AU Senate Minutes

Senate Meeting

08/29/2023 | Via Zoom | 3:30 PM

Meeting was called to order by Senate Chair, Lisa Kensler, at 3:30 pm.

Establish a Quorum

  • All senators in attendance reminded that they must participate in the canvas quorum poll (this is equivalent to the sign-in sheet during in-person meetings).

  • A quorum was established with 71 respondents voting.

  • Approval of minutes from June 13, 2023

    • Minutes approved with no corrections.

Remarks and Announcements

University Senate Chair: Lisa Kensler

  • Introduction to Senate 2023-2024 meetings.

President: Christopher B. Roberts

  • Offered remarks at the start of the Fall semester and looks forward to the year ahead. Announcements on Board of Trustees outcomes: approved budget, STEM-Ag Building complex approved with full proposal ($224M), and Cambridge housing issues (new housing project reactivated [$80M]). Called on Bobby Woodard to highlight incident. Addressed Strategic Planning in preparation for Fall 2023. Called on Kelvin King for Security presentation re: recent shootings. Highlighted priorities of AU. Plan is to address emergency plans and safety in future meeting.

Provost: Vini Nathan

  • Offered announcements with Academic Affairs. New 12-credit Congratulations to Department of Nutrition Sciences with 7-year accreditation.  Three open Dean positions (Architecture Design and Construction, Nursing, and Business).

Information Items

  • Announcements made by Lisa Kensler, Senate Chair:

    • Asked Senators to complete the Senator Orientation Survey by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, September 7th.

    • Noted that the Senate meeting would adjourn prior to the start of the Open Enrollment Presentation, all within the same Zoom meeting.

Action Items

  1. Motion to hold Senate Meetings via Zoom until August 2024.

    1. The vote for Senate Nominees passed 67 yes, 4 no.

  2. Linda Gibson-Young addressed the replacement nominations for open Senate Committees.

    1. Senate Committees replacement of vacancies (pdf)

    2. The vote for Senate Nominees passed 62 yes, 2 no, 1 abstain.

New Business

 

  • No new business.

Adjournment

Meeting adjourned at 4:15 p.m. by Senate Chair, Lisa Kensler.

Attendance

Senate Officers

Name

Department/Title

Lisa Kensler

Chair

Lori Eckhardt

Chair-elect

Linda Gibson-Young

Secretary

Jaena Alabi

Secretary-elect

Mark Carpenter

Immediate Past-Chair

Administration

Name

Department/Title

Kelli Shomaker

VP for Bus & Fin & CFO

Paul Patterson

Dean, College of Agriculture

George Flowers

Dean, Graduate School

Bobby Woodard

SVP for Student Affairs

Jason Hicks

Dean, College of Liberal Arts

Alan David sub for Mario Eden

Dean, College of Engineering

Ed Thomas

Dean, COSAM

Joffrey Gaymon

VP Enrollment Mgmt.

Calvin Johnson

Dean, College of Veterinary Medicine

Ex-Officio Members

Name

Department/Title

Vini Nathan

Provost

Shali Zhang

Dean of Libraries

Julianne Lozano sub for John David Jones

SGA President

Pritam Mitra sub for Soolim Jeong

GSC President

Josh Henderson

A&P Assembly Chair

Evelyn Hunter

Steering Committee

Robert Cochran

Steering Committee

J Brian Anderson

Steering Committee

Senators by Department

Name

Department/Title

Xu (Joyce) Cheng

Accountancy

Anwar Ahmed (sub for Roy Hartfield)

Aerospace Engineering

Valentina Hartarska

Ag Economics & Rural Sociology

Mary (Molly) Gregg

ACES

Jacek Wower

Animal Sciences

Vinicia Biancardi

Anatomy, Physiology & Pharmacology

Gorham Bird (sub for Kevin Moore)

Architecture

Lauren Woods

Art

James Birdsong

Aviation

Rebecca Riggs

Biological Sciences

Mark Dougherty (sub for David Blersch)

Biosystems Engineering

Jeff Kim

Building Sciences

Regina Gramling

Business Analytics and Information Systems

Elizabeth Lipke

Chemical Engineering

Wei Zhan

Chemistry

Joel Hayworth

Civil Engineering

Kevin Smith

Communication and Journalism

Sanjeev Baskyar

Computer Science & Software Engineering

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

David Cicero

Finance

David King

Geosciences

Jan Kavookjian

Health Outcomes Research and Policy

Zachary Schulz

History

Clark Danderson

Hospitality Mgmt.

Diana Samek

Human Development & Family Studies

David Smith

Industrial Design

Rich Sesek

Industrial and Systems Engineering

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

Pricilla Barger (sub for Peter Christopherson)

Pathobiology

Lena McDowell

Pharmacy Practice

David Miller

Philosophy

Luca Guazzotto

Physics

Jonathan (Jon) Fisk

Political Science

Amit Morey

Poultry Science

Alejandro A. Lazarte

Psychology

Gregory Spray

Speech Language and Hearing Sciences

David Strickland

Supply Chain Management

LTC, Michael Quinn

ROTC Air Force

LTC, Laura Fryar

ROTC Army

Danilea Werner

Socio/Anthro/Social Work

Adrienne Wilson

Theatre and Dance

Kerri Munoz

World Lang & Literatures

Absent without substitute

Name

Department/Title

Octavia Tripp

Steering (excused)

Kimberly McCadden

Staff Council Chair

Ann Presley

Consumer & Design Sciences

Nathan Whelan

Fisheries & Allied Aquaculture

Zhaofei (Joseph) Fan

Forestry, Wildlife, and the Environment

Elina Coneva

Horticulture

Rebecca Curtis (ret 9/1)

Special Ed. Rehab. Counseling/School Psych

Captain, Michael Witherspoon

ROTC Naval

Robert Cole

Veterinary Clinical Sciences