Minutes of the Auburn University Senate Meeting
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
238 Broun Hall Auditorium
3:30 P.M.
A full transcript is available for this meeting.
Attendance
Officers:
Larry Teeter, Chair; James Goldstein, Chair-Elect; Laura Plexico, Secretary; Patricia Duffy, Immediate-Past Chair
Administration:
Bobby Woodard, VP Student Affairs; Betty Lou Whitford, Dean, College of Education; Gregg Newschwander, Dean, School of Nursing; George Flowers, Dean, Graduate School
Ex-Officio
Timothy R. Boosinger, Provost; Bonnie MacEwan, Dean of Libraries; India Napier, GSC President; Arthur Taylor, Staff Council Chair; Sara Wolf, Steering Committee; Emily Myers, Steering Committee; Kevin Yost, Steering Committee; Lisa Kensler, Steering Committee; Gretchen VanVanValkenburg, VP Alumni Affairs; Laurie Newton, A&P Assembly-secretary
Absent, sending substitute:
Joe Hanna for Bill Hardgrave, Dean, College of Business; Brett Walton for Walker Byrd, SGA President
Absent, not sending substitute:
Xing Ping Hu, Secretary-Elect; Joseph Aistrup, Dean, College of Liberal Arts; Nicholas Giordano, Dean, COSAM; Chris Roberts, Dean, College of Engineering; Calvin Johnson, Dean, College of Veterinary Medicine; Vic Walker, A&P Assembly Chair
Senators, by Department:
Robert Cochran, Accountancy; Anwar Ahmed, Aerospace Engineering; Michelle Worosz, Agricultural Economics & Rural Sociology; Dean Schwartz [2nd], Anatomy, Physiology & Pharmacology; Rebecca O’Neil-Dagg, Architecture; Barb Bondy, Art; Bob Locy [2nd], Biological Sciences; Mark Dougherty, Biosystems Engineering; Mark Taylor [2nd], Building Sciences; Allan E. David, Chemical Engineering; Doug Goodwin, Chemistry; Cliff Lange [2nd], Civil Engineering; Ed Youngblood, Communication and Journalism; Allison Plumb, Communication Disorders; David Umphress, Computer Science & Software Engineering; Karla Teel, Consumer & Design Sciences; Beth Guertal, Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences; Melody Russell, Curriculum & Teaching; Liliana Stern, Economics; Jung Won Hur, Educational Foundations, Leadership & Technology; Hulya Kirkici, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Hilary Wyss, English; Rusty Wright [2nd], Fisheries & Allied Aquaculture; Traci O’Brian, Foreign Lang & Literatures; Latif Kalin, Forestry & Wildlife Science; Ming-kuo Lee, Geology & Geography; Brent Fox [2nd], Health Outcomes and Research Policy; David Lucsko, History
Amy Wright, Horticulture; Tom Smith, Human Development & Family Studies; Jerod; Windham, Industrial Design; Sean Gallagher, Industrial and Systems Engineering; John Quindry, Kinesiology; Gregg Schmidt, Library; Peter Stanwick [2nd], Management; Dmitry Glotov [2nd], Mathematics and Statistics; Daniel Mackowski, Mechanical Engineering; Matthew Hoch, Music; David Crumbley, Nursing; Kevin Huggins, Nutrition, Dietetics, & Hospitality Mgmt.; Muralikrishnan Dhanasekaran, Pharmacal Sciences; Spencer Durham, Pharmacy Practice; Eric Marcus, Philosophy; Michael Fogle, Physics; Cathleen Erwin, Political Science
Tung-shi Huang, Poultry Science; Daniel Svyantek [Tracy Witte], Psychology; Marilyn Cornish, Special Ed. Rehabilitation Counseling/School Psych; Scott Copeland, Lieutenant Colonel, ROTC Army; Kristina (Kriste) Shuler, Socio/Anthro/Social Work; Adrienne Wilson, Theatre; Annette Smith [2nd], Veterinary Clinical Sciences
Absent, sending substitute:
Jeremy Wolter for James Carver, Marketing; Peter Christopherson for Vicky van Santen [2nd], Pathobiology
Absent, not sending substitute:
Paul Brown, ACES; Don Mulvaney, Animal Sciences; Cliff Defee, Aviation Management & Logistics; David Held, Entomology & Plant Pathology; Jung Park, Finance; Chippewa Thomas [2nd], Outreach; Jeffrey Hemmes, ROTC Air Force; Captain, Paul Michael Esposito, ROTC Naval
Minutes
At 3:30 PM Chair Larry Teeter called the meeting to order and reminded the Senators of the rules of speaking at Senate meetings. In addition, he asked the members of the senate to sign in in the back of the room, get a clicker, and reviewed the rules for speaking into the microphone. He then established a quorum using iclickers. There are currently 86 members of the Senate; therefore, for a quorum to be established 44 senators are required to be present. A quorum was established with 60 represented, a 2/3rds majority or 58 votes, is required for a constitutional amendment. A quorum was established.
The minutes of the June 16th, 2015 Senate meeting were approved without modifications.
Remarks and Announcements
Office of the President, Jay Gogue, President
Dr. Gogue welcomed the faculty back. He reported that since the last senate meeting there has been a special legislative session focused on the general fund. There was discussion about whether monies would be taken out of the educational trust fund that provides funds to Auburn University. That session closed with no action. Therefore, in the general fund area there will be another special session held. At this time, there will be no change in our budget.
Dr. Large looked at the bonds of the University. Through this process, they went through several rating agencies and they gave the Auburn a favorable rating. The net present value is about 3 million on the refund and 37 million.
In an article from Vanderbilt on the cost of Audit and compliance, Vanderbilt reported that they spend about 150 million a year on compliance and audit. They carried it forward and found that on every student, in terms of tuition, it is $11,000 to meet the Federal compliance requirements. Auburn University is around 75-80 million dollars in compliance costs. The University needs to look at audit and compliance in a different way and be more strategic and comprehensive in what is done. There will be some organizational and structural changes to see if the University can do a better job and get the most for the resources that can be spent in that area.
The new budget model has been discussed for a year and a half. Dr. Gogue received a recommendation from the Provost and Executive Vice President. By the next senate meeting there should be more discussion on where things are with the new budget model.
As a final comment he thanked the faculty for their contribution in the comprehensive campaign.
Questions: None
Office of the Provost, Tim Boosinger, Provost
Dr. Boosinger thanked the faculty for their participation in the convocation and the convocation committee. It is estimated that over 90% of students participate in the convocation.
He provided two updates. The strategic clustering hiring initiative has been a very inclusive and faculty driven initiative that started last fall. There were numerous forums and through those review processes the clusters got narrowed down to 5 cluster areas that will strengthen research programs. The initiative is built around the idea that the college and schools will make a commitment to hiring in a in a strategic way. And if you are within one of these clusters the University will provide 33% of the support for those individuals. As a result, everybody is invested. The hiring process will follow the normal pattern. The five cluster groups included: Health Disparities, Omics and Informatics, Pharmaceutical Engineering, Climate Health and Earth System Sciences, and Scalable Energy Conversion Science and Technology. Those budgets were approved and search processes will begin shortly.
An item from the agenda on Committee of Intercollegiate Athletics. They meet in September. Mary Boudreaux announced she will retire this fall. One of the agenda items will be to elect a new chair for the CIA.
Questions: None
University Senate Chair, Larry Teeter
Larry Teeter first introduced the current and upcoming senate executive committee. He then introduced Bob Locy who serves as the parliamentarian for the meeting. Following that he introduced the administrative assistant Laura Kloberg who assists with senate meetings and makes sure the business of the senate is conducted as smoothly as possible. He then reviewed the function of the steering and rules committees and introduced their members. He thanked everyone who is or has served on University and Senate committees. Last he reminded senators of the rules of attendance and the rules for speaking at the microphone.
Questions: None
Action Items
1. Vote for new members of select Senate committees; Presenter: Laura Plexico, Senate Secretary
The first item up for vote was a vote for new members of select Senate committees. There was no discussion and Laura Plexico called for a vote. The policy was passed with 62 to 0 votes in favor of the slate of candidates.
2. Proposal from University Writing Committee to Add a Graduate School Representative; Presenter: Margaret Marshall, Co-Chair of University Writing Committee
The second item up for vote was a proposal held over from the June 16th meeting to add a graduate school representative to the writing committee. Margaret Marshall reviewed the suggested changes and their need.
Questions:
Ed Youngblood, Communication and Journalism: Asked if where the document references colleges and schools needs to say the separate schools? He asks because Communication and Journalism is a school technically, but they are in the College of Liberal Arts and are not the kind of school being referenced.
Larry Teeter, Senate Chair: Stated that there will be a general clean-up of the handbook and constitution to address that issue and probably include language like degree granting schools. However, that language is not ready to do that at this time. He stated that he would like to proceed at his point and clean that up when they can do all the rest of the committees.
The addition of a graduate representative is a constitutional change and would require 58 votes to approve the constitutional amendment. Larry Teeter called for another head count to establish whether there was not 58 members present. Two-thirds majority was present at the meeting to vote on the constitutional amendment. The motion was passed with 64 (96%) to 3 (4%) votes in favor of adding a Graduate School representative.
Pending Action Items
Policy on Creation of Copyright Materials; Presenter Sara Wolf, Bruce Kuerten, Jan Thornton
Sara Wolf reviewed the composition of the committee who were charged with reviewing and revising the current AU copyright policy. The rationale for the review of the current policy is that the current policy was last updated in 1984 and is out of date. It was also revised to fall in compliance with Federal Law and distance education efforts. The committee found that the current policy as it is written is inadequate and fails to address the use of copyright materials. They revised the policy will be divided into two separate documents. The first policy will cover the creation of copyright materials and another policy will cover the use of copyright materials. The creation policy is in draft form and was reviewed with the senate. The use policy is still in development. They are also working to develop a website that will hold educational materials on copyright.
In the draft copyright materials policy, Auburn University disclaims copyright ownership of the scholarly works of faculty. However, there are circumstances when the university will share ownership of copyright. For example, if the work is produced from an assigned task where the assignment explicitly states the work will be owned by Auburn University. In the case of sponsored agreements, the ownership will be determined by the terms of the funding agreement. Patentable works will fall under the current University Patent Policy.
If you create copyright materials and are relying heavily on University support or resources then it is possible that you could share the copyright with the University. When this is the case the terms of the agreement should be negotiated before the project begins when there is a commitment of substantial resources. If the author has not used substantial university resources the royalties are the sole right of the authors. Where the university has made a substantial commitment of resources there is a sharing of the royalties.
Questions:
Daniel Mackowski, Mechanical Engineering: Asked whether it is okay for a student to video a lecture and sell it. Can you copyright lecture materials?
Jan Thornton, Innovation Advancement and Commercialization: She stated that you can copyright your lecture material. However, the student is creating a separate work so he has the right unless you say it is not allowed in your class. If they sell it you have had your copyright infringed.
Ed Youngblood, Communication and Journalism: Asked about what is considered substantial resources. Asked if you had a semester leave to write a book whether that would be considered substantial resources.
Sara Wolf answered and said the current policy stipulates that sabbaticals and release time are not considered to be substantial assistance. The revised policy also has a defined terms portion where that term is defined.
Bruce Kuerten elaborated on the meaning and stated that substantial assistance occurs when a work is fixed in a tangible form. If the University makes a substantial investment in fixing the work in a tangible form then the university may have a claim in that work.
Information Items
1.
Green Dot Bystander Training: Presenters Emily Myers and Susan McAllister
The green dot bystander initiative will be implemented on the Auburn campus starting this Fall semester. Sexual violence on campus has risen and received national attention. It is hard to define how often it happens because most incidences of sexual, dating violence, domestic violence and stalking are not reported. The statistics show that it is happening at an alarming rate.
The problem will be addressed by getting bystanders involved. This strategy is way to empower everybody on campus to take simple positive actions to change our culture. The green dot training is a violence prevention strategy developed at The University of Kentucky. It is intended to eliminate sexual violence, dating violence, domestic violence and stalking. The goal is to create a campus culture that emphasizes that violence is not tolerated and everyone has a role in preventing it. This initiative is being coordinated through student affairs in the office of health promotion and wellness services.
Green dots represent bystanders stepping in to change a situation. As you develop a culture of stepping in situations of violence (i.e., red dots) can be changed to green dots. The green dot initiative will be implemented by training instructors. Next peer leaders will be identified and trained. Simultaneously, there is also the education of faculty and staff. There will be a public launch date in October.
Emily Myers reviewed how faculty can get involved. She suggested that faculty can make clear statements to students that we do not tolerate violence at Auburn. Faculty can also contact the Health Promotion and Wellness Services to do a presentation on green dot to their students or colleagues. This type of program is intended to get ahead of the curve and to educate others about what they can do to help prevent violence. There are many resources on campus.
Questions: None
2. New OIT Server Policy – Bliss Bailey
Bliss Bailey reviewed the work they are doing to address the new OIT security policy. OIT is trying to strike a balance between security and the faculty being able to do the work they do. The goal is to try and find the middle ground and there is more than one middle ground. The policy and practices that need to be put in place need to be appropriate to the type of data that is being protected. He defined a server as any device that can be accessed over the network and provides some sort of service. He is not covering remote desktop access. There is a separate policy and measures in place for desktop remote access and does not fall under this policy. The goal is not to eliminate faculty run severs. The goal is to make sure they are secure. The faculty research committee will be meeting to have a discussion about server security and securing research data. It is suspected that open forums will result to discuss server security issues. Research data management will also be reviewed on Sept 30th at 9:00 at the faculty research symposium. The purpose of the talk will be to review data management plans required by funding agencies.
Questions: None
New Business: Larry Teeter, Senate Chair
None
Unfinished Business: Larry Teeter, Senate Chair
None
Adjournment: Larry Teeter, Senate Chair at 4:23 P.M.