The minutes of the April 4, 2006 meeting of the Faculty Senate were approved as written.
II. Report of the Faculty Senate Chairperson
III. Report of the Student Senate President
IV. Report of the Graduate Student Organization
V. Report of the Administrative Officers
Dr. Prabhu shared that there is now an elective Community Engagement category as part of the Carnegie Classification of Institutions. This is a new elective classification for which institutions must voluntarily apply and submit supporting documentation. He expressed the administrative intent to apply for the designation based on the partnerships we have with our community.
A question was raised regarding whether the number of students participating in Co-Ops is declining. Dr. Phillips noted that numbers are up this year and commented that the opportunities available generally fluctuate with the economic state of the businesses involved. Dr. Prabhu mentioned that we should continue to actively seek out these opportunities.
Executive Assistant to the President Phillips
Executive Assistant to the President Phillips distributed a report from the Task Force on Future Directions for Major Campus Lectures and Events [see Attachment #1). The Task Force was established to explore the decline in faculty and student attendance at campus events and seek ways to foster participation and coherence in programming. She requested that this item be added to the agenda for discussion at the next meeting of Senate.
VI. Faculty Emeritus
A White/Igyor motion that Dr. Charles G. Denlinger be granted the honorary title of Professor of Mathematics Emeritus was approved without dissent [see Attachment #2].
VII. Reports of the Faculty Senate Standing Committees
Senator White requested that senators check with their departments about any additional proposals to be considered before fall.
First Reading:
(1) NEW UNDERGRADUATE COURSE
HIST 360: The Second World War, 3 credits, G3.
GCPRC
First Reading
(1) CHANGE IN GRADUATE COURSE
ART 526: Current Trends in Art Education. Proposal to replace ART 524: Administration and Supervision of Art Programs with ART 526.
Academic Policies
Senator West distributed a proposal for changes to be made to the undergraduate catalog [see Attachment #3]. One recommendation was to specify that students enrolled in a course without meeting stated prerequisites could be removed from the course by the professor. Students may be enrolled without these if they registered with prerequisite courses in progress. A question was raised regarding the timeframe for removing students. It was noted that the intention was for it to be early in the semester, probably during the add/drop period. Another issue discussed was the need for faculty to manually review enrollment in these courses since the registration system cannot go back and correct for these problems. Dr. West will check about the timeframe and report back to Senate.
The second modification proposed was to allow students to retake a less advanced course to improve GPA, meet minimum competency requirements or satisfy graduation requirements. It was noted that these courses would still need to be repeated at Millersville, and the suggestion was made to include that statement as well for clarity. The proposed modifications should be reviewed by departments for feedback.
Joint Senate Conference Committee
Senator Rosenthal reported on a proposal from Joint Senate regarding the composition of the Selection Committee for the Educator of the Year Award. Joint Senate recommended a committee of 7 members: 4 faculty (1 from each school and 1 non-school) elected by Faculty Senate, 2 undergraduate students elected as sophomores or juniors by Student Senate, and 1 recent (graduated within past 5 years) alum selected by the Alumni Association. All members will be limited to two-year terms and will not be eligible again for 5 years. Each year's award recipient will be strongly encouraged to serve on the committee the following year. If a committee member accepts a nomination for the award, a second election will be held to select a replacement member from the same academic unit. On the first committee, 2 faculty and 1 student will serve 1-year terms and the other 4 members will serve 2-year terms.
Concern about a lack of graduate student representation on this committee was discussed. The Committee noted that undergraduate students were specified because of concerns that graduate students have more limited exposure to faculty across campus. However, it was then pointed out that since selection is based on documentation submitted by nominees, graduate students should be at least equally qualified to serve in this role. Dr. McNairy encouraged senators to reconsider the decision to not include graduate students. Another issue raised was whether there was a stable body for selecting a graduate student representative. It was expressed that the GSA should be able to meet this need but GCPRC was also suggested as an alternative, although it is not a peer group. The fact that an alum from graduate programs might also be selected as the alum representative was also mentioned. A Mowrey/DiBartolomeis motion to amend the proposal to indicate that the two student members of the Selection Committee should be one undergraduate student and one graduate student, selected by the GSA, was approved without dissent.
Discussion was then held about whether the alum member of the committee might possibly be a current graduate student, employee or faculty member at Millersville. There were concerns that a current affiliation might create bias in the selection process or that the composition of the committee would be shifted towards faculty members. A DeCaria/Saunders motion to clarify that the alum member of the Selection Committee should not be a current student or faculty member at Millersville was approved with one dissenting vote. The amended proposal detailing the composition of the Selection Committee for the Educator of the Year Award was approved without dissent.
GERC
Senator Ward distributed a report outlining the GERC interpretation of feedback at the April 4 meeting of Senate [see Attachment #4. He noted that more clarity arose regarding some issues and indicated that Senate should return to a consideration of the goals and objectives for Gen Ed. Discussion was then held regarding the development of new vision or mission statements for Millersville that might impact the direction of Gen Ed. Dr. Phillips noted that a new vision statement is in final revisions and should be available soon. However, a new mission statement is not yet under review. Dr. Börger-Greco indicated that she would be able to forward a draft by next week.
VIII. Reports of the Faculty Senate Special Committees
IX. Proposed Courses and Programs
Second Readings
(1) NEW UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM
AS CHEM with a Pre-Pharmacy option. Proposal was approved without dissent.
(2) CHANGE IN COURSE/CURRICULUM
CHEM 232: Organic Chemistry II. Proposal was approved without dissent.
(3) NEW UNDERGRADUATE COURSE
CSCI 475: 3D Game Programming and Computer Animation. Proposal was approved without dissent.
(4) CHANGE IN COURSE/CURRICULUM
SPED Post-Baccalaureate Certification. Proposal was approved without dissent.
The proposal from GCPRC to change to the Graduate Academic Policy regarding transferring distance-learning credits was approved without dissent.
X. English Department Composition Committee
XI. Other/New Business
XII. Adjournment
Respectfully submitted,
Aimee L. Miller
Faculty Senate Secretary