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: 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: 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

Business

Elections

The following positions on faculty senate committees were declared officially vacant: 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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