AU Senate
January 23, 2024
Minutes


Meeting called to order by AU Senate Chair, Dr. Lisa Kinsler at 3:30 p.m.
All senators in attendance reminded to participate in Canvas quorum poll (this is equivalent to the sign-in sheet during in-person meetings).

Establish a Quorum
Vote1 to identify quorum. A quorum was established with 58 respondents.
Approval of the Senate Meeting Minutes from November 14, 2023 with friendly amendment to
replace administration item to information item (Stern,M.).

Information Items
Childcare Study was presented (this was previously bumped from November 2023 due to time constraints). Presenters: Tracy Witte and Beth Davis-Sramek, AAUP Presentation (pdf) of the AAUP Childcare Report [pdf of Childcare Report].


Motion by Senator Hans-Werner van Wyk "The AU Senate supports the ongoing efforts between members of the AAUP, the AU administration, and the city, to address the concerns raised in the Childcare Infrastructure report",  seconded by Sunny Stalter-Pace. Will vote with Senate February 2024. Point of Order from Duha Altindag (substitute for Liliana Stern, Economics) requesting vote to be held within this meeting. Chair clarified and no motion stated.

Remarks and Announcements
University Senate Chair: Lisa Kensler offered midyear remarks with 2023-2024 term. Poll in Canvas re: Senate Orientation in August 2024 now open for all senators. Committee Chair Event planned for April 2024 and emails sent to all Senate Committee Chairs. New Policy Advisory Committee in place and Rules Committee identifying members. Faculty Salary and Welfare Committee currently working on faculty salary conversation. Senate Rules Committee are now aiming to fill open committees using the AU Senate volunteer website. All encouraged to volunteer for AU Senate and University Committees using volunteer link.

President Chris Roberts. Appreciation for Childcare Study team, as well as Task Force led by Steve Pelham. SACSCOC Outcome: 10-year reaffirmation letter received on January 10, 2024, with no post-affirmation letter required. $50M Contract received- largest single research contract. Enrollment outcome: 52K applications, highest number of applications in history with near 6K class admitted. Delay in national FAFSA 2024/2025 submissions, see AU response on website. Comments on Wall Street Journal article.

Provost Vini Nathan: Highlighted work of units across campus. Will present AU Strategic Plan in February Senate Meeting. See current open survey on website open til March 1, 2024. Three open Dean positions: CON, CADC, HCOB. All dates will be announced in AU News. New certificates and programs identified.

Questions presented to President Roberts on 1) Faculty salary timing and 2) DEI programs with AU. Responses identified.

Committee Reports
Proposal to raise cap on retirement contributions Presenter: Wes Collins, Matthew Hoch, Faculty Salaries & Welfare Presentation (pdf) of the Analysis of AU Matching of Employee 403(b) Contributions Written Report.
After presentation, motion identified. The Faculty Salaries & Welfare Committee move that the Senate vote to accept this report and support this recommendation. Voting will be held February 2024. Question asked if this study can be used to link the two projects of faculty salary and retirement contributions. Answer stated this will likely link with total compensation discussion.

New Business
Dr. Wei Zan, Senator representing the department of chemistry and biochemistry. The deans and chairs at the College of Sciences and Math have drafted an open letter together in support of establishing a teaching professorship line at Auburn University. “I make a motion that the Senate accept this document, so it can be shared with all senators and later incorporated into our meeting minutes.” Seconded by Rebecca Riggs, Senator from Biological Sciences
No further conversation.

COSAM Letter (pdf)

Adjournment
Lisa Kensler, Senate Chair, adjourned the meeting at 4:49 p.m.

Senate Meeting Attendance – January 2024
Senate Officers
Lisa Kensler                             Chair
Lori Eckhardt                           Chair-elect
Linda Gibson-Young                Secretary
Jaena Alabi                              Secretary-elect
Mark Carpenter               Immediate Past-Chair

Administration
Kelli Shomaker                         VP for Bus & Fin & CFO
Paul Patterson                           Dean, College of Agriculture
Maria Witte sub for
   George Flowers                       Dean, Graduate School
Bobby Woodard                       SVP for Student Affairs
Jason Hicks                              Dean, College of Liberal Arts
Mario Eden                              Dean, College of Engineering
Ed Thomas                               Dean, COSAM
Joffrey Gaymon                        VP Enrollment Mgmt.
Calvin Johnson                         Dean, College of Veterinary Medicine

Ex-Officio Members
Vini Nathan                             Provost
Shali Zhang                              Dean of Libraries
John David Jones                      SGA President
Soolim Jeong                           GSC President
Kimberly McCadden                Staff Council Chair
Josh Henderson                        A&P Assembly Chair
Evelyn Hunter                          Steering Committee
Octavia Tripp                           Steering Committee
Robert Cochran                        Steering Committee
J Brian Anderson                      Steering Committee

Senators by Departments
Xu (Joyce) Cheng                     Accountancy
Roy Hartfield                           Aerospace Engineering
Valentina Hartarska                  Ag Economics & Rural Sociology
Vinicia Biancardi                      Anatomy, Physiology & Pharmacology
Kevin Moore                            Architecture
Lauren Woods                          Art
James Birdsong                        Aviation
Rebecca Riggs                          Biological Sciences
David Blersch                          Biosystems Engineering
Jeff Kim                                   Building Sciences
Regina Gramling                      Business Analytics and Information Systems
Elizabeth Lipke                        Chemical Engineering
Wei Zhan                                 Chemistry
Joel Hayworth                          Civil Engineering
Kevin Smith                             Communication and Journalism
David Han                                Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences
Christine (Chris) Schnittka        Curriculum & Teaching
Duha Altindag sub for
   Liliana Stern                             Economics
Andrew Pendola                       Educational Foundations, Leadership & Technology
Michael Baginski                     Electrical & Computer Engineering
Sunny Stalter-Pace                    English
John Beckmann                        Entomology & Plant Pathology
Nathan Whelan                         Fisheries & Allied Aquaculture
Robert Gitzen                           Forestry, Wildlife, and the Environment
David King                              Geosciences
Jan Kavookjian                         Health Outcomes Research and Policy
Zachary Schulz                         History
Elina Coneva                            Horticulture
Clark Danderson                       Hospitality Mgmt.
Diana Samek                            Human Development & Family Studies
David Smith                             Industrial Design
Rich Sesek                               Industrial and Systems Engineering
Christopher (Brooks) Mobley    Kinesiology
Kasia Leousis                           Libraries
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
Lena McDowell                        Pharmacy Practice
David Miller                             Philosophy
Luca Guazzotto                         Physics
Jonathan (Jon) Fisk                   Political Science
Amit Morey                             Poultry Science
Alejandro A. Lazarte                 Psychology
Latifat Cabirou                         Special Ed. Rehab. Counseling/School Psych
Gregory Spray                          Speech Language and Hearing Sciences    
David Strickland                       Supply Chain Management (new)
LTC, Michael Quinn                 ROTC Air Force
John Verwiel sub for   
    LTC, Laura Fryar                 ROTC Army
Danilea Werner                        Socio/Anthro/Social Work
Adrienne Wilson                      Theatre and Dance
Robert Cole                              Veterinary Clinical Sciences
Kerri Munoz                            World Lang & Literatures

 

Absent without substitute:
Mary (Molly) Gregg                 ACES
Jacek Wower                            Animal Sciences
Sanjeev Baskiyar                      Computer Science & Software Engineering
Ann Presley                              Consumer & Design Sciences
Murali Dhanasekaran                Drug Discovery and Development
David Cicero                            Finance
Lee Johnson                             Music
Peter Christopherson                 Pathobiology
Captain, Michael Witherspoon                             ROTC Naval