Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Present: Karen M. Turner (Pres.), Paul S. LaFollette (V. Pres.), Bonnie Averbach (Secy.), Robert M. Aiken (Past-Pres.), David Baron (Med), Z. Joan Delalic (Engr.), Marge Devinney (CLA), Pauline Hurley-Kurtz (Ambl), Michael Jackson (STHM), Luke Kahlich (BCMD), Stephanie Knopp (Tyl), Lois Millner (SSA), Joan P. Shapiro (Educ.), Joel B. Sheffield (CST), Jay Sinha (FSBM), Roberta Sloan (SCT), Roy Stevens (Dent.), David Waldstreicher (Fac. Herald), Cheryl Mack (Coord)
1. Call to Order:
The meeting was called to order at 1:00 PM.
2. Approval of Minutes:
The Minutes of December 2, were accepted with amendments.
3. Guest: Provost Lisa
- The Strategic Plan has been approved by the Academic policies Committee and the Executive Committee of the Board and will be presented to the Board of Trustees this afternoon for approval.
- She then discussed some of the general processes in the development of the Strategic which included round table discussions on the strengths and weaknesses in Temple and the venting of faculty about past problems.
- The Provost mentioned that Temple has gone through a ‘renaissance’ over these past few years.
Given the present troubled economic climate, it is important to have a strategic plan in place.
- There will be many changes at this time in our student body. Some of these are:
A change in demographics; an expected drop of 10% in the number of students is our region; the state tuition in the Pennsylvania public Universities is the highest in the country.
- The Strategic Plan has a commitment to:
Core values, academic excellence, partnerships with neighborhood and community, sustainability, knowledge generation in terms of ‘one size does not fit all’, knowledge from research, entrepreneurship, international presence, diverse perspectives, freedom of students to express their feelings about the world, be a growing force of vitality and impact and to be a leader in higher education.
- Some Strategic themes are:
Access to excellence and opportunity for success, a top research university, an urban metro-engaged university, a university with global reach and destination Temple.
- Students:
In addition to our traditional students and transfer students, we will work with disadvantaged students, non-traditional students, and will need to retrain persons (especially in technology).
Envision a new student who is welcomed by students and faculty, who is pushed to stretch his/her brains, heart and mind to be come a better citizen of the world. Students should be involved in the new economy. We will also have more students study abroad and touch the world through Temple. Aiken remarked that we want our students to retain links to Temple.
- In the spring, we will evaluate our graduate school and programs, fellowships and scholarships.
We will try to be less dependent on the State. We will work to build more urban transportation to our campus.
Faculty comments:
Baron mentioned getting alumni involved to help bring in the money. Athletics is important.
Kahlich mentioned that we must work together.
Jackson mentioned that many students are the first in their families to come to college. They need alumni mentorship.
Sheffield mentioned foreign students who provide a resource to us about their countries.
Shapiro mentioned that social responsibility and social justice make Temple special.
Turner mentioned that non traditional students should have focus groups together with traditional students
Jackson mentioned the importance of the quality of life for faculty.
4. President’s Report- Karen M. Turner:
- This was the last meeting of the fall semester. Turner presented gifts to Cheryl Mack and Felicia Frazier with appreciation from everyone on the committee.
- There will be a FSSC meeting on January 20, 2009, the first day of the spring semester, since there will be a Representative Faculty Senate Meeting on Monday, January 26, 2009. However, Turner may not be able to attend.
- Leonard Barrack, Chair of the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees may attend the January 26th Representative Senate Meeting. Provost Lisa will attend this meeting to talk about the Strategic Plan.
5. Vice President’s Report – Paul S. LaFollette
Nothing to report.
6. Unfinished Business:
None
7. New Business
- David Waldstreicher, Editor of the Faculty Herald, told us that the next issue of the Herald will come out on December 10 and have a new format. There will be an editorial on the contact negotiations, a piece written by the assistant editor, on ‘Private Enterprise’, and four letters to the editor on various issues.
- David will be using a new method in the future of posting letters to the editor on line as soon as he receives them.
Baron suggested that the Herald be sent out to Japan and other campuses. This fits in with the goal of all the Temple campuses being under one umbrella. The response was that the Herald does get hits from other campuses. Karen Turner suggested that a notice should be sent on the various faculty listservs to inform faulty that the Herald is out and accessible.
Other topics came under discussion:
- The Strategic Plan and its implementation – where will the money come from?
- The difficulty of ‘navigating’ through the bureaucracy. It should be easier now.
In some cases it is, especially for researchers but in many cases, it is not. - The new guidelines for promotion and tenure are not always acceptable to the administration.
- There seems to be a dis-connect between the guidelines and what the university expects.
- Service should be valued, but it is not. Although there is a lot of talk about change, there has been little change for general faculty and staff.
There was a great deal of discussion about transfer students and the articulation agreements between Temple and the community colleges:
- Some transfer students have had introductory courses in more than one discipline, which are below the level of the so-called Temple equivalent courses. Because of this problem, many transfer students from community colleges do not graduate in two years. It is suggested that incoming transfer students should take placement tests in certain disciplines even though there are articulation agreements with the community colleges. Some of these disciplines are science, dance, art, writing, etc.
Aiken suggested that we make a proposal on this issue and present it to the Provost and the admissions committee.
8. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 3:00 pm.
Bonnie Averbach, Secretary
