I. Minutes

The minutes of the September 17, 2002 Faculty Senate Meeting were approved as distributed.

II. Report of the Faculty Senate Chairperson

1. Chairperson Piperberg reported that since the last Faculty Senate meeting he had attended meetings of the Commencement Committee, the 120 Credit Committee and the Common Calendar Committee. At the Commencement Committee meeting, the timetable for chores that must be completed prior to commencement was discussed.

2. Chairperson Piperberg also requested that, where possible, when Senators bring a document to Senate for distribution that they also send to him and the Senate Secretary an electronic copy of the document via e-mail. This would be true of emeritus proposals (long and short forms), proposals from committees, etc. It would not apply to course and program proposals, which are not generally attached to Senate Minutes.

3. Chairperson Piperberg reminded Senate of the e-mail announcing his intention to move the agenda item dealing with International Studies up to item XII. He explained that the intent for the current meeting was to introduce the topic and not to proceed to any vote until the Senate had had some time to consider the issues presented. He suggested that the Senate allow each of the two distributed documents to be explained briefly to frame the questions involved and allow a short time for questions. He also stated that Senate will come back to this item at the next meeting and that at that time the item will return to its original position on the agenda. He asked if there were objections to the change in the agenda and none were voiced.

III. Report of the Senate Student President

1. Student Senate President B. Danz commended the faculty for their efforts in teaching and helping students at Millersville, in light of an unflattering editorial that had recently appeared in The Snapper.

2. He reported that the Millersville Persons-of-the-Year had recently been announced by Student Senate.

3. He announced that the Student Senate was participating in a mentoring program with students at McCaskey High School this year.

4. He also stated that the Student Senate will be working with the Office of Social Equity to plan a Dialogue on Race and Gender this year.

IV. Report of the Graduate Student Organization -- No Report.

V. Reports of Administrative Officers

1. Provost McNairy announced that she has approved a proposal by the Earth Sciences Department to place three geology options on moratorium. Those options are Engineering Geology, Geochemistry, and Geophysics.

2. Provost McNairy updated the Senate on the 120 credit hour policy, which originated in the Chancellor's Office. This policy is to take effect beginning with the Fall, 2003 semester. She mentioned that the University will seek exceptions to the 120 credit hour policy for the B. S. Ed. and Respiratory Therapy programs.

3. Provost McNairy has approved the elimination of the General Elective from the General Education Curriculum G4 block. She reminded Senate that this change will not apply to students currently enrolled at Millersville.

4. Associate Provost Phillips discussed the Common Calendar, which will take effect in the Fall, 2003 semester. She announced that the fall semester will be essentially identical to the current fall semester, but that the MU version of the Spring, 2004 semester calendar has not yet been finalized. She also mentioned that the University intends to maintain a Winter Session, but in a modified form. A number of approaches to a modified Winter session have thus far been discussed, but no final decisions have yet been made.

VI. Reports of the Faculty Senate Standing Committees

UCPRC


1. Senator R. Wismer announced three proposals:
   The Computer Sciences Department seeks to add prerequisites to some existing courses in order to ensure that these courses are taken in the proper sequence.

   The Geography Department seeks to add GEOG 245 (Geography of Pennsylvania) as a new course.

   The Foreign Languages Department seeks to make HUMN 280 (Spanish Literature in English) a General Education (G1) course. Senator Wismer also moved consideration of this proposal at the current meeting. The motion to waive the One-Meeting rule for this proposal passed without dissent.

2. Senator R. Wismer also mentioned that UCPRC will not require assessment methods to be included in undergraduate course proposals until guidelines for these methods have been received from the combined Outcomes Assessment and General Education Review Committees.

3. Senator R. Wismer mentioned a Board of Governors requirement for 40% of coursework (48 credits) to be composed of junior and senior level courses. He suggested that the definition of a junior level course needed to be firmly established to facilitate compliance with this BOG requirement. This matter was referred to the Academic Policies Committee upon passage of a R. Mowrey and R. Bookmiller motion, which included a charge to resolve any inconsistencies between the Governance Manual, the University Catalogs and any other relevant documents. Included in the motion to refer to Academic Policies was a charge for them to report back to Senate expeditiously.

GCPRC
Senator R. Mowrey introduced a proposal by the Communication & Theatre Department for a new graduate course, COMM 510 (Communications in Organizations).

Academic Theme Committee
Senator S. Yalda, outgoing Chair of the University Theme Committee, moved that next year's theme for the University be "Unity, Excellence and Strength Through Diversity". {see attachment} The motion passed without dissent.

Academic Standards Committee
Senator R. Kerper, Chairman of the committee, introduced a motion from the Committee to add the Director of Learning Services to the Committee membership. {see attachment} The motion passed without dissent.

General Education Review Committee
Senator J. Fenwick mentioned the idea of creating a Task Force or Ad Hoc Senate Committee to consider changes in the structure of the general education curriculum in the light of current nationwide trends in thought about General Education. He sought guidance from the Senate about the advisability of such a committee and what form it might take. He suggested that a formal proposal might be forthcoming at a future Senate meeting.

VII. Report of the Faculty Senate Special Committees -- No Report.

VIII. Proposed Courses and Programs

The change in HUMN 280 (Spanish Literature in English), introduced earlier in the meeting, was approved.

HUMN 280 - Spanish Literature in English 3 cr. Requesting G1 General Education designation. Desired effective date is Spring 2003.

IX. Elections

1. A R. Mowrey/B. Dorman motion, which closed nominations and directed the Senate Secretary to cast a ballot for all of the nominees, passed without dissent.

2. J. Fenwick asked that nominees be accepted to fill empty seats on the General Education Review Committee on a one-year, At-Large basis as has been done for the last couple of years. The request was honored and W. Archibald and J. Wimer were nominated to fill the seats. A similar request was made by R. Kerper, chair of the Academic Standards Committee. B. Ikenaga and S. DiBartolomeis were then nominated to fill vacancies on this committee on a one-year, At-Large basis. The nomination of M. Arnold to fill the Social Sciences seat on the Commencement Speaker Committee was also accepted. The elections for these seats will be held at the next meeting.

X. Changes in the Status of the International Studies Program and Related Issues

1. K. Bookmiller addressed the move of the International Studies program to the Department of Government and Political Affairs and presented the rationale for the move. She introduced the proposal {see attachment} to replace the current International Studies Curriculum Committee, a Faculty Senate standing committee, with a committee that includes involved faculty from each department, which contributes courses to the program. The proposal also states that the chair of the committee would be a member of the Department of Government and Political Affairs. Course and program proposals approved by the committee would not require separate approval by the Department of Government and Political Affairs. Instead proposals would be funneled directly to the appropriate School Curriculum Committee(s) and then to UCPRC and Faculty Senate.

2. M. Arnold presented an opposing viewpoint {see attachment} to this proposal based on the history of the International Studies program's design and development.

Senators posed a few questions, which were answered. The intent to revisit this issue at the next Senate meeting was stated.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:45 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

Paul Studdard
Senate Secretary