Minutes of the Meeting of the Auburn University Senate
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
3:30 p.m. • Haley Center 1203
Submitted by Judy Sheppard, Senate Secretary
Attendance:
Senate Officers: Larry Crowley, Chair; Patricia Duffy, Chair-Elect; Judy Sheppard, Secretary; Gisela Buschle-diller, Secretary-Elect.
Attendance by Administration/Ex Officio:
Present: Nicholas Giordano, Dean, College of Mathematics and Sciences; Present: Bonnie McEwan, Dean of Libraries; Bryan Elmore, A&P Assembly Chair
Absent, Sending Substitute:
Dwayne Brown for Debbie Shaw, Vice President for Alumni Affairs; Nels Madsen for Chris Roberts, Dean, College of Engineering;
Absent, with No Substitute:
Vice President for Finance, Don Large; Jane Parker, Vice President for Development; John Mason, Vice President for Research; Joseph A. Aistrup, Dean, College of Liberal Arts; June Henton, Dean, College of Human Sciences; George Flowers, Dean, Graduate School; Tim Boosinger, Provost; Logan Powell, SGA President; Leonard Towns, GSA President; Jennifer Richardson, Staff Council Chair; Don Mulvaney, Steering Committee; Laura Plexico, Steering Committee; Larry Teeter, Steering Committee; Michael Baginski, Steering Committee.
Attendance, Senators by Department
Present: Robert Cochran, Accountancy; Valentina Hartarska, James Bannon, AAES; Beth Geurtal, Agronomy and Soils; Dean Schwartz, Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacy; Barb Bondy, Art; Sushil Adhikari, Biosystems Engineering; Mark Taylor, Building Sciences; Allan David, Chemical Engineering; Robert Agne, Communication and Journalism; Daniel Phillips, Communication Disorders; Jada Kohlmeier, Curriculum and Teaching; Michael Stern, Economics; Hilary Wyss, English; Leonardo De La Fuente, Entomology and Plant Pathology; Harris Hollans, Finance; Rusty Wright, Fisheries and Allied Aquaculture; Adrienne Angelo, Foreign Languages and Literature; David King, Geology and Geography; Jerrod Windham, Industrial Design; Sean Gallagher, Industrial Engineering; Leah Robinson, Kinesiology; Pam Whaley, Library; Peter Stanwick, Management; James Carver, Marketing; Dimitry Glotov, Mathematics and Statistics; Dong-Joo Kim, Mechanical Engineering; Matthew Hoch, Music; Iris Mullins, Nursing; Chippewa Thomas, Outreach; Wesley Lindsey, Pharmacy Practice; Guy Rohrbaugh, Philosophy; Emily Meyers, Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work; Annette Smith, Veterinary Clinical Sciences.
Absent, Sending Substitute: Rod ?? for Rebecca O’Neal Dagg; James Witte for Lisa Kensler, Educational Foundations and Leadership; Jodie Kenney for Gary Hepp, Forestry and Wildlife Science; Bruce Smith for Vicky van Santen, Pathobiology; Leonard Bell for Tung-shi Huang, Poultry Science;
Absent, No Substitute: Andrew Sinclair, Aerospace Engineering;
Paul Brown, ACES; Dale Coleman, Animal Sciences; Cliff Defee, Aviation Management and Logistics; Bob Locy, Biological Systems; Eduardus Duin, Chemistry; Cliff Lange, Civil Engineering; Sanjeev Baskiyar, Computer Science and Engineering; Wi-Suk Kwon, Consumer Affairs; Thomas Baginiski, Electrical and Computer Engineering; Brent Fox, Health Outcomes Research and Policy; Amy Wright, Horticulture; Tiffany Sippial, History; Ellen Abell, Human Development and Family Studies; Kevin Huggins, Nutrition and Foods; Muralikrshinan Dhanasekaran, Pharmacy; Murray Jardine, Political Science; Mark Bozack, Physics; Gwyneed Thomas, Polymer/Fiber Engineering; Daniel Sventek, Psychology; Jill Meyer, Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling; Jeffrey Hemmes, ROTC Air Force; Scott Copeland, ROTC Army; Paul Esposito, ROTC Naval; Chase Bringardner, Theatre.
Awaiting the confirmation of a quorum (45 of 88) Chair Larry Crowley asked President Jay Gogue to come forward and make remarks.
I. Dr. Gogue drew the Senate’s attention to three things:
The Eduardo Via School of Osteopathic Medicine was accredited and expects a hundred or more students for the first class in 2014-2015,
The Harbert College of Business is working with RFID (the Radio Frequency ID program) through the University of Arkansas.
The Smith-Lever Act, which established extension services at land-grant universities across the country, recently celebrated its 100th anniversary.
II. Provost Tim Boosinger
Dr. Boosinger updated the Senate on the satisfactory COACHE response, which was 52 percent overall, with higher percentages among untenured and female faculty. A full report will come out in August.
At this point, Dr. Crowley affirmed that a quorum had been established.
III. Dr. Crowley then introduced Melvin Owens, Executive Director of Campus Safety, who then introduced Susan McAllister and Jenny O’Connor in the Clery Compliance Program. Ms. McAllister said the way the program was communicated to faculty was poor. She explained that adherence to the Clery Act, which requires faculty advisors to report alleged crimes to the police, is federally mandated. The reports are anonymous and the victim’s name doesn’t need to be reported. Faculty members who have been contacted as needing to be trained were tapped because they are advisors to student groups.
Dr. Crowley mentioned a lunch meeting with campus security and various faculty representatives who had thought they were being asked to be police. He now agreed that the information will be useful to right-size campus security.
Dr. David King, senator from Geography and Geology, said he was disturbed by being designated a Clery Security agent. He was disturbed by the sudden announcement and said that many discussions, including hundreds of faculty, are needed, because this would be a sea change in the way the university runs.
Ms. McAllister said a full report will be presented in the fall.
At this point, Dr. Crowley then asked for a quorum to be established by clicker. Forty-five members are required; 46 were present.
IV. Action items
Judy Sheppard, Secretary, acting for the Rules Committee, presented the list of nominees for Senate committees. The appointees were approved 45-1.
Patricia Duffy, Chair-Elect, acting for the Steering Committee, presented for a Faculty Handbook change to codify a current, unstated policy – the provision that faculty members given an External Fellowship Policy can continue to receive university salaries. The Senate voted 43-2 to adopt the change.
V. Information Items
Steve Lautz, the Associate Director of NCAA Compliance for Auburn University Athletics, discussed best practices for preventing unethical behavior for student athletes, faculty and the public.
His department has seven full-time employees, but Mr. Lautz said that compliance was everyone’s responsibility. He noted that NCAA Bylaw 10.1 on Academic Fraud prohibits any falsification of grades or transcripts, receipt of gifts from athletes to faculty members and vice versa, and refusal to provide full reporting as required. Athletes’ degree and course requirements are closely regulated; for instance, athletes are required to have 40 percent of their degrees completed their second year, up from 25 percent.
Associate Provost Constance Relihan reported that several ad hoc committees had been working to help meet the Strategic Plan’s goal of enhancing student success, which includes enrollment, diversity, retention and timely graduation. The committees are: the First Year Advising Center Committee; the Orientation Review Committee; and the University College Committee. She emphasized that all the ideas being presented come from committees with constituents from all across the campus and that these are recommendations only:
The freshman advising center would allow for incoming freshmen to apply at Camp War Eagle to be “exploratory” students, not required to enter any college, and to have intensive advising with a 150-to-one ratio. The students will have to declare a major upon completing their 30th hour.
The orientation committee is seeking ways to extend Camp War Eagle experiences and engage students through a possible required fall on-line course. Also, more emphasis on academic and career-planning is needed.
The University College committee is examining ways to house the interdisciplinary program and some of the on-line degree courses being developed.
A standing committee, the retention committee, is also examining a five-step retention plan. Among the methods being implemented are the Early Alert Grade system and analyzing data gathered from Camp War Eagle students and provided by the Office of Institutional Assessment.
Dr. Crowley then called for any new business. Wesley Lindsey, the senator from Pharmacy Practice, asked a follow-up question about the External Fellowship Program. He asked if only tenured and tenure-track faculty are covered under this policy.
Dr. Emmett Winn, Associate Provost, answered that lecturers, research faculty and clinical faculty are on annual appointments, so, according to the Faculty Handbook, they are not eligible.
Dr. Crowley then called for any unfinished business. There being none, the meeting adjourned at 4:28 p.m.