UTD’s Academic Senate was dissolved Sept. 1, 2025, ending decades of shared governance. Its successor, the Interim Faculty Advisory Council, did not convene in its roughly five months of existence. Now, UTD is trying again.
In a Feb. 5 email to faculty, Provost Inga Musselman announced the creation of the Faculty Presidential Advisory Council, a new body that will “advise President Moghe on matters related to the welfare and mission of the University.” The announcement comes more than five months after Senate Bill 37 took effect, abolishing faculty senates across the UT System and centralizing power with presidents, governing boards and state lawmakers.
“When I read the bill, it was clear the intent was to weaken faculty governance,”
— Former Academic Senate speaker and IFAC member Ravi Prakash
The FPAC will consist of approximately 15 full-time faculty members, with each school contributing one non-tenure system representative. Schools with more than 50 tenured or tenure-track faculty will contribute at least one such member. Faculty holding administrative positions of department head or above are ineligible to be on the committee, meant to “allow UTD FPAC members to speak candidly and independently.”
The council’s members won’t be elected. They’ll be appointed by the president after a nomination process by school deans and the provost. Terms are two years, renewable, with the council meeting at least once per quarter.
Attempt two
The FPAC is the second attempt at faculty representation since the Academic Senate’s dissolution. The first, the Interim Faculty Advisory Committee, was created Oct. 1, 2025, with 24 members, half of them former senators. Its charge was to perform “functions necessary for the operation of the university,” including reviewing educational policies and advising the president.
It never met. Scheduled meetings were repeatedly canceled.
“For months I received no communication until I suddenly received the communication saying IFAC is dissolved without ever having met,” Ravi Prakash, a former Academic Senate speaker and IFAC member, told The Retrograde.
IFAC was dissolved Jan. 23, less than two weeks before the FPAC announcement. The FPAC, unlike its predecessor, does not have any elected positions.
This bureaucratic shuffle stems from a fundamental rewrite of the rules governing faculty input. The old Regents’ Rule 40101 granted faculty a “major role in the governance” of their academic institutions. The new rule, adopted Nov. 20, 2025 through SB 37, eliminates “governance” entirely. Faculty bodies are now strictly “advisory” with “no final decision-making authority.” The university president has the sole discretion to establish them, appoint their members and dissolve them.
What SB 37 actually does
Senate Bill 37, authored by then-senator Brandon Creighton, did more than abolish faculty senates. It allows university governing boards to overturn “any decision made by the administration” and requires boards to individually approve or deny “each recommendation made by a faculty council or senate … on a matter related to curriculum or academic standards.”
Any future faculty senate would be limited to two representatives per college — one appointed by the president, one elected by faculty. Members serve one-year terms and cannot be reappointed until four years after their most recent term. The president appoints the presiding officer.
“When I read the bill, it was clear the intent was to weaken faculty governance,” Prakash said during the final Academic Senate meeting in August.
IFAC and FPAC are not considered new faculty senates, since they have not been approved by the UT System. They are advisory bodies, holding less power and influence over the school.
The committees in limbo
Beyond FPAC, the Feb. 5 email addressed the fate of the university’s 45 standing committees. Previously, their members were recommended by the “Committee on Committees” and approved by the Academic Senate, and they governed everything from facilities to academic discipline.
According to Musselman’s email, this will change after the 2025-2026 academic year. Select committees will be established for 2026-2027 “with oversight and approval by the President.” They will report to a “Responsible University Official” — the president, provost or other vice president — rather than to faculty leadership. The appointment process will be developed during spring 2026.
“I have no idea what will happen to the committee structure,” Prakash said. “The future of those committees is completely uncertain to me.”
Michael Kesden, the last speaker of the Academic Senate and a former IFAC member, noted the newly-formed FPAC’s members have to contend with little information from UTD about what committees will be like going forward, and how faculty’s role in shaping the university’s direction might change.
“If you don’t know what’s going on, how can you advise on things you don’t know about?” Kesden said.
‘An advisory body is not a voice’
Giana Abraham, Student Government president and neuroscience-psychology double major, said her office had received no communication about IFAC, its dissolution or the new FPAC before the provost’s email.
“When faculty voices are silenced in this state, we risk them leaving to other campuses,” Abraham said.
The distinction between “governance” and “advisory” is more than semantic. Under the old system, the Academic Senate had formal authority over curriculum and academic standards. When students requested pass/fail grading during the COVID-19 pandemic, the senate debated and voted, and the university followed their recommendation.
“That was a substantial decision made together for the benefit of students,” Prakash said. “It demonstrated what the senate could be.”
Under the new system, any faculty body can only advise. Final authority rests with the president and the Board of Regents.
“Communication is critical,” Kesden said. “A meeting once a year with emails is nowhere near enough. For communications to be effective, there has to be two-way communications.”
What happens next
The timeline for the FPAC is aggressive. By Feb. 19, nominations will be reviewed. Appointment letters go out Feb. 20. The council is scheduled to be established March 2 — roughly three weeks after the announcement. The initial term runs only until Aug. 31.
Meanwhile, the 45 existing committees continue to operate, but their members’ terms expire in September. What replaces them remains undetermined.
Kesden noted the loss of institutional knowledge is incalculable. “In the absence of information, we are just kind of trying to keep all our options open,” he said.
Prakash was more direct: “Any committee that is not chosen by the members of the faculty but instead handpicked is not truly a representative committee.”
The bigger picture
The dissolution of faculty senates did not happen in a vacuum. It followed pro-Palestine student protests in spring 2024, during which some faculty became vocal critics of how administrators handled the demonstrations. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick marked the bill’s passage with a tweet: “Sayonara, be gone all you leftist professors.”
SB 37 is part of a broader legislative assault on academic governance. The same session produced bills abolishing university DEI programs and restricting campus expression. The new Office of Excellence in Higher Education has authority to investigate and publicize violations of state law or institution policy.
For UTD faculty, FPAC is the latest in a series of replacements, each less representative than the last. First came IFAC, which never met. Now comes the FPAC, whose members will be appointed, not elected, and whose advice can be taken or disregarded.
“If you don’t know what’s going on, how can you advise on things you don’t know about?”
— Final speaker of the Academic Senate and a former IFAC member Michael Kesden
This is a breaking news story. The Retrograde will provide updates as more information becomes available.