min_05_15

Attendance Record
Senate Officers:
Daniel Svyantek, Chair; Don Mulvaney, Secretary; Chair-elect; Michael Baginski, Secretary-Elect Beverly Marshall; James Goldstein, Immediate-Past Chair
Administration: Rodney Greer for Betty Lou Whitford, Dean College of Education; George Crandell for George Flowers, Dean of the Graduate School; 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; Janaki Alavalapati, Dean, School of Forestry and Wildlife Science; Paul Patterson, College of Agriculture; Bobby Woodard, VP for Student Affairs

Ex-Officio; Provost Bill Hardgrave; Ali Kreton for Nancy Noe, Interim Dean of Libraries; Lawrence Hamberlin, A&P Assembly Chair; Lucretia Tripp, Steering; Michael Tillson, Steering; Jared Russell, Steering Committee; Bob Kulich A&P.

Absent, not sending substitute: Julia Wiard, Interim Director for IDSC for the University College; Dane Block, SGA President; Tenchi Smith, GSC President; Charlene Thomas, Staff Council Chair; Committee. Lisa Kensler, Steering Committee;

Senators, by Department:
Absent, not sending substitute:
Paul Brown, ACES; Rebecca O’Neal-Dagg, Architecture; Anthony Moss, Biological Sciences; Cliff Lange, Civil Engineering; James E. Ryan, English; Allison Plumb, Communication Disorders; David Held, Entomology & Plant Pathology; Cathleen Erwin, Political Science; Ann Beth Presley, Consumer and Design Sciences; Wayde Morse, Forestry & Wildlife Science; Ming-kuo Lee, Geology & Geography; Daniel Wells, Horticulture; Katrina Akande, Human Development and Family Studies; Mark Schall, Industrial and Systems Engineering; Daniel Mackowski, Mechanical Engineering; David Crumbley, Nursing; Michael Greene, Nutrition, Dietetics, & Hospitality Mgmt.; Ken Macklin, Poultry; Jeff Welborn, Lieutenant Colonel, ROTC Air Force; Roshun Steele, Lieutenant Colonel, ROTC Army; Captain Willie Billingslea, ROTC Navy;

Attending or Represented by Substitute
Lisa Miller, Accountancy; Anwar Ahmed, Aerospace Engineering; Michelle Worosz, Ag Economics and Rural Sociology; Werner Bergen, Animal Sciences; Chad Faradori, Anatomy Physiology and Pharmacology; Barb Bondy for Kathryn Floyd, Art; Yi Yang, Biosystems Engineering; Mark Tatum, Building Science; Bryan Bechingham, Chemical Engineering; Doug Goodwin, Chemistry; Ed Youngblood, Communication and Journalism; Saad Biaz for Kai Chang, Computer Science and Software Engineering; Charles Chen, Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences; 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; Lee Colquit, Finance; Ash Bullard, Fisheries and Allied Aquaculture; Pedro cebollero for Zachary Zuwiyya, Foreign Lang & Literatures; Wayde Morse, Forestry & Wildlife Science; Kimberly Garza, Health Outcomes and Research Policy; Charles Israel for Monique Laney, History; Carlton Ley, Industrial Design; Andreas Kavazis, Kinesiology; Greg Schmidt, Library; Kevin Mossholder for Alan Walker, Management; Dora Bock, Marketing; Dmitry Glotov, Mathematics and Statistics; Matthew Hoch, Music; Chippewa Thomas, Outreach; Vicky van Santen, Pathobiology; Spencer Durham, Pharmacy Practice; Cathleen Erwin Political Sciences; Michael Fogle, Physics; Tracy Witte, Psychology; Malti Tuttle, Special Ed. Rehabilitation Counseling/School Psych.; Cliff Defee, Systems and Technology; Julie Wells for Arianne Gaetano, Socio/Anthro/Social Work; Adrienne Wilson for Robin Jaffe, Theatre; Annette Smith, Veterinary Clinical Sciences.

Minutes
Chair Dan Svyantek called the meeting to order at 3:31 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 with 45 recorded. The minutes of the April 17, 2018 Senate meeting were approved without modification.

Remarks and Announcements
Office of the Provost:
Provost Bill Hardgrave commented on the 3907 graduating student numbers over seven graduations in four days: 2919 with a B.S., 643 M.S., 77 PhD and 268 professional school degrees. He commented that the current historic projection of 4962 freshmen and estimated 1123 transfers in the fall. He updated some of the active searches underway including Dean for the College of Business, Dean for the Library, Director of the Honors College and Director of the Museum. He reported continued re-organization of the Provost Office which has no plans to replace the vacancy of the Associate Provost. He commented on the plans to deliver on a merit and one-time supplement from a 3% pool of salaries pending approval by the Board of Trustees.

Question:
Mike Stern, Economics asked about units being able use reserves to add to the 3% pool. Provost Hardgrave indicated the process was too late for that this cycle and that the process for next year will begin in June. Additional exchange dealt with past procedures for creating the 3% pool, raises and how the budget model presents challenges to past procedures.

Comments by University Senate Chair, Daniel Svyantek
Chair Svyantek introduced the Senate officers, administrative assistant Laura Kloberg and Jim Witte as parliamentarian. Remarks:

Thanked all senators with expiring terms and encouraged them to remind their departments to elect replacements.
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.
The AU Senate has been contacted by another SEC institution regarding a collaborative exchange of shared governance practices.

Mike Stern Economics, substitute Senator, asked a few questions and used a projection of a document printed on AU Senate letterhead. Follow-up questions included inquiry about Chair Svyantek’s timing of service and hypothetical decision making.

Ralph Kingston, Chair of the Faculty Handbook Committee, presented proposed changes to the description of the FRC in the handbook to include a person from the library be added to the membership composition of the FRC. The item requiring 58 votes was tabled for lack of votes.
Don Mulvaney, Secretary and Chair of the Rules Committee, presented nominees for vacancies on various committees. The vote passed with no abstentions.

Diane Boyd, Director of the Biggio Center presented an overview of the Testing Services Center (TSC) located in Biggin Hall. Faculty are encouraged to utilize the services.

Mike Baginski, Chair-elect asked about paper exams and was told the TSC does not handle paper exams.

Beverly Marshall, FacultyAthletics Representative, introduced Allen Greene, Athletics Director who made inspiring remarks on the importance of the athletics programs to the student athletes, university and communities. Beverly then made an updated, follow-up presentation of the Federal Graduation Rate data segmented by gender, athletic participation compared to all students and African American population. The report indicates progress in FGR for African American male athletes.

Questions:
Mike Stern, Economics, substitute senator, shared a few slides which summarized past data in order to express personal concerns about trends in graduation rates and choices of majors by student athletes.

Dan Svyantek, Senate Chair
Unfinished Business: none

New Business: none