Faculty Senate Minutes, 7 February 1995

MINUTES

FACULTY SENATE MEETING

7 FEBRUARY 1995

Chairperson D. Eidam called the meeting to order at 4:05 p.m. in Chryst Hall, Room 210. All departmental senators attended except Educational Foundations and Industry and Technology. C. Coveleski, J. Haugh and E. Kobeski attended for the Student Senate while J. Hoffman attended for the Snapper.

Minutes

Senate approved the 6 December 1994 meeting minutes with the following changes: on page 3689, Faculty Emeritus, change "...Professor Hazel Jackson for Professor of English..." to "...Assistant Professor..." On the same page under International Selection Committee, change "...Strathclyde University exchange program and selected professor..." to "...exchange program and made recommendations. The administration selected..."

Reports

Chairperson's Report

Chairperson D. Eidam said that he could not explain the fewer refreshments for the senate meeting today. He will check with food services. R. Frerichs is no longer a senator; presently noone belongs to the Administrative Faculty department. Eidam said that Senate could arrange the chairs in the room since there are no classes before or after senate meetings this semester. He asked for seating arrangements from senators.

Eidam reminded senators of his previously distributed report for today's meeting (See Attachment A). Today's agenda omitted announcing two committee chairperson elections--the University Honors Program and International Studies Curriculum Committees--called for in the 11/15/94 minutes. He asked for unanimous consent to hold those elections today; senate consented.

Student Senate

Student senate president, J. Haugh, greeted senators and said student senate would be busy this semester. It is considering sponsoring an advisor appreciation breakfast sometime this semester. It is also considering compensation for student leaders. Student senators will leave today's senate meeting early to attend the student senate's student leadership program, a new program that Dr. E. Thomson is helping to develop. Student senate is also wroking on a community service program. Student senator C. Coveleski will be in charge of student organization allocations this semester. Haugh stressed that MU needs more perspective courses; he said some students may not graduate on time because of not meeting the perspective requirement.

Administrative Officers

President

President J. Caputo said MU began the new year with a new Adults in Continuing Education (ACE) program. MU has approximately 200 students in the program, about 80% of whom are new. Caputo is optimistic that the new program will be a success. The program's purpose is to provide d3egree programs to students who can not attend during regular hours. Caputo said MU is enrolling about 7400 students this semester off more than 500 students from our peak highs just a few years ago. He said some of the enrollment drop was intentional and some was not.

Caputo said MU was at peak levels for faculty complement. There are more teaching faculty and fewer students. Some departments have a disproportionate number of students and others do not. MU has "unfrozen" some faculty positions and made a budgetary commitment to bring the faculty up to full complement. The number of applicants to MU is high but the "yield" of students who attend MU is softening. There are fewer out of state students coming to Pennsylvania and there is more competition for in-state students.

Caputo mentioned some changes in Harrisburg Area Community College. He said that HACC and MU have a better working relationship than they have ever had in the past. An effort to create a Lancaster Area Community College is dissipating. We will not likely have a permanent community college in Lancaster. The will and financial structure are not there. HACC will retain a branch in lancaster. The branch is changing sites to specialize in technology; it will offer fewer of the kinds of courses that MU does. There will be less duplication and more complementation of MU's course offerings. Caputo said that MU would cooperate with HACC as much as possible. He said that Lancaster would be better off because of the greater diversity of course offerings.

Caputo said the Capital Campaign has raised $9 million. He would like to raise $1.5 million additionally in the next four to five months to meet campaign timelines.

Vice-President for Academic Affairs

Provost F. McNairy shared an organizational chart of the division of academic affairs with senate (see Attachment B). She reported on what she has tried to do in the division of academic affairs since 1 August 1994. She said that upon arriving at MU she had asked for a briefing paper from each administrator reporting to the provost. She asked the administrators to identify what the critical issues were. What issues should they be addressing that have implications for the University? the first priority was to return frozen faculty slots to departments. MU was successful in getting three slots unfrozen.

The second area that was a major concern was noninstructional support for departments. when the provost arrived she was surprised to learn that some academic departments were sharing secretarial services. If the provost's office demands more of the faculty, then the faculty needs more support services to address that demand. After examining the budget, the provost noted there has been a surplus in the student wage budget. She was also concerned that some work now done by student helpers should best be done by professional clerical services. MU converted surplus student wage dollars to provide more professional clerical services to departments. Out of 34 departments today all but three have full time clerical support services. MU is trying to get the faculty an infrastructure in the departments.

MU has had an acting assistant provost for three years who has been responsible for many support programs. The organizational chart (see Attachment B) describes the duties of the associate provosts. It does not add new complement to the provost's office. The current position of associate vice-president for academic affairs is retitled to be the associate provost for academic administration. J. Stager holds the position. His responsibility will include supervision of institutional research, academic computing, the registrar's office, and a direct relationship to outcomes assessment. His duties are described in detail in Attachment B. MU needs to have institutional data and analysis and an enrollment management plan.

The other position is currently entitled the assistant provost. The position will be retitled as Associate Provost for Academic Programs and Services. The responsibilities include honors, advisement, PACE, Lancaster Partnership, etc. The associate provost will supervise and coordinate those areas. His/Her main responsibility will be development and coordination of a holistic enrollment management program. A holistic enrollment management program looks not only at who to bring in but how to enhance their retention. When students graduate, MU would like them to have had a more positive experience. MU will conduct a search for a permanent individual for this position. MU wants to make more sense out of what it does in the academic affairs division.

Vice-President for Student Affairs

Vice President for Student Affairs G. Reighard also is reorganizing the student affairs division and distributed an organization chart (see Attachment C). Reighard said this is his 25th year of attending senate meetings. Some staff changes and a recent retirement have encouraged the student affairs office to consider where the future will take MU. The student affairs office has not had much turnover over the years. In the next four to five years there will be over 60 percent turnover. Reighard said he intends to retire in about two years.

To build closer bridges between academic and student affairs, student affairs has restructured. Student affairs is making a major thrust in a student development. One goal is to get faculty to help students in the students' out of classroom experiences. There are no new complement positions in the new organizational chart. The President's PAC approved the organizational chart last Tuesday.

The Associate V.P.S.A. for Student Development position will require a hands on student development manager. That person will work directly with MU's students. A consultant will help train the staff on diversity and inclusion. The goal is to get students to accept other studnets from other backgrounds who are different than themselves. MU will conduct a national search for a suitable person.

Reighard said that E. Thomson is currently heading the area of student development. thomson will move over and take charge of the Student Support Services areas. His areas of responsibilities provide direct services to MU's students. Career Planning and Placement is moving from academic to student affairs. In addition to the two Associate VPs, the Women's Center, Men's Athletics, Women's Athletics, and the Campus Police will report to the Vice President for Student Affairs.

Committee Reports

University Course and Program Review Committee

In the absence of committee chairperson C. McLeod, G. Burkhardt substituted for McLeod and introduced four courses under the three meeting rule:

NURS360:

BIOL446:

JAPN201:

JAPN202:

Under the one meeting rule, Burkhardt introduced the following courses:

ELED371:

EDUC430:

PSCI231:

BUAD455:

In the absence of Graduate Course and Program Review Committee chairman F. Erickson, Burkhardt asked that senate place one item on the agenda for the 21 February, 1995 meeting: an M.Ed. Program: Principals' Certificate, a 39 credit hour program to be first offered in the Summer of 1996 if approved.

Academic Policies Committee

Academic Policies committee chairperson B. Nakhai said the committee is discussing two items. First it is reconsidering the academic honesty and dishonesty brochure that the committee developed last year. the brochure was returned to the committee for some clarifications and inconsistency problems. The committee has appointed a subcommittee of four people to propose changes not only to the brochure but also possibly to the policy itself as stated in the governance manual.

Secondly, credit for life experience is now back on the committee's agenda. The committee discussed the issue last year but decided not to recommend any policy to senate at that time. the committee did not develop a new process to grant credit for life experiences. Students can take proficiency exams and skip certain required courses if they pass the exams. In view of the ACE program, the committee feels MU needs a systematic method of granting credit for life experiences.

Outcomes Assessment Committee

Outcomes Assessment Committee chairperson E. Ottinger said meetings have been scheduled for the semester.

Academic Standards Committee

Academic Standards Committee chairman J. Piperberg submitted a report of recent committee meetings (see Attachment D). The committee met on January 18 and 19, 1995, to consider appeals for dismissals. The committee sent a letter with committee recommendations to faculty advisors of students who appealed their dismissal.

General Education Review Committee

General Education Review committee chairman R. Wismer said he was sick and did not attend the last meeting. No other person could report on the meeting.

Academic Computing Advisory Committee

Senate representative to the Academic Computing Advisory Committee, R. Clark, submitted a report (see Attachment E). Clark said that the "virus" that he announced at the 6 December 1994 senate meeting was a hoax; he apologized to senate for any inconvenience. Clark asked for the input of all the faculty on computer issues; phone or email him.

University Honors Program Committee

Chairperson S. Luek reported on the committee's most recent meeting. In 1986 after it was established as a senate committee, the committee made a policy decision that the students in the university honors program would be required to write a senior thesis. The committee decided honors committee members would serve on the individual student senior thesis committees. At that time there were relatively few students who completed the program. Today the situation is considerably different. Many more students are completing the program. the committee members are "spread thinly."

At its last meeting, the committee passed a motion to allow past committee members to serve on student thesis committees. the honors committee is compiling a list of current faculty members who are eligible to serve on the student committees. The motion needs to go no further than the honors committee.

Also at the last meeting, the committee approved three courses as permanent honors offerings: History 279, Honors Women in American History, an experimental course whose number will change when it becomes a permanent course, English 429, Seminar in Selected American Authors, and Political Science 355, American Foreign Policy.

The committee is currently in the process of selecting two students from MU for the 1995 SSHE summer honors program. Last year the committee received many applications because the program was held at Oxford University in Great Britain. This year the program is in Moscow. The committee will select the two students soon.

University Theme Committee

University Theme Committee chairperson J. Piperberg said that the committee had received two proposed themes for the 1997-1998 academic year. More are certainly welcome. the committee would like proposals by the deadline of Wednesday, 15 February, 1995.

Piperberg said the theme for this semester is underway. There were three events last week. Last Friday evening there was a demonstration of virtual reality in the SMAC. Many students had the opportunity to experience it although many had to wait in long lines. Future events include tonight's on the future of nuclear energy including nuclear fusion in Myers Auditorium at 8 pm. It is the first part of a three part series. On the evening of the 21st of February the second of that series will cover another area of technology, superconductivity. On March 14 at 8 pm in Myers Auditorium there will be a talk on low level nuclear wastes. On Thursday February 16 at 8 pm in the SMAC, the next big speaker, Timothy Ferris from Berkeley, the winner of a Pulitzer prize and author of many books, will speak on "Virtual Reality: the New Computer Revolution."

Proposed Courses

Under the three meeting rule, senate approved one course:

ENGL337:

Business

Elections

Chairperson D. Eidam yielded the chair to the vice-chairperson, S. Luek. Luek called for nominations for senate chairperson for the 1995-1996 academic year. Senator J. Lynch nominated D. Eidam. With no other nominations, senate elected Eidam by acclamation. Eidam then resumed the chairmanship.

Eidam called for nominations for senate vice-chairperson for the 1995-1996 academic year. Acting senator G. Burkhardt nominated J. Piperberg. With no other nominations, senate elected Piperberg by acclamation.

Eidam called for nominations for secretary of senate for the 1995-1996 academic year. Acting senator G. Burkhardt nominated J. Piperberg. With no other nominations, senate elected Piperberg by acclamation.

Eidam called for nominations for secretary of senate for the 1995-1996 academic year. Senator J. Piperberg nominated M. Margolis. With no other nominations, senate elected Margolis by acclamation.

Eidam called for nominations for a School of Social Science replacement representative to the Academic Policies Committee to fill a term than ends August 1995. The nominee can not come from the Sociology/Anthropology department since S. Casselberry serves on the committee. Hearing no nominations, Eidam returned the election to the agenda of the next senate meeting.

Eidam called for nominations for the chairperson of the University Honors Program Committee. The three year term begins in the Fall of 1995 and the chairperson must be a senator. Senator R. Clark nominated M. Warmkessel. With no other nominations, senate elected Warmkessel by acclamation.

Eidam called for nominations for the chairperson of International Studies Curriculum Committee. The three year term begins in the Fall of 1995. Acting senator G. Burkhardt nominated A. Borger-Reese. With no other nominations, senate elected Borger-Reese by acclamation.

Motion Concerning Completion of the Major

Senate resumed debate on the Admission to-, Retention-in, and Completion of the Major policy proposal (see pages 3697-98 of the 6 December 1994 minutes for the restatements of the amended versions of the Retention in- and Completion of the Major proposals and Attachment A, page 3, of the 21 April 1994 Agenda for the Admission to the Major proposal). A B. Nakhai/R. Fulmer motion to limit discussion on the first motion (Admission to the Major) to ten minutes passed. Since senate vice-chairperson S. Luek and chairperson D. Eidam wished to speak to the motions, sentor B. Nakhai volunteered to preside remporarily.

Senator D. Eidam spoke to the Admission to the Major motion and noted that senate twice postponed action on it during senate meetings in 1994 (see page 3664 of the 1 November 1994 minutes). Senate had not acted upon a D. Eidam/R. Clark motion to amend the first paragraph of the motion so that it reads "...multiple objective selection criteria..." After considering the amendment over the past three months, Eidam urged that senators defeat the Eidam/Clark amendment. Senator S. Luek also urged defeat of the amendment. The amendment failed.

Senate returned to the original Admission to the Major motion. D. Hutchens/R. Wismer moved to amend it by removing the sentence "Admission to the major must be based on multiple selection criteria" from the first motion (see page 3 of the 21 April 1994 Agenda). After considerable discussion of the motion to amend, senate reached the 10 minute limit for discussion of the first motion. Senate automatically postponed action on the amendment and returned the first motion to the agenda for the next senate meeting.

Senate began debate on the second motion, the Retention in the Major motion as amended and as stated on page 3697 of the 6 December 1994 minutes. Chairman D. Eidam replaced acting chairman B. Nakhai. A B. Nakhai/R. Clark motion to limit discussion to ten minutes passed. D. Hutchens/M. Margolis moved to remove the fifth paragraph from the motion (the paragraph beginning "Departments should review..."). After considerable discussion, senate passed the amendment to the motion.

Senate returned to the main motion as amended. However, it reached the end of the ten minute time limit for discussion of the motion. A S. Luek/J. Piperberg motion to extend discussion for another five minutes passed. B. Nakhai/R. Wismer moved to amend by changing the second paragraph of the motion as follows: In the first sentence change the word "...new..." to "...additional..." and delete the last two sentences of the paragraph. After considerable discussion, the motion to amend failed.

Senate returned to the main motion as amended. D. Hutchens/B. Nakhai moved to amend by removing the sixth paragraph (beginning "A student who has met...") from the motion. After considerable discussion, time expired. Senate returned the amendment to the agenda for the next meeting.

General Education Review Committee Proposal

Senate returned this item to the next meeting's agenda. The General Education Review Committee is proposing that CQ courses be separated into C and Q courses (see Attachment D of the 1 November 1994 minutes).

Proposal for an International Business Certificate Program and Revisions to the BS Secondary Education Social Studies Major

Senate returned this item to the next meeting's agenda. Senate will consider a proposal for an International Business Certificate Program to be first offered in Fall 1994 if approved and revisions to the B.S. Secondary Education Social Studies major to be first offered Fall 1995 if approved. See Dr. B. Nakhai for the business proposal and Drs. C. Geiger/H. Fischer for the social studies proposal.

Senate adjourned at 5:45 p.m. The next meeting will be Tuesday, 21 February, 1995, from 4:05-5:45 p.m. in Chryst 210.

Respectfully submitted,

Marvin Margolis, Secretary
Faculty Senate

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