AU Senate
August 29, 2023
Via Zoom

Minutes

Meeting called to order at 3:30 pm.
All senators in attendance reminded that they must participate in the canvas quorum poll (this is equivalent to the sign-in sheet during in-person meetings).
A quorum was established with 71 respondents voting.

Approval of minutes from June 13, 2023.
Minutes approved with no corrections.

AU Senate Chair: Lisa Kensler
Introduction to Senate 2023-2024 Meetings

AU President: Christopher Roberts offered remarks at the start of the Fall semester and looks forward to the year ahead. Announcements on Board of Trustees outcomes: approved budget, STEM-Ag Building complex approved with full proposal ($224M), and Cambridge housing issues (new housing project reactivated [$80M]). Called on Bobby Woodard to highlight incident. Addressed Strategic Planning in preparation for Fall 2023. Called on Kelvin King for Security presentation re: recent shootings. Highlighted priorities of AU. Plan is to address emergency plans and safety in future meeting.

AU Provost: Vini Nathan offered announcements with Academic Affairs. New 12-credit Congratulations to Department of Nutrition Sciences with 7-year accreditation.  Three open Dean positions (Architecture Design and Construction, Nursing, and Business).

Information Items
Lisa Kensler, Senate Chair

Kensler made two announcements:
She asked Senators to complete the Senator Orientation Survey by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, September 7th.

She noted that the Senate meeting would adjourn prior to the start of the Open Enrollment Presentation, all within the same Zoom meeting.

Action Items

  1. Motion to hold Senate Meetings via Zoom until August 2024.

The vote for Senate Nominees passed 67 yes, 4 no.

Linda Gibson-Young addressed the replacement nominations for open Senate Committees

Senate Committees replacement of vacancies (pdf)
The vote for Senate Nominees passed 62 yes, 2 no, 1 abstain

No New Business
Lisa Kensler, Senate Chair, adjourned the meeting at 4:15pm.

Senate Meeting Attendance – Aug. 29, 2023
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
George Flowers          Dean, Graduate School
Bobby Woodard         SVP for Student Affairs
Jason Hicks                 Dean, College of Liberal Arts
Alan David                  sub for 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
Julianne Lozano          sub for John David Jones, SGA President
PritamMitra                sub for Soolim Jeong, GSC President
Josh Henderson           A&P Assembly Chair
Evelyn Hunter             Steering Committee
Robert Cochran           Steering Committee
J Brian Anderson        Steering Committee

Senators by Departments
Xu (Joyce) Cheng                   Accountancy
Anwar Ahmed                        sub for Roy Hartfield  Aerospace Engineering
Valentina Hartarska                Ag Economics & Rural Sociology
Mary (Molly) Gregg               ACES
Jacek Wower                          Animal Sciences
Vinicia Biancardi                    Anatomy, Physiology & Pharmacology
Gorham Bird                           sub for Kevin Moore, Architecture
Lauren Woods                         Art
James Birdsong                       Aviation
Rebecca Riggs                         Biological Sciences
Mark Dougherty                     sub for 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
Sanjeev Baskyar                     Computer Science & Software Engineering
David Han                               Crop, Soil, and Environmental 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
David Cicero                          Finance
David King                             Geosciences
Jan Kavookjian                       Health Outcomes Research and Policy
Zachary Schulz                       History
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                          Library
Liesl Wesson                          Management and Entrepreneurship
Jeremy Wolter                        Marketing
Hans Werner van Wyk           Mathematics and Statistics
Sabit Adanur                          Mechanical Engineering
Lee Johnson                            Music
Chris Martin                           Nursing
Kevin Huggins                        Nutritional Sciences
David Mixson                         Outreach
Pricilla Barger                         sub for Peter Christopherson              Pathobiology
Lena McDowell                      Pharmacy Practice
David Miller                           Philosophy
Luca Guazzotto                       Physics
Jonathan (Jon) Fisk                 Political Science
Amit Morey                            Poultry Science
Alejandro A. Lazarte              Psychology
Gregory Spray                         Speech Language and Hearing Sciences    
David Strickland                     Supply Chain Management
LTC, Michael Quinn              ROTC Air Force
LTC, Laura Fryar                    ROTC Army
Danilea Werner                      Socio/Anthro/Social Work
Adrienne Wilson                     Theatre and Dance
Kerri Munoz                           World Lang & Literatures

Absent without substitute:
Octavia Tripp                           Steering (excused)
Kimberly McCadden                          Staff Council Chair
Ann Presley                                        Consumer & Design Sciences
Nathan Whelan                                   Fisheries & Allied Aquaculture
Zhaofei (Joseph) Fan                          Forestry, Wildlife, and the Environment
Elina Coneva                                      Horticulture
Rebecca Curtis (ret 9/1)                                  Special Ed. Rehab. Counseling/School Psych
Captain, Michael Witherspoon           ROTC Naval
Robert Cole                                         Veterinary Clinical Sciences