Administrative and Professional Assembly
Ballroom A.
APPROVED
- September 30, 2003
The meeting was called to order by Kathy Harmon at
The following members were present: Dennis Block, Cara Mia Braswell, Amy Douglas, Lisa Fleming, Kathy Harmon, Phyllis Harris, Harriette Huggins, George Konstant, Melissa Morris, Karen Rankin, Betty Reese, Anna Reynolds, Linda Sayers, Melvin K. Smith, Thomas Stofer, Martha Taylor, Mary Ann Taylor-Sims, 29 in audience.
Absent: John Asmuth, Stacey Boseman, Drew Bergering, Cathey Ramey, Kim Trupp.
The minutes of the
Kathy Harmon introduced President William Walker
“At the mid-point of the academic year it has been
a good
one for
“The budget year beginning
“Alabama Commission on Higher Education has asked for a modest 4% increase in funding for the next fiscal year. What we would like to see the legislature approve is a $350 million increase in operation & maintenance and $1 billion bond issue for capital improvements. This would require significant tax reform that would all those additional revenues.”
Have we done enough belt-tightening.
We should all recognize that the public universities in this state long ago ceased to be “state-supported” institutions. We are a “state-assisted” university. Sadly that is a trend that is not going to be reversed in our lifetime.” For this university to survive and to thrive it is going to have to learn how to generate other sources of revenue. Private fund raising is a key.
In spite of how the next fiscal year develops, I
believe for
the first time there appears to be a real confluence of thinking in
As professional and highly valued staff of this
university
you would like to know the budget situations and prospects for the
future are
going to affect you personally. The short answer is “I don’t know…” For the first time since I have been in
In closing let me share with you some of the University’s recent accomplishments:
Questions:
1.
Tom Stofer,
Public Safety. You mentioned the 4% increase in
enrollment over last fall. Where do
you see enrollment going? When is too much too much? The Board of
Trustees
established a limit of 25,000 – 20,000 undergraduates and 5,000
graduate
students and reconfirmed that a recent meeting. The practical answer
and the
one that bothers me the most is when the day comes that the University
of
Alabama has an enrollment of one student larger than Auburn the Board
of
Trustees will tell us to get out and recruit more students. We have got
to be
the biggest university in the state. That is the mindset that bigger is
better.
I don’t like that mindset. I got my undergraduate degree at the
2. Frank Dillard, Poultry Science. The Board of Trustees passed a resolution to get faculty and non faculty salaries to the regional average. Is that goal attainable?
We have made some progress. I think as a practical matter it may not be in 2004. The Board is working on that. They are dedicated to the notion. Can we do it in 2004? Probably not, but we will be a lot closer than we were. The Board is not hypocritical in its view that in order to have the quality of University that all of us want, we have to pay salaries to attract the quality of people we need here. Frankly, the most outspoken members of the board say we ought not be talking about regional averages, rather national averages because that is the environment we ought to be recruiting faculty and staff…. That ought to be our goal. This is a great place to live, a great place to work.
Additional comments from Don Large: When we developed that plan there were different variables agreed upon that we needed to address. One of the variables was to raise tuition, cut costs, redistribute, and the state would fund at 1% or 2% growth for each of those five years. That is where we are falling short. Even next year if we fund at 2% growth we could probably hit it in 2004. If they cut us there is the challenge. The only way to hit that goal is to rethink tuition. The University has done its part. The state has to fund us a little bit better or we will never reach the goal. That is why we may not make it at least if the state does not deliver level funding next year.
3.
Lisa
Fleming, Housing. Recently
there has been a lot of talk in
K-12 they may be laying off janitors and when hot weather arrives they
may not
have air-conditioning. We know the woes of
Your point is well
taken.
Describing
4. Cara Mia Braswell, Planning and analysis. Have you heard any talk about making K-12 K-16. Has that been brought up? Roy Johnson was trying to take the Junior colleges out of Higher Ed and putting them in with K-12. Roy Johnson has tried to do that, but there may be some accreditation issues. I do not support that at all. Junior colleges have got to be part of the Senior college system. We have got to have some say about what they are teaching. We are required by law to accept some the courses they teach, therefore they have got to be accountable. That is part of the accreditation standards.
5.
Karen Rankin, Outreach, I was
wondering if
you could give us any insight into the direction as to what the
Diversity
Leadership Council hopes to take after they receive the results of the
diversity survey currently being conducted?
I have
not been meeting with that group. When I show up at a meeting then I
become the
focus as opposed to the subject. I am very interested in that group as
you
know. They are doing the survey to determine what is
the
climate on campus. They are going to generate some
recommendations. I
think what has to be kept in mind is this whole thing of diversity is a
journey
and like any journey every step may not be ahead. You think you are
going in
the right direction, but you may not be. That is what we are doing now.
I wish
I could tell folks this is what you have to do to get to where we need
to be. I
think it is very important that you participate and let your feelings
be known.
What I am interested in is the notion of diversity becoming a core
value of
this campus. I am interested in people appreciating that there is
strength in
numbers and strength in different perspectives. If everybody in this
room was
my clone, this would be an incredibly boring occasion and secondly, I
would not
need the rest of you because you all think like me. Therefore, strength
is in
diversity of thought, diversity of approach, the diversity of outlook.
To me,
that is what this campus needs to be and this is what we need to be
teaching
young people. We’ve got kids graduating from this place and in a matter
of
weeks are getting on airplanes to fly to work or to the military. I am
terrified at the thought we may not have taught them what they need. We
have
probably taught them to be good engineers. If you go to
6. Dennis Block, Environmental Institute. You brought up subject of staff who have gone on active duty, has the University given any consideration to salary supplement? I would hate to see anyone suffer a great financial inconvenience. I would hope that supervisors, managers, Deans or vice-presidents would bring the issue up so it might be handled on a case by case basis. I think we have to be careful of establishing a policy that opens the vault in Don Large’s office.
There were no committee reports.
Kathy Harmon presented information related to a proposed stipend to be paid to Chair, Chair-elect, and Past-Chair of the assembly. University Senate has approved 10% of salary. Compensation will begin for officers whose terms begin April 2003. The Staff council has approved $5000 for the Chair, $4000 for the Chair-elect and Past-Chair. Compensation will begin with the current term. After discussion with no clear consensus, Kathy appointed a committee of Phyllis Harris, Chair.;Lisa Fleming, Dennis Block, and Phyllis Harris to bring a report and recommendation to our next meeting.
Kathy Harman announced a meeting related to the
Parking and
Traffic Master Plan to be held a Facilities Conference Room,
Harriette Huggins announced a Parking and Traffic
Master
Plan Open Forum meeting will be held in
There was a request from Frank Dillard A&P members who serve on campus committees report to the Assembly about their meetings.
The meeting was adjourned at
Harriette Huggins,
Secretary.
.