Minutes of the Auburn University Senate Meeting
Tuesday, November 14, 2017
238 Broun Hall
3:30 P.M.
A full transcript is available for this meeting.

Attendance Record
Senate Officers:
Daniel Svyantek, Chair; Don Mulvaney, Secretary; Beverly Marshall, Secretary-Elect; James Goldstein, Immediate-Past Chair
Administration: Jim Witte for Betty Lou Whitford, Dean College of Education; Ralph Foster for Royrickers Cook, Associate Provost and VP for Outreach;  Paul Jungnickel for Richard Hansen, Dean Harrison School of Pharmacy
Absent, not sending substitute:
Paul Patterson, College of Agriculture; Janaki Alavalapati, Dean, School of Forestry and Wildlife Science; Taffye Clayton, VP & Assoc. Provost of Inclusion and Diversity; Kelli Shomaker, VP Business and Finance and CFO; George Flowers, Dean of the Graduate School; Bobby Woodard, VP for Student Affairs

Ex-Officio
Jared Russell, Steering Committee;; Lawrence Hamberlin, A&P Assembly Chair; Julia Wiard, Interim Director for IDSC for the University College.
Absent, not sending substitute: Timothy Boosinger, Provost; Bonnie MacEwan, Dean of Libraries; Jacqueline Keck, SGA President; Tenchi Smith, GSC President; Charlene Thomas, Staff Council Chair; Lucretia Tripp, Steering; Michael Tillson, Steering Committee Committee; Lisa Kensler, Steering Committee
Senators, by Department: 
Absent, not sending substitute: 
Stephen Nichols for Anwar Ahmed, Aerospace Engineering; Chad Faradori, Anatomy Physiology and Pharmacology; Werner Bergen; Cliff Defee, Aviation Management; Anthony Moss, Biological Sciences; Cliff Large, Civil Engineering; David Umphress, Computer Science and Software Engineering; Forest Smith, Drug Discovery and development; Ming-kuoo Lee, Geology & Geography; Monique Laney, History; Daniel Wells, Horticulture; Katrina Akande, Human Development and Family Studies; Carlton Ley, Industrial Design; Alan Walker, Management; Daniel Mackowski, Mechanical Engineering; David Crumbley, Nursing; Chippewa Thomas, Outreach; Tracy Witte, Psychology; Ken Macklin, Poultry; Malti Tuttle, Special Ed. Rehabilitation Counseling/School Psych. ; Lieutenant Colonel Roshun Steele, ROTC Army

Attending or Represented by Substitute
Lisa Miller, Accountancy; Michelle Worosz, Ag Economics and Rural Sociology Sandra Parmer  for Paul Brown, ACES; Rebecca O'Neal-Dagg, Architecture; Rebecca O’Neal-Dagg, Architecture; Kathryn Floyd, Art; Yi Yang, Biosystems Engineering; Mark Tatum, Building Science; Bryan Bechingham, Chemical Engineering; Doug Goodwin, Chemistry; Ed Youngblood, Communication and Journalism; Marsha Kluesing for Allison Plumb, Communication Disorders; Shzripark Gates for Ann Beth Presley, Consumer and Design Sciences; Charles Chen, Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences; Melody Russell, Curriculum & Teaching; Michael Stern for Liliana Stern, Economics; Jung Won Hur, Educational Foundations, Leadership; Jitendra Tugnalt, Electrical & Computer Engineering; James E. Ryan, English; Lee Colquit, Finance; Ash Bullard, Fisheries and Allied Aquaculture; Zachary Zuwiyya, Foreign Lang & Literatures; Graeme Lockaby for Latif Kalin, Forestry & Wildlife Science; Kimberly Garza, Health Outcomes and Research Policy; Alex Vinel for Mark Schall, Industrial and Systems Engineering; Andreas Kavazis, Kinesiology; Greg Schmidt, Library; Dora Bock, Marketing; Dmitry Glotov, Mathematics and Statistics; Matthew Hoch, Music; Michael Greene, Nutrition, Dietetics, & Hospitality Mgmt.; Vicky van Santen, Pathobiology; Spencer Durham, Pharmacy Practice; Eric Marcus, Philosophy; Michael Fogle, Physics; Cathleen Erwin, Political Science;; Willie Billingslea, ROTC Navy; Arianne Gaetano, Socio/Anthro/Social Work; Robin Jaffe, Theatre; Annette Smith, Veterinary Clinical Sciences;  EMD for Jeff Welborn, Lieutenant Colonel, ROTC Air Force; Andrew Chicoine for Captain Willie Billingslea, ROTC Naval; Arianne Gaetano, Socio/Anthr/Social Work; Robin Jaffe, Theatre; Annette Smith, Veterinary Clinical Sciences

Minutes
At 3:30 PM, Chair Dan Svyantek called the meeting to order and 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 Senator rules about speaking at Senate meetings. A quorum requiring 45senators was established.

The minutes of the October 17, 2017 Senate meeting were approved without modification by voice vote.

Remarks and Announcements
Office of the Provost or President
Both President Leath and Provost Boosinger were away from campus and unable to attend. 
Questions:  None

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

• Chairman commented on the Senate leadership’s launch of  a "What's On Your Mind" process whereby senators are encouraged to submit ideas for discussion topics, offer shared concerns, make suggestions and/or levy requests from Senate leadership. The goal is to be more proactive in the work of the Senate and to keep in touch with what is important to the faculty and staff personnel of the university.
• Donna Brazile [and Ann Compton] will speak on November 28. She will be the last speaker in the Fall Critical Conversation Series..
• The Chair  highlighted plans of what the Senate leadership and Senate plan to address in Spring 2018.  These included:
  • Working with the new President and Provost
  • Policy on Evaluation of Transfer Credit (International)
  • Revisions to Faculty Handbook – Timely Feedback
  • Possible revisions to Faculty Handbook in other areas
  • Senate Elections
  • After-hours parking survey (and other types of parking availability)
  • Scholarship Incentive Program 2.0
  • Guidelines for Understanding and Evaluating Research Impact
  • Behavioral Science Research at AU
  • Individual Issues
  • Title IX and Harassment—Responsibilities of Employees
  • COACHe Survey
  • Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics
  • Forum on Senate and Senatorial roles

Questions:
Question (undetermined speaker) regarding the submission of ideas and how to keep them anonymous. Chairman Svyantek indicated those details are being worked out.

Agenda Information Items:

• Secretary Don Mulvaney commented on the After Hours Faculty Survey. He indicated that 350 faculty participated and Senate Leadership will interact with Parking to talk about some of the results and see where that takes us.
  
  
• Chair Svyantek commented on the second information item which was a brief update of the Board of Trustees actions taken on November 10.

• Bill Hardgrave, Dean of the College of Business, was named as our new provost.  He begins duties as Provost on January 1, 2018. The Senate hopes to work with him and continue the tradition of shared governance we have developed over the last decade or so.
  
  
• A new university general counsel was appointed. Jaime Hammer will begin January 8, 2018. Her area of specialty is in higher education law. She is coming to Auburn from the University of Oklahoma.
  
  
• Athletic issues were raised. Dr. Leath noted that he intends to move as quickly as possible on hiring a new athletic director for Auburn. This search will be national. One positive thing I saw in the athletic issues that were raised at the Board of Trustees was that money allocated for new construction efforts for women’s sports was equal, if not more, than that allocated to men’s sports

Unfinished Business:
Dan Svyantek, Senate Chair
None

New Business: 
Dan Svyantek, Senate Chair 
None
Dan Svyantek, Senate Chair, declared adjournment of the meeting at 3:44 pm.