Minutes of the Auburn University Senate Meeting
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
238 Broun Hall Auditorium
3:30 P.M.
A full transcript is available for this meeting.
Attendance
Officers:
Patricia Duffy, Chair; Larry Teeter, Chair-Elect; Larry Crowley, Immediate-Past Chair; Laura Plexico, Secretary-Elect.
Administration:
Gregg Newschwander, Dean, School of Nursing; Nicholas Giordano, Dean, COSAM; Calvin Johnson, Dean, College of Vet Med.
Ex-Officio
Present:
Tim Boosinger, Provost; Sara Wolf, Steering Committee; Keven Yost, Steering Committee; India Naiper, Graduate Student Council President; Emily Myers, Steering Committee;
Absent, sending substitute:
George Crandell for George Flowers, Dean, Graduate School;Charles Israel for Joseph A. Aistrup, Dean, College of Liberal Arts; Daniel Surry for Lee Evans, Dean, School of Pharmacy; Joe Hanna for Bill Hardgrave, Dean, College of Business; James Witte for Betty Lou Whitford, Dean, College of Education; Steve Duke for Chris Roberts, Dean,
Absent, not sending substitute:
Gisela Buschle-Diller; Secretary; Bonnie MacEwan, Dean, Libraries; Walker Byrd, Student Government Association President; Ashley Hamberlin, A&P Assembly Chair; Michael Freeman, Staff Council Chair; Michael Baginski, 2nd, Steering Committee.
Senators, by Department:
Present: Don Mulvaney, Animal Sciences; Cliff Defee, Aviation Management and Logistics; Ed Youngblood, Communication and Journalism; Allison Plumb, Communication Disorders; David Umphress, Computer Science and Software Engineering; Wi-Suk Kwon, Consumer Sciences; Jada Kohlmeier, Curriculum and Teaching; Michael Stern, Economics; Jung Park, Finance; Brent Fox, Health Outcomes Research and Policy; Amy Wright, Horticulture; Sean Gallagher, Industrial Systems and Engineering; John Quindry, Kinesiology; Peter Stanwick, Management; Dmitry Glotov, Mathematics and Statistics; Daniel Mackowski, Mechanical Engineering; Kevin Huggins, Nutrition and Foods; Vicky van Santen, Pathobiology; Wesley Lindsey, Pharmacy Practice; Michael Fogle, Physics; Murray Jardine, Political Science; Gwynedd Thomas, Polymer & Fiber Engineering; Jill Meyer, Special Education, Rehab and Counseling; Kristina Shuler, Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work; Jerrod Bradley Windham, Industrial Design; Gregg Schmidt, Library; James Carver, Marketing; Muralikrishnan Dhanasekaran, Pharmacal Sciences; Tung-shi Huang, Poultry Science; Adrienne Wilson, Theater; Annette Smith, Veterinary Clinical Sciences; Robert Cochran, Accountancy; Eduardus Duin, Chemistry; Cliff Lange, Civil Engineering; Lisa Kensler, Educational Foundations and Leadership; James Goldstein for Hilary Wyss, English; Leonardo De La Fuente, Entomology and Plant Pathobiology; Rusty Wright, Fisheries and Allied Aquaculture;
Absent, sending substitute:
Lourdes Betanzos for Traci O’Brien, Foreign Languages and Literature; Paul B. West for Scott Copeland, ROTC Army; David Crumbley for Constance Hendricks, Nursing; Anne Duraski for Matthew Hoch, Music; Michelle Words for Valentina Hartaska, Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology;
Absent, not sending substitute:
Andrew Sinclair, Aerospace Engineering; Paul Brown, ACES; Bob Locy, Biological Sciences; Beth Guertal, Crops, Soil and Environmental Sciences; Thomas Baginski, Electrical and Computer Engineering; Latif Kalin, Forestry and Wildlife Science; David King, Geosciences; Tiffany Sippial, History; Tom Smith, Human Development and Family Studies; Jeffrey Hemmes, ROTC Air Force; Paul Michael Esposito, ROTC Navy; Chippewa Thomas, Outreach; Eric Marcus, Philosophy; Daniel Sventek, Psychology; Dean Schwartz, Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology; Rebecca O’Neal-Dagg, Architecture; Barb Bondy, Art; Mark Dougherty, Biosystems Engineering; Mark Taylor, Building Sciences; Allan David, Chemical Engineering;
Minutes
At 3:30 PM Chair Patricia Duffy called the meeting to order and reminded the Senators of the rules of speaking at Senate meetings. In addition, she asked the members of the senate to speak directly into the microphone to increase recording quality and to limit comments to 4 minutes at a time. She then established a quorum using iclickers. There are currently 87 members of the Senate; therefore, for a quorum to be established 44 senators are required to be present. A quorum was established with 52 represented, but a 2/3rds majority or 58 votes, which is required for a constitutional amendment, was not established.
The minutes of the May 19th, 2015 Senate meeting were approved without modifications.
Remarks and Announcements
Office of the President, Jay Gogue, President
First the president stated that the legislature completed its work this session and the budget increase for all 4 divisions was about 1% or 2.5 million dollars. They also approved the age of consent bill to reduce the age to consent to participate in research from 19 to 18 years of age. The reciprocity bill also passed and will benefit distance education programs. He also reported that a constitutional amendment relative to Auburn went through and will be on the ballot in 2016, the November period. It was put in to avoid a situation in 2019 where 9 trustees rotate off the board in that single year. This would result in a dramatic shift in the number of trustees changing at one time. The bill states that no more three trustees will roll off in any given year for increased stability and that there will be two dedicated positions at large to increase diversity of the board. It will go on ballot as a constitutional amendment, a constitutional change, and will be voted on in the November 2016 general election.
He next discussed the Board of trustees meeting. They have initiated two projects: the performing arts facility and an engineering achievement center. John and Rosemary Brown provided the funds for both projects. Those projects received the first level of approval by the board. The board also approved the Auburn University Memorial, which is a student initiative developed to honor students, faculty, staff, alumni and veterans who have lost their life. Broun hall renovation and architecture selection was approved. The Mell street classroom renovation date was moved back to January 2016. The date was moved back to incorporate 40,000 square feet within the library in this new central classroom facility, making it larger than initially anticipated.
The budgets general guidelines on how to put the budget together for fiscal year 2016 were approved. The budget will then go up for approval in the September board meeting. There was a 3% pool for permanent salary increases and also a 2% pool for one time increases.
They also approved a dual enrollment program and a BS in food science. They also approved a graduate certificate program that deals with distance education in the college of education.
He ended by extending appreciation for the executive committee of the Senate and Patricia Duffy’s leadership.
University Senate Chair, Patricia Duffy
Patricia Duffy first introduced the current and upcoming senate executive committee. She then introduced Constance Hendricks who served as the substitute parliamentarian for the meeting. She then introduced the administrative assistant Laura Kloberg who assists with senate meetings and makes sure the business of the senate is conducted as smoothly as possible.
She also discussed one recent action from steering. The handbook committee brought forward a revision to sections 3.7.1 and 3.7.2. of the handbook dealing with annual review and the third year review. The revision involved reorganization of the material for better flow. Steering determined the revision did not involve any policy changes and approved the revision.
The rules committee determines committee membership and a posting of the committees and the updated committee membership is then posted on the website when the appointment letters are sent out later in the summer.
The next Senate meeting will be on August 25th
Questions:
Gwynedd Thomas, senator Polymer and Fiber Engineering: On June 5th the Department of Polymer and Fiber Engineering was voted by the board of trustees to be closed. She wanted to say a few things about their department since they will be closing. The department was established in Auburn in 1928. She reviewed the history of the department and her history with the department. She thanked all colleagues and faculty she has worked with over the years. She also thanked the members of senate.
Patricia Duffy also extended her appreciation for all of Gwynedd’s work on the behalf of the senate.
Action Items
1. Revised Policy on Military Credits; Presenter: Constance Relihan for Xing Fang, Chair of Academic Standards
The first item up for vote was a revised policy on military credits. The purpose of this proposal is to bring Auburn into compliance with current state law. The policy indicates students will be eligible for up to 10 hours of credit, an expansion of 6 additional hours. There was no discussion and Patricia Duffy called for a vote. The policy was passed with 53 to 0 votes in favor of the revised policy.
Questions: None
2. Proposal from University Writing Committee to Add a Graduate School Representative; Presenter: Margaret Marshall, Co-Chair of University Writing Committee
The second item up for vote was a proposal to add a graduate school representative to the writing committee. The addition of a graduate representative is a constitutional change and would require 58 votes to approve the constitutional amendment. Patricia Duffy called for another head count to establish whether there was now a 58 members present. There were not 58 members present at the meeting to vote on the constitutional amendment. Larry Crowley, Immediate-past Chair made a motion to postpone the vote until the Fall 2015 August meeting when a majority could possibly be established. There was no discussion and Patricia Duffy called for a vote to accept the motion to postpone the vote on the proposal to the August Senate meeting. The motion was passed with 52 to 2 votes in favor of postponing the vote.
Information Items
1. Student Affairs: Support Services for Students; Presenter: Haven Hart, Director, Student Conduct, Case Management, and Student Advocacy
An online form was reviewed on how to report an incident/concern to the support services for students. Faculty can report conduct violations, academic violations and concerning behavior. Faculty can identify themselves or remain anonymous. Reporting student concerns and incidents helps faculty document concerns, students and faculty get the support they need when there is a concern, and helps the office keep track of trends and behaviors that are happening and how they can best provide support to those students.
Questions: None
2. Updated on Interdisciplinary University Studies; Presenter: Kathryn Flynn, Director
She reviewed the program structure and indicated that they now require 45 hours in the IDSC major, which is an increase from 36. This allows students who want o have two areas of emphasis to have more content in those two areas. They have to have at least 21 hours in one of the emphases and no more than 24 hours in the other area of emphasis. This change also helps with the completion of minors. They then have 25-26 hours of electives, which are often used for prerequisite courses or the addition of a minor.
To be an interdisciplinary study major they must pass IDSC 2190 with a grade of C or better. During that course they will create a plan of study and an application essay that they submit to a committee. The also have a capstone course which includes a graded thesis option or ungraded internship or service learning option.
The programmed was approved by ACHE June 2009. First student was admitted in Spring 2010. 277 students admitted as of June 2015. 178 students graduated as of May 2015. There are on average 50 students enrolled every Fall and Spring in the introduction course. There has been an increase in interest.
Accomplishments of IDSC students were reviewed. They have a range of students in the major who have received a variety of honors. A survey was also conducted to make sure IDSC students were employable and 78 students responded to the survey: Seventy-two were gainfully employed, 4 were in graduate school, and 2 were unemployed and looking for a job.
One of the challenges experienced by the IDSC program include the application process. They are working on revising and streamlining the application process, as it is currently time consuming. Goals include revising it in a way that will require fewer signatures. They are also proposing a seminar class that would help students work on their e-portfolio and develop a capstone proposal.
She is currently recruiting faculty interested in teaching IDSC 2190 course.
Questions: none
3. Report from the Teaching Effectiveness Committee; Presenter: Don Mulvaney, Committee Chair
The ongoing charges and purposes of the committee as well as its membership were reviewed.
Charge 1: To look at our current student evaluation of teaching
There is concern over low return rates associated with AU evaluate. Return rates are 45-50%. Validity and reliability of the information that comes back from teaching evaluations is also in question. There is also concern over biases and the ways an instructor can influence the outcome.
Provided a review of how faculty could help improve the response rates. Providing students information on how past feedback has helped to modify the course or was used to modify teaching is indicated to be one of the more powerful methods for increasing student response rates. Literature indicates that student feedback should not be the sole source for evaluating teaching effectiveness.
Charge 2: Review proposals for the Daniel F. Breedan endowment for teaching grant-in-aid.
Encouraged faculty to participate and apply.
Charge 3: To evaluate existing resources for teaching effectiveness.
Charge 4: To provide systematic approaches for faculty development programs and recognizing excellence in teaching.
Reviewed the departmental award for education excellence grant program.
Questions: None
New Business: Patricia Duffy, Senate Chair
Patricia Duffy thanked Larry Crowley and Gisela Buschle-Diller for their service as well as the members of steering, rules and executive committee for their time. Also thanked the members of the senate who have worked hard over the past year.
She then passed the gavel to Larry who closed out the meeting after thanking Patricia for her work with the senate.
Unfinished Business: Patricia Duffy, Senate Chair
None
Adjournment: Patricia Duffy, Senate Chair at 4:40 P.M.