Minutes of the University Senate Meeting
7 June 2011
3:00 p.m.
Broun Hall Auditorium
Submitted by
Russ Muntifering, Secretary
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A complete transcription of the meeting is available.
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Present: Claire Crutchley, Ann Beth Presley, Russ Muntifering, Larry Crowley, Kathryn Flynn, William Batchelor, Bill Hardgrave, Gregg Newschwander, Lee Evans, Chuck Savrda, Timothy Boosinger, Anne-Katrin Gramberg, George Flowers, Mary Ellen Mazey, Bonnie MacEwan, Kirby Turnage, Steven Clontz, Andrew Wohrley, Robin Jaffe, Nedret Billor, James Wright, Andrew McLelland, Norbert Wilson, James Bannon, Sondra Parmer, Werner Bergen, Jocelyn Zanzot, Eduardus Duin, Robert Agne, Sanjeev Baskiyar, Wi-Suk Kwon, Michael Stern, James Witte, Michael Baginski, James Goldstein, Xing Ping Hu, Russell Wright, Larry Teeter, David King, Ruth Crocker, Fenny Dane, Ellen Abell, Shea Tillman, Jerry Davis, Jared Russell, Pambanisha King, Bill Sauser, Doug Rosener, Stuart Pope, Vicky van Santen, Forrest Smith, Jan Kavookjian, Guy Rohrbaugh, Mike Bozack, Steve Brown, Yasser Gowayed, Shelly McKee, Chris Correia, Richard Fox
Absent, sending a substitute: Susan Villaume (for Betty Lou Whitford), David Weaver (for Scott McElroy), Dean Schwartz (for Barbara Kemppainen), Sushil Adhikari (For Yifen Wang), J.M. Taylor (for Paul Holley), Rebekah Pindzola (for Daniel Phillips), Sue Barry (for Charles Eick), Harris Hollans (for Keven Yost), Lourdes Betanzos (for John Mazaheri), Steve Stuckwisch (for Tin-Yau Tam), Martin O’Neill (for Suresh Mathews), Patrick Bass (for Joseph Fretsch), Stewart Robbins (for Richard Hoerner), Allen Furr (for Emily Myers), Adrienne Wilson (for Heather May)
Absent, no substitute: NaKeisha Hicks, Seth Humphrey, Winfred Foster, Gary Wagoner, Paul Swamidass, Anthony Moss, Ronald Neuman, Prabhakar Clement, Herb Rotfeld, Wesley Lindsey, Annette Kluck, Ralph Henderson
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Call to Order:
-- Claire Crutchley called the meeting to order, and a quorum was confirmed.
-- Claire briefly reviewed rules of University Senate on matters of voting and speaking.
-- Minutes from the May 3, 2011 meeting were accepted as posted without change.
Remarks and Announcements:
Comments from the Chair:
-- Claire summarized highlights and accomplishments of University Senate in 2010-2011 and expressed her personal appreciation to Senators, Executive Committee, Steering Committee and Parliamentarian Constance Hendricks for their work during her tenure as Chair of University Senate. Lastly, Claire presented a resolution honoring Provost Mary Ellen Mazey that was motioned, seconded and endorsed by voice acclamation and a standing ovation.
Mary Ellen Mazey (representing Office of the President) presented several items.
-- Dr. Mazey expressed gratitude to everyone for their excellent work with her during her tenure as Auburn University’s Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
-- The Alabama Legislature is nearing completion of the General Fund and Education Trust Fund budgets for FY 2012.
-- Teacher and state employee contributions to the state retirement fund will be increased from 5 to 7.5%.
-- Communication through Electronic Portfolios has been selected as the concept for Auburn University's SACS Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP).
-- A national search for the Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs is underway and being conducted by Baker and Associates, LLC, 4799 Olde Towne Parkway, Suite 202, Marietta, GA 30068; nominations and applications are encouraged and should be forwarded to jbaker@baasearch.com, Fax: 770.395.2776.
-- The SEC Provost’s group will sponsor a major academic conference on bioenergy in the Southeast; Auburn will partner in a consortium led by University of Georgia.
-- The McWhorter Award will now include recognition of a faculty member at each SEC member campus ($5,000 award) and at the conference level ($10,000 award).
Action Items:
-- Larry Crowley, Secretary-Elect of University Senate, presented a slate of nominations for seating on Senate Committees beginning in 2011-2012, which was endorsed by a vote of 70 yes, 2 no.
-- George Flowers, Dean of The Graduate School, presented a proposal to create a new grade “GP” for “Graduate Project”, which was endorsed by a vote of 73 yes, 2 no.
-- Kevin Phelps, Chair of Teaching Effectiveness Committee, and committee member Richard Penaskovic (Philosophy) presented a proposed policy on student evaluation of courses (original proposal).
James Goldstein proposed an amendment for insertion as a preface to the proposed policy: “This policy mandates the collection of student-generated data on a regular basis, but these data are not to be used as the only mechanism to rank-order faculty, the data must not supplant other ongoing methods of teaching evaluation, and the data should be only one of several forms of teaching information gathered on a regular basis to assess teaching effectiveness.” The motion was seconded, and the amendment was endorsed by a vote of 60 yes, 14, no.
Michael Stern (Economics) proposed an amendment for insertion into the first complete paragraph of the original proposal: “Student participation in the survey is mandatory.” The motion was seconded, and the amendment was endorsed by a vote of 47 yes, 28 no.
The final, amended proposal was endorsed by a vote of 44 yes, 27 no.
Information Item:
-- Jane Kuehne, Chair, Academic Computing Committee, and Kathy McClelland, Manager,
Instructional Management Group, OIT, made a presentation on Replacing Blackboard.
Unfinished business:
None
New business:
None
The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 p.m.