Minutes
Steering Committee Meeting
October 6, 2020 3:30 p.m.
Zoom Meeting

Present: Don Mulvaney (Chair), Greg Schmidt (Secretary), Nedret Billor (Immediate Past Chair), Todd Steury (Chair elect), Ralph Kingston (Secretary elect) Bob Norton, Bob Cochran, Cheryl Seals, Emmett Winn, Michael Tillson
Absent: Bill Hardgrave

Chair Mulvaney called the meeting to order at 3:40pm

Approval of Steering Committee Minutes, 09/01/2020: Approved by voice vote; 10 Aye, 0 Nay
Action Item: Approval of Senate Committee replacement volunteer.
Presenter, Greg Schmidt, Secretary-elect and Chair of the Rules Committee
Schmidt presented the name of a replacement candidate for the Retention Committee. Melissa Partyka (Assistant Extension Professor) was approved by the Rules Committee as a replacement for Tyler Martindale (Libraries). This term ends in 2022.  Approved by vote; 10 Aye, 0 Nay. 
Pending Action Item: Revisions to Faculty Handbook.
Presenter, Kamden Strunk, Chair, Faculty Handbook Review Committee.

Professor Strunk presented recommended revisions to the Faculty Handbook.

Chapter 3 Revisions – Strunk characterized these revisions as minor clarifications.
3.6.4 – Eligibility for Promotion and Tenure.
The committee added the word “generally” to the first paragraph so that the language for associate to full promotion aligns with that of assistant to associate. They struck “exceptional and” from the same paragraph because it was unnecessary. In the final paragraph, the word “forever” was removed because it contradicts other sections of the handbook. . Removing “forever” means that faculty can waive consideration in the 6th year and receive a noncontinuation notice, but if they go up in the 7th and are granted tenure, that nullifies the noncontinuation notice.

3.6.5.E The Department and Dean’s Recommendation
Strunk presented revisions that clarify what happens when there are few or no eligible voting faculty in a department, and also clarify that the appointment of outside faculty to serve as departmental voting faculty should be with the majority approval of the tenured and tenure-track faculty. The committee also revised this section to clarify the department head/chair obligation to provide candidates with copies of all letters submitted by the committee, the department chair/head, and individual faculty.

3.6.5.H. University-Level Review and Recommendation and Notification of the Candidate
Revisions to this section are recommended to align with revisions recommended for 3.6.4 regarding noncontinuation notices.

Revisions related to Student Evaluations of Teaching (SETs)
Strunk noted that these revisions were initiated by the Teaching Effectiveness Committee following their study of SETs.  These changes clarify and modify the uses of student evaluations of teaching in faculty review, promotion, and tenure processes. Specifically, they mandate the inclusion of open-ended comments from student evaluations of teaching while making optional the inclusion of numeric data. These changes also allow numeric data to be used only for the purposes of illustrating trends or patterns and only when the response rate exceeds 30%. These changes were requested by the Teaching Effectiveness Committee to better align Auburn’s use of student evaluations of teaching with the empirical research. These revisions also create a category of “external evaluations” as teaching evidence, which takes up the previous category of letters from students and adds consideration of other kinds of external teaching evidence. Strunk detailed changes made to sections 3.6.1, 3.6.5, 3.7.1, and 4.2.5.
Steering Committee discussion began with a clarification that the eventual Senate vote on these revisions will require a simple majority rather than a 2/3 majority for passage.
Emmett Winn suggested that votes on the changes to 3.6 and 3.7 be made separately, and added that all Chapter 3 revisions need Board of Trustees approval before being final.  Steury and Billor argued that as all the changes recommended for Chapter 3 relate to one another, they should be considered by the Senate as a whole.
Cheryl Seals inquired about the background research that led to recommended changes in the use of SETs. She suggested that the Teaching Effectiveness Committee report on problems with SETs be made available to Senators.
After discussion on the utility of SETs and consideration of the Student Government Association role in advocating for student input, a motion was made and seconded to include this item on the October Senate agenda as a Pending Action item.
Approved by vote; 10 Aye, 0 Nay. 

Information Item: Update on the Task Force Subcommittee for Recruitment and Enrollment
Presenter, Joffery Gaymon, Vice President for Enrollment
Dr. Gaymon did not have media to accompany her presentation. Her presentation reported on the development of strategies and tactics for student recruitment and enrollment to further diversity of the student body at Auburn.  The task force subcommittee identified four broad strategies and recommendations derived from the 2016 climate study at Auburn;

• Increase black enrollment
• Increase aid to black students
• Improve Auburn’s climate
• Improve retention and graduation rates of black students

To achieve these goals, the subcommittee has developed the following tactics

• Establish a flexible admissions process rather than one solely focused on high school grades and standardized testing.
• Guarantee admission for the top two students from the graduation class of each Alabama public high school.
• Restructure Auburn’s financial aid and scholarship to include need-based scholarships in addition to merit-based scholarships.
• Increase the PLUS Scholarship award amount.
• Rename Auburn University buildings named after segregationists and other people with problematic racial histories
• Conduct a new climate survey in 2021
• Create a champion for graduation success
• Change incentives and awards to student organizations that favor large organizations over small ones.
• Increase incentives and awards for diverse student organizations.

After the presentation, Dr. Gaymon received questions and comments from the Steering Committee. Donald Mulvaney recommended that a powerpoint or other media accompany the presentation and requested that Dr. Gaymon provide the slides to the Steering Committee prior to the October 20 Senate meeting. Cheryl Seals inquired if the task force subcommittee had considered the needs of minority graduate students. Dr. Gaymon indicated that the subcommittee had considered graduate students and that the financial aid/award timeline for graduate students is of critical importance.
A motion was made and was seconded to include this item in the agenda for the 10/20 meeting. Steering Committee members approved the motion.

Information Item: Public Service Announcement – A warning on Predatory Journals
Presenter, Robert Norton

Dr. Norton briefly reminded committee members on the nature and problems of predatory journals and their impact on scholarship and scholarly communications.
Greg Schmidt inquired if this announcement should be considered an information item on the agenda or should be included as in invited remark from the Senate Chair. Donald Mulvaney stated that he preferred this to be a brief informational item on the agenda.
A motion was made and was seconded to include this item in the agenda for the 10/20 meeting. Steering Committee members approved the motion.

Informational Item:  “Did You Know Corner?” The Baby Steps 501c3 Organization
Presenter, Kaitlyn Willing, Baby Steps Director of Operations
Ms. Willing explained the origins and status of the Baby Steps 501c3 organization. The organization is an independent, donor-funded residency program for pregnant and new mothers who are Auburn students. The organization exists to encourage pregnant Auburn students to remain in school while carrying their pregnancies to term. It provides housing, child care, and other support for Auburn student mothers. Ms. Willing shared a brief video from their web page at https://www.baby-steps.org/
Following the presentation the Steering Committee discussed the item and whether it was appropriate for a Senate meeting.  The discussion centered around the appropriateness of raising faculty awareness of a program that provides support to students in continuing their education while pregnant versus concerns that the Baby Steps organization is a pro-life / anti-abortion group that only provides services to women students.
Chair Mulvaney moved to take the discussion to email and schedule a vote via email on if/when to include this information item on a Senate agenda.  The Steering Committee agreed and discussion was tabled.

General Faculty Meeting Items and Discussion
The Steering Committee moved from Senate planning to General Faculty meeting planning.  
Informational Item: Student Government Association, Leadership Update.
Presenter, Hays Kassen, Vice President SGA
Mr. Kassen shared elements that he and SGA President Ada Ruth Huntley felt could be shared at the Fall General Faculty meeting. Mr. Kassen briefly discussed student thoughts on the fall semester teaching modalities and opportunities for student engagement considering the coronavirus restrictions in place. He mentioned mental health programming and the SGA task force created to address problems students are facing from coronavirus stress. Mr. Kassen reported on students and football gamedays and closed by noting that students have concerns over 2020 Presidential election disruptions.
Steering committee discussion following Mr. Kassen’s departure centered on the time available for the General Faculty meeting and the pressing concerns of faculty regarding spring semester planning. Several steering members stated that the meeting may need all of the time available for the proposed panel session. The Steering Committee decided to invite Mr. Kassen to speak at at a later date and include only the panel on the General Faculty agenda.

Panel: Working Toward Spring” Panel (joining from 246 Foy Hall)
• Kimberly Braxton-Lloyd, AU GuideSafe Sentinel Testing - Program Lead
• Lady Cox, Director of Covid Command Center
• Norman Godwin, Associate Provost for Academic Effectiveness
• Fred Kam, Director AU Medical Clinic
• Dan King, Associate Vice President of Facilities
• Robert Norton, Senate Rep on the Covid Command Center
• Kelli Shomaker, VP Business and Finance and CFO
• Emmett Winn, Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs, AU
• Bobby Woodard, Vice President for Student Affairs

Adjournment
Following Steering Committee approval of the General Faculty meeting agenda, a motion was made to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded and approved. Chair Mulvaney adjourned the meeting at 5:05pm

Respectfully Submitted,
Greg Schmidt
Secretary, University Senate