Minutes of the University Senate Meeting
5 June 2012
3:00 p.m.
Broun Hall Auditorium
Submitted by
Larry Crowley, Secretary
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A complete transcription of the meeting is available
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Present: Ann Beth Presley, Bill Sauser, Larry Crowley, Robin Jaffe, Claire Crutchley, William Batchelor, Gregg Newschwander, Betty Lou Whitford, Chuck Savrda, Calvin Johnson, Ann-Katrin Gramberg, George Flowers, Bonnie MacEwan, Michael Baginski, Robert Cochran, James Bannon, Sondra Parmer, Werner Bergen, Jocelyn Zanzot, Gary Wagoner, Bob Locy, Sushil Adhikari, Steve Duke, Eduardus Duin, Daniel Phillips, Jada Kohlmeier, Michael Stern, James Witte, Thomas Baginski, James Goldstein, Harris Hollans, Rusty Wright, Adrienne Angelo, Ruth Crocker, Jerrod Windham, Peter Stanwick, Herb Rotfeld, Doug Rosener, Stuart Pope, Vicky van Santen, Brent Fox, Guy Rohrbaugh, Yasser Gowayed, Jill Meyer, and Joe Fetsch.
Absent, sending a substitute: Joe Hanna (for Bill Hardgrave), Chelsea Crooks (for Owen Parrish), Nancy Haak (for Laura Plexico), Valentina Hartarska (for Norbert Wilson), Saad Biaz (for Sanjeev Baskiyar), Elina Coneva (for Fenny Dane), Sean Gallagher (for Jerry Davis), Marcia Boosinger (for Pambanisha King Whaley), Dmitry Glotov (for Tin-Yau Tam), Bernie Olin (for Wesley Lindsey), Stewart Roberts (for Scott Copeland), Kat Stofer (for Richard Fox), and Chris Locke (for Emily Myers)
Absent, no substitute: R. Lee Evans, Timothy Boosinger, Glen Hughes, Nakeisha Janigan, Seth Humphrey, Andrew Wohrley, Nedret Billor, Winfred Foster, Scott McElroy, Dean Schwartz, Paul Swamidass, Mark (James) Taylor, Prabhakar Clement, Robert Agne, Wi-Suk Kwon, Xing Ping Hu, Larry Teeter, David King, Ellen Abell, Jared Russell, Bart Prorok, Suresh Mathews, John Freeze, Forrest Smith, Mike Bozack, Steven Brown, Shelly McKee, Lewis Barker, Chase Bringardner, and Ralph Henderson.
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Call to Order:
-- Ann Beth Presley called the meeting to order, confirmed a quorum was present, and reviewed the rules of the senate.
-- Minutes from the May 1, 2012 meeting were accepted as posted without change.
Remarks and Announcements:
Dr. Presley (Chair of the University Senate) shared the following:
1. Stating this is her last senate meeting as chair, Dr. Presley thanked the senators for their service and recognized those senators rotating off the senate which includes Claire Crutchley, immediate past chair.
2. On July 1st, William Sauser will take over as chair and Robin Jaffe as secretary.
3. Dr. Presley thanked the Senate Steering Committee, Constance Hendricks, parliamentarian, and Larry Crowley, secretary.
3. There will be no remarks from the President’s Office today as both the Provost and President are out of the country.
Dr. Presley moved to the first action item on the agenda, nominations for senate committees to be presented by Larry Crowley, secretary.
Action Items:
-- In introducing the nominations, Larry Crowley, Secretary of the University Senate, stated the Rules Committee is charged in Section 1, Article 4, entitled Senate Committees, within the University Senate Constitution to make nominations for membership to standing Senate Committees, with ratification by the Senate. The Rules Committee has reported their nominations in a posting to the Senate Agenda and these nominations are now displayed on the screen.
On behalf of the Rules Committee, Larry Crowley moved the nominations for Senate Committee Membership be approved.
Ann Beth Presley, Chair, stated the motion is coming from a committee and does not require a second. Then, she asked if there is any discussion. With no discussion coming from the floor, the vote was taken. The nominations were approved by a vote of 43 for and 4 against.
Information Items:
-- Kathryn Flynn, director of Interdisciplinary Studies Degree Program, provided an update on the interdisciplinary studies program at Auburn. The presentation is linked to the agenda available here:
https://auburn.edu/administration/governance/senate/website/agendas/2011-2012/agn_06_05_12.html
Following the presentation there was discussion as follows:
Mike Stern, senator from Economics, asked if the program is being used by students to avoid taking more difficult classes in a major rather than students who are truly seeking a broader education than one offered in a specific program.
Kathryn Flynn replied that both types of students are present in the program. However, creating the major for yourself requires significant effort and the committee reviews each plan to make sure the selected courses make sense with the goal statements. Often times the students that have lower GPA’s comings into the major are students that weren’t prepared for what they were majoring in before selecting the Interdisciplinary Studies.
Mike Stern followed by asking if there is a mandated minimum GPA requirement for the students in what would be classified as major hours in order to graduate.
Dr. Flynn answered that students are required to have a 2.0 in their major, a C average.
Ann Beth Presley, chair, called the next presenter.
-- Bill Hutto, director of Auburn-Opelika Robert G. Pitts Airport, provided a presentation on the activities and plans for Auburn University’s airport. The presentation is available through a link on the Senate Agenda which can be found at: https://auburn.edu/administration/governance/senate/website/agendas/2011-2012/agn_06_05_12.html
Following the presentation there were some questions asked as follows:
Mike Stern, senator from Economics, asked why flight programs are offered out of the College of Business rather than in Engineering or Aerospace Engineering.
Bill Hutto, airport director, asked Joe Hanna from College of Business to answer the question.
Joe Hanna, Associate Dean in College of Business, said the Business degree is better suited for the positions being offered to the program’s students.
Bill Hutto added that a lot of airlines and others in industry like having people with aviation management degrees from within the college of business.
Bob Locy, senator from Biological Sciences, asked if Bill Hutto would compare the Auburn-Opelika airport with those at other SEC institutions, including University of Alabama.
Bill Hutto said we have the best in a lot of ways. The airport has great approaches and a great terminal building. Some airports have longer runways. The airport at Tuscaloosa (home to the University of Alabama) is a city-owned airport and thus they don’t have the direct influence of the university in development of the airport.
New business:
Ann Beth Presley, chair, passed the gavel to Bill Sauser as incoming chair with this being her last meeting serving as chair.
Bill Sauser, incoming chair, presented plaques, along with Robin Jaffe incoming secretary, to Claire Crutchley, immediate past chair, Ann Beth Presley, outgoing chair, and Larry Crowley, outgoing secretary in appreciation of their service to the faculty and senate during their terms.
Unfinished business:
None
The meeting was adjourned at 3:56 pm.