Minutes of the University Faculty Meeting
8 March 2011
3:00 p.m.
Broun Hall Auditorium
Submitted by
Russ Muntifering, Secretary of University Faculty

A complete transcription of the meeting is available at (no link as yet).

Call to Order:
Claire Crutchley, Chair of University Faculty, called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m.

-- The minutes of the 12 October 2010 meeting of University Faculty (https://auburn.edu/administration/governance/senate/website/minutes/2010_2011/min_fac_10_12_10.html ) were approved as posted without change.

-- Claire reminded everyone of the procedural rules for the meeting.

Remarks and Announcements:
Claire invited President Gogue to present his State of the University address.

-- The Alabama Education Trust Fund has been prorated by 3%.
-- A permanent solution to pedestrian and vehicle safety issues on Magnolia Ave. will be cost-shared with the City of Auburn and in place by this coming summer. Permanent, aesthetically pleasing crosswalks and lights will replace temporary fixtures currently in place.
-- New ethics legislation goes into effect on March 16, 2011. University employees making more than $50,000 annually will be required to undergo on-line ethics training, and should be sure to print and save a copy of the certificate of completion.

Dr. Gogue then focused on specific elements of the Strategic Plan.
-- We have achieved 30 out of the 65 elements of the Strategic Plan. Some of these are single-, some are multiple-year. Most (~85%) are related to academics.
-- Student quality continues to increase. The institutional goal of mean incoming-freshman ACT score of 27 by 2013 was reached in Fall 2010. We are now among the highest ranked public universities (around 4th or 5th nationwide) in numbers of National Merit Scholars.
-- Dr. Gogue extended kudos to the excellent work of the General Education and Core Curriculum Committee and encouraged us to keep up the debate on general education, learning outcomes, etc. related to the Core Curriculum long after the new one is implemented.
-- Historically, some 250-300 entering freshmen have been admitted to Honors College. We currently admit >1,000. The requirement for an undergraduate research experience has been problematic for some and prevented them from graduating as University Honor Scholars. The flexibly structured Apogee Thesis/Project now provides Honors College students with several options for meeting this requirement.
-- The University Writing Center now has 7 locations across campus and works with 41 departments across the curriculum.
-- Graduation rate is our weakest metric; 6-year rate of ~67-68%. A number of positive steps have been taken in the areas of degree auditing (now online), tuition structure, advising/mentoring and distance education to improve graduation rate.
-- We currently have 83 faculty appointed jointly between two departments, and aspire to a goal of 300.
-- A continuing issue with the promotion and tenure process is failure to clearly enunciate specific expectations of new faculty in order for them to be successfully promoted with continuous tenure. In several cases that have recently been appealed, scholarly/productivity metrics of probationary faculty exceeded those of the tenured faculty in the unit. Greater transparency in the process is needed.
-- Research funding has been growing at a rate of ~8-9% annually. Significant recent accomplishments include the new MRI facility and opening of the Huntsville research satellite office. Regarding the latter, our goal is to increase our share of the $30 billion of federal research funding that come to the Huntsville area. Dr. Gogue praised faculty for their outstanding response and competitiveness for funding relayed to the Gulf Oil Spill.
-- The institution’s goal for graduate enrollment is 5,000, and we currently have 3,874 graduate students (5% increase over last year).
-- The institution has received a Carnegie Foundation Engaged University Award in recognition of its efforts in outreach. Outreach activities need to be financially sustainable.
-- The SACS reaffirmation visit is scheduled for 2013.

Constance Relihan, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Liberal Arts, presented an update on activities under the Common Book Program (Auburn Connect!) that is accessible at https://auburn.edu/administration/governance/senate/website/agendas/2010-2011/Mar_genFac/AuburnConnectsMBMGeneralFacultyMeetingMarch82011.pdf.

Bruce Smith, Chair of Faculty Research Committee, and Carl Pinkert, Associate Vice President for Research, provided an update on the AU Internal Grant Program.

Eric Smith, Director of Health Promotion and Wellness Initiatives in the Office of Student Affairs, presented an item from the Campus Health & Wellness Committee on feasibility of implementing a smoking ban on campus.

Conner Bailey, Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, presented the Glenn R. Howze Academic Freedom Award to Herb Rotfeld, Department of Marketing, after which Herb expressed his appreciation for the award and offered a few remarks.

Claire Crutchley made her last presentation as Chair of University Faculty in which she thanked everyone for the privilege of serving as Chair, and thanked her fellow officers, Steering and Rules Committee members, Parliamentarian Constance Hendricks, members of Senate and University committees and central administration for their fine collaborative work over the past year in shared governance.

Ann-Beth Presley announced that Bill Sauser (Management) was the new Chair-Elect and that Robin Jaffe (Theatre) was the new Secretary-Elect of University Faculty and Senate.

Unfinished Business:
There was no unfinished business. 
New Business:
There was no new business. 
Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 p.m.