Minutes of the Senate Meeting
October 7, 2008
Broun Auditorium
3:00 p.m.
Draft
Present: Robert Locy, Sue Barry, Kathryn Flynn, David Cicci, Dennis Devries, Richard Brinker, Paul Bobrowski, Timothy Boosinger, John Heilman, Lindsey Stevenson, Andrew McLelland, Norbert Wilson, Sondra Palmer, Werner Bergen, Barbara Kemppainen, Michael Clay, Christopher McNulty, Paul Swamidass, Anthony Moss, Timothy McDonald, Paul Holley, Rik Blumenthal, Larry Crowley, Brigitta Brunner, Laura Plexico, Sanjeev Baskiyar, Carol Centrallo, John Saye, Dan Gropper, James Witte, James Goldstein, Claire Crutchley, John Mazaheri, Larry Teeter, Jim Saunders, Mark Fischman, David Carter, Ellen Abell, Shea Tillman, Robert Bulfin, Andrew Wohrley, Edith Davidson, Steve Stuckwisch, Bart Prorok, Constance Hendricks, Claire Zizza, Don-Terry Veal, Jim Wright, Daniel Parson, Jan Kavookjian, Bernie Olin, Guy Rohrbaugh, Mike Bozack, Changhoon Jung, Robert Voitle, Chris Correia, Peggy Shippen, Scott Lewis, Jon Segars, Emily Myers, Gwen Thomas
Absent sending a substitute: Larry Benefield (Joe Morgan), Anne-Katrin Gramberg (J. Emmett Winn), Todd Storey (Maria Folmer), Scotte Hodel (Michael Baginski), Robin Huettel (Leonardo de la Fuente, Raymond Kessler (James Spiers), Tom Williams (Shawn Newman), M. Scott Phillips (Robin Jaffe)
Absent no substitute: R. Lee Evans, Barbara Witt, John Mason, Jeff McNeil, Bonnie MacEwan, Lauren Hayes, Valerie Morns-Riggins, Joe Molnar, Bill Hames, Ruth Crocker, Winfred Foster, Charles Mitchell, Ronald Neuman, Allen Davis, Casey Cegielski, Howard Goldstein, R.D. Montgomery
Bob Locy called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m.
Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the September 9th Senate meeting were approved by voice vote without opposition.
Remarks from the President
Dr. Gogue talked about two things 1) Amendment One that would be on the ballot in November and 2) shared governance.
Dr. Gogue suggested that the faculty and staff should decide for themselves how they may want to vote on Amendment One, but that he wanted to give some historical background on the issue. Since 1935 Alabama has had a financial cycle of seven or eight good years followed by two or three bad years. What Amendment One will do is to put a larger amount of money in the rainy day fund during the good years so that there will be more money during the bad years. In essence the rainy day fund will continue at a higher level than in the past. The Presidents of Alabama universities are supporting this amendment. Part of the opposition has come from those that have seen increased pay raises (K-12) during good years, and then during bad years have benefited because they say that we can’t lose teachers; therefore K-12 has benefited with the current process.
Dr. Gogue also shared some figures concerning shared governance. For example, slightly more than 400 of our 1,100 faculty are active in various committees that guide the decision making on this campus. He then went on to explain a recent occurrence at AUM. Someone was hired as head of the Informatics Center with a faculty appointment, but the individual was never vetted through the Math Department. Here at Auburn when we hire someone with an academic tie, we go back to the department where the candidate will reside and ask for them to review the individual’s papers and to offer that individual a position. Although the President and the Provost of AUM have apologized, this does not follow the tenets of shared governance. He then offered to answer any questions on this matter, but there were no remarks.
Remarks from the Chair
Bob Locy, (Chair) made several announcements
Questions and Remarks
Herb Rotfeld, Dept. of Marketing (not a Senator) wanted to know at what time the Interdisciplinary Degree program mentioned above would be up for review by the Senate.
Bob replied that the decision would be made in the future and that he didn’t know if it would be on the November agenda or not.
Action Items:
Additional Committee Nominees (Sue Barry, Secretary)
Sue submitted two more nominations – one for the one-year term approved last month for an additional member to the Core Curriculum Oversight Committee and the second to fill an empty slot on the Library Committee.
The motion passed by a voice vote.
Undergraduate Certificate Definition and Graduate Certificate Definition (Linda Glaze, Associate Provost for Undergraduate Studies
Linda explained that over the years she had received inquiries from faculty and departments interested in certificates that could be posted on an academic transcript. Her response has been that first we needed an official definition as a metric for future requests. She began the process by asking for input from the Graduate Council and from Drs. Flowers and Pittman to consider a graduate certificate, and the idea of a definition received a favorable vote. She also asked Dotty Cavender and the University Curriculum Committee to look at the undergraduate certificate possibilities, but they chose not to discuss it at an in-person meeting.
She explained that certificates may be taken by non-degree-seeking students. At the moment Outreach offers non-credit certificates, but what is being presented today is for departments, colleges or schools to develop groups of courses that they might want to designate as a certificate and that would go on an official transcript. If the definitions are approved they will go into the Auburn University Bulletin on page 15 as another designation under majors and minors.
Questions and Remarks
Rik Blumenthal (Chemistry & Biochemistry) noted that the graduate certificate was much better defined than the undergraduate certificate. He pointed out the specificity in terms of home departments, changing status and number of courses for a certificate. These details are missing in the undergraduate definition.
Linda responded that she was in agreement.
Rik suggested that they adopt similar language in the undergraduate certificate definition as that used for the graduate certificate.
Linda noted one important difference. The graduate certificate allows for a student to start a certificate and finish a degree, whereas in the undergraduate certificate it is clear that the student cannot use the same hours in the certificate for a major or a minor.
Rik also wanted to know more about the types of certificates that have been requested. For example, he wondered if we would be starting something like a bookkeeping degree program online in competition with University of Phoenix. Therefore, wording is important to indicate that this is not a degree.
Jim Wright (Pathobiology) mentioned that they have had a student receive a certificate from Purdue in something like “biosecurity emergency preparedness.” He knew it was a demanding program because he monitored the exam. It was an online program that the student was able to add to his vita.
Linda Glaze explained the procedure. First we come up with an official definition; then the curriculum committee reviews it; and then we notify ACHE that it exists. They don’t review the curriculum, but if we wander away from our mission, Dr. Gogue will hear about it. These certificates will likely be in technical areas and across disciplines. For example, UAB has a certificate in a health related field, and UAB is also offering a certificate in Spanish for professions in their Foreign Languages and Literatures Department.
Bob Locy (Chair) called for a motion and a second before there was additional discussion.
The motion wasmade and seconded and the discussion proceeded.
David Carter (History) wanted to know why a person could count a course toward the MA or PhD and also count it for a certificate, but couldn’t do the same thing at the undergraduate level.
Linda Glaze (Associate Provost for Undergraduate Studies) explained that we are trying to increase the number of graduate students and having students do a certificate as a lead into a degree makes sense. However, at the undergraduate level you cannot major and minor in the same program; therefore, it wouldn’t make sense that one could do a certificate in a major. Nor would it make sense to get a certificate in a minor since only degree seeking students can get minors.
Emily Myers(Social Work and Sociology) reported that there was an undergraduate certificate in aging years ago, but as years went by the certificate program disappeared. People stopped teaching the courses and there was no home for the certificate. She wanted to know if Linda was suggesting that the Curriculum Committee would be that home.
Linda Glaze responded that any request for a major or a minor must come as a proposal with a home location designated. The registrar can’t post anything without the approval of the Curriculum Committee.
Emily Meyers wanted to know the point of having these certificates.
Linda responded that it was protection for Auburn University because if a hiring agency wants to confirm that a person actually received the degree stated on the resume, then that degree or certificate needs to be on the transcript. This protects the university because we can show that the institution offered the certificate.
Bob Locy (Chair) asked to close the discussion.
Rik Blumenthal (Chemistry and Biochemistry) wanted to continue the discussion because he didn’t understand exactly where we were going with the discussion. Were we about to take a vote?
Bob agreed that this was the case.
Rik made a motion to table the undergraduate definition for a month and to proceed with the graduate one that seemed to be complete at this time.
Bob asked if Rik would be interested in making an amendment to put the paragraph from the graduate definition on the undergraduate one.
Rik Blumenthal said that would not be appropriate due to some of the language, and therefore, he wanted to make a motion to table the undergraduate definition for one month in order to create the appropriate wording to make everyone comfortable.
Rik Blumenthal (Chemistry & Biochemistsry) moved to divide the items.
The motion was seconded and carried with a voice vote.
Rik made another motion to postpone the undergraduate degree certificate program until next meeting.
This motion was seconded and passed with a voice vote.
Bob asked for discussion of the graduate definition for a certificate program, and there was none. The motion to accept the graduate definition was seconded and passed with a voice vote.
Faculty Handbook Committee Report (Norman Godwin, Chair, Handbook Committee)
The Faculty Handbook Review Committee brought two changes to the handbook for Senate approval. Norman explained that the charge to the committee is twofold. One is to initiate potential changes to the handbook where identified by asking committees chairs or academic units to consider proposing changes. The second is to review changes. Therefore, their charge is to clarify not to make policy.
Norman continued that last year under the leadership of Kathryn Flynn, they contacted all the chairs of committees described in the faculty handbook. And they requested that chairs review descriptions in the handbook to see if they were consistent with current practices. Most of those that responded felt the descriptions were adequate. However two committees, Faculty Grievance Committee and the Academic Review Committee proposed changes.
Normanasked the Senate to adopt a change to the Faculty Handbook for the Faculty Grievance Committee.
The motion carried by a voice vote.
Normaninformed the Senate that there was an error in the change they received for the Academic Program Review Committee. The change was …”committee shall consist of one faculty member.” The word “faculty” was left out. This change came from Yasser Goyed’s committee, and Norman suggested that Yasser could answer any questions the senators might have. Since there were no questions, he moved that the changes to the Academic Program Review Committee be adopted as policy in the Faculty Handbook.
The motion was passed by a voice vote.
Information Item:
Interdisciplinary Degree Program (Linda Glaze and Patricia Duffy, Associate and Assistant Provosts for Undergraduate Studies)
Linda (Associate Provost for Undergraduate Studies) reported that she had initiated this degree for AU students in good standing, i.e. students with a 2.0 GPA, with the approval of the Curriculum Committee. She explained that the problem is that the College of Business has increased the GPA required for their programs to 2.5, and the Department of Communications has raised theirs to 2.3. Other colleges are following suit such as Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. Before developing this degree, they looked at some models from Mississippi State, Texas A & M and the University of Maryland. In the latter, there was oversight to insure the quality of the program which Linda liked.
Linda reported that the Bachelor of Science degree at Auburn in interdisciplinary studies would be organized so that students could take two to three different areas across colleges. The associate deans in several colleges suggested that the oversight for the program should be in the Office of the Provost and administered by the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Studies. Students would be able to combine several different disciplines which is especially important now that more and more departments are putting up barriers for students with a 2.0 GPA. They are finding themselves with no academic home. However, Linda felt that giving students employable skills was also an important factor. However, there is another group of students with special interests would be allowed to create degrees to fit their needs.
Linda explained that to be admitted into this degree a student must have a 2.0 GPA or have a 2.2 in the previous semester. For those who are not familiar with academic probation, she explained that after being put on warning, a student must reach a GPA for his or her number of hours or have a 2.2 in the previous term. This is the reason for the 2.2 in the previous term. Also students would not be eligible until after they have completed 30 hours or basically after their freshman year. There will be an introductory course to serve as the gate, and if students earn a C or higher, then they can be admitted to the interdisciplinary majors. Therefore, final acceptance is based on student performance in this initial course.
Linda Glaze introduced Patricia Duffy who will be working with this degree.
Patricia Duffy (Assistant Provost for Undergraduate Studies) outlined the program. The major will consist of 36 hours that can be split into two sets of 18 hours across two schools or colleges or three sets of 12, 12, 12 across three different schools or colleges. This is similar to the model at Mississippi State. In addition, students will take two additional interdisciplinary courses, the introductory course and a senior capstone course. The capstone course could be an internship, a service learning course or, for a highly motivated student, a research project. All students would also take 8-9 hours of supporting coursework in oral communication, computer competence, and a writing course. Another requirement is that at least 20 hours must be at the 3000 level or above.
Patricia Duffy explained that all students would have a faculty mentor to approve their plans of study and to oversee their choices of courses, especially prerequisites for upper level courses. In addition, they will have a faculty advisor in each area of concentration; therefore, there would be two or three additional advisors to approve the selection of courses in each field. These advisors can help students to understand what prerequisites they might need for upper level courses. A faculty oversight committee will serve as a contact point for advisors and mentors. This committee will report back to the curriculum committee so that problems and/or suggestions for improvement can be acted upon.
Patricia Duffy talked about the major project of the introductory course. In this course students will develop and justify their degree plans. This will require research on the career of their choice with a written report presented to the class. A faculty member and a career advisor will teach the course and help students to identify concentration areas and to find the faculty advisors they will need in each area. In order to continue students must pass this course with a C. The goal is to have approximately 15-20 graduates per year over the next five years. Entry will be limited to the number of seats in the introductory course. Initially, there will be two courses offered per year – one in the fall and one in the spring. There will be about 25 students in each section or a maximum of 50 per year. The degree was approved by the University Curriculum Committee on October 2nd, and still needs approval from the Board of Trustees and ACHE. The hope is to launch the degree in the fall of 2009.
Questions and Remarks
Guy Rohrbaugh (Philosophy) didn’t quite understand the introductory course. He wanted a clearer picture of what the content of the class would be. He thought that perhaps the course was to help people navigate the system.
Patricia Duffy (Assistant Provost for Undergraduate Studies) explained that it would be a three hour class in which the faculty member would give general information about interdisciplinary studies with possibly four case studies with different types of interdisciplinary projects. For example, one might be obesity; another might be biofuels. The students would also write a research paper on careers. They would investigate a possible future career for themselves. Then they would critique other people’s papers and in doing so they would learn about other careers. Finally, there would be readings with a midterm and a final.
David Carter (History) I can envision this to be something like the Echols Scholars Program where very talented undergraduates could come in and not really have a major requirement. So this could benefit really bright interdisciplinary-oriented students. However, the word on the street might be that the program is designed for students who are not succeeding in different schools and colleges. Therefore, you might end up with some interesting mixes of students and it may not be appropriate to comment on that. Then David asked if this would come back to the Senate as an action item. What is the Senate’s role other than being in the informational loop? David also commented that he was unable to open the item on the agenda and that he would like to share this with his colleagues.
Patricia Duffy explained that it wasn’t part of the agenda, but it would be included in the minutes or whenever it gets on the website. Bob will speak to whether or not it will be an action item. However, it was reviewed and approved by the University Curriculum Committee.
Bob Locy (Chair) responded that we were reluctant to attach it until after it had gone through the Curriculum Committee. There was no intention to deceive. As to our future intent, this was discussed by steering and it is still not resolved. Normally, curriculum approval doesn’t go through the Senate, but no university wide curriculum has ever been approved before so we’re kind of in no man’s land here with respect to rules to follow. Maybe we should have waited to present this, but we wanted to get it on the agenda so that if we decided to bring it back next month, the Senate membership would already be familiar with the issue.
Jan Kavookjian (Pharmacy Care Systems) commented as a parent of a child who had just graduated from West Virginia University where there is a multi-disciplinary studies program that is not as structured as this one. His son was one of those who changed his major multiple times, but in the end when he finally decided what he wanted to do, that program allowed him to bring it all together with some mentoring and to finish the degree and graduate.
Patricia Duffy thanked Jan for his comments and suggested that anyone wanting more information or wanting to teach in the program might email her at duffypa@auburn.edu.
Tom Sanders (Library, not a Senator) asked for some confirmation concerning GPAs. His point was that for some students it would be difficult to stay in a business major because of the 2.5 GPA and in this degree they could graduate with a 2.0. Correct?
Patricia Duffy replied yes with a 2.0 to a 4.0.
Tom Sanders returned to an earlier statement made by the presenters. There will be people who can’t manage a 2.3 or a 2.5 who will now be able to graduate. Correct?
Patricia Duffy responded that in her area, AG Econ, 2.0 is an acceptable GPA, but in other areas students now need higher GPAs.
Bob Locy (Chair) adjourned the meeting at 4:05 as there was no further business.