Summary of the Faculty Senate Meeting

November 6, 2024

I. Chair’s Report – Jenny Axe

The Faculty Senate Chair, Jenny Axe, called the meeting to order at 2:30 pm and presented the Chair’s report:

Approval of the Minutes: Senators approved the Oct 2 minutes.

Senior Executive Searches:

Provost Search:

The faculty senate chose the members of the Provost search committee and advisory committee using the procedures in the resolution that the senate and the President approved earlier in the semester.

Vice President of Advancement Search:

The faculty senate executive committee voted to fill the two seats allotted to the faculty for the Vice Provost of Advancement search committee and selected Dan Abraham and Raychelle Burks.

The faculty Senate VOTED to ratify these choices.

Faculty volunteers are welcome to participate in selecting art and décor for the Terrace Dining Room (TDR). Anyone interested should contact Jenny Axe.

Name Change for Term Faculty Affairs Committee to Continuing and Term Faculty Affairs Committee:

In light of the recent creation of the continuing faculty as a type of faculty member, the Term Faculty Affairs Committee requested to change the name of the committee from Term Faculty Affairs Committee to Continuing and Term Faculty Affairs Committee. The faculty senate VOTED to approve the name change.

II. Provost’s Report – Vicky Wilkins

A. Students are reacting to the U.S. presidential election results in a variety of ways. It is important that faculty support students who need it, particularly those who may be isolating themselves.

B. Enrollments:

American University has added the option of early action for applicants. Previously, AU only had early decision and regular decision applications. The number of applications is higher than last year. This increase is also the case for early decision applications despite the introduction of an early action application as an additional option. Attendance at on-campus recruitment events is also up compared to last year.

C. Budget:

The Provost met with the deans and the Committee on Academic Budget and Benefits. The news here is not so good. The numbers are not yet complete, but because of the enrollment shortfall, we must prepare for significant cuts, that is, on the order of ten to fifteen percent. We’re doing this early so that we can take care and practice shared governance to make decisions. The provost thanked CABB Chair Jason Snyder and the rest of the CABB members for their work on this.

The deans have a set of guidelines:

          1. We’re working on this jointly.

          2. We intend to undertake reviews of programs and other entities before acting.

          3. We still need to invest; we can’t just cut our way out of this.

D. Questions for the Provost:

A senator asked what the baseline budget number was from which we are cutting. The Provost replied that it is $863 million.

A senator asked if we need to reconsider our business model, given the shortfall in recruitment and conversion for the first-year class. The provost replied that we have to look at all our programs to make sure that we’re providing what students want.

The CABB Chair pointed out that our budget challenge extends beyond one year because we have a small incoming class of undergraduates that will be with us for the next three and a half years. This year’s senior class is the largest in the history of AU. They generated a lot of revenue for the university, which will no longer be the case once they graduate. The first-year class will generate less tuition and other revenue, such as housing and dining. Admitting transfer students and other measures will only make up for part of the shortfall.

III. Search Firm for Provost

Kate Kennedy and Pamela Pazzoli from the search firm Isaacson Miller met with the faculty senate. They are drafting a profile for the position and asked what senators would like to see in a new provost and where they would like to see AU move in the next three-to-five years. Senators made numerous comments, including that the candidate should have the capacity to ensure that we make a smooth transition to the university’s anticipated R1 status, a strong record when it comes to shared governance, and a commitment to work with the university community to develop and to implement persuasive plan for advancing AU. Faculty also asked that the search firm investigate any claims candidates make to verify their accuracy.

IV. Discussion regarding the name and activities of the Center for Teaching, Research and Learning – Dean of Faculty Monica Jackson:

The Dean of Faculty would like input on the best new name for CTRL. The name should reflect the things that CTRL will be doing after reorganization.

The role of CTRL in research is still a topic of discussion. Some faculty expressed concern about separating research from the other aspects of CTRL and shifting them to the Office of Sponsored Awards and Research Administration. Dean Jackson responded that we still need to think about how to integrate the work of CTRL with OSARA.

Dean Jackson said that career advancement is a part of the work of CTRL.

A faculty member asked, “What is the problem that we’re trying to solve?” Dean Jackson replied that her office began considering changes to CTRL in 2021 because the pandemic sparked many changes in the work of CTRL. Since then, additional issues that also affect faculty – such as large data sets and artificial intelligence – have also risen in prominence. The objectives of the reorganization of CTRL are to focus it on current core needs of faculty and to eliminate duplication with other parts of the university (e.g., OSARA)

V. Faculty Distribution Report – Monica Jackson

Dean Jackson reported that for the academic year 2024-25 there are 925 full-time faculty. Tenure-line faculty are 53.2 percent of the total and non-tenure line are 46.8 percent. Women are now a majority of all full-time faculty (i.e., 52.3 percent). Men comprise 52.2 percent of tenure-line faculty and women are 57.1 percent of non-tenure line faculty. Faculty of color are 28 percent and Hispanic colleagues are 5 percent of all full-time faculty.

VI. Title IX and Revisions to Sexual Misconduct Policy:

The U.S. Presidential election means that the changes the Biden Administration proposed will not be coming into effect. The Title IX office still wishes to work on clarifying the definition of harassment and a few other matters.

A faculty member asked if the Title IX office has produced a draft written document that the rest of the community may see. The provost stated that no draft has been shared.

Faculty members observed that other universities have sexual misconduct policies that could serve as starting points for the revision of AU’s non-Title IX sexual misconduct policy language.

VII. Report: Working Group on Shared Governance – Jenny Axe, John Bracht, Garret Martin

Forming a Working Group on Shared Governance was a recommendation of the Working Group on Faculty Engagement. The Working Group on Shared Governance met periodically from March to August 2024. The membership, which was approximately 30, was self-selected and included both faculty and administrators. All academic units had at least one member.

The WGSG divided its work into two subgroups. Group 1 focused on the principles of shared governance and group 2 concentrated on developing concrete suggestions for improvement.

The understanding of what shared governance is and where it should apply has not been standardized or transparent at American University. This has produced much friction and misunderstanding. As a result, Group 1 focused on developing a common definition. It conceptualized four levels of shared governance: information, consultation, recommendation and joint decision-making; and then paired the most common types of decisions at a university with one of these levels. Timing is also an important aspect of shared governance. To avoid performative consultation, shared governance should begin early in the process of policy formulation and continue into policy implementation. The authors encourage everyone in the AU community to read this section of the WGSG report carefully to see if they concur with the definitions and choices, and to make suggestions for improvements. Ultimately, the work of Group 1 will only have an impact if everyone at AU reads it and applies its definition and framework in practice. This will only happen if there are further discussions regarding shared governance throughout the university. The members of Group 1 are happy to talk with anyone in the AU community for a discussion about the Group’s definition of shared governance and suggestions about how to apply it.

Group 2 focused on drafting language to address places where improvements to shared governance are most urgent. The working group developed draft language regarding procedures for the formation of search committees and the regular undertaking of 360-degree reviews of senior executive staff and senior administrators. Group 2 also developed language specifying the procedure for creating and amending academic regulations because no such language existed in written form.

VIII. For the good of the order – Senate Chair Jenny Axe

There were no items for the good of the order.