Faculty Senate Minutes (11/08/2018)

Call to Order

In attendance: Bill Bachman, Megan Mac Gregor, Dudley Snyder, Albert Lozano, John Weber, David Chin, Lynda Goldstein, Getinet Gawo, Dimitrios Bolkas, Marshall Davis, Sal Marsico, Renee Rosier, Tim Sichler, Fred Stefon, Wei Fan Chen, Anson Carter, Violet Mager, Willie Ofosu, Caroline Chronowski, Steven Putzel, Jonathan Pineno, Frouke de Quillettes, Melisa Naylor

Via Zoom: Christyne Berzsenyi

Approval of the previous meeting’s minutes

Minutes from October 11, 2018 approved with correction on page 2. First motion made by John Weber with correction. Second motion made by Anson Carter. All in favor.

Announcements

  • Advisory Board meeting coming up on November 15, 2018
  • Send out google form again for faculty newsletter
  • Send suggestions to commencement speaker by November 2, 2018.

Communications of campus administrators

Chancellor/CAO – Dr. Jones:

  • The chancellor emphasized for everyone to be better across the boards. Please respect and enjoy each other while making things better. All sectors need to operate at their peak. Raise expectations and hold each other accountable, but do not beat each other up while doing so.
    • Program coordinators will be held accountable by Dr. Lynda Goldstein.
    • Faculty Senate, people are showing.
    • Faculty are doing well with the new format during Open Houses.
    • ABET went well.
    • Building relationships on and off campus; every interaction matters.
    • Work on creating lion trails.

Reports

University Faculty Senators

Report attached

University College Faculty Council

No meeting; no report

Campus Library

Megan Mac Gregor discussed Celebration of Scholarship. Intent to participate is 02/14/18. Training from the library is 03/18/19. Poster submissions is 03/29/18. Celebration of Scholarship is 04/11/19. Any student in any discipline can participate. Any research from the fall or spring semester can be used. Posters are 36” x 48”, landscape or portrait. Must have in-text citations and work cited / references on the poster (12pt is fine).

Committee Reports

Student Affairs Committee

Report attached.

Dr. Lozano-Nieto inquired, “Why do we not have a writing center?” which in turn initiated a discussion about students among many instructors and classes who have difficulty writing. The chancellor needs to look into what we have and don’t have available for students; meet with Dr. Goldstein and update.

Scholarly Activities

Report attached.

Library Committee

Report attached.

Academic Affairs

Report attached.

Faculty Affairs Committee

None.

New Business

Celebration of Scholarship

Megan Mac Gregor discussed the Celebration of Scholarship and solidifying the COS as part of our activities. Running and paying for COS. If something were to happen to Megan, there isn’t any institutional knowledge to continue running it. There is 30% campus participation right now.

Proposed objectives:

  • How to pay for Celebration of Scholarship. Currently it is a library event, but if it were to become a campus event where would funds come from?
  • Make the Celebration of Scholarship an event on the academic calendar. This way no classes would be held, resulting in little to no conflict and we could have outsiders attend the event.
  • Include the Celebration of Scholarship planning responsibilities in the PSUWB Faculty Senate.
  • Suggestion made by Marshall Davis is to form a new joint committee including membership from each of the standing committees. Another option provided was to redefine the library committee and rename to cover undergraduate research and Celebration of Scholarship. Possibly use some of the language from the Scranton campus bylaws. Sal Marsico motioned to send to the library committee; Dr. David Chin second the motion.

Old Business

None.

Comments for the good of the order

  • Sal Marsico: Reminded everyone when renewing insurance PPO plan to be careful with the language regarding out of pocket costs. Questioned if an HSA card can be used on meds purchased overseas?

Adjournment

Motion made: meeting adjourned @ 1:26 PM.

Student Affairs Committee Report — Nov. 6, 2018

Faculty Senate, Noon T7

Tutoring

  • Reviewed draft of proposal for Peer Tutor pilot program to be submitted to the Chancellor Endowment Funds.
  • Added a section to the narrative about how assessment would be done on the pilot.
  • Survey given to students who use the service
  • How often used
  • How useful did they feel it was
  • What do they expect to get for a grade
  • Learning Center Tutor session sign in sheets
  • Discussed how Peer tutors would be monitored: Visual check by committee members that tutors were at their stations during appointed times, and using sign in sheet for tutoring session which the Learning Center already uses.
  • Students would start tutoring the 3rd week of the semester.
  • Hoping to have it for Spring 2019. If not Fall 2019
  • Tutors would receive credit for tutoring in addition to pay. Way to register for it through LionPath.
  • We’ll work with Lorna to create a schedule of what tutors working what days.
  • And to create Fliers and marketing materials
  • Frouke will send the completed draft to Lynda Goldstein for a final review.

Food Bank

  • Talked with Wanda Ochei about Food Bank
  • She confirmed that there is a lot of food insecurity on our campus which affects student retention.
  • We can only ask for “gift in kind” donations since PSU is not a non-profit (501c3)
  • Committee felt it may be better for us to focus on drives for donations to the Food bank.
  • Students also have a need for toiletries, paper products, various soaps, etc.
  • Committee will work on brain storming ideas for other promotional ideas
  • Create Perishable days (items which we can only legally give out one day due to shelf life, ie fresh produce)
  • Wanda currently holding a Pop Up Produce stand (Thur Nov. 8) free to students fac and staff donated from local CSAs. Last time they did it they had 80 students use it.
  • Wanda also expressed the need for all faculty members to use Starfish to record advising session notes, and anything they notice about a student in class, so if an issue arises they can look to see if there are other issues, or signs that the student may need help in some way.
  • Committee will talk to Heather Paris to coordinate efforts.

Student Affairs Committee Report — Oct. 8, 2018

Faculty Senate, 3:30pm T7

Discussion about creating charges for the committee to work on.

Tutoring

  • Why aren’t students using the Learning Center’s tutors or the library for help?
  • Members were unsure of how many tutors there were and who specialized in what disciplines.
  • Possibility that tutors could rotate around the major classroom buildings on campus (Tech, Sci, AC) to make themselves and their services more visible on campus, for the students who silo themselves to buildings.
  • Could the Learning Center or the committee create a document/handout, where tutors are mapped to the various courses/disciplines?
  • Possible need for more peer tutors, and how to attract promising students to become a peer tutor. ($, perk (special parking, etc)
  • Learning Center needs lots more visibility on campus and promotion
  • Planning on contacting Lorna Chin to talk about what they currently do and how the committee could help.

Food Pantry

  • Could we improve how the campus food pantry is run / accessed?
  • Gettysburg College has an online request form for needy students to request supplies, and then those students pick up a discrete box with a number.
  • Box pick up would allow the Food pantry to better spend their funds, and have data on what is and is not being used.
  • Supplies could be bought as needed.
  • PSU ID would be included on request forms so that we could see who the repeat students are and maybe provide them with more help.
  • Find ways to get local stores to donate to the pantry

Frouke volunteered to be chair of the committee.

Megan volunteered to keep minutes

Action items

Frouke

  • Set up meetings with Dr. Lozano to learn about possible funding opportunities for Peer Tutors
  • Set up a meeting with Lynda Goldstein to learn about possible funding opportunities for Peer Tutors
  • Set up meeting with Lorna Chin to learn more about the Learning Center

Megan

  • Set up a meeting with Jackie and Wanda to talk about Food Pantry and the possibly of creating an online form Dan
  • Contact Anthony Shipula first in regards to donations in case the Development Office has already asked for monetary donations from these stores.
  • Afterwards contact local businesses and grocery stores about donations to the food pantry

Next meeting scheduled for Wed. Nov. 7, 2018, 3:30pm, Tech 7

Scholarly Activities Committee 2018–2019 Report

11/08/18

Scholarly Activities Funding Allocation

The proposal form for SAC funding on the PSUWB faculty webpage will be live within the next few days. Faculty will be notified via email when the form is open. All faculty are encouraged to submit proposals.

The deadline for submissions is JAN 25 2019. The committee will review proposals immediately following the deadline.

Scholarly Lecture Series

The committee led by Garrett Huck is successfully coordinating the lecture series. The next scheduled lecture will be given by Jonathan Pineno based on the Lawrence Troutman African Art Collection. This presentation will be TUES NOV 13 in AC 103 at 12:15.

Faculty presentations have been tentatively scheduled for FEB and APR 2019. All faculty are encouraged to participate in the lecture series.

Respectfully submitted,

Anson D Carter
Chair – Scholarly Activities Committee

Report of Library Committee — Nov. 5, 2018

Date: November 5, 2018
Time: 12:30 p.m.
Place: Library, Rm. 209
Chair: Erin Brennan

Megan MacGregor
+Brennan, Ann
+Brennan, Erin
+Gawo, Getinet
~Naylor, Melisa
~Sichler, Timothy
~Tekdal Yilmaz, Esra        

+ Present
~ Absent

The meeting commenced at 12:30 p.m.

The purpose of the meeting, as established at the October 24 meeting, was explained and discussed and is summarized as follows:

1. Establish collaborative communication with library staff in order to identify library needs/concerns and identify resources; and

2. Identify potential for resources through the Penn State Sustainability Committee.

Megan MacGregor was asked to participate in this meeting in an effort to more fully effectuate the above purposes. Megan identified the following four (4) topics and general discussion and brainstorming as to each was conducted. Each topic is identified and a summary of committee considerations and/or proposals follows seriatim.

1. LIBRARY MATERIALS: The library staff has recently and successfully completed an effort to remove dated material from its shelves. This has resulted in extra shelf space. The library staff is looking for input from faculty as to what resources to order. The library has a significant budget for purchasing and is receptive to requests for books, videos, games, and other resources.

ACTION: Erin will draft an email for review to notify faculty members that their requests are needed and welcomed (correlating with Goal 3 – Foster outreach and Goal 4 – Develop a culture of innovative operations and sustainability)

2. CHROME BOOKS: The library now has three (3) Google Chrome Books that are available to faculty/staff/students to be loaned on a weekly basis

ACTION: Erin will draft an email for review to notify faculty/staff of this newly available resource (correlating with Goal 3 – Foster outreach and Goal 4 – Develop a culture of innovative operations and sustainability)

3. FACULTY PROJECTS: The library staff is a willing and ready resource that can work with faculty to help fine-tune assignments/projects/research. Despite this willingness, the library staff needs guidance from faculty as to content. There is a gap between the content expertise of faculty and the research expertise of the library staff.

PROPOSAL: Creation of an infomercial featuring Megan and highlighting/explaining the role of the librarian. This will not only provide a user-friendly summary of the purpose of a librarian in today’s academic setting but will highlight infomercial/creative videos as resources that the library staff can help faculty use in their classes.

ACTION: The committee will work with Megan through the Spring semester to create and disseminate an infomercial. (correlating with Goal 2 – Deliver programs of academic excellence,

Goal 3 – Foster outreach, and Goal 4 – Develop a culture of innovative operations and sustainability and Movement 2 – Generate creative thinking)

4. CELEBRATION OF SCHOLARSHIP: There is a need for an individual and/or committee/ad hoc committee to develop institutional knowledge of how the Celebration of Scholarship is organized and effectuated. This knowledge is presently only with Megan and it needs to be shared in order to ensure a long-term sustainable project. There is no action to be taken on this issue as it is a topic of ongoing discussion in the Faculty Senate. It was noted that an ad hoc committee seemed like a good solution.

The committee then discussed generally some resources that were available through the Sustainability Committee (Ann and Erin are both members of the Sustainability Committee) and focused on the following two:

1. BULLFROG FILMS: We have access to 700+ titles that can be accessed and shown for free. Megan noted that Canopy has somewhat duplicative potential. The following possibilities were discussed and will be considered further (correlating with Goal 2 – Deliver programs of academic excellence, Goal 3 – Foster outreach, and Goal 4 – Develop a culture of innovative operations and sustainability and Movement 2 – Generate creative thinking and Movement 3 – Increase Public Relations):

a. FACULTY LED DISCUSSION FOLLOWING A FILM SHOWING. Proposed audience: Students, staff, faculty, and community members. Proposed location: on campus.

b. COMMUNITY MOVIE EVENT. This event would incorporate the community and combine the library projection resources and film catalog. The possibility of an outdoor event was discussed. The movie selection would be for a general audience.

2. SUSTAINABLE SHOWCASE SERIES. These events are currently live streaming on Fridays from 12:00 – 1:30. The following possibilities for our campus were discussed and will be considered further (correlating with Goal 2 – Deliver programs of academic excellence, Goal 3 – Foster outreach, and Goal 4 – Develop a culture of innovative operations and sustainability and Movement 2 – Generate creative thinking and Movement 3 – Increase Public Relations):

a. HOSTING A FRIDAY EVENT FEATURING A LIVESTREAMED SUSTAINABLE SHOWCASE FEATURE

b. CREATING A SUSTAINABLE SHOWCASE FEATURE TO BE SHARED WITH OTHER CAMPUSES

The meeting adjourned at 1:09 p.m.

Academic Affairs Committee Report — Nov. 8, 2018

The AAC Committee met on October 25, 2018. We discussed multiple issues of academic affairs provided by Dr. Lynda Goldstein and Dr. Albert Lozano-Nieto. The committee plans to generate action items for each issue in the upcoming campus senate meetings. The meeting adjourned at 1:15pm. Here is the meeting agenda.

I. Call to order

II. Old Business:

  1. Review the process of hiring adjunct faculty.
  2. Examine the effect of the new general education requirements:
    • How many "integrative studies" courses will we need?
    • How are they being developed?
    • How do we offer such courses, while still meeting other needs? 

III. New Business

  1. Campus certification programs offered for high school students
  2. Procedure for proctoring exams, especially for off campus faculty in shared programs
  3. Program assessment: should we include internships? How are findings distributed among all faculty, including adjuncts, in a program? How can we learn from this process?
  4. Commencement speaker suggestions
  5. 3-year plan for programs/faculty searches/minors: what do we need? Where are opportunities?
  6. Movement to change AOJ->CJ: what’s the effect on our program’s RER?
  7. Webpage design and updates
  8. Should Program Coordinators be reviewed as part of 5 year extended review? What about Teaching Line faculty? Should we develop a survey on effectiveness? PCs do a lot of work—how do we better capture effectiveness in FARs?
  9. Faculty teaching brown bags/training/zoom discussions of tips? Energized teaching ideas!

IV. Adjourn

Committee Members: Bill Bachman, Wei-Fan Chen (Chair), Terry Clemente, Marshall Davis, Bob Faux, and Steve Putzel.