Minutes of the Auburn University General Faculty Meeting
March 25, 2014
Broun Hall Auditorium
Submitted by Gisela Buschle-Diller, Secretary-elect
A complete transcript is availble for this meeting.
Call to Order at 3:30 by Larry Crowley, Chair of the Senate
Approval of minutes for October 29, 2013 General Faculty Meeting: accepted as written.
Remarks and Announcements
Office of the President: Jay Gogue, President
The President started off with mentioning a slow improvement of the State economy; there was no proration last year, and will not be this year either. The current legislature invests more money in the rainy-day fund – thus, the next proration should have much lower impact on k-12 and higher ed (prior to the recession it was $500 million, today about $1.6 billion).
Best Colleges Organization rankings – best university in each of the 50 States and best liberal arts college in each of the 50 States: Auburn University was recognized as the top university in AL; Spring Hill College (Mobile) as the top liberal arts college in the State.
Other rankings: AU appeared in the top several % in terms of quality, accessibility and affordability for out-of-State students; ranked #7 most beautiful campuses in America (evaluation of 4500 campuses total).
Compared with 22 peer institutions primarily in South-East (source?) in regard to race/ethnicity: AU ranked ~1/3 lower (Asian-Americans students), ~25% lower (Latino students), ~1/3 lower (international students) and equal in terms of African-American student population.
Current FTE number (true enrollment) is 21,090 students as opposed to the 25,000 head count; in terms of cost, AU ranked $740/year higher compared to peer institutions; freshman scholarships (truly free money, not loans) were given to 71% of AU freshmen as compared to 72% (peers), but AU students receive on the average $10,797 in aid as compared to $7,402 in peer institutions - AU charges more, but aid packages are stronger.
Auburn has won a fairly large number of prestigious postgraduate scholarships (almost weekly announced by the Honor’s College; 10 of these scholarships are particularly prestigious) and considerably more than any other institution in the South. This is an indication of a lot of activity on this campus in this area. 55.2% of all student athletes have a 3.0 GPA or higher (sports team with the greatest number of GPA >3.0 is women’s golf (89%): football team has 37%).
New facilities: Foy courtyard construction (courtyard and exterior area improvement, plus Chicken-Salad-Chick) will go before the Board again in 2 weeks; at the East-side of Lowder, student/faculty launch with sandwiches and coffee will be added in late fall; Wellness Kitchen will open in fall; the Small Animal Clinic has recently opened; construction of Medical School in the Research Park (private enterprise, not AU unit) is underway (to open in fall 2015).
Current biggest point of discussion among higher ed groups nation-wide: What is “success” at a university? The definition has changed dramatically. Formerly it was defined by how rigorous the curriculum was. Later emphasis shifted to graduation rates and how to improve and increase graduation rates. In the past 2 years the discussion shifted again, now with focus on how students with poor academic performance, who are also financially poor, could reach graduation. The discussion is based on two reports, one being from the Labor Department during the recession (2010) that related unemployment relative to education. National unemployment rate was about 9.5%; unemployed were high school drop-outs (25-27%); high school graduates (15%); community college graduates (8%); BS, BA graduates (3.7%); MS (1.5%), PhD (0.37%). The other report was from the Lumina Foundation which related income levels to children having a chance to graduate from college. If the household income level is at the poverty line, children from these family have a chance of 8% to graduate from college. If the family income is >$100k, chances are 85%. These reports led to much discussion. The so-called “new student” goes to multiple schools with graduation rates of 10 years. As students samples 5-6 schools, how easy would it be to transfer credits, etc.? Answers have yet to be found and ideas are encouraged.
Last items: University Senate has done an awesome job in shared governance with lots of committees and activities. Thank you!
University Senate: Larry Crowley, Senate Chair:
Larry Crowley talked about his experience in the Senate leadership. He has been both Secretary and Chair at various times and he mentioned the challenges connected to different times at Auburn University. He acknowledged having had the opportunity of seeing the AU campus from the administrative perspective and from the perspective of different colleges and committees, as well as a member of the Auburn faculty. He also experienced Auburn University as a parent of several children of his own. He expressed his great appreciation for the participation of people that are skilled and passionate, and the commitment of people to be vigilant to the challenges presented. At this meeting the new Senate Chair and Secretary will be announced, however the turn-over will actually be July 1.
Information Items
1) Presentation of the 2014 Glenn Howze Academic Freedom Award
Presenter: Herb Rotfeld, President, Auburn University Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP).
Herb Rotfeld explained the role and importance of the AAUP. The Glenn Howze Academic Freedom Award was presented to the President of Auburn University, Dr. Jay Gogue
2) Report on Auburn University Sustainability
Presenter: Michael Kensler, Director, Office of Sustainability
Presentation (ppt)
Michael Kensler gave an overview on the definition of sustainability and mentioned that the number of students taking the Minor in Sustainability has doubled. He also mentioned that tours in four areas (energy, food, water and waste) are available for anyone interested.
Auburn University scores in the silver rating in the STARS program with 49 points. If the number of points could be increased to 60 points or higher, the gold rating could be reached. Various aspects count for STARS (buildings, courses, sustainability research, etc.)
3) Report on Activities of the Teaching Effectiveness Committee
Presenter: Dean Schwartz for Don Mulvaney, Teaching Effectiveness Committee
Presentation (pdf)
Dean Schwartz gave an update on the Departmental Teaching Award (1 award/year; $10k over 3 years): 11 pre-proposals were received. Out of the 11 pre-proposals 4 departments were invited to submit a full proposal to the TEC. The award will be announced during the CCT event in fall. For the Breeden Grant $30k are available (travel grants of $2000 and teaching improvement grants for $4000). Deadline has just passed; the proposals will be evaluated and winners announced by April 10.
4) Announcement of election results of 2014–2015 Senate officers
Presenter: Patricia Duffy, Chair-Elect
Secretary-elect: Laura Plexico
Chair-elect: Larry Teeter
Unfinished Business, New Business and Announcements: none
Adjournment: Larry Crowley, at 4:20 PM