Faculty Senate Minutes, February 17th, 2026

Date, Time and Place

  • Tuesday, February 17th, 2026
  • 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
  • Virtual Meeting-Teams

Call to Order and Roll

  • Call to order
    • Call to order at 2:30pm
  • Present.
    • Aranda, Darlene (SA)
    • Casale, Gar (SCS)(S)
    • Clampit, Marinn (SCS)
    • Grauel, Jessica (SCS)
    • Heath, Glenn (SCS)
    • Herrera, Arlene (SA)
    • Kirk, Karla (SCS)
    • Laudenslager, Cruz (SCS)(C)
    • Lewis, Spencer (SA)(VC)
    • Quiroga, Jose (SA)
  • Absent.
    • Aguliar, Monica (SCS)
    • Vega, Camille (SA)
    • Chang, Crystal (SCS)
    • Martinez, Chelsie (SA)

Approval of January Minutes

  • Motion by Glenn Heath, second by Spencer Lewis.
  • Send any edits or corrections to Gar Casale.

Guest

  • Elizabeth Callahan & Ryan McInerny
    • Ryan McInerny introduced himself and talked about his role in media relations and strategic messaging. He comes to the System from Nevada State University where he was deputy chief of staff and played a large role in legislative outreach.
    • Elizabeth Callahan covered her role as Public information Officer. Imparted that the earlier she gets details about an achievement or struggle the better she’ll be able to share it with stakeholders or the public. She also mentioned that in the absence of public information the only stories that get told are the negative ones.
    • NSHE uses a firm called Mad Global that helps draft op-eds. They also help with the time and labor-intensive process of helping tag posts.
    • Spencer Lewis asked about the duration of the contract with Mad Global. Ryan McInerny reported it is currently indefinite, but the goal is to do more of the work within NSHE as the department becomes more effective.
    • Ryan McInerny plans to tackle the more high-level strategic decisions while Elizabeth Callahan will specialize in the management of reporter contacts and content production.
    • Jose asked about what the plan for the next legislative session might be. Ryan McInerny answered that when he was working for Nevada State University, he looked to the System to make sure that his objectives aligned with the System’s, so he’s likely to continue that paradigm.
    • Spencer Lewis asked about inter-institution communication and getting priorities to that group. Elizabeth Callahan replied that she runs a monthly meeting with all the communication teams. Ryan McInerny included the government affairs roles as well as a good place to send priorities.
    • Ryan McInerny mentioned a periodical information packet for the regents to stay informed as a project he is working on, and that we could utilize.

Chair’s Report

  • BOR
    • The Board approved an increase in student fees in last meeting. Glenn Heath asked about any discussions of furlough by the board, Cruz Laudenslager replied that it was never discussed, but that she will keep an ear out for it.
  • Chancellor
    • No meeting.
  • Chair-of-Chairs
    • Mostly discussed the fee increase.

Old Business

  • None.

New Business

  • Working meeting on new Faculty Senate website.
    • Changes to document formatting for minutes to make them more ADA compliant.
    • Let Jessica Grauel know of any corrections to the website.
  • Faculty Senate Update.
    • Stephanie Flatt wants to know if we want to talk about anything as an update at the all-hands meeting. Spencer Lewis reiterated his idea to offer our services to HR to facilitate a climate survey.
  • Process change.
    • Jessica Grauel introduced a motion to change the Teams meeting to have a lobby so that we could begin spreading the link to the Faculty Senate Teams meeting. The motion was seconded by Gar Casale, it passed unanimously.

Next meeting

  • Tuesday, March 17th, at 2:30pm.

Adjournment

  • Motion to adjourn.
    • Motion to adjourn by Gar Casale, second by Spencer Lewis.
    • Meeting adjourned at 3:15pm.
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