Transcript Faculty Meeting March 11, 2008

David Cicci: I’d like to call the General Faculty Meeting for Spring 2008 to order. The first order of business is approval of the minutes of the October 9, 2007 Faculty Meeting. They were posted online. Are there any additions or corrections to those minutes? Seeing none, all in favor of approving those minutes, respond by saying Aye. Opposed Nay. Minutes are approved. At this time I’d like to invite Dr. Jay Gogue up to give the State of the University Address.

Dr. Gogue: Thank you, David. I appreciate the opportunity to be with you today. I want to talk to you about really three different things. One, I want to share a concern with you. Secondly, I want to talk to you about some things that I consider very positive on the campus that I think are making some improvements. And then finally I want to ask for your help in one particular area. I probably should start by saying that in the seven or so months that I’ve been here that I just want to tell you how much I appreciate being back at Auburn and having the opportunity to be here. I consider it a special privilege to be at Auburn and I certainly appreciate your kind words and your hospitality over the honey moon period, or the first few months. So thank you very much.
A concern that I think that we have to begin to address is really the short fall in state funds as we move into the next year, and perhaps even into the next two years. I have reported several times on this, but the percentage cut for the four year schools averages about fourteen percent for all the four year schools in the state. Auburn’s actual cut is 14.33 percent. The two year schools in the state, the cut is about eight percent. And for those in K through 12, the cut is about three percent. And we’re spending a lot of time on the phone and visiting with members as we speak to try to talk about equity and fairness during the period of time when there is a cut. If it was equitable, if they cut all of education at the same rate, so if they cut four years, two years, and K through 12 at the same exact rate percentage wise, the cut would actually be a five percent budget cut. Which is a bad cut, but it is a cut that is something that we would live with. When you get into the fourteen percent range, it is very tough to begin to look at what that means as an institution: what are your revenue streams; what does that do to your tuitions? So, that’s a concern. The Legislature, from what we understand, will take up the budget in early April. They’re waiting as late as they could. They wanted to wait with the hope that the February returns or revenues will be higher. They were actually lower. So, it is not been a good time, obviously in Alabama, relative to the revenue picture. The only thing I have to say is, probably, Misery Loves Company. The last numbers I saw, there were only about four states that will not have rather substantial cuts in their budget this year. Those are Alaska, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Texas. And if you think about it, those are gas and oil states. And so, we’re in for, certainly next year and perhaps the year after, a not very favorable budget climate.
Some of the good things that I wanted to share with you: I’m really pleased, particularly at the Federal level the work of the campus in trying for us to be more engaged with our elected representatives there. I’ve made a number of trips there to visit with them. We’ve talked about the needs of Auburn. We have carried Board Members with us on those trips when there was an opportunity for them to sit and talk with the Federal Representatives and Senators from our state. And I think those have been positive meetings. The second point of the Federal part, I hope you see some difference this year, I hope you see more difference in the coming years. We’ve tried to make that budget process, that request process as open as possible. Any faculty member, any individual, with an idea-Those ideas are going to be looked at and not just by us and screened out. They’re going to be looked at by staff and members in DC to see if there’s any interest in those particular ideas. So I feel good about the process being more open, and hopefully it’ll bear more fruit in the coming years. The mantra in Washington right now is that they’re not doing any earmark. They’re not doing any directed appropriation. I always tell everybody, I’ve only been working there since 1973 or 1974. That was the first time that I testified for budgets. And I was told then there would be no more earmarks. And every year since then there have been more earmarks, and they’ve been growing at a rapid rate. So we’re hopeful, certainly, in that area.
I want to mention Alumni. I saw numbers the other day that I was not aware of, and to me they’re rather impressive. In terms of Alumni that give money back to their home institution-Auburn ranks number one in the South East Conference and ranks in the top ten schools nationally. Those are good numbers. You can say, well why would you share that with faculty? You’re the ones, that because of what goes on in your classes and what goes on in your labs, that ultimately leads to Alumni feeling strong about their institution. So I think those are important numbers.
I want to mention the private fundraising because Auburn has done an absolutely magnificent job in an area that I have shared with you before that most places would not have gone forward with a comprehensive campaign when there was any unsettledness or any uneasiness within a university. And the reason you don’t do that is that it gives a potential donor a very easy answer when you ask them for money. You guys get it all organized, get it all together, and then come back and see me. That’s a nice way of putting it. Auburn took a huge leap of faith based on its Alumni and friends. My understanding is that several years ago when you started this campaign, the best professional advice told Auburn that you could raise about 250 million dollars. Auburn apparently didn’t like that answer. And so they got another group, and my understanding is they were told by that group you could raise about 220 million dollars. So typical of Auburn, they set a goal of 500 Million dollars and you all exceeded that goal prior to my arrival. So, Dr. Richardson and this campus, and all of you deserve tremendous credit for that. My understanding is the campaign closes at the end of the month and there will be very good numbers. We’ll probably say very little about those numbers until later in the year. But we will have appropriate celebrations at the right time.
Your Fall enrollments for this past term were something that again is indicative of what goes on in a classroom and probably indicative of the people involved in enrollment management. Last fall you had about 18 thousand applications for your 4 thousand spots. Auburn could not make a decision on 4 thousand, so I think they enrolled 4,123 students. Those are impressive numbers with that number of students that applied for the institutions. Drew Clark tells me that you went up one half of a click of an ACT point in terms of the quality of the class. Those are remarkable numbers. Most universities as you begin to improve quality, you see a tenth of a point increase or two tenths. Those are very good numbers. Wayne Alderman shared with me that the class for next fall will have numbers better than this fall. So the quality aspect and the demand aspect continue to grow.
I think you’ve probably seen the construction for new housing on campus. I think it is 1,700 beds. There’s also a loss of some beds, and so I think the net new number beds is probably about 900 or so new beds on campus. That’s important to us. It’s important in light of the events of the last few days. Parents want their children, want their kids, their students to live on campus and have the kind of environment that we all want. I think we will see some expansion. Even with the number of beds we have now, we still don’t have enough to house the freshman class. So, over a period of time I think we’ll see increased growth in the housing on this campus. I don’t know if you eat at the food services on the campus, but I’m told that the quality is much better and the quantity is much better. There was a bid that was done that changed our food providers. Chartwell is now and I have heard very good comments from them. If that is not the case, I want you to talk to Don Large because he’s the one who tells me it’s going great.
In the fall one of the first things we did was have a security audit on this campus, a rather in depth study over a month with professionals to look at our campus. The security audit was completed in the fall. There were a number of recommendations. There were three that I’ll call your attention to. One was that Auburn needed a director of public safety, a single point of contact on this campus. That was literally done within days after the recommendation reached us. The second area that they discussed at length was the need for more security cameras on this campus. We do have a number of cameras on the campus currently, but there is certainly a need for more. And the slow up, if that’s the right word, has been that we are trying to make sure that we interface the ones we have with the new ones we add where on a single monitoring site, you can not only view new cameras but you can also actually visually see and review the cameras that we already have in place. The third area had to do with making sure we get the coverage we expect in the contract with the Auburn Police Department. And so those are the three key elements of it. And those discussions certainly have been underway for a period of time.
I also want to compliment the University in the development of their transit bus system. Now I realize, I should tell you that had I been here I’d have never thought possible that 18 thousand Auburn students each day ride the transit system. And so that has been remarkably well received and I would consider it a success for the institution. At the Research Park, we are seeing construction of a new facility there. I was by there the other day. You can certainly see the structure of the building. It’s going up. I think you know that our first tenant is Northup Growman (Not sure). And I think you also know that funds were made available in the last bond issue for the construction of a second building at the Research Park.
We have several searches for administrative positions that are underway. One is the Vice President for Research. Number two is the Dean of the Graduate School. Number three is the Vice President for Development. And number four is for the Provost. We announced last week the members of the Provost Search and Screening Committee. They have not yet met. Our goal is to move forward with haste, no interviews until next fall, move forward as such optimistically we could have a Provost with us by January of next year. The time lines for the Dean of the Graduate School and the VP of Research are this fall. The timeline for the Vice President for Advancement or Vice President of Development is when Bob leaves us sometime this summer. So we’re hopeful that we’ll have a smooth transition.
I do want to mention that in terms of student diversity this fall’s class, past fall, was the largest amount of ethnic diversity that we’ve had at Auburn. It’s about 13 percent. And you’ve made remarkable progress if you go back and look at 1990 and compare it to today. So, kudos to those that have tried to work and make us a more diverse campus.
On the academic side, I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you that in my judgment David Cicci, is the President of the Faculty Senate, and his Executive Committee have been just marvelous to work with. They have been very helpful. They’ve been very supportive. They’ve been very thoughtful. And I would give all of you tremendous credit for breaking in a new President, making sure I understood and I especially appreciate that. They’re good people. They represent the faculty extremely well at this University. One of the other things that I would mention under the academic side, I understand this is the first time we have done this but systematic training sessions for department heads are extremely important for us in academia. Remember that we take exceptional faculty, in many cases, who may or may not have had any administrative or management experience. And we ask them to serve in a leadership role in our departments. I know that I have participated in several of those and my understanding is that training sessions of a recurring nature will be available for all department heads.
We have had a number of academic programs that have been reviewed this year, based on their specialized accreditation. All the comments we have received at the exit interviews have been very positive and so we expect many of those to run for six months to nine months before you actually hear back. We’ve also, I think the number is about ten departments that are a part of some specialized accreditation for which there have been external reviews and those too have been very helpful and useful to us as an institution particularly to the academic departments.
In Post Tenure Review, there were seventy one individuals that were reviewed this year. Provost reported to me that eight received what they call exceptional reviews in which a recommendation for them is to be given special recognition for their achievements. There were six in which they asked for individual development plans and individual improvement plans. So of the seventy one the vast majority scored very well. A few were at the exceptional end, and a few were at the end that needs some additional work.
I applaud the Senate this past fall. Policies were past that gave guidance on the appointment of administrators in the University. And it’s important that when we deal with acting and interim positions that there not be a foregone conclusion that some day two or three years later you wake up and there’s been no search and that person is suddenly named for that position. So I applaud the Senate for that. It was something that was needed at Auburn and it gave the ground rules and it also gave some flexibility if there has to be an exception. So I appreciate the Senate recommending that. Currently the Senate has approved a Professional Leave Program, a Sabbatical Program. It’s being worked on. It will be, obviously, supported by this administration. We have to figure out how we’re going to pay for it. But never the less it is something that is important for us as an institution to have and for it not to be something that one out of five hundred people get an opportunity to experience. And so we’re working hard, the Provost and Don Large, to find the resources necessary for us to be able to do that. I want to mention one thing that I’m excited about. Don has helped me with some resources and we’re in a position that when the campaign is over, so here in the next hopefully before the end of this academic year, we will announce that we’re going to create by next year this time 80 Endowed Professorships at the University for those that reside that exist here now individuals that have done outstanding work in which there is a true named Professorship for those individuals. We have about enough money to do forty now, and we’re going to come out with some challenge programs that allow our colleges and our departments to be successful and to bring in the additional funds that will allow us to create true endowment Professorships of that number. That will help us as an institution.
The final point I’d mention under the academic part is that as you as a faculty evaluate me over the years, hopefully over the years as opposed to one year, the concept and the belief of shared governance is important. And it’s something that we at Auburn need to spend more time on. We need to know and believe that the voices of everybody count. We need to believe that your voices have to be heard. Tough decisions still have to be made, but it is important that faculty voices are heard on the issues that pertain to the academics of this University. I appreciate that.
Let me mention one thing. I want you to think with me, and I don’t have the right answers. I want you to, I guess, be willing to be a little flexible. I’ve shared with you in departmental visits where Auburn falls in comparison with our peers. And I won’t do that today. But we’ve shared it and we’ve talked about it. And there are many of the academic metrics that are used to look at quality of an institution that Auburn needs to improve on. And we as a collective body need to be committed to look at new ideas, new ways of thinking, new possibilities, to see what it is in essence would every day make this University a better place. And we need your help. And some of those ideas are surfaced in the draft strategic initiatives. Some of those ideas, I think, are very good. Some of them are not as good as others. But to be flexible and to be open and to consider them thoughtfully and debate them good or bad, but we need to as a University to move and move in a dramatic way. And I think there’s some opportunities for us to do it as we look to the coming years and certainly to the better budgets that we will get in the future also. I appreciate being with you. Is it appropriate for questions and answers? I’d be happy to respond to questions that you may have.

Speaker Unknown (Connor Bailey?): Dr. Gogue thank you for being with us. First I want to thank Bob McGuiness personally for his efforts, running the campaign. I was on the search committee that brought him and I hope that since I was on another search committee recently that the second one will have as good an outcome as the first one clearly did. Thank you, Bob.   Flexibility of thought led me to think about the new plan for enrollment, flexible enrollment; admissions, flexible admissions I think involving AU and AUM. Could you tell us more about that than we’ve seen in the media? Who’s going to teach those classes? Are we going to have AU faculty? Is it going to be AUM faculty drafting up? How are we going to do that? What are some of the also some of the costs to this main campus for library use or other kinds of security issues or any number of other things that will come about as a result of these additional bodies on campus? Are they going to have access to AU housing along with AU enrolled freshman? Etcetera; so if you could fill us in?

Dr. Gogue: I’ll give you the long story. AUM has had flat at optimum and declining enrollment for a decade. The normal process at Auburn is that when we do not admit a student we send that application with the student’s permission to AUM to say to them, ‘Teach this student. If they do well, they can consider transferring to us.’ It is not been a very popular program. So, I guess I hadn’t been here very long, and John Veres and I were discussing his enrollment issues. And I said ‘John, you know one of the things you could do is you could come to Auburn and build yourself a residents’ hall and you could use a transit system to take those students to AUM each day. You will see an increase.’ A little later in the fall, I said ‘John, you know I’ve been riding by EV Smith’s Research Station. You know, you ought to build you an Academic Classroom there and service the Auburn Community for those students that we don’t admit.’ And in about January this year we had a situation where we had 2800 students that applied to Auburn that were not admitted, many with 23 ACTs. And at that point, we began to look and in most of those in the 2800 they had a direct connection or link to Auburn. Either mom, dad, brother, sister had gone to this institution. So the discussion began, ‘What would happen if we allowed a number on an experimental basis, one time basis, 200 students that wanted to come and live in Auburn-not in Auburn housing, but to live in the community, not going to be on campus-live in the community, be an AUM student pay the fees that you referred to, whether it’s a health fee or library fee, to AUM have to be done at a rate that was equivalent to any usage on this campus? Would those students find that attractive?’ The survey marketing went out saying they’d find that very attractive. The restriction would be that the AUM student would have to be taught in the late afternoons, and number two that they would be taught by AUM faculty. And so those were the ground rules of the discussion. I don’t know, Connor, really anymore than that. I don’t see it costing us money. I think Don Large’s people are working on what they call a GNA charge that’s based on room usage and all that. That would be a fee that would be paid by AUM to us. The reason why to me it’s not a bad idea is that, if you look at our class room utilization-you look at campus utilization-it drops to about 2% after about 2 o’clock in the afternoon. So it’s very low classroom utilization. This program is only for freshman students, only for the one year, and the guarantee, if you will, states if a student has a 2.5 and applies to Auburn they would be admitted. You have that policy in place now. It works whether the kid is from Southern Union or from Troy State or University of Alabama. So that was the basic parameters of the discussion. I don’t know that it’s been announced. I don’t know that it’s been formally approved. They have to have approval through the group AHEC, is that the correct name? It’s the Alabama Higher Ed Coordinating Board. So, that’s where it is. Thank you, David.

David Cicci: Thank you very much Dr. Gouge. Our first information item is presentation of the Academic Freedom Award by Bill Tremble from the AAUP.

Bill Tremble: Thanks very much, Dave. I appreciate it. It’s my pleasure to present this year’s AAUP Academic Freedom Award to George W. Folkerts. George came to Auburn in 1969 as an Assistant Professor in the department of Biological Sciences and was with us here at Auburn until his death in December of last year. George was an advocate, not only for faculty rights and academic rights, but he was also an advocate for human rights. And as I’m sure, most of you know, he was no stranger to political action. One of the things you may not know about him, was that in 1970 George testified before congress in regards to stream degradation, especially the channelization of streams and what it meant for the environment.  And as a reward for those actions and that testimony in Congress, he was asked by an Alabama Congressman to resign his position at Auburn University. George had great personal courage, as I’m sure many of you know he stood up virtually alone against the Auburn University Board of Trustees when they decided that they were going to locate the new art museum in the Davis Arboretum. To me this was an example of academic freedom in action, and it had two dimensions. One is an obvious one. By exercising his academic freedom, George was able to stand up on a major political issue. But even more important than this, in his actions in confronting the Board of Trustees and the Powers That Be at Auburn, and ultimately winning, he fundamentally enhanced faculty rights and academic freedom at Auburn University. The results, as I’m sure all of you know is that we not only got the Jule Collins Smith Art Museum at an ideal location at the Gateway to Auburn University and the community, be we also preserved the Davis Arboretum. It was a win-win situation. George was right, and we’re right in making this award to him. Accepting this award for him, are Debbie and Molly Folkerts. Would you please come down?

Applause

Debbie Folkerts: George always told me that a wife should never brag about her husband. So, I won’t do that now. But I have always been proud of him, as I am today. And I thank you, for honoring him with this award.

Applause

David Cicci: Well it’s been tradition for the outgoing Chair to make some final remarks. And I’ve been waiting an entire year for this day. I’d like to begin my remarks by thanking those that have helped me so much during the last year. Ann Beth Presley was an outstanding Secretary whose diligence made my job much easier. Rich Penaskovic served as a wonderful mentor and confidant who helped me find my way through many difficult decisions with his wisdom and experience. Bob Locy and Sue Barry provided badly needed advice on many occasions. John Heilman provided direction and support on many issues that we brought to the Provost’s Office. And President Gogue has shown strong support of the faculty and shared governance. Thank you all very much. I’d also like to express my gratitude to my Department Head, John Cochran for relieving me of many of my departmental responsibilities while serving as Chair; and the many faculty members who provided me with great ideas, great suggestions, and great advice throughout the year.
Although it was occasionally difficult and perhaps even a bit frustrating at times, this past year has been the most rewarding in my 21 years at Auburn. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the inter-workings of the University, getting to make new friends across campus, and having the opportunity to provide suggestions and input on so many significant issues. As you know, I had the unique experience of serving as Chair during a change in Presidency. As difficult as some things were when I began my term, I feel extremely good about what’s transpired since Dr. Gogue’s arrival. I believe we’re now in the position to achieve many great accomplishments under his leadership. I think we’ve had a good year in bringing forward some important initiatives- A new Professional Improvement Leave Program, the New Ombudsperson Position, the Administrative Hiring Resolution, and the Faculty Merit Raise Resolution, to name a few. But more importantly, I believe we refocused our efforts on academic issues and ones that affect faculty and our academic mission rather than reliving past disappointments and controversies. While not forgetting our history, I believe it’s time to move forward and make Auburn an even better University. In doing so, I think we have an outstanding opportunity to strengthen the Shared Governance Process. For the first time in what seems like many years, we have a President who not only supports shared governance but embraces it. It’s now time for the faculty to step forward and do its part to strengthen the process. This can be accomplished by increased participation in committees, more involvement in Senate issues and more volunteers for Senate Leadership Positions. I don’t understand why it’s always so difficult to find candidates for the positions of Chair and Secretary. Thanks to the generosity of the Administration, we have an extraordinary compensation package in place for those positions. But while the benefits are certainly nice, they shouldn’t be necessary. The opportunity to provide substantial input into the development of University policies and processes should be enough; especially if we as a faculty truly do believe in the foundation of shared governance. Talking about the importance of shared governance but not being able to find candidates for office does not improve the perception of our faculty. I understand why there might be some apathy toward shared governance here considering our troubled past. But we must now seize the opportunity before us. If we don’t, we will have no valid complaint in the future if we end up with a substandard governance system. So I challenge this faculty to take us to the next level in the years ahead.
One disappointing aspect of my year as Chair, which I’m sure results from our troubled past, was that when issues weren’t perceived to be handled in the proper shared governance manner, I would receive complaints of secrecy and how shared governance was dead at Auburn. Now some of you may remember that I spent four years as a member of the Auburn City Council where I observed secrecy, hidden agendas, and backroom politics to perfection. I have not seen that kind of behavior at the University under this administration. If I did, I would have been the first to call attention to it.
My wife tells me that I complain too much, and she’s probably right. But I still feel the need to mention some of my concerns to you today. As we all know, accountability is very popular right now and we should all be held accountable for our job performance. But it seems that most accountability measures put in place flow down hill to the faculty. Our work is constantly being evaluated by student reviews, peer reviews, evaluations of grant proposals and journal submissions, yearly performance reviews, tenure evaluations, and promotion evaluations. Now we have post-tenure review and a new Faculty Dismissal Policy which were forced upon us by the previous administration. Accountability is extremely expensive and with so many measures already in place for faculty, I cannot be convinced of a need for the redundancy for Post Tenure Review with the large investment in resources it requires for such a small payoff. I would like to state that I applaud the new training program for department heads and new administrators. Some, I found, don’t know or don’t even care about the rules under which the University functions causing problems for both the faculty and other administrators.
Another great concern of mine, is our over reliance on the national rankings of University as contrived by a magazine. Auburn, and many other universities, are spending a fortune chasing the same ill-defined metrics that often have little or no relationship to the quality of the education we provide. And in doing so, we are being molded into the same type of cookie-cutter University as so many others. We’re losing our uniqueness, our charm, and the ability to do what we do best. The only measure of how good we are as a University should be how well we’re educating our students. In my mind, chasing national rankings is counter productive. And I’d love to see Auburn join the growing list of Universities which are choosing not to participate in the U.S. News and World Reports Ranking game. I’m afraid that the only measures of perceived quality anymore are an institutions U.S. News ranking and the size of its endowment. If we must chase rankings, I would much rather we focus on our rankings in the National Survey of Student Engagement which offers a much more realistic measure of the quality of an institution. The final concern that I’d like to share today, was unfortunately brought to life this past week and that is the need for increased security on campus. Nothing should be more important than the safety of our students and employees. In addition, during the past two years, the Executive Committee of the Senate has repeatedly asked the administration for an increase in counseling services on campus. Although those services have been improved, we still have a long way to go to be adequate in that area.
However, as I leave office today I am excited about many things- the completion of a strategic plan, which will provide us with a solid direction into the future; the continued expansion of the Undergraduate Scholarship Program, which has already resulted in an increase in the quality of our student body; the development of the Writing Initiative and its incorporation into the curricula across campus to better equip our students for life after Auburn; the continued strengthening of our academic programs and the hiring of more outstanding faculty members; the successful search for a new Provost to maintain and enhance the academic reputation of Auburn University; and of course the strengthening of our shared governance system through increased participation and cooperation between the Faculty, Administration, and the Board of Trustees. After today, I will become the Faculty Representative on the Board for the next year. I will continue to support the best interests of the faculty and our academic programs. During my service on the Board, I may call on you for your advice, your wisdom, and your guidance. Please feel free to continue to call on me if the need arises.
Finally, it has been an honor to serve the faculty here as Chair. Thank you for giving me such a great opportunity. I hope that you will give Bob Locy the same support that you gave me and we’ll have another great year under his leadership. Thank you. At this point, I would like to call Bob Locy forward to happily pass him the gavel. And he will announce the results of the election for Chair and Secretary.

Applause

Bob Locy: First of all, I’d like to thank David Cicci. I think he set a standard that the rest of the Presidents of Auburn, or Chairs of the Auburn University Faculty, excuse me, are going to have a hard time living up to. It’s been a very productive year and I look forward to having an equally productive year next year. I look forward to continuing to work with David. He’s given me the gavel, but that doesn’t relieve him of his responsibilities to serve yet for his year of Past Senate Chair. And I’m looking forward to working with a set of new officers that are coming in. And so I’m pleased to announce that the Secretary Elect for the faculty has been chosen to be Dennis Devries from Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures and the incoming Chair Elect of the faculty will be Kathryn Flynn from Forestry and Wildlife Sciences. So, will you join me in giving them a round of applause?
Applause
Now, I’d like to assure the other two candidates that ran for office, Ron Clark and Larry Molt, that their willingness to serve has not gone unnoticed. And I believe that they’re both fine individuals and I look forward to finding ways in which even as the non-winners, we’ll find a way to incorporate them into the work of the Senate and an opportunity to continue their interest in Faculty Self Governance, to continue to pursue those goals with us. We’re by no means closing the door to them for future service, and hopefully, maybe even they would run again for office in the future at some point in time.
Okay, I believe my second official act then is to ask you if there is any old or unfinished business that we need to address. Hearing none, is there any new business for the faculty to address?
Before I adjourn you then, I have a little statement that I would like to leave you with. One of the most significant events in the past year at Auburn University has just occurred and we’ve endured along with other campuses across the country an apparently senseless random act of violence on our campus. This act has left us, and particularly our students as I view it, confused, frustrated, devastated. I believe that as a faculty, we need to stand as examples to our students and I believe that this is a significant teaching moment in Auburn University’s history. I am confident that we will do everything we can on a personal and on an institutional basis to move forward serving as examples of how to restore the uplifting educational environment of our campus. Let us begin by minimizing the devastating effects of random acts of violence that only destroy our spirit and our faith in human kind by committing random acts of kindness that enrich and restore such spirit and faith. Doing this in the honor and memory of Lauren Burke and the other students that have died on other campuses across the country recently, is an academic responsibility that I believe is our calling as faculty members in such times as this.
If there’s no further business, we stand adjourned.