Draft Minutes of the Steering Committee Meeting
6 July 2009
3:30 p.m. 208 Samford Hall
(by Dennis DeVries, Secretary)

In Attendance:  Kathryn Flynn, Mary Ellen Mazey, Dennis DeVries, Bob Locy, Claire Crutchley, Emmett Winn, Russ Muntifering, Ruth Crocker, Larry Crowley

Absent: Bill Hames, Joe Molnar,

--The meeting was called to order at 3:30 p.m.  

--Minutes of the 22 June 2009 Steering Committee meeting were approved without change. 

--We discussed the agenda for the 14 July Senate meeting, in an effort to determine what to include as action items and as information items. 

--The Rules Committee will have nominees for all but one Senate committee ready for Senate approval as the first action item.  Approval of nominees for the final committee, the Core Curriculum Oversight Committee, is on hold pending the outcome of the second action item on the July agenda. 

--The Rules Committee provided a draft resolution to the Steering Committee for their consideration relative to changing the name, membership, and charge of the Core Curriculum Oversight Committee.  These changes are in response to recommendations from the General Education Task Force report.  Steering Committee members discussed the resolution, and provided some editorial changes.  The resolution should be presented by Dennis DeVries on behalf of the Rules Committee, but committee members agreed that someone needs to be present who can answer questions at the Senate meeting.  Emmett Winn suggested Linda Glaze and Drew Clark.  Steering Committee members then discussed the proposed composition of the committee as described in the resolution. 

--The resolutions relative to changes in the Curriculum and Academic Standards committees were not ready, so they will not be considered at the July Senate meeting, but rather will be brought to the September Senate meeting. 

--The proposed changes in the Library Committee charge have been drafted and put into a resolution, but it is not clear whether the current Library Committee has considered these or not, so this resolution will be considered at the September Senate meeting. 

--Relative to Information items, Steering Committee members discussed having Dr. George Flowers, Graduate School Dean , present information concerning charging part of graduate student tuition to contracts and grants, as well as having Marcie Smith present information on the possibility of having a fringe benefit rate on graduate student stipends for insurance benefits.  These could be information items or presented during the Chair comments. 

--A possible information item, Green on Green, was discussed, and the committee concluded that this would be best presented as a note during the Chair’s comments. 

--Committee members asked about when academic calendar issues might be brought to the Senate; this may be mentioned in the Chair comments. 

--Claire Crutchley is serving on a committee studying ways Auburn University may deal with emergency closures in the future, and how faculty not using technology in the classroom might be able to deal with such situations.  Kathryn Flynn will put this request for information in the Chair comments. 

-- Meeting was adjourned at 4:55.