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.
C.
D.
Vice Chair (Laurie Grobman) – No Report
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.
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.)


4.
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 InterUniversity 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.
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.
A motion to approve Michele to the Executive Committee was made and seconded.
The vote was taken and the motion was approved unanimously.
Dr. Blaine Steensland has asked that Council approve the selection of individuals to serve as
Chairs of the University Hearing Boards. Janet Winter, Hassan Gourama, Lisa Shibley and
Walt Fullam have been chosen.
A motion was made to accept these individuals and seconded.
A vote was taken and the motion was approved unanimously.
6.
Forensic Business – None
7.
Unfinished Business – None
8.
Reports of Committees

Faculty Affairs Committee (Laurie Grobman) – Implementation of HR-23 for Promotion
and Tenure

Editorial changes were made that do not change the meaning of this document. They
were changes in wording of titles, such as Dean to Chancellor and elimination of
“Lehigh Valley” from the College references.

Motion: Approval of the following paragraph from page four of the Implementation
document, which reads as follows: If a division does not have at least three faculty
members who are eligible to serve on a review committee, the college's academic
officer can appoint members from other campuses to the college committee, and the
division head can appoint members from outside the division and the college/campus to
the division committee. Such appointments to division committees shall be from
“related fields” or “similar disciplines.”
The motion was made and seconded. A vote was taken and the motion was approved
unanimously.

Executive Committee (Steve Snyder)

Committee Charges – Discussion and comments will be taken by email. Revisions can
be made to the wording of any charges.

The new SGA Student Representatives, George Khoury, President of SGA and Tara
Parente, Vice President of SGA were introduced and welcomed.
9.
Announcements
10.
Adjournment