Minutes of the Steering Committee Meeting
3 September 2008
10:00 p.m.
208 Samford Hall
Submitted by Sue Barry
Attended by: Bob Locy, Kathryn Flynn, Dennis DeVries, Sue Barry, David Cicci, Sharon Gabor, Joe Molnar, Claire Crutchley, Ruth Crocker, Bill Hames, John Weete (non-voting member), Marcia Boosinger (non-voting member), Jim Wohl (non-voting member)
Absent:  no one
--Bob Locy (Chair) called the meeting to order at 10:00 after which the minutes of 30 June  Steering Committee meeting were approved as read.
Chairs Remarks:
--Bob introduced the new members of the Steering committee and explained their duties.  He told the committee that he planned to comment on the minor changes planned for the Withdrawal/Resignation Policy in his remarks to the Senate.
Action Items:
--Sue Barry will ask the Senate to approve an additional member for the Core Curriculum Oversight Committee for a term of one year, and she will ask for approval of the redistribution of terms for the Grievance committee.

Information Items:
--Marcia Boosinger gave the Writing Initiative Task Force Report.  She explained that they were convened in January with representatives from all schools, library and students.   After meeting all spring and summer they have a report ready for the Provost.  The committee first did some fact gathering from our English Center and from Institutional Assessment here at Auburn.  Then they looked at writing programs across the country.

Even though the report has not gone to the Board of Trustees, Dr. Gogue felt it was appropriate to present a general summary to the Senate.  Some of the items to be included in the report are : 1) Freshman composition will be revised and class sizes will be reduced to 19 or fewer over a period of 2 ½ years, depending on funding; 2) outcomes based writing programs across the curriculum will be created in all departments, and since many faculty are not qualified to develop these programs the administration will hire a faculty person to coordinate the Writing Program; and 3 a writing center will be created where staff and faculty can work with students on their writing.

Questions and Remarks

--David wanted to know how much the program would cost, but no amount was given. 
--Joe Molnar wanted to know how all this would be related to the Biggio Center.
--Marcia replied that Jim Groccio is currently talking with the committee.
Information Item:
--Jim Wohl (Ombudsperson) explained briefly what he planned to say to Senators. He will give some background information concerning the concept of an Ombudsperson and what the person can and can’t do.  He will also give out his contact information and his location in the Quad Center
Bob explained why Quad Center was chosen and that the Senate officers will share space and secretary with Jim.
--John Weete outlined what he planned to say about the Auburn Research Park.  He will emphasize that he is the interface between the Research Park and the faculty and that the Research Park will provide opportunities for students.  The idea of a Research Park was put forth in the late 1980s, but it could not become a reality until the city, state, and university were ready to work together on this project. 
Questions and Remarks
--Ruth Crocker wanted to know about how the current economic problems were affecting the Park.
--John said that the real driver for most companies is to have access to Auburn student workers.  However, the city is the key player in attracting companies to the Park, especially foreign companies.
--Dennis Devries asked how he could make contacts.
--John responded that the Vice President for Research can be a contact, but that it would probably be better to contact him because companies come to him and then he comes to the university.
Information Item:
--Kathy McClelland will give a short report to the Senate about the new AU Itunes implementation policy.  Kathy will send me the links to the new policy online, and we will post that link on the agenda.  She also mentioned that IMG would be giving workshops on podcasting.  Kathy felt that the narrated power point would probably be the most popular because students could watch it anywhere.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:19.