Senate closes year with committee reports

By Michael Terrazas mterraz@emory.edu

President Bill Chace opened the April 17 University Senate meeting in the Woodruff Library’s Jones Room by reporting on ongoing discussions with students concerning Commencement. (Editor’s note: Since the meeting, Professor Deborah Lipstadt has been added to the Commencement program as the Class of 2001 speaker).

Following Chace’s report, Senate President Claire Sterk handed out certificates of appreciation to Senate officers and committee chairs. She then officially transferred the presidency to the law school’s Frank Vandall. In his first act as Senate president, Vandall called for year-ending committee reports.

Following are highlights of the Senate committees’ activities during 2000–01:

Athletics and Recreation Policy: Ruth Pagell reported that Emory falls within Title IX guidelines, but this could change as Oxford increases its athletic participation. She also reported the women’s softball team now has full restroom and locker room facilities.

Campus Development: Ray DuVarney said it was a busy year for his committee, which met eight times and reviewed more than a dozen construction and/or campus addition projects.

Environmental Policy: Don Shure said the year’s highlight was working with the Ad Hoc Committee on the Environment on the recently approved Campuswide Environmental Mission Statement, and then on the motion to institute a task force to study implementation of the statement.

Honorary Degrees: Judy Raggi-Moore said the year’s great success was improving communication with the Board of Trustees, and its disappointment was the communication process with undergraduates regarding honorary degree recipients and speakers for this year’s Commencement.

Library Policy: Steve Strange said the committee’s three main issues were discussing facilities and their utilization; funds for library acquisitions and trends in scholarly publishing; and information technology issues.

Safety and Security: Roger Worrell said the committee’s major accomplishment was the installation of speed humps on certain campus thoroughfares, blue reflectors on streets to mark fire-hydrant locations, and a steam whistle for tornado alerts.

Traffic and Parking: Kim Turner said her committee has worked to improve the parking appeals process and to heighten communication with Campus Planning to discuss parking issues for upcoming capital projects.

The Campus Life and Fringe Benefits committees distributed printed reports of their 2000–01 activities.

Following committee reports and with no new business to discuss, Vandall adjourned the meeting. The University Senate will reconvene during fall semester.

If you have a question or concern for University Senate, send e-mail to Vandall at fvandall@law.emory.edu.