min_04_17

Attendance Record
Senate Officers:
Daniel Svyantek, Chair; Don Mulvaney, Secretary; Chair-elect; Michael Baginski, Secretary-Elect Beverly Marshall; James Goldstein, Immediate-Past Chair

Administration: Provost Hardgrave; Betty Lou Whitford, Dean College of Education; George Crandell for George Flowers, Dean of the Graduate School; Janaki Alavalapati, Dean, School of Forestry and Wildlife Science Amy Wright for Paul Patterson, College of Agriculture; Salisa Westrick for Richard Hansen, Dean Harrison School of Pharmacy;

Absent, not sending substitute:
Taffye Clayton, VP & Assoc. Provost of Inclusion and Diversity; Kelli Shomaker, VP Business and Finance and CFO Royrickers Cook, Associate Provost and VP for Outreach; Bobby Woodard, VP for Student Affairs

Ex-Officio; Julia Wiard, Interim Director for IDSC for the University College; Lucretia Tripp, Steering; Lawrence Hamberlin, A&P Assembly Chair; Jared Russell, Steering Committee ;

Absent, not sending substitute: Nancy Noe, Interim Dean of Libraries; Dane Block, SGA President; Tenchi Smith, GSC President; Charlene Thomas, Staff Council Chair; Committee. Lisa Kensler, Steering Committee; Michael Tillson, Steering;

Senators, by Department:
Absent, not sending substitute:
Rebecca O’Neal-Dagg, Architecture; Yi Yang, Biosystems Engineering; Mark Tatum, Building Science; Cliff Large, Civil Engineering; Ed Youngblood, Communication and Journalism; Charles Chen, Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences; David Held, Entomology & Plant Pathology; Cathleen Erwin, Political Science; Jeff Welborn, Lieutenant Colonel, ROTC Air Force; Lieutenant Colonel Roshun Steele, ROTC Army; Ann Beth Presley, Consumer and Design Sciences; Latif Kalin, Forestry & Wildlife Science; Daniel Wells, Horticulture; Katrina Akande, Human Development and Family Studies; Eric Marcus, Philosophy;

Attending or Represented by Substitute
Michelle Worosz, Ag Economics and Rural Sociology; Werner Bergen, Animal Sciences; Lisa Miller, Accountancy; Stephen Nichols for Anwar Ahmed, Aerospace Engineering; Paul Brown, ACES; Chad Faradori, Anatomy Physiology and Pharmacology; Kathryn Floyd, Art; Anthony Moss, Biological Sciences; Bryan Bechingham, Chemical Engineering; Doug Goodwin, Chemistry; Allison Plumb, Communication Disorders; Kai Chang, Computer Science and Software Engineering; Melody Russell, Curriculum & Teaching; Forest Smith, Drug Discovery and development; Jung Won Hur, Educational Foundations, Leadership; Michael Stern for Liliana Stern, Economics; Jitendra Tugnalt, Electrical & Computer Engineering; James E. Ryan, English; Lee Colquit, Finance; Ash Bullard, Fisheries and Allied Aquaculture; Zachary Zuwiyya, Foreign Lang & Literatures; Wayde Morse, Forestry & Wildlife Science; Ming-kuo Lee, Geology & Geography; Kimberly Garza, Health Outcomes and Research Policy; Monique Laney, History; Carlton Ley, Industrial Design; Daniel Silva for Mark Schall, Industrial and Systems Engineering; Andreas Kavazis, Kinesiology; Patricia Hartman for Greg Schmidt, Library; Alan Walker, Management; Dora Bock, Marketing; Dmitry Glotov, Mathematics and Statistics; Daniel Mackowski, Mechanical Engineering; Matthew Hoch, Music; David Crumbley, Nursing; Yee Ming Lee for Michael Greene, Nutrition, Dietetics, & Hospitality Mgmt.; Chippewa Thomas, Outreach; Vicky van Santen, Pathobiology; Spencer Durham, Pharmacy Practice; Michael Fogle, Physics; Ken Macklin, Poultry; Tracy Witte, Psychology; Malti Tuttle, Special Ed. Rehabilitation Counseling/School Psych.; Cliff Defee, Systems and Technology; Captain Willie Billingslea, ROTC Navy; Arianne Gaetano, Socio/Anthro/Social Work; Robin Jaffe, Theatre; Annette Smith, Veterinary Clinical Sciences.
Minutes
Chair Dan Svyantek called the meeting to order at 3:30 pm. He reminded the members of the senate or substitute for a senator to sign in in the back of the room and for substitutes to sign in by printing his/her name on the 2nd column by the senator. He also reminded the Senate about rules for speaking at Senate meetings. A quorum requiring 44 senators was established. The minutes of the March 20, 2018 Senate meeting were approved without modification by voice vote.
Remarks and Announcements
Office of the President
President Leath commented on highlights from the recent Board of Trustees meeting. Aligned with the university priorities, there was approval to move forward with additions to the AU Research Park. He mentioned the BOT action on properties and a few items from his upcoming installation comments. His comment on the increase of 500 faculty was clarified in its interpretation to ultimately be about a net increase of 10%. He reminded all of a faculty driven strategic planning process to be headed by Beth Guertal and Bruce Tatarchuk. They will be seeking input on what will be required to help faculty be successful. He indicated Provost Hardgrave will initiate a national search for a VP of Research and is working on an interim. Collectively, AU has had increased national visibility.
Questions:
Michael Stern asked for clarification of the 500 position and budget model asking if the RCM had been suspended. After some commentarial exchange, President Leath indicated not all resources are through the model and made a commitment to serve faculty desires.
Additional questions arose about the move of the University College into the College of Liberal Arts and why the Academic Program Review Committee was not consulted. Provost Hardgrave offered comment indicating there were no changes to the academic programs.
Additional unresolved questions were raised about different handling of this move relative to that which took place for Economics.
Comments by University Senate Chair, Daniel Svyantek
Chair Svyantek introduced the Senate officers, administrative assistant Laura Kloberg and Don Mulvaney sitting in for Jim Witte as parliamentarian.
Agenda Action Item:

Bob Ashurst, Chair of the Faculty Research Committee and Mike Fogle, Faculty Research Committee COSAM representative brought forward a resolution for development of a Scholarship Incentive Program which would fit diverse needs and which had been presented at the previous Senate meeting. The resolution passed 44:4.
Recommendations of committee member nominees for various committees was presented by Don Mulvaney, Chair of the Rules Committee. A vote was taken approving the committee recommendations.
Recommendations of nominees (Jitendra Tugnait, Electrical and Computer Engineering; Tracy Witte, Psychology; and Michelle Worosz, Ag Economics and Rural Sociology) for the vacancies on the Rules Committee was presented by Don Mulvaney, Chair of the Rules Committee. A vote was taken approving the new members of the Rules Committee.

Ralph Kingston, Chair of the Faculty Handbook Committee, presented proposed changes to the description of the FRC in the handbook. He provided some background on the interest in including a person from the library that is involved in research data and management policy be added to the membership composition of the FRC. The item will be voted on in May and require 58 votes.

Drew Clark, Director of the Institutional Research and Assessment provided an update and highlights of the most recent COACHe Survey results. Results can be found in the archive but indicate has a good working environment.
Several questions were asked about factors which may skew the data, if information on prior employment is assessed and if questions may ask about job satisfaction for NTTF.
Dan Svyantek, Senate Chair
Unfinished Business: none

New Business: none