Penn State Berks Faculty Senate Council
Friday, September 30, 2005, 1:00-2:30 pm
Minutes
Attendees: L. Grobman, S. Snyder (Officers); M. Ansari (University Senator - via conference call), A. Romberger (Parliamentarian & Univ. Senator); M. Dunbar, P. Esqueda, K. Fifer, H. Gourama, J. Hillman, G. Khoury, D. Litvin, T. Parente, H. Patterson, V. Rowe, S. Zervanos (Senate Council); C. Lovitt, S. Speece (Administration); C. Balliett (Assistant to the Secretary)
1. Call to Order
2. Approval of Past Minutes – The minutes of the Berks-Lehigh Valley Faculty Senate April 29, 2005 were approved unanimously.
3. Reports of Officers and University Senators
A. Chair (Steve Snyder)
The Chair’s report was placed on the “P” Drive. The report was read and will be entered into the record, in its entirety, as follows:
· Constitution
Last April, the Berks faculty ratified a Provisional Constitution. That Constitution expires in December. Over the summer break, I invited faculty to serve on a committee to review and fine tune this Constitution. At that time, only two faculty members agreed to serve. Last week, the Executive Committee charged an ad-hoc committee, including Bob Zambanini, Andy Romberger and Mohamad Ansari, to revise the document and prepare it for final review and ratification. In an email sent on September 29, 2005, I again, for the third time, invited faculty to participate in this process. The Committee needs one or two more members.
In June, while reviewing the provisional Constitution, I noticed an oversight that I cannot explain. It seems our campus librarians have been excluded from the current constitution. I brought this oversight to the Senate officers and recommended that it be corrected. I have asked the Library to provide a representative for Senate Council and for the Academic Affairs committee. Though we are bound by the current Constitution regarding membership and voting rights, until a new one is ratified, we are making every effort to see that our librarians have a voice. I ask council to recognize Deena Morganti as a special guest of the council until a seat is established in the new Constitution. I further ask that council recognize Nancy Dewald as a special guest of the Academic Affairs Committee until a seat can be established.
· Legislative Function
As we engage in the Senate business for the year, it is very important to be mindful of our legislative function. As the faculty governance organization for Berks College, we are granted authority by the University Senate and the President of the University over “matters that pertain to the academic interests of the college and on all educational matters that concern the faculties of more than one division of the college.” Not only must we take responsibility for local curricular affairs, but we must also be aware of University-wide actions that directly impact our programs. We can only do this by working closely with our University Senators and asking them to take our concerns to their colleagues in the University Senate. It is not enough to open the lines of communication. We, the Berks Senate Officers and Senators, must carefully and regularly review the available records maintained on the University Senate webpage. This will help keep us informed so that we can more effectively advise our University Senators and report to those we represent.
Our second obligation, no less significant than educational matters, concerns Promotion and Tenure. Since the University restructure began, we have been told repeatedly that nothing would change at the stand-alone colleges. Now, however, there seems to be some reason for concern, though we cannot be certain of the details. We do know that the University Senate is in the process of developing recommendations for change within the University College. It is important to note well the language we have been hearing regarding curriculum and programs, that there needs to be consistency across the University. There are similar implications for P&T. The recommendations may extend to the stand-alone colleges because the problem of “discipline” is common to campuses and stand-alones. At this point, information is limited. A faculty caucus has been called for October 5. Mohamad Ansari will collect our concerns and deliver them to his committees in the University Senate at the next opportunity. As more information becomes available, I will continue to notify the Senate Council and the faculty at large.
· Committees
This year the formation of committees has been a challenge. The process of committee formation constitutionally falls to the Executive Committee. Further, committee chairs must be approved by Senate Council. The revision and ratification of the provisional constitution in April (an action contrary to the recommendations and constitutional authority of the BK-LV Senate Executive Committee), and the election of officers in May, did not allow time to form committees while faculty were readily available. Essentially, there was no Executive Committee in place. Thus, the task fell to the Senate Officers, though the Senate Chair alone is responsible for any committee problems, including delays. One significant obstacle to the successful formation of committees was a smaller pool of available faculty members. We lost nearly a third of our numbers in the de-merger with Lehigh Valley. There has been no proportionate reduction in either Senate Council members or committee seats.
Over the summer months, I contacted the faculty at large via email at least twice. I asked them to submit committee preferences. I received no more than ten replies. These faculty members were either assigned to their committee of choice or where there was a need. Two or three faculty members asked to be placed where needed. As time allowed over the summer months, I visited faculty in their offices, called them on the phone or sent them emails asking them to serve. When it became increasingly difficult to complete committee seats, I referred to lasts year’s rosters and reassigned faculty members to their previous seats. It is important to note that every effort was made to avoid drafting faculty. There is no provision in the Constitution for a draft. At this time, a few vacancies remain.
B. Vice Chair (Laurie Grobman) – No Report
C. Secretary (Bob Zambanini) – Report given by Chair Steve Snyder
· The webpage has been revised and updated. In the future it will be expanded to include a record of agendas, minutes, reports of the Chair and Committees and other important information. There will be links to the University Senate web page.
D. University Senators
· Andy Romberger
· Joint Committee Report on Curricular Integrity – The report was submitted to Senate and now becomes the charge of the Transition Committee. Andy will serve on that committee. Changes must go through Curricular Affairs.
· Promotion and Tenure Transition Committee & Challenge of Health Insurance Coverage at Penn State – It is recommended that faculty visit the University Faculty Senate website for information on these two issues. The Dean of the College of Medicine made a PowerPoint presentation on the modifications to the health care plans at the Hershey Medical Center. Dr. Spanier is very interested in this model and it may be implemented throughout the University in the next 1-2 years. Costs for participants will be directly tied to salary. Comments regarding these issues should be given to your University Senators (Andy Romberger, Mohamad Ansari, Bob Zambanini and Stam Zervanos). They will convey this information to the University Senate.
· University Faculty Senate Representation – Representation has changed since the de-merger. Currently there are 108 full-time faculty which would allow Berks four University Senators for the 2008-2009 academic year. There are four mandated committees that must be covered: Curricular Affairs, Faculty Affairs, University Relations and Senate Council. Modifications will be made. (Lehigh Valley currently has two Senators, which will be reduced to one.)
· The Chair reminded Council, that the Senates across the campuses have a significant voice in the University. By combining our voices, we can speak much louder on important issues.
· Mohamad Ansari
· Report on the Faculty Affairs Committee – The Committee sponsored three important advisory and consultative reports that will be presented to the Senate Executive Council on October 11. If approved, these reports will be placed on the Senate Agenda for Senate approval on October 25, 2005.
1.) A new policy HR70 which outlines operating procedures for the Standing Joint Committee on Tenure in connection with dismissal of tenured faculty for adequate cause, financial exigency, program elimination, or revision. This is an important policy which as been worked on by the Standing Joint Committee on Tenure, which issued its recommendations to the Faculty Affairs Committee in July 2005. An online debate on the first draft, which addresses concerns after the dismissal of the two tenure faculty members by the University, was put together.
2.) Another advisory consultative report on equity for faculty development funding was discussed. The study was initiated by Office of Human Resources. Faculty members reviewed it and will make recommendations to the Senate.
The Faculty Affairs Committee is charged with making revisions to HR76 to reflect procedures on affirmative action.
· Promotion and Tenure Committee – As the Chair of the FAC, Dr. Ansari was appointed to the P&T Transition Committee in May 2005. Members of this committee have considered input from all campuses. The preliminary report was given to all campus Senate Chairs at the Altoona meeting during the summer. The information on the first draft was shared with the Executive Committee last week. Three major references were made to the “stand alone” colleges. Since that meeting, the first draft was revised. However, another chair of the Inter-University Relations, from the Harrisburg Campus, independently sent his revisions to the committee members. These revisions were merged and circulated to the committee. After discussion, the committee approved the changes with one exception: The third and fourth models were combined. In the revised report that was submitted, the references to the “stand alone” colleges were reduced from three to one and the language was softened. The revised report was approved by the committee and was sent as “Pen-ultimate Report” to the Senior Leadership of the University. Once finalized the report will be placed on the “P” (Public) Drive and the Senate site. More information will be given at the Faculty Caucus next week.
4. Comments by Administrators
· Susan Phillips Speece (Chancellor)
· Increased efforts have been to improve communications between the Chancellor, faculty, and staff since last year. Venues for dialogue include participation in Senate Council meetings, Administrative Council meetings, monthly musings, faculty division meetings each semester as well as the newly reorganized Chancellor’s Advisory Council for student and staff representation. In addition, town hall meetings are also held several times each semester.
· January 1, 2007 is the new start date for the new building process to begin. Dr. Speece has suggested a new architect be added to the list of state approved architects. This will allow the assignment of the architect, to begin the process on time.
· The Berks Campus Advisory Board has been reading Gaviotas and is very interested in the idea of the common reading. Each member received a copy and a discussion took place at the first meeting held September 22. The members are very interested in serving on campus committees and in offering their advice and expertise wherever it can be of help.
· Commencement will take place on December 17, 2005. Our speaker will be Lee Olsen, of Olsen DeTurck Architects. He attended both Penn State Berks and University Park. He has designed many buildings in the Reading area and is the main architect who works with Boscov’s Department Stores.
· The Goggle Works opened at Second and Washington Streets. This artist’s colony will also house the Children’s Museum. Opportunities will exist to partner with our Elementary Education degree program students.
· The Initiative for Competitive Greater Reading, ICGR, has put together a final report. There is a video that will feature information about the Keystone Innovation Zone (KIZ). The KIZ will provide opportunities for our researching faculty to partner with industries in the area, bringing in revenue for the College and advance research.
· US Airways magazine, “Attaché”, will feature a thirty-two page article on the Reading area. Penn State Berks has purchased an additional half page ad.
· Carl Lovitt (Associate Dean of Academic Affairs)
· Dr. John Romano has convened the CAO – Chief Academic Officers from all the campuses in the University – to meet periodically with him and his staff. In spite of the dissolution of the Berks-Lehigh Valley College and the Capitol College, there is an increased emphasis on collaboration among the Commonwealth Campuses. A thirteen and a half million deficit exists which the nineteen CAOs are expected to collaboratively reduce through cost efficiencies. A site has been set up on “ANGEL” that includes a listing of all under-enrolled courses at each of the locations. This will aid in identifying faculty members who do not have students to populate their classes. An effort is being made to standardize and organize the ways in which Penn State’s electronic courses are delivered. The new initiative which will be called “Penn State On-Line”. Everyone is encouraged to become more active in developing hybrid and electronic versions of our courses. The University is giving the committees two years to do this before University Park will find ways to do it for us.
· Information can be made available to anyone who would like to see the information.
The Chair requested that agenda be reordered, moving Reports of Committees after Unfinished Business and proceeding with New Legislative Business. There were no objections.
5. New Legislative Business
· Approval of 2005-2006 Senate Calendar – The calendar was included in the meeting packets. Senate meetings are held on Fridays, with the exception of the November 28 meeting, which will be scheduled for a Monday due to the Thanksgiving break.
A motion to approve the meeting dates was made and seconded.
A vote was taken and the motion was approved unanimously.
· A list of Committee Chairs will be sent out for approval, via email.
· Election of members to complete the Executive Committee roster – A nomination of Michele Ramsey has been made. Another person is needed to complete the roster.