Special Faculty Meeting: Minutes
January 12, 2021
3:30pm
Zoom Meeting (https://auburn.zoom.us/j/86597909532)

A full transcript of this meeting will be made available.
Please refer to transcript for details not included in the minutes.
Presentation slide information is available from the Agenda for the meeting.

Call to Order

Following a switch from Zoom Meeting to Zoom Webinar format, Chair Donald Mulvaney called the meeting to order at 3:55pm. The chair invited the Secretary to give instructions and technical guidance to attendees for the meeting proceedings.

Instructions from the Secretary – Greg Schmidt, Faculty Secretary.
The Secretary noted that the meeting, due to the number of attendees, will be conducted in the Zoom Webinar format and asked attendees to follow the rules of procedure when desiring to speak and making motions from the floor. He indicated that because this is a meeting of the faculty, only faculty would be able to participate and vote.  Attendees were asked to maintain decorum and, unless allowed through Roberts Rules of Order, stay muted until recognized by the chair to speak. The Zoom Chat function will not be an official part of the record, but in certain cases it can be used to ask questions or make points of order.

Remarks – Don Mulvaney, Chair
The chair introduced the officers of the University Faculty, the parliamentarian, and the Senate Administrative Assistant.

A Point of Order was raised (Michael Stern) about the eligibility of the parliamentarian to participate in the proceedings.  Chair Mulvaney replied that the parliamentarian was not participating in the proceedings, but instead was serving in an advisory role.

Chair Mulvaney reiterated that only faculty could vote in polls and that the meeting would follow Robert’s Rules of Order. He asked that the remarks section of the meeting be limited in time to 15 minutes in order to give sufficient time to the agenda item.

Chair Mulvaney closed by discussing the actions of the Executive Committee in representing the faculty and the University, and reiterated that the purpose of the meeting was in response to a petition asking for a meeting to discuss and vote upon the motion of no confidence in Provost Hardgrave that was made and seconded at the Nov.10, 2020 Special Meeting of the University Faculty.  

Remarks – Jay Gogue, Auburn University President
The President made three points:

• The FY21 Federal Agenda included funding for 10 new faculty projects and continued funding for four ongoing projects. Approximate 62 million dollars in funding.
• Expressed gratitude to faculty for their return to Spring Semester.
• Announced that despite the pandemic issues, AU has not had any furloughs, program cuts, pay cuts, or reductions in force.

The President closed his remarks by noting that in 2020, he attended 91 meetings with Senate leadership and that university governance in the time of COVID focused on safety and the institutional mission.

Remarks – Bill Hardgrave, Auburn University Provost
Provost Hardgrave began his remarks by acknowledging and expressing sadness for the reason of the special meeting. He moved on to discuss work of the University in response to the COVID pandemic.  He then expressed a belief that the motion before the faculty for this meeting only served to hurt the university and that it is a personal and professional attack on him with far reaching implications.
POINT OF ORDER (Michael Stern) – Stern noted that the Provost was using his remarks to address the action item that had not yet been tabled and opened for discussion. As such, the Provost was being given privilege over other faculty members and his remarks should be considered out of order.
The Chair ruled in favor of the point of order and the Provost ended his remarks.

Luke Oeding (Mathematics and Statistics) moved to object to consideration of the motion of no confidence in the Provost. 
POINT OF ORDER (Michael Stern, Economics) – Stern argued that no motion has been made. The Chair affirmed that discussion and votes relating to the motion of no confidence could only be raised when the motion was called and the floor opened for business. 

Ada Ruth Huntley (SGA President) –
            POINT OF ORDER (Sam Sommers, English) – Sommers argued that, as Huntley is not a member of the faculty, the SGA President is not eligible to participate in the meeting. The Chair ruled in favor of the point.
The remainder of the question and answer period focused on COVID-19 university operations and vaccinations.

Action Item - Motion calling for a vote of no confidence in Provost Hardgrave
Chair Mulvaney opened the floor for discussion of the motion of no confidence in Provost Hardgrave that was made and seconded at the previous special meeting of the faculty.
POINT OF ORDER (Michael Stern, Economics) -  Stern argued that since his motion of no confidence was never read into the record, there is no valid motion to discuss. Chair Mulvaney ruled against this point, pointing to the minutes of the 11/10/2020 and the petitions that called for the special meeting. The chair affirmed that the motion has been called up and is open for debate

Luke Oeding (Mathematics and Statistics) – Objection to the consideration of the motion of no confidence in the Provost that is before the body today. The Chair noted that Oeding’s motion needs no second and could be voted upon through a poll of attendees. After some discussion on the wording of the poll and faculty confusion, Chair Mulvaney agreed to re-do the poll with more language clarity on what a yes or no vote meant on the motion.

POINT OF ORDER (Michael Stern, Economics) – Stern again argued that there is no motion before the body and appealed to the assembly to override the Chair’s prior ruling. The Chair accepted the Appeal to the Assembly and received a second from Werner Bergen (Animal Sciences) to the appeal.  After discussion, the polling was conducted with a YES vote indicating support to sustain Chair’s prior ruling and a NO vote supporting Michael Stern’s appeal.

APPEAL TO ASSEMBLY VOTE (841-YES, 88-NO) was in favor of the Chair’s ruling that the motion of no confidence had been made. Thus, Oeding’s motion of objection was in order.

MOTION TO ADJOURN MEETING – A motion was made to adjourn the meeting on the assumption that the first vote on Oeding’s Objection was valid.  The vote to adjourn was 463 in favor and 444 opposed. The Chair chose to keep the meeting open and conduct a second poll on Oeding’s motion to object to the consideration of the motion of no confidence in the Provost.

Motion to Adjourn
A motion again was made to adjourn the meeting.  The vote was 753 in favor and 122 opposed. Chair Mulvaney adjourned the meeting at 5:18pm