11.17.20 Senate Minutes

Remarks and Announcements

Donald Mulvaney, Senate Chair Remarks (3:37pm)

The Chair introduced the officers of the senate, the Senate Parliamentarian Sidney Phelps, and recognized the Senate Administrative Assistant, Laura Kloberg.

The chair then discussed the activities of senate leadership over the past month including attendance at Presidential Cabinet meetings, steering meetings, COVID task force meetings, and Board of Trustee meetings. He noted that the Executive Committee called the 11/10/2020 special meeting of the faculty and he encouraged to share information with the Senate executive team. Senate leadership is always willing to speak on behalf of faculty in the spirit of servant leadership and shared governance.

Chair Mulvaney then moved to identify and recognize resilience and innovation at Auburn University during the COVID era. This recognition item began in August. For November, the Chair recognized chose to recognize several members of COVID planning task forces including Dr. Fred Kam, Lady Cox, Robert Norton, and Danilea Werner.  The thanked them for the sacrifices they have made to help Auburn University be safer during the COVID crisis.

Chair Mulvaney then noted that Special Meetings can be called by the executive committee or from petitions from faculty. He acknowledged receipt of petitions by the Secretary calling for a second special meeting and announced that the executive committee will be meeting as soon as possible to verify the petitions and schedule a special meeting per the petitioners request.

Chair Mulvaney announced the Nominating Committee membership for the spring semester election of faculty and senate executives. The members are Vinicia Biancardi, Muralikrishnan Dhanasekaran, Jung Won Hur, Claudine Jenda, Michael Baginski, and Desmond LaLayne.

He closed his remarks by inviting Provost Bill Hardgrave to speak.

Bill Hardgrave, Auburn University Provost Remarks (3:45pm)

Provost Hardgrave acknowledged his unavailability for the 11/10/2020 special meeting of the faculty and expressed regret that he was not there to join in the discussion. He noted that he is in receipt of the 7 recommendations of the AU Chapter of the AAUP that were voted upon at the meeting. His office is continuing to work on the recommendations and the Provost expressed his desire to speak on some of the specifics during his remarks.

Regarding online modality requests, the Provost gave information on the numbers of faculty and sections that have been approved for online or blended teaching and noted that he is aware of those still waiting for decisions from Deans on requests. He has asked Deans to rectify these pending decisions. The reminder for the appeals process has been resent to faculty.

The Provost then acknowledged faculty fears and concerns over Spring Semester operations. Auburn has learned from Fall semester and the Provost is glad to have heeded medical advice to end classes after Thanksgiving. He stated that the campus will only open for the spring if it is deemed safe to do so following the advice of the medical community. He committed to pivoting to remote learning if the COVID situation calls for it and acknowledged that if the current situation does not improve, AU may begin spring semester with remote learning.

The Provost closed his remarks by stating that the 7 AAUP recommendations are good and that his office realizes it needs to do a better job at communicating and transparency. He expressed a commitment to listening to faculty and encouraged faculty to keep communicating in the spirit of shared governance.  He then invited comments and questions from faculty.

Spencer Durham – Senator, Pharmacy Practice – Durham is concerned about safety in settings other than the classroom such as dining areas and group gathering spots. Advice on masks and social distancing isn’t being heeded. The Provost acknowledged people are getting lax and that the successful methods and protocols from spring and fall need to be reinforced, especially at the beginning of spring.

Jennifer Prado – not a senator, chemistry and biochemistry – Prado commended COSAM leadership, then expressed concern over self-reporting and student notifications of COVID positive status in the spring. Asked if students can be required to self-report before being accommodated for missing class. The Provost responded that encouraging self-reporting can only happen after a student volunteers that they are COVID positive. Whether we can require students to self-report is a question the Provost will take to the Resource Center for legal assessment. He noted that Guidesafe App should be able to provide the documentation to faculty on student red/green status.

Sabit Adanur, Senator – Adanur asked if faculty had a deadline for submitting modality requests. He then read a comment from a departmental colleague expressing concerns over spring “wellness days” interfering with the class/lab schedule for some courses. The Provost responded that

The deadline for appeals was emailed to faculty the day prior and the date was nearing.

Tracy Witte, Senator – Spoke on decision-making for face-to-face class modalities and the divide in perceptions between faculty students and parents on the effort that goes into online modalities. Noted that first-year students, who most want face-to-face modalities, are often in large classes which are difficult to conduct safely in-person. If decision to go remote in the spring requires another pivot, it could be disruptive. The Provost responded that the issue is indeed complex with many constituents. Disagreed with those who think faculty who choose online modalities are seeking an easy route. Regarding large classrooms, the Provost has encouraged departments and colleges to expand sections. The decision is up to the colleges and departments and the Provost expressed a commitment to facilitate and fund additional sections. Closed by saying that if spring semester begins with COVID conditions as they currently are, AU will likely start remote and pivot to in-person as soon as it is safe. Everyone should be prepared to pivot.

Tony Moss – Senator – Biological Sciences – Raised questions on the COVID testing environment at the coliseum. Also raised concerns about being told that some faculty are not following mask rules in their classroom. Closed with expressing concerns over lab classes being disrupted by wellness days during the spring. Chair Mulvaney asked that those with lab concerns meet with Senate executives about creative ways to handle the problem. The Provost asked for faculty to share best-practices on making labs work better. The Provost discussed sentinel testing and mask wearing and noted that the Provost’s Office has investigated and will continue to investigate any report of mask non-compliance in classrooms.

Luca Guazzotto – Senator, Physics – Are there any plans to reinstate the outdoor mask mandate? The Provost said that the outdoor mask mandate is being considered and that the University has reinstated 50-person gathering restrictions and travel restrictions.

Alecia Douglas – not a senator, Nutrition Dietetics- Asked about classroom preparedness and if AU will place plexiglass in classrooms and mark safe seating diagrams for the spring. The Provost responded that, because some faculty oppose it, plexiglass isn’t going into all classrooms uniformly. The Provosts office will work with faculty desiring plexiglass to provide shielding that can be moved into and out of the classrooms. He also offered to coordinate with departments for marking classrooms if possible.

Mary Sandage – Senator – Gave primary concerns of her constituents on clinical training. Remote teaching delays students ability to get their required hours. The Provost gave the example of aviation and professional flight needing specific protocols for safety in face-to-face flight training. Offered to help craft strict protocols for face-to-face clinical work during remote teaching, should it occur.

Scott Ketring – Senator – HDFS – Noted Marriage and Family Therapy has strict protocols for their face-to-face work.  Asked if universal testing for returning students in the spring will happen. The Provost answered that the current stance is that spring entry testing will not happen. He explained why it has been eschewed for cost/benefit reasons and added that the delay to the spring start date was deemed a more effective safety measure. Entry testing is still being considered but, as it currently stands, is currently not going to happen. The provost closed by expressing the critical importance to safety of the GuideSafe app and sentinel testing.

Carolyn Fitzgerald – not a senator, foreign languages - Expressed that many students do not want to return to face-to-face and prefer to continue with online modalities, even though the online effort is demanding for faculty. Questioned whether the perception of a high demand for face-to-face Is being driven by a minority of loud voices rather than a vast majority of students. The Provost responded that it is true that many students prefer online sections and encouraged all department to make sure that online sections are available alongside in-person offerings. 1600 sections are online for spring semester and online offerings will likely continue to be a part of AU modalities.

Mike Stern - not a senator, Economics – Stern spoke on teaching face-to-face teaching and the issues faculty face with IT in the classroom, particularly in receiving assistance from College and University IT personnel when problems arise.  Dr. Stern noted that, due to lack of support, he was compelled to research and finance his own IT solutions for the classroom. Some rooms lack the necessary IT infrastructure for effective teaching in the COVID era. The Provost responded that classroom IT infrastructure was not fully adequate for the fall, but the University has been working to upgrade classrooms all semester and will continue through November and December to meet faculty needs. He committed to spending the funds necessary for classroom improvements and encouraged Dr. Stern and all faculty to communicate their needs to departmental leadership and Asim Ali at the Biggio Center.

ACTION ITEMS – Faculty Handbook Revisions

Kamden Strunk, Chair, Faculty Handbook Review Committee

Strunk presented two sets of revisions to be voted upon separately.

Proposed Revision #1 on the use of Student Evaluations of Teaching in annual review and tenure processes – The proposed changes clarify and modify the use of Student Evaluations of Teaching (SETs) for faculty annual review, and for tenure & promotion decisions. The open-ended comment mandate is retained, but numerical data inclusion in faculty review is optional. Proposed revisions also set a minimum response rate of 30% for inclusion in evaluation review processes and establish an external evaluations of teaching process.

Question: Shashank Rao, Senator, Supply Chain Management – Rao read a comment from a departmental faculty regarding the required 30% threshold in response rate for inclusion in evaluations. The faculty noted that achieving a 30% response rate is difficult to achieve. Dr. Strunk responded that open-ended comments from evaluations are included regardless, and that a response rate lower than 30% is not useful. Todd Steury added that response rates below 30% are considered not useful for formative or summative information.

The revisions then moved to a vote.

VOTE: 48 Yes, 4 No, 14 Abstentions. The revisions passed.

Proposed Revision #2 - Revisions to Chapter 3 – clarifications in language.

Professor Strunk presented the proposed revisions and announced that one area of revisions from the October pending action item, those pertaining to departmental voting in units with few eligible faculty, has been removed from the current action item. This decision was made in coordination with Economics faculty who were concerned over the impacts of those changes to their department. The faculty voting elements up for revision will be brought up at a later meeting.

The revisions then moved to a vote.

VOTE: 48 Yes, 2 No, 7 Abstentions. The revisions passed.

Action Item − Summary of Faculty Concerns from the Special Meeting of 11/10

Presenter: Todd Steury, Chair-elect

Steury presented a document containing concerns of faculty as expressed in both the fall general faculty meeting and the special meeting of November 10, 2020. Steury emphasized that the elements of the document are requests to AU administration for action. The concerns and requests in the document relate to safety for spring semester. Steury then opened the floor for comments.

Provost Bill Hardgrave – The Provost reiterated his commitment to address expressed faculty concerns whether or not the Senate formally adopts them.

A second was made to the motion and the floor was opened to discussion.

Ralph Kingston, Secretary-elect – Dr. Kingston recognized and expressed gratitude for the work of the Senate Steering Committee in gathering and drafting the document.

VOTE: 50 Yes, 3 No, 7 Abstentions – The motion passed.

Chair Mulvaney then noted that due to time concerns, the informational item to be presented by SGA Vice President Hays Kassen has been deferred until a later meeting.

Information Item: Insurance and Benefits Update

Presenter, Ann Shore. Executive Director, Payroll and Employee Benefits.

Ann Shore presented on 2021 insurance and benefits within the context that November is the open enrollment month for 2021 benefits. All changes must be made in November and will take effect in January 2021. Online enrollment remains an option for all AU personnel, and benefit enrollers are available for one on one sessions.  Ms. Shore then moved on to health insurance changes for 2021

• Health insurance premiums will increase 2% for both employees and the AU employer contribution.

• The annual out-of-pocket maximum will increase by $400 for individuals and by $800 for families.

• Healthy Tigers discounts are still available for employees and spouses.

• No changes to deductibles, to dental plans, or to vision plans.

• Ms. Shore then gave an overview of Flexible Spending Account plans 2021 and 2022 including updates on limits, enrollment, and carryover provisions.

• A high-deductible health plan is an option coming for calendar year 2022.

Ms. Shore then gave an overview of additional insurance product available and retirement plans for AU employees.  She closed her presentation with an overview of policy changes at Auburn, including the new parental leave policy, the temporary changes to annual leave carryover, and an announcement that a dependent audit is coming in 2021.

New Business

None

Unfinished Business

None

Adjournment

Chair Mulvaney adjourned the meeting at 5:21pm

Respectfully Submitted,

Greg Schmidt

Secretary, University Senate

Attendance