min-fac-10-27-20

General Faculty Meeting: Minutes
October 27, 2020
3:30pm
Zoom Meeting (https://auburn.zoom.us/j/86597909532)
A full transcript of this meeting will be made available.
Please refer to transcript for details not included in the minutes.
Presentation slide information is available from the Agenda for the meeting.
Chair Donald Mulvaney called the meeting to order at 3:34pm.

Approval of the minutes from the General Faculty Meeting from March 31, 2020 Chair Mulvaney called for additions and corrections, and none were made. Minutes approved by unanimous assent.

Remarks and Announcements
President Jay Gogue -

Four key financial metrics are positive for Auburn University

State appropriations – State income for the General Fund and Educational Trust Fund were good for the Fiscal Year just ended. With these funds healthy and with a State bond issue, AU is poised for stability and growth.
Private giving – The private giving goal for the last fiscal year was surpassed.
Research Income – Income is up 67% over the previous year.
Tuition and Fees – AU enrollment saw increases for both Summer and Fall 2020 semesters.

Auburn should be proud of our academic partnership with the UN World Food Program and its recent receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Task Force on Equity and Opportunity is making progress in recruiting & retention, in scholarships and in hiring. See the task force web page for more information.
Auburn was again ranked as the top university in the State of Alabama by the US News and World Report.
Parental Leave Policy took effect on 10/15/2020
A one-time $1500 salary supplement has been approved for all AU employees.
The president closed his remarks by thanking those in attendance for coping with the disruptions and changes over the past 10 months and reiterated the three principles guiding AU leadership during the COVID pandemic: the health and safety of Auburn people, a commitment to our Mission, and a commitment to shared governance.

QUESTION (Sam Sommers, English Dept) – Is there any set aside in donation funds for childcare subsidies or to reimburse expenses for remote teaching?
ANSWER (Jay Gogue): Planned giving is usually restricted in how it can be used, but there are general funds that may apply. I will look into those fund and this topic.

Provost Bill Hardgrave – Provost Hardgrave gave a fall overview and discussed Spring Semester planning.

Fall Semester has exceeded expectations – Good enrollment, and a solid operational plan. We have followed Dr. Gogue’s 3 principles and we have learned to managing risk. COVID is likely to remain a threat.
Spring Planning is informed by our Fall experience.

Face to Face will be the primary teaching modality, but faculty who have innovated and found better ways to teach classes should be allowed to use different modalities. Faculty who need personal accommodations should be given them,
Of over 4500 planned sections, only 20 at this point still need accommodations. Chairs and Deans are working to find solutions.
We need to move to a more normal attendance policy. Excused absences are important but will need to be accommodated for COVID quarantine. The COVID Health App should be documentation enough.
We will not require all sessions be recorded, but faculty will need to plan to accommodate those who may be in quarantine.
We are looking into adding more sections and classrooms by stretching the hours when classes are offered.
Dedicated testing rooms are being added. These are large rooms for socially distanced synchronous testing.
The provost encouraged any faculty experiencing technology issues to contact their Deans and the Biggio Center for help.
Provost Hardgrave closed by thanking faculty for their work in getting the university to this point and welcomed questions from attendees.

QUESTION – Donald Mulvaney reading a question from Chat: Data reporting questions on capturing accurate information? ANSWER: Fred Kam: We are partnered with EAMC and the Medical Clinic. Voluntary participation in testing is not a way to get everything. We are at the mercy of faculty, staff, and student participation. We encourage self-reporting, but it is not mandatory.

QUESTION (Michael Stern for Provost Hardgrave): When the Spring semester schedule is released, will I see the stretched day and additional section offerings? Will there be structural changes evident? And what will happen if Colleges and Departments don’t make changes? ANSWER (Bill Hardgrave): I hope so. It will probably vary by colleges and departments and will also be determined by demand. Colleges have the green light to add more sections. If colleges and departments don’t add more sections, we’ll have a conversation with the Deans and Department Chairs.
QUESTION (Tracy Witte, Psychological Sciences): Regarding the Spring schedule, will we follow other institutions and delay our start date, and/or eliminate Spring Break? ANSWER (Bill Hardgrave): At this point, Jan.6 is still the start date. We will soon make a decision under advisement of the medical community and an assessment of the situation. Pushing the decision to November gives us better information for a decision on when to safely bring students back. The two options for Spring break are either a full spring break, or 5 “mental health days” spread across the semester.
QUESTION (Michael Baginski): Spring Field Trips? Will they be permitted? ANSWER (Hardgrave): No international study abroad this Spring. Field trips with strict safety protocols are permitted.
QUESTION: Quarantining requirement for students when they return? ANSWER (Fred Kam): I am not aware of any self-quarantining plan and I am not in favor of them or broad testing for reentry. Robert Norton echoed Dr. Kam’s answer.
Don Mulvaney - Chair Remarks

Introduced faculty officers, Senate Administrative Assistant and Parliamentarian.
Announced that the Nomination Committee is being formed and will be announced at the next Senate meeting. Candidates for the next election will be announced in February 2021.
Spring Operations Panel– Chair Mulvaney invited panelists to introduce themselves recommended a 5pm end for the meeting.

Norm Godwin
Kelli Shomaker
Dan King
Bobby Woodard
Lady Cox
Bob Norton’
Kimberly Braxton Lloyd
Fred Kam
Emmett Winn

Information Items – Panelist Session
Chair Mulvaney encouraged panelists to answer questions that have been asked on the sli.do interface.

(attendance policies and covid exposure documentation question) – NORM GODWIN: We are trying to get back to normal attendance policies and are working with Lady cox and her group on how students document exposures. We are not requiring class recordings for Spring and hop that this will increase attendance.
(sli.do question on mask wearing and enforcement within academic buildings) – ROBERT NORTON: Faculty and staff are authorized to instruct students to wear masks inside buildings. Non-compliant students can be referred to a disciplinary process.
(How are contingent faculty represented in university governance when we cannot vote in our department?) EMMETT WINN: Non tenure track faculty have all the rights of faculty except the rights to tenure. They can serve as senators. A few departments have bylaws that to not allow contingent faculty to vote. This is not dictated in the faculty handbook.
(questions about physical distancing in a classroom): DAN KING: We do have signage for entering and exiting buildings. We have not marked hallways. In a classroom with fixed seating, the 6 feet recommendation is difficult to handle and still meet capacity needs. Movable furniture is easier make work. We are working on this.
(Do we have any way of knowing if students have passed on infections to community members?) FRED KAM: There is no hard and fast way. Contact tracing is the method, looking for hot spots.
(voluntary testing for Sentinel Program – criticized for being incomplete and non-random) – KIM BRAXTON-LLOYD: Sentinel testing designed to detect asymptomatic carriers. Those with symptoms are not included as they should be with a health provider.
(Sam Somers question – No plans for re-entry testing or testing requirements for returning Spring students. How will this keep our community safe? What is this panel’s plan for keeping faculty in classrooms safe when there is no testing requirement? FRED KAM: Testing only provides a snapshot. An accurate picture could only happen if all re-entering students are tested within 72 or 24 hours prior to the first day of classes. Voluntary participation in sentinel testing hasn’t been very good, so we are having to look at other data: hospitalizations, clinics, school systems.
(regarding non-mask compliant students refusing to cooperate or give their names. What can be done?) BOBBY WOODARD: First thing should be do distance yourself. If you see a police officer, that is an option. We do not want confrontations and prefer conversations. If you know the person or their schedule, contact administration and your dean for backup.
(how can we reconcile low student classroom attendance in hyflex classes with their contradictory expressed desire for more face-to-face classes?) GODWIN: Fall semester decisions unexpectedly incentivized non-attendance. For Spring we are trying now to incentivize in-class attendance with our policies.
(Question on Tenure Agreements and opt-in. With extensions to tenure agreements, is there a problem with going up at the regular time? WINN: the original agreement still stands so you can still go up for tenure early even if you receive an extension.
(From Mike Stern to Norm Godwin: My in-person class attendance is very good, but class performance is terrible. With quarantines that happen, it would be an absolute disaster without recordings. Not requiring recordings in the Spring could make things worse. The decision for Spring is concerning. GODWIN: We are not advocating for non-recording. We just are not requiring it. Faculty who wish to record lessons can do so. Early Alert grades are encouraging on student performance.
(Lisa Kensler for Dr. Kam: regarding triggers to decide if we have a problem. They all seem reactive. What proactive measures are we doing (such as monitoring sewer output from dorms)? We know our data underreports infections and does not track well. FRED KAM: consistent mask wearing indoors and outdoors is a proactive measure. Physical distancing, hand cleanliness, limiting social groups, sentinel testing. These are also proactive. In spring, AU will control rapid-results sentinel testing. Proactive sentinel testing is 100% dependent on participation. DAN KING: Wastewater monitoring has been studied. (800,000 cost). Aggressive sentinel testing is the outcome.
(Lisa Kensler: Will Sentinel testing still be voluntary?) LADY COX: We are looking for increased sentinel testing in the Spring. Maybe 1000/week. Rapid testing will help with response, education, quarantining, and contact tracing. No decision has been made on voluntary, mandatory, or incentivized.
(measures taken to support mental health in faculty and stress.) LADY COX: the Employee assistance program is available to all faculty and staff. WINN: Biggio Center has sessions on faculty wellbeing.
(What can we do to increase outdoor spaces for classes?) DAN KING: There are access and acoustic issues. Rain and weather can be problems. We are willing to implement that.
(Why does it seem that the voices and demands of parents and students override the vice and concerns of faculty)? NORM GODWIN: I have received communications from parents, and I try to listen. We do not elevate parent opinions over students or faculty.
(What can we do to connect to both remote and classroom students in a synchronous way? Are there technologies we can use to accommodate that problem?) engaged Active Student Learning is an area of heavy investment at Auburn. COVID exposed weakness in our ability to do remote engagement. We are exploring ways to do better.

At 4:55pm, Chair Mulvaney ended the panel portion of the meeting and moved to continue.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS: (none)
NEW BUSINESS – Mitchell Brown, president Auburn AAUP. – Dr. Brown highlighted the report and underscored the principles behind it. She listed the seven recommendations the AAUP has made in respect to shared governance and faculty input in decisions made for spring semester.
Dr. Brown stated that she and the AAUP would like the faculty to adopt those recommendations as a group, so that faculty can speak with one voice about the importance of shared governance, academic freedom, and the right to privacy of faculty.
Chair Mulvaney then opened the floor to comments and questions.

KIMBERLY BRAXTON LLOYD noted that three additional faculty have been added to the task force. MITCHELL BROWN reiterated that faculty with 50% or greater administrative responsibility count as administrators.
KELLI SHOMAKER pointed out that the COVID Ops team does not make decisions about faculty teaching or research. It supports and carries out decisions made by others.

At this point, the time had reached 5pm and Chair Mulvaney sought to receive final remarks from attendees and close the formal meeting.
SAM SOMMERS (reading two remarks from chat):

Asked the Executive Committee to do due diligence and address all unanswered questions and concerns raised today via chat and sli.do app.
Asked if faculty in attendance at this meeting would support a special meeting of the university faculty to discuss the AAUP report and its recommendations.

Chair Mulvaney reminded the speaker of the process through which action items are brought from Steering committee into Senate Meetings so that the representative body could deliberate and vote, in this case on the AAUP document and its recommendations.
Sam Sommers expressed concerns about urgent nature of spring semester planning and asked that an up or down vote happen to move forward with reconciling the report and its recommendations with spring semester planning efforts underway.
Chair Mulvaney expressed that this meeting wasn’t set up for votes and voting and again recommended that meeting proponents use the formal channels for including the AAUP recommendations into Senate agenda. He also expressed a commitment to responding to all chat/sli.do remarks.
The discussion turned to the mechanics of gathering 50 petitions to call a special meeting. Attendees discussed if the expressed support of 50 meeting attended would be sufficient to meet the constitutional requirement necessary to call a special meeting or if those wanting a special meeting would be required to gather 50 signatures. There was no consensus answer to this.
Chair Mulvaney recognized from the floor a motion and a second for a special meeting. Polling functions were not enabled for this meeting, so faculty expressed their petitions through the chat function.
Chair Mulvaney acknowledged that a poll was taken and it’s in favor of recommending a special meeting. He announced that the Executive Committee will take up the topic at the next Executive Committee meeting.
With no additional business, Chair Mulvaney adjourned the Fall 2020 general Faculty Meeting at 5:10pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Greg Schmidt
Senate Secretary