Emory Report

December 6, 1999

Volume 52, No. 14

Issues in Progress: University Senate First on the agenda of the Nov. 23 meeting was a farewell to DeAnna Spurlin, who is leaving her administrative position with University Senate and Faculty Council after two years to accept a teaching job. President John Boli extended his thanks to Spurlin for her time and work. The senate then heard a proposal from Jim Wilson of Yerkes, asking that Emory staff and faculty be given more options in the employee giving program than simply United Way. Wilson offered as an alternative the Environmental Fund for Georgia, which comprises 22 of the state's leading conservation groups. He said the proposal has received the support of Employee Council and the senate committee on the environment. Provost Rebecca Chopp volunteered to coordinate a task force to examine the issue further, find out what other educational institutions are doing and report back at the next meeting. Law student Greg Shenton, president of the Graduate Senate, reported on the charge and activities of the body. At the October meeting, the University Senate debated amending its bylaws regarding student representatives. Boli said the amendment will be reexamined and presented at the January meeting for a vote. John Magnotta, chair of the traffic and parking committee, announced that he will be retiring soon and that Nancy Wilkinson will serve as interim chair of the committee until a replacement is found. Boli thanked Magnotta for his service to a committee which "has the most intractable problems to deal with." In committee reports, Bridget Riordan of the campus life committee gave a presentation on a substance abuse program the committee is considering on campus. Steve Strange of the library policy committee said his committee is working on a number of issues, including a restored reading room, a new language lab, off-campus access to library resources and library security. Roger Worrell said the safety and security committee is looking into how crosswalks figure into the Campus Master Plan. Ruth Pagell of the athletics policy committee said her group is investigating the problem of leaks in the P.E. Center roof. Bill Size of the committee on the environment said Facilities Management must give the committee more time to review projects to assess their environmental impact and also monitor more closely the impact of projects already under way. Size proposed hiring a full-time University environmental officer, which has worked well for other institutions such as the University of Texas. President Bill Chace listed many things for which Emory can be thankful during Thanksgiving, including the success of Unity Week, Xuifei Jin's winning the National Book Award, the $10 million gift to the Carlos Museum-and a recent rise in Coca-Cola stock. Bob Hascall gave an update on the status of capital projects, including those under way and those still in the planning stages. All projects are on schedule, he said, except for the Whitehead Research Building, which is two months behind because of personnel developments in the design team. Hascall said FMD's construction update report will be available monthly from now on. The next University Senate meeting will be Jan. 25 in the School of Public Health. -reported by Elaine Justice Return to December 6, 1999 contents page