Minutes of the Auburn University Senate Meeting
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
238 Broun Hall
3:30 PM
A full transcript is available for this meeting.
Attendance Record
Senate Officers:
Michael Baginski, Chair; Nedret Billor, Chair-elect; Beverly Marshall, Secretary; Adrienne Wilson, Secretary-Elect; Daniel Svyantek, Immediate-Past Chair
Administration attending: Timothy Fair substituting for Taffye Clayton, VP & Assoc. Provost of Inclusion and Diversity; Paul Patterson, Dean College of Agriculture; Maria Witte substituting for George Flowers, Dean of the Graduate School; Richard Hansen, Dean Harrison School of Pharmacy; Gretchen Van Valkenburg, VP Alumni Affairs
Administration absent, not sending substitute: Kelli Shomaker, VP Business and Finance and CFO; Royrickers Cook, Associate Provost and VP for Outreach; Gregg Newschwander, Dean School of Nursing; Calvin Johnson, Dean College of Veterinary Medicine;
Ex-Officio attending; Bill Hardgrave, Provost; Nancy Noe, Interim Dean of Libraries; Schyler Burney substituting for Dane Block, SGA President; Elizabeth Devore, GSC President; Tammy Williams, Staff Council Chair; Robert Kulick, A&P Assembly Chair; Jung Won Hur, Steering; Michael Tillson, Steering; Jared Russell, Steering; Robert Norton, Steering
Ex-Officio Absent, not sending substitute: All present
Senators, by Department:
Attending or Represented by Substitute
Lisa Miller, Accountancy; Denis Nadolnyak substituting for Valentina Hartarska, Ag Economics and Rural Sociology; Satya Pondugula substituting for Chad Faradori, Anatomy Physiology and Pharmacology; Rebecca O’Neal-Dagg, Architecture; Kathryn Floyd, Art; Anthony Moss, Biological Sciences; Yi Yang, Biosystems Engineering; Mark Tatum, Building Science; Bryan Bechingham, Chemical Engineering; Doug Goodwin, Chemistry; J. Bryan Anderson, Civil Engineering; Mary Sandage, Communication Disorders; Kai Chang, Computer Science and Software Engineering; Young A Lee, Consumer and Design Sciences; Charles Chen, Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences; Jamie Harrison, Curriculum & Teaching; Gilad Sorek, Economics; Amy Serafini substituting for Ellen Reames, Educational Foundations, Leadership; James E. Ryan, English; David Held, Entomology & Plant Pathology; Ash Bullard, Fisheries and Allied Aquaculture; Zachary Zuwiyya, Foreign Lang & Literatures; Wayde Morse, Forestry & Wildlife Science; Haibo Zou, Geology & Geography; Kimberly Garza, Health Outcomes and Research Policy; Monique Laney, History; Scott Ketring, Human Development and Family Studies; Carlton Lay, Industrial Design; Mark Schall, Industrial and Systems Engineering; Andreas Kavazis, Kinesiology; Greg Schmidt, Library; Alan Walker, Management; Dmitry Glotov, Mathematics and Statistics; Virginia Kunzer substituting for Matthew Hoch, Music; David Crumbley, Nursing; Michael Greene, Nutrition, Dietetics, & Hospitality Mgmt.; David Mixson, Outreach; Peter Christopherson, Pathobiology; Spencer Durham, Pharmacy Practice; Guillaume Laurent substituting for Michael Fogle, Physics; Stacey Hunt, Political Science; Ken Macklin, Poultry Science; Tracy Witte, Psychology; Malti Tuttle, Special Ed. Rehabilitation Counseling/School Psych.; Shashank Rao, Systems and Technology; ______________ substituting for Jeff Welborn, Lieutenant Colonel, ROTC Air Force; Celina M Creech, Lieutenant Colonel, ROTC Army; Kimberly McCadden substituting for Captain Willie Billingslea, ROTC Navy;Arianne Gaetano, Socio/Anthro/Social Work; Robin Jaffe, Theatre; Robert Cole, Veterinary Clinical Sciences.
Absent, not sending substitute: Anwar Ahmed, Aerospace Engineering; Molly Gregg, ACES; Jacek Wower, Animal Sciences; Ed Youngblood, Communication and Journalism; Forest Smith, Drug Discovery and Development; Lloyd Riggs, Electrical & Computer Engineering; Lee Colquit, Finance; Daniel Wells, Horticulture; Dora Bock, Marketing; Daniel Mackowski, Mechanical Engineering; Eric Marcus, Philosophy;
Remarks and Announcements
Comments by University Senate Chair, Michael Baginski
Chair Michael Baginski called the meeting to order at 3:34 pm. He reminded the members of the senate or substitute for a senator to sign in in the back of the room and for substitutes to sign in by printing his/her name on the 2nd column by the senator. He also reminded the Senate about rules for speaking at Senate meetings. Chair Baginski asked for a moment of silence in honor of those that lost their lives in the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Minutes
Chair Baginski recognized the officers of the University Senate. A quorum, requiring 45 senators, with 48 senators recorded as present was established. The Senators unanimously approved the minutes for the August 28, 2018 meetings without modification.
Comments by University Provost, Bill Hardgrave
Provost Hardgrave provided an update on recent hiring at Auburn. There were 196 new hires with 77 Tenure/Tenure-track and 119 non tenure-track positions. Among the tenure and tenure-track positions, there were 65 Assistant professors, 6 Associate professors, and six full Professors hired. Provost Hardgrave also reported that a Promotion & Tenure reception was held at the home of President Leath to honor 87 faculty receiving tenure and/or promotion. He also mentioned that the Board of Trustees would be meeting this Friday, September 14 and that one academic item needing approval was the Masters in Data Science & Engineering, a joint program between COSAM and the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering.
Provost Hardgrave also updated the Senate on the shooting that occurred just off the perimeter of campus. While the incident was officially off campus and resulted from an altercation between non-students, it made national news and therefore reflects on the perceived safety of our campus. He also acknowledged the death of an Auburn student in a skydiving incident in Tuskegee. Finally, Provost Hardgrave said there had already been two suicides and four attempted suicides on campus this year. He reminded us to be vigilant in our interactions with students and be aware of those that may be having difficulty coping with mental stress.
Agenda Action Item:
Faculty Handbook Amendments
Michael Baginksi, for Ralph Kingston, Chair of the Faculty Handbook Committee, presented as an action item an amendment to the description of the Faculty Salaries and Welfare Committee composition to address organizational changes. The Senate voted in favor 60-1.
Senate Vote on Members of Senate Committees
Beverly Marshall, Secretary and Chair of the Rules Committee, presented nominees for vacancies on various committees. The Senate voted in favor 61-0.
Information Items:
SCORE
Megan Good, Director of Academic Assessment, made a presentation on SCORE (Student Core Outcomes and Readiness Evaluation). Effective Summer 2018 all undergraduate students enrolling in the University graduation course in their final semester will now have an AT hold placed on their account. While this hold will not prevent the student from registering or actually graduating, it will not allow them access to the Diploma application. In order to gain access to the Diploma application they most take the 1-hour assessment test at Biggin Hall or apply for and receive a waiver. Of the 719 enrolled for University Graduation in Summer 2018, 520 took the SCORE assessment test and 192 received waivers. That leaves seven students that did not comply. She reminded the Senate of the Revised Core Student Learning Outcomes and explained the rotation of the outcomes assessed each semester. She further elaborated that the SCORE results provide an important resource for student learning at Auburn. Finally, she indicated that the UNIV 4AA0 course effective with Spring 2019 will have a Canvas presence - making it easier for students to get all of the graduation information in one place rather than receiving multiple emails.
Some Preliminary Survey Results
Beverly Marshall, Senate Secretary, provided a brief overview of the results from the Senate Survey. She indicated that roughly 30 units had submitted answers to the survey. The results indicate that Auburn faculty and the various units represented are not disengaged. The goal of the survey is to make the best use of our Senators’ valuable time and to make sure that the Senate is an effective platform for each unit to represent their constituents. Overall, the perception of the Senate was neutral to positive. The Senate Executive Officers have plenty to work on in addressing issues raised in the survey and look forward to sharing how we are addressing the concerns at a later meeting. Dr. Marshall thanked the Senators for collecting their responses and encouraged those that had not submitted responses to do so.
Michael Baginski, Senate Chair
Unfinished Business: none
New Business: none
Michael Baginski, Senate Chair
Declared adjournment of the meeting at 3:38 pm.