THIRD Meeting of the Villanova
University Senate for Academic
Year 2012-2013 in Bartley Hall,
Room 2010 on Friday,
OCTOBER 26, 2012 at 3:30 p.m.
PRESENT: Dr. Robert Styer, Chairperson
Ms. Christine Alizzi; Dr. Wayne Bremser; Mr. Jack Chong; Dr. Mary Ann
Cantrell; Mr. Jay Chamberlin; Ms. Anne Diebold; Rev. Kail Ellis, OSA;
Dr. M. Louise Fitzpatrick; Mr. Steve Fugale; Dr. Edwin Goff; Ms. Susan
Leighton; Dr. Sarvesh Kulkarni; Ms. Katie LeGrand; Dr. Adele Lindenmeyr; Mr.
Christopher Marroletti; Ms. Carmen Migliarino; Mr. Aaron Moore; Dr. Victoria
McWilliams; Mr. Vince Nicastro; Dr. Donna Shai; Mr. Stephen Sheridan; Rev.
John Stack, OSA; Mr. Robert Stover; Mr. Richard Travia; Mr. Daniel Troiano;
Mr. Kenneth Valosky; Ms. Selma Koury Wunderlich (representing the president
of the VUAA)
ABSENT:
Dr. Joseph Dellapenna, (Notified In Advance -Unable to Attend); Dr. Gary
Gabriele (NIA); Mr. Ryan Gatti (NIA); Mr. Daniel Goldowsky (NIA);
Ms. Elizabeth Heurich (NIA); Ms. Sophie Kagan; Ms. Caroline Kemp (NIA);
Dr. Christopher Kilby (NIA); Dr. Jean Ann Linney (NIA); Dr. Patrick Maggitti
(NIA); Ms. Dorothy Malloy, J.D. (NIA); Mr. Kevin Noller (NIA); Mr. John J.
Murray (NIA); Dr. Barbara Wall (NIA); Dr. Thomas Way (NIA); Dr. Seth
Whidden (NIA); Dr. Kelly Welch (NIA)
Helen Heron, Recording Secretary
________________________________________________________________________
AGENDA:
PLEASE SILENCE ALL CELL PHONES. PLEASE PICK UP YOUR NAMEPLATE.
INVOCATION - Senator Susan Leighton
1. MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 28, 2012 MEETING HAVE BEEN UNANIMOUSLY
APPROVED
2. POWER OF INTERPELLATION (if any)
3. ANNOUNCEMENTS AND CORRESPONDENCE
4. GUEST SPEAKER
Mr. Bob Morro-Associate Vice President for Facilities Management
Overview of the campus construction projects for the upcoming year
1
5.
READING OF AMENDMENT FROM THE RULES AND REVIEW COMMITTEE
6. OVERVIEW OF UNIVERSITY BUDGET FOR ACADEMIC YEAR 2012-13
Mr. Ken Valosky, Vice President for Administration and Finance
7 SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS AND SPEAKERS
8. NEW BUSINESS
9. ADJOURNMENT
************************************************************************
The Chair called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. The Invocation was presented by
Senator Susan Leighton:
God our Father, we have been made in your image and likeness and therein lies the core
of our dignity as human beings. In our busy and distracted lives we can easily forget
about the other, being aware only of our own needs and difficulties. Through the power
of your Spirit that lives within us and the example of Jesus our guide, bring us to a
greater awareness of those around us, open our eyes to see their gifts and talents, their
problems and concerns and lead us to continue to be a community built on compassion
and respect for the other. Amen
I.
MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 28, 2012 MEETING HAVE BEEN
UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED
II.
POWER OF INTERPELLATION (if any)
III.
ANNOUNCEMENTS AND CORRESPONDENCE
a) For attendance purposes, it is very important to have your nameplate at
your place and then returned at the end of the meeting.
b) A notice was sent via Campus Currents soliciting questions from the
Villanova University community as possible topics of discussion for the
meeting of the Executive Committee of the University Senate.
c) The Rules and Review Committee is in the process of evaluating the
University Senate.
d) Regarding the Freeh Report on Pennsylvania State University, Senator Koury
Wunderlich noted that Senator Nicastro, along with the Director of Athletics
from Temple University, was interviewed on the radio recently concerning
this subject. The Athletic Advisory Committee will be reviewing the report
2
with an update next semester.
e) The Fair Trade Proposal will give brief presentation to the Senate next
semester.
f) Dr. Kenneth Kroos, Engineering, will assume Dr. Randy Weinstein’s seat
on the Senate. He will also be representing Engineering on the Academic
Policy Committee.
g) Senator Styer offered his congratulations to Dr. Weinstein in his new position
as Associate Dean, Undergraduate Studies, College of Engineering.
IV. GUEST SPEAKER
Mr. Bob Morro-Associate Vice President for Facilities Management
Overview of the campus construction projects for the upcoming year
To view Mr. Morro’s presentation, please go to the University Senate web site
at www.unisenate.villanova.edu
Senator Styer thanked Mr. Morro for his presentation
V. READING OF THE AMENDMENT FROM THE RULES AND REVIEW
COMMITTEE
Proposed Amendment to add a librarian to the Academic Policy Committee:
Article VIII, Section 2, last paragraph, proposed additions in bold italics:
The Academic Policy Committee shall consist of sixteen elected faculty (at least four of
whom are also University Senators), six undergraduate students (one of whom is nonvoting), two graduate students (one of whom shall be the Graduate Student Council
President ex officio), one librarian, and six members ex officio: Vice President for
Academic Affairs (non-voting), Dean of Arts and Sciences, Dean of Engineering, Dean of
Villanova School of Business, Dean of Nursing and Dean of Graduate Studies in the
College of Arts and Sciences. The faculty members will be directly elected by
constituency as described in Appendix A to this Constitution. Faculty elections shall be
administered by the Faculty Congress. The term of office will be two years and members
may be re-elected. The faculty members of this committee are also members of the
Faculty Congress. Each of the four full-time undergraduate student bodies will elect a
student representative for a one-year term and that person may be re-elected. The other
two full-time undergraduate student representatives (one of whom will be non-voting) will
be appointed by the Executive Committee of the Senate. There shall be two graduate
student representatives, one of whom shall be the Graduate Student Council President
who shall be an ex officio member of the Committee. The other graduate student
representative will be appointed by the Executive Committee of the Senate from each of
the four colleges on a rotating basis for a one-year term. The library representative
will serve a two year term and will be appointed by the University Librarian. The
graduate student representatives may be re-appointed. The committee shall elect its
chairperson.
VI. OVERVIEW OF UNIVERSITY BUDGET FOR ACADEMIC YEAR 2012-13
Mr. Ken Valosky, Vice President for Administration and Finance
Senator Valosky began his presentation by explaining that the budget process is
3
underway and that there have been numerous meetings of the Administrative Budget
Committee, the President’s Cabinet, the Council of Deans and the University Senate
Budget Committee. These meetings focus on their results from Fiscal Year 2012 and
what they anticipate for 2013. He feels that the 2014 budget will be one of the more
difficult budgets that they will prepare. This is due to all of the uncertainties that the
university will face.
He noted that in Father Donohue’s State of the University address, he laid out a number
of issues that higher education faces such as:










growing competition for both national and international students
cost and uncertainties of technology
shrinking of state and federal funding
rising tuition costs
mounting student debt
growth of on-line courses
pressures to shift away from the liberal arts in favor of business and technology
programs
deteriorating incomes and uncertain employment opportunities cause many to
question whether college is worth the cost
a continued weakened economic outlook
a changing regulatory environment
Senator Valosky added that this is not meant to be a political commentary because in
their discussions with health care consultants, they do not see the recent health care
reform changing as a result of the outcome of the election. Regardless of who is elected,
this is a legislated act that would require much effort to change. The impact that they see
for health care reform to the university is substantial in the immediate term for 2014. He
believes that many who had opted out of Villanova’s health insurance will return to the
university’s plan which, in the short term, will raise our cost by about $8,000,000 a year.
He felt the more immediate concern is that Villanova’s plan be considered, in its current
state, a “cadillac” plan. The government would classify it as such and it would be subject
to an excise tax which in the year 2018 would approximate a million and a half dollars a
year which would grow substantially over time. By 2025, we would have a tax of over
$4,000,000 a year which would be quite a financial burden for the university.
Senator Valosky also mentioned that the bridge over Lancaster Avenue and the reduction
of the parking structure would add to that project’s budget approximately $10,000,000.
Taking into consideration this uncertainty of what is happening in higher education with
a bleak economic outlook, changing regulatory environment, plus our own additional cost
for Lancaster Avenue will certainly make for a very challenging process.
He pointed out that Father Donohue, in his remarks to the university, noted that it is about
positioning the University in terms of success and liability. Challenges and pressures are
4
coming from every direction. We must be agile, thorough and strategic as we face them.
We must be ready to make hard decisions. We must be ready to think differently. We
must be ready to change.
Senator Valosky stated that, given all of this information, he does not have the standard,
preliminary budget assumptions that he would normally review. He would initially like
the opportunity to sit down with the University Senate Budget Committee and allow that
group the opportunity to discuss these issues in great detail. He added that through the
urging of Senator Styer and others in the interest of transparency, we will schedule two
university forums for the entire community where he will discuss the state of the
university’s finances as well as the budget for 2014. These forums will be held on
November 27th and 28th. Each talk will be an hour and a half in duration. They will be
open to all in the university and he will attempt to answer any questions from the
university community. This will give everyone a full indication of where we see we are
headed not only in 2014 but in the years beyond.
The Chair thanked Senator Valosky for his presentation.
Senator Styer suggested that everyone attend one of these forums. Because of this, the
Executive Committee agreed that the Senate will cancel the December Senate meeting so
that all may attend the budget forum.
VII. SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS AND SPEAKERS
Senator Goff proposed that a guest with detailed knowledge of systemic structures and
institutional practices in "preventing workplace harassment," be invited to address the
University Senate at its next meeting: Friday, February 8, 2013 at 3:30 p.m. The guest
expert would address matters including, but not limited to:
Best practice models regarding administrative intersections of Offices for Human
Resources; Affirmative Action programs; and Equal Employment Opportunity
policies. Optimal conditions under which matters of workplace equity can be monitored
and enforced. Optimal conditions under which members of our professional community
have legitimate expectations that they can seek advice and counsel about workplace EEO
grievances—and be widely perceived as confidential consultation within a safe and
affirming institutional space.
VIII. NEW BUSINESS
IX.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no new business, Senator Styer asked for a motion to adjourn.
Senator Goff motioned for the meeting to be adjourned. Senator Chamberlin
seconded the motion. The meeting adjourned at 4:40 p.m.
.
Respectfully submitted,
EH/hh
Elizabeth Heurich
5