Faculty Senate Minutes from 12/1/2015

Call to Order

12:05 pm

Minutes

Approved minutes from Oct. 2015 meeting

Chancellor’s Report

Construction on campus is soon to end in Spring 2016.

President Barron will visit for dedication and ribbon cutting on December 17th 2015 at the Innovation Center Technology Workshop and Multi-Media Center

DAA’s Report

Status of faculty searches:

AOJ – Search committee conducted preliminary interviews via Skype on 10/23 and 11/6; two candidates have been invited to on-campus interviews:

  • Wed. December 2nd – Ms. Kathryn Elvey
  • Mon. December 7th – Mr. Rick Dierenfeldt

Arts – Search committee conducted preliminary interviews via Skype 11/23 and will invite candidates

The University put together a taskforce to evaluate the potential use of Open Educational Resources (OERs) in the classroom; they started by targeting ECON and STAT courses, as these courses seem to require some of the highest cost textbooks. If you are teaching ECON or STAT and want to evaluate the potential to use OERs for your course, please contact Jennie Knies.

Suzanne Attanasio – Wellness Program

WB campus won ‘Walk to Hawaii’ which included 57 staff/faculty

Other programs: Tobacco Cessation, Flu Shots, Personal Nutrition

Michael Harding – Invited SGA Vice President Report

Blue Light App (app designed to enhance safety on campuses) in trial status with Harrisburg campus

Committee Reports

Academic Affairs Committee

Discussed the request from the executive committee regarding Faculty Co-Chairs for the Alpha Sigma Lambda Adult Honor Society. Further clarification is requested from the Faculty Senate Chair as to why faculty co-chair nominees would only come from the Academic Affairs Committee

Review of the current BSB Course Assessment Learning Outcomes being conducted at both Abington and Berks Campuses. The list of Program Learning Objectives included effective communication, critical thinking and effective decision making, global and diverse perspectives, teamwork and leadership and knowledgeable practice. Further clarification is requested from the DAA

Student Affairs Committee

Representative was not in attendance due to department meeting

Scholarly Activities

Received a total of four grant proposals from faculty, two of whom were members of the committee. In total, the proposals requested $2,755 but the budget was only $1,500

Also, discussed the need to develop an online form to streamline the entire process.

Faculty Affairs Committee

Please attend ‘silo-free’ lunch

Library Committee

Weeding project – removing out of date, worn, etc texts. Would like to have it done by April and are looking for best methods to have the faculty get involved.

University Senators

The entrance to major process is doing away with entrance to major semesters. The new entrance to major process enables a student to enter a major once they have met all course, credit, and GPA requirements for that major within a defined credit window. Since the new process is doing away with the entrance to major semesters, enrollment aps no longer have any meaning. Instead a GPA cutoff will be set to admit approximately the desired number of students to each controlled major.

Removal of the limit on late drops. Vote – changes accepted. A student may late drop courses without penalty. However, student will have limited attempts at a course. A student is limited to attempt any given course a maximum of three (3) times. A course in which a grade of C or better was obtained may be repeated if written evidence of consultation is obtained from the student’s adviser.

University Faculty Council

Reviewed changes to the constitution: two councilors from each campus with staggered terms

Reviewed changes to the UC Faculty Awards description of awards, process and eligibility: must you win at your campus to be eligible, etc. Votes are due Dec. 1

Old Business

Nominations for Faculty Chair/s for Alpha Sigma Lambda, Adult Student Honor Society—CB F16

New Business

Election of University Faculty Senate Representative: Salvatore Marsico’s term ends 2016.

Comments for the Good of the Order

None.

Adjournment

1:20 PM