Auburn University Senate Minutes for
April 18, 2023
3:30 p.m.
Via Zoom
Minutes
The meeting was called to order at 3:30 p.m.
The chair reminded senators that the attendance record will be based on the canvas quorum polls. He also reminded senators to place and S in front of their names noting that they are a senator in order be recognized during questions or discussion.
All senators in attendance must participate in the canvas quorum poll (this is equivalent to the sign-in sheet during in-person meetings). Attendance records will be based on this poll
Establish a Quorum
A quorum was established with 64 senators responding.
Approval of minutes for the Senate meeting of March 14, 2023
The minutes were approved without objections.
Action Items
Action I
Vote on Senate Committee Rotations/Replacement Nominees.
Presenter: Octavia Tripp, Senate Secretary and Rules Committee Chair, introduced the nominees that were approved by rules to fill replacements and vacancies.
Senate Committees nominees for new rotations and replacement of vacancies (pdf) The nominees were shared and senators had an opportunity to review names before the vole. Senators were asked to vote for replacement and vacancies as a slate The vote was opened by the Chair and the results were as follows. 63 Senators voted. There were 62 yes and 1 abstain vote. Therefore, the slate was approved and the nominates will replace or fill vacancies starting in August.
Action Item II
Vote on changes to the Faculty Handbook (Proposed in March Senate Meeting). There are four substantive changes (presented during the March Senate Meeting) to be voted on during this meeting (see link to proposed changes). A two-thirds majority on the retention committee membership vote of the whole Senate is required for each proposal to pass. Therefore, attendance at the April meeting is required. The other three items only require a majority vote.
Presenter: Mitchell Brown, Chair, Senate Faculty Handbook Review Committee
Proposed changes-Retention Committee (pdf) was introduced and Brown reviewed concern one of which you may view from the above attached pdf.
The chair opened the vote for Faculty Handbook Concern relating to the Retention Committee and the results were 61 voted yes, 3 voted no and 2 abstained. The total was 66 senators voting. The change in the handbook has been adopted with a majority of the vote showing yes.
More proposed changes to the P & T section of the Faculty Handbook. There are 3 additional items to review, each can pass with majority vote, but will require approval of the university leadership and the Board of Trustees to make the changes in the handbook.
Presenter: Mitchell Brown, Chair, Senate Faculty Handbook Review Committee
Proposed changes to P&T section of FHB (pdf). Mitchell Brown introduced Concern two, three, and four of which you may view from the above attached pdf. The chair asked for questions. Counsel Jamie Hammer gave a review and summary about the concern about guidelines and policy. The chair opened the vote for the following concerns. The results for concern 2, 3, and 4 are noted below.
Concern 2 vote - 12 votes yes, 46 vote no and 5 abstain. This change fails.
Concern 3 vote – 42 votes yes, 15 vote no and 11 abstain. This change passes.
Concern 4 vote – 35 votes yes, 15 vote no, and 13 abstain. This change passes.
Information Item(s)
Senate Committee Report: Non-Tenure Track Faculty (NTTF)
Presenter: Ash Curtiss, NTTF Committee Chair and Senior Lecturer in Chemistry/Biochemistry.
Presentation (pdf) Ash Curtis gave a detailed committee report that addressed what the committee has been working on during the past year. He shared several suggestions that the committee felt was important to support NTTF; pay increase, job security, and promotion. He also shared what Auburn was doing well to support NTTF. Overall, the committee presented information that was a major concern of NTTF.
Public access to Senate Committee Reports.
Presenter: Mark Carpenter
This point of information was made during Spring 2023 Faculty meeting. The chair mentioned that it looks as though we do not have the reports. The reports are archived on a share drive and Laura Kloberg, the administrative assistant can provide you assess to them. The Senate leadership has access directly to that share drive.
Consideration is being given to putting the Annual Reports onto the Senate Canvas site.
Presenter: Lisa Kensler, Chair-elect provided information about the Solicitation of a Parliamentarian for the 2023/2024 school year. You may contact Lisa Kensler regarding your interest in serving by May 1, 2023. This position carries a $6000 stipend/academic year from the Provost’s Office.
Pending Items
Presenter: Mitchell Brown, Chair, Senate Faculty Handbook Review Committee
Proposed changes to P&T section of FHB (pdf). Mitchell Brown presented Concerns 5 and 6 of which you can view from the above link proposed changes to P&T section of the faculty handbook. The changes were presented but they were not voted on at this time. They will be voted on at the next Senate meeting.
Remarks and Announcements on University Matters
University Senate Chair. Mark Carpenter. The chair made mention to keep in mind the tragedy that happened in Dadeville as we have students who may have had connections with the community.
President: Christopher Roberts was introduced and made the following comments.
He shared the good news that the enrollment looks very good for the fall and Camp War eagle numbers look very good,
Graduate enrollment is increasing.
Auburn has it biggest incoming cohort of international graduate students from Iran, followed by Nigeria, India and China.
President Roberts thanked everyone who participated and helped with the installation last week.
He mentioned that interviews for the Senior Vice President for Research and Economic Development had started on campus and there are four finalists for that position. Also, campus interviews for Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs had started on campus.
And yesterday, the on-campus interviews for Provost and Senior Vice President for academic affairs had begun on campus,
Interim-Provost: Vini Nathan. Dr. Nathan was absent, and Norman Godwin presented information in her absence.
Dr. Mario Eden has been named the Dean of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering.
There are two searches that are ongoing, the Harrison College of Pharmacy and the Harbert College of Business.
Those finalists have come to campus, and Deans will be named in the coming weeks.
The BOT approved two academic items; A bachelor's of science in drug and biopharmaceutical science.
New Business
Mark Carpenter, Senate Chair
Tracy Witte requested that a survey on Childcare Crisis be sent out the university faculty. An email had be previously circulated in the past. The secretary was asked to resend the email on Childcare Crisis.
Adjournment
Mark Carpenter, Senate Chair
The. Meeting was adjourned at 5:10 pm
Attendance for April 18, 2023
Senate Mtg - April 18, 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
Paul Patterson Dean, College of Agriculture
Bobby Woodard SVP for Student Affairs
Jeffrey Fairbrother Dean, College of Education
Calvin Johnson Dean, College of Veterinary Medicine
Absent without substitute:
George Flowers Dean, Graduate School
Janaki Alavalapati Dean, College of Forestry, Wildlife, and the Environment
James Weyhenmeyer VP Research
Greg Newschwander Dean, College of Nursing
Ex-Officio Members
Vini Nathan Interim Provost
Shali Zhang Dean of Libraries
Julianne Lozano [jal0095] sub for
John David Jones SGA President
Soolim Jeong GSC President
Clint Lovelace A&P Assembly Chair
Evelyn Hunter Steering Committee
Danilea Werner Steering Committee
Robert Cochran Steering Committee
Robert Norton Steering Committee
Absent without substitute:
Ashley Reid Staff Council Chair
Senators by Departments
Elizabeth (Lisa) Miller Accountancy
Roy Hartfield Aerospace Engineering
Valentina Hartarska Ag Economics & Rural Sociology [missed Sept. Oct. Nov.-explained in Jan]
Mary (Molly) Gregg ACES
Jacek Wower Animal Sciences
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
Elizabeth Libke [eal0003] sub for
Bryan Beckingham Chemical Engineering
Wei Zhan Chemistry
J. Brian Anderson Civil Engineering
Kevin Smith Communication and Journalism
Peter Weber Consumer & Design Sciences
David Han Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences
Christine (Chris) Schnittka Curriculum & Teaching
Jayachandra Ramapuram [ramapjb] sub for
Murali Dhanasekaran Drug Discovery and Development
Duha Altindag [dza0013] sub for
Liliana Stern Economics
Andrew Pendola Educational Foundations, Leadership & Technology
Michael Baginski Electrical & Computer Engineering
Sunny Stalter-Pace English
Joseph Stover [jstover] sub for
Damion McIntosh Finance
Nathan Whelan Fisheries & Allied Aquaculture
David King Geology & Geography
Kimberly Garza Health Outcomes Research and Policy
Zachary Schulz History
Elina Coneva Horticulture
Clark Danderson Hospitality Mgmt.
Diana Samek Human Development & Family Studies
Ben Bush Industrial Design
Christopher (Brooks) Mobley Kinesiology
Kasia Leousis Library
Liesl Wesson Management and Entrepreneurship
Jeremy Wolter Marketing
Hans Werner van Wyk Mathematics and Statistics
Sabit Adanur Mechanical Engineering
Chris Martin Nursing
Kevin Huggins Nutritional Sciences
David Mixson Outreach
Peter Christopherson Pathobiology
Lena McDowell Pharmacy Practice
Jennifer Lockhart Philosophy
Luca Guazzotto Physics
Peter White Political Science
Amit Morey Poultry Science
Alejandro A. Lazarte Psychology
Rebecca Curtis Special Ed. Rehab. Counseling/School Psych
Laura Plexico Speech Language and Hearing Sciences G. Spray
David Strickland Supply Chain Management (new)
Janice Clifford Socio/Anthro/Social Work
Abdul-Khalig Murtadha [akm0011] sub for
Adrienne Wilson Theatre
Robert Cole Veterinary Clinical Sciences
Zachary Zuwiyya World Lang & Literatures
Absent without substitute:
Shehenaz Shaik Computer Science & Software Engineering
John Beckmann Entomology & Plant Pathology
Zhaofei (Joseph) Fan Forestry, Wildlife, and the Environment
Rich Sesek Industrial and Systems Engineering
Lee Johnson Music
LTC, Michael Quinn ROTC Air Force
LTC, Laura Fryar ROTC Army
Captain, Matthew Roberts ROTC Naval