Minutes
Faculty Senate Meeting
November 7, 2007
Gary Weaver called the meeting to order at 2:15 p.m.
Present: Professors Weaver, Silvia, Loesberg, Douglass, Forst, Girard, Hall, Kim, Klein, Leap,
Mintz, Reece, Riddick, Sha, Stallings, Steinhorn, Wanis-St.John, Young, Dean Mardirosian, and
Provost Broder.
Welcome and Introduction, Gary Weaver
Professor Weaver welcomed everyone to the meeting. Senators approved the September and
October minutes.
Report of the Chair, Gary Weaver
• Professor Weaver reminded the Senators about the Emeriti Luncheon on November 12.
• The Senators approved Leonard Steinhorn as the faculty representative to the Board of
Trustees’ new Communications Committee.
• Professor Weaver announced the three faculty members whom the faculty elected to the
Provost Search Committee: Tony Ahrens, Bob Griffith, and Phil Brenner.
• Professor Weaver announced that the first meeting of the Faculty Senate’s committee on
Strategic Planning met and elected Leigh Riddick as chair.
Report of the Provost, Dr. Broder
The Army Corps of Engineers Project
Work is taking place at the former President’s residence and the house next door. On October 29,
the Army Corps of Engineers took up residence at both of those houses to begin a 14-week
project. They will dig test pits in the former President’s house and remove debris from the house
next door that may contain chemicals and other contaminants from First World War era shells
and other debris. The university is very active in ensuring that additional safety precautions be in
place for this project, such as having additional monitors, having marshals on campus in case of
an emergency evacuation, and training in case of any chemical leak. The University has provided
everyone either teaching or working within the range of the project with information regarding
procedures in case the Corps of Engineers discovers hazardous materials. The University has
temporarily moved the child-development center from the building just above Jacobs Intramural
Field back to its old location in Leonard Hall.
Botero Exhibit
The Katzen center is exhibiting work by Fernando Botero until the end of December. Botero
created a series of paintings and sketches that depict the torture at Abu Ghraib. The artwork is
controversial; it is only being shown at Berkeley, the Marlboro Galleries in New York, and
American University. Each of the AU schools and colleges has developed programs in
conjunction with this exhibit.
Admissions Update
The deadline for early decision is November 15, and to date, the number of applications were
slightly higher than last year.
AU has increased the number of off-campus recruitment events from eight last year to eighteen
this year. The number of students attending these events and the percentage of prospects visiting
campus this year has increased.
The University has advertised for a vice provost of enrollment services, a position that became
vacant last year A search firm, Hartwick Day, will assist the University in identifying candidates.
Report on Multi-Year Appointments, Haig Mardirosian
Dean Mardirosian discussed the option of putting temporary faculty on multi-year appointments
after their fifth year. When this concept was originally discussed last year, one of the concerns
was over how many temporary faculty would be put on such appointments and what effect this
would have on numbers of faculty in other lines. After the regulations were crafted and
approved, there was a provision that requires the Dean of Academic Affairs to report to the
Faculty Senate at the beginning of each academic year to outline the number of temporary
faculty who have been appointed and who are eligible to work under multiyear contracts. The
regulations governing multiyear contracts limit the total number of temporary faculty to a
maximum of ten percent of the number of tenure/tenure track faculty.
Dean Mardirosian circulated an accounting of full time faculty in all categories going back to
AY 2004-05 and stated that for AY07-08 there were eight temporary faculty appointed as multiyear temps, three in CAS, two in KSB, two in SOC, and one in SPA. The number of faculty who
are currently eligible for consideration is twenty-three.
Writing Proficiency Proposal, Jane Hall & Kiho Kim
The proposal, presented by the Joint Committee on Curriculum and Academic Programs
(JCCAP), came about because of a discussion between the Honors Program and Merit Awards
Program talking about the writing proficiency of students entering the University with AP/IB
credits in English. Current regulations exempt these students from College Writing courses.
JCCAP proposed three changes: require these students to take the English Competency exam (as
it is now called) within the first 30 credit hours of matriculation, change the title of that
examination to the Writing Proficiency Examination, and reduce the maximum total number of
credits accepted from AP/IB tests from 6 to 3 and thus require the students with 6 AP/IB credits
to take a newly developed course directed at those students.
The Senate passed the proposal unanimously, with one abstention. The proposal will be
forwarded to the provost for the provost’s review and action.
Committee Reports
Strategic Plan Report
Leigh Riddick mentioned that the committee has met once and organized the framework of the
committee.
The Senator
Brian Forst and Richard Sha announced that the first issue will be coming out in the first week of
December and is about governance.
Budget & Benefits Committee
John Douglass reported that the committee reviewed the Care First and Kaiser renewals.
Regarding the Wellness Program, a search for a health-promotion manager is currently under
way. For the upcoming months, the committee will be looking into life and disability insurance
renewals, review of the 403B changes to reflect changes in retirement regulations, and the
marketing of the current health and dental plan.
For the Good of the Order
Kiho Kim distributed a proposal from ECO Sense, the on-campus environmental and
sustainability group, about the possibility of the Faculty Senate supporting the American College
and University President’s Climate Commitment report.
The meeting adjourned at 3:45.