Minutes of the University Senate Meeting
9 February 2010
3:00 p.m.
Broun Hall Auditorium
Submitted by
Dennis DeVries, Secretary
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(for a complete transcription of the meeting, go to transcript_02_09_10)
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Present: Kathryn Flynn, Claire Crutchley, Dennis Devries, Robert Locy, R. Lee Evans, Stewart Schneller, Mary Ellen Mazey, Larry Crowley, Norbert Wilson, Sondra Parmer, Charles Mitchell, Werner Bergen, Barbara Kemppainen, Michael Clay, Christopher McNulty, Anthony Moss, Eduardus Duin, Prabhakar Clement, Hollie Lavenstein, Daniel Phillips, Sanjeev Baskiyar, Charles Eick, Michael Stern, James Witte, Michael Baginski, James Goldstein, Xing Ping Hu, Keven Yost, Allen Davis, John Mazaheri, Larry Teeter, David King, Mark Fischman, Ellen Abell, Shea Tillman, Robert Bulfin, Andrew Wohrley, Edith Davidson, Steve Stuckwisch, Bart Prorok, Howard Goldstein, Constance Hendricks, Claire Zizza, Jim Wright, Daniel Parson, Jan Kavookjian, Wesley Lindsey, Guy Rohrbaugh, Mike Bozack, Yasser Gowayed, Chris Correia, Rebecca Curtis, Del Epperson, Heather May
Absent, sending a substitute: Constance Relihan (for Anne-Katrin Gramberg), John Weete (for John Mason), DeWayne Searcy (for Andrew McLelland), Junshan Liu (for Paul Holley), Fenny Dane (for Raymond Kessler), Gerard Gryski (for Steven P. Brown)
Absent, no substitute: Russ Muntifering, Richard Guthrie, Larry Benefield, Richard Brinker, Jeff McNeil, Ainsley Carry, Bonnie MacEwan, Jacob Watkins, James Winfield, Judy Woodrow, April Staton, David Shannon , Bill Hames, Winfred Foster, Paul Swamidass, Yifen Wang, Ronald Neuman, Wi-Suk Kwon, Jennifer Brooks, Casey Cegielski, Monica DeTure, Robert Voitle, Scott Lewis, Jon Segars, Emily Myers, Ralph Henderson
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Call to Order:
Kathryn Flynn called the meeting to order at 3:00 PM
She briefly reviewed procedural rules for the meeting.
There were no comments or changes on the minutes from the 12 January 2010 University Senate meeting, so they were approved without change.
Remarks and Announcements:
Kathryn Flynn (Faculty Chair) invited Dr. Gogue, President, to present comments from the President's office.
Dr. Gogue had several items to mention.
--At the Board of Trustees meeting last week, they approved in concept the early phase approval of a small animal hospital in the College of Veterinary Medicine. This allows the College of Veterinary Medicine to go forward with securing private funding.
--The PACT program has a new plan proposed in the legislative session, where tuition increases for PACT students would not exceed 2½ % for the next 30 years. The House of Representatives will be debating this.
--There is really no change in the budget situation. January levels were down 4% from January 2009.
--There was another pedestrian struck on Magnolia. Dr. Gogue has charged the facilities group to step up their efforts.
Questions for Dr. Gogue:
--There were no questions for Dr. Gogue.
Comments from the Chair:
--Several years ago we voted to join COIA, and Kathryn Flynn went to their meeting a couple of weeks ago. They may have a document for Senators to endorse in a couple of weeks.
--Dr. Mazey and Dr. King will be holding a forum tomorrow at 3 on facilities.
--This years call for professional improvement leave had 9 applicants. They were reviewed and 4 were funded.
--There is a special called faculty meeting next Tuesday to vote on a change in the time when officers take their office, and to discuss a number of proposed handbook changes.
--Candidates for officers are:
Chair-elect: Roy Hartfield (Aerospace Engineering) and Ann Beth Presley (Consumer Affairs)
Secretary-elect: Larry Crowley (Civil Engineering) and Robin Jaffe (Theatre)
Questions for Dr. Flynn:
--There were no questions for Dr. Flynn.
Action Items:
Proposal to change the membership of the Senate Faculty Research Committee to include one member from each academic unit on campus (Dennis DeVries, Secretary)
--The proposed change to the committee is at: https://auburn.edu/administration/governance/senate/website/agendas/2009-2010/Feb10_agn_items/FacultyResearchCommittee_change2.pdf
--Bruce Smith (Chair of the Faculty Research Committee) noted that the committee wants this change, and emphasized that it is important for information exchange.
--The proposed change passed unanimously by a voice vote.
Rules Committee Nominations (Dennis DeVries, Secretary)
--Dennis DeVries (Secretary) reviewed the process for nomination and election of Rules Committee members, and emphasized the importance of this committee.
--The floor was opened for nominations.
--Andrew Wohrley (Library) nominated Andrew McLelland (Accountancy).
--Constance Hendicks (Nursing) nominated Eduardus (Evert) Duin (Chemistry/Biochemistry).
--We do need a third nominee, and we will try to get the third nominee in March and vote on them in April. We will vote on these two nominees in March.
--The inclusion of these two individuals as nominees was approved by a unanimous voice vote.
Endorsement of Retention Statement from Retention Committee (Jeffrey Fergus, Chair, Retention Committee)
--The retention statement can be found at https://auburn.edu/administration/governance/senate/website/agendas/2009-2010/Feb10_agn_items/RetentionStatement.pdf
--The PowerPoint file for this presentation in pdf.
--Werner Bergen (Animal Sciences) commented that faculty should never say that they would rather be somewhere else.
--Mark Fischman (Kinesiology) asked about transfers versus students starting at AU. Drew Clark (Institutional Research and Assessment) responded that there is no rate computed for transfer students.
--Some additional items: There is an 85% return, which is a blended average for 3 years. The current percentage is 82%. All losses occur in out of state students. We must recognize that out-of-state have options, and this will affect our ability to retain students. The 4-year graduation rate is difficult to attain in some fields such as architecture and some other areas where it is difficult to finish in 4 years.
--The vote to endorse the statement passed by a unanimous voice vote.
Information Items:
Report on 2009 Administrator Evaluation Survey (Michael Baginski, Chair 2009 Administrator Evaluation Committee).
--The PowerPoint file in pdf for this presentation is the first 10 slides.
--There were no questions.
Report on 2010 Administrator Evaluation Survey (Ulrich Albrecht, Chair 2010 Administrator Evaluation Committee).
--The PowerPoint file in pdf for this presentation is the last 3 slides.
--The survey links are going out this week and will run through 12 March.
--Ulrich Albrecht encouraged everyone to participate, and to encourage their faculty to participate as well.
--There were no questions.
Recommendations concerning final exams (Patricia Duffy, Assistant Provost)
--The recommendations concerning final exams from the Academic Affairs Committee are at https://auburn.edu/administration/governance/senate/website/agendas/2009-2010/Feb10_agn_items/finals-policy-change-suggestions.pdf.
--The handout provided at the meeting.
-- The PowerPoint file in pdf for this presentation .
--David King (Geology/Geography) said that the language for courses includes "should", and "could" while for the labs t says "shall be". Provide the same flexibility for labs as for lectures.
--Tony Moss (Biological Sciences) said he had a range of responses from his faculty. One faculty member likes to do the lab final before finals week. Patricia Duffy responded that the language is the current wording. Tony Moss said that there is some negotiating that goes on and we should not codify these negotiations, but formalize procedures. What about moving the earliest exam for those students who end up with 3 exams on one day; that would make a rotation among classes.
--Patricia Duffy noted that any ideas are fine.
--Bob Locy (Immediate Past Chair) asked if the handbook referred to the faculty handbook. Patricia Duffy responded that it did. Bob Locy said that some policy exists in the Tiger Cub and it is important to put language from the Faculty Handbook into the Tiger Cub. He has other changes that he will pass on privately. It is hard to have one set of rules that will cover all exceptions.
--Guy Rohrbaugh (Philosophy) said that this all seemed reasonable. It is not obvious concerning 3 exams per day; if no one moves, there is no informal good will, it is hard to believe that someone will be forced to move. Patricia Duffy responded that other universities do this.
--Tony Moss (Biological Sciences) said it is unreasonable to suggest to our students that we live in a fair environment.
Information on Auburn Connects (“Three Cups of Tea”) (Constance Relihan, Chair, Auburn Connects! Common Book Program, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Liberal Arts)
--This comes out of the emphasis on our student retention.
-- The PowerPoint file in pdf for this presentation.
--We would like to have a culture of Auburn Connects where everyone is involved in some way like we are all involved with football at Auburn.
Unfinished Business:
There was no unfinished business.
New Business:
There was no new business.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:28 PM.