General Faculty Meeting
March 10, 2015, 3:30 p.m.
Broun Hall Auditorium
Minutes

A full transcript is available for this meeting.

Senate Chair Patricia Duffy called to order at 3:30 PM. The minutes of the October 28, 2014 General Faculty Meeting were approved without modification.

Remarks and Announcements
Office of the President: Jay Gogue, President
Different organizations perform rankings for universities on an almost weekly basis (quality, cost, etc. as indicator). The Board of Trustees members and Auburn constituencies look closely at all of these.  Auburn online courses in e.g., Engineering, Business and Education are usually ranked in the top 10 on the graduate level. In general, Auburn has managed to either raise its rankings or at least maintained it.

The freshmen class was larger than expected this year. Instead of the anticipated 4000 students, there are about 4600 students. This year an additional number of applications was turned in about 20% more than a year ago. The final numbers are not yet known. This is an indication that the name Auburn is attractive to a number of students.
The President then thanked the Honor’s College, especially Paul Harris, and the faculty for the increasing number of students with prestigious scholarships (Marshall scholar, Rhodes scholars, 3 Fulbright scholars, 6 Fulbright waiting to hear, 5 NSF Graduate Fellows, Goldwater scholar, NCAA Fellowships, Global Hunter Leadership Award winner, German DAAD Research Award, among others). The overall number of scholars and award recipients has dramatically increased over the past 10 years.
He then addressed some of the goals of the second year of the Strategic Plan, namely spousal and partner hiring, the survey on childcare on campus, flexibility in workload, and training of Department Heads/Chairs. Progress is being made in all these areas and he will report back in April.
The College of Osteopathic Medicine will open this fall with about 150 medical students. Interaction with faculty on research projects is expected. Research expenditures for the University are up about 10% this year which is good in a tight budget year. Research also includes economic development in the area, such as Baxter International, a company manufacturing filters for kidney failure (School of Pharmacy, College of Engineering), and GE Aviation.

The President then mentioned that all three elements of the Central Classroom Facility have been approved, also approved are the Nursing Facility, the renovation of the Textile Building within the College of Engineering and a new Research Facility at the College of Veterinary Medicine. Construction of the first phase of the Central Classroom Facility will start this summer and Mell Street will be closed.

He closed with commending shared governance at Auburn and stated that every resolution that has come through the Senate to the Provost and President to the BOT and that is appropriate for this campus, has been approved.

Questions: none

Office of the Provost: Tim Boosinger, Provost – no additional remarks

University Senate: Patricia Duffy, Senate Chair
Patricia Duffy introduced the Senate Executive Committee, Parliamentarian Connor Bailey and Administrative Assistant Laura Kloberg. She reminded everyone of the opportunity to participate in shared governance by volunteering for a committee online or consider accepting the invitation to volunteer when approached by person. She emphasized the good working relationship Auburn faculty is currently enjoying with the Administrative Leadership and thanked the President and the Provost as well as the many members of the administrative offices.

Information Items
1) Presentation of the 2015 Glenn Howze Academic Freedom Award; Presenter: Bob Locy, President, Auburn University Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP)

The 2015 Glenn Howze Academic Freedom Award was presented to Larry Crowley for his long years of service to Auburn University. Larry Crowley has served as Secretary and Chair of the Senate, and the Advisor to the Board of Trustees, and made significant contributions to numerous committees. He has been tirelessly working on the advocacy of academic freedom and shared governance.

2) Report from the Ombudsperson; Presenter: C. Kevin Coonrod
Kevin Coonrod, Ombudsperson of Auburn University, presented an overview of the services his office provides and what his office can/cannot do for his clients (presentation (ppt) ). He mentioned that his office is also offering training workshops, such as “Working with high conflict people” – scheduled for the second time on May 20 for 40 people; “Bullying and Mobbing” on April 29; “Active Listening and Underlying Interest” (fall 2015); and “Cooperative Negotiation Techniques” (fall 2015).

3) Announcement of election results of 2015–2016 Senate officers; Presenter: Laura Plexico, Secretary-elect for Larry Teeter, Chair-Elect
Chair-elect for 2015-2016 will be James Goldstein (English Dept.) and Secretary-elect will be Xing Ping Hu (Entomology and Plant Pathology)

Unfinished Business: Patricia Duffy, Senate Chair
None
New Business and Announcements: Patricia Duffy, Senate Chair
Patricia Duffy reminded everyone that a Special Called Senate Meeting will take place on March 31, followed one week later by the regular Senate meeting on April 7. At the April Senate meeting, Don Andrae, Manager of Parking Services, will speak to parking issues on campus and be available to answer any questions in this regard.
Adjournment: Patricia Duffy, Senate Chair, at 4:12 PM