Millersville University, Faculty Senate
Minutes
Faculty Senate Meeting
7 October 1997
Prior Minutes
Reports
...| Chairperson
| Student Senate
| President McNairy
| Provost Stager
| Assoc. Provost Casselberry
Committees
...UCPRC
| GCPRC
| University Honors
| Academic Policies
| International Studies
SECA Appeal
Faculty Emeritus
Proposed Courses
Business
...Elections
Chairperson D. Eidam called the meeting to order at 4:05 p.m. in
Chryst Hall, Room 210. All departments were represented except Business
Administration. Melissa Dinofia, Emily Brennan, and Ryan Kunkle
represented Student Senate.
MINUTES
The minutes of the of 16 September meeting
were approved as distributed.
REPORTS
Chairperson
D. Eidam welcomed two new senators: Saulius Suziedelis (History) and Joe
Sciarretta (Developmental Studies). Discussion of the Academic Proposal
form is being deferred to a future meeting pending changes by the Academic
Policies Committee. The Commencem ent Committee voted to support the
single commencement option. The Administrative Computing Committee is
considering the installation of groupware for use by administrative
offices. According to the Development Committee, employee gifts are only
57% of what they were last year at this time.
Sally Vanderslice and Darlene Woody, two long-term members of the Council
of Trustees, will be leaving the Council at the end of this term. D.
Eidam has senate mailing labels available for anyone who would like to
send snail mail to all senators. The be st way to communicate with
senators is through the e-mail reflector.
There is a vacancy on the General Education Review Committee for a social
sciences representative whose term will expire in 1999.
Student Senate
M. Dinofia reported that she is preparing for a trip to IUP for a 3-day
conference this weekend. In November, the SSHE will host delegates from
each institution at the Dixon University Center. Next Monday Student
Senate will be hosting an open forum.
Administrative Officers
President
President McNairy reported that Dr. Caputo sends his good wishes. She
mentioned that a family weekend was held two weekends ago and that
comments were very complimentary about the University. Four different
Elderhostel sessions have been held on campus this year: three in the
summer and one in the fall. Participants were very happy with
Millersville and fell in love with the students.
The University has hired the consulting firm H2L2 to help in developing a
master facilities plan. School Council representatives will be meeting
with H2L2. There is also a steering committee comprised of various
constituencies, including students and me mbers of the community. Senate
will be asked to convene one or two focus groups to meet with H2L2. All
faculty will also be sent a survey and there will be a series of open
meetings.
Provost
Provost Stager reported that PAC is discussing the report of the
Technology Vision Task Force and will ask the task force to meet with them
for further discussion. Following that meeting the report will be
distributed widely.
An RFP was sent to all faculty for proposals for grants to help start up
distance education courses. Applications are to be sent to Diane Umble,
Chair of the Teaching, Learning, and Technology Roundtable.
The first Open House of the year will be held on Saturday 11 October.
Associate Provost
Associate Provost Casselberry indicated that questions have come up
regarding catalog revisions as necessitated by changes in the General
Education requirements. We no longer have a QARC designation; courses
previously listed as CQ should now be designat ed as either C or Q.
On 9 and 10 October Dr. Jim Nichols will be here for the next phase of the
Outcomes Assessment process. Departments that did not meet with him last
spring will meet with him on Thursday; departments that met with him last
spring will be having short foll ow-up sessions on Thursday or Friday. It
is important that each department have more than one representative at
these meetings.
Committees
Undergraduate Course and Program Review Committee
Chairperson R. Wismer asked for approval of several courses and program
changes at today's meeting so that the changes can be reflected in the new
catalog. Senate first addressed changes to the Earth Sciences curriculum,
including four new general-educat ion courses, change in contact hours for
ESCI 321 and ESCI 427, and changes to the B.S. in Geology. The courses
are:
ESCI 328--Petrography/Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology
ESCI 428--Planetary Geology
ESCI 329--Aqueous Geochemistry
A Wismer/Soong motion was made to approve these courses and all program
changes. Discussion focused on the rationale for restructuring the
geology curriculum. These changes attempt to streamline the course
offerings. The motion carried.
A Wismer/Sykes motion was made to change the credit hour options for CHEM
205. Discussion brought out the fact that there have been requests to
separate the lab from the course. The motion carried.
A Wismer/McCade motion was made to approve ITEC 448 (Machine Tool Design).
A question arose as to whether this course requires and "Academic
Proposal" form. This issue, separate from this course proposal, must be
discussed further. R. Wismer asked if t he "Academic Proposal" form could
be blended with the "Undergraduate Course Proposal" form. After further
discussion, the motion carried.
A Wismer/McCade motion was made to approve the Journalism Minor revision.
The question arose as to whether this proposal requires an "Academic
Proposal" form. Discussion brought out the fact that this revision
reflects what has actually been in existenc e. Questions arose as to
whether all affected departments had been consulted. It was determined
that the approval would be contingent upon the English Department
providing D. Eidam with the "Academic Proposal" form. The motion carried.
Graduate Course and Program Review Committee
Chairperson R. Kerper presented two courses under the one-meeting rule:
EDFN 587--Topics in the Social Foundation of Education
EDFN 606--Childhood and Youth in America: Historical and Contemporary
Perspectives
The Committee has discussed issues relative to plus/minus grading. They
would like all issues affecting graduate programs to be sent to the
Graduate Course and Program Review Committee simultaneously with their
being sent to the Academic Policies Committ ee. The question arose as to
whether an "Academic Proposal" form must be attached to graduate course
proposals. General discussion followed on the role of the Academic
Policies Committee on matters relating to graduate programs. The
Governance Manual s pecifically states that the Academic Policies
Committee deals with undergraduate policies. K. Bookmiller mentioned that
there are currently no graduate faculty on the Academic Policies
Committee. Further discussion focused on the application of plus/min us
grading for graduate courses.
University Honors Program Committee
Chairperson M. Warmkessel reported that the University Honors Program
Committee reviewed those sections of the Governance Manual needing changes
as a result of the plus/minus grading system. There are passages
regarding a minimum grade of B as requiremen ts for the University Honors
Program. The Committee agreed to change these references from B to B-.
Academic Policies Committee
Chairperson K. Bookmiller announced that the Committee meets the 1st and
3rd Monday of each month from 3-5 p.m. They held their first meeting of
the year yesterday and will not meet again until November.
She reviewed several issues currently under discussion. Page 76 of the
Governance Manual relates to grade minima for departmental honors
projects. The Academic Policies Committee would like to change the
minimum to a B- only if it is clear that departme nts could petition to
have a higher minimum grade for departmental honors projects. General
discussion followed. The Committee is also discussing possible
discrepancies in the way QPAs are determined for the major.
International Studies Curriculum Committee
Chairperson A. Borger-Reese reported that the committee is sending out a
call for applications for a new director of International Affairs.
SECA Appeal
S. Luek, this year's SECA Appeal Chair, mentioned that everyone should
have received information in the mail about the SECA Appeal. Recently,
faculty contributions have been rather low. Only 25% of faculty
contributed last year. The SECA Appeal support s over 2500 agencies,
about 42 are specifically related to Lancaster County. This year's goal
is to increase the percentage of faculty giving. The overall goal is
$26,000 which is conservative.
Faculty Emeritus
A Darmiento/Wismer motion to recommend Professor LeonaFrances Woskowiak
for faculty emeritus status passed unanimously. (see Attachment 1)
A Darmiento/Piperberg motion to recommend Associate Professor Walter
Blackburn for faculty emeritus status passed unanimously. (see Attachment 2)
Proposed Course
BIOL 624 (Mycology) was approved under the one-meeting rule.
Business
Elections
The following positions on faculty senate committees were declared
officially vacant:
Non-School Faculty representative to General Education Review
Committee
Social Sciences representative to the Undergraduate Course and Program
Review Committee
The meeting adjourned at 5:45 p.m. The next meeting of the Senate
is 4 November at 4:05 p.m. in Chryst Hall, Room 210.
Respectfully submitted,
Marjorie M. Warmkessel
Acting Secretary
Prior Minutes
Reports
...| Chairperson
| Student Senate
| President McNairy
| Provost Stager
| Assoc. Provost Casselberry
Committees
...UCPRC
| GCPRC
| University Honors
| Academic Policies
| International Studies
SECA Appeal
Faculty Emeritus
Proposed Courses
Business
...Elections
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