Phi Beta Kappa selects Auburn for chapter
Williams named VP for Student Affairs
Work to start on new parking areas
Alumni election rescheduled for Dec. 1
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AU REPORT |
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| Headlines Phi Beta Kappa selects Auburn for chapter Williams named VP for Student Affairs Work to start on new parking areas Alumni election rescheduled for Dec. 1
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Alabama voters in the Nov. 7 general election approved Amendment 1 on their ballots. That measure will amend the Alabama Constitution to enable the state to float $350 million in bonds for infrastructure improvements, including $29 million toward construction of new buildings in the AU colleges of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine and School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences. That amendment enables the state to back the bonds with a portion of proceeds from oil and gas leases on state holdings. The measure was approved 63 percent to 37 percent, with 95 percent of precincts reporting.
The state's voters approved by a 70-30 margin Amendment 5, which amends the appointment process and terms for future members of the AU Board of Trustees and creates two new seats. Those seats do not carry the geographical restrictions of current seats.
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Auburn was among seven colleges and universities to win approval Oct. 21 for a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa honor society -- the oldest honor society in the United States.
Phi Beta Kappa was founded at the College of William and Mary in 1776 and is often cited by educators as the most prestigious collegiate honorary.
Auburn has been seeking a Phi Beta Kappa chapter for nearly 20 years.
"With the charter here at Auburn of a Phi Beta Kappa chapter, we have joined a select group of colleges and universities across the country," said Linda Glaze, AU's assistant provost for academic affairs. "This is the latest in a growing number of recognitions and accolades recognizing Auburn's growing reputation for scholarship. We're thrilled that Phi Beta Kappa is finally coming to Auburn."
With its charter, Auburn becomes one of only three schools in Alabama with Phi Beta Kappa chapters, joining the University of Alabama and Birmingham-Southern College.
Other major universities in the Southeast with chapters include Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas and Louisiana State. Other land-grant institutions with chapters are Purdue, Michigan State, North Carolina State and Virginia Tech.
Auburn will officially receive its charter at an installation ceremony next spring.
In the early 1970s, Phi Beta Kappa members in the Auburn community organized to pursue a chapter. In addition, the Phi Beta Kappa members have annually recognized students who have meritorious records.
To acquire a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the Phi Beta Kappa faculty members at the applying university must submit the application for a charter. There are approximately 60 members of Phi Beta Kappa at Auburn, with two-thirds on the faculty of the colleges of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Mathematics.
Of 51 applicants in the society's latest process, Auburn was one of nine chosen for site visits. Seven of those schools -- Auburn, Austin College, Florida International University, Illinois Wesleyan University, St. Joseph's (Pa.) University, Truman University and the University of Mississippi -- were approved to sponsor new chapters.
"It's much like an accreditation visit," Eloise Clark, chair of Phi Beta Kappa's Committee on Qualifications told the Chronicle of Higher Education, "but it's much more oriented to the arts and science activities on campus. Strong scholarship and creativity are two of the most important components that are examined."
Williams appointed vice president for Student Affairs
Wesley Williams, assistant vice president for student affairs and enrollment services at West Virginia University, has been named vice president for Student Affairs at Auburn, effective Jan. 1.
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"We are excited that Wes Williams has accepted our offer," said AU President William Muse. "He brings to the job of vice president for student affairs both the experience and vision that we feel is vital to lead the student affairs staff to a new level."
Williams has 25 years experience in higher education administration in the areas of financial aid, admissions and student affairs. Before going to West Virginia in 1996, he spent 11 years as dean of educational services and three as associate vice chancellor of student affairs at the University of Kansas. He also has been dean of admissions at Georgia State University, director of undergraduate and graduate admissions at Middle Tennessee State University and financial aid counselor at Vanderbilt's Peabody College for Teachers.
Williams holds a bachelor's degree in history and political science from Carson-Newman College, master's and specialists degrees in higher education counseling and administration from Clemson University and a Ph.D. in educational administration in higher education from Vanderbilt's Peabody College.
"I'm excited about the opportunity to come to Auburn," said Williams. "In the time that I've spent there, I've been impressed with the entire university community -- the students the faculty and the staff. It didn't take me long to figure out that there was indeed something very true to this thing people speak of called the Auburn Spirit. I sensed that. I think it's a great opportunity and a great time to be at Auburn."
Williams' responsibilities at West Virginia include admissions and student records, financial aid and new student services. He said one of the biggest challenges he faced at WVU was declining enrollment -- a trend he and his staff turned around.
"Because of some factors we've faced here in West Virginia with in-state graduation rates over about a 12-year period, we've had a period where we began to see our freshman enrollment suffering," Williams said. "One of the things I'm proudest of here at West Virginia is that, with the hard work of my staff, we've been able to turn that around. About three years ago, our freshman enrollment had dipped to around 3,100 and we're back up to around 3,500 now."
Williams will replace Bettye Burkhalter, who retired in April 1999. John Fletcher has been interim vice president since then.
AU Trustees to meet on Nov. 10
The AU Board of Trustees is scheduled to consider several measures at its 9 a.m. session Friday, Nov. 10, at the AU Hotel and Dixon Conference Center.
The board is scheduled to consider the relocation of functions in eight obsolete agricultural buildings and review schematic plans for Plainsman Park expansion and phase two of the women's softball park. Also on the agenda are a performance review from the managers of AU's endowment fund and a report on library improvements from Dean Stella Bentley.
The agricultural buildings are small structures south of the Hill Dorms and are to be demolished as the university undertakes construction of a new Poultry Science building in the vicinity. The buildings include the Plant Disease Laboratory, greenhouses, storage and plant research facilities. The board has been asked to approve $5 million for transfer of functions in those buildings to other facilities on campus.
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Teacher preparation programs in Auburn's College of Education got an "A" on "report cards" issued Oct. 26 by Alabama Superintendent of Education Ed Richardson.
The AU College of Education scored at the highest level on the evaluations of teacher education programs by the State Department of Education. The dean of AU's College of Education, however, said he thinks Auburn could have received an even higher grade, "A+," if the schools had been rated on their graduates' mastery of subject content in addition to teaching competencies.
Statewide, colleges and schools of education received an average grade of "B" on the Alabama Professional Education Personnel Evaluation for their teacher education programs.
Richard Kunkel, dean of AU's College of Education, said he is encouraged by Richardson's report -- and not just for Auburn. "The report shows that teacher education in the state is good overall and excellent in some institutions, including Auburn. It also verifies areas which have already been identified for improvement."
Kunkel said he expected Auburn's programs to do well on the evaluation because the AU College of Education is competitive nationally in the quality of its programs, students and faculty. The AU Education dean said he is pleased to see good grades overall for teacher training in Alabama.
"The report shows that schools and colleges of education ARE listening to school administrators in the cities and counties across our state," Kunkel said. "We are working with them to produce teachers and schools that will make the people of Alabama proud. That is certainly our goal at Auburn. We are glad to get good grades in this report, but we are still trying to identify ways in which we can do an even better job. Any input like this helps."
The Department of Education issued evaluations on 21 teacher training programs that have more than 10 students each. Of those, 19 programs, including both programs evaluated at Auburn, were given "clear" status, the state's highest rating. Two programs at Alabama A&M were placed on "caution" status.
Kunkel cited the ratings of local school administrators statewide as evidence that Auburn College of Education graduates are effective teachers. Ninety-six percent of school administrators said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the overall preparation shown by Auburn graduates in the classroom. All the school administrators said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the overall preparation of AU graduates who are new administrators, counselors or library/media specialists.
Kunkel said he would like to see the ratings expanded to place more emphasis on the extent to which graduates have mastered the content of the subjects they will teach. That is an area stressed in AU's teacher preparation programs, and include close cooperation with Auburn's colleges of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Mathematics, he added.
Parking construction to resume Nov. 13
Construction is scheduled to begin Nov. 13 on the third phase of parking on the west side of campus.
The roadwork is the final phase of a $5 million makeover of the university's largest parking area which began in 1997. The overall Max Morris Parking Improvements project includes construction of new parking lots, sidewalks, underground utility improvements, improved lighting and landscaping in the area bounded by Magnolia Avenue, Donahue Drive, Roosevelt Drive and the rerouted Wire Road.
This phase of construction will result in a net gain of approximately 400 spaces and will includes plans for safety improvements along streets and parking areas.
Campus Planner Tom Tillman said parking spaces displaced by the closing of existing lots will be temporarily relocated to the lots recently completed in Phase II of the project. Construction in that area is expected to last into the summer.
Phase I consisted of rerouting Wire Road, and Phase II involved construction of two new fan-shaped parking lots with a total of 993 spaces.
Key parts of Phase III are: Permanent closure of old Wire Road from the Magnolia Avenue/Donahue Drive intersection to Thach Avenue; reconfiguration of the five-way intersection at Magnolia Avenue and Donahue Drive; closure of the parking lot along the west side of old Wire Road, south of Magnolia Avenue and north of Thach Avenue; closure of the parking lot located west of Donahue Drive and north of Nichols Center; closure of the parking lot west of Donahue Drive and east of Nichols Center; closure of West Thach Avenue between Donahue Drive and the new parking lot loop road; construction of a new parking lot loop road; and construction of new parking lots west of Donahue Drive between Magnolia Avenue and Nichols Center.
Trustee cites opportunity for AU to address congestion
The emerging construction boom on campus presents opportunities for Auburn to address some of its longstanding congestion and parking problems, says AU Trustee Sen. Lowell Barron.
In remarks to the Administrative and Professional Assembly on Oct. 24,
Barron said campus congestion and parking are major considerations when
the Board of
Trustees reviews proposed building sites. As chairman of the board's
Property and Facilities Committee, Barron said he has learned firsthand
some of the challenges facing planners in the choice of sites.
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"There's a constant battle, with groups wanting to congest the campus more," he said. The groups will vary from project to project, but the common element, he said, is that everyone wants their new building in areas that are already too congested. Barron cited as examples the decisions involving location of the art museum and a new student center.
Museum proponents had suggested placing the museum on the library grounds, but the board asked for another site rather than further reducing green space in that area. The site ultimately chosen -- at Woodfield Drive and South College Street -- will provide plenty of parking and room for growth in an attractive location, he said.
Site selection for a new student center also presented problems because a central location was unavailable, he noted.
"Everybody wants it to be in the center of campus, but there's just not a space big enough," Barron said. "The footprint of that building is about the same size as Haley Center."
The designated location on the west side of campus will be adjacent to ample parking and will allow for green space around the building, he said. Green space and parking will be considerations as the university begins development of a long-range master plan for the campus, Barron noted. Over the long term, the university will be taking out junky, dilapidated buildings while creating more green space and parking spaces around new buildings, he added.
Buildings now under way or planned for construction in the near future will incorporate those objectives, Barron said. He cited the museum, student center, laboratory science building and poultry science building as examples of both the new building boom and the increased attention to the relationship of buildings with their environment.
The DeKalb County businessman represents District 5 -- eight Alabama counties north of Lee County -- on the AU Board of Trustees.
Responding to questions from the audience about statewide issues affecting Auburn, Barron, majority leader of the Alabama Senate said higher education will continue to lack the political clout of the K-12 sector until institutions present a more united front. The Higher Education Partnership was created in the late 1990s to augment the efforts of the institutions, but its resources are a fraction of those of the Alabama Education Association.
As a result of AEA success's success in the 1999 legislative session in locking in a large portion of growth in education funding until teacher salaries reach the national average, higher education could be in for several years of little or no growth in funding, Barron said.
The Board of Trustees is committed to bringing faculty and staff salaries at Auburn up to the regional average, despite the limited prospects for more state funding in the near future, he said. One means of achieving that goal, he added, will be through continued efforts to improve efficiency of operations and programs.
Part of the ongoing challenge, Barron said, is for all campus constituencies to be open-minded toward change. He cited his early opposition to semester conversion as an example. Once he became convinced that Auburn would lose a competitive advantage against other institutions if AU were the only one left on quarters, he agreed to support the change.
Barron said the same principle applies whenever new ideas are put forth that would involve changing longstanding practices. If the university is unwilling to accept change, it could find itself isolated and out of step with the times. "Auburn doesn't need to be an island to itself," he said.
Time Inc. CEO Logan to speak at AU
Don Logan, president and CEO of New York-based media giant Time, Inc., will kick off the Auburn Alumni Association Lecture Series on Thursday, Nov. 9.
Logan's lecture, cosponsored by Auburn Magazine and the AU Student Alumni Association, will begin at 7 p.m., at the Foy Student Union Ballroom.
A 1966 AU graduate, Logan was president and CEO of Birmingham-based
Southern Progress Corp. before being tapped as Time, Inc.'s president and
chief operating officer in 1994. He was later elevated to president and
CEO of the media conglomerate, which publishes Time, Sports Illustrated,
People, Southern Living, Progressive Farmer and a variety of other
magazines in addition to including a major book division.
Schneller receives grant for smallpox research
Stewart Schneller, dean of the College of Sciences and Mathematics, has been awarded a $2.3 million grant for research on the family of viruses that includes the deadly smallpox virus.
Awarded amid concerns that smallpox virus could be used in bioterrorism, the four-year grant from the National Institutes of Health will fund research on the orthopoxvirus family, of which smallpox is a member.
Schneller, who is also a professor in the Department of Chemistry, will be assisted by two research associates -- postdoctoral fellows Kumar Rajappan and Atanu Roy -- and graduate student Cliff Yin.
In selecting Schneller's research proposal, the NIH cited concern over the need for better understanding of orthopoxviruses and the reemergence of smallpox for use in bioterrorism at a time of waning immunity and the accompanying need for therapeutic agents available to treat affected populations.
"There are several problems and concerns we have with smallpox today," Schneller said. "People haven't been vaccinated for over 20 years. There's a segment of the population that has no protection and those that have been vaccinated, we don't know if that protection has worn off and there's no way to find out. You certainly don't want to expose them to the virus. So, basically, we're hoping that our research will lead to some sort of therapeutic agent.
"It's actually pretty exciting research. I'm excited by the science, but the more I get into it and talk with lay people about it, the more I get excited about the other ramifications as well."
Because of the highly infectious and deadly properties of smallpox, little authorized research has taken place on it. The only legal repositories of the smallpox virus are in the United States and in Russia: the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and State Research Center for Virology and Biotechnology in Novosibirsk, Siberia.
Schneller's team will have access to the virus through a collaborator at the CDC in Atlanta. "It's a unique way of conducting research," Schneller said. "We will communicate to him what we want to do and he will do it for us."
The research is an outgrowth of Schneller's investigations over the past 10 years focusing on controlling viral infections by interfering with formation of viral messenger ribonucleic acid. Viral mRNA is the biological molecule that serves as the link between genetic information of the virus and the proteins and enzymes that function to produce new viral particles.
For centuries, smallpox, or variola, meant debilitation and death to its victims. But after an extensive 50-year vaccination effort, the disease was declared eradicated by the World Health Organization in 1980. The last known case of smallpox was in 1977.
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Alumni Association sets election for Dec. 1
The Auburn
Alumni Association will meet at 11 a.m. Dec. 1 at the Alumni
Center to elect officers and directors for 2000-01. The election was
reset following a compromise over a proxy dispute on Oct. 21.
The original meeting for the election was canceled before a vote could be
held.
Under the compromise, leaders of opposing sides in the dispute agreed to support the slate of candidates originally recommended by the nominating committee of the association board, to include Golda McDaniel as president, Bob Kloeti as vice-president, and Jan Davis, Nick Davis, Ed Dyas, Andy Hornsby and Ben McDaniel as directors.
In a statement announcing the compromise, Golda McDaniel and outgoing Alumni Association Bill Porter said the members of the association board continuing next year have agreed to accept McDaniel's nomination of Tom Bryan of Opelika to fill the unexpired term of Kloeti when he is elected to the position of vice-president of the association.
All parties to the compromise agreed to reschedule the election after notifying all Alumni Association members about the agreement and the new election.
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Debra Carey, Staff Council chair for 2000-01, says the organization is stepping up its efforts to make sure the concerns of support staff are heard before major decisions are made on campus.
"There's a better communication than there used to be," she said.
"Administrators may not always agree with staff proposals, but they are
listening."
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Improved communication is a means to an end, Carey said. "Our main goal this year is to increase awareness of how difficult many people find it to live on their salaries," she said. "Hopefully through that awareness there will be a meaningful increase for those in the lower pay grades."
Carey cited U.S. Department of Health and Human Services poverty guidelines which indicate that a family of three lives in poverty with an income of $14,150. Some employees are below or barely above this level, she noted. "There are a lot of employees really struggling with their low salaries," she said. "It doesn't seem right that a state agency, especially a well-respected university, maintains this population of working poor."
Staff Council representatives now have seats on university committees where recommendations on a wide range of issues originate. Carey said her duties as Staff Council chair include ensuring that staff members are seated on committees and that they are making faculty and administrators on those committees aware of staff concerns.
In addition, she is in contact with administrators when issues affecting the staff are being considered, Carey added. Patrice Benson, immediate past chair of the council, and Harold Cummings, chair-elect, have also been active in the communication efforts, she said.
The Staff Council chair added that a new staff grievance procedure also seems to be improving supervisor-employee relationships.
Since the Staff Council represents many lower-paid employees, Carey said she and other Staff Council members on university committees stress the disproportionate impact that decisions on pay and benefits often have on those employees. For instance, flat-rate premiums for insurance have more adverse impact on the paychecks on low-income employees than those with high incomes, yet percentage increases in pay benefit the highest-paid the most and those with the lowest incomes the least.
Support for specific remedies to offset those imbalances is mixed among staff workers, she said. There is more support, she added, for raising salaries of staff workers to a higher base. "Everybody needs a raise, but people at the bottom need it most."
In work with the university budget committee and insurance and benefits committee, Carey said her main goal this year is to make sure that the concerns of staff employees receive a hearing when those issues arise. "The members of the governance committees are becoming more aware of staff concerns, and I think that will enable us to make some progress," she said.
Employees themselves also need to take the initiative in participating in programs that are there for their benefit, Carey added. She is urging staff members to take advantage of opportunities to invest in tax-deferred annuities to supplement their retirement savings through payroll deductions. Less than 40 percent of bi-weekly employees take advantage of that opportunity, she said.
"Many that don't get that benefit believe they can't afford it, but it is less expensive than they might think," she said, noting that many bi-weekly employees can invest $10 or less per pay period -- 1 percent of income -- to receive matching funds from the university. "I encourage all employees to ask the Payroll and Employee Benefits Office for assistance and to reconsider this great retirement benefit."
Walker Building naming ceremony scheduled
AU's School of Pharmacy building will officially be named the W.W. Walker Jr. Building in a ceremony at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 7.
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The name change, approved by the AU Board of Trustees on Aug. 31, will honor the businessman who built Birmingham-based Walker Drug Co., founded by his father, into one of the nation's largest independent wholesale drug companies prior to its sale in 1997.
Walker was closely identified with the family business from 1930, when he joined his father in the business, until his death in 1987. His son, James O. Walker Sr., who succeeded him as president of Walker Drug Co., and daughter, Catherine Walker Lester, are both Auburn graduates. Members of the family are longtime benefactors of Auburn.
"It is very gratifying to have the professional home of pharmacy faculty and students named after one of Alabama's most outstanding pharmacy leaders," said Lee Evans, dean of the AU School of Pharmacy.
"Practitioners in Alabama will always be indebted to the Walker family for their numerous contributions."
Evans and AU Trustee Lowell Barron, a 1965 graduate of the School of Pharmacy, will preside over the naming ceremony. James O. Walker Jr., Walker's grandson, will speak on behalf of his family.
Other speakers will include James Main, chair of AU's Pharmacy Advisory Council, Tim Bishop, president of the Auburn Pharmacy Alumni Association, and Kelly Stricklin, president of the School of Pharmacy's Student Government Association.
Walker completed his pharmacy education before joining his father's business and helping build it into an organization of more than 200 employees with a national reputation for nurturing the start-up and survival of many independent pharmacies throughout Alabama.
Art sale proceeds to go to university
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The still lifes, landscapes and character portraits will be sold at the AU Hotel and Dixon Conference Center from 4 p.m.-8 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday.
As with the New England artist known internationally as "Grandma Moses," Gainey became widely known for the style of her work and her late start as an artist in the 1970s, when she was in her 50s. Primarily oils, her works became popular throughout the Southeast, and she continued to paint until her death in 1997.
The paintings will be priced at their appraised value. The late artist's
husband and daughter have designated the proceeds of the sale to the
university. The family donated several other of her paintings to the
permanent collection of AU's Jule Collins Smith Museum of Art
Committee assesses campus diversity
A committee is assessing multiculturalism on campus, seeking insight into ways to promote diversity among students, faculty and administration.
The Multicultural Diversity Commission, established in April by Provost William Walker, is comprised of students, faculty and administration from different cultural backgrounds.
In addition to assessment, the commission -- with help from AU's Media Production Group -- has developed a video on diversity and formed a team to make recommendations on the recruitment and retention of diverse faculty.
"The first issue the commission has selected to address is related to recruitment and retention of faculty, staff and students," said Nancy McDaniel, AU's assistant vice president for student life and co-chair of the commission.
"We are initiating dialogue with multiculturally diverse faculty, staff and students to assess their experiences, issues and suggested solutions related to recruitment and retention issues and we are studying documents prepared by previous committees," she said. "We are particularly interested in why university recruitment and retention efforts in the past have not been sustained over time."
Two work teams of commission members will elicit participation through
focus groups, surveys and individual interviews.
John Bello-Ogunu, AU's assistant provost for multicultural affairs, sees the
commission as an important part of the efforts of his office.
"The Multicultural Diversity Commission is an important component in Auburn's efforts to encourage, promote and increase awareness in multiculturalism," said Bello-Ogunu. "At the moment, the commission is trying to determine the nature of the climate, the nature of multiculturalism as it exists now. What are the concerns that the students have? What are the concerns that the faculty have? What can we do to help in the area of multicultural admissions, race relations, the recruitment and retention of minority students, faculty and staff, the international students' overall well-being?"
AU-UA compete in roundup of donated food
The Auburn-Alabama football game is nearly two weeks away, but the seventh annual Food Fight between the two intrastate rivals has already started.
Each year, Alabama's two major universities compete in the food drive to see who can raise the most pounds of canned and nonperishable food. In 1999, Alabama claimed a victory over AU by collecting 24,582 pounds of food.
This year, Martha Faupel, executive director of the East Alabama Food Bank, said Auburn has a chance of reclaiming the title because of new ideas being implemented to increase community involvement.
The food bank is using a different tactic this year with "Take a Turkey to Work Days." On Nov. 13-14, faculty and staff at AU and people throughout the Auburn-Opelika area are encouraged to donate a turkey to the food bank.
"We know that the faculty and staff are often under-represented, so we are giving them an opportunity to do something for the community by taking a turkey to work," said Faupel.
Students on both campuses get involved with the Food Fight through various organizations and campus-wide drop-off points.
"The drop-off points we've set up this year are Foy Union, East Alabama Food Bank and at barrels in front of local grocery stores," said Faupel.
The local groups that contributed the most to last year's food fight were Alpha Kappa Delta, a national honor society for sociology majors; Housing and Residence Life and the Gamma Phi Beta fraternity.
Speakers scheduled for Pebble Hill in November
A quilt historian, a Southern food historian and a Southern Literature expert are among speakers scheduled for public programs at AU's Center for the Arts and Humanities in November.
Nashville resident and quilt historian Bets Ramsey will present programs on Nov. 12 and 13; Denmark native Jan Nordby Gretlund will speak on Southern Literature Nov. 14; and John T. Edge, director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, a newly formed institute of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, will speak on Nov. 21.
All programs will be at Pebble Hill, home of the Center for Arts and Humanities, on DeBardelaben Street in Auburn.
Ramsey's 2-4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 12, program will be a workshop on documenting family quilts. Her 4 p.m. Monday, Nov. 13, program, to be at 4 p.m., will be based on her several books about quilting in Southern culture and history. Ramsey's visit is co-sponsored by the Cotton Boll Quilters Guild.
Gretlund will speak on "Southern History, Biography, and Fiction: Is There A Difference?" on Nov. 14 at 4 p.m.
Gretlund is professor of American Literature at the University of Southern Denmark. His lecture is sponsored by the Herzfeld Lectures.
Edge, author of Southern Belly: The Ultimate Food Lover's Companion to the South, will speak on Nov. 21, at 4 p.m.
Crime statistics posted on web
Along with those for the rest of the nation's colleges and universities, Auburn's crime statistics have been posted on a U.S. Department of Education web site.
Under pressure from Congress, government officials are posting all university crime records on the Internet and can fine colleges $25,000 for each unreported crime.
The move to make crime reports available through the Internet comes a decade after Congress first passed a measure requiring colleges to compile annual reports of campus crimes.
Bill Nevin, director of the Department of Public Safety at AU, says the information posted on the web site will be useful to parents, prospective students, university administrators and university law enforcement.
"The information is readily available in a standardized format that will enable parents, students and administrators to compare stats from universities across the nation," he said. "They will be able to determine the relative safety of institutions."
Campus Views: Take fresh look at pay imbalances
By Robert A. Bernstein, Professor, Political Science
The university forestalled debate over just how to compute equity raises this year by failing to establish a pool to fund such raises. The failure to establish an equity pool ensures that inequities among departments will not only continue, but will expand by an average of 5 percent.
By inequities, I mean the average differences between the salaries that the faculty merit and the salaries they receive. Inequities develop at universities because there is too little mobility and too much state control for there to be a free market in professorial labor. Departments that had the misfortune to have vacancies in years when money is scarce or those that had people loyally hang on through years of terrible raises tend to pay faculty far less than is average for professors with comparable records at comparable universities in that discipline....
If there were a true free market in professorial labor, Auburn departments would have to offer salaries fairly close to the average offered at comparable universities for people in their discipline with the same rank and seniority. Some departments at Auburn actually do this, paying their faculty roughly what they merit. But others pay less than 85 percent of what would be the free market rate in that discipline.
Many of the inequities among departments occur purely by chance. It is not as though the department that hired three external heads only to have them all step down deserves to have full professors paid nearer what they merit than does the department whose head stayed on the job for 20 years. Nor does a department with several recent retirements or deaths deserve to have assistant professors paid nearer what they merit than do departments which have not had vacancies in the past few years.
The policy of allowing some departments to fall far behind what would be the free-market rate for labor in their discipline has strongly negative consequences for the university. Even though mobility is severely limited in today's market, the best people in most departments can move, and the weaker ones cannot. The wider the gap between the average salary at comparable universities and the average salary here, the more likely departments are to lose their best people while retaining their weaker members. Great professors get replaced by average ones; below-average professors stay on forever. Ultimately, you create a university with some very bad departments; and many of those will be departments that teach (or fail to teach) students from all over the university.
One objective of the university's compensation policy should be to reduce inequities among departments by preventing salaries in any department from falling too far below what would be the free-market rate for that discipline.
Just how far below average is "too far" is a matter of judgment. With the university seeking to bring salaries to 100 percent of the regional average by discipline (presumably, adjusted by rank and seniority), the goal of guaranteeing that all departments will be at least at 90 percent or 95 percent seems both attainable and desirable. This could be easily accomplished by establishing a central equity pool to be distributed by department in amounts sufficient to bring those departments below 90 percent (95 percent) to that level.
Establishing equity raise pools to be distributed by department is far more rational than past attempts by the central administration to distribute equity to specific individuals. It is nearly impossible for the central administration to determine how much any given professor merits, as that may be far more or less than is merited by the average professor with the same rank and seniority. Individual merit is determined by quality of performance; and in any department some will merit more and some less than average. In contrast, the central administrations can be far more accurate in estimating the merit for a whole department. In a whole department, those above and below average tend to balance, making the merit for the whole department roughly equal to the merit for comparable departments in the same discipline.
When the university fails to establish equity pools and, instead, adopts a
raise policy of adding 5 percent to all departmental salary pools, the gap
in equity widens between those in the fortunate departments and those in
the less fortunate departments. Departments that were at 100 percent of
regional average move to 105 percent; those that were at 80 percent move
to 84 percent. The 20 percent gap widens to 21 percent. Given enough
years of this, you no longer have a university, but a college with attendant
service centers.
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Campus Views are columns of opinion on issues in higher education and/or
matters of campus interest contributed by administrators, faculty and
staff.
Unsung Hero: Elaine Prust, Curriculum and Teaching
This week's Unsung Hero is Elaine Prust, office administrator in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching. She has been at AU for 10 years and in her current job for five and a half. She was asked:
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What do you do in your current job? "The main part of my job is secretary to the department head. I also provide assistance to the faculty and students in one of the largest departments in the College of Education."
What is the most rewarding part of your job? "I enjoy working and interacting with the faculty in the department. Being able to assist them in solving a problem and making their day run a little smoother brings me a lot of satisfaction."
What is the most challenging part of your job? "The most challenging part of my job is being able to meet the many deadlines and accomplish tasks in a timely manner, while still keeping a positive attitude when dealing with the faculty and students."
If you were not doing this job, what would you most like to do? "I think that I would enjoy going back into teaching and working with kindergarten or pre-kindergarten aged children."
What makes Auburn special? "I feel that the people make Auburn special. From the first time I walked onto the campus, the people I met were friendly and caring. I knew that this was somewhere I would enjoy working."
What was your first impression of Auburn University? "That Auburn was the embodiment of Southern hospitality. From the time I arrived on campus to work, the people have been warm, friendly and very helpful."
How has that impression changed? "My first impression hasn't changed. I still feel that Auburn is warm and friendly."
What words best describe Auburn as a work environment, learning environment or just a place to be? "I feel that Auburn has a very helpful working and learning environment with good resources to call upon. I have found Auburn to be a congenial, supportive, and challenging place to work."
What do you like to do when not at work? "My favorite thing to do is to get together with my nieces and nephews and go to their ball games, concerts and generally enjoy doing things with them. I also enjoy scrapbooking, crafts, reading, going to football games and the movies with my friends."
What person or persons do you most admire and why? "I would have to say that the people I most admire would be my parents. All my life my parents have shown me how to walk with the Lord and to trust in Him. They trained me in the standards that I try to live by today, not just by telling me but also by leading by example. Their training in God's word and love gave me the firm foundation upon which to build a full and successful life."
What is your favorite line from the Auburn Creed and why? "I don't think that I could choose just one line from the Creed. Each statement seems to capture a part of the essence of Auburn."
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AU Report
Editor: Roy Summerford. Contributing editors: Bob Lowry, Janet McCoy and David Granger. University Relations Executive Director: Pete Pepinsky. The AU Report is the faculty/staff newsletter of Auburn University and is published by the Office of University Relations at Auburn University. Direct correspondence to AU Report, 23 Samford Hall, Auburn University, Ala. 36849-5109. Telephone 334/844-9999. Electronic mail: summero@auburn.edu |