Minutes

Meeting of the Faculty Senate

April 4, 2000

Chairperson Piperberg called the meeting to order at 4:10 PM in Chryst 210. All departments were represented with the exception of the following: Academic Advising, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Political Science, and Sociology-Anthropology.

Report of the Faculty Senate Chairperson

Announcements

1. Chairperson Piperberg announced that the March 7 meeting Minutes were on the table and that their approval would wait until the beginning of the April 18 meeting of the Senate.
2. Chairperson Piperberg reminded faculty that Senate will adjourn early at the next meeting to allow ample time to attend the workshop on outcomes assessment at 5 PM.
3. He also reminded Senators in the departments of Art, Biology, Communication & Theatre, Counseling & Human Development, Ed Foundations, Elementary Education, English, Geography, Industrial Technology and Library that elections need to be held before the end of May for Senators and alternates.
4. Chairperson Piperberg said that he had received a memo from the provost over Spring Break indicating approval of the following Senate curricular recommendations:

   New Undergraduate Courses

   • HIST 105 - Introduction to the Craft of History, effective Fall 2000.
   • HIST 106 - Contours of United States History, effective Fall 2000. (This course replaces HIST 103 & HIST 104. Since those two IST courses are required for the BS Social Studies Major and for 106 - Contours of United States History, effective Fall the Minor in History, their elimination will necessitate changes in the requirements for these two majorsbe processed as minor changes through the Social Science Curriculum Committee, the Dean and the Associate Provost for /minors. These changes will Academic Administration.).
   • HIST 406 - Senior Seminar, approved Fall 2000.
   • ELED 325 - The Teaching of Literacy, Process, Skills, and Strategies, approved effective Fall 2000.

   Changes in Courses/Curricula

   Revision of the BA in History to increase the number of required credits from 36 to 42 and to eliminate the area of concentration requirement, approved effective Fall 2000.

   Changes in Course Prerequisites

   EDUC 333 - Children's Literature - addition of the following prerequisites: EDFN 241 (Psychological Foundations of Teaching) or PSYC 227 (Development of the Child & Adolescent) or PSYC 228 (Life Span Human Development), approved effective Fall 2000.

   Changes in Course Labeling

   Allow MUSI 499, Departmental Honors in Music to satisfy the Advanced Writing requirement in General Education, approved Fall 2000.

5. The June meeting of the Senate will be held at 3 PM on June 13 in the Myers Auditorium of McComsey Hall.
6. Chairperson Piperberg directed faculty to the proposal from some student honor societies asking permission for their members to wear stoles during the Commencement (Attachment A1Attachment A2 Attachment B). Presently, only those receiving University & Departmental Honors are allowed to wear such decorations at the Commencement ceremony. We will consider this proposal at our next meeting.
7. The Faculty - Student Athletic Committee has voted to recommend a change in the wording for membership on the Committee (see Attachment C). Two specific changes have been suggested:
   1. The wording "Three non-coaching faculty members are elected by the Faculty Senate for overlapping terms of three years" will be changed to "Three faculty members who do not have assigned responsibilities in the athletic program are elected by the Faculty Senate for overlapping terms of three years."
   2. Change from "The Chairperson is a faculty senator elected by faculty Senate at the first senate meeting of the Fall semester for a three-year term, provided he/she retains Senate membership. This person is in addition to the three non-coaching faculty members elected by Faculty Senate" to "The Chairperson is a faculty senator, who does not have assigned responsibilities in the athletic program, elected by Faculty Senate at the first senate meeting of the Fall semester for a three-year term, provided he/she retains Senate membership. This person is in addition to the three faculty members, who do not have assigned responsibilities in the athletic program, elected by Faculty Senate."

   These changes will preserve the intent of the original membership and, at the same time, prevent potential conflicts of interest.

Report of the Student Senate President

Student Senate President Baker announced that: (1) the Senate Coalition Conference to be held at Elizabethtown College on April 9, 2000; (2) on April 10, 2000, the final Dialogue on Race would be held; (3) a students rights committee has been formed to develop the argument that students may choose to stay at college beyond the expected four-year period; and (4) student senators were present at the meeting to argue against the proposed shortening of the add/drop registration period.

Report of Administrative Officers

• Provost McNairy reminded faculty to review the Honors College Proposal. She also expressed appreciation for Dr. Osborn's contribution in establishing the Honors Program.
• Dr. Stager reported that registration was going very smoothly. He added that less manpower and funding was required to operate the new phone registration system. He added that the reinitiated degree audit system has been also very successful thus far.
• Dr. Phillips reported that DARS training went well and that Academic Advisement has completed its training in voice registration.

Report of the Graduate Student Organization President None.

Reports of the Faculty Senate Standing Committees

Dr. Fenwick announced that more proposals were "on the way" and introduced the following proposals:

Dr. Dorman spoke briefly about the Cooperative Education Committee hosting students from abroad.

Reports of the Faculty Special Committees

Dr. Schreiber reported that the Honor Code Ad Hoc Committee had their first meeting the previous week and that members had begun preliminary investigation of the plausibility and feasibility of an Honor Code at Millersville as mandated in the Committee charge.

Proposed Courses and Programs

1. NEW UNDERGRADUATE COURSE – approved
   ITEC 427 - Designing Industrial Control Systems, 3 credits. Elective for EDTE and ITEC majors and ITEC General and Mechanical minor options. Effective Fall 2000.
2. CHANGE IN COURSES/CURRICULA – approved.
   Add the following statement to the "Requirements and Policies" for the following degree programs: BS. in Chemistry, BS. in Chemistry - Polymer Chemistry Option, BS. in Secondary Education - Chemistry, BA. in Chemistry, and BA. in Chemistry Cooperative Engineering, Associate Degree in Chemistry.

   "Chemistry majors are required to have a 2.0 grade or better in Chemistry courses required for the major at the 100 and 200 level before proceeding to a course for which it is a prerequisite. Currently, these courses include CHEM 111, 112, 231, 232, 251, & 265. A C- grade in these courses is therefore not acceptable."

Faculty Emeritus None.

Elections: Chairperson of Honors Program Committee and Ad Hoc Honor Code Committee Members

• Dr. Richard Glenn from Political Science was nominated to be Chair of the Honors Program Committee. The nominations were closed and there was a motion to instruct the Secretary to cast a ballot in favor of Dr. Glenn's election. The motion passed unanimously.
• Chairperson Piperberg requested nominations for members of the Ad Hoc Honor Committee. Dr. John McLarnon of the History Department was nominated. After hearing no further nominations, the nominations were closed and there was a motion to instruct the Secretary to cast a ballot in favor of Dr. McLarnon's election. The motion passed unanimously.
• Vacancies still exist for this committee and nominations will be in order at the next meeting.

Vote on the Referral of the Proposed Revision of the M.Ed. Professional Core back to the GCPRC Committee

The motion to refer the proposed revision of the M.Ed. Professional core back to GCPRC was moved and seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Vote on the Four Academic Policies Proposals

The full statement of the policies discussed below are attached to the March 7, 2000 Minutes of Faculty Senate.

Policy #1 states that the minimum credit requirements for two-year college transfers "satisfy the minimum residence requirement of one year, including 30 semester hours of course work (in addition to student teaching for education students. The minimum requirement for transfers from a two-year college is 60 semester hours at Millersville University. " Additionally, the Committee has recommended that this policy be reviewed in the year 2005. The motion passed unanimously.

Policy #2 limits, to 4 courses or 13 credits (whichever is less), the number of courses/credits for which students on academic probation may register. The policy states that "...such students are not allowed to pre-register (register) for more than 4 courses or 13 credits, whichever is less, in any term, session or semester unless they have the written permission of the advisor, chair, head of Academic Advisement or appropriate designee." The motion passed unanimously.

Policy #4 recommends that "with a cumulative quality point average of 2.0 or better" be removed from the current policy dealing with transfer credit. Students with cumulative quality point averages of less than 2.0 would now be allowed to transfer credits to Millersville. The motion to approve the policy change passed unanimously.

In Policy #3, the Committee recommended several changes in the policies for student registration relative to the add/drop period. There was a long discussion covering the advisability of passing this proposal. Students voiced their discontent with the proposed changes, which include a shortening of the add/drop period. Dr. Phillips articulated one rationale for abbreviating the add/drop period. She stated that some places in certain courses have been occupied by students who eventually drop the course at a time when those wishing to add the course can no longer do so. Making the add and drop deadlines the same might make it possible for students wishing to add such courses to do so. Faculty also voiced other concerns among which was the elimination of the requirement for faculty signatures for a student to drop or add a course. After further discussion, a motion to refer the proposal back to the Academic Policies Committee for further refinement and review was seconded and passed with one dissenting vote. Many faculty expressed the desire that open forums and further conversations where both students and faculty could debate the matter be held prior to a vote on the policy when it is resubmitted.

Other /New Business

Dr. Susan Luek presented for discussion a proposal from the Psychology Department (Attachment D) expressing concern with administrative changes to the registration process which "undermine the advising system by reducing the role of faculty academic advisors in the process." It is requested that the process be "modified" to include the advisors in that process. There was a discussion over whether the issue was a "contractual" matter. Dr. Warmkessel remarked that the issue had already been discussed at two APSCUF "Meet & Discuss" meetings and had been presented at a recent Representative Council meeting. There followed a discussion of the "Gate Keeper Role" of the advisor in student advising and registration. There was some concern voiced about the advisability of changing a student's course schedule as a "punitive tool" on the part of the advisor as "Gate Keeper". The discussion was a valuable one and was suggested that a vote on the proposal was not appropriate at this time.

Chairperson Piperberg said that Dr. Dan Anna's request for a program name change would be put on the agenda for the April 18, 2000 Faculty Senate meeting (Attachment E).

The meeting adjourned at 5:40 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Jen Miller

Recorder