September 5, 2007

Gary Weaver called the meeting to order at 2:15 p.m.

Present: Professors Weaver, Silvia, Loesberg, Belson, Douglass, Forst, Girard, Hall, Kim, Klein, Langbein, Leap, Mintz, Pike, Reece, Riddick, Sha, Stallings, Steinhorn, Wanis-St.John, Willoughby, Yates, Young, Dean Mardirosian, and Provost Broder.

Welcome and Introduction, Gary Weaver

Professor Weaver welcomed everyone to the meeting. The May minutes were approved.

Report of the President, Neil Kerwin

Facilities

Dr. Kerwin provided an overview of the facilities work being done on campus. For instance, the Mary Graydon Center first floor has been substantially redone, with new furniture and new flooring. Additionally, the Nebraska residence hall has been upgraded. Work is still being done on the addition to the Kogod Business School.

Finances

Dr. Kerwin stated that the university is beginning the academic year in a fairly strong financial position. Based on this, it seems as though we will be operating within a balanced budget for the entire year.

Board of Trustees

This is the second academic year since the Board has adopted the policy of meeting four times per year. The first meeting for this academic year is in September.

Dr. Kerwin will discuss with the Board the initiation this fall of the development of a new strategic plan for the university. He would like to include the entire university community in an effort to redefine the future direction of American University. Dr. Kerwin would like the draft to be completed by November 2008 and presented to the Board at that time.

Searches

Dr. Kerwin mentioned that the university will be conducting two searches for top administrators this year, one for a provost and the other for a vice president of development. The nation-wide search for provost will be conducted by a search committee, as specified in the academic regulations, which will then recommend a candidate to Dr. Kerwin. At that point, Dr. Kerwin will in turn present the candidate to the Board for approval. It is expected that the new provost would begin work in July 2008. The search for vice president of development will be conducted somewhat differently, given the nature of this position and the job market for this type of position.

Campus Communication

Dr. Kerwin will be sending out a memorandum regarding campus emergency preparedness. Also, he will be sending out a memorandum about the work of the army corps of engineers, and their work on the Glenbrook Road house of the President and the adjacent house.

Report of the Provost, Ivy Broder

Dr. Broder mentioned that there are 28 new tenure-track faculty members and more than 100 new faculty were invited to the fall New Faculty Orientation last week. The new group of faculty is extremely well-qualified and impressive. Dr. Broder introduced the new university librarian, Bill Mayer. Mr. Mayer was the associate librarian for information technology and technical services at George Washington University and previous to that worked at MIT and Harvard. Also, Dr. Broder introduced Keith Gill, the new Athletics Director. Mr. Gill has just come from working at the University of Oklahoma, and previous to that was working at Vanderbilt.

Budget

Dr. Broder announced that summer enrollment and programs were very successful. This happened for several reasons: more realistic budgeting, holding the price of the summer undergraduate tuition credit at the previous year’s rate, expanding our distance learning initiative, and changing last year the academic regulation limiting the number of courses a student can take outside the university (passed by the Faculty Senate). The budget was in a better position because of a combination of improved offerings and more effective pricing.

Although we did not reach the expected target for new freshmen, quality remains high and there was a solid increase in the number of multicultural and international students in the freshmen class. The new full-time transfer students will be at the target, and for returning undergraduate students we are exceeding the budgeted numbers. Graduate credit hours are above budget, and the Washington College of Law has had spectacular enrollment.

Salary Structure

Dr. Broder outlined a few changes to the salary structure. For promotion and tenure, we were giving faculty a total of $2,500 (i.e., a $1,000 increase for tenure and a $1,500 increase for promotion to associate professor). This will be increased to $4,000. And for promotion from associate to full professor, we are increasing that amount from $2,000 to $4,000. This increase will also be applied retroactively to anyone who received promotion and or tenure over the past five years. For anyone not in these categories, we will be looking at any discrepancies in salary structures and making any appropriate adjustments.

Committees

Several committees will be formed to further consider learning communities beyond the University College, to develop further our distance education initiatives, and to promote interdisciplinary and international “joint degree” opportunities. Additionally, since retention is an important goal of the university, Dr. Broder and Gail Hanson have begun discussing the establishment of a retention council.

Open Discussion

Dr. Broder distributed to the Faculty Senate a copy of her annual report to the president which outlines the accomplishments of the academic division during AY 2006-2007.

There was some discussion initiated by Brian Forst regarding the recruitment and retention of faculty. Dr. Broder mentioned that course load has been an issue in some instances of recruitment, but to her knowledge salary has been less of an issue.

Professor Willoughby asked how we are doing in terms of diversity in the faculty. Dr. Broder mentioned that hiring a highly qualified and diverse group of faculty remains a top priority.

Report of the Chair, Gary Weaver

• The slate of nominations for faculty representatives to the Board of Trustees committees was approved.

• Brian Forst and Richard Sha are working on reviving The Senator. Professor Forst mentioned that they see The Senator as a tool with which to reach out to the rest of the faculty and be more accessible. He added that there will be a fall and spring edition, and possibly a third if a special topic warrants. There will be a small print version and a longer on-line version. The on-line version will have summaries and highlights from the committees.

• Professor Weaver mentioned that everything has been moved from the old Faculty Senate office in the McKinley building to the new office in the Sports Center Annex. Professor Weaver encouraged everyone to use the Faculty Senate conference room. When the Faculty Senate assistant is not available, the keys for the office can be obtained from Peggy Eskow in the Office of the Provost.

• Professor Weaver requested that the Senators provide him with suggestions for the agenda. For the October agenda, some topics will be the Willoughby four-course load, Dean of Academic Affairs Haig Mardirosian’s discussion of the multi-year appointments, a talk with Gary Abramson, Brian Yates may introduce some new IT people, and Sarah Irvine’s report on eliminating the Advanced Placement exam.

• Professor Weaver stated that there has been some interest in having the committees give reports at the Faculty Senate meetings to inform everyone of their activities.

• Professor Ahrens is working on a report regarding the evaluation of faculty research contributions.

• Professor Weaver asked Professor Leap to propose a resolution to form an ad hoc committee on the strategic plan. After some further discussion, Professor Loesberg came up with language for the resolution: The Senate resolves to set up a committee to participate in strategic planning. That committee will be in place by the October meeting of the Faculty Senate, at which time charge will be defined. This proposal was approved by the Senate.

For the Good of the Order, Gary Weaver

Professor Forst expressed congratulations to the Katzen Center Director, Jack Rasmussen, for bringing the exhibit of paintings by Fernando Botero on Abu Ghraib to American University this November.

Professor Douglass read a sense of the Senate resolution: The Faculty Senate extends enthusiastic expression of congratulations to Neil Kerwin upon his selection to become president of American University. The Senate recognizes Neil Kerwin as an active scholar, respected teacher, and proven leader. Thirty-nine years of dedication and service as student, faculty member, dean, provost, and interim president have given Neil Kerwin unparalleled experience and knowledge of American University. Whereas the University has progressed substantially in recent years, thanks in no small measure to Neil Kerwin’s contributions, we the members of the Faculty Senate resolve to work closely with President Kerwin in continuing to advance the mission of American University. This resolution was passed.

The meeting adjourned at 4:45.