Faculty Council Meeting Minutes
Thursday, March 31, 2011, 9:30 a.m.
Memorial Room
In Attendance: Tracy Halmi, Dawn Blasko, Chrystyna Dail, Bob Light, David
Christiansen, Zach Irwin, Dave Causgrove, Ron DelPorto, Dipo Onipede, Luciana
Aronne, Ron McCarty, Sarah Whitney, Mary Connerty, John Stone, Stephen Burger
I.
Call to Order
A.
II.
The Faculty Council meeting was called to order by Tracy Halmi at 9:30
a.m.
Committees Reporting
A.
B.
Scholarships and Awards (Luciana Aronne)
1.
There were 80 nominations (compared to 69 last year) for Behrend
Students Awards and 76 applications filled out. Five award
winners were chosen at the end of March.
2.
There were five University-wide student award winners (compared
to zero last year)
Faculty Affairs (Dipo Onipede)
1.
Recommendations for the Membership of the College Promotion
and Tenure Committee:
a.
After discussion at the last Faculty Organization meeting,
the faculty supported a maximum of two consecutive twoyear term limits
b.
One-year term limit for the Chair of P&T; the Chair must
have previously served on the College P&T Committee
c.
Full professors from at least three different schools will
serve on the Committee for a candidate going up for full
professor. At least one of the full professors must be from
the same school as the nominated faculty member.
i.
Historically, the ad hoc full professor promotion
committee has been a subcommittee of the current
P&T Committee, but this does not need to happen.
C.
Undergraduate Studies (Mary Connerty)
1.
D.
E.
Academic Computing (Ron DelPorto)
1.
The Committee has decided to mount an educational program
about the “actual” printing costs on campus
2.
Charging the students for printing would result in an initial cost of
$45,000 and University Park would then take 2% of the printing
costs. It is suggested to not pursue this option.
3.
Copies on campus have increased at a rate of approximately
250,000 annually since 2004
Curricular Affairs (Ron McCarty)
1.
F.
It was suggested that before next fall, Mary Connerty, Bob Light,
Kathy Mauro, the four school directors, and the new
Undergraduate Studies chair, Dean Lewis, should meet together to
discuss procedures for nominating faculty for research and
teaching awards.
There are three course curricular proposals under review and three
more expected by the end of the semester
Student Representative (Stephen Burger)
1.
Every position for SGA was contested this year
2.
State Budget
3.
a.
SGA is reallocating funds to attend Capital Day
b.
There is a student-run Town Hall slated for April 29th at
1:00 p.m. to discuss proposed budget cuts
Campus Smoking Survey
a.
In conjunction with the Student Life Committee, a
resolution was presented to SGA based on survey results
i.
Supports one entrance of each building as
designated smoking entrance. Ban smoking at other
entrances.
G.
ii.
The seating area outside of the planned Reed
convenience store would be non-smoking
iii.
Once the resolution is passed, the information will
be passed on to Chancellor Birx, Tracy Halmi,
Dawn Blasko, Randy Geering, and campus police
Senate Representative (Zach Irwin)
1.
State Budget Cuts and Penn State University
a.
2.
4.
i.
440 positions could be cut in Cooperative Extension
programs
ii.
Possible tuition increase and closing of certain
campuses is possible
Student Alcohol Consumption
a.
3.
President Spanier stated we are not responsible for the state
budget crisis, but we will do our part to amend it
What role can faculty take in curbing student alcohol
consumption?
i.
Senate is discussing class-time scheduling changes
to curb absences due to alcohol consumption
ii.
Senate showed a film about the effects of alcohol on
the brain
Policy Changes
a.
Policy 4580: Regarding deferred grades; the students must
complete their coursework within ten weeks of the end of
the semester
b.
Policy 05-81: Proposed changes to Carnegie Units and
minimum credit requirements for high school students
c.
The University Senate is decreasing in size. Behrend will
now have eight senate representatives
Report on Tenure Track flow
III.
a.
Approximately 47% of faculty at Penn State University are
tenured or tenure track
b.
Between 1990 and 2003, approximately 58 to 60% of those
people in tenure-track positions made tenure
c.
Faculty at the associate and full professor levels ranked
higher in salary compared to other Big 10 schools.
Assistant professor and non-tenure track faculty members
ranked lower in comparison.
Administrative Reports
A.
Senior Associate Dean (Bob Light) – no report
B.
Associate Dean (David Christiansen)
1.
2.
Spring Commencement
a.
Information will be sent to faculty on updated procedures
b.
The Commencement speaker is Russ Warley, Associate
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
First-Year Seminar Meeting
a.
3.
i.
Purpose of FYS
ii.
Restructuring of FTCAP and New Student
Orientation
General Education Theme-based Certificates
a.
IV.
Friday, April 8th for every FYS instructor
Unfinished Business
Creating a working group to develop interdisciplinary
theme-based certificates
i.
Group will meet over the summer
ii.
Financial incentive for faculty participation
iii.
Faculty involved will offer one of these courses in
the calendar year 2012
A.
Distribution of Faculty Committee Performance Review form
1.
Suggested changes
a.
V.
VI.
Attendance taken and active, very active, non-active
options
B.
A motion was approved for the Educational Equity and Campus
Environment Committee (EECEC) to officially change its name to the
Institutional Equity and Diversity Committee (IEDC)
C.
The minutes from the February 24th Faculty Council meeting were
approved
Announcements
A.
Next Faculty Council meeting is Thursday, April 14th at 9:30 a.m. in the
Memorial Room
B.
The date and time of the final Faculty Organization meeting is still under
discussion
Adjournment – The meeting was adjourned at 10:44 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Chrystyna Dail