Minutes of the University Senate Meeting
1 September 2009
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/transcript_09_01_09.html
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Present: Kathryn Flynn, Claire Crutchley, Russ Muntifering, Richard Guthrie, Richard Brinker, Anne-Katrin Gramberg, R. Lee Evans, Stewart Schneller, John Mason, Mary Ellen Mazey, Bonnie MacEwan, Winfred Foster, Norbert Wilson, Sondra Parmer, Charles Mitchell, Michael Clay, Christopher McNulty, Anthony Moss, Yifen Wang, Paul Holley, Ronald Neuman, Prabhakar Clement, Hollie Lavenstein, Daniel Phillips, Sanjeev Baskiyar, Wi-Suk Kwon, Michael Stern, James Witte, Michael Baginski, James Goldstein, Keven Yost, John Mazaheri, Larry Teeter, David King, Mark Fischman, Jennifer Brooks, Raymond Kessler, Ellen Abell, Shea Tillman, Robert Bulfin, Andrew Wohrley, Bart Prorok, Howard Goldstein, Constance Hendricks, Claire Zizza, Monica DeTure, Jim Wright, Daniel Parson, Jan Kavookjian, Guy Rohrbaugh, Mike Bozack, Steven P. Brown, Yasser Gowayed, Robert Voitle, Chris Correia, Rebecca Curtis, Jon Segars, Del Epperson, Emily Myers, Heather May
Absent, sending a substitute: Daniel Padgett (for Andrew McLelland), Dale Coleman (for Werner Bergen), Edward Parish (for Eduardus Duin), Bonnie White (for Charles Eick), Michel Smith (for Steve Stuckwisch)
Absent, no substitute: Dennis Devries, Robert Locy, Larry Benefield, Jeff McNeil, Ainsley Carry, Jacob Watkins, James Winfield, Judy Woodrow, April Staton, Larry Crowley, David Shannon , Bill Hames, Barbara Kemppainen, Paul Swamidass, Xing Ping Hu, Allen Davis, Casey Cegielski, Edith Davidson, Wesley Lindsey, Scott Lewis, Ralph Henderson
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Call to Order:
Kathryn Flynn called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m.
The minutes of the 14 July 2009 University Senate meeting 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 several items to mention.
--Dr. Gogue welcomed everyone back to campus.
--This year will have the highest ACT scores of any incoming class.
--Construction of new student housing was completed for the start of fall semester. Dining facility has also opened. Dining facilities will also be opening in Foy Union in October.
--Thanks to a number of faculty and staff members who have been working to try to address the H1N1 virus situation and provide guidance. A policy has been developed.
--The legislature has had a special session; did not focus on PACT. The head of the Alabama Retirement System has provided a report; their analysis notes that they are short approximately $350 million. Will likely be an agenda item next session.
--Complement those engaged in research. College of Human Sciences had department with most per-faculty research dollars. He noted a number of large grants awarded to campus.
--Board of Trustees will meet on 25 Sept; hope for final approval of budget for upcoming year. Will present second-year components of strategic plan. We completed about 1/3 of items from previous year. Those will be rolled into second year. Will also address expedited construction for MRI project.
--Don Large spoke about the Auburn University dependent tuition waiver and scholarships. This will be brought to the November meeting, given that budgets will be discussed in September.
Questions for Dr. Gogue: There were no questions.
Comments from the Chair:
-Welcome to new Senators, as well as returning Senators.
--Reminded everyone of procedures for meetings.
--Encouraged everyone to look at contingency plans for H1N1 virus situation.
--Reminder that Dr. Mazey will be holding open forums; the first one will be Wednesday 16 September in Library 1160. The first one will focus on the P&T process.
Action Items:
Resolution concerning establishment of Lecturer/Senior Lecturer positions (Dr. Mary Ellen Mazey, Mary Ellen Mazey, Provost and ex officio member of the Senate Steering Committee)
--The resolution is at https://auburn.edu/administration/governance/senate/website/agendas/2009-2010/Sept09_agn_items/resolution_Lecturer-SeniorLecturer.html
--Have had discussions in Senate about creating these positions.
--All we are doing today is approving the resolution; a faculty committee will come up with the policy. As such, the other information that was provided is what will be addressed by that committee.
--The resolution was read.
Questions/Discussion concerning the resolution:
--James Goldstein (English) supports the resolution, but wants to make clear that these people must have proper due process protection.
--Steve Brown (Political Science) has several concerns relative to the information that was sent with the agenda. Concerns are about what these positions would do to existing faculty and what would they do to graduate programs. Seems like positions are between tenure track faculty and instructor. Would they be granted de facto tenure after 7 years? Would they be replacing tenure track faculty. Dr. Mazey responded that these are not to replace tenure track faculty, and that the other concerns will be addressed in terms of policies and procedures by the committee
--Steve Brown followed up asking who would decide if a position were to be lecturer or tenure track. Dr. Mazey responded that she would hope that the Dean and Department Head would work together.
--Ted Becker (not a Senator, Political Science) does not see the need for such positions. Does not like the idea of setting up an "underclass" within Auburn University. He would like to have some time to wait to further discuss it. Dr. Mazey responded that this could be discussed at the upcoming open forum.
--Robert Weigel (not a Senator, Foreign Language) noted that we do have a second class citizen and sees this resolution as a positive thing. This is the only way to make things better. This will help folks in those positions.
--Michelle Sidler (not a Senator, English) supervises a lot of instructors, and she notes that these positions are very important to them.
--The resolution passed with a voice vote.
Resolution changing the charge and composition of the Core Curriculum Oversight Committee (Dr. Kathryn Flynn, Chair)
--The resolution is at https://auburn.edu/administration/governance/senate/website/agendas/2009-2010/Sept09_agn_items/CCOC%20resolution-%20final.pdf
--Dr. Flynn called Dr. Linda Glaze (Associate Provost for Undergraduate Studies) to present some background information.
--The resolution was read, along with note of membership for the newly structured committee.
Questions/Discussion concerning the resolution:
--James Goldstein (English) noted that there would be no representation from English or History. Has an amendment that he has shared with the Senators from Liberal Arts, most of whom agree with, that would keep the current representation while adding representatives from Colleges and Schools not currently represented.
--The amendment was seconded.
--Chris Coreia (Psychology) spoke in support of the amendment.
--Steve Brown (Political Science) spoke in support of the amendment.
--Emily Myers (Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work) spoke in support of the amendment.
--Mike Stern (Economics) supports the amendment, but moved to separate the amendment from the implementation.
--The motion was seconded.
--Mike Stern noted that he had not had time to consider the implementation of the amended motion.
--The motion to separate the amendment from the implementation was passed with a voice vote.
--The amendment passed with a voice vote.
--The implementation procedures passed with a voice vote.
--Kathryn Flynn noted that we were now considering a resolution with an amended description of the committee membership. Because this is an amendment to the Constitution, it requires a 2/3 vote of all Senators, or 58 Senators.
--The motion did not pass, with only 55 votes in favor.
--Kathryn Flynn put forward a motion for the slate of committee members that the Rules Committee put forward with the meeting agenda.
--Jennifer Brooks (History) noted that she needed clarification on how we made the transition to a vote on a different committee structure.
--Kathryn Flynn clarified that the vote was a vote for a change in the Senate Constitution which required a 2/3 majority vote, or 58 Senators, and with only 55 positive votes, the motion did not pass.
--Constance Hendricks (Nursing) asked for clarification, noting that Senators may not have realized what was being voted on.
--Kathryn Flynn said that the parliamentarian advised that the prevailing group could call for a recount.
--Constance Hendricks said that is what she would request, with clarification prior to a vote.
--Discussion ensued as to how many Senators were present, and how many were required to pass the amendment, and whether votes were taken on the amendment or on the original resolution. Clarification that we had voted on the amendment, which then became the resolution, which requires a 2/3 vote to pass. It was noted that some Senators had not signed in, so time was taken to get all Senators to sign in and recount the number of Senators present.
--Anna Gramberg (Liberal Arts) noted that she too was confused. Asked about conducting a written vote.
--Michel Smith (Math/Stats) asked if the amendment, which passed by a voice vote, required a 2/3 majority; Kathryn clarified that amendments require a simple majority while the resolution required a 2/3 vote.
--Bill Sauser (Parliamentarian) noted that amendments do not require 2/3 vote, but the main motion requires a 2/3 vote.
--Michel Smith requested clarification of exactly what is being voted on.
--Kathryn Flynn then read the resolution as amended.
"Section 11. The Core Curriculum and General Education Committee shall consist of the Provost or designee as chair and 17 faculty members to be distributed as follows: there shall be 7 representatives from the core areas, one from composition or literature, one from fine arts, one from history, one from mathematics, one from natural sciences, one from philosophy, one from social sciences, and one from each of the remaining Colleges or Schools excluding the Graduate School, and one from the University Libraries. The Director of Assessment shall serve as a non-voting ex-officio member of the committee. The committee shall have the responsibilities of recommending goals for General Education in the Core Curriculum and monitoring the university’s effectiveness in fostering student achievement of these goals. Towards this end the committee shall oversee the assessment of student learning in the Core including the evaluation of courses and may recommend to the University Senate changes in the Core Curriculum and General Education."
--Kathryn Flynn noted that there were 64 Senators present.
--An unidentified person asked about the vote on the implementation versus the vote on the resolution. Kathryn Flynn noted that the resolution required a 2/3 vote, while the implementation required only a majority.
--James Goldstein (English) noted that we already voted on implementation. He urged Senators to support the motion so the committee could begin their work.
--Constance Hendricks (Nursing) asked about the total number of Senators to understand the 2/3 number.
--Kathryn Flynn stated that there are 87 Senators and 2/3 of 87 is 58.
--The vote was taken by having Senators stand up to be counted. The motion passed by a vote of 58 Senators, with 58 being required for the 2/3 majority.
--Kathryn then moved to consideration of the committee nominees as moved by the Rules Committee.
--Someone unidentified asked why the question marks were there for Pharmacy. Kathryn Flynn clarified that nominees were not yet available for Pharmacy, and this is as we have proceeded in the past. She also clarified how the slate of nominees was compiled (i.e., the process by which the Rules Committee obtains volunteers and provides nominees for committees).
--The slate of committee nominees passed with a voice vote.
--Kathryn Flynn and James Goldstein clarified what members were going to be added to the committee list that was just passed, based on the amended resolution.
--Mark Fischman (Kinesiology) asked for clarification of the list on which we are voting, as well as who the 17 faculty members are.
--Kathryn Flynn clarified how we came to 17 faculty members on the committee.
--An unidentified individual counted from the list the number of faculty on the committee.
--Kathryn Flynn noted that there was one holdover member from COSAM from the previous year's committee.
--Patricia Duffy (Ag Econ, Provost's office, not a Senator) clarified exactly who would be members of the committee-- 2 from COSAM, 5 from Liberal Arts, 1 from each of the other 10 Colleges/Schools, 1 from the Library.
--Discussion ensued about the 2 extra people for the 1 year transition between the CCOC and the CCGE committee just approved.
--The motion to approve the final committee list of names was approved by a voice vote.
Information Items:
Calendar Adjustment Issues (Claire Crutchley, Chair-elect):
--This is an item for information this month that will likely come back to the Senate next month, so please bring it back to your faculty for discussion in preparation for the meeting.
--Claire presented a summary of the situation with the current calendar, some of which is presented at https://auburn.edu/administration/governance/senate/website/agendas/2009-2010/Sept09_agn_items/Calendar%20Information%20for%20senate%20presentation.pdf and a PowerPoint presentation of the Calendar Information.
Questions/Discussion concerning the Calendar Adjustment Issues:
--Herb Rotfeld (Marketing, not a Senator) was concerned about inconsistent academic standards with a move to a 72-day calendar due to MWF vs TR classes. He also asked about the nee for a 10-week summer session instead of a 7½ week session.
--Claire Crutchley noted that at least one College said that they needed the 10-week summer session.
--Guy Rohrbaugh (Philosophy) asked how few days some other universities have.
--Claire Crutchley noted that this was on a handout, and was anywhere from 70-75 days.
--Steve Brown (Political Science) said that he was on the Calendar Committee and could not remember when the Senate authorized the 75-day calendar. He also noted that when he was in Virginia they only had a 68 day calendar in the fall and 70 days in the spring.
--Patricia Duffy (Ag Econ, Provost's office, not a Senator) said that it was passed in 1998, probably in October. She introduced a motion for fewer days at that time but it was defeated.
Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s Degree Program (George Crandell, Associate Dean, Graduate School, and Paul Harris, Associate Director, University Honors College):
George Crandell (Associate Dean, Graduate School) presented an overview of the program.
--Some additional information can be found at https://auburn.edu/administration/governance/senate/website/agendas/2009-2010/Sept09_agn_items/Accelerated%20Bachelor's%20Master's%20Program.pdf .
--Dale Coleman (Animal Sciences, substitute) asked how priority implementation will be implemented.
--George Crandell said that would be in terms of admission to the graduate school and that individual departments can set their own admission requirements.
--Yasser Gowayed (Polymer/Fiber Engineering) asked how this would impact regular Master's programs.
--George Crandell responded that it would not adversely affect current students. He was not sure how it would affect enrollment.
--Yasser Gowayed noted that this might not promote academic diversity.
--Paul Harris (Honors College) said that early discussions of this was that students with AP credit could finish their degrees within 3 years, and then enroll in a Master's program. They found that they had over 500 students who finished their freshman year with 45 hours of credit and a GPA of 3.4 or above.
--Jennifer Brooks (History) asked how undergraduates would get undergraduate credits that would count toward graduate credit.
--George Crandell said this would allow for 9 hours, or possibly up to 12 hours.
--Discussion ensued about SACS requirements and that these courses could be as we have 5000/6000 split level courses, perhaps expanding on those, but enhancing undergraduate experience by having them in classes with graduate students.
--Tony Moss (Biological Sciences) asked whether undergraduates would be able to take up to 9 hours of graduate courses during their fourth year.
--George Crandell said yes.
--Paul Harris noted that it would be a continuation of the Honors thesis approach with a great deal of rigor.
--David King (Geology/Geography) noted that we could teach more classes with more faculty or with reduced lower level teaching loads. Also in the summer we could teach more and supervise students more if we could be supported and be here.
--Sanjeev Baskiyar (Computer Science) asked if the 9-12 credits would be limited to 5000 level courses or would 3000 or 4000 level courses count?
--George Crandell responded that it would not have to be graduate level courses, but the department would have to submit a list of courses to be approved by the Graduate Council and the University Curriculum Committee.
Unfinished Business:
There was no unfinished business.
New Business:
There was no new business.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:48 PM.