robert Hoffman, an immigration lawyer with offices in Houston and Bryan, said SEVIS removal also can affect employment eligibility and the status of dependents like spouses and children, whose ability to stay in the U.S. depends on the primary status holder. 'Unfortunately, these kinds of terminations kind of short-circuit due process by not allowing the student the opportunity to hear the specifics of their charges or defend themselves,' Hoffman said. Neither university nor government officials have made it clear how students are being chosen for removal. However, the Department of Homeland Security released a statement Wednesday saying it would begin screening international students' social media for 'antisemitic' content. DHS' statement cited two executive orders from President Donald Trump, described by the White House as aiming to crack down on 'the explosion of anti-Semitism on our campuses and in our streets,' referencing pro-Palestine protests on college campuses. Several Texas universities, including UNT and UTD, were sites of similar protests. During a Faculty Senate meeting at UNT on Wednesday, Faculty Senate Vice Chair William Joyner said he had heard from the provost about 16 students whose statuses were removed from SEVIS. A university spokesperson later confirmed to the Tribune that number had risen to 27. No other information was provided, Joyner said in a statement to the Tribune. 'We know nothing other than this, and I am not willing to speculate,' Joyner said. A spokesperson with UTD verified that 19 of their students had their immigration status terminated, and said they were working through the situation with the affected students. 'This is a fluid situation, and we are communicating with affected students about the changes in their status as soon as possible,' a statement from the university read. Students who are removed from SEVIS have only a few options for recourse, said Phillip Rodriguez, another Bryan-based immigration lawyer. Students can choose to leave, or apply to reinstate their status. Hoffman said choosing to remove students from SEVIS rather than revoking visas creates a more difficult appeal process. 'I think they're proactively making it so that they basically can't continue studies, or making it extremely difficult to continue their studies here in the United States without some sort of intervention,' Hoffman said. UNT has one of the highest international enrollments in the U.S., with over 8,000 international students, most of whom are graduate-level, according to university data. Nineteen of the 27 students at UNT who had their SEVIS records removed were graduate students, according to a university spokesperson. UTD has over 4,500 international students, according to the university website. Jessica Priest contributed to this report. This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans – and engages with them – about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
38 international students' immigration statuses revoked at three more Texas universities
(The Texas Tribune) — Thirty-eight more international students at three Texas universities have had their legal status changed in a wave of removals from a federal database that have swept across the state and the nation. Nineteen students from the University of Texas at Dallas and 16 students from the University of North Texas have been removed from the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, or SEVIS database, according to university officials. Three students at Texas Tech University in West Texas also had their visas revoked. The universities did not identify the students. Visa revocations prevent re-entering the U.S. but do not immediately end an individual's status, but SEVIS removals do, limiting students' options and causing a much more immediate effect. Robert Hoffman, an immigration lawyer with offices in Houston and Bryan, said SEVIS removal also can affect employment eligibility and the status of dependents like spouses and children, whose ability to stay in the U.S. depends on the primary status holder. 'Unfortunately, these kind of terminations kind of short-circuit due process by not allowing the student the opportunity to hear the specifics of their charges or defend themselves,' Hoffman said. Neither university nor government officials have made it clear how students are being chosen for removal. However, the Department of Homeland Security released a statement Wednesday saying it would begin screening international students' social media for 'antisemitic' content. DHS' statement cited two executive orders from President Donald Trump, described by the White House as aiming to crack down on 'the explosion of anti-Semitism on our campuses and in our streets,' referencing pro-Palestine protests on college campuses. Several Texas universities, including UNT and UTD, were sites of similar protests. During a Faculty Senate meeting at UNT on Wednesday, Faculty Senate Vice Chair William Joyner announced he had heard from the provost about the 16 students whose statuses were removed from SEVIS. No other information was provided, Joyner said in a statement to the Tribune. 'We know nothing other than this, and I am not willing to speculate,' Joyner said. A spokesperson with UTD verified that 19 of their students had their immigration status terminated, and said they were working through the situation with the affected students. 'This is a fluid situation, and we are communicating with affected students about the changes in their status as soon as possible,' a statement from the university read. Students who are removed from SEVIS have only a few options for recourse, said Phillip Rodriguez, another Bryan-based immigration lawyer. Students can choose to leave, or apply to reinstate their status. The federal database changes in Texas were first noted Tuesday, when 15 international students at Texas A&M were removed from SEVIS. Between UNT, UTD, Texas A&M and Texas Tech, the total number of students who have either been removed from SEVIS or had their visas revoked is now at 53. A spokesperson with Texas Tech said the revocations were an 'evolving situation.' Hoffman said choosing to remove students from SEVIS rather than revoking visas creates a more difficult appeal process. 'I think they're proactively making it so that they basically can't continue studies, or making it extremely difficult to continue their studies here in the United States without some sort of intervention,' Hoffman said. UNT has one of the highest international enrollments in the U.S., with over 8,000 international students, most of whom are graduate-level, according to university data. UTD has over 4,500 international students, according to the university website. Disclosure: Texas Tech University, University of Texas at Dallas and University of North Texas have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here. Tickets are on sale now for the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas' breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin. Get tickets before May 1 and save big! TribFest 2025 is presented by 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
53 international students' immigration statuses revoked at four more Texas universities
Fifty-three more international students at four Texas universities have had their legal status changed in a wave of removals from a federal database that have swept across the state and the nation. Nineteen students from the University of Texas at Dallas and 27 students from the University of North Texas were removed from the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, or SEVIS database, according to university officials. Three students at Texas Tech University and four at Texas Women's University also had their visas revoked. The universities did not identify the students. Visa revocations prevent re-entering the U.S. but do not immediately end an individual's status, but SEVIS removals do, limiting students' options and causing a much more immediate effect. Robert Hoffman, an immigration lawyer with offices in Houston and Bryan, said SEVIS removal also can affect employment eligibility and the status of dependents like spouses and children, whose ability to stay in the U.S. depends on the primary status holder. 'Unfortunately, these kinds of terminations kind of short-circuit due process by not allowing the student the opportunity to hear the specifics of their charges or defend themselves,' Hoffman said. Neither university nor government officials have made it clear how students are being chosen for removal. However, the Department of Homeland Security released a statement Wednesday saying it would begin screening international students' social media for 'antisemitic' content. DHS' statement cited two executive orders from President Donald Trump, described by the White House as aiming to crack down on 'the explosion of anti-Semitism on our campuses and in our streets,' referencing pro-Palestine protests on college campuses. Several Texas universities, including UNT and UTD, were sites of similar protests. During a Faculty Senate meeting at UNT on Wednesday, Faculty Senate Vice Chair William Joyner announced he had heard from the provost about the 16 students whose statuses were removed from SEVIS. A university spokesperson later confirmed to the Tribune that number had risen to 27. No other information was provided, Joyner said in a statement to the Tribune. 'We know nothing other than this, and I am not willing to speculate,' Joyner said. A spokesperson with UTD verified that 19 of their students had their immigration status terminated, and said they were working through the situation with the affected students. 'This is a fluid situation, and we are communicating with affected students about the changes in their status as soon as possible," a statement from the university read. Students who are removed from SEVIS have only a few options for recourse, said Phillip Rodriguez, another Bryan-based immigration lawyer. Students can choose to leave, or apply to reinstate their status. The federal database changes in Texas were first noted Tuesday, when 15 international students at Texas A&M were removed from SEVIS. Between UNT, UTD, Texas A&M,Texas Tech and TWU, the total number of students who have either been removed from SEVIS or had their visas revoked is now at 68. A spokesperson with Texas Tech said the revocations were an 'evolving situation.' Hoffman said choosing to remove students from SEVIS rather than revoking visas creates a more difficult appeal process. 'I think they're proactively making it so that they basically can't continue studies, or making it extremely difficult to continue their studies here in the United States without some sort of intervention,' Hoffman said. UNT has one of the highest international enrollments in the U.S., with over 8,000 international students, most of whom are graduate-level, according to university data. Nineteen of the 27 students at UNT who had their SEVIS records removed were graduate students, according to a university spokesperson. UTD has over 4,500 international students, according to the university website. Disclosure: Texas Tech University, University of Texas at Dallas and University of North Texas have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here. Tickets are on sale now for the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas' breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin. Get tickets before May 1 and save big! TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.
