Minutes
Faculty Senate Meeting
November 5, 2003
John Douglass called the meeting to order at 1:45 p.m.
Present: Professors Ahrens, Arneson, Burke, Cochran, Douglass, Fagelson, Fantie, Flug, Forst,
Heintze, Jacoby, Jennings, Karch, Langbein, La Salle, Loesberg, Olmsted, Richardson, Riley,
Rosenbloom, Schaeff, Streitmatter, Swallow, Vogelsong. Provost Kerwin and Dean of Academic
Affairs Broder.
The minutes of the October 1, 2003 meeting were approved.
Report of the Provost
Neil Kerwin reported that Mark Gearen, president of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and
chair of the Middle States site visit team, spent the day at American University on Tuesday,
November 4th. Mr. Gearen met first with President Ladner. Throughout the remainder of the
day, he met with various constituencies on campus: the vice presidents, the deans, a group of
students, and a group of faculty, which included several members of the Faculty Senate. He also
had lunch with two members of the Board. His visit concluded with a tour of the campus.
Dr. Kerwin said Mr. Gearen observed that the Middle States self-study report was quite
comprehensive; he said he could not imagine an issue of any substance that would arise during
the review that was not covered in the report. Dr. Kerwin said Mr. Gearen will return in February
with a team of eight to ten people. The site visit will be organized along the lines of the chair’s
visit, except for meetings with larger groups of faculty and students, and more extensive face-toface time with members of the team who will focus on the various themes that comprise the
chapters of the self-study.
On Friday, November 7, the Board of Trustees was due to discuss and vote on the Middle States
Report. The process will then move into the final stages.
As a second item, Provost Kerwin reported that the University College Project Team was hard at
work producing a report for submission to the campus community by the end of the semester. He
said he had asked the team to create a document that would include not only the major ideas that
have been developed, but also any additional options that may focus on particular aspects of the
college. He also requested that the team be brutally honest in assessing the strengths and
weakness of the options and their potential implications for undergraduate education.
As a third item, Dr. Kerwin spoke about technology issues. Referencing a memorandum that was
distributed on October 22 by Carl Whitman, executive director of e-operations, Dr. Kerwin said
Mr. Whitman did a fine job of explaining the source of recent network instability and other
difficulties, including problems with the e-mail servers, worm and virus attacks, and equipment
capacity limitations. He said Mr. Whitman and the staff of e-operations are committed to
communicating with the campus community on a regular basis about technology challenges.
Dr. Kerwin added that it may be time to take another look at the long-term plans for technology,
given dramatic increases in both capabilities and utilization rates. He noted that more than 60
percent of the curriculum is now supported by Blackboard, and he said the message to be sent is
that the system is going to respond, with the resources and the people to accomplish the job.
Fourth, Dr. Kerwin gave an update on the collaboration with the vice president of international
affairs. He reported that Bob Pastor is trying to bring more AU students into Study Abroad
experiences. Dr. Pastor is also working to develop agreements with other institutions, and
focusing wisely, Dr. Kerwin said, on institutions where American has issued permits to study
abroad in the past. The intent is to look at programs outside of the World Caps that are popular
with students and to determine whether American can develop credible programs to compete
more effectively. Vice President Pastor also remains committed to increasing the number of
international students who come to American to study for a semester or a year, with a goal of
replacing the growing number of students from AU who study abroad.
Finally, Dr. Kerwin described recent accomplishments in each of the academic units. He noted
the following:
• CAS – Five AU voice students were selected for the American Choral Director's Association
Eastern Division College Chamber Choir, twice the number from any other school. This is an
extraordinary achievement, given that only 28 students are chosen for the choir.
• SPA – The School of Public Affairs is to be complimented for the symposium it ran in October,
“The Administrative State Reconsidered.” The symposium featured a group of distinguished
scholars in the field of public administration.
• KSB – Ron Anderson, a newly tenured faculty member in Kogod School of Business, would
soon be highlighted in a cover story about family businesses in Business Week. (“Family Inc.”
November 10, 2003)
• WCL – The Washington College of Law student publication, The Jurist, received a national
award as an outstanding student publication.
• SOC – Russell Williams, artist-in-residence in the School of Communication, did the sound
work for the production of “Cabaret” at the Greenburg Theater. The Department of Performing
Arts and the School of Communication collaborated on that production.
• SIS – Peter Lewis, associate professor of Comparative and Regional Studies, proposed that AU
launch an interdisciplinary Council on Africa. The council, which is soon to be implemented,
will reflect the fact that a large number of faculty across the academic units have a primary or a
secondary interest in the study of Africa.
Provost Kerwin then responded to questions and comments about technology issues. He also
responded to an inquiry from John Richardson, School of International Service, about the
imbalance between the number of AU students who register for consortium courses and the
number of students from other consortium schools who register for AU classes. Dr. Kerwin
acknowledged that an imbalance does exist. He said, however, that rather than changing the
university’s policy, the academic advisors are being asked to enforce existing policy—AU
students are not to enroll in courses that are offered on the main campus.
Report of the Chair
John Douglass noted once again that the Faculty Senate is to serve as its own executive
committee. He said the Senate would therefore take up, as an item at the December meeting, the
agenda for the spring semester. He then distributed a list of strategic topics that were prioritized
by the Senate in Spring 2003 and asked that the senators review those items and come prepared
to propose, at the next meeting, issues for discussion and action in the spring.
Professor Douglass also reported that in response to a question at the October meeting, he had
checked with Ivy Broder, dean of academic affairs, to see if there is any written prohibition
against consensual relationships between students and faculty. He said Dean Broder informed
him that no such policy exists.
Dean Broder then elaborated on her answer, noting the following points:
• The university does have general professional standards and would therefore expect a faculty
involved in a current relationship with a student to recuse himself or herself from a supervisory
role, such as grading a course.
• Conversely, a student currently involved with a faculty member should not, for example, serve
on a rank and tenure committee where that faculty member’s file is under review.
• There are avenues for students to take appropriate action, if needed, if students are willing to
come forward.
Dean Broder said that she had asked the Committee on Faculty Relations whether they wished to
consider the question, since it relates to the faculty manual. Laura Langbein, chair of the CFR,
and Jonathan Loesberg, a member of the committee, reported that the committee had decided not
to consider the issue, since the question involves consensual relationships, rather than
harassment, which is covered in the manual.
Mary Kennard, the university’s general counsel, also commented. She said specifically that in
cases where there is litigation, the court will view a consensual relationship between a student
and a faculty member as an unequal relationship, because of the power differential between the
professor and the student. Agreeing with that point of view, Barlow Burke, Washington College
of Law, suggested that there appeared to be a good argument for a crisper rule that could be
enforced outside of the sexual harassment forum.
Responding again, Professor Loesberg stated that it would not be easy to write a crisp rule that
makes easy sense. Concluding the discussion, Professor Douglass asked that Professor Langbein
report back to her committee to see if they have any further thoughts about considering the issue.
Report on the Capital Campaign
Al Checcio, vice president of development, presented an overview and a progress report on “A
new AU,” the $2 million capital campaign for American University. The information he
provided to the Senate included the following:
• Draft campaign timeline October 2003-May 2005
• Campaign priorities, which includes $20 million for academic quality, $45 million for
strengthening endowments, $35 million for a campaign for the arts, $60 million for improving
facilities, and another $40 million targeted for additional areas such as Campus Life and
Athletics.
• Progress by source as of 10/31/03
• Progress toward campaign priorities as of 10/31/03
• Progress by schools and colleges as of 10/31/03
• Cash giving FY 98 to present
• Alumni donors FY 99 to present
That document is appended to the record copy of the minutes.
Vice President Checcio began by thanking the faculty for their support during the past two years,
when work was underway to decentralize the development program. He said decentralization
was working remarkably well and he could report that American now has as good a development
operation as any university.
He then spoke about the campaign kickoff at the Ritz Carlton Ballroom on October 16, where
more than 500 top donors, supporters, and prospects were present to hear the announcement
about $200 million goal. Noting that $63 million had been raised during the quiet phase of the
campaign, he said he was proud that the university had made slow steady progress during a
tough economic environment.
He then walked the senators through the handout, highlighting the following information:
• Between the campaign launch on October 16th and the opening of the Katzen Arts Center
sometime in the spring of 2005, there will be a series of significant campaign activities, in which
all schools and colleges will participate.
• The priorities of the campaign were the result of about two years of extensive planning,
including working with the schools and determining university-wide priorities.
• Some of the academic units are doing remarkably well on reaching their goals. Vice President
Checcio said he expected all of the schools and colleges to reach their goals in a timely fashion.
• One of the goals is to double, and perhaps triple, the level of cash giving to the university. In
the past three years, that amount has been about $12 million per year. This year the amount may
surpass $16 million.
• The Development Office expects that alumni participation may reach 19 percent this year,
which is up 10 percent from several years ago. The goal is to reach 25 percent within the next
three to four years.
Vice President Checcio concluded his presentation by noting that the trends are very
encouraging. He said the university has identified its top prospects. The president is out working
with those prospects. The deans are also out working. So, there’s nothing left to do over the next
five years except raise the money.
John Richardson praised Vice President Checcio for his thorough report, which he said was
couched in the language of results.
Discussion about Diversity Issues
Mary Kennard, vice president and general counsel, and Caleen Jennings, Department of
Performing Arts, made presentations about diversity issues. Vice President Kennard spoke about
the aftermath of two recent Supreme Court rulings on lawsuits against the University of
Michigan at Ann Arbor. She outlined the fundamental differences between the cases, noting that
the case against admissions practice in Michigan’s undergraduate program was disapproved
because the process was based on a formula of setting aside 20 out of 150 seats based solely on
the race of the applicants. The admissions practice of Michigan’s law school, on the other hand,
was approved because the law school, having fewer applicants, took a more individualized
approach to reviewing applications. They took the time to read the essays and to do a little more
thinking about who the people were and what kind of class the law school wanted to start with.
In talking about the systems American and other institutions will need to put in place to create a
diverse student body, Vice President Kennard asserted that the problem of dealing with diversity
isn’t exclusively in the admissions office. She noted the importance of looking at the issue from
a wide perspective, and she said if she were a faculty member, she would put on a hat and begin
thinking about diversity as something to be reflected in every aspect of the university experience,
from financial aid to enhancement and retention programs, from faculty recruitment to the
mentorship of faculty and students. She also said the challenge of defining diversity is something
that scholars will need to talk about, write about, and quantify over the next several years. In
addition, she observed, diversity costs money. And it requires time. It also requires that
universities look closely at what they want to be and what they want their classes to look like to
allow for a broad diverse population.
In her presentation, Caleen Jennings shared with the Senate comments about her involvement in
diversity efforts during her 15 years at American. She said she had served on a very active
university-wide Diversity Committee several years ago, whose charge was quite large, with the
expectation that the committee would look at both undergraduate and graduate students, at
faculty hiring and retention, at disability and accessibility, at international students and
international student issues, and at sexual orientation. The committee, she noted, produced a
comprehensive and fine report.
In its next iteration, she continued, the Diversity Committee quickly found the expanse of the
charge too large, and the idea of handling some of the issues quite overwhelming. So people
either removed themselves from the committee or found a niche, a piece of the charge they could
follow through on.
Noting that the university had changed over the years, and the country had also changed,
Professor Jennings told the Senate she believed this might be an interesting time to try to get
some sense of what the university’s mission is. She then distributed a questionnaire, which she
asked the senators to complete and return. The questionnaire, she explained, focused heavily on
individual perceptions, ideas and goals, and was designed to discover how members of the
Senate feel about addressing issues of diversity at American University.
As a means of providing background information, Professor Jennings then requested that Dean
Broder share some statistics about the university’s faculty, and Dean Broder reported the
following:
• Faculty of color represent 18 percent of the faculty; 50 percent of the new tenure-track cohort
are faculty of color.
• Women comprise 44 percent of the full-time faculty and 73 percent of the new tenure-track
hires.
• African-American faculty are evenly split between men and women, with 21 African-American
faculty members of each gender.
Dean Broder also noted that there was a dramatic range among the schools and colleges in the
distribution of faculty of color. The range is anywhere from 5 percent in one unit to a high of 29
percent in another unit.
Professor Jennings then asked Gail Hanson, vice president of Campus Life, to make some
comments, and Vice President Hanson reported that after the Diversity Committees completed
their work and a number of their recommendations were implemented, there was a realization
that the university still needs a structure to pursue more purposefully matters of multicultural
initiatives. To that end, she said a Multicultural Initiatives Project Team was created. The team
has decided to work at the level of specialization and its task during this academic year will the
consideration of issues related to the retention of students of color.
The handout that Mary Kennard provided for the senators, which included a copy of an article
from the Chronicle, “Affirmative Actions Remains a Minefield, Mostly Unmapped,” is appended
to the record copy of the minutes. The questionnaire distributed by Professor Jennings is also
appended to the record copy of the minutes.
For the Good of the Order
Janice Flug, chair of the Committee on Instructional Budget and Benefits, reported that Human
Resources would distribute within the next week information about changes to the health and
dental plans. Summarizing some of the changes, she said:
• The CareFirst Plan will increase by 6.9 percent and Kaiser will increase by 12.45 percent.
• The dental plans will not increase.
• As of April 1, the university will become part of the Southern Purchasing Pharmacy Collective.
The co-payments for the three tiers of prescriptions—generic, preferred, and non-preferred, will
not change, but the list of preferred drugs will be slightly different than the list maintained by
CareFirst.
• The flexible account spending limit will increase from $5000 to $6000 a year.
John Douglass announced that Cheryl Storie, acting vice president of enrollment services, will
give an update on admissions and recruitment at the December meeting. Donald Myers, vice
president of finance and treasurer, will present an update on the benefits and budget area. Also at
the meeting, the chairs of the standing committees will be asked to give a brief reports.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:00 p.m.