I. Minutes of previous meetings

It was noted that Nursing was in attendance at the December 6 meeting. The minutes of the December 6, 2005 meeting of the Faculty Senate were approved as amended.

II. Report of the Faculty Senate Chairperson

Dr. Börger-Greco communicated an invitation from Diane Umble for Senators to participate in the Campus Dialog on Civic Engagement scheduled for January 26, 3-5 p.m. in Lehr. The American Democracy Project Steering Committee hopes to have representation from each academic department as well as Student and Faculty Senates.

She also reminded Senators that each department should bring General Education survey responses to the February 21 meeting. Updated links on the Faculty Senate website have been added to provide access to this and related documents regarding General Education reform.

Dr. Börger-Greco noted administrative approval for the following curriculum changes:

1. Biology: BS with an option in Pre-Athletic Training.
2. BUAD452: Adapted for online course delivery.

III. Report of the Student Senate President

Student Senate President Fayth Balsam reported that the Student Senate plans to pursue their review of the women's athletics program at MU jointly with the current NCAA audit. She noted that Student Senate is currently working with Stay Warm PA to collect coats and blankets and to raise money to help with fuel costs for elderly. She also requested that Senators encourage any students interested in filling open seats on Student Senate.

IV. Report of the Graduate Student Organization

None.

V. Report of the Administrative Officers

Provost Prabhu

Provost Prabhu urged Senators to attend the upcoming presentations by the Cognitive Marketing consultants regarding information on the Identity Campaign currently underway.

Dr. Prabhu also mentioned that information will be forthcoming regarding implementation of the Shared Administrative System that the Board of Governors has adopted for SSHE. He expressed that we will need to review academic policies to differentiate between issues that we are committed to maintaining and those that could be aligned with other SSHE schools. The costs of specialized programming for a specific institution will be passed to the school itself. Discussion following reflected Senators' concerns that predicted administrative savings will not offset costs and that there may be a move towards centralization that will eliminate the individual identities of the schools. In response, Dr. Prabhu commented that the BOG has already made the decision to implement the system and that we need to be prepared for less legislative support in the future. He also noted that Millersville is expected to be one of the last schools to be added into this system because of systems like Banner. In response to another concern regarding a possible centralized application process, he responded that the current plan is only for a common location for access to application material for each individual school.

Executive Assistant to the President Phillips

Executive Assistant to the President Phillips shared that Millersville has been ranked 57th in Kiplinger's list of 100 Best Values in Public Colleges. This is the highest ranking of any SSHE institutions.

Dr. Phillips also noted that the Governance Manual is being updated. She asked for one or two Senators to consider revising the Faculty Senate bylaws.

Interim Assistant Provost Redmond

Interim Assistant Provost Redmond from the Division of Academic Support Programs and Learning Services reported the recent purchase of equipment for assisting visually-impaired students. He invited faculty to contact Sherlynn Bessick in Lyle regarding its use. It was noted that it is possible to enlarge hard copies of both text and figures.

VI. Faculty Emeritus

An Igyor/Bookmiller motion to grant Dr. Ike Hay the honorary title of Professor of Art Emeritus was approved.

VII. Reports of the Faculty Senate Standing Committees

Undergraduate Academic Policies

A document reflecting updated wording of the academic load policy was distributed and discussed. Dr. Lillie West will modify the document to specifically highlight the proposed changes for consideration at the next Senate meeting.

Discussion was held regarding updating the online registration information to reflect all restrictions for each course. It was also requested that updates be made to allow faculty to print waiting lists for their courses from Banner.

VIII. Reports of the Faculty Senate Special Committees

The status of the ACE program discussion was questioned. It was reported that comments from Senate were returned to the ACE Task Force to be used in its recommendation for Deans Council.

IX. Proposed Courses and Programs

Second Readings

(1) CHANGE IN COURSE/CURRICULUM B.A. PHYS Nanotechnology option: Proposal to introduce a Physics B.A. degree with an option in nanotechnology was approved without dissent.

(2) CHANGE IN COURSE/CURRICULUM B.S. CHEM Nanotechnology option: Proposal to introduce a Chemistry B.S. degree with an option in nanotechnology was approved without dissent.

(3) CHANGE IN COURSE/CURRICULUM BIOL Marine Biology option: Proposal to move BIOL375 Biometry from elective to required block was approved without dissent.

X. Teaching Excellence Award

Dr. Sepi Yalda distributed a summary of the Millersville University Educator of the Year Award program previously approved by Senate. Discussion was held regarding whether the award should be given to four faculty members each year. An alternate suggestion was made that a single award could be made on a rotating basis to represent the three schools and non-school faculty. Another issue raised was the limitation of the award to tenured faculty. Responses included that acting as a campus-wide teaching resource would be a burden for faculty members early in their careers, that winning the award might be an issue for promotion and tenure consideration, and that recipients are likely to be faculty members with several years of consistent excellence. The issue of whether the committee members would reflect an appropriate breadth of experience and viewpoints was also raised. A Skinner/Bookmiller motion that the proposal be redistributed and the issues of one versus four winners annually and of the limitation to tenured faculty be reconsidered at the next meeting was passed with several dissenting votes. A Schaffer/Luek motion to address the Educator of the Year Award immediately after the Report of Administrative Officers was passed without dissent.

It was noted that Elementary Education previously opted not to participate in this program and that any nominees should be contacted to confirm acceptance.

XI. Other/New Business

None.

XII. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 5:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Aimee L. Miller
Faculty Senate Secretary

Action Summary