Auburn University Steering Committee
Minutes
Thursday, August 6, 2015, 3:30 p.m.
206 Samford Hall

Present: Larry Teeter (Chair), Patricia Duffy (Immediate-Past Chair), James Goldstein (Chair-Elect), Laura Plexico (Secretary), Xing Ping Hu (Secretary-Elect), Sara Wolf, Emily Myers, Keven Yost, Lisa Kensler, Jan Thornton, Bruce Kuerten
Absent: Tim Boosinger

Sara Wolf gave an update on the policies for the creation and use of copyright materials. A policy governing the creation of copyright materials has been drafted, was reviewed and discussed. A few minor word changes were made for clarity and it was decided that the document is ready to be presented to the Senate for the August 25, 2015 meeting as a pending action item.  The Committee is continuing to work on the policy governing the use of copyright material. The use policy might be ready to be presented by the end of fall.

Laura Plexico asked steering for input on whether the ‘faculty faculty’ listserv should be used to recruit research participants. After discussion it was decided not to use the listserv to recruit participants at this time. James Goldstein then raised the issue of whether or not committee reports should be posted on the senate website. The members of steering agreed that posting the committee reports is a good idea pending they will be reviewed by someone for sensitive or confidential material that might need to be removed.

Following that brief discussion, competency based education was discussed. Dr. Gogue has expressed some interest in understanding the pros and cons of competency based education as some other Universities have begun to incorporate it into their curricula. After discussion it was decided that it would be charged to and explored by Academic Standards and they would report back to steering with recommendations after they have explored the topic further.

Next Annual Leave sharing/pooling and increasing the 403b were discussed. Several other Universities have an annual leave sharing policy that helps persons who run out of sick leave or annual leave due to extenuating circumstances.  Increasing the 403b needs to be revisited to make Auburn more competitive and help with the recruitment of new faculty. It was determined that the two topics would be raised with A&P as well as the Staff Council before sending to the Insurance and Benefits committee to explore. Following that discussion the 9-month pay over 12 months was revisited. It was decided that the faculty will need to see examples of the impact that the adjustment would have on monthly pay.  Human resources will be working on what the threshold for participation would be, given the resource requirements, in late winter or early spring. After the resource requirements are clear the issue will be revisited and the steps forward will be determined.

Emily Myers gave a brief overview on the green dot bystander training and requested that the faculty receive information on green dot as an information item at an upcoming senate meeting. The Agenda for the August 25 Senate meeting will be finalized at the August 20th Steering Committee meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:00.