Minutes
Auburn University Steering Committee
Thursday, March 19, 2015
206 Samford Hall
Submitted by Laura Plexico, Secretary-Elect

Present: Chair Patricia Duffy, Chair-Elect Larry Teeter, Immediate Past Chair Larry Crowley, Secretary-Elect Laura Plexico, Timothy Boosinger, Emmett Winn, Kevin Yost, Mike Baginski

Absent: Secretary Gisela Buschle-Diller, Emily Myers, Sara Wolf

The meeting convened at 3:30 p.m.

The minutes of the Steering Committee meeting from March 5, 2015 were approved with a few minor wording modifications.

The first business following approval of the March 5th minutes was a discussion of the agenda for the March 31, 2015 special called senate meeting. Larry Teeter indicated the budget report will be available to Patricia Duffy before the March 31 meeting. Steering voted to change the budget report on the 31st from an information item to a pending action item. At the Senate meeting on April 7th the budget report will appear as an action item and the senate will vote to accept the report in its entirety. If the senate votes to accept the report that will indicate an endorsement of the report’s recommendations. Per Roberts’s rules, a substitution amendment can come from the floor but the report cannot be edited from the floor.

Following review of the March Special budget meeting agenda the April 7, 2015 agenda was reviewed. Action items will include revisions to the Faculty Handbook presented by James Goldstein, the Make-up Day Policy from Robin Jaffe and the vote to accept the report from the ad hoc Strategic Budgeting Committee presented by Larry Teeter.

During the May 19, 2015 meeting a pending action item may include a presentation of the revised policy on Military Credits from Academic Standards if Academic Standards has completed its consideration of this item. As an action item, the Rules committee will put forth Senate Committee nominees. Information items will include a Report from Faculty Salaries and Welfare regarding Emeritus Professors from Michael Kozuh, a presentation on Teaching Technology from Diane Boyd, and a SENCER Overview from Bob Holm and Paula Bobrowski. An update from Interdisciplinary Studies from Kathryn Flynn will be scheduled for May or June.

Items of concern related to Emeritus professors have been brought to the Salaries and Welfare committee. Decisions about compensation for travel expenses, technology and departmental access will be at the college or departmental level. Emeritus professors will now stay in People Finder. It will not be possible to do an online parking tag because parking tags online are paid for by payroll deduction. Emertii will have to go to parking services to purchase and receive their hang tag.

Rules approved the recommendation from Steering to develop an ad hoc committee to evaluate the request from Robin Jaffe regarding exams during the last 3 class days. Patricia will follow-up with the appropriate committee chairs and send as email asking each of the committees to pick a designee to be on the ad hoc committee. The students on the ad hoc committee will come from the Calendar committee.

The next item of business was discussion of classroom access for instructors. Instructors were experiencing difficulty accessing their classrooms. Crystal Tomasello from the Registrar’s Office now has the ability to fill out the forms that can give instructors access to their classrooms. The process should be streamlined now and the instructors should not continue to experience difficulty.

There is a request to develop a policy for Faculty parking in the evening and weekends. A request will go to the traffic and parking committee to have designated spaces for faculty during off hours. However, after 5 there may be a lack of enforcement and patrolling of lots.

With regard to other business, Mike Baginski asked Steering whether there is a University policy on the observance of religious activities. There is a policy and Emmett indicated that students have to notify their instructors. The problem of Saturday finals and religious observance was also discussed. Mike Baginski also raised an issue regarding whether students can use classrooms in Broun Hall in the evening. Students want to use the blackboards to work on their course work and have recently been asked to leave the premises with an indication that the facility needs to be locked. There is not a University policy. It is a local issue.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 4:40.