Prior Minutes Reports
...| Chairperson
| Student Senate
| President
| Provost
| Assoc. Provost for Acad. Prog. & Serv. Committees
...| University Theme
| Coop Ed Faculty Emeritus Proposed Courses
Chairperson D. Eidam called the meeting to order at 4:08 PM in Chryst 210.
All Departments were represented except Business Administration, Computer
Science, Earth Sciences, and Health and Physical Education. The Student
Senate President, Melissa Dinofia and Snapper reporter, David Burkholder,
also attended.
The Minutes of meetings of March 3, 1998 and
March 17 were approved following the
emendations.
Mar. 3. Name should read Rich France instead of Frerichs.
Mar. 17. P. 4399 Refs. To Macs, PCs and Dell deleted. Spelling of name p.
4402 Ana Borger-Reese P. 4402 Biology 628 and Nursing 560 are approved as
new courses. R. Wismer proposal is a minor change. D. Eidam said
the Senate will not be acting on this. He has already submitted that
proposal to the administration (p. 4401) and p. 4397 the administration
has amended our new academic proposal form.
REPORTSChairperson
D. Eidam said that last time he had given a call for elections and asked
for corrections. He had received one from UCPRC which meets 2nd, 4th, and
5th Tuesdays, not just 2nd and 4th Tuesdays. the correction has been made.
Nothing else has been changed. He requested that the attachment be made to
the minutes as an advance call for elections for September. Normally we
elect a low 40s number of positions. In September we will be electing 54
positions, 10 of which must be senators. (See
attachment).
Monday April 13 Dr. Minna Weinstein head of Middle States accreditation
team will be here speaking to faculty in Matisse 1:30-2:15 and to SPARC
members thereafter. Senators invited to attend. Dr. Weinstein will be
outlining what is expected of us for Middle States Accreditation which
happens every 10 years.
Registrar Gonzales had provided a copy of the new Under Graduate
Transcript. It has undergone some changes. At the top--Degrees Conferred,
Honors and so on. Note under advanced standing credits, the transfer
credits are summarized. This is on special paper so that when attempts are
made to xerox it, it comes out with copy copy copy all over it and the
Registrar's name removed.
D. Eidam held up a clipping from a newspaper that read: WCU Offers Free
Room and Board for Summer. The article said that West Chester is offering
free room and board to students who take six or more credits.
D. Eidam requested guidance regarding when to schedule the summer meeting.
He normally schedules it in the first week of Summer I because this
catches the Pre-Session and Summer I people. He requested that Senators
e-mail him within one week as to when the summer meeting should be held.
Even if there is nothing on the Agenda it is necessary to hold that
meeting if there are courses in the queue so that they continue their
progress through the pipeline.
Student Senate
Melissa Dinofia said students also would meet with the people from Middle
States. The Student Senate will meet this week and Dr. Rydell will speak
about the renovations to the dining hall as she did here. In the up-coming
Student Senate elections three people are running for president, two for
vice-president, and one for treasurer. No one is running for secretary.
The date for the plus/minus discussion has been set for April 29, from
9:00 to 10:20 in the SMC.
The Student Senate Conference with the other 13 state institutions is to
be held on campus April 24/26. On April 26 Chancellor McCormick will
attend the business meeting and luncheon.
Melissa said she had sent letters to graduating seniors asking for their
success stories to share that she could use in her speech. she extended an
open invitation to the faculty to contact her with information about any
interactions they have had with students that they think are
extraordinary.
Administrative OfficersPresident
Dr. Caputo had two quick announcements and a question for the Senate to
ponder. since the last time he was here the General Assembly had conducted
its annual budget hearings. The senate hearings usually are models of
decorum and they were again. there was nothing really eventful. The
Chancellor was asked a lot of questions and responded well. The hearings
before the house are always more raucous, rough and tumble and the
questions more pointed and in the last four or five years have been more
hostile. They were again.
The issue that they dwelt upon for some time was interesting. Several
months ago the Board of Governors empowered universities to seek
permission to have programs that provide for discounting out-of-state
student tuition. Mansfield was the first to seek authority for that.
Members of the General Assembly, particularly the delegation from
Lancaster did not react well to that. If we think about it from their
point of view, the General Assembly is planning to give us the largest
appropriation we have seen in years (5%) and the State System discounts
out of state tuition, it does not make sense to them. Millersville is only
one of three or four that has not sought to do this. The plan is pretty
good for those institutions that have space on campus and empty seats in
classes or have specific programs that are under-enrolled it is a good
device for increasing revenue but on the surface it does not look that
way.
The Early Retirement Program that the Governor signed into law for both
retirement of state employees and teachers is a 30 and out program.
Persons who have 30 years service are eligible regardless of age. There
are some people on our campus that fit.
Question: One of our students who is graduating wants to
know if his mother who is graduating with her Associate Degree at
precisely the same time from a private university could come to our
ceremony and graduate. Dr. Caputo asked if this seemed inappropriate to
the Senate. He added that the mechanics would have to be worked out. there
were no objections.
Provost
Provost McNairy said the West Chester summer program is designed to
enhance the enrollments. The dollars to pay for that are coming from non
restricted resources. Millersville's residence halls are packed; we do not
have the ability to replicate the West Chester summer program. We would
want to review such a program before initiating it here.
President Caputo commented that the General Assembly is saying that the
budget is going to be done soon, probably in the next couple of weeks
before the end of April. The major party, the Republican Party, want it
done, the Governor wants it done; it is an election year. Around the state
system this is a nervous time because this is the time that legislators
may react to something that happens on campus with anger that is not
unprecedented and take that anger out on our budget. It is not a good
time to be making major decisions.
In response to a question about the possibility of a merger of community
colleges with the State System of Higher Education so that we can accept
their courses, President Caputo said there had been conversations for
about three years about the possibility of some co-joining of the state
system with the non-state system of community colleges because they are
not linked to the system. And they have some problems because they are not
linked. The question arose was it a good idea to have two systems. There
would be huge political, economic and educational questions to be
answered. There have been some meetings about this topic. President Caputo
said he thinks we are a long way from it but someone got hold of the rumor
and the Pittsburgh press started asking about it. The response was that
there were no plans but there had been discussions. The headline came out
talking about discussions and the story is taking on a life of its own.
Associate Provost Roller
Dr. Roller said that registration is coming up for fall semester and the
registrar had told her that last year registration ran more smoothly and
thanked the faculty for being there. The registrar is asking for
assistance from people who are available Thursday and Friday, April 23 and
24 from 9:00 to 7:30. So we have sent a letter out to the chairs. What he
needs are people to help students identify alternative options for courses
that they can't get into.
CommitteesUniversity Theme Committee
J. Piperberg said that the committee met last week and will bring the
recommendation to the next meeting of the Senate.
Co-operative Education
W. Dorman said the committee has republished the new student handbook for
the program and hopes to work on the faculty handbook this summer.
Faculty Emeritus
A Department of Special Education recommendation that Professor Douglas P.
LaPierre, Sr. be granted the honorary title of Assistant Professor of
Special Education Emeritus passed. (See Attachment.)
Proposed Courses
Nursing Courses
541 Managing Health Care Organization and
542 Health Care Management: Issues of Policy, Ethics and Law