Minutes of the University Senate Meeting
2 March 2010
3:00 p.m.
Broun Hall Auditorium
Submitted by
Dennis DeVries, Secretary
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(for a complete transcription of the meeting, go to: https://auburn.edu/administration/governance/senate/website/transcripts/TrScrpt2009-2010/transctipt_03_02_10.html)
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Present: Kathryn Flynn, Claire Crutchley, Dennis Devries, Russ Muntifering, Robert Locy, Richard Guthrie, Anne-Katrin Gramberg, Mary Ellen Mazey, Bonnie MacEwan, April Staton, Larry Crowley, Andrew McLelland, Winfred Foster, Norbert Wilson, Sondra Parmer, Werner Bergen, Barbara Kemppainen, Michael Clay, Christopher McNulty, Paul Swamidass, Anthony Moss, Yifen Wang, Paul Holley, Eduardus Duin, Prabhakar Clement, Hollie Lavenstein, Daniel Phillips, Sanjeev Baskiyar, Wi-Suk Kwon, Charles Eick, Michael Stern, James Witte, Michael Baginski, James Goldstein, John Mazaheri, Larry Teeter, Mark Fischman, Jennifer Brooks, Ellen Abell, Shea Tillman, Andrew Wohrley, Steve Stuckwisch, Constance Hendricks, Claire Zizza, Jim Wright, Jan Kavookjian, Wesley Lindsey, Steven P. Brown, Chris Correia, Rebecca Curtis, Emily Myers, Heather May
Absent, sending a substitute: Carl Pinkert (for John Mason), David Weaver (for Charles Mitchell), Philip Chaney (for David King), Fenny Dane (for Raymond Kessler), Keith Pickens (for Jon Segars)
Absent, no substitute: Larry Benefield, Richard Brinker, R. Lee Evans, Stewart Schneller, Jeff McNeil, Ainsley Carry, Jacob Watkins, James Winfield, Judy Woodrow, David Shannon , Bill Hames, Ronald Neuman, Xing Ping Hu, Keven Yost, Allen Davis, Robert Bulfin, Casey Cegielski, Edith Davidson, Bart Prorok, Howard Goldstein, Monica DeTure, Daniel Parson, Guy Rohrbaugh, Mike Bozack, Yasser Gowayed, Robert Voitle, Scott Lewis, Del Epperson, Ralph Henderson
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Call to Order:
Kathryn Flynn called the meeting to order at 3:00 PM
She reminded everyone to sign in on the roster in the back of the room, and then briefly reviewed procedural rules for the meeting.
There were no comments or changes on the minutes from the 9 February University Senate meeting, so they were approved without change.
Remarks and Announcements:
Kathryn Flynn (Faculty Chair) invited Dr. Gogue, President, to present comments from the President's office.
Dr. Gogue had four things to share.
--We had a snow day a couple of weeks ago. We may have done it right or wrong, but it was declared on Thursday, and we are working closely with the public schools given the numbers of faculty and students with students in the public schools. We did not get many complaints.
--Re the prepaid tuition discussion, the cap of 2.5% did pass the House, and it will now be taken up by the Senate. The impact to Auburn University by 2032 (when the legislation would end) would be $550 million dollars.
--The state legislature has completed half of their session, and have not yet taken up the budget. They will likely look at the revenue in February, and perhaps in March, and will take up the discussion in April.
--There were several points from a coach survey of generation X faculty to mention: they place an extreme value on interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research, they have a strong aversion to putting peers in competition, they desire formal mentoring programs in the department and broader, they are doing well at balancing work and personal life, and they liked a sense of community.
Questions for Dr. Gogue:
--There were no questions for Dr. Gogue.
Comments from the Chair:
--The Provost has announced the Faculty Excellence in Fostering Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship; an email was sent out yesterday.
--Kathryn Flynn asked that Senators make a greater effort to inform their faculty of happenings in the Senate. There was some surprise concerning the recent decision to shorten the academic calendar.
--The faculty evaluation of administrators is underway with 2 weeks left.
--Elections for Chair-elect and Secretary-elect will start on Thursday (4 March) and run through Monday (8 March).
--The committee volunteer site is up and running.
--The spring general faculty meeting is next Tuesday (9 March). Election results will be announced, but officers will not take office until 1 July.
Questions for Dr. Flynn:
--There were no questions for Dr. Flynn.
Action Items:
Election of new Rules Committee members (Dennis DeVries, Secretary)
--Evert Duin (Chemistry/Biochemistry) and Andrew McLelland (Accountancy) were both elected to serve on the Rules Committee by unanimous voice vote. There were no additional nominees.
Information Items:
Writing in the Curriculum (Margaret Marshall, Director of the Office of University Writing and Sharon Roberts)
--The PowerPoint file for this presentation.
--A draft resolution that was distributed at the meeting for consideration.
--There were no questions.
Biggio Center Update (James Groccia, Director of the Biggio Center).
--The PowerPoint file for this presentation.
--Sanjeev Baskiyar (Computer Science/Software Eng) asked about graduate certificates and whether something could be done like that for Computer Science.
--Margaret Marshall noted that concerns have been raised in various areas. There may be ways to work with thesis students in their writing, work with groups of graduate students, and she noted that there are ways to have targeted workshops for graduate students.
Unfinished Business:
There was no unfinished business.
New Business:
There was no new business.
--Kathryn Flynn noted that she had the swine flu last week and encouraged everyone to get the shot if you haven't already done so.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:42 PM.