Minutes
Senate Steering Meeting
May 10, 2022, 3:30 p.m.
Via Zoom
Present: Todd Steury (Chair), Donald Mulvaney (Immediate Past Chair), Ralph Kingston (Secretary), Mark Carpenter (Chair elect), L. Octavia Tripp (Secretary elect), Vini Nathan, Robert Norton, Robert Cochran, Cheryl Seals, Laura Kloberg (Administrative Assistant).
Not present: Danilea Werner.
Guests: Linda Gibson-Young, Ali Krzton, Rebecca Retzlaff, Mike Kensler, Jaime Hammer
Senate Chair Todd Steury called the meeting to order at 3.3opm.
Approval of Steering Minutes from April 12, 2022:
Hearing no objections, approved by unanimous consent.
Discussion, edit, and approval of Senate Agenda for 5/17/2022 at 3:30 pm
Action item: Changes to the 2023-2024 Calendar to accommodate Juneteenth Holiday, presented by Karen Battye
Karen Battye (Chair, Calendar and Schedules Committee) presented proposed changes to the academic calendar for 2023-2024. These are necessary to accommodate the Juneteenth national holiday and mirror the changes made to the 2022-2023 calendar in the last senate meeting.
It was confirmed that this calendar change added an extra Monday at the end of the summer semester.
Action item: Approval of 2024-2025 Calendar, presented by Karen Battye
Karen Battye (Chair, Calendar and Schedules Committee) presented a proposed calendar for the 2024-2025.
After her presentation, the committee discussed potential issue of overlap between the exams and commencement and the challenges of solving the issue.
Action item: Research Data Policy presented by Linda Gibson-Young and Ali Krzton
The committee discussed the debate on the Research Data Policy in the last senate meeting. The Research Committee has followed up with some of the faculty members who expressed concerns. One small change to the policy has been made, to include a clarification that faculty enjoy copyright in terms of their scholarly works (including teaching materials.)
The Steering Committee recommended that Linda Gibson-Young give a brief presentation at the start of the item on this change, on the definition of “intangible information,” and on the issue raised by David Blersch (senator, Biosystems Engineering) in the last meeting on the OVPR’s ultimate power to resolve disputes.
Information item: Update on Sustainability presented by Mike Kensler and Rebecca Retzlaff
Mike Kensler (Director, Office of Sustainability) and Rebecca Retzlaff (Director, Academic Sustainability Program) shared a presentation on sustainability at Auburn University.
Mike Kensler discussed the assessment process operated by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). Auburn undergoes this assessment every three years. Auburn currently has a silver STARS (Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating System) score – 64.13, or less than one point below a gold ranking. All new construction on campus is LEED silver certified and the university gets significant credit for its commitment to green building. Other high-scoring activities at the Auburn include the collaboration between Tiger dining and the aquaponics program and the use of the campus as a living learning laboratory.
Rebecca Retzlaff discussed the academic sustainability program, the operation of the minor in sustainability studies, supporting sustainability in the curriculum, supporting interdisciplinary research in sustainability and encouraging the operation of campus as a living laboratory. 34% of Auburn’s STARS points are for academics (curriculum and research). She discussed opportunities to increase our commitment to sustainability through academics, including developing new course offerings, expanding sustainability in the core curriculum, increasing our commitment to curriculum support and research.
Concluding the presentation, Mike Kensler discussed what is next for sustainability at Auburn. He hopes Auburn can join the Okanagan Charter, an international charter for health-promoting universities and colleges. Auburn is about to start composting, with the purchase of aerobic in-vessel rotary drum composting systems. Sustainability is updating the university’s climate action plan, and one of the greatest opportunities for impact would be the adoption of solar energy. Unfortunately, Kensler shared, Alabama energy policy currently makes solar energy generation cost prohibitive. In terms of academics, Rebecca Retzlaff outlined some of the different options in terms of the strategic expansion of sustainability in the curriculum at Auburn.
The length of the presentation was of some concern to the members of the Steering Committee and it was decided to separate the “operations” and “academic” sections of the presentations and to divide them between the May and June senate meetings.
Information item: Social Media Screening Process presented by Jaime Hammer
Jaime Hammer (University Counsel) explained that social media checking was now an expected part of background checking in institutions like Auburn University. The university uses a third party company called Truescreen, which is also used by other third-level education institutions. Checks on faculty hires started in the end of April.
What is involved is a check only of public-facing social media content. Truescreen filters for potential unlawful activity, drug use, violence, online threats, racism or demonstrations of intolerance, and sharing of sexually explicit materials. If something is flagged, the reason it is flagged is reported to HR with an explanation why. Those are then sent directly to the office of the University Counsel and brought from there to the office of Executive Vice President Ron Burgess. It is hoped that this will allow the university to evaluate whether the filters are set too tightly.
There have been no flags to date on faculty candidates. There have been four flags in total, but all of the candidates flagged have been evaluated and passed (deemed acceptable) for hiring.
Asked about what the process of informing someone why their hiring is in danger of being rejected if they were removed from the process on the basis of a social media check, Jaime Hammer answered that she believes the law requires that the candidate should be informed and that the candidate will certainly be given the chance to respond.
Asked whether or not candidates for employment are informed in advance that their background check will include a social media screening, she responded that candidates complete an authorization form for the background check. They are not allowed to opt out.
The current process is that it is only being done for final candidates in the hiring process. There are no random checks of faculty being conducted, though there may be checks when people are rehired by the university or when they change roles.
Jaime Hammer noted she was not sure whether posts made by others in groups that individuals belong to were checked in addition to posts individuals make themselves. She suspected that this would only potentially be the case if the individual reposted or retweeted or liked those posts.
Finally, she assured the members of the Steering Committee that context would always be taken into account by the university administration when assessing with social media posts flagged by Truescreen.
Action item: Senate Committee Nominations presented by Ralph Kingston
Ralph Kingston presented nominations of faculty members to serve in Senate committees for three-year terms starting in August 2022. He noted that the Senate’s nomination to the Steering Committee would be put to senators in June.
Chair Steury added that he would again offer to senators that they could make a motion to vote on the nominees individually if they wished, but otherwise senators would vote to approve the nominations as a single slate.
Hearing no objections, the agenda as amended (dividing the presentation on sustainability in two, and moving the segment on academics to the June meeting) was passed by unanimous consent.
Other business
Discussion about maintaining current policy prohibiting firearms on campus
Steury explained that the current policy in Auburn University is that nobody can carry firearms on campus. President Gogue suggested that Senate should express an opinion as to whether to keep the status quo.
There was a robust discussion of the issue, including on the issue of enforcement. It was noted that the current policy banning carrying firearms on campus remains in place. It was agreed that the Committee should get more information about how a renewed policy might operate in practice and the issue could be brought to senate in the new academic year.
Unfinished or New Business
The meeting concluded with a discussion of issues related to the conduct of Senate meetings.
Adjournment
Chair Steury adjourned the meeting at 5.16pm.