Minutes
Faculty Senate Meeting
January 25, 2012
Professor Girard called the meeting to order at 2:22 P.M.
Present: Professor Jim Girard, Leigh Riddick, Barlow Burke, Phil Brenner, Joe Dent, Christine
DeGregorio, Larry Engel, Alberto Espinosa, Bryan Fantie, Phil Jacoby, Bob Jernigan, Jonathan
Loesberg, Stacey Marien, Sarah Menke-Fish, Candice Nelson, Gemma Puglisi, William Ryan,
Lacey Wootton, Provost Scott Bass and Dean Phyllis Peres
Welcome and Introduction, Jim Girard
Professor Girard began the meeting by pointing out two articles in the Eagle newspaper. In the
first article Professor Girard and Provost Bass were interviewed by an Eagle reporter about the
unionization of adjunct faculty. The second article was written by Professor Girard urging all
adjunct faculty to vote in the election. He also stated that the Senate ad hoc committee on
adjunct policies should stop their work until after the union vote is completed.
Approval of Minutes
Professor Girard asked the senators to approve the minutes from the October 5, 2011and
November 2, 2011. He opened the floor for corrections and changes. No changes where voiced
so the Senate voted unanimously in favor.
Report from President Kerwin
President Kerwin thanked the senate for the invitation to speak about the state of the institution
and what’s ahead. He stated that this would be an opportunity to answer any questions that the
Faculty Senate might have as well.
President Kerwin began with the general condition of the university remains strong. The
financial position of the institution is good and we should end the year with a balanced budget.
The incoming freshman class is on target and the spring freshman class is a bit stronger than
anticipated. The fall concerns were the graduate and transfer numbers. The graduate numbers did
not hit what was anticipated. The spring graduate and transfer numbers look somewhat stronger
than anticipated. Washington Semester numbers are a concern. We are still looking for a model
for this very distinguished program that will work for the programs overall academic and
intellectual growth. Provost Bass and his colleagues are working hard on this project. The budget
will be met this year and the good news is that in February when the Board of trustees next meets
we will not have to ask for any changes to the budget and we will meet expenses as planned.
President Kerwin stated that the core of the work is always the freshman class. Early decision
student application numbers have grown immensely. The application process has been changed
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this year by adding a required essay. This addition has been put in place to hopefully find
applicants that know something about AU and have truly chosen AU as the university for them.
President Kerwin stated that he would touch briefly on the strategic plan. The University is in the
third year of the four year plan. He stated that he is very pleased with the progress and growth of
the faculty. The quality has strengthened this institution immensely. He stated that he was very
pleased with the numbers of undergraduate students applying. The quality has been maintained
and we have increased the base from an incoming class of 1350 to an incoming class of 1550
which is expected to be the norm with some variation over the next decade. Although progress
has been made with the diversity of our incoming undergraduate and graduate classes, there is
still work to be done with the incoming faculty. Based on a survey that was done by HR there
still is a lot of work to be done with inclusion. This is a matter for emphasis moving forward.
President Kerwin said that he would be much more comfortable if approximately half of our
entering class was early decision so that we had a larger number of first choice students to help
our conversion rate. The second area that he feels we lag to our competing institutions is our
conversion rate. Compared to what other university’s publish, we are several percentage points
behind other university’s that are equal to us and this needs to be corrected.
President Kerwin stated that the last issue he will address is facilities. At this time he thought he
would be able to tell the senate a definitive statement about the university’s campus plan. The
zoning commission did meet, but they did not act formally on the plan and will not until the 16th
of February. They asked for more information and we are sure that this information is there but
has just not been located due to so many documents. These changes included, the new resident
hall, North Hall to be built behind the presidents building, the addition to Nebraska Hall and the
East Campus. The hope is that these decisions are made at the February meeting. He stated that
he never thought that he would come before the Faculty Senate and have to say that the most
significant constraint would be something other than money, but it is space. When the law school
moves to Tenley this will open 200,000 ft2 of space for the university and will have a major
effect on the university. He stated that he had hoped to be able to tell everyone today how these
changes might be implemented but it looks like this information will be presented by the Provost
at another time.
President Kerwin wanted to express to the senate and to the Provost how impressed he is with
the progress over the past several years in the context of shared governance. The re-writing of
the Faculty Manual and the changed in the academic regulations indicate a seriousness of
purpose and will keep the university healthy. He expressed his concern after hearing the
President of the United States’ speech last night is the budget and the impact that this will have
on employment for the students after they finish their studies at AU.
President Kerwin closed and opened the floor for questions.
Professor Engel asked about the zoning commission and wanted to know if there was opposition
to the plans from the community and where they addressed?
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President Kerwin stated that the opposition of the community was addressed by the commission
and that there were positive resolutions discussed on several issues including the total student
population and student behavior management issues.
Academic Misconduct, Jon Tubman
Vice Provost of Graduate Studies, Jon Tubman stated that in the beginning of the document is an
introduction of the philosophy of the overall process. He stated that he had spoken before about
Responsible Conduct of Research, (RCR) and academic misconduct is the other dimension of
research conduct. This document is a set of policy and procedures that apply to scholarly
misconduct that occurs on campus or from faculty or staff who are working off campus and what
happens when an allegation is made. Pages two and three are a list of definitions of words that
appear in the policy. Next on pages four thru six are the roles and responsibilities of all parties
when an allegation of scholarly misconduct is made. This policy mandates certain
responsibilities for people on campus to report scholarly misconduct and then sets up procedures
for inquiries and investigations of those allegations. This is a three part process.
Vice Provost Tubman assured the senate that the purpose of this policy is to protect the person be
it a faculty member, staff member or student against a false allegation, but it also provides
mechanisms that protect people making allegations. There are provisions for setting up inquiry
and investigation committees that are disinterested observers and evaluators of evidence. There
are a number of checks and balances that protect people in the case that an allegation is not made
in good faith but also if an allegation is made in good faith it protects the person making the
allegation. This is a fairly standard process that you find at most research universities. It has been
reviewed by the Faculty Senate ad –hoc committee and has been tweaked to fit the AU
community.
Professor Girard asked the senate to vote on the Academic Misconduct with amendments.
The Senate VOTED and the Academic Misconduct Policy was passed unanimously
The Senate VOTED to amend the faculty manual to refer to the Academic Misconduct
document where needed, and the vote was passed unanimously.
Graduate Regulations, Leigh Riddick
Professor Riddick began review of the graduate regulations. The following was discussed:
•
Provisional Admission will not allow a student to be enrolled without a BA
•
Combined Bachelor’s and Master’s Program – A discussion about using the word
“preferably” to give units more flexibility.
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For the Good of the Order, Jim Girard
Professor Girard asked if there were any issues for the good of the order. Vice Provost of
Graduate Studies, Jon Tubman informed the senate that it is crucial for the Graduate Regulations
to be completed by the next meeting in order for OIT to have them up and running for AY 20122013.
The Meeting Adjourned at 4:45 PM
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