Committee on the Status of Women

The committee met three times since the end of 2011. The attending members for all three meetings were Dr. Nune Sarkissian and Dr. Armine Darbinyan from Health Sciences Center. Upon recommendation of Joan Shapiro, I became the Chair of the committee, because there was a need to explain to the new members the many accomplishments of Temple University women who participated in this committee in the past. I am very happy to have met two great colleagues through this committee in 2012.

Sadly my term is ending; and I will not be able to join until after one year. Therefore I recommend Nune Sarkissian to be appointed as the new Chair of the committee. A new and interested member’s name was brought up as well. Her first name is Tinatin; she is from Neurology. I am planning to get in touch and invite her to join the committee before I leave for summer.

It is my conviction that we need to recruit more effectively, and invite new members to this important committee. Please help us get reorganized and continue our great work.

During our meetings we spoke about many issues. A motion was developed about having another conference in Spring 2013 in order to raise consciousness about women’s need to take vacation time, and return to work “refreshed,” both bodily and mentally.

   Some of the conclusions which were brought up by Armine and Nune were as follows:

“Quality work can be accomplished by men and women who have time to take time off for themselves, and their loved ones. The best time to accomplish this task is during “vacation time,” which is a given right of the employee. But fewer individuals decide to use their vacation time. Instead they go on working continuously.”
“Vacation time improves life quality.”
“Feeling of guilt has to be eradicated; employers should encourage vacation time usage by their employees.”
“Employees should be encouraged more firmly to take time off. Each fiscal year should begin with the planning of vacation time.”
“A conference can be organized -- which will feature a key note speaker, and a panel. The conference should also tally the attendees’ responses about the necessity and importance of vacation time. This survey should be sent via the list serve to all faculty members, but particularly to women.”

   The committee decided to create some sample questions for the survey, such as:

Do you think vacation time is important for you?
How important is it?
If you think it is important, what should the role of the administration be in implementing this right?
How often do you take vacation time?
Do you use it at intervals?
State some of the reasons you take vacation time?
State why you do not or cannot take vacation time?
Do you believe resting helps restore general health of the individuals?
Is there anything you want to tell us about your experiences about “taking vacation time?”
The committee will not meet until Fall 2012.

Respectfully submitted
Dr. Nilgun A. Okur, CLA, AAS

Report of the Faculty Senate Budget Review Committee Academic Year 2011-2012

  During this academic year, the Committee has met a number of times with President Hart, Provost Englert and other senior administrators in order to discuss the University’s current financial situation and explore potential solutions.
   The Governor’s budget for the next fiscal year has projected a substantial reduction to the Commonwealth’s appropriation for the next academic year. Since March, the Committee has been meeting this with the Provost, and a group of Deans and senior administrators to consider ways of dealing with this reduction in next year’s budget. These meetings will continue until the 2012-2013 budget is finalized.

   The Chair also met with the Faculty Senate Steering Committee and another faculty group during the spring semester to analyze, explain and discuss the University’s budget for 2010-2011.

Respectfully submitted,
Rafael A. Porrata-Doria, Jr., Chair

The Lectures and Forums Committee awarded the following funds during the 2011-12 academic year:

Dr. Paul D. Toth - $500 for a lecture by Bill Van Patten
Dr. Srdjan Weiss - $350 for a lecture by Ms. Sarah Oppenheimer.
Prof. Tracy Cooper - $350 for a lecture by Dr Bronwen Wilson.
Dr. Naomi Schiller - $500 for a panel discussion with Dr. Andrew Men-delson and Dr. Patrick Murphy.
Dr. Robert Blackson - $500 for a panel discussion with James O’Keefe and Chase Whiteside, moderated by Tom Ferrick.
Dr. Benjamin Seibold - $300 for a lecture by Prof. Michael Shelley.
Dr. Gerald Silk - $400 for a lecture by Dr. Joan Marter
Dr. Karen Palter - $500 for a lecture by Dr. Jeffrey Kahn.
Dr. Ashley West - $400 for a lecture by Dr. Maryan Ainsworth.
Ms. Rea Tajiri - $350 for a lecture by Ms. Cathy Crane.
Dr. Marcia Hall - $500 for a lecture by Prof. Paul Barolsky.
The Committee spent $4650 of an annual budget of $5,000.

Eran Preis, Committee Chair

The Faculty Herald Editorial Board

Board Membership: Frank Friedman (CST-chair), Rebecca Alpert (CLA), Kime Lawson (CLA - Assistant Editor), Jo-Anna Moore (TYL), Richard Orodenker (CLA), Michael Sirover (TUSM), Gregory Urwin (CLA), David Waldstreicher (CLA-Editor), David Watt (CLA), Bill Woodward (Law), Phil Yannella (CLA)

The Board met six times this year with the Editor and Assistant to the Editor of the Herald. Again this year, we worked closely with the Herald Editor to identify of major issues of community concern, including topics such as the 20/20 plan, Student Feedback Forms (electronic versus paper), shared governance, budget cuts, budget analyses, and the size of the Temple administration.

We also focused a good deal of attention on the issues related the budget and, specifically, on material provided in Herald articles written by Phil Yannella and Marina Angel. Special concerns were raised about 1) the 2011-2012 $37 million dollar contingency fund, 2) Temple's recent annual budget surpluses, 3) the continuing administration penchant for budget cutting, and 4) and the administration's unwillingness to enter into meaningful discussions with the faculty concerning budget issues. Carried over from last year were concerns about faculty participation in University governance, especially as related to Senate and other governing committees. Efforts to solicit articles on these and other issues were outlined and several members of the Board (and the FSSC) contributed their own letters and articles. Concerns were also raised about the small faculty representation (2 faculty out of 15 members of the committee) on the search committee for the new President and the secrecy surrounding the search process.

Kime Lawson presented his report on the readership of the Herald for 2011-2012. A copy of this report is attached. The number of unique visitors has nearly doubled, with articles by Phil Yannella and Marina capturing a large segment of readership.

Friedman agreed to convene the first meeting of the Board this coming Fall (2012).

Three members of the Faculty Herald Advisory Board need to be replaced; Moore, Friedman, and Woodward. The Board needs more women and more minorities. A new chairman will have to be elected for Fall, 2012.

Frank Friedman, Chair

Personnel Committee

The Personnel Committee's heaviest work came over the summer, when we were asked to weigh a faculty disciplinary case in June. This proved problematic, as the Committee is, by TAUP contract, allowed 45 business days to respond, and several members of the committee (including the chair) were out of the country doing research.

We filed for an exemption, which TAUP granted, and held a committee meeting as soon as the semester started. The written results were given to the President, TAUP, Counsel, and the faculty member.

A second faculty member asked if the Personnel Committee would look into a complaint against an administrator, again over the summer. By September, this faculty member withdrew his complaint.

A third faculty member is currently weighing a complaint against an administrator, but I suspect that the faculty member will also withdraw this complaint. He has been reminded that he would have to make this complaint in time for us to meet as a committee and form a response before graduation.

We had no complaints about promotion or tenure cases.

Respectfully submitted,
Jane Evans, Chair

Student Award Selection Committee

The Student Awards Committee has two main responsibilities: (1) to interview and select the University Commencement speaker and (2) to evaluate and recommend student for University-wide memorial awards. The Committee generally meets 3-4 times in March and completes both of these activities.

This year, the process to select the Commencement speaker brought about much discussion, but we selected (and the Board of Trustees approved) an excellent student with a fascinating background, varied experiences and a wonderful presenter. Our selection process for the Memorial awards was challenging as always, as there were many deserving candidates.

I have chaired the Student Awards Committee for the past two years and as a member for a couple of years before that. I will be leaving the committee as I have served for several years. Next year's Chairperson will be Edward (Ted) Latham.

Wendy Urban, Chair

End of Year Report on President's Advisory Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics

The President's Advisory Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics met this year to receive extensive reports on Temple student-athletes' academic performance and overall academic progress, NCAA rule changes, facilities updates, in particular Pearson/ McGonigle, and Temple's Academic Progress rates (APR). In addition, the Committee viewed the student-athletes' video submission to the Atlantic 10 conference and a video created under the direction of Betsy Leebron Tutelman entitled "A Day in the Life of a Temple Student Athlete." (This video was the result of the recommendations made at the President's Town Hall on Intercollegiate Athletics held Spring 2011.) The Committee has undertaken an effort to create a faculty mentor program for each athletic team, under the direction of Erin McNamara and Justin Miller, director of the Student Athlete Academic Advising and Support Center. Faculty members of the Committee are:

Eleanor Myers (Faculty Athletics Representative and Committee Chair)
Lynne Andersson - (2013)
Erin McNamara - (2013)
Michael Sachs - (2013)
Michael W. Jackson - (2012)
Tom Marino - (2014)

Committee on the Status of Faculty of Color End of Year Report

  Members of FOC participated in the Graduate Symposium in the Fall, and have initiated relationships with IDEAL and TLC.

  Continuing our relations with the Temple Libraries and our commitment to highlighting the scholarly, research and creative work of Faculty of Color, FOC co-sponsored four Chat-in-the-Stacks, as part of our on-going series—

October 13, 2011 “From idea to Text—Academics Write”,
November 17, 2011 “On Occupy Philadelphia”,
February 23, 2012 “Race in the Race: Looking at the Republican Primary” and
March 22, 2012, “Is Education Under Attack”.

  Forging an on-going relationship with Paul Gluck, General Manager of TUTV, three of our four Chat-in-the-Stacks panels have subsequently aired on the Temple University Television Station.
  In previous years, FOC carried over funds for programming and professional development. Funds that had been rolled over from the previous year to support an event in honor of Professor Emeritus Sonia Sanchez, recently named Poet laureate of Philadelphia, were somehow, anonymously absorbed and reallocated, presumably, by the university in response to budget cuts and streamlining. For this reason, that program has been pushed back until further notice.

This year we saw increased enrollment in FOC membership and participation.

Committee on the Status of Faculty of Color:

Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon (SCT), Co-chair
Yasuko Kanno (COE), Co-chair Sonia Peterson-Lewis (CLA)
Dr. Michael McIntosh (CHP)
Donna Marie Peters (CLA)
Karen M. Turner (SCT
Michael D. Brown (CHP)
Jackie Tanaka (CST)
Raymond Habbas (CST)
Nikki Keach (CHP)
Rafael Porrata-Doria (Law)
John Street (Advisor)

EPPC Final Report, Academic Year 2011-2012

Members of EPPC: Catherine Schifter, Chair, Alissa Abruzzo and Zach Cetlin student representatives, Suman Batish from Biology, Bruce Conrad from Math, Eli Goldblatt from English, Judith Flaxman from Accounting, Rob Drennan from Risk, Insurance, and HC Management, Nilgun Anadolu-Okur from African American Studies, Keya Sadeghipour of Engineering and Teresa Soufas of CLA as Dean’s representatives, Karen Turner from Journalism, past president of the Faculty Senate, Chris Dennis, Michele O’Connor, and Peter Jones from the Vice Provost from Undergraduate Studies, Wendy Kutchner, the Registrar, Kathleen Richards from Financial Aid, and Anar Khandvala from Academic Advising.

This committee met 10 times prior to submission of this report, with 2 meetings still scheduled. The committee was regularly updated by Jodi Laufgraben regarding Banner implementation issues, including asking for input on language used in soliciting faculty mid-semester review comments to students, prerequisite checking process/development, and the grading policies. Specific topics discussed this year were:

National Park Service course credits with Peter Jones

Academic Calendar with Wendy Kutchner

Residential Living experiences relative to the academic calendar with Natalie Birdsong

Online Learning Program and guidelines for online and/or blended courses with Dominique Kliger

Putting SFF’s online with Peter Jones

Review of Writing intensive courses with Lori Salem

Issues of the math placement tests with Bruce Conrad

Offering second degrees with Michele O’Connor

Diamond Scholars and CARS program with Emily Moerer

Sustainability Certificate program with Sandy McDade, Vicki McGarvey, and Lynne Andersson

Impact of new financial aid rules/policies on academic programs with Kathleen Richards

Support for International students being recruited through new initiatives with Eli Goldblatt

Dismissal Policy with Peter Jones

Academic Recovery Proposal with Peter Jones

Distance Learning Guidelines Committee with Catherine Schifter

Residential Life course for residential life advisors with Lucinia Kaliher

Academic Community Engagement transcripting with Carol Shapiro

Non-credit technology requirements for Fox School with Vicki McGarvey

Sophomore seminar review with Michele O’Connor

Alternative ways to gain college credit (CLEP, other exams) with Michele O’Connor

Minutes of these meetings will be available through the Faculty Senate Website.

Respectfully submitted,
Catherine C. Schifter, Chair

2011-2012 GenEd Report

Members: Istvan Varkonyi (Chair), Julie Phillips (Co-Chair), Cynthia Folio, Rickie Sanders, Steven Fleming, William Miller, Mary Ann Gaffney, Peshe Kuriloff, Terry Rey, Thomas Wright, Catherine Schifter, Michael Puppolo (graduate student), James Cooke (undergraduate)

During the academic year the committee was focused on three matters concerning the GenEd Curriculum:

1. GenEd Course Re-Certification
2. Moving GenEd courses to the online learning environment
3. Maintaining fidelity to GenEd policy principles as they pertain to

changes in colleges and their resultant effects on GenEd courses