AU REPORT November 16, 1998

The board-created Commission to Review the Role of AU will meet at 1 p.m. Thursday to consider recommendations submitted recently by President William Muse. The commission will submit its recommendations to the AU Board at 9 a.m. Friday. Both meetings are at the AU Conference Center.

The 10-member commission, which includes five members of the Board of Trustees, will consider two sets of recommendations from Muse in developing its report to the AU Board. Muse in September submitted a list of proposed changes in the university's organizational structure, and he presented a requested list of high- and low-priorities for programs on Nov. 6.

Muse's recommendations on campuswide priorities for the next five years include raising faculty compensation levels to regional averages, increasing deferred maintenance spending to $10 million annually and increasing departmental operating budgets by 3 percent per year.

He also recommended investing in the core curriculum, instructional technology and library resources and designation of several academic programs as "Peaks of Excellence." Extra funding would be provided to help these programs develop into nationally ranked academic areas.

The series of recommendations, including smaller annual tuition increases, would generate $52 million in new or reallocated funds for university priorities over the next five years, Muse said.

After the three campuswide priorities of salary improvement, reducing deferred maintenance and improving departmental budgets, Muse identified the high-priority programs or departments as Fisheries/Allied Aquacultures and Poultry Science in the College of Agriculture; the biological sciences; detection and food safety; transportation and information technology in the College of Engineering; and Forestry and Wildlife Science.

One source of additional funding would be through termination or merger of 10 academic programs. These would include: Doctorate, in economics; master's level programs in instructional design, trade and industrial education, music and political science; and undergraduate programs in aviation management, trade and industrial education, geography, criminal justice (to be merged with criminology) and anthropology (to be merged with sociology).

Muse proposed eliminating the Department of Discrete and Statistical Sciences and moving that program's faculty to Mathematics, combining Vocational and Adult Education with Curriculum and Teaching and merging the Veterinary Medicine departments of Radiology and Small Animal Surgery and Medicine.

The AU president recommended that the proposed program cuts be reviewed by the Academic Program Review Committee before the Board of Trustees makes a decision. However, if any programs are spared, the dean of the affected college would have to find similar-sized cuts in other programs.

In addition, under the president's proposal, auxiliary units -- Athletics, AU Bookstore, Food Services and Housing -- would increase their annual payments into the university budget, and tuition would be increased 6 percent annually over the next five years. Administration budget cuts for the President's Office, Executive Vice President, Athletics and General Administration would total $4 million.

Muse said the university will recoup $6.5 million by phasing out programs designated as low priority and slightly more through the other proposed reallocations. Another $650,000 would be saved through restructuring proposals he submitted in September.

Recommendations on low-priority areas for the College of Agriculture and AAES were delayed pending the arrival of new Agriculture Dean and AAES Director Luther Waters in January.

(For details on the AU President's recommendations,see Commission .)

Pleads for program
Veteran Music Department Professor Thomas Smith was among speakers urging the Review Commission on Nov. 11 to spare or restore funding to their programs.

Advocates urge saving their programs from further cuts

Supporters of programs targeted for termination or merger turned out in force on Nov. 11 to defend their programs before the Commission to Review the Role of AU.

Commission members expressed a willingness to consider saving some of the targeted programs, but they called on defenders of those programs to help find alternate sources of revenue. Members also questioned the fit between some programs slated for cuts and the colleges which gave a low rating in relation to other programs.

The commission meets at 1 p.m. on Thursday to develop its report to the Board of Trustees and will deliver the report at 9 a.m. Friday. Both meetings will be at the AU Conference Center.

More than a dozen speakers and large crowds turned out at last week's hearing to express support for economics, music education, aviation management and nursing programs that face termination or other cuts.
Speakers also asked the commission to spare the geography degree and the Department of Vocational and Adult Education.

The commission also heard the process or parts of it questioned by several speakers.

The outpouring of support for some programs led several commission members to question the fit of those programs to the colleges in which their low rating placed the programs on the chopping block. Commission member Paul Spina, an AU trustee, was among those questioning how the music education program could be high priority in the College of Education and be marked for major cuts by the College of Liberal Arts, where it is
headquartered and a low priority.

Distinguished University Professor Wayne Flynt, a faculty representative on the commission, noted that interdisciplinary programs are particularly susceptible to cuts by the college which houses them.

For instance, the doctoral degree in economics was marked for termination because it is the lowest rated College of Business program, but speakers from the College of Agriculture and the School of Forestry said their graduate students depend on the economics courses for their core courses.

Spina remarked that he would like to see the deans of Agriculture and Forestry share the cost of the program.

Likewise, music education was marked for major cuts by the College of Liberal Arts as one of that college's lowest rated programs, but Education Dean Richard Kunkel said the program is a priority for his college.
Questions of program fit also arose about the aviation management program, which was marked for termination as the lowest rated program in the College of Engineering. Commission member and Trustee Bobby Lowder, agreeing with a speaker's suggestion, said the program might fare better in the College of Business with other management programs.

The School of Nursing also produced a large turnout to protest the proposal to place the school under a dean headquartered at AUM.
Other speakers urged the commission to spare the geography major and the Department of Vocational and Adult education.

The process was questioned by Richard Penaskovic and Mike Melancon of the History Department, Roy Broughton of Textile Engineering, SGA Vice President Ching-Wei Tzeng and Buck Bradberry, retired director of Alumni and Development.

Starting the museum
Most of the time AU officials and guests stop with the formal posed photo for groundbreaking ceremonies. For the long-awaited groundbreaking for Auburn's new art museum, officials and donors had a playful time recently celebrating the start of site preparation after years of planning. From left to right are Nancy Hartsfield of the Art Department; Charles Hudson of the Fuller Callaway Foundation, a major donor; Dean Emeritus Edward Hobbs; Professor Emeritus Taylor Littleton; major donors Jule Smith, Albert Smith and Susan Phillips; President William Muse; Betty DeMent, vice president for Alumni, Development and University Relations; Auburn Mayor Bill Ham; and AU Trustee Jimmy Samford.

Walker calls on faculty to help with minority retention

Interim Provost William Walker called upon faculty leaders last week to help him reexamine and increase Auburn's recruiting and retention of minority faculty.

Walker told the University Senate that Auburn was making good progress in recruitment of African-American faculty from 1990 through 1994, as the number rose from 22 to 37, but the number has fallen to 27 since then, he noted.

AU has been under a federal court order to increase its minority student and faculty numbers since the early 1990s. Student numbers have increasing, but the number of black faculty has fallen during the university's economic setbacks of the past three years, Walker noted.

Even if there were no threat of a court order, the university would need to step up its recruiting and retention of minority students and faculty, Walker said. "It's the right thing to do. We need to have a diverse faculty. We need to have a diverse student body."

More diversity in the faculty and student body will help students of all races prepare for the diversity of the work place and society they will inhabit after their college years, he said.

Walker asked the faculty leaders to work with him and the deans and department heads in developing new goals and plans for recruiting and retaining minority faculty.

In other University Senate activity, the faculty representative body approved a resolution asking Gov.-elect Don Siegelman to choose individuals without prior service on the AU Board of Trustees when he makes his appointments in early 1999. The governor will be able to fill up to six seats, subject to approval by the Alabama Senate.

Raptor center dedication
Woody Bartlett, center, helped AU officials dedicate Auburn's new raptor center recently in honor of his mother, the late Elmore Bellingrath Bartlett. The center specializes in the treatment and study of birds of prey. Helping Bartlett display a plaque commemorating the occasion are Raptor Center Director Joe Shelnutt, right, and AU Trustee Jack Venable.


Finance faculty productivity ranks high in national journal

The productivity of faculty in Auburn's Department of Finance has been recognized by a leading national academic publication -- the Journal of Financial Education.

Finance Department faculty ranked 17th nationally among 329 finance programs in total research articles in the area of corporate finance.

The research articles were published in 16 leading finance journals during a five year period, according to a study by the Journal of Financial Education.

"This ranking reflects the collective research efforts of the faculty in corporate finance," said John Jahera, head of the Department of Finance. "This recognition is evidence of the quality of the faculty at Auburn, and this quality is apparent not only in research but in the ability to translate the academic research to the classroom."

Discussing education issues
National health care systems executive Wayne T. Smith, left, a graduate of AU's College of Education, recently led a roundtable discussion of educational leadership issues with faculty, staff and students at the college. Smith is shown with two of the roundtable organizers, Frances Kochan, center, director of the Truman Pierce Institute, and James Kaminsky, head of the Department of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Technology. Four professorships have been established in the college with a gift from Humana Inc. in honor of Smith, former chief operations officer of the health care corporation.


Membership in AU Club now half price

Auburn and AUM faculty and staff can join the Auburn University Club for half the regular initiation fee until the end of the year, says Paul Harper, project manager for the new private golf course development near the intersection of North Donahue Drive and Shug Jordan Parkway.

Until Dec. 31, the initiation fee for university employees will be $1,250.
As of Jan. 1, the initiation fee for faculty and staff rises to the then current rate for non-employees. Only 300 local memberships and 50 student memberships are available in the club.

Initiation fees increase in increments of 100 local members. Although that total will be surpassed and the fee increased this week for non-AU employees to $3,500, the rate for AU faculty and staff will remain at $1,250 until the end of the year. The initiation fee may be paid in installments.

Members also pay a monthly fee. For Auburn residents, the monthly fee is $125. For Montgomery residents, the fee is $75.

The monthly fee covers club privileges, including greens fees but not golf cart rental, food or beverages. The monthly fee will go into effect when the club is opened, which is projected for September 1999.

The Auburn University Club will have a clubhouse, pool and tennis courts in addition to an 18-hole championship golf course. For additional information, call 821-8381.

'Auburn University, AL" now correct campus mailing address

The U.S. Postal Service has reversed a previous ruling, enabling AU to use "Auburn University, AL" as the university's official address.

Local Postmaster Jerry Chrietzberg announced approval by postal authorities of the use of the "Auburn University, AL" designation.

"I have long been a proponent of giving Auburn University this special identity and am pleased that we were able to get this address format changed," said Chrietzberg.

The change is possible because a new sorting plan enables the Postal Service's automated equipment to sort mail for the university, the postmaster said. As a result, each unit's stationery must bear the department's four-digit suffix to the zip code.

AU units which have been using stationery with the final address line reading "Auburn University, AL 36849-#### (the 4-digit mailing code for each department)" may reorder stationery with the same address when present supplies run low. The Post Office will still accept the former recommended address of "Auburn, AL" for materials from any units that ordered stationery with that address. Future orders would then be for the "Auburn University, AL" stationery.

WWII hero to speak of raft ordeal, rescue

John Bartek, who, along with flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker, survived a three-week ordeal in the Pacific Ocean during World War II, will speak at Auburn on Thursday.

Bartek, a flight engineer on an ill-fated secret mission for the U.S. military, will speak about their experience at 3 p.m. on the ground floor of Draughon Library. Bartek, Rickenbacker and six others crashed their four engine bomber in the Pacific and spent nearly three harrowing weeks adrift at sea. Their rescue in November 1942 was one of the biggest news stories of the year.

AU grant to help Marengo County grow jobs

An AU "Do Something" grant for $21,500 has been awarded to fund a "Grow Your Own Jobs" program in Marengo County.

The grant will be used to convert an existing kitchen and cafeteria in a closed school in Thomaston into a food processing plant. The plant, which will process fruits and vegetables, will enhance ongoing efforts by government and private initiatives to stimulate production on small, minority-owned farms.

The grant proposal was submitted by Robin Fellers, assistant professor of nutrition and food science at Auburn.

"This is a very important step for Auburn as it strives to serve the needs of all Alabamians," said Fellers. "The great resources of knowledge and experience that exist in this institution are needed by the state not just to educate our children, but to help improve the quality of life for everyone."

AU faculty will provide the expertise for renovating the existing kitchen to meet state law for processing plants; training local residents to operate and work in the plant; testing products and labeling; and evaluating the effectiveness of the program.

The project, with plans to develop niche markets, will be a vital link in efforts to vertically integrate agribusiness and open new markets for products from underserved, minority-owned businesses.

"This (grant) has the potential to help underserved small farmers and underemployed rural populations to improve their skills, knowledge and quality of life," Fellers added. "I am sure there will be benefits that we have not foreseen. Projects such as this usually do have unexpected benefits."

West Alabama collaborators on the project are: Patsy Sumrall, mayor of Thomaston, and Arthur Jackson, chief operating officer of Selma-based HKA & Associates, which operates several produce outlets.
Other AU sponsors include: June Henton, dean of the School of Human Sciences; Cheng-I Wei, chair of the Department of Nutrition and Food Science; Evelyn Crayton, professor; Jean Weese, associate professor; and Amarat Simonne, post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science; Georgia Aycock, associate professor in the Department of Consumer Affairs; Eric Simonne, assistant professor; and Floyd Woods, associate professor, in the College of Agriculture.

In addition to the Auburn grant, the project is also supported by the Natural Resource Conservation Services' "Jump Start" grant program and the ALA-TOM Resource Conservation and Development Council.

The office of the vice president for University Outreach at Auburn has awarded more than $100,000 to fund five proposals received in the "Do Something" faculty competitive grant program to increase educational, economic, health care and leadership opportunity in Alabama's Black Belt.

AU honors legislator
Former State Rep. Pete Turnham celebrates winning AU's first Legislative Award. Behind him are, from left, AU Governmental Affairs staff members Buddy Mitchell, Sherri Fulford and Joyce Reese and President William Muse.

Turnham receives first AU Legislative Tiger Award

Recently retired State Rep. Pete Turnham, the longest serving member in the history of the Alabama Legislature, has been honored by the Auburn Legislative Action Network with its first Legislative Tiger Award.

The award was presented on Oct. 31 to Turnham -- known as the "Dean of the Alabama Legislature" -- by AU President William Muse.

"Pete Turnham sets the standard for devotion to and support of Auburn University," said Muse. "It is for that reason this distinctive award is named for him and presented to him upon his retirement from the Alabama Legislature."

Turnham retired from the Legislature this year after a 40-year career in which he served under nine speakers of the House and nine governors. During his tenure as the representative from House District 79, he fielded countless constituent calls, many from Auburn alumni, faculty and staff.
"Somebody had to speak up and take the lead on education," said Turnham.

"I figured with Auburn (University) in my district, I had better do it. And I put my whole heart into it."

Established this year, the Legislative Tiger Award will be given annually in recognition of a legislator "exemplifying dedication to and support of Auburn University and its legislative efforts."

Campus Views: Are professors teachers or job trainers?
By Herbert Rotfeld, Professor, Marketing & Transportation

As programs are reviewed at the University Curriculum Committee, the value of the programs or specific courses is often presented in terms of potential entry-level jobs. Students note their interest in what they think the field involves as a basis for selecting a major; department brochures often "sell" programs based on the types of jobs available in the economy.

For many programs at this campus, an oft-stated rationale is that a major is attempting to prepare students for entry-level jobs while those programs lacking any clear job ties often denigrated unless they contribute to the university core.

The difference between teaching and training could be merely semantic. After all, a job trainer does teach his or her charges. However, the conflict is more basic than that and has interrelated implications for both student expectations and program content.

Since the vocational-credit mentality has influenced (if not controlled) a great deal of modern undergraduate education in the U.S., for good or ill it has had an impact on our activities and students' expectations.

Auburn has a broad-based core of general education, but many students see it as something to be endured and forgotten. Their interest in all courses is based on the pragmatic utility that they believe it might hold (though most students can't define "pragmatic"). Young people with a desire to study history are ridiculed by friends: "What are you going to do with that?" If they see value of the education at all, it is because a course imparted "useful information."

Of course, this begs the question as to just what is useful, especially in this fast-changing world. A graduating senior today studied DOS-based WordPerfect or Windows 3.1 in the freshman level computer course and other programs that are equally dated. In business, terms change, the contexts alter, and since the trend is not destiny, "useful information" is chimera. Faculty update their lectures, and textbooks are revised, but no one contacts past students with corrections of what was conveyed in the past.

But there is a more basic problem. Seeing the degree as job certification instead of an education, the students are more concerned about credits they acquire than what they learn in the process; they care more about credit than content. As our catalogs tell students of the valuable careers that come from a major, as we focus on job training, the students just want the degree, but not the education.

Teachers who control courses credits and grades are no longer seen by students as resources to tap or mentors who can provide guidance, but rather, as obstacles to overcome. When called upon to think through a problem, some might just reply, "I don't know. Tell me the answer." Faculty tell answers; they memorize, pass exams, get credit, and move on. To them, the learning is a distraction.

With a focus on job training instead of learning how to think and ask questions, the classes and books have evolved into collections of lists and data.

A lot has been said about the need for our students to be able to deliver a power point presentation and know the proper "form" for a business letter. But sometimes even the faculty forget that it is more important that they must also know how to compile and analyze information that would go into the presentations, group meetings and letters. As a result, it should surprise no one that few students are desiring to read a book and answer questions unless they are first told what they need to know and what is important to remember.

Students proudly show their high grades, from multiple-choice exams, as if their future careers will all depend on knowing which choice to make instead of discerning which choices exist. Of course, the real problem is that few people understand the value of education. At a graduation ceremony, several speakers said "Now that your education has ended," meaning there are no more credits to earn.

It wasn't that long ago that universities were primarily concerned with the organization and dissemination of knowledge, not the accumulation and bestowing of credit. In-class job training or a collection of credits provide value for future employers only if it represents a developed ability to think. Calling education job training loses track of this, to the detriment of education itself.

Campus Roundup

Service learning talk scheduled
D. Michael Shafer, a national authority in the development of service learning programs, will be on campus this week to meet with Auburn faculty in AU's service learning program. Shafer will speak at 9 a.m. at the AU Conference Center. The program, administered through the AU Outreach Office, involves faculty and students from a variety of disciplines who assist service organizations in the community. Shafer, a Rutgers professor, has established that university's program as a model for the nation,says Holly Stadler of AU's Department of Counseling and Counseling Psychology.

Scanning of exams available
AU's computer scanning service to assist faculty in grading final exams will be available during fall quarter from 7:45-11:45 a.m and 12:45-4:45 p.m. Dec. 7-11 in Tichenor 120. For information, call 844-9904.

Chamber quartet to perform
The Auburn Chamber Music Society's first concert of the season will be Wednesday at 8 p.m. The Brentano String Quartet from New York will perform Haydn and Beethoven string quartets in Goodwin Recital Hall. Tickets at the door: $15; free for students.

Flex Spending period opens
Open enrollment for AU's Flexible Spending Account Plan for 1999 is under way. Under this plan, participating AU employees gain tax savings by setting aside pre-tax earnings to reimburse themselves for medical insurance premiums, dependent care expenses and medical, dental and vision expenses not reimbursed by insurance carriers. Deadline for registration or changes is Dec. 15. Contact Sarah Fucci at Payroll and Employee Benefits, 844-4183.

Literature discussion set
Matthew Grenby, Fulbright-Robertson Visiting Professor of British History at Westminster College in Missouri, will deliver a public lecture titled "Rallying Readers Against Revolution: British Fiction and British Conservatism in the 1790s" at 4 p.m. Thursday in Foy 203. The lecture will examine the late 19th century reaction in Great Britain to the French Revolution as reflected in British literature of the period. Grenby is the author of a forthcoming book on the same subject, The Anti-Jacobin Novel, to be published by Cambridge University Press in 1999. The lecture is sponsored by the Department of English and the English Club.

Insurance changes permitted
The enrollment period for health and dental insurance changes or additions is Nov. 1-30. November is also the open period for employees wishing to add, drop or change other salary withholding of medical or dental costs for tax purposes. During this month, AU employees may add or drop coverage of the following from Blue Cross-Blue Shield: Preferred Care Plan (traditional plan) or its alternate, Personal Choice (managed care plan with primary care physician); and Dental (protective care). To make a change for the 1999 year in their health or dental coverage, contact Payroll and Employee Benefits at 844-4183.

Partnership seeks AU members
The Higher Education Partnership, an independent association for higher education, is conducting a membership drive among AU faculty, staff and supporters. Membership is $12 per year and supports information and lobbying efforts on behalf of the state's universities. For a membership application, call 844-4607.

Unsung Hero, Charles Meadows, AAES Analytical Instrumentation

This week's Unsung Hero is Charles T. Meadows, analytical instrumentation manager for the Department of Research Instrumentation of the AU's Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station. Next April, he will have 20 years of employment at AU, including 17 with AAES. He was asked:

I get the greatest satisfaction in my job when... "our office is able to meet or exceed the instrumentation support required for a given AAES research project. This can include repairing and/or maintaining scientific analytical equipment, in-house design and construction of data acquisition systems, interfacing with hardware and software instruments for control and data retrieval, to name a few. Our office with three full-time employees and four or so student workers has averaged completing about 1,100 work orders annually over the past seven years.

In my job area, quality is measured by... "meeting or exceeding expectations of our office in support of the 200-plus AAES research scientists and their analytical instrumentation requirements."

If I could change one thing about Auburn (or my job), it would be... "first, I must say I am thankful for my job and for having a good boss. The thing I would change is the AU personnel system so that I could adequately compensate our two instrumentation specialists for their experience, abilities and constantly above-average performance in support of the AAES research program.

I've always wondered why... "you have to plant seed and water seed to get things done, if you know what I mean."

When people come to this campus, I want them to... "see where and how their tax money is being spent and then feel good about AU, believing they are receiving dividends on their investment."

In my spare time, I like to spend time with my wife Virginia and our family, including seven grandchildren. And I try to help people in need through Sunday School, and go fishing when I can, usually once or twice a year."

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