Auburn University Steering Committee
Minutes
Thursday, November 13
206 Samford Hall

Present: Patricia Duffy (Chair), Larry Teeter (Chair-Elect), Larry Crowley (Immediate-Past Chair), Gisela Buschle-Diller (Secretary),  Laura Plexico (Secretary-Elect), Emily Myers, Sara Wolf, Keven Yost, Mike Baginski, Xing Fang, Tim Boosinger

The minutes of the Steering Committee meeting from October 23, 2014, were approved without modification.
The Senate meeting on November 4, 2014, was briefly discussed. The policies the Senate voted on were approved and are now signed by the President.

The agenda for the Senate meeting on January 13, 2015, has been drafted.  Pending Action items of the November Senate meeting will become Action Items requiring a vote of the Senate at the January Senate meeting. These include the revision of the Conflict of Interest Policy (COI) and the addition of a Library representative to the Graduate Council.

The Academic Standards Committee has been preparing two new proposals, the first being concerned with the Course Repeat Policy, and the second with some rewording of the Cap Policy. Both policies might be on the Senate meeting agenda in January as Pending Action Items. Xing Fang briefly introduced the main issues. Since several questions were raised, the discussion will be continued at the next Steering Committee meeting on December 4, 2014, due to time constraints.

As potential Information Item, an update on Federal Regulations affecting research is considered, but Martha Taylor could not attend the Steering Committee meeting.

Changes to the Faculty Handbook regarding Performance Evaluation will probably be presented in February or March as Pending Action items, since guidelines should not be changed while the T&P process for this year’s candidates is handled.

Patricia Duffy gave an overview of the work of various different committees. She mentioned that the issue of (the lack of) privileges of Emeritus Professors is currently examined by a subcommittee of the Faculty Salaries and Welfare Committee (Michael Kozuh, Chair).  She further mentioned that the Chair of the Administrator Evaluation Committee (Yasser Gowayed) has met with members of the University leadership, and strategies for the evaluation process are being discussed. It was suggested to invite the Chair of this committee to the next Steering Committee meeting.

Sara Wolf gave a quick update on the formation and goals of the ad hoc committee working on issues related to the Copy Right policy. Lastly, the issue of Visiting Scholars and their limited privileges was brought up.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:30.