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Faculty Senate Agenda March 2, 2026, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• 3:00 Call to Order
• Approval of Minutes February 2, 2026
• 3:05 University Business
• 3:20 Faculty Senate Business
• 3:35 Report
• Parking and Transportation
• 3:40 Information
• EPC Report - February 5, 2026
• 4:00 Old Business
• 4:05 New Business
• Special Faculty Forum
• Adjourn: 4:30 pm

Identifying Priorities To Guide Extension Water Quality Programming In Utah, Clare Entwistle, Sarah Erwin, Stephanie Vaughn

Outcomes and Impact Quarterly

Utah State University Extension water quality faculty conducted a statewide water quality needs assessment to identify priority contaminants and resource gaps. The results found that elevated nutrient levels and sedimentation were the top concerns where additional resources would be beneficial. In addition, insufficient funding for improvements and low public engagement were identified as key challenges in addressing water quality issues. Results revealed current unmet needs with regional variation to inform Extension resource allocation and programming.

On Signifiable Computability: Part Iii: A Note On Unnameable Functions On Natural Numbers, Vladimir A. Kulyukin

Computer Science Faculty and Staff Publications

A writing system 𝔚 on an alphabet 𝒜 is a tuple (ℜ,𝔐), where ℜ is a finite set of text formation rules and 𝔐 is a finite rule application mechanism that generates texts on 𝒜. A natural writing system forms natural language texts on an alphabet such as Sanskrit on Devanagari. An artificial writing system generates formal language texts on an alphabet such as Lisp on Unicode. Let ℕ ={0,1,2,…} be the set of natural numbers. A function on natural numbers 𝑓 :ℕ^𝑘 ↦ ℕ, 0 < 𝑘 ∈ ℕ, is nameable by a writing system on an alphabet if, and only if, the system can generate a text on the alphabet that names f and no other function. We show that there exist functions on natural numbers unnameable in principle in that they cannot be named by any writing system on any alphabet. Our results imply the following computability-theoretic hierarchy of functions on natural numbers: computable ⊊ partially computable ⊊ nameable ⊊ 𝔉, where 𝔉 is the set of functions on ℕ.

Building Youth Resilience Through Adventure-Based Learning, Lisa M. Schainker, Abby Julian, Caitlyn Rogers

Outcomes and Impact Quarterly

To build resilience skills among Salt Lake County youth, Utah State University (USU) Extension - Salt Lake County partnered with the Utah National Guard to host a daylong camp at Camp Williams called Resilience Education Adventures for Life (REAL) Day. REAL Day included both experiential classroom learning and outdoor activities, such as positive risk-taking activities like rappelling and obstacle courses. Survey results from 84 youth participants (n = 84) showed increases in self-reported skills and attitudes related to resilience, including confidence, a growth mindset, and stress management.

How A 2 To 5-Year Experimental Lake Powell And Lake Mead Release Program Tied To Reservoir Inflows Can Be A Win For Adaptive Risk Management, Brittany Fager, Anabelle Myers, Erik Porse, David Rosenberg

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Lake Powell and Lake Mead are at risk of drawdown to their minimum power and dead pools in the next few years because current and proposed shortage and release operations tied to reservoir storage and sometimes prior natural flow cannot keep pace with U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s numerous scenarios of more volatile, declining, and longer-lasting periods of low flows. One experimental program to reduce risk can instead adapt reservoir releases to monitored changes in physical reservoir inflow and reservoir evaporation. First, stabilize reservoir storage by temporarily setting reservoir release to the physical reservoir inflow minus evaporation (the available water). Second, …

Addressing Health Inequities For People With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities In The Hospital Through Partnerships In Nurse Training, Suzannah Iadarola, Amanda Laprime, Samantha Hochheimer, Tabby Anvari, Carrie Baker, Jacqueline Goodman

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

People with intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD) deserve the same access to quality healthcare yet are at increased risk of medical and/or psychiatric conditions as compared to the general population. Patients with IDD have less health satisfaction, shorter life expectancy, less access to preventative care, higher chronic health conditions, overuse of certain medications, and increased mortality. This population and their caregivers report high levels of dissatisfaction with emergency/inpatient care. Nurses also express frustration with lack of training, limited resources, and competing priorities.

We developed the Advancing Supportive Care through Education for Nurses on Disability (ASCEND) Program, to build the capacity of inpatient/Emergency …

Parents’ Lived Experiences With Competitive Integrated Employment For Children With Intellectual And Developmental Disability, Dr. Aisha J. Omar

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

This phenomenological qualitative study explores the lived experiences of Kentucky parents seeking Competitive Integrated Employment (CIE) for their children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). Guided by the research questions—How do parents experience this process, and what barriers or supports do they encounter?—the study highlights systemic challenges despite legislative efforts such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. In-depth interviews with five parents revealed three themes: (a) parental transformation and the pursuit of meaningful work, (b) systemic challenges in accessing CIE, and (c) overcoming protective instincts: navigating fear, independence, and self-advocacy. Findings suggest a …

We Can Track Waves In The Atmosphere From The Bear Lake Observatory And The International Space Station, Connor Waite

Research on Capitol Hill

Both space weather and tropospheric weather can create waves in Earth’s atmosphere called traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) that can: 

• Disrupt GPS navigation by several meters 
• Cause radio blackouts affecting aviation and emergency services 
• Interfere with satellite communications 
• Impact the growing space industry 

Early Detection Of Harmful Algal Blooms (Habs) Using Qpcr And Predictive Modeling, Emily Samuels

Research on Capitol Hill

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) threaten drinking water, recreation, and public health in Utah Lake and waterbodies due to cyanotoxin production. Current monitoring methods detect toxins only after blooms are already established.

Plants Have A Chemical Defense To Protect Themselves From Herbivory, Isis Cordova

Research on Capitol Hill

All plants produce compounds for survival. My work focuses on how plants remember past attacks and whether that memory leads to stronger/faster responses.

A New Tool Predicts The Risk Of Surface Damage And Subsequent Spacecraft Charging, Trace Taylor, Ashley Bahora

Research on Capitol Hill

We measured secondary electron yield (SEY), a key factor in spacecraft charging, across multiple materials under different surface conditions. SEY is a measure of how many electrons a surface releases when hit by radiation.

At Utah Lake, Large Changes In Water Level Impact The Restoration Of Native Plant Species, Mac Havens

Research on Capitol Hill

Native plant communities at Utah Lake matter for top-class recreation opportunities, migratory bird populations, June Sucker recovery efforts, and local economies.

Pest Management For Utah Cut Flower Production: Insects And Their Relatives, Nick Volesky, Marion Murray, Melanie Stock

All Current Publications

Pest management is important in cut flower production, marketability, and farm profitability. This fact sheet focuses on animal pests (insects, arthropods, mollusks, and vertebrates), not diseases or weeds, and has two parts. Part 1 applies Integrated Pest Management (IPM): using preventive techniques, pest thresholds, and best management practices with pests in cut flower crop production. Part 2 highlights the top 10 common pests of cut flowers in Utah and their management.

Factors Associated With Substance Use Treatment Seeking During Covid-19: A Cross-Sectional Study Applying The Gelberg–Andersen Model For Vulnerable Populations, Dorothy Wallis

Social Work Faculty Publications

Treatment seeking among individuals who misuse substances can be a complex process, with many factors contributing to treatment seeking. Guided by Gelberg–Andersen’s Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations, this research seeks to establish predisposing, enabling, and need factors contributing to treatment seeking during COVID-19. A total of 201 individuals participated in the study. Contrary to existing literature, no predisposing factors were associated with treatment seeking during COVID-19. However, variations were seen in enabling and need factors. Perceiving a need for treatment and having reliable transportation to treatment were associated with treatment seeking during COVID-19, underlying the importance of addressing both physical …

Biological Opinion Monitoring Of Riparian Habitat And Forest Stand Resources, Peter D. Howe

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Decolonizing Postpartum Depression: A Review Of Postpartum Depression In Adolescent American Indian Mothers, Brandi A. Richardson, Christopher J. Cutter, Mark Beitel

Journal of Indigenous Research

Postpartum depression (PPD), defined as at least two weeks of depressed mood or loss of interest in daily activities accompanied by symptoms such as altered eating habits, suicidal or infanticidal thoughts, feelings of inadequacy, and low energy, is a significant public health problem in the United States. Poor infant and maternal health increase risk for PPD. In addition, adolescent mothers are at higher risk of prenatal depression, birth complications, and PPD. Current research fails to address adolescent American Indian / Alaska Native (AI/AN) mothers experiencing PPD. This review seeks to integrate what has been discovered about PPD within Native communities …

Utah's Value-Added Food Processing Options, Karin E. Allen, Kynda R. Curtis, Makaylie Langford

All Current Publications

This fact sheet provides an overview of the benefits of producing and marketing value-added foods and outlines key considerations for new ventures. It also details the two primary programs available to smaller-scale processing in Utah—the Cottage Food Program and the Homemade Food Act—assisting producers in evaluating their products, markets, and resources to choose the best path forward.

Children And Youth With Special Health Care Needs (Cyshcn) Regional Support Centers (Rsc): A Framework For Effectively Engaging Stakeholders, Jenna Lequia, Susan Burlazzi, Abby Beer, Miriam Franco, Kathleen Mcgrath, Angel Morales, Joanne Siegel, Susan Hetherington, Tricia Patrick

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

The three University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDDs) in New York served as Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN) Regional Support Centers (RSC). The RSCs aimed to increase the capacity of local CYSHCN programs to connect with and support CYSHCN and their families in their community. RSCs conducted activities in the areas of family engagement, training and educational materials development, and technical assistance. RSCs engaged in ongoing dialogue with CYSHCN and their families to learn about experiences to inform systemic improvements through focus groups, interviews, and surveys. This article describes a statewide framework to serve …

From Strain To Strength: A Narrative Review Of Wellness Dimensions In Caregiving, Valerie Perkoski

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

This narrative review investigates the positive aspects of being a family caregiver for individuals with developmental disabilities (DDs) using the National Wellness Institute’s Six Dimensions of Wellness (Emotional, Physical, Intellectual, Occupational, Spiritual, and Social). While much research has traditionally focused on “caregiver burden,” this review highlights the often-overlooked beneficial outcomes of caregiving. Emotional wellness is enhanced through gratitude and resilience. Physical wellness is discussed through interventions like physical activity, which can reduce caregiver distress. Intellectual wellness emphasizes personal growth and self-actualization, helping caregivers find fulfillment in their roles. Occupational wellness shows that employment and community engagement can reduce anxiety among …

Menopause 101, Stephanie Carlson, Emma Parkhurst, Ashley Yaugher, Cris Meier

All Current Publications

This fact sheet provides women with basic information about perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause, along with helpful tips and resources to better prepare for or manage these phases of life.

Improving Ground Cover Crop Fractional Vegetation Mapping Via Causality-Based Deep Representation Learning, Atif Latif, Masoumeh Hashemi, Matt Yost, Somayeh Esmaeili, Xiaojun Qi

Computer Science Student Research

Semantic segmentation and deep learning methods have rarely been applied to fractional vegetation cover (FVC) segmentation tasks due to the lack of publicly available datasets for training deep learning models. FVC is a key indicator for assessing vegetation distribution, crop density, and crop responses to water availability and fertilizer application, yet conventional field-based measurement methods are time consuming, costly, labor intensive, and may lack the accuracy required for critical applications such as drought stress evaluation and water productivity. In this paper, we introduced causality-based deep learning techniques for FVC segmentation on a publicly available RGB dataset that consists of four …

The Effect Of A Preclinical Disability Elective On Medical Student Awareness, Attitudes, And Clinical Competency, Emily Hillmer, Willi Horner-Johnson, Rhonda Eppelsheimer

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Opportunities for education on disability are sparse in many medical school curricula, leaving students ill-prepared to address the needs of patients with disabilities in their future careers. The purpose of our study was to design and implement a novel elective course on disability for medical students and evaluate the effect of the course on student awareness, attitudes, and clinical skills. Medical students were surveyed to assess interest in a new disability elective and to understand in what areas they felt their knowledge and skills were most lacking. With support from our University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disability, we utilized …

Educational Policies Committee Agenda February 5, 2026, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Approval of Minutes - January 8, 2026
• Subcommittee Reports
• Curriculum Subcommittee
• Academic Standards Subcommittee
• General Education Subcommittee
• Center for Civic Excellence
• Other Business
• Adjourn: 4:00 pm

General Education Subcommittee Agenda February 5, 2026, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Call to Order
• Approval of Minutes - January 8, 2026
• Course Approvals/Removals/Syllabi Approvals
• New Business
• Additional Items
• Adjourn: 9:30 am

General Education Subcommittee Minutes February 5, 2026, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Call to Order
• Approval of Minutes - January 8, 2025
• Course Approvals/Removals/Syllabi Approvals
• New Business
• Catalog Language Changes
• Utah's Public Lands
• Adjourn: 9:30 am

Women's Safety & Security 2025: Utahn's Awareness, Understanding, And Attitudes, Susan R. Madsen, April Townsend

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

During the fall of 2023, Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) researchers conducted a statewide study to establish a baseline for public perceptions related to the awareness, understanding, and attitudes about challenges that Utah women and girls face. In early 2024, we published 20 short research summaries¹ that shared the results of this comprehensive study (see Nos. 9–28). Next, in the fall of 2024, we administered this survey, with slight changes, around the state of Utah for the second time. Six comprehensive research white papers were then published on the results (see Nos. 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, and …

Civic Center Curriculum Committee Agenda February 4, 2026, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Call to Order
• New Business
• Rubric Grading Guidelines
• Assessable Language
• Creative Arts
• Social Science
• Life and Physical Science
• Adjourn: 10:30 am

Flaplet: A Full-Stack Web Platform For End-To-End Time Series Data Processing And Machine Learning In Solar Flare Prediction, Mohammadreza Eskandarinasab, Shah Muhammad Hamdi, Soukaina Filali Boubrahimi

Computer Science Student Research

Solar flare prediction is a central challenge in space weather forecasting, with direct implications for satellite operations, aviation safety, and power grid reliability. Machine learning has achieved state-of-the-art performance for this task, particularly when applied to photospheric magnetic field parameters. FlaPLeT is an open-source, full-stack web platform that supports end-to-end machine learning workflows for multivariate time-series–based solar flare prediction without requiring any coding expertise. Built with React, Django, Celery, and PostgreSQL, the system integrates dataset preprocessing, data augmentation, functional network (graph) construction, and machine learning model training into modular asynchronous tasks that generate downloadable datasets, trained models, and structured JSON …

What Goals? Which Point? Whose Purpose? A Critical Engagement With Sport Internalism, Francisco Javier Lopez Frias

Kinesiology and Health Science Faculty Publications

In this article, I critique the dominance of internalism in sport philosophy and outline an alternative theoretical framework that integrates internal and external elements while striving to transcend the dichotomous language used to conceptualize sport. The analysis begins by claiming that internalism conflates three fundamental teleological aspects of sport: goals, point, and purposes. I argue that this conflation limits internalism’s ability to explain the complexity of sporting practices. By carefully distinguishing these elements, I illustrate their distinct roles in shaping sport and explore how they interact. I conclude by proposing that the alternative pluralist framework briefly sketched here enables a …

Critical Student Agency In An Integrated Social Studies Unit, Bolaji Bamidele, Kristin A. Searle

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Student Research

Background: Research has highlighted the value of centering student voices and agency in classroom contexts, yet few curricula explicitly foreground critical agency in their design. This qualitative case study examines how students enact agency within an integrated curriculum that combines computer science, social studies, and Indian Education for All (IEFA) standards. The unit focused on tribal sovereignty and why treaties still matter for indigenous people today, enabling students to connect their lived experiences to broader sociopolitical contexts. Data were collected through classroom observations, student and teacher interviews, and student artifacts. Results: Analysis revealed that students performed agency in three interrelated …