AU Senate Minutes

Senate Meeting

02/20/2024 | Via Zoom | 3:30 PM

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

Establish a Quorum

  • Approval of the Senate Meeting Minutes from January 23, 2024. Minutes approved with no corrections and unanimous consent.

Remarks and Announcements

University Senate Chair: Lisa Kensler

  • SGA President, Jack Hilton introduced. Appreciation to John David Jones, outgoing SGA President.

University Senate Secretary: Linda Gibson-Young

  • Defined membership for University Faculty voting privileges for University Faculty Officers. Voting will open March 21 at 0745 and closes March 26, 2024 at 0745.

President: Christopher B. Roberts

  • Remarks from February 2024 Board of Trustees (BOT) meeting

    1. Recommended conducting studies on faculty compensation, workload, and productivity. Four consulting firms identified with expectation of outcomes in 18-24 months.

    2. BOT membership described with 4 seats in transition.

Provost: Vini Nathan

  • Remarks on:

    1. AU book selection,

    2. PIL proposals reviewed 17 of 31 filled,

    3. Three AU Dean searches in progress, and 4) Library survey open and all encouraged to complete.  

Action Items

  1. Vote completed on Motion re: Accept Childcare Report (Time for discussion and debate, Vote) 

  2. Motion re: Accept Faculty Salaries Welfare report/recommendations related to raising the $1650 match for 403(b) contributions (Time for discussion and debate, Vote)

  3. Motion re: Accept COSAM letter related to non-tenure track faculty (Time for discussion and debate, Vote) 

    • Motion passes with 49 YES votes/5 NO votes /1 abstained.

    • COSAM Letter (pdf)

  4. Nominations from the floor for Rules Committee members Presenter: Linda Gibson-Young.

    • Four positions open for Rules Committee (3 positions for two-year term and 1 for one-year term- Vote planned at March meeting).

      • Floor nominations included: J. Brian Anderson nominated Kasia Leosis; Evelyn Hunter nominated Danilea Warner; Bob Cochran nominated James Birdsong; and Andrew Pendola nominated David Miller.

Information Items

Strategic Plan Update 

Presenters: Vini Nathan, Kerry Inger, Hari Narayanan.

New Business

  • Linda Gibson-Young, Senate Secretary identified how to volunteer for Senate committees and University committees.

Adjournment

Meeting adjourned at 4:40 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

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

Interim Provost

Shali Zhang

Dean of Libraries

Jack Hilton (sub for John David Jones)

SGA President

Kimberly McCadden

Staff Council Chair

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

Roy Hartfield

Aerospace Engineering

Mary (Molly) Gregg

ACES

Jacek Wower

Animal Sciences

Valentina Hartarska

Ag Economics & Rural Sociology

Vinicia Biancardi

Anatomy, Physiology & Pharmacology

Kevin Moore

Architecture

Lauren Woods

Art

Rebecca Baughman (sub for James Birdsong)

Aviation

Rebecca Riggs

Biological Sciences

David Blersch

Biosystems Engineering

Regina Gramling

Business Analytics and Information Systems

Elizabeth Lipke

Chemical Engineering

Wei Zhan

Chemistry

Kevin Smith

Communication and Journalism

Sanjeev Baskiyar

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

Robert Gitzen

Forestry, Wildlife, and the Environment

David King

Geosciences

Jan Kavookjian

Health Outcomes Research and Policy

Zachary Schulz

History

Diana Samek

Human Development & Family Studies

David Smith

Industrial Design

Rich Sesek

Industrial and Systems Engineering

Christopher (Brooks) Mobley

Kinesiology

Kasia Leousis

Libraries

Liesl Wesson

Management and Entrepreneurship

Jeremy Wolter

Marketing

Hans Werner van Wyk

Mathematics and Statistics

Sabit Adanur

Mechanical Engineering

Chris Martin

Nursing

Kevin Huggins

Nutritional Sciences

David Mixson

Outreach

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

Latifat Cabirou

Special Ed. Rehab. Counseling/School Psych

Gregory Spray

Speech Language and Hearing Sciences

David Strickland

Supply Chain Management (new)

LTC, Michael Quinn

ROTC Air Force

Captain, Michael Witherspoon

ROTC Naval

Danilea Werner

Socio/Anthro/Social Work

Adrienne Wilson

Theatre and Dance

Kerri Munoz

World Lang & Literatures

Absent without substitute

Name

Department/Title

Soolim Jeong

GSC President

Octavia Tripp

Steering Committee

Jeff Kim

Building Sciences

Joel Hayworth

Civil Engineering

Ann Presley

Consumer & Design Sciences

Nathan Whelan

Fisheries & Allied Aquaculture

Elina Coneva

Horticulture

Clark Danderson

Hospitality Mgmt.

Lee Johnson

Music

LTC, Laura Fryar

ROTC Army

Robert Cole

Veterinary Clinical Sciences