Minutes of the University Senate Meeting
13 September 2011
3:00 p.m.
Broun Hall Auditorium
Submitted by
Larry Crowley, Secretary
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A complete transcription of the meeting is available.
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Present: Ann Beth Presley, Bill Sauser, Larry Crowley, Robin Jaffe, William Batchelor, Betty Lou Whitford, R. Lee Evans, Chuck Savrda, Calvin Johnson, Ann-Katrin Gramberg, Timothy Boosinger, Bonnie MacEwan, Steven Clontz, Seth Humphrey, Andrew Wohrley, Laura Plexico, Michael Baginski, Robert Cochran, Winfred Foster, James Bannnon, Sondra Parmer,  Scott McElroy,  Werner Bergen, Dean Schwartz, Jocelyn Zanzot, Gary Wagoner, Sushil Adhikari, Steve Duke, Eduardus Duin, Prabhakar Clement, Robert Agne, Daniel Phillips, Sanjeev Baskiyar, Wi-Suk Kwon, Michael Stern, James Witte, Thomas Baginski, James Goldstein, Harris Hollans, Andrienne Angelo, Larry Teeter, David King, Fenny Dane, Ellen Abell, Jerry Davis, Jared Russell, Pambanisha King Whaley, Peter Stanwick, Herb Rotfeld, Tin-Yau Tam, , Doug Rosener, Stuart Pope, Suresh Mathews, John Freeze, Vicky van Santen, Forrest Smith, Brent Fox, Wesley Lindsey, Guy Rohrbaugh, Yasserr Gowayed, Lewis Baker, Annette Kluck, and Emily Myers

Absent, sending a substitute: John Jahera (for Bill Hardgrave), Jenny Schuessler (for Gregg Newschwander), George Crandall (for George Flowers), Vanessa Tarpos (for Kirby Turnage), Joseph Molnar (for Norbert Wilson), Anthony Moss (for Bob Locy), D. Olsen (for Mark Taylor), Deborah Morowski (for Charles Eick), Gerry Gryski (for Steven Brown), Kythia Stofer (for Richard Fox) and Annette Smith for

Absent, no substitute: Claire Crutchley, Nakeisha Hicks, Nedret Billor, Paul Swamidass, Xing Ping Hu, Rusty Wright, Ruth Crocker, Jerrod Windham, Bart Prorok, Mike Bozack, Shelly McKee, Joe Fetsch, Richard Hoerner and Ralph Henderson

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Call to Order:
-- Ann Beth Presley called the meeting to order, confirmed a quorum was present, and reviewed the rules of the senate.
-- Minutes from the August 23, 2011 meeting were accepted as posted without change.

Remarks and Announcements:
Dr. Gogue (Office of the President) presented several items.
1. Board of Trustee’s approved the budget last Friday which included a 3% average merit increases effective October 1st and 2% average one-time salary increase in December.
2.  Board of Trustee Selection Committee met in Montgomery on August 30th deciding to develop and send a questionnaire to each of the 170 people expressing interests on serving on the board.  The committee will receive these back in the fall and select up to three people for each of the open positions to interview.  Their selections will then be submitted to the senate for confirmation.
3.  Faculty Area in Foy has been redone and will open in the next couple of weeks to serve as a faculty meeting area from 10 to 2.
4. The effort to remove chemicals has resulted in 6000 containers and 9 tons of chemicals being removed from campus.

A question was asked by Andy Worley, Steering Committee about the number of students enrolled this fall.  Dr. Gogue responded that total enrollment is 25,400 students with 4200 of them in the freshman class.

Provost Boosinger, Interim Provost comments:
1. Update on Auburn University’s Strategic Plan after the fourth year (pdf file)

1. (a) Accomplished 60% of the 59 strategic objectives including:
   + Elevated our Academic Profile with increases in average ACT scores of incoming students from 24.9 in 2004 to 27.2 this Fall and National Merit Scholars have increased from 28 in 2007 to over 150 this Fall.
   + Revised our General Education Program which is now being implemented and have added 20 new additional courses to the menu.
   + Enhanced our Learning Communities growing from 6 learning community cohorts in 2005 to 46 in 2011
   + Enhanced our use of Space since 2007 by increasing the number of technologically enhanced instructional spaces to 500 with 32 new projects in progress including planning and design of a new central classroom building.
   + Renovated Langdon Hall into a 310-seat state-of-the-art lecture hall and provided a 100+ seat computerized testing facility in Biggin Hall available for multidisciplinary use.
   + Enhanced our Research Enterprise by increasing in 2010 the total number of  submitted proposals by 17% above our three-year average, hiring a director for the Huntsville Research Center last year, establishing the Auburn Research and Technology Foundation – a 501(C)3, and completing construction in 2010 of the first building in the Auburn Research and Technology Park.
   + Exceeded our initial goal of creating 80 new endowed professorships by securing private funding for 96 new professorships.
   + Improved the Promotion and Tenure Guidelines and Process.
   
   (b) Strategic objectives to be focused on in the coming year include:
   + Improving our 6-year graduation rate which has already increased by 2.3% over the last three years with the 64.1% of the 2002 student cohort graduating within 6-years and now 66.4% of the 2004 cohort accomplish this objective. Implementing a new degree audit system for students and their advisors called DegreeWorks. Continue monitoring the use of mid-term grades to assist students and have made a significant investment in improving the advising process.
   + Increasing Graduate Student Enrollment which is up 4.0% this Fall with 4000 students currently enrolled not including Pharmacy and Veterinarian students in that total.
   + Developing distance educations by targeting high-demand core curriculum courses this Fall with plans to develop more in the Spring and Summer of 2012.  This effort will add 50 seats to our capacity in this critical area of the university mission.
   + Building the university enterprise with continuing to invest energy in developing internal and external multidisciplinary research opportunities.  Also, continuing with task forces developing recommendations on two initiatives -- one dealing with health science and the other energy.
   + Continuing with our Intramural Grants Program where last year during its inaugural year there were 53 proposals funded totaling over $3 million distributed across the campus with all colleges and schools benefitting from that initiative
   + Building on our outreach efforts with an example being the K-12 initiatives in Notasulga and Loachapoka schools by helping these students improve their academic performance and their success rate with the application and admission process for college.
   + Developing recommendations on our Honors College to balance resources and capacity.
   + Growing the undergraduate research programs by increasing student participation in the fellowship program.  Currently we have 25 funded undergraduate research fellows receiving a stipend $4400 per year and $1400 project support. 
   + Hosting a Research Week this April to showcase this research which will coincide with programs related to the common book.
   + Implementing the recommendations of the Efficiency Task Force
   + Working on SACS Compliance Certification and Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) in preparation for the onsite visit in 2013 and an earlier offsite review during the Fall of 2012.
   
   
2. There is a consensus recommendation on dealing with Spring Graduation 2012 where four commencements exercises will be conducted over two days, Sunday and Monday.  The Schools of Pharmacy and Veterinary Medicine will hold their graduations on Tuesday.  To implement this recommendation we need to adjust the academic calendar.
   

Action Items:

-- Robin Jaffe (Immediate Past Chair and current member of Calendar Committee and Secretary-Elect of the Senate) presents a motion to add an additional day for graduation on Sunday, May 6th.  After some discussion, a vote was called.  The motioned was passed with a vote of 59 for to 6 opposed.

Information items:
-- Nancy McDaniel (co-chair of Auburn Connects!) presented objectives and planned programs associated with this year’s common book, Mountains Beyond Mountains, by Tracy Kidder (PowerPoint file)

-- John Mason (Associate Provost and VP of Research) made a presentation on Auburn University’s Research Enterprise. (PowerPoint file)  

A question was asked of John Mason by Prabhakar Clement, Senator from Civil Engineering concerning the cost/benefit of the Office of Technology Transfer.  Dr. Mason said that he would get the numbers and get back with him on that issue. 

Remarks from Ann Beth Presley, Chair of the University Senate: 
1. Board of Trustees met last Friday.  Faculty has seats as non-voting members on the board and its various committees.  Dr. Claire Crutchley as immediate past chair of the senate sits on the board itself.  If you have any questions or concerns you may contact these faculty for input.  The next board meeting will be November 18th.

2. Search for provost candidates is ongoing and will bring four candidates to campus in September.  There will be open forums to be held in the University Library for you to meet each of the candidates.

Unfinished business:
None

New business:
None

The meeting was adjourned.