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
Provost Prabhu invited Senators to be involved in the upcoming commencement activities. He also reiterated that the vision statement is a work-in-progress. He noted that the committee will be seeking feedback from Senate in the fall before sharing the final draft with the entire faculty as well as external bodies. Dr. Prabhu also indicated that currently 96% of the Millersville Faculty have their terminal degrees. However, he commented that in a random review of personnel files, a few were found to be missing original transcripts. He requested faculty cooperation in locating official documentation as a complete review proceeds.
A question was raised about whether the planned purchase of access to Turnitin would include instruction on its use for combating plagiarism on campus. The response was that implementation of this resource will be handled by the Library and the Center for Academic Excellence.
Another question was asked about why information from Millersville has not been included recently in the Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession published in Academe by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP).
Discussion was then held regarding the academic calendar for upcoming years. The current schedule will remain in place for next year, but changes will be made in the near future.
VI. Faculty Emeritus
A Castellucci/Blazer motion that Dr. Barbara F. Haus be granted the honorary title of Faculty Emerita was approved without dissent [see Attachment #1].
VII. Reports of the Faculty Senate Standing Committees
Senator Dan Anna reported that a number of proposals will be coming to Senate from Industry & Technology. He indicated that they intend to request a waiver of the two-meeting rule and that these proposals will be available for review online prior to the June meeting. Senator André Moine indicated that FORL will also be requesting a waiver of the two-meeting rule for a proposal regarding pre-requisites.
First Reading:
(1) CHANGE IN UNDERGRADUATE COURSE
ITEC 241: Drafting Communications. Proposal to update curriculum to meet recommendations for accreditation.
(2) NEW UNDERGRADUATE COURSE
ITEC 245: Descriptive Geometry, 3 credits. Proposal to create course dedicated to the fundamentals of graphical mathematics and projection theory.
(3) CHANGE IN UNDERGRADUATE COURSE
ITEC 342(242): Computer-Aided Engineering Drawing. Proposal to redesign course to concentrate on computer-aided engineering drafting and solids modeling.
(4) NEW UNDERGRADUATE COURSE
ITEC 345: Statics, 3 credits. Proposal to create course covering elementary, analytical and practical approaches to the principles and physical concepts of statics.
(5) NEW UNDERGRADUATE COURSE
ITEC 445: Design for Manufacture and Assembly, 3 credits. Proposal to create course that deals with methodologies and tools to define product development phases.
(6) CHANGE IN UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM
BS ITEC, CADD Technology option. Proposal to include 2 specialization areas, 3 new courses and 2 modified courses.
(7) CHANGE IN UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM
AT ITEC, CADD Technology option. Proposal to include 3 new courses and 2 modified courses.
(8) CHANGE IN UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM
BS ITEC, Mechanical option. Proposal to renumber course and add student selection of ITEC 448/445.
(9) CHANGE IN UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM
AT ITEC, Mechanical option. Proposal to renumber course and add elective of ITEC 445.
(10) CHANGE IN UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM
BS ITEC, Manufacturing option. Proposal to add ITEC 445 as technical elective.
11) CHANGE IN UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM
BS ITEC, General Tech option. Proposal to add ITEC 342, 345 as technical options electives and ITEC 445 as acceptable R&D elective course.
(12) CHANGE IN UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM
AT ITEC, Manufacturing option. Proposal to add ITEC 445 as technical elective.
(13) CHANGE IN UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM
ITEC minor, CADD Technology option. Proposal to include 2 new courses (ITEC 345, 445) as electives and modify 2 existing courses.
(14) CHANGE IN UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM
ITEC minor, Mechanical Technology option. Proposal to add ITEC 445 as elective.
(15) CHANGE IN UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM
ESCI, Meteorology minor. Proposal to be more aligned with BS in Meteorology and provide flexibility.
(16) NEW UNDERGRADUATE COURSE
ESCI 443: Climate Dynamics, 3 credits. Proposal to create course that gives a comprehensive treatment of the components of the climate system. Required course for Meteorology majors.
(17) CHANGE IN UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM
ESCI, BS Oceanography. Proposal to rename to BS Ocean Sciences and Coastal Studies and revise options.
(18) NEW UNDERGRADUATE COURSE
ESCI 467: Engineering Applications in the Coastal Zone, 3 credits. Proposal to create course covering application of coastal processes and engineering practices. Required course for BS Ocean Sciences and Coastal Studies majors.
(19) CHANGE IN UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM
BSE PHYS. Proposal to waive Perspectives requirement in General Education to meet 126-credit limitation.
(20) NEW UNDERGRADUATE COURSE
CSCI 426: Adaptive Technologies, 4 credits. Proposal to create course covering adaptive technologies for the disabled.
(21) NEW UNDERGRADUATE COURSE
SPED 312: Serving Individuals with Disabilities in Inclusive Settings, 3 credits. Proposal to create course covering special education for ELED majors.
(22) CHANGE IN UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM
BSE French, German, Spanish. Proposal to require oral proficiency interview.
GCPRC
First Reading
(1) CHANGE IN GRADUATE CURRICULUM
Post-Baccalaureate certification in French, German, Spanish. Proposal to require oral proficiency interview.
Academic Policies
Senator West distributed a revision of the changes proposed at the last meeting [see Attachment #2]. She noted that department chairs had just received this document and suggested that Senate might wish to delay action until getting their feedback. She reported that it was impractical to put the Repeat Policy language in two separate places in the handbook. However, the revised proposal recommended reordering sections so that the Repeat Policy statement would be on the same page as related language. A Blazer/Schaffer motion to reorganize the Repeat Policy location in the undergraduate catalog was approved without dissent.
Dr. West also indicated addition of a time frame for notifying students about their removal from a course by a faculty member due to unfulfilled prerequisites. A DeCaria/Saunders motion to approve the proposed language for Course Prerequisites was made. Discussion continued about how this policy would be implemented. Concern was expressed about the labor involved for faculty to review course lists to manually remove students. It was noted that some departments and professors are already doing this by forwarding names of students not meeting prerequisites to the department secretary. Another concern raised was whether the review process could be completed before the end of the drop period as recommended. A suggestion was made to change the wording to “notify the Registrar and the student” to ensure that students would be aware that they needed to adjust their scheduling. It was further stated that students themselves should be responsible for checking that they have met course prerequisites. An Igyor/Luek motion to postpone the motion regarding prerequisites was approved without dissent.
It was decided that any action on the policy regarding retaking less-advanced courses would also be postponed. A question was raised about how the term “less-advanced course” related to numbering systems. However, it was noted that this would be different for individual departments. A concern noted was that having advanced students repeating a course might disrupt classroom morale. A comment made was that students should be repeating these courses immediately upon doing poorly rather than waiting. Good advising is needed to help students see the benefit in this. Another suggestion was made for departments to implement more minimum-grade prerequisites to circumvent the accumulation of low grades in early courses. Another concern raised was that these senior students would fill seats in high-demand classes, blocking out early-career students. It was clarified that there is a built-in control by requiring that the department chair would have to give approval. Senators were charged with speaking to their departments before the next meeting. Any comments can be directed to Dr. West electronically.
GERC
Senator Ward indicated that GERC would like to request that Senate consider setting aside two meetings in the fall to be dedicated to General Education.
VIII. Reports of the Faculty Senate Special Committees
IX. Proposed Courses and Programs
Second Readings
(1) NEW UNDERGRADUATE COURSE
HIST 360: The Second World War, 3 credits, G3. The proposal was approved without dissent.
(2) 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 was approved without dissent.
X. Task Force on Future Directions for Major Campus Lectures and Events
XI. Other/New Business
XII. Adjournment
Respectfully submitted,
Aimee L. Miller
Faculty Senate Secretary