I. Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the March 4, 2003, Faculty Senate meeting were approved as amended (see below).

XI. Discussion of a Referendum on SSHE Policies

A B. Dorman/M. Rosenthal motion passed which allowed the Faculty Senate to discuss holding a campus-wide faculty referendum on SSHE policies. This discussion will continue at a future Faculty Senate meeting. Discussion centered on the questions to be included in the referendum and the mechanism for conducting the referendum.

The following item was altered to indicate that the rule determining the order of agenda items was suspended and that a special order was passed to place the Bremer proposal on the agenda before the Proposed Courses and Programs agenda item.

XII. New Business

A proposal written by F. Bremer was introduced for placement on the agenda of the March 18, 2003 meeting. The proposal suggests a procedure for approval of courses requesting G1, G2 or G3 labels while originating in departments outside the traditional departments whose courses receive those labels {See Attachment #1}.

A T. Kevorkian/S. Luek motion to suspend normal Faculty Senate rules relating to the agenda for the next Faculty Senate meeting passed. A T. Kevorkian/S. Luek motion for a Special Order allowing consideration of the F. Bremer proposal dealing with the procedure for obtaining a G1, G2 or G3 course label passed. The Special Order motion specified that the Bremer proposal will be considered before the Proposed Courses and Programs agenda item.

Faculty Senate Chairperson J. Piperberg urged all faculty to attend the graduation ceremony in May.

III. Report of the Student Senate President

Student Senate President B. Danz reported that Student Senate had participated in fund raising activities during the spring semester and also mentioned the upcoming faculty vs. students basketball game. SSHE advocacy efforts are also underway.

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

V. Report of the Administrative Officers

Provost F. McNairy discussed the University's budget for the 2003-04 fiscal year and clarified the estimated budget shortfall due to the state's budget problems. The Governor's current budget proposal calls for 5% less than that requested by SSHE, which would translate into a $3 million shortfall for Millersville. She also pointed out that guidelines for the 120 credit hour mandate originally stated that exceptions to this mandate would only be for a short term.

Associate Provost C. Phillips asked that each department review the accuracy of credit requirements for each degree program offered by that department. She mentioned that only 6 out of 128 degree programs offered at Millersville were applying for exceptions. She also pointed out that winter session class registration would begin earlier than in past years, and that the bookstore would be asking faculty to order books earlier for both the winter and spring sessions.

VI. Reports of the Faculty Senate Standing Committees

UCPRC Chairperson R. Wismer introduced two course proposals: ENGL 452, to add G1 designation, and the Mathematics BSE program, to delete EDFN 330 from its program requirements. He also introduced a proposal to allow students with 90 or fewer completed credit hours and who are in degree programs that have been modified to comply with the 120-credit hour mandate to choose between the previous degree program requirements and the modified degree program requirements {See Attachment #2}.

A R. Wismer/J. Fenwick motion passed which reversed the earlier proposal (December 3, 2002 meeting) to delay approval of the four Chemistry degree options introduced in December until May 2003. Passage of the motion allowed the proposed changes in the Chemistry degree options to be considered at the present meeting (March 18, 2003).

A R. Wismer/B. Dorman motion passed which amended the proposal for the Environmental Chemistry degree option in the Chemistry Department to include Acompetency equivalent to Biology 100 as part of the requirements for the degree program {See Attachment #3}.

A R. Wismer/E. Blazer motion passed which amended the proposal for the Biochemistry degree option in the Chemistry Department to include Acompetency equivalent to Biology 100 as part of the requirements of the degree program and also changed wording from choose one additional course from the Required Related list to choose two courses from the Required Related list. {See Attachment #3}

VII. Report of the Faculty Senate Special Committees

K. Schreiber, chair of the ad hoc Honor Code Committee, mentioned that the Committee would be forwarding its recommendations to the Faculty Senate soon.

VIII. Discussion of Proposal to Send Course Proposals Requesting G1, G2 and G3 Designations to the Appropriate School Curriculum Committee (G1 courses to the Humanities, G3 to the Social Sciences Curriculum Committee and G2 Designation Requests to the School of Sciences and Mathematics Curriculum Committee)

A C. Heintzelman/T. Kevorkian motion, which allowed the Faculty Senate to discuss the F. Bremer proposal dealing with the G1, G2, and G3 approval process {See Attachment #1}, passed.

A B. Stengel/B. Dorman motion specifying that the proposal would not apply to courses already approved by UCPRC passed.

A B. Dorman/B. Stengel motion to postpone a vote on the proposal until the April 1 meeting passed. F. Bremer, who wrote the proposal, stated that prior to the April 1, 2003, meeting he would rework the proposal to reflect major concerns raised during the discussion

IX. Proposed Courses & Programs

Faculty Senate approved the following course and program proposals:

(1) CHANGES IN COURSES/CURRICULA
B. S. in Biology--Optometry
Reduction in credits transferred from Pennsylvania College of Optometry from 24 credits to 23 credits. Desired effective date--Fall 2003. Done to meet the 120-credit mandate.

(2) CHANGES IN COURSES/CURRICULA
B. S. in Biology--Environmental Biology
Change Biology electives from 6-7 credits to 5-6 credits. Desired effective date--Fall 2003. Done to meet the 120-credit mandate.

(3) CHANGES IN COURSES/CURRICULA
B. S. Nursing
Change in the total of lower division nursing credits awarded upon admission to Millersville University to 28, an addition of one credit to bring the total number of credits up to 120 credits instead of 119, which was attained when the G4 requirement was deleted. Desired effective date-- Fall 2003.

(4) CHANGES IN COURSES/CURRICULA
B. S. in Chemistry - changes in electives to comply with the 120-credit hour graduation requirement. Change Chemistry electives from 8-10 to 8 credits. Decrease the credit requirements in the Physics, Mathematics and/or Computer Science electives from 6-8 credits to 4 credits. Change Physics to any course numbered 233 or higher, except for Perspectives (P) courses. Desired effective date--Fall 2003

(5) CHANGES IN COURSES/CURRICULA
B. S. in Chemistry--Biochemistry - changes in electives to comply with the 120-credit hour graduation requirement. Reduce requirements in Chemistry Electives from 4 to 2 credits, reduce Required Related biology section from 13 - 14 to 10-11 credits by changing the second section from "Select two." To "Select one additional." Desired effective date-- Fall 2003.
Amended in Faculty Senate - Competency equivalent to BIOL 100 to be added to the requirements for the option. Also under Required Related, the wording should be returned to "Select two additional courses from the following" from "Select one additional course from the following". {See Attachment #3}

(6) CHANGES IN COURSES/CURRICULA
B. S. in Chemistry--Environmental Chemistry - changes in electives to comply with the 120-credit hour graduation requirement. Change Chemistry Electives from 3 -4 credits, delete 7 required Biology credits from the Required Related block, change electives requirement to a minimum of 9 s. h. by changing the second section to "Select 3 courses from the following (min. 9 credits). Delete BIOL 211 and 221. Desired effective date--Fall 2003.
Amended in Faculty Senate - Competency equivalent to BIOL 100 to be added to the requirements for the option. {See Attachment #3}

(7) CHANGES IN COURSES/CURRICULA
B. S. in Chemistry--Polymer Chemistry - changes in electives to comply with the 120-credit hour graduation requirement. Increase Chemistry and related electives from 7 to 8 credits. Desired effective date--Fall 2003.

The following proposed course changes were postponed indefinitely on the passage of a B. Stengel/A. Borger-Greco motion.

EDFN 211--Foundations of Modern Education, 3 credits. Existing Non-Gen Ed course requesting a G3 label. Desired effective date--Fall 2003. This G3 classification goes out of effect the September following the report from the General Education Task Force or September 2005, whichever comes earlier.

EDFN 241--Psychological Foundations of Teaching, 3 credits. Existing Non-Gen Ed course requesting a G3 label. Desired effective date--fall 2003. This G3 classification goes out of effect the September following the report from the General Education Task Force or September 2005, whichever comes earlier.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:47 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

Paul Studdard
Senate Secretary