Auburn University Faculty Meeting
March 11, 2003
3:00 p.m.
The
meeting was called to order at 3:00 p.m. by the chair, Barbara Struempler.
Barbara Struempler, Chair of the Senate: There is one change
in the agenda. I will not adjourn the meeting.
Once I pass the gavel to John Mouton, he adjourns the meeting. So I just
wanted to make sure you all understand that. The minutes of the Spring 02
meeting of the University Faculty are posted on the website. Are there any
corrections, changes? Hearing none, they stand as approved. Thank you, Renée,
very much. The first order of business
is the State of the University message by President William Walker. [LAUGHTER]
Come on up here. [LAUGHTER] I told him we were going to switch … talks, and he
said, “That means I have to say farewell?” And I said, well, [LAUGHTER] what
would I have to say?
STATE OF THE UNIVERSITY ADDRESS
William
F. Walker, President, Auburn University: I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you today about
some of the important issues facing our university. I also wish to thank
all of you for taking time from your very busy schedules to be here and to
participate in the governance of this institution. Before I begin my
remarks, I want to take a few moments just to acknowledge the outstanding job
that Faculty Chair Barbara Struempler and Secretary Renée Middleton have done
over the past year.
As I presume
everyone knows, Dr. Struempler is the first Auburn University faculty member to
sit with the Auburn University Board of Trustees. She has represented
your interests and therefore the interests of Auburn University in an exemplary
manner. I can assure you that board members have always been interested
in her views and pay very close attention to what she has to say.
That faculty
board seat is an extremely important position. I believe it is essential
that this seat is on the board because it enables the faculty representative to
give his or her full input from the faculty perspective in the board’s
decision-making process. Barbara, it has been a great pleasure and honor
to work with you over the past two years. I thank you for your
service.
Similarly,
Renée Middleton has done an exceptional job as faculty secretary. Timid
though she is.. [Laughter]. She has
worked tirelessly carrying out the many details of that office. Most
would have no way of knowing that she and John Heilman spent an inordinate
amount of time just working through the process of matching volunteers to
the numerous faculty committees that must be staffed annually. Renée,
thank you for your dedication and service. I appreciate it very much.
I look forward
now to working with the new faculty chair, John Mouton, and secretary, Paula
Sullenger. I am confident they will bring the same intensity and
dedication to these positions as those who have preceded them.
John and
Paula, I congratulate you, and assure you that I will be willing to meet with
you at any time to discuss whatever issue you deem important.
Much of my
address to the faculty a year ago concerned matters of diversity. I
pledged then to try to establish diversity as a core value of this
university.
I believe with
the leadership of interim Provost John Pritchett, the Diversity Leadership
Council, and many other individuals and groups, that significant progress has
indeed been made toward this goal. However, that work is far, far from
complete. I think we can all agree that this will always be a
work-in-progress here at Auburn.
I do, however,
want to express my appreciation to two people who have devoted enormous time
and energy to this issue over the past several months. They are Drs.
Johnny Green and Keenan Grenell. Dr. Green is the interim director
of the new Center for Diversity and Race Relations. I hope you have had an
opportunity to drop by Foy Union and visit that center. Dr. Grenell is
interim assistant provost for multicultural affairs. Both Dr. Grenell and
Dr. Green have worked tirelessly to help move this university in the right
direction and much of the progress we have made can be attributed to their
efforts. I am deeply indebted to both of them.
The Center for
Diversity and Race Relations is serving primarily as a programming unit.
Long-range goals are for it to continue its programming function in conjunction
with the Office of Multicultural Affairs and to expand its scope to include
elements of research and student service. The ongoing work of the
Diversity Leadership Council will serve to more clearly define the role of the
center and its relationship to the Office of Multicultural Affairs.
As you may
recall, last September, Mr. John Hachtel joined our senior administrative staff
as executive director for the Office of University Relations.
I said at that
time that he was being charged with coordinating university publications,
communications and marketing, and with developing university-wide strategies in
those areas. That charge reflected the very real concerns I had and still
have about the image, or lack thereof, that we as a university are
communicating to the world.
In order to
better identify that office with the changes we are making, the name of the
Office of University Relations will be changed. Effective March 15, it
will be known as the Office of Communications and Marketing. This office will be acquiring additional
staff by means of transfers from the Printing Service operation and the
Development Office’s communications group.
We are already
seeing results in improvements in communications – such as the quarterly
Commons newsletter from my office – the AUDaily newsfeed by email to
faculty and staff, and an attractive colorful new look to the AU Report, and a
general move toward a marketing approach. I am very pleased and
optimistic with where this office is headed in the future.
When I spoke
to you in March 2002, we were feeling pretty good about the state budget –
primarily because it was an election year .and the economy had not yet
completely crashed. But the
election is now over and the governor the Legislature and those of us who draw
some sustenance from the state educational trust fund are left to pick up the
pieces of a very daunting deficit.
Like most
states, Alabama is suffering from a prolonged economic downturn. Many --
if not all -- of those states will eventually see a turnaround when there is an
economic recovery. But I suggest to you that our state is in a different
situation. Under our present tax structure and outdated constitution, I
doubt that Alabama will ever see a true economic recovery. At least not
the kind we expect to see in other states that are able to invest heavily in
education – all the way from kindergarten to graduate school. That is
because of our antiquated state constitution and highly regressive tax
system.
Under our tax
structure, we put much of the burden on the working poor of Alabama. The
threshold income for imposing the state income tax is deplorably low.
Property taxes, on the other hand, are virtually nonexistent. They could
be more than doubled and Alabama would still have the lowest ad valorem tax
rate in the nation. It is not just political rhetoric when we say that
large out-of-state timber companies pay very little in property tax on tens of
thousands of acres they own in some of the poorest counties in the nation in
Alabama’s Black Belt.
We have,
indeed, reached a crossroads in this state. Let me give you my view
of what is going on in Montgomery and what I hope will happen.
In the current
fiscal year it appears we will make it to the end of the year without any
proration of the education budget – but only because of the one-time
"Rainy Day" fund created by the Legislature and approved by voters
last year. When that fund is exhausted there are NO reserves for shortfalls in
the education trust fund.
Current
projections are that there will be at least a 6 percent across-the-board cut in
education funding for the fiscal year that begins next October 1st. A war
with Iraq, the continuing war on terrorism, our slumping economy and rising
national debt could all contribute to an increase in that percentage. That’s
because, unfortunately, revenue into the education trust fund derives
only from income and sales taxes, both of which are tied closely to the whims
of the economy.
If the
Legislature – and the voters of this state – fail to address this very
fundamental issue of education funding and tax reform, we are going to be
witnesses to a disaster. Elementary and secondary schools across this
state will close or be consolidated. Thousands of school teachers and workers
will be laid off. Some are being laid off already, and some colleges in
Alabama could even be forced to close.
Other than a
proposed $500 million cut in state funding and un-earmarking of funds, Governor
Riley did not spell out any real solutions to Alabama’s problems in his address
to the Legislature last week. But that was not really surprising.
He has had precious little time to put together a comprehensive package to get
us out of this mess that has kept our state in financial trouble for more than
a century.
I do predict
with some degree of certainty that the Legislature will not go along with the
governor’s plan to un-earmark funds . . . and cuts, alone, simply will not
solve our state’s problems. Band-Aid solutions just will no longer
work. There really is no magic in all this and there really is also no
more money. The only way for more dollars to appear in the state treasury
is to tax the citizens of this state in a fashion comparable to what residents
are taxed in other Southeastern states.
In my opinion . . . we are absolutely going to have to do something
about the ad valorem and state income taxes, but primarily we must focus on the
ad valorem taxes. If the Governor
actually would be willing to talk about tax reform . . . I think we in the
education community could help convince the Legislature to start talking
seriously about tax reform as well.
I am an
enthusiastic proponent of constitutional reform. I believe we should
acknowledge the inadequacy of the 1901 constitution and make the needed
improvements, but I would frankly be surprised if that happens. Over the
years governors and legislators have come and gone. They have catered to
special interest groups that have kept the state from progressing and generally
presided over decades of political cowardice, backroom dealings and fiscal
corruption.
I believe it
is time for profound changes in this state and I hope this new administration
understands that. I also sense, however,
that many people in leadership positions around this state – both in the public
and private sector -- believe that now is the time to rally in support of
public education in Alabama. And I want
to be very clear when I speak about public education. We are talking
about ALL of education, K-PhD. The days of pitting K-12 against higher
education hopefully are over. As far as I am concerned we are all in this
together.
As you may
have heard or read over the past few weeks . . . a coalition of education
groups . . . including K-12, the two-year colleges and the four-year colleges
and universities . . . has been working together on a tax reform and funding
plan for education. Dr. Paul Hubbert of the Alabama Education Association and
State School Superintendent Ed Richardson are two key players in this group
which is known as the Alabama Public Education Unified Coalition. A
new report generated by this coalition is entitled: Alabama Public Education –
Standing at the Crossroads.
It is my hope
that this report ,which demonstrates just how poorly funded education is in
this state, will spark the kind of debate in Montgomery – and among Alabamians
-- that will lead to meaningful reforms.
Ladies and gentlemen, it should be an embarrassment to anyone who cares
about education, that Alabama appropriates less than $5,000 per full-time college
student which ranks our state near the bottom among 15 Southern states. If
Alabama spent as much as Mississippi then higher education in this state would
receive another $40 million per year. So
you can’t any longer say, “Thank God for Mississippi.” If Alabama spent at Georgia’s level then an
additional $160 million would be spread among our colleges and
universities.
In its recent
submission to the Legislature’s Joint Budget Committee, the Alabama Commission
On Higher Education (ACHE) asked for a modest 4 percent increase in funding for
the fiscal year beginning October 1st. That’s about $40 million, or an
amount that would bring us to the level of funding of Mississippi.
But what we in
higher education would really like to see the Legislature approve and Governor
Riley support is a $300 million increase in operations for state colleges and
universities plus a $1 billion bond issue for capital improvements. And
that would amount to only about half of what higher education really needs. Of course for that to happen, the Legislature
– with support from the governor – would have to undertake significant and
overdue tax reform. The people, of course, would have the final say
through a referendum.
The group
calling itself Campaign Alabama is an organization established by some of the
state’s business and industry leaders to address the funding of
education. They have already raised money to lobby the Legislature for
additional funding and they claim they will raise more money should it be needed
in a referendum campaign. The research
universities are generally supportive of this group and we are attempting to
work with them in order to outline our specific needs and requirements.
However, both
the governor and Campaign Alabama leaders have said that higher education is
aiming much too high in asking for a $300 million increase and a $1 billion
bond issue. They have also said that
whatever new money is generated for higher education, we must be able to
demonstrate how it will benefit the state’s economy. That is, new funding
for higher education must be tied to economic development. This is a
sentiment that is gaining popularity across the nation. And it has far
reaching implications.
I suggest
therefore that faculty members at Auburn and at institutions around this state
need to become involved in a very critical discussion. The question that needs
to be answered is: What is the extent to which the business model applies to a
university?
As many of you
know, business people have for some time advocated applying established
business practices to university management. And while I agree in general
that it may be appropriate to consider things such as cutting costs, I am
convinced there is a very real limit to the extent to which a business model is
applicable to an educational institution. We do not exist to be a
business. We are not here to make a profit. We exist to create
knowledge, to deliver knowledge, to expand the intellectual horizons of the
community, the state, the nation, and the world.
Those are
fairly intangible things and so, I think, the debate that needs to be held is
to determine the extent of that business model.
This debate will affect all of higher education and I want to encourage
you as
So Campaign
for Alabama is saying that whatever new money is put into higher education
ought to show up as economic development. It seems to me that currently,
the most significant economic impact of Auburn is by the graduates of the
institution. The biggest economic impact
we could make is to make life more attractive in Alabama so that these
graduates do not leave the state for better jobs and better schools for their
children in Florida and Georgia.
Many people –
including Governor Riley and many legislators – have asked whether colleges and
universities have done enough to trim fat and waste. As you well know, Auburn
has led the way in this area. All
colleges and universities in Alabama have participated in ACHE’s initiative to
eliminate programs that produce too few graduates. And budget cuts under
previous administrations in Montgomery – as you are aware – have already forced
most schools to cut waste.
Auburn has
done that. We were the first to do it. We became a lean and I think a
fairly efficient institution, but that does not mean we have finished. We
will always be searching for ways to save money without endangering the quality
of our programs. For example, this semester we closed our internal
printing service after deciding we could save by outsourcing our work. We
have also done this in student health care, food service and some maintenance
areas.
Over the past
few years, it has been tough going at Auburn from a financial standpoint and I
think that will continue in the foreseeable future. I believe the Board
of Trustees will continue to want to see this university operated as
economically as possible. But I also see more and more of the burden
being shifted to the students, to our ability to raise private funds, and to
our development of new revenue streams.
What the
Legislature will do in the regular session for education and the rest of
critical state services is anyone’s guess. My view is that little will be
accomplished in the regular session and that a special session – possibly more
than one --will be necessary to resolve most of the pressing problems. I believe the day is past for excuses in this
state, and especially in Montgomery. We have a new governor, a new
lieutenant governor and new Legislature.
I think the time for change is now and I hope that you will help me carry
that message to our governor and our legislators.
I want to
thank you again for allowing me to speak to you. Thank you for your dedicated service to this
great university. Thank you. [APPLAUSE]
Struempler: Are there any questions? Conner?
Conner
Bailey, Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology: Dr. Walker, thank
you very much for that eloquent and I think largely accurate analysis of the
problems facing Alabama and funding for higher education. [Inaudible]
We’re clearly going to need a lot of friends to carry forward this
agenda that you have laid out. I understand also that we have a campaign, the
Capital Campaign soon to be launched, which will help to some extent with our
funding needs. We’ll also need all of our friends at that point. I am wondering, then, in the context of this
need for friends, why it is that it seems to be an effort underway to question
the way in which the alumni office is being run and I would like for you to
comment on recent news articles suggesting that there is a political vendetta
associated with the Alumni Association, was having... the workings of the
Alumni Association audit.
Dr.
Walker: I have absolutely no knowledge about that –
about that audit. The first we heard of it was three or four months ago when
Don got a phone call from the state agency saying they were going to come
over. In fact, I think they asked Don –
Don, I think they asked you some questions.
Don
Large, Executive Vice President: Yeah, let me just fill you in on...In October
of this past year, we received a phone call followed up with a formal letter
from the State Examiner’s asking certain questions about the Alumni Association
and the University’s relationship with the Association. The Association, of
course, is a separate 501(C)3 entity. It is not Auburn University. It has a separate board, it doesn’t have
employees, and in effect they buy our employees’ time. We were also asked some other questions. They
wanted to be sure that certain expenses were properly documented and covered by
the appropriate entities. So, when I got that I worked with, of course, the
President – I worked with the President of the Alumni Association – actually,
the President and President-Elect, Bob Kloeti, the President at the time, and
Owen Brown, the President-Elect – responded to the letter. I’m also the
Treasurer of the Alumni Association, as well as the University so I had to
respond to both of those – worked with that group and, of course, the attorneys
to make my response to the state examiner’s – and we did so after everybody
agreed on what was said, sent it back to the state examiner’s and heard nothing
else about that. The O-A News was at the
Alumni Board meeting when we were discussing this in the fall and asked for more
information so I sent them a copy of the letter from the state and my
response. And that is all we have heard.
So, I’m assuming that the response that was sent was adequate to address their
concerns. The O-A News inquired a couple of times between October and last week
whether there was any more activity –and the answer was no. I’m assuming it’s
behind us. Why then it was covered in the O-A News last week, two days before
the Alumni Board meeting, I don’t know. That would be a good question to the
O-A News – but nothing had happened since that response that I made to that
October inquiry back in either late October or November. So, how the inquiry
occurred, I do not know – the state examiners would not say –my job was to
respond. I did so and I thought it was the end of the story and how it surfaced
back as a story, I just don’t know, but [Inaudible] that’s the background.
Struempler: Any more questions?
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Barb
Struempler, University Senate Chair: I have no announcements on behalf of the Senate Chair. Are there
any other announcements from the audience? Very quickly -- just go to a
microphone on the floor. In fact, for all speakers today, just use one of the
three microphones. Quickly, please.
Nancy
Joseph, President of the Graduate Student Council: I just wanted to
let everybody know that we are going to be hosting our annual research forum
next Thursday at the AU Hotel and Dixon Conference Center. So, I invite all of
you to come out and support our students. Also, we need judges from the College
of Engineering, and the Colleges of Liberal Arts, Human Sciences, and
Education. So, if you are from any of those four colleges, we need judges. One other thing is that we had a lot of
departments that contributed money to our forum, and I just wanted to thank all
of you. That money is being used for cash prizes for the best presentations.
Thank you very much.
Barbara Struempler: Thank you. Other announcements? Paula?
Paula
Sullenger, Secretary-elect of the Senate:
I just wanted to
remind the faculty that we’ve had a call for volunteers for Senate and
University committees last week. I will send out a reminder soon, but we have
over 100 positions to fill – so we really need lots of volunteers this year.
Barbara
Struempler: Okay, the next order of business is the
election of senate officers…perhaps as I read your name, why don’t you just
stand. Candidates—there’s two for Chair-Elect. We have Willie Larkin—Willie is
in the back row. Thank you, Willie. For Chair-elect—James Saunders—Jim.
Secretary-elect—Debra Cobia; and sitting next to her, Chair [Secretary]-elect,
Richard Penaskovic. Renee’ is handing out the ballots. Any member of the
University Faculty can vote. You need to vote for one for the Chair-elect, and
one for the Secretary-elect. The announcements will be at the end of this
meeting when they assume their new duties.
Cindy, if you will be making your way up to your place — we’ll give you
another couple of seconds to complete your voting. Cindy Brunner is going to provide
you an update with the online system for voting. As you know, we have tried
on-line voting for some budgetary priorities and will probably be voting on
this at some point — maybe at the Fall Faculty meeting and in order to give you
a “head’s up,” we provide you with this information now. Thank you, Cindy.
[Inaudible]
Cindy
Brunner: There’s some irony in
the fact that I am doing this – even as you’re voting, because if this proposal
passes, this will be the last election that we will be holding in this manner
at a University Faculty meeting.
In November of
2001, then President, I’m sorry, Senate-Chair Jim Bradley, proposed
establishment of a Senate ad hoc committee on university-wide voting. I was
asked to chair that committee. The
charge for our committee is on the overhead.
He told us that he wanted us to deal with all aspects of university wide
voting as we saw fit, including establishing criteria to determine which issues
should be voted on in this manner – determining a means to ensure that voters
had an opportunity to hear the issues – and finally, to establish a mechanism
whereby the voting could be conducted given the usual safeguards and security
issues.
I’ve got a
timeline to show you what has been happening and to tell you the truth – it
hasn’t been very much. We’ve made lots of progress with very little effort. The
committee was established in November of 2001.
In April of the next year, we learned that the SGA was already working
on an electronic voting scheme which they then implemented in Fall 2002 – that
is last fall, they elected the Homecoming Queen, uh, Miss Homecoming, with an
electronic web-based ballot. That same
month, representatives of the Office of Information Technology gave the
officers and myself a presentation on opportunities for electronic voting –
what types of ballots are available -- and, then finally in February of this
year, the senate officers conducted a sample balloting whereby they asked the
faculty to rank budgetary priorities. The one purpose of that process was to
see if the voting system worked.
Our goal – the
goal of an electronic voting system – of course, would be to increase access to
faculty members who don’t regularly participate in university governance –
those being the eighteen hundred or so who don’t show up at university faculty
meetings. I think the common sense requirements of that system -- should it be
established, would be that there be an authentication process to ascertain that
the voters are credentialed – there needs to be ballot secrecy and ballot
integrity. We also have to have accurate
vote tabulation and we need to prevent multiple votes from being cast by
individuals. All of those criteria have been met by the system developed by
OIT.
The final
criterion, which we all appreciate – having had our own little interactions with
computers, is that the system needs to be user-friendly. Unfortunately, it is
my belief, that the system we have is not quite user-friendly enough, based on
comments we received from the ballot in February and again from our committee
sign-up system. So, I think we need to work on that with OIT to convince them
that we really are dumber than they think we are and we need to make this
process extremely simple.
The advantages
of web-based balloting are numerous and again intuitive. It is far more
versatile – we can allow for links to names showing the pictures of individuals
running for office and their platforms. We can include other issues on the
ballot that are unrelated to the election of candidates – we can cast votes
anywhere that access is available – even off-campus. We can have a flexible
voting period. The students have a two-day voting period for their homecoming
elections and now more recently for SGA office. The tabulation of votes is
clearly much more accurate and much faster than our hand system that will be
underway in just a couple more minutes.
We don’t have any more parking problems because the 1800 or so people
who don’t vote, won’t have to worry about coming over here and finding a place
to park – and for those of us that are not located on main campus – that’s no
small feat. I’m over at the far side of
the Lowder parking lot – so, but I did find a spot. And finally, we’d hope that
this process would increase participation in university governance by people
who don’t ordinarily get involved – and possibly don’t enjoy coming to our
meetings and listening to us talk.
There are some
clear drawbacks to the process – there are, even now, log-in problems – of the
1900 or so authorized voters for the election to determine budget priorities –
about 500 of them were unable to vote because they did not have what we
commonly call Mallard IDs, so we need to deal with access problems. We need to be sure that all faculty can
easily get to the ballots. There is a
minimal chance of voter fraud, in that if somebody knows your password, they
can vote in your place. Not a real risk
for us, I think. There are possibilities of computer glitches. On the other hand, I remember one fall
semester faculty meeting that hurricane Opal hit, so all sorts of things can
arise that could interfere with the process.
We do lose the interactive aspect to an election. We do lose the option to educate the voters
at a meeting at which the vote is being taken and that there is a possibility
that there would be less commitment to the governance process if we would allow
people to vote at their desks rather than actually getting off of their butts
and coming to the meeting.
The proposal
that we have is two-fold. I would
suggest that these two issues be dealt with as separate amendments to the
University Faculty Constitution. A vote
on these amendments would require a two-thirds majority of people attending the
meeting and I suggest that we have this election next fall at next falls faculty
meeting, in order that we can implement this for the following faculty
election, if it is approved.
The first
amendment would be to article 3 section 2, which deals with election of faculty
officers. We would need to restate that
so that we stipulate that the election occurs through an electronic
ballot. I am specifying Web-based
ballot, because it is clear that, that is much more secure than an E-mail
ballot, which it is possible to trace the source of the E-mail. The second
issue deals with non-officered elections, where we are voting on a referendum
or voting on a motion of substance.
Ordinarily those motions would be offered in conjunction with agenda
items. They would actually be listed on
the agenda. The proposal is that those
motions for referendum be discussed at the university faculty meeting and then
be voted on by electronic ballot in the weeks following that meeting. The length of time can be specified quite
easily, again with the flexibility.
There are some
related proposals that I won’t go into because of lack of time. Those deal with issues like the discontinuing
of the nominating committees, which is an ad hoc committee appointed by the
University Faculty Executive Committee and replacement of that committee with
what we might call an Elections Committee, that actually deals with the
election process and not just coming up with a slate of candidates. And other tinkering with the Handbook that
would accommodate these changes.
Okay, so that
is the proposal. I would like you to
contact me at brunncj@auburn.edu or my phone is 844-2664, if you have any comments or
questions. I am out at the department of Pathobiology at the Vet School. We will be proposing this at the next
university faculty meeting for a vote at that time, by a two-thirds
majority. We are short of time, so I
guess that I can’t take any questions, but feel free to come up after the
meeting if you want to comment on it.
Barbara
Struempler: Our next three
speakers are Vice Presidents at Auburn University. The executive committee thought that the
faculty would be interested to hear just a quick snapshot of what they are
doing in their offices….so my preamble to the three speakers was, that it
needed to be short – like five minutes or less and it needed to be items that
they thought that the faculty would be interested in. So it looks like it is a long agenda, but we
are going to move it through very, very quickly. The first speaker is Vice President for
Research – Mike Moriarty.
Mike
Moriarty, Vice President for Research:
I am going to take Barb very seriously, five minutes or less. When she first
asked me to make some comments on issues that relate to the faculty, I sat down
and jotted about four down. They should
take a minute each.
One is the
Research and Scholarship Incentive Plan that Bill Gale presented to you on
several occasions, as recently as this last Senate meeting. That team, as you know, the proposal touches
on [Inaudible] Senate in the fall and
the Senate has asked that the committee chaired by Bill to flush out the
contents that we propose and make it adaptable and appropriate and useful to
the university. They have done a great
job and I really want to commend Bill Gale.
He has done a yeoman’s job. He
also has probably the best audiovisual presentation that I have ever seen.
Another issue
that would be of interest to a number of you relates to the Patent Policy of
Auburn University. The current policy
that we are operating under was developed in 1976 – 27 years ago. Dr. Walker used the phrase “antiquated” and
that applies to this policy as well.
Now, about two years ago, the Senate appointed a committee to look into
this and modernize it. There’s a lot of
the federal laws and regulations that have changed since that time, a lot of
faculty interests have changed since that time; there is more interest in
technology transfer and start up companies, etc., etc. So that committee has done an enormous amount
of work in looking at benchmarks around the country. They have come back to me with a well thought
out proposal, we have worked out any questions that we had differences on. There is now in agreement between the
committee and myself. It is now at the
Patent and Disclosure Committee for their input, at that point it will come
before the Senate. I am anticipating, based on the conversations that we have
had with John Mouton and Paula that this will come as an information item at
the April meeting and possibly as an action item at the following meeting.
Another issue
that we are pursuing, that I think that many of the faculty will find of
interest is the proposed Research Park that we have heard about and read
about. The Consultants are on campus
this week for their second visit. They
have been working through the issues that they have accumulated during their
first visit and information that we have provided them along the way. We hope to have some focus into the prospect
for the Research Park later on in this... the first half of this year.
Finally, there
is an education effort that we have launched with every unit that reports to
the Research office and that is to get some accurate information out there to
the faculty. No one is beating on our
door saying, I want to read more policies.
Maybe one of you has that objective, but so far it has been silent. But
there is a need to get out information.
We are doing this in a tiered way, with general information and if you
go down to more detailed information as it might pertain to your needs and
interests. We are doing this with
everything from the Sponsored Programs to the Tech Transfer Office to Human
Subjects and on and on and on. We have
had a couple of issues that have particularly galvanized our effort here. We had one faculty [Inaudible] new faculty is
that we lay out these issues in a clear, coherent and easily understood way,
then they can begin their careers at Auburn University knowing what the
guidelines and the rules and regulations are.
Did I do it?
Speaker #2: You did it.
Barbara Struempler: The next Vice President is Vice President for Student
Affairs, Dr. Wes Williams.
Wes Williams, Vice President for Student Affairs: Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to give you a
brief overview of what is going on in Student Affairs. I could go on for much longer than my allotted
five minutes, but I will keep my remarks pretty brief. Oftentimes universities can be very divided
organizations: As you know, there are numerous areas such as Academic Affairs,
Student Affairs, Financial Affairs, Facilities, Research, Outreach and so
on. Universities can feel disjointed at
times. I believe however Auburn
University is fortunate to have a seamless structure, where lines are actually
nicely blended. In Student Affairs, we
have the opportunity to work closely with our academic colleagues, sharing
information and providing the most beneficial opportunities for our
students. I would like to talk to you
about three areas, which have a direct impact on you, our faculty: Enrollment
management for the 2003-2004 year, Scholarships, and our Diversity
Initiatives.
At this time, admission of freshmen for Fall 2003 is nearing
completion. Following last year’s record
freshmen enrollment of 4,184 the University Enrollment Management Committee,
the Provost, and the President recommended a freshmen class enrollment of low
3,700s for Fall 2003. Auburn University
finds itself in a unique position: As other state universities are struggling
to meet enrollment goals, we are exceeding them. It is our challenge now to maintain the level
of interest in Auburn and to increase the interest of those students who are
under-represented and those students who are best-prepared for success are the
ones that we would like to continue in higher education. As of the first week in March, we have 11,247
applications, of which 9,282 were admitted.
We have another 1,820 students, who are on our “wait list.” These are students who have met our
admissions requirements but because of space limitations, we were not able to
admit them for the Fall 2003. The entering
class for this upcoming academic year so far has presented the best credentials
in the history of the University with an average of 24.64 on the ACT, a high
school grade point average of 3.54, and average SAT scores of 1143 for students
who have already paid their deposits. In
addition, I want to let you know that deposits for minority students are up
approximately 20% over this same time last year.
I would like to now
share some good news about our University Scholarship program, which is
evolving to recruit best-prepared students.
We redesigned the Freshman Academic Scholarship program to be more
competitive with our peer institutions.
We sent scholarship awards out earlier than ever, and we partnered with
the individual colleges and schools to maximize the amount of the award offered
to students. Additionally, the Legacy
Waiver Program, which began in 1997 as a 1/3 tuition waiver for out-of-state
students of Auburn graduates who were Lifetime Members of the Alumni
Association is currently under review.
We are hopeful to develop this program into a Legacy Scholarship Program, with academic criteria, which will help
in bringing the best and brightest students to your classrooms.
At the request of President Walker, we are also in the
preliminary stages of designing a scholarship program that will target
under-represented populations in specific high schools in the state of
Alabama. Dr. Walker has asked us to
design a program similar to the Century Scholars Program at Texas A & M,
which has experienced much success in the recruitment and retention of
under-represented groups. Initial
discussions of the scholarship suggest that the scholarship will be available
to 100 students and will include tuition, room, board and books. Additionally, retention efforts will
accompany the scholarship to keep these students at Auburn through graduation.
Our Diversity issues for this spring have gotten underway
and are going forward, including our monthly student Diversity luncheons and
our Habitat for Humanity House, which is currently in process. I was there last Saturday – the location is
929 Holmes Avenue and I am sure that our students would love to have you come
out and join them in building the Habitat House. Over this last year Student Affairs has
sponsored or co-sponsored many programs and activities focusing on diversity,
including “The Conversation Begins” video and the “Learning for Life” sessions
at Camp War Eagle; designed to start the dialogue which educates our students
on the valuing our uniqueness as individuals.
The Freshman Convocation included a diversity presentation by an outside
speaker, Dr. John Gray. A variety of programs for our Greek leadership
development, as well as a visit to Auburn from Don McPherson, who spoke to many
groups, including our student athletes with his program entitled “You Throw
Like a Girl.” Upcoming events include a presentation tonight by Ms. Felicia
Hall, the former Vice President of Team Operations for a WNBA team, who will
speak on valuing people for who they are.
In Student Affairs, we are planning on introducing the
National Coalition Building Institute as a model for Community building,
diversity training, and sensitivity awareness.
The NCBI organization will bring people on campus to train a number of
faculty and staff to be able to conduct training programs for other
groups. The program lasts three days and
at the end of the three days, participants are officially certified in
diversity training. Currently over 65
universities in the U.S. use the NCBI model on their campuses. Auburn will be the first university in the
SEC to adopt this model.
In the Enrollment Management area we also have many exciting
and progressive programs and activities going on, including the creation of a
Minority Student Recruitment and Retention committee to explore how Auburn
University can improve in these areas.
We are continually looking for additional avenues to enhance the
minority experience at Auburn from the first contact to graduation.
I invite you to be a
part of Student Affairs, if you have not already done so. We are always looking for quality faculty to
assist us in programming, advising, and educating outside of the classroom.
Faculty can be a welcome role model to all of our student organizations, and
especially our Greek organizations. I
welcome you to contact me, or a member of our staff if you are interested in
becoming involved in some of the Student Affairs activities. My e-mail address is very simple: wes@auburn.edu. I encourage you to contact me if you have
some interest. Thank you for this
opportunity to update you, and I feel very fortunate to be part of the Auburn
experience. Thank you.
Barbara Struempler: Dr.
David Wilson, Vice President for University Outreach.
David
Wilson, Vice President for University Outreach: Good afternoon to all. Although I have about eight or nine
slides here, I promise to be quite parsimonious in my remarks. I just want to run through this very quickly
and give you a brief overview of some of our Outreach program members, both
University wide, and also an overview of some of our key Outreach initiatives
state wide. We have just come through a
planning process at the University, this vision statement is not yet public,
but it is what a group of about 55 individuals here at Auburn, including about
forty faculty members, over a period of two or three months, under the
Directions Initiative by President Walker have come forward with. In brief, we see our vision here as follows:
Through Outreach and engagement, Auburn University will share discoveries of
new knowledge and technologies and learning-centered pedagogies with the State
of Alabama and the global community. AU
will leverage its resources to support the growth of healthy, humane, and
sustainable communities, institutions, and businesses. Partnerships and alliances with stakeholders
will foster the development of Alabama as one of the most desirable places in
the nation for individuals and families to live, to work and to learn. It created an intellectual expertise of the
AU faculty, staff and students, who have transformed Alabama to an economic,
educational, technological, scientific and cultural center among the most
vibrant in the world. Through this
process, Auburn University will become a model new American University
[Inaudible] engaged with the larger community, which [Inaudible] service. That is probably about five minutes
already. [Laughter]
I thought that you would be interested
in some of our contracts, grants and success over the last couple of
years. As you can see here in the year
2000/2001, University wide…we have generated about $86 million dollars, of what
VP Mike Moriarty is calling external support for grants and contracts. Of that amount in 2000/2001, Outreach
contributed roughly $15.7 million and in 2001/2002, university wide got about
$92 million and Outreach about $15.4 million during that particular time. So roughly about 16 to 17% of external
support each year is the result of Outreach initiatives and faculty winning
grants and contracts. Our distance
education has really taken off at Auburn over the last eight years. This will just give you an example. For year 1995, for example, we were offering
172 courses via distance learning but by the year 2002, we are up to 200. But I guess that the impact of this is
touched on both the number of course registrations, as well as the number of
degrees that we are currently offering via distance learning. In 1995, we had roughly 1,300 students
enrolled in distance learning and in 2002 we have 2,000 and 235 course
registrations. In 1995, we were offering roughly five degrees via distance
learning at Auburn and today we are offering 21 degrees and certificates via
distance learning.
My office provides a lot of support to
faculty across the University to jump-start a number of initiatives and to
enable faculty to be competitive in winning that $16 to $17 million dollars
that we just saw. In 2000/2001, for
example, my office provided support in the neighborhood of $300,000 dollars for
26 initiatives supported by faculty members across the university. In 2001/2002, that was close to half a
million dollars and we supported 33 initiatives involving a number of faculty
members across all colleges and schools and numerous academic departments. One of the things that we are really, really
proud of is the way that we grew Outreach scholarship at Auburn over the last
seven years. We have a number of people
to thank for this, but of course, right up here is Professor Wayne Flynt, John
Heilman, Robert Montjoy, and a number of others along the way. This particular Senate passed last year, a
proposal that we brought forward, that would put in place a process for
evaluating outreach scholarship and we are very happy that proposal passed
almost unanimously. If anything, our
charge for the University wide [Inaudible] every single academic department at
Auburn, so they are aware of these new procedures and we are making a lot of
headway in that regard. Robert Montjoy
has done just a superb job here. We have
visited 31 academic departments so far.
We have 18 scheduled and 20 that are tentatively scheduled. We are on a time frame to try and get around
to every academic department and explain these new Tenure and Promotion procedures
by the end of the semester.
Very briefly, we have a major
conference initiative that is coming up on May 19th and 20th. This particular initiative will be the
conference on governmental excellence and best practices. Each year, Governing magazine comes out with
an article where they look at how states across the United States are basically
running their state governments.
Alabama, I guess not surprisingly, was perennially ranked 49 or 50. This year, an initiative led by Dr.
[Inaudible] for the Center for Governmental Services. We have identified a number of best practices
across the US and we are putting these best practices on stage at Embassy
Suites in Montgomery, May 19th and 20th. This promises to be a really wonderful
conference, so if you would like to participate...
And last, President Walker has spoken
quite frankly and candidly over this last year or so about some of the tragical
conditions of the Alabama Black Belt.
Auburn University of course has concentrated in this area in the Outreach
arena quite sincerely over the last seven or eight years. We basically have a number of initiatives in
place. I won’t go through all of these,
but I think in earnest in 1993, with the Rural Studio located in west Alabama,
that became a wonderful anchor for many of our other Outreach activities. And consequently, as you can see here, we
really have a slew of activities across that region in education K-12, what we
call community economic development, cultural preservation and awareness and
agricultural and natural resources. I
think at last count, somewhere in the neighborhood of 25% of faculty members
were involved in these initiatives. Our
faculty are really extending their research out into the Black Belt. I would urge you to continue to do so. And certainly [Inaudible] in terms of
continuing education. We reported in
2000/2001, over a thousand of what we call instructional activities taking
place around the university, conferences, workshops everything that Auburn
University faculty has been involved in and in 2001/2002 through these
programs, we have served more than 45,000 individuals. So you can see that we take very seriously
our mission and I certainly feel that within the state of Alabama, we are
having an enormous impact in these areas, as well as many others. These are just a few highlights. We have a major economic development activity
to kick off the ground in a month or so, but I am not at liberty to talk about
that right now. Thank you very much.
[Applause]
Barbara
Struempler: Well, this is a happy
moment for me. [Laughter]. Oh, you have no idea.
Two years ago when I was elected Chair-elect, I immediately
pondered my sanity for my decision to run for office. If you remember, the
University community was just to begin an 18-month struggle that would keep
Auburn University as a headline in many newspapers, even beyond the borders of
our state. As I reflect upon the last couple of years, we have gained much
ground and I would like to share some of my thoughts with you.
My year as Chair has had two distinct phases. The first six
months, we continued to concentrate our efforts on actions of the Board of
Trustees. Problems with the Board tend to overwhelm the campus. When the
Senate’s time is taken up with legitimately serious issues pertaining to the
Board, faculty activity on any number of critical issues is frozen. What happens is that the Senate ends up being
in a reactive mode. The Board does something crazy, and the Senate responds.
The Board does something else crazy, and the Senate responds again. Although
the Senate ought to respond when any unit on campus is out of line, this places
faculty solely in a reactive mode.
Then about six months into my term, we turned a corner. For
whatever reasons, the Senate’s time was not committed to responding to Board
actions. I have seen a noticeable change in faculty during the last six months.
We have been able to move beyond the structural activities of the Board and
concentrate on more traditional faculty issues. This has certainly allowed us
more time to enhance the academy by creating more quality in our outreach,
instruction and research missions. I might add that on a personal note, I have
truly enjoyed the last six months much better than the first six months.
A while back, Paula Sullenger, the in-coming Senate Chair
[sic], was reviewing Senate meeting minutes from 1991. (And I never thought anybody ever read those
minutes)…so I am truly impressed…Paula, you even went back twelve years
ago. Anyway, I would like to share some
of the things that she highlighted. I believe parts of all of these will have a
familiar ring to the last years’ activities.
* In 1991, a resolution was passed urging a non-voting
faculty seat on the Board. The resolution was sent to President Martin, who
refused to put it on the Board agenda. In contrast, this past year,
then-Interim President Walker openly advocated for this long-standing request
of the faculty.
* In 1991, a resolution was introduced to call on the
Governor to dissolve the Board and establish a new one. The motion was not
considered because it was not introduced with proper notice and was probably
unconstitutional anyway.
*
In 1991, there was a lot of discussion on the increased student enrollment.
* There was discussion of the search for a Vice President of
Finance and should the University be wasting money on search firm consultants.
*
There were numerous discussions of University governance.
*
There were numerous discussions of the role of faculty in a presidential search.
*
There was one main difference. In 1991, Senators were sent a list of Board
members with their home addresses and telephone numbers.
I don’t know about you, but the list made me happy and sad.
Yes, we now have faculty representation on the board, but all of the other
items are still current issues today. I guess perhaps that may be the nature of
the academy. I only hope that as faculty, we aren’t standing still. The more
things change, the more they appear to stay the same. Personally, I would rather
be going up and down on a roller coaster (and getting somewhere) than riding in
a circle on a merry-go-round.
I sometimes
fear that we are spending too much time fixing problems, especially those that occurred
a long time ago. Let me explain what I mean. My entire two-year period with the
Senate has revolved around the SACS [Southern Association of Colleges and
Schools] lawsuit. Don’t get me wrong, hear me well in this. I firmly believe
the complaint process and the actions of the Joint Assessment Committee (JAC)
were warranted. But here is what I truly hope about that process. Once a final
decision is made, I hope that all parties can move on. This includes faculty
and administration, as well as SACS. Both Auburn University and SACS agreed on
a process to evaluate the JAC concerns. When the decision is final, let’s live
with the decision, and hope there are few if any repercussions to either party.
My concern for faculty is that all the other major stakeholders will be moving
on but we will continue to be wrapped up in some situations that occurred more
than a decade ago.
Because of the tremendous efforts of previous Senate Chairs,
I have had the privilege of being the first Faculty Chair to participate in
many administrative opportunities, two of which I feel are very important to
faculty. First, as I just alluded to, faculty advisors now sit at the Board of
Trustees’ table. For more than a decade, Auburn University Senate Chairs have
asked for this position. The second major inclusion is that President Walker
has involved the faculty advisor as a member of many major university
committees, including his Monday morning Administrative Council. Similar to any
team player, one is expected to add energy to the dynamics rather than being a
stumbling block. I firmly believe that a faculty representative can be a
watchdog without being confrontational. On the other hand, some people believe
that one must be confrontational in order to be effective. It basically boils
down to a difference in leadership style. Obviously, in my style, I believe
that “one can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.”
These new opportunities created for the faculty advisor to
the Board will allow us to understand how shared governance within a university
all fits together as a puzzle. By virtue of the position, we now are forced to
deal with the entire puzzle, instead of seeing only the faculty piece of shared
governance. In reality, shared governance is a give-and-take relationship of
compromises. Shared governance is a slow, evolving process where one group
can’t always win. Although all stakeholders want to win for their group, I
believe we more fully understand that by some degree of compromise we can all
move forward. Compromise, just like shared governance, is painful, it’s
uncomfortable, but it will work best in the long run for the university. It is
not simply challenging the university or criticizing. It’s serving the
institution and often doing things that require compromise that will be in the
best interest of the university.
Approximately a month ago, a senior faculty member asked me
what it was like to be liked by the administration. The tone of the question
led me to believe that faculty and administrators are not allowed to like each
other or to be on the same side of the fence. I have attended untold meetings
this past year. Never once have I heard an administrator say, “Let’s stick it
to the faculty.” In contrast, the phrase usually is, “Will faculty benefit from
this?” University stakeholders are beginning to trust each other. I encourage
faculty to continue on this course.
Since we
are on the topic of the administration, I have a confession to make about the
president. I truly believe President Walker is doing a good job as President of
Auburn University. Obviously when he came into his position, he was anointed
with fire. The SACS lawsuit followed quickly on his heels, then the removal of
the “interim” in his presidential title – these are only a few of our recent
wars. Putting these issues aside, I have spent untold hours in his company,
which has allowed me to develop a clear opinion about him. It has been said that certain trustees run
the university. I do not get that sense with President Walker. He is leading Auburn University and setting
its course for the future. It is unfortunate that Dr. Walker’s detractors have
not been a part of the discussions that I have had the opportunity to
participate in during this last year. Many of you know that I highly respected
Dr. Muse; enough so that I let people convince me that I should run for
Chair-elect so that I could work more closely with Dr. Muse. However, I have as
great a respect for President Walker and I feel good about the immediate future
of Auburn University under his leadership. I can’t emphasize that enough. I was
actually not prepared to be so impressed by his leadership. In fact, it caught me a little off guard.
I would be
remiss if I didn’t provide a comment about the Board of Trustees. Although it
does not make for headline news, the Board has worked well with the faculty
this year. The agenda for Board meetings is set at the cabinet meetings, which
I attend and where I can have input into the issues. However, Pro Tem Jimmy
Samford contacts me before every Board meeting and asks me if there are special
concerns of the faculty, either on the agenda or items that did not make it to
the agenda. Moreover, there have been two separate occasions when agenda items
have not been discussed at the Board meetings because I expressed faculty
concerns about the issues to Mr. Samford. These actions imply that trustees are
trying to listen and want to respect faculty concerns. Both faculty and
trustees have a commitment to communicate to ensure a more unified community. I
sense a positive change among them, as well as with many of us.
People
often ask me how long this working relationship with the Board and
administration will last? I don’t have any idea, but as faculty, we are one of
the players, so we can set its course. I personally hope that this process
continues, and we can use our time to move Auburn University forward
academically and financially.
Let me comment on the faculty advisor position to the Board
of Trustees, of which that is the position that I filled with the Board.
Although the decision on the selection process for the faculty advisor position
has not been determined, I will continue to emphasize that the individual needs
to be the Chair of the University Faculty. The Chair is elected by the faculty
at the General Faculty meeting and also serves as the Chair of the University
Senate. I feel strongly that the faculty member on the Board needs to be this
individual. The Chair commits more time than any other faculty member to the
university community and acquires a comprehensive understanding of the
university. To ask someone other than the Chair of the Faculty to sit on the
Board would be a disservice to the faculty.
There is
one last thought on the faculty advisor position of the Board. I believe the
Chair could best serve as the faculty advisor beginning mid-way through her or
his year as the Chair, which is what occurred in my situation although it was
by coincidence. My rationale is very simple for these recommendations. During
the first six months of the chairmanship, the Chair is extremely busy with
committee assignments and getting into the routine. After the first six months,
it would be entirely possible for the Chair to take on that new responsibility
and perhaps be seated at the board table, at the August or the November Board
meeting. Another idea would be to have
the Immediate Past-chair of the Senate be the faculty advisor; although I am
not looking for another job – I just offered that as an option.
Most of my farewell address has centered on the
administration or the Board, where most of the controversies have arisen the
last year or two. By virtue of my office this year, I have seen first-hand many
of their activities. Many of these encounters are the first for any Senate
Chair, I felt it important to share my thoughts of them with you. However, I
really hope that Board matters don’t monopolize the Senate’s time next year.
During the last six months, we have been able to concentrate on academic issues
rather than reacting to Board behavior. This should be our primary role as
faculty.
Before I
finish, let me turn my attention to a glaring weakness of Auburn University,
and it has been mentioned several times today: Its lack of diversity among all
stake-holders from trustees to faculty and extending into the student body.
Compared to 18-months ago, the University is changing its rhetoric to be more
inclusive and tolerant, but real action must include more than mortar and
bricks of new centers and diversity on search committees.
We are
about to enter an ultimate test of whether we are truly making progress at
Auburn University. We have a provost and five dean searches in progress. If, at
the end of the day, we have not actively sought to recruit individuals in these
positions who represent minority groups, we have failed miserably.
In
conclusion, as I end my year I feel positive about Auburn University. In
comparison to two years ago, we’ve done a complete turn-around. Some of the
changes have been so slight and gradual that most of us didn’t even realize
that they were happening. Interestingly, most of the players are the same, but
our attitudes are different and we are beginning to communicate. We have made
progress. We can continue to do so, but it will take our willingness to work
together, to believe the best of each other. We will need this energy to become
a preeminent research-based, land-grant university in the 21st
Century. Thank you. [Applause]
Barbara Struempler: The
next business of order is Glenn Howze, the President of AUUP will present the
Academic Freedom Award by the AAUP.
Glenn Howze:
As president of the Auburn University Chapter of the American Association of
University Professors, it is my honor to present this year’s Academic Freedom
Award to Mr. Owen Brown for his outstanding contribution to the protection of
Academic Freedom at our university. As
most of you know, Mr. Brown is a world-renowned businessman, who has played a
pivotal role in the development of the high-technology sector of our
economy. While this is a noteworthy
achievement, he is not being honored for this accomplishment today. Mr. Brown is an alumnus and is the current
president of the Auburn Alumni Association.
Although both of these achievements are admirable – he is not being
honored for them today. While we are all
appreciative, .Mr. Brown has repeatedly to use his wealth and influence to
benefit Auburn University. While we are
all appreciative of his largeness, we are not honoring him today for these
contributions. Rather, we are honoring
him because of his contribution to the protection of Academic Freedom on our
campus, by his vivid promotion of shared University governance.
In an Academe
article two years ago, our colleague, Larry Gerber from our History Department,
wrote about the important link between academic freedom and shared university
governance. He wrote, and I have a
quotation right here, but I am not going to read it…but his point was that
today when the business model is being applied wholesale to universities,
shared governance is more important than ever and one of the things it protects
is academic freedom. Mr. Brown has
demonstrated his understanding of the fact that academic freedom and quality
academic programs at Auburn, are predicated on the existence of sound
governmental practices which call for the proper mix of decision making by the
Board of Trustees, the Administration, the Faculty, and other constituent
groups. Mr. Brown has personally
recognized that there are major problems with the current practice of
governance at Auburn and has worked tirelessly to promote needed reforms.
What contributions
has Mr. Brown made to this process? I would like to mention several. Mr. Brown played a pivotal role in the effort
that resulted in the constitutional amendment mandating reform in the selection
process for Board members. Mr. Brown has
played a leadership role in the Auburn Trustees Improvement Political Action
Committee, ATIP, which has as its sole purpose, improvement of our government
structure by seeking the appointment of trustees who are not micromanaging the
university. Mr. Brown is currently
serving on the committee to nominate persons to fill three vacant positions on
the Board. This is an unpaid position
and Mr. Brown has given much time and attention to this task. Finally, I’d like to note that Mr. Brown
withdrew the pledge of a major contribution to Auburn University two years ago,
in protest against what he viewed, and the faculty viewed, as the bad
management of our University by the Board of Trustees. Given the looming cuts in the state
appropriations, it is not easy for me to say that withholding a financial
contribution was a good thing; however, in this case, I think it was. It was a powerful statement that all is not
well at Auburn. This message has been
heard far and wide.
Mr. Brown attended a special meeting of the
Auburn University Senate on February 21, 2001 and made a very eloquent
impromptu speech that contained some strong and moving words about shared
governance. However, before I quote him,
I want to refer again an article by our colleague Larry Gerber. In the concluding paragraph of his piece, he
wrote…and I won’t to read it again….but he makes a point here, that rather than
the University adopting the current business model of governance for the
University, many business are now adopting the shared governance model that has
been a part of the great institutions throughout the country.
Larry
Gerber’s article appeared in April/May of 2001.
It was already in press when Mr. Brown made his remarks to the
University Senate. But let’s read down
and find the similarities between Mr. Brown’s comments and Larry Gerber’s
comments. Mr. Brown states that
“Corporate governance is something that I happen to know a little bit about and
if you want to know what the concept of shared governance is, you should
probably run a company full of first year engineers making $150,000 a year and
multiple job offers behind yours. You
learn quickly that a dictatorial process doesn’t work. It doesn’t work any better in the corporate
world than in the university world. In the
corporate world there are some who try to employ that, and if you look at the
stocks of those companies you see they typically do not do well. They tend to
see turnover in personnel. I can tell you that in the world I come from, the
role of a Board is for advice; I think you will find that to be true in almost
every corporate board room in the world. I don’t think that it is a bit
different in the University environment than it is in the corporate world. They
are there to give advice and consent and be a checkpoint for the management.
The minute a Board tries to run a company, it is basically all over. The role,
particularly in a University, of a Board of Trustees should be to go out and
find the resources necessary to fund the University. They should be out
lobbying the state government to get additional sources of property taxes in
the state...”
Mr. Brown certainly
understands the proper role of shared governance in our university. Mr. Brown has devoted his time and resources
to promotion of shared governance at Auburn.
Mr. Brown certainly deserves the respect and the gratitude of the Auburn
Faculty. Mr. Owen Brown, will you please
come down. [Applause]
Owen, it is my honor
and privilege to present to you this plaque, denoting that you are the 2003
Academic Freedom Award recipient. I
would like to thank you for all of your efforts and what you have done for our
university. [Applause]
Owen Brown:
I will make my comments brief. I found
this particularly interesting today to hear the discussion on the proposal on
computerize the elections. I think I was
the first person who ever ran a computerized election, Spring Quarter of
1964. The manager of elections had
already graduated, and I finished my tour, so I decided to get the bright idea
that we ought to be able to do this by counting punched cards instead of
picking the ballots out of the box. So
we had a great easy user interface. All
anybody had to do was check a box on a card. They scanned the cards and counted
them via computer. The real problem was
in doing the [inaudible] programming at the computer. It was an old IBM something-or-other, I don’t
remember. At least I’m pleased to see
we’re continuing to make progress on that move. [Laughter]
It is a great honor
for me to be here today and to receive those kinds words and this wonderful
honor. I appreciate it enormously. As I
sit and think about some of the things that have happened over the last couple
of years, there are a lot of names that you could substitute for mine in terms
of people who have, because of their appreciation and love for a university
that has treated all of us so well, could just as easily have been named as
recipients of this award today as myself.
A couple of names come to mind, Dan Broughton, Andy Hornsby, Don Logan,
Earle Williams, there’s a whole raft of alumni who are deeply dedicated to
helping this university get the resources that it needs for the future. To be included in the list of people who have
received this award in the past, it’s a real honor to have your name on the
same list as that group who have gone before you.
The University has
two fundamental components that, the faculty and the students in my view of the
world, if you’ll allow me in this group to use the corporate paradigm, - I’m
not sure it’s the healthiest thing to do given the previous comments - and the
rest of us are overhead. It doesn’t mean
the rest of us are not important, it doesn’t mean we don’t make major
contributions, but the people that really make it all work are the kids who
come here to be educated, and the faculty who is here to educate them. So your role in the university is vital,
without you there wouldn’t be a university.
So on behalf of all the alumni of Auburn, I’d like to say thank you for
this award and I want to say thank you for your contributions toward making
Auburn the great university that it is.
Thank you
Barbara Struempler:
I have the election results. The
Chair-elect is Willie Larkin and Secretary-Elect is Debra Cobia. So congratulations. [Applause] Renee, start making your way up here. I knew if you knew, you wouldn’t come up
here. If fact while Renee is coming up
here, lets give her a big hand.
[Applause]. We are going to talk
about Renee in just a minute, but you know that there are many people that you
need to thank for a year that you just kind of drop out of your profession and
do this. One are my colleagues, for all
the Sondras and the Caroles, and the grad students, thank you very much. My family…you know my daughter can recite the
Board of Trustees. Sometimes your names
are slipped in there, too, but nevertheless, I do thank my family. The members of the Senate and Rules
Committee, of course John Mouton and Paula, but the most important person that
you always thank….Renee… is your secretary.
You know, this is really, really a team effort. You kind of become partners in crime -- good
crime – right Renee? But you know, Renee
is wonderfully bright, she is openly outspoken and she is wonderfully
caring. She is very truthful and
kind. She has just been a neat, neat
person to work with this year….so Renee, thank you so much.
Renee Middleton:
You are welcome.
Barbara Struempler: Do
you have anything that you would like to say?
[Laughter]
Renee Middleton:
I am glad that Paula is taking over.
[Laughter].
Barbara Struempler: Thank
you Renee. [Applause]. Then Paula and John, why don’t you come up here,
because we are going to get out of here.
We have some gifts that we always have to pass on. Paula Sullenger is the Secretary and John
Mouton is the Chair of the University Faculty.
Well gang, are you ready?
John Mouton:
Ready or not….
Barbara Struempler: Anyway,
Jim Bradley gave me this last year. It
is a running baton, so when you do your laps and things you just keep passing
the buck, and so that is the first of your gifts. The Senate has this remarkable budget that we
give all of this really good….it is kind of like Mardi Gras confetti or
something. This is a clock and it has
zero time on it, but this was the most valuable piece that I carried with me
wherever I went…because it is a countdown clock. And so, I encourage you to use it because
people know and they have asked me on the spot, hwo many days we have left and
I could tell them the day, the minutes, the hours and the seconds. Anyway, it is set at zero time, so you can
add your own.
John Mouton: May I make a comment?
Barbara Struempler: Sure.
Speaker #6: Paula
wants to reorganize the calendar next year to where this meeting would actually
be a week later, and it is leap year, so I think you should have to do four
more days…..[Laughter]
Barbara Struempler: No way. Do you see this wand. It is for wishes to come true, your
wishes…not mine. So Paula, you can get that through. And then Paula gave John a gavel earlier
today, so at the next meeting, when you see John, flinging two gavels at the
same time, one comes with the Senate and one was given personally by Paula….but
I wish you both so much. You have been a
great team to work with. They have
committed untold hours visiting all of the faculty, just you name it. So I am really hopeful that the year is going
to go very well. Congratulations John
and Paula.
Looking forward…
March 11, 2003
John Mouton, Incoming Chair: I counted as I was sitting in my seat, that I would be the
ninth speaker. In the National League,
that’s the pitcher, the worst hitter of all. In the American League, it’s the
designated hitter, which is the biggest of them all. After listening to all of these speakers, I’m
going steal one thing and that is the five-minute time limit. I am going to get us out of here but I’m
going to make some comments.
I
don’t see Jim Bradley here, but I would like to thank him and a lot of other
people, who caused the Board of Trustees to begin to hear us. I would like to thank Barb in her work, who
has caused the trustees to begin to listen to us. So I have a different opportunity than the
people who have come before me. There
are a couple of comments that I would like to make in that regard.
Paula and I have a single year in these roles; our opportunity begins today, March 11, 2003 in going forward. We are experiencing a calm time in our university’s history. I think that we need to be prudent and take advantage of this time to address and resolve the core issues and matters that cannot be addressed when we have turmoil, and that is part of our plan.
While
I am concerned about the perceptions
that I keep hearing regarding governance on our campus, I am more concerned
about the performance of governance
within our University. I think that is
where part of our focus is going to be.
Our recent and perhaps our current system of governance may be an
artifact of an earlier time in the history of our institution. It has become
evident to me, in the past year as chair-elect, that we do not share a concept
of governance. Establishing a good
concept of governance and accountability is a worthy objective for us to
pursue.
I believe the culture of our University will change substantially before next March. We are going to seat a permanent Provost and, also we will potentially seat three Trustees before we meet here next March. That gives us a tremendous opportunity for things to be different than they are now. But the real change in our culture will come from our faculty and Senate’s participation in, and contribution to the governance that we share in with the Administration and the Board of the University. I edited my comments and now I have a little bit about...
Tomorrow we are going to begin a series of lunches. Paula and I are hosting lunches for all of the Senators. We’re going to meet with about eight a day, before the Spring Break and after the Spring Break. What we are going to do is listen to the concerns of the faculty as represented by their elected representatives. I think that we have to start a dialogue amongst ourselves. I think that we have got to have more conversations amongst ourselves. Some of the things of interest that we talked about…Barb spoke of the academic issues….I think that there are several issues that require attention. I listened with great interest to Dr. Walker talk about the financial crisis that is before us. I think that it has some serious implications that we as the faculty need to lead the conversation, rather than following the conversation.
Let me close by saying that I would really like to thank Barb and Renee for their leadership and the education they have given me in this past year. Most especially I would like to thank Paula for all of the effort and accomplishments that we have had thus far.
I am going to be busy. I appreciate the confidence and support. Please contact me. I welcome your input and comments, by e-mail, by phone, in person, but most importantly, come to this hall and speak and share your thoughts with our colleagues. We need more dialogue amongst ourselves as a university. I heard a range of things said today and I guess the comment that I could make with you is that, as I look forward, as I go out in my automobile, I spend more time looking through the windshield than I do looking in the rearview mirror. In the past year, I have heard a lot of things about the past. Our future is upon us…we just have to make some choices about what we are going to do. In the leadership role of the Senate, I think if we are looking in the rearview mirror, we are not looking through the windshield, we have a tremendous opportunity to hit the wall. Thank you. [Applause}
John Mouton
Auburn University Faculty Chair /
University Senate Chair
Wilborn Chair in Building Science
College of Architecture, Design
and Construction
The meeting is now adjourned.
Adjournment