Minutes
Senate Meeting: February 14, 2023
3:30 p.m. via Zoom Meeting
A Panopto recording for this meeting is available.
Please refer to recording for details not included in the minutes.
Presentations are available from the agenda for the meeting.
Attendance Record at the end of the minutes.
The Chair called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m.
A quorum was established with 46 Senators and 51 Senators eventually indicated they were present.
The minutes from the January 24, 2023 Senate meeting were approved by unanimous consent.
At 3:38 p.m.: the Rules Committee chair, Octavia Tripp, was introduced and she took nominations, from the floor for the Rules committee member replacement for partial term of the seat vacated by Dr. Ken Macklin. A vote was taken and a total of 46 senators voted. The nominees and their percentage of the vote were Roy Hartfield - Aerospace Engineering (26%), Anthony Moss - Biological Sciences (52%), Murali Dhanasekaran - Drug Recovery and Development (20%) and Abstain (2%). Senator Tony Moss was selected as to fill the seat.
At 3:45:29 p.m.: Octavia Tripp announced three openings on Rules committee to be filled next term. Then she took nominations from the floor. Five Senators were nominated. The nominees were instructed to provide bios for Senate review before the vote to be held in the March Senate meeting.
At 3:53 p.m.: President Roberts began his update Auburn University, such as, department visits, enrollment, the hiring of the new Chief Communications Officer, capital projects and renovations, and the upcoming SACSOC visit.
At 3:57 p.m.: Interim-Provost Vini Nathan began her remarks wherein she gave updates on the Board of Trustees, on-line program rankings, Promotion and Tenure Committee, and the ongoing dean searches.
Duha Altindag, Kim Garzas, Gregory Spray and Michael Stern each asked a question of President Roberts and Dr. Roberts replied to each.
At 5:15 p.m.: Christopher Basgier, Director of University Writing, Office of the Provost, provided an update on ChatGPT.
Alejandro Lazarte asked a question of about Chat-GPT’s R-programming abilities.
Asim Ali added his perspective on Chat-GPT and the resources available from Biggio Center, as follows:
Biggio Center has the following support for navigating AI in education across all disciplines and all types of learning:
Faculty interested in planning for AI in their courses can reach out to Asim Ali, asim@auburn.edu.
More info on the Teaching with AI at Auburn course:
Canvas course developed & curated by Biggio Center. The course is asynchronous and self-paced. Modules will open every Thursday over the next 8 weeks. The course covers 8 modules through various lenses of technical, pedagogical, theoretical, and ethical. Those participating will be invited to future AI-themed discussions. Sign up today: https://aub.ie/aicoursereg
At 4:36 p.m.: Martha Taylor, Asst VP Research, gave an update on the new Electronic Research Administration System.
Senator Tony Moss asked a follow-up question regarding stages of implementation of the ERA system.
4:55 p.m.: the Chair adjourned the meeting.
Attendance – Senate Mtg - February 21, 2023
Senate Officers
Mark Carpenter Chair
Lisa Kensler Chair-elect
Lucretia (Octavia) Tripp Secretary
Linda Gibson-Young Secretary-elect
Dan Svyantek Immediate Past-Chair
Administration
Kelli Shomaker VP for Bus & Fin & CFO
Arthur Appel sub for
Paul Patterson Dean, College of Agriculture
George Flowers Dean, Graduate School
Jeffrey Fairbrother Dean, College of Education
Greg Newschwander Dean, College of Nursing
Calvin Johnson Dean, College of Veterinary Medicine
Absent without substitute:
Bobby Woodard SVP for Student Affairs
Janaki Alavalapati Dean, College of Forestry, Wildlife, and the Environment
James Weyhenmeyer VP Research
Ex-Officio Members
Vini Nathan Interim Provost
Shali Zhang Dean of Libraries
Danilea Werner Steering Committee
Absent without substitute:
Jake Haston SGA President
Makeda Nurradin GSC President (apparently different SGA pres. was assigned w/o notification to Senate.)
Ashley Reid Staff Council Chair
Clint Lovelace A&P Assembly Chair
Evelyn Hunter Steering Committee
Robert Cochran Steering Committee
Robert Norton Steering Committee
Senators by Departments
Roy Hartfield Aerospace Engineering
Valentina Hartarska Ag Economics & Rural Sociology [missed Sept. Oct. Nov.-explained in Jan]
Kristine Griffet sub for
Vinicia Biancardi Anatomy, Physiology & Pharmacology
Kevin Moore Architecture
Lauren Woods Art
James Birdsong Aviation
Anthony Moss Biological Sciences
David Blersch Biosystems Engineering
Mark Tatum Building Sciences
Regina Gramling Business Analytics and Information Systems
Tae-Sik Oh sub for
Bryan Beckingham Chemical Engineering
Wei Zhan Chemistry
J. Brian Anderson Civil Engineering
Kevin Smith Communication and Journalism
Peter Weber Consumer & Design Sciences
Christine (Chris) Schnittka Curriculum & Teaching
Murali Dhanasekaran Drug Discovery and Development
Liliana Stern Economics
Andrew Pendola Educational Foundations, Leadership & Technology
Michael Baginski Electrical & Computer Engineering
Sunny Stalter-Pace English
John Beckmann Entomology & Plant Pathology
Joseph Stover sub for
Damion McIntosh Finance
Zhaofei (Joseph) Fan Forestry, Wildlife, and the Environment
David King Geology & Geography
Kimberly Garza Health Outcomes Research and Policy
Zachary Schulz History
Elina Coneva Horticulture
Diana Samek Human Development & Family Studies
Christopher (Brooks) Mobley Kinesiology
Kasia Leousis Library
Hans Werner van Wyk Mathematics and Statistics
Sabit Adanur Mechanical Engineering
Lee Johnson Music
Kevin Huggins Nutritional Sciences
David Mixson Outreach
Lena McDowell Pharmacy Practice
Jennifer Lockhart Philosophy
Luca Guazzotto Physics
Peter White Political Science
Alejandro A. Lazarte Psychology
Rebecca Curtis Special Ed. Rehab. Counseling/School Psych
Gregory Spray for
Laura Plexico Speech Language and Hearing Sciences
David Strickland Supply Chain Management (new)
Janice Clifford Socio/Anthro/Social Work
Adrienne Wilson Theatre
Absent without substitute:
Elizabeth (Lisa) Miller Accountancy
Mary (Molly) Gregg ACES
Jacek Wower Animal Sciences
Shehenaz Shaik Computer Science & Software Engineering
David Han Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences
Nathan Whelan Fisheries & Allied Aquaculture
Clark Danderson Hospitality Mgmt.
Ben Bush Industrial Design
Rich Sesek Industrial and Systems Engineering
Liesl Wesson Management and Entrepreneurship
Jeremy Wolter Marketing
Chris Martin Nursing
Peter Christopherson Pathobiology
Amit Morey Poultry Science
LTC, Michael Quinn ROTC Air Force
LTC, Laura Fryar ROTC Army
Captain, Matthew Roberts ROTC Naval
Robert Cole Veterinary Clinical Sciences
Zachary Zuwiyya World Lang & Literatures