Auburn University Senate
September 20, 3:30 p.m.
Minutes
A full transcript of available for this meeting.
Attendance
Officers:
James Goldstein, Chair; Daniel Svyantek, Chair-Elect; Xing Ping Hu, Secretary; Donald Mulvaney, Secretary-Elect; Larry Teeter, Immediate-Past Chair
Administration
John Mason, Research and Economic Development; Paul Patterson, College of Agriculture; Vini Nathan, Dean, College of Architecture, Design & Const.; June Henton, Dean, College of Human Sciences.
Absent, sending substitute: Daniel Fields for Gretchen VanValkenburg, VP, Alumni Affairs; Graeme Lockaby for Janaki Alavalapati, Dean, School of Forestry and Wildlife Science; Emmett Winn for Bobby Woodard, VP, Student Affairs
Absent, not sending substitute: Don Large, Executive VP; Jane Difolco Parker, VP, Development
Ex-Officio
Timothy Boosinger, Provost; Emily Myers, Steering Committee; Lisa Kensler, Steering Committee
Absent, sending substitute: Trey Fields for Jesse Westerhouse, SGA President; Charleen Thomas for Althea Tate, Staff Council Chair; Lawrence Chamberlin for Timothy Jones, A&P Assembly Chair;
Absent, not sending substitute: Bonnie MacEwan, Dean of Libraries; Tenchi Smith, GSC President; Lucretia Tripp, Steering Committee; Jared Russell, Steering Committee
Senators, by Department:
Robert Cochran, Accountancy; Anwar Ahmed, Aerospace Engineering; Michelle Worosz, Agricultural Economics & Rural Sociology; Dean Schwartz, Anatomy, Physiology & Pharmacology; Werner Bergen, Animal Science; Rebecca O'Neal-Dagg, Architecture; Kathryn Floyd, Art; Bob Locy, Biological Sciences; Allan E. David, Chemical Engineering; Doug Goodwin, Chemistry; Cliff Lange, Civil Engineering; Ed Youngblood, Communication and Journalism; Allison Plumb, Communication Disorders; David Umphress, Computer Science & Software Engineering; Melody Russell, Curriculum & Teaching; Forest Smith, Drug Discovery and Development; Liliana Stern, Economics; Jung Won Hur, Educational Foundations, Leadership & Technology; Michael Baginski, Electrical & Computer Engineering; Rusty Wright, Fisheries & Allied Aquaculture; Traci O'Brian, Foreign Lang & Literatures; Latif Kalin, Forestry & Wildlife Science; Ming-kuo Lee, Geology & Geography; Brent Fox, Health Outcomes and Research Policy; Monique Laney, History; Andreas Kavazis, Kinesiology; Gregg Schmidt, Library; Dmitry Glotov, Mathematics and Statistics; Matthew Hoch, Music; David Crumbley, Nursing; Michael Greene, Nutrition, Dietetics, & Hospitality Mgmt.; Vicky van Santen, Pathobiology; Spencer Durham, Pharmacy Practice; Eric Marcus, Philosophy; Michael Fogle, Physics; Cathleen Erwin, Political Science; Ken Macklin, Poultry Science; Tracy Witte, Psychology; Marilyn Cornish, Special Ed. Rehabilitation Counseling/School Psych; Jeff Welborn, Lieutenant Colonel, ROTC Air Force; Roshun Steele, Maj., ROTC Army; Captain, Willie Billingslea, ROTC Naval; Annette Smith, Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Adrienne Wilson (theatre)
Absent, sending substitute:
Jeremy Wolter for Dora Bock (Marketing); Mark Tatum for Mark Taylor, Building Sciences; Jatunn Gibson for Tom Smith, Human Development & Family Studies; Aleksandr Vinel for Mark Schall, Industrial and Systems Engineering; Carole Zugazaga for Kristrina (Kriste) Shuler, Socio/Anthro/Social Work; Sandra Forsythe for Ann Beth Presley, Consumer & Design Sciences; Craig Bertolet for James E. Ryan, English
Absent, not sending substitute: Paul Brown, ACES; Cliff Defee, Aviation Management & Logistics; Mark Dougherty, Biosystems Engineering; Charles Chen, Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences; David Held, Entomology and Plant Pathology; Justin Benefield, Finance; Daniel Wells, Horticulture; Jerod Windham, Industrial Design; Alan Walker, Management; Daniel Mackowski, Mechanical Engineering; Chippewa Thomas, Outreach;
Minutes
At 3:30 PM Chair, James Goldstein, called the meeting to order. He reminded the members of the senate to sign in in the back of the room and get a clicker, and the substitutes for senators to sign in by printing their names in the 2nd column of the sheet in back of the room. He introduced the senate officers and established a quorum using iclicker. There are currently 86 members of the Senate; therefore, for a quorum to be established 44 senators (57 present) are required to be present. A quorum was established with 68 present. Last he reminded senators of the rules of attendance and the rules for speaking at the microphone.
The minutes for meeting of August 23, 2016 were approved without modifications.
Remarks and Announcements
Office of the President:
Jay Gogue, President, was not able to attend this meeting due to time conflict.
Office of the Provost: Timothy Boosinger, Provost, spoke on behalf of the President Jay Gogue and the Office of Provost.
Provost Boosinger first announced a few news items that in newspapers, including the Harbert family’s donation to college of business and the in-progress project on student housing for the next 3 or 4 years. He shared a few comments on strategic plan from Trustees about the significant progresses, as we enter the 4th year of the Strategic plan, in the following areas: increasing graduation rates and retention rates; continuing work on lowering student-to-advisor ratio and recruiting outstanding students while keeping the current in-/out state student numbers ratio. He then talked about the progress report from AUTogether implementation Committee on status updates in 17 areas, which will be posted on his website next week. He continued with achievements for distance learning and online course, followed by comments on the successful cluster hiring and the progress in AU outreach and extension
University Senate Chair: James Goldstein
James Goldstein first announced the date and items for 10/4 General Faculty Meeting and emphasized the one action item on revising Faculty constitution, which has been posted on Senate website. He encouraged faculty to run for next-year’s senate officers, and to volunteer for serving on Senate or university standing committees. He then announced recent changes on two university committees (University Traffic Appeal Committees and Academia Honest Committee) that would consequently require Administrations to consider revising Faculty Handbook language.
Dr. Goldstein informed the senators about the two sentences drafted to revise the Mission Statement, which will need approval of the Board of Trustees.
The Draft Revision to Mission Statement (pdf) is linked to Agenda.
Q: none
Finally, he updated the Senate on last year’s request for reserving Faculty Parking Spaces in the evenings. A Map of limited Faculty Parking Spaces (5:00-10:00 pm) was provided (see link on Agenda).
Q: Michael Baginiski (ECE): it is nice to have reserved space close to the buildings where faculty works.
Action Items
The first item up for vote was a vote for 5 replacement members of 3Committees. There was no discussion and Xing Ping Hu called for a vote. The policy was passed with 59 in favor of the slate of candidates and 3 opposed. The slate is posted on Senate Website.
Information Items
STARS report was co-presented by Mike Kensler, Director, Office of Sustainability and Nanette Chadwick, Director of Academic Sustainability Programs.
This year, Auburn University received STARS Silver Rating for sustainability achievements. The presentation addressed the definition of Sustainability (nature, wellbeing, economy and society), sustainability compass, and AU S policy.
The Princeton Review ranks AU with STARS comparing with peers. The ranking is based on sustainability performance points in four areas including Academic, Engagements of campus and public, Operations, and Planning & administration. The report presented highlights and detailed opportunities for improvement in each area. Auburn University is the only sustainable green campus in the state.
The presentation (Power Point) is linked to Agenda.
Questions: none
The 2nd information item is a presentation on Assessment, presented by Megan Rogers Good, Director of Academic Assessment.
Dr. Good detailed 1) the Assessment cycle involving assessing general education (no report is due this year on core curriculum assessment), degree/certificate programs, and academic support service units; 2) Resources available such as the Quality of assessment rubric, workshops, and consultation; and 3) Purpose of assessment.
The presentation (Power Point) is linked to Agenda.
Questions: none
Unfinished Business: James Goldstein, Senate Chair
New Business: James Goldstein, Senate Chair
Adjournment: James Goldstein, Senate Chair, 4:30 P.M.