Minutes
AU Senate Meeting: March 14, 2023
3:30 p.m. Via Zoom
A Panopto recording for this meeting is available.
Please refer to recording for details not included in the minutes.
Presentations are available from the agenda for the meeting.
Attendance Record at the end of the minutes.
The Senate Chair, Mark Carpenter, called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m.
After the chair reminded senators that the attendance record will be based on the canvas quorum polls, a quorum was established with 66 senators indicating present on the poll.
The minutes for the Senate meeting of February 21, 2023 were approved by unanimous consent.
At 3:42pm, the Senate Chair introduced President Christopher Roberts who then gave updates on Auburn University.
At 3:51pm, after President Roberts concluded his remarks, the Senate Chair introduced Interim-Provost Nathan to give her remarks.
At 3:52pm, the Senate Chair asked the assembly if there were any questions for the President and/or the Interim-Provost. Senator Hartfield asked a question about whether Senate leadership was consulted or informed about the parameters of the Internal Provost Search that had recently been announced. Both the Chair and the President indicated that Senate Leadership was informed of the administrative decisions related to the Provost Search. Following this exchange Dr. Michael Stern requested permission to make a statement concerning the Provost search and he was granted permission to do so. Following Dr. Stern’s statement, Dr. Duha Altindag asked a question of President Roberts about the Administrator to Faculty ratio on the provost search committee and President Roberts replied. Following Dr. Althindag’s question, Dr. James (Jim) Witte made a statement against the guidance on Interims being disallowed to run for the subsequent permanent position. Senator Calvin Johnson concurred with Dr. Witte’s opinion.
At 4:05pm, Senate Secretary Tripp presided over the vote on four Rules Committee Nominations to replace the three senators rotating off the Rules Committee. The poll was conducted and 64 Senators voted in the poll. The names of the nominees and the percentage of the 64 votes each received are as follows, Murali Dhanasekaren (73%), Roy Hartfield (47%), Andrew Pendola (78%), and Laura Plexico (91%). The Senate Chair then announced the winners as Senators Dhanasekaren, Pendola, and Plexico.
At 4:16pm, the Senate Chair called on Dr. Mitchell Brown, Chair of the Senate Faculty Handbook Review Committee, to introduce the pending action items related to the proposed Faculty Handbook changes (pdf). There were four changes proposed and these changes will be voted on by the senate in the April Senate meeting. One of the votes will require a full two-thirds majority of the whole Senate to pass (not just two-thirds of the vote of the senators present, but two-thirds of the whole Senate).
At 4:51pm, the chair adjourned the meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
L. Octavia Tripp
Senate Secretary
Attendance
Senate Mtg - March 14, 2023
Senate Officers
Mark Carpenter Chair
Lisa Kensler Chair-elect
Lucretia (Octavia) Tripp Secretary
Linda Gibson-Young Secretary-elect
Dan Svyantek Immediate Past-Chair
Administration
Kelli Shomaker VP for Bus & Fin & CFO
Paul Patterson Dean, College of Agriculture
George Flowers Dean, Graduate School
Bobby Woodard SVP for Student Affairs
Jeffrey Fairbrother Dean, College of Education
Greg Newschwander Dean, College of Nursing
Calvin Johnson Dean, College of Veterinary Medicine
Absent without substitute:
Janaki Alavalapati Dean, College of Forestry, Wildlife, and the Environment
James Weyhenmeyer VP Research
Ex-Officio Members
Vini Nathan Interim Provost
Shali Zhang Dean of Libraries
John Davin Jones SGA President
Soolin Jeong GSC President
Danilea Werner Steering Committee
Robert Cochran Steering Committee
Absent without substitute:
Ashley Reid Staff Council Chair
Clint Lovelace A&P Assembly Chair
Evelyn Hunter Steering Committee
Robert Norton Steering Committee
Senators by Departments
Roy Hartfield Aerospace Engineering
Valentina Hartarska Ag Economics & Rural Sociology [missed Sept. Oct. Nov.-explained in Jan]
Mary (Molly) Gregg ACES
Jacek Wower Animal Sciences
Vinicia Biancardi Anatomy, Physiology & Pharmacology
Kevin Moore Architecture
Lauren Woods Art
James Birdsong Aviation
Anthony Moss Biological Sciences
David Blersch Biosystems Engineering
Bryan Beckingham Chemical Engineering
Wei Zhan Chemistry
J. Brian Anderson Civil Engineering
Kevin Smith Communication and Journalism
Shehenaz Shaik Computer Science & Software Engineering
Peter Weber Consumer & Design Sciences
David Han Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences
Christine (Chris) Schnittka Curriculum & Teaching
Murali Dhanasekaran Drug Discovery and Development
Liliana Stern Economics
Andrew Pendola Educational Foundations, Leadership & Technology
Michael Baginski Electrical & Computer Engineering
Sunny Stalter-Pace English
John Beckmann Entomology & Plant Pathology
Nathan Whelan Fisheries & Allied Aquaculture
Zhaofei (Joseph) Fan Forestry, Wildlife, and the Environment
David King Geology & Geography
Kimberly Garza Health Outcomes Research and Policy
Zachary Schulz History
Elina Coneva Horticulture
Clark Danderson Hospitality Mgmt.
Diana Samek Human Development & Family Studies
Ben Bush Industrial Design
Christopher (Brooks) Mobley Kinesiology
Kasia Leousis Library
Liesl Wesson Management and Entrepreneurship
Jeremy Wolter Marketing
Hans Werner van Wyk Mathematics and Statistics
Sabit Adanur Mechanical Engineering
Lee Johnson Music
Chris Martin Nursing
Kevin Huggins Nutritional Sciences
David Mixson Outreach
Peter Christopherson Pathobiology
Lena McDowell Pharmacy Practice
Jennifer Lockhart Philosophy
Luca Guazzotto Physics
Peter White Political Science
Amit Morey Poultry Science
Alejandro A. Lazarte Psychology
Laura Plexico Speech Language and Hearing Sciences G. Spray
David Strickland Supply Chain Management (new)
LTC, Laura Fryar ROTC Army
Captain, Matthew Roberts ROTC Naval
Janice Clifford Socio/Anthro/Social Work
Adrienne Wilson Theatre
Zachary Zuwiyya World Lang & Literatures
Absent without substitute:
Elizabeth (Lisa) Miller Accountancy
Mark Tatum Building Sciences
Regina Gramling Business Analytics and Information Systems
Damion McIntosh Finance
Rich Sesek Industrial and Systems Engineering
Rebecca Curtis Special Ed. Rehab. Counseling/School Psych
LTC, Michael Quinn ROTC Air Force
Robert Cole Veterinary Clinical Sciences