Presentations are available from the Agenda for the meeting.

A full transcript of this meeting is available.

Attendance Record at the end of the minutes.

A quorum was established, with 55 out of 87 Senators in attendance.
Nedret Billor, Senate Chair, called the meeting to order at 3:31pm.

Approval of the minutes from the Senate Meeting of November 12, 2019 approved by consent

Remarks and Announcements:

Nedret Billor, Senate Chair

Chair Billor spoke on the composition of the Nomination Committee and noted that candidates for officer positions will be forthcoming at this meeting. The voting period for the Senate and Faculty officer positions will open on 3/23/2020 and close at 5pm on 3/30/2020. Results will be announced at the 3/31/2020 General Faculty Meeting.
Chair Billor stated that volunteering for Senate and University committees is now open. Faculty are encouraged to go to the Senate website and follow the volunteering link. The deadline for consideration for 2020/21 committee positions is the end of April. The Parking Working Group has finished their work and will be presenting their recommendations. There will be opportunities over the next month to attend presentations by Bobby Woodard, chair of the working group.

On the subject of the Senate, Chair Billor confirmed that because of the failure of the Senate to reach a quorum in January, there are no official minutes of the January session. The document posted to the Senate website are merely notes of the Secretary and do not require approval by the Senate.
Chair Billor gave an update on Senate Secretary Adrienne Wilson’s medical absence. While Secretary Wilson is recovering and unable to perform Secretary duties, Secretary Elect Greg Schmidt will be stepping in as acting secretary.
Chair Billor closed by introducing the officers of the Senate, our parliamentarian, and our executive assistant.

President Jay Gogue remarks

President Gogue spoke first on Alabama legislative session actions of interest.
Three Trustees for Auburn’s Board were confirmed to serve 7 year terms.

The draft State budget submitted by Governor Ivey to the legislature looks good for Auburn, with a 7% increase in funding. This figure may change during the legislative process.

A State bond bill has been announced. If passed, some of the funds from the bond issue will go to higher education building projects. The President said our priority is to secure facilities for Agriculture and STEM faculty.

On the Federal funding level, Auburn received $97.5 Million for 2020. There are 116 projects planned for 2021. S&P and Moody have reaffirmed Auburn’s bond rating, indicating a good financial outlook for the university.

President Gogue’s departmental visits are ongoing, and he is acting on the input he receives. Most recently, Auburn has secured housing for visiting scholars and faculty, meeting a need expressed across several departments.

Finally, President Gogue spoke briefly on Auburn’s decision in response to the coronavirus outbreak to bar funding for travel to China. He invites Dr. Fred Kam, Medical Director of the AU Medical Clinic to speak on coronavirus preparation.

Dr. Kam gave updated numbers on the virus, its transmissibility and its mortality rates. He noted that the AUMC is ready to deal with the virus when it appears in Alabama. The AUMC is cooperating with the East Alabama Medical Center, the State of Alabama and the CDC to prepare for a coordinated response.

Provost Bill Hardgrave remarks Provost Hardgrave spoke on three activities related to Strategic Plan Goals. The first item was about the objectives and goals of the Dual Enrollment / Auburn First plan (Strategic Goal #5). In response to the first year goals, Auburn has developed over 30 courses oriented toward Alabama High School students. Over 20 faculty across 15 departments are engaged in the program. There are currently 18 participating high schools with 5 pending. Course costs are meant to be affordable and scaled to student family income to extend the program’s reach to students of all income levels.

The Second item mentioned was the COACHE survey. The Provost encouraged Senators to respond to the survey and to encourage the faculty the represent to respond to the survey. The survey opened on February 10 and closes on April 10. Finally, Provost Hardgrave discussed the “Five Commitments” model for organizing and marketing what Auburn University does for students, the State, and the nation. The five commitments are; Enhance Health and Well-Being, Build Resilient Societies, Shape Intelligent Solutions, Create a More Secure World, Promote Opportunity and Equity Through Education. For more information see the presentation posted at the Senate website.

Following his remarks, Provost Hardgrave was asked a question from Michael Stern, Department of Economics. Dr. Stern asked why emeritus Guidelines were posted to the Provosts web page and asked if there was a way to object to the content of the guidelines. Dr. Stern recommended open discussion for any guidelines that are changed and suggested a meeting to discuss both the guidelines as they appear in the faculty handbook and the recent history at Auburn relating to the granting of emeritus status.

Action Item

Presenter: Greg Schmidt, Secretary Elect
Secretary Schmidt presented for senate consideration the names of replacement members for Senate committees.

Curriculum Committee Jamie Sailors (anderja@auburn.edu ‒ College of Human Sciences) ‒ 2022 to replace Young A. Lee
Rebecca O’Neal Dagg (onealrg@auburn.edu ‒ CADC) ‒ 2020 to replace Carla Keyvanian
Faculty Research Committee Charlene LeBleu (leblecm@auburn.edu ‒ College of Architecture, Design, and Construction) ‒ 2020 to replace Danielle Wilkens
Faculty Grievance Committee David King (kingdat@auburn.edu ‒ COSAM) ‒ 2021 to replace Richard Sorrentino
Mark Wilson (wilsom3@auburn.edu ‒ University Outreach) ‒ 2020 to replace Al Giffin
University Writing Committee Elizabeth Lipke (eal0003@auburn.edu ‒ College of Engineering) ‒ 2020 to replace Peter He

The vote for the replacement members was passed with 52 for, and 2 against.

Pending Action Items

Climate Change and the “We are Still In” Resolution Presenter: Mike Kensler, Director of Office of Sustainability. Director Kensler gave a presentation on Auburn’s engagement in climate change action and discussed the background of the We Are Still In Climate Change Resolution. He followed the presentation with a request for a vote from the Senate showing support for President Gogue signing the pledge on behalf of Auburn University. For more information see the presentation posted at the Senate website.

Information Items

Nominations for Senate Officers

Presenter: Michael Fogle, Chair of the Nomination Committee

Dr. Fogle presented the candidates secured by the Nominations Committee for 2020/21 Senate office positions
For Secretary-Elect Lucretia Octaivia Tripp, Associate Professor, Department of Curriculum and Teaching Ralph Kingston, Associate Professor, Department of History

For Chair-Elect Todd Steury, Associate Professor, Wildlife Biology and Statistics Robert Norton, Professor, Department of Poultry Science Herbert Jack Rotfeld, Professor, Harbert College of Business (nomination by petition)

Make Up Policy Presenter: Norman Godwin, Assoc. Provost for Academic Effectiveness.

Dr. Godwin gave a presentation outlining three changes in the text of the AU Policy of Class Attendance. Changes made clarify the time allowed for students to initiate arrangements for make-up exams, reduce the time allowed for students to complete make-up exams, and added military orders to the list of expected excused absences. For more information see the presentation posted at the Senate website.

AU’s New International Agreements Policy Presenter: Andy Gillespie, Assistant Provost for International Programs Presentation on International Agreements Policy focusing on generation of agreements, security screening and approval of agreements, and archiving/availability of agreements.

Generation of all international agreements and contracts is focused on deans and vice presidents. Research Security screening is moved to the initial phase with Provost office review and approval. Completed international agreements/contracts will be centrally archived and available for all Auburn units to view. For more information see the presentation posted at the Senate website.

LGBTQ+ Initiatives at Auburn, Presenters: Antonio Duran , Assistant Professor, EFLT, Critical Studies Working Group and Austin Blanton, Student leader: LGBTQ+ Initiatives at Auburn.

The presenters began with a brief history of LGBTQ initiatives on campus and noted that Auburn is currently ranked the #5 most LGBT unfriendly campus by the Princeton Review. The presentation continued with a discussion of current LGBTQ+ initiatives (Pronoun Initiative, Campus Pride Index Initiative) and their progress. The presentation closed with an announcement of Workshops on Gender Identity for Faculty and a request for feedback on the Campus Pride Index Initiative. For more information see the presentation posted at the Senate website.

Unfinished Business New points of contact with Auburn’s Student Government introduced themselves to the Senate.

New Business: None Adjourned: 4:31pm, Chair Billor

Respectfully Submitted, Greg Schmidt Secretary-Elect, University Senate

Attendance Record February 18, 2020

Present: Senate Officers: Nedret Billor, Chair Don Mulvaney, Chair-Elect Greg Schmidt, Secretary-Elect Michael Baginski, Immediate Past-Chair

Absent Adrienne Wilson, Secretary

Present: Administration: Joe Aistrup, Dean, College of Liberal Arts Annette, Ranft, Dean, Harbert College of Business Chris Roberts, Samuel Ginn College of Engineering Jim Weyhenmeyer, VP of Research-Martha Taylor, substitute Vini Nathan, Dean, College of Architecture, Design, and Construction Gregg Newschwander, Dean of Nursing

Absent: Nick Giordano, Dean, Science and Mathematics Jane Parker, VP Development Susan Hubbard, Dean, College of Human Sciences

Ex-Officio Members:

Present Bill Hardgrave, Provost Shali Zhang, Dean of Libraries Mary Margaret Turton, SGA President-Carlos Smith, substitute Nima Aliadeh, GSC President Kim Brumbeloe, Staff Council Chair Mark Bransby, A&P Assembly Chair Jung Won Hur, Steering Committee Jared Russell, Steering Committee Robert Norton, Steering Committee

Absent Michael Tillson, Steering Committee 

Senators:

Present Lisa Miller, Accountancy Anwar Ahmed, Aerospace Engineering Valentina Hatarska, Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology Jacek Wower, Animal Sciences Chad Foradori, Anatomy, Physiology & Pharmacology Rebecca O’Neal-Dagg, Architecture Kathryn Floyd, Art Yi Wang, Biosystems Engineering Bryan Beckingham, Chemical Engineering – Elizabeth Lipke, substitute Doug Goodwin, Chemistry J. Brian Anderson, Civil Engineering – Justin Marshall, substitute Mary Sandage, Communication Disorders Kai Chang, Computer Science and Software Engineering David Han, Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences Jamie Harrison, Curriculum & Teaching, Sara Demoing, substitute Feng Li, Drug Discovery and Development Gilad Sorek, Economics Lloyd Riggs, Electrical & Computer Engineering Susan Youngblood, English David Held, Entomology & Plant Pathology Lee Colquitt, Finance Zachary Zuwiyya, Foreign Language & Literatures Wayde Morse, Forestry & Wildlife Science Haibo Zou, Geology & Geography Kimberly Garza, Health Outcomes Research and Policy Monique Laney, History, David Lucsko, substitute Daniel Wells, Horticulture Scott Ketring, Human Development & Family Studies Rich Sesek, Industrial and Systems Engineering Andreas Kavazis, Kinesiology George Stachokas, Library Alan Walker, Management Yanzhao Cao, Mathematics and Statistics Virginia Kunzer, Music David Crumbley, Nursing Baker Ayoun, Nutrition, Dietetics, & Hospitality Mgmt David Mixson, Outreach Peter Christopherson, Pathobiology Spencer Durham, Pharmacy Practice Eric Marcus, Philosophy Michael Fogle, Physics Stacey Hunt, Political Science Ken Macklin, Poultry Science Tracy Witte, Psychology Malti Tuttle, Special Ed. Rehab. Counseling/School Psychology Shashank Rao, Systems and Technology- Tyler Morgan, substitute Kenneth McDonald, Lieutenant, ROTC, Air Force - Mary Doiron, substitute Calina Creech, LTC, ROTC, Army-Eddie Christ, substitute Arianne Gaetano, Socio/Anthro/Social Work Robin Jaffe, Theatre

Absent Molly Gregg, ACES Anthony Moss, Biological Sciences Mark Tatum, Building Sciences Robert Agne, Communication and Journalism Melanie Duffey, Consumer & Design Sciences Ellen Reames, Educational Foundations, Leadership & Tech Ash Bullard, Fisheries & Allied Aquaculture Carlton Lay, Industrial Design Jeremy Wolter, Marketing Daniel Mackowski, Mechanical Engineering Willie Billingslea, Captain, ROTC, Naval Robert Cole, Veterinary Clinical Sciences