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October 3 , 2005
University Senate holds first meeting

BY Michael Terrazas

The University Senate held its first meeting of 2005–06, Sept. 27 in the Jones Room of Woodruff Library, and new President Michael Rogers welcomed new members and introduced them to the Senate leadership.

In his remarks, Provost Earl Lewis announced that Emory’s strategic plan, “Where Courageous Inquiry Leads,” was being rolled out to various University constituencies. Lewis said it is appropriate to take a moment for congratulations, but that much work remains to implement the plan’s recommendations and ambitions.

Next was Student Government Association (SGA) Christine Reeves, who spoke about several student events and activities. Reeves reported that SGA was sponsoring a “Relief-A-Thon,” Sept. 28 on the Quadrangle, to benefit hurricane relief, and discussed a number of other relief activities. SGA has helped implement an “Emory Buddies” program to assign peer contacts for the roughly 120 students from New Orleans-area schools who are temporarily enrolled at Emory.

Richard Levinson, chair of the honorary degrees committee, said the committee seeks nominations of honorary-degree candidates, emphasizing that he is looking for diversity in the nomination pool. Anyone interested in submitting a nomination can contact Levinson at rlevins@sph.emory.edu.

Next up were plans for 2005–06 from the Senate’s standing committees. The headline items of those plans were as follows:
• Athletic policy (reported by Betsy Tanner): to integrate varsity athletics with the culture of the University.
• Campus development (Joyce Piatt): to continue to review plans for development of the Emory campus and Emory Village.
• Campus life (Cynthia Shaw): to focus on involving students in the community and measuring the long-term impact of such service on the students themselves.
• Environmental policy (Tim Bryson): to continue consulting with University planners and helping instill environmentally sustainable values in long-range planning.
• Fringe benefits (Sid Stein): to continue to work with administration in implementing the recommendations made following last year’s benefits review.
• Library policy (Steve Strange): to continue to address problems in storage capacity at Woodruff Library and other Emory libraries.
• Parking and transportation (Lynn Magee): to examine shuttle use on campus and explore the possibility of adding neighborhood shuttle service for employees who live close to campus.
• Safety and security (Leslie Campis): to continue raising awareness of sexual assault.

Following committee reports, the Senate voted unanimously to approve committee rosters submitted by the chairs.

Richard Mendola, chief information officer and vice president for information technology, introduced himself to the Senate and talked about his priorities for the short and long term (see column, page 4). Mendola said one immediate priority is to upgrade Emory’s wireless capabilities, and he anticipated installation of wireless service in all residence halls by semester’s end.

Closing the meeting with his remarks, President Jim Wagner announced that an additional 120 residents would be moved from the Turman residential complex because of moisture-intrusion problems. The students will be relocated to the Marriott hotel on Clairmont Road near I-85 for the remainder of the semester. “This situation is not ideal,” Wagner admitted, though he hoped the relocation would enable Turman’s problems to be solved once and for all.

Wagner also said he hoped at a future meeting to discuss with Senate members their processes for reporting Senate business back to their constituents.

The next Senate meeting will be at a special time and location on Tuesday, Oct. 25. To coordinate with Wagner’s State of the Union Address which will immediately follow, the meeting will take place in Cox Hall Ballroom from 3–4:30 p.m.

If you have a question or concern for University Senate, e-mail President Michael Rogers at rogers@learnlink.emory.edu.

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