Faculty Senate Steering Committee

Tuesday March 30, 2010

Present: 

Karen M. Turner (Pres.), Paul S. LaFollette (V. Pres.), Joan P. Shapiro (Secy.), Robert M. Aiken (Past-Pres.), Joan Delalic (Engr.), Adam Davey (CHPSW), Michael W. Jackson (STHM), Tricia S. Jones, (Educ.), Charles Jungreis (Med.), Luke Kahlich (BCMD), Robin Kolodny (CLA), James Korsh (CST), Laurie MacPhail (Dent.), Mark C. Rahdert (Law), Charles Ruchalski (Pharm), David Waldstreicher (Fac. Herald), Cheryl Mack (Coord.)

Absent:  Stephanie Knopp (Tyl.), Jay Sinha (FSBM), Roberta Sloan (SCT)

Call to Order: 
The meeting began at 1:02 p.m.

Approval of the Minutes:
The minutes of March 23, 2010, were approved with one amendment.

President’s Report: President Karen M. Turner

President Turner focused on the days and times to have the monthly meetings of the representative senate for the next academic year. After careful analysis, although there are days and times that look free on paper, it was determined that they might not be the best for everyone.  It seems that when the topic is of interest, the faculty representatives come no matter on what day the senate is held.  Thus, the meetings will continue to move to different days as they currently do. It is important, however, that collegial chairs look at the dates and not have their meetings at the same time.  College/school representatives in the FSSC should let the collegial chairs know about the dates and times of the monthly meetings.  The President, Provost and Deans could also help, through official statements, in making certain that the collegial assemblies do not occur at the same time as the representative and open senate meetings.

Karen Turner then turned to a discussion of the wiki and the importance of adding to the list of topics to be part of the FSSC session at the dean’s retreat. The Provost would like the list by the middle of next week.  Trish Jones (Educ.) has been in contact with Stephanie Gillin, the Provost’s Chief of Staff, and she will work with the outside facilitator, especially to make certain that sensitive topics are dealt with in an appropriate manner.  It is believed that the deans are listing topics as well as the FSSC.  The deans might also have sensitive issues to discuss and might even have over-lapping issues with the FSSC.  It was emphasized that this must be a two-way discussion.   

Guest:  William Black, Senior Vice President for Enrollment Management 

Bill Black spoke to the FSSC about the current state of enrollment at Temple and the process that is now being used.  He mentioned the following:  

• There will be an 8% loss of high school graduates for the next five years and then it will stabilize;
• The Inquirer article, depicting our pool of applicants as down, actually did not take into account the current 8% deposits as well as the importance of having the appropriate pool of applicants, instead of focusing merely on numbers;
• Although the applicant numbers are now down by 2%, the students who have not applied are those who would probably be denied a place at Temple;
• Currently, the plan is to focus on a freshman class of 4,100 with 2,700 transfers.  This group seems to already have a 13 point rise in SAT scores;
• Housing is a problem for the new class.  Bill Black does not want to over- admit as those students who respond to their acceptances by May 1st are guaranteed to receive housing;
• Asked about retention, he said that graduation rates have been up for the last two years and on the increase to about 67%.  The new students are slightly stronger and the transfers are doing better;
• Financial aid difficulties turned out to be a small factor in retention;
• Building a data base of endowed scholarships for students, which has not been done previously, and then having schools and colleges identify those scholarships are the current plans;
• Despite successful background work, there is still more to be known about students.  That is why there will be a financial aid study, and new marketing measures, including predictive modeling.  This kind of modeling looks at high and low achieving students and leads to the buying of addresses and phone numbers of students who fit the core values of Temple; 
• We are becoming a “hot school” because we are not very expensive, and we provide a reasonable number of academic scholarships;
• The focus is now on financial literacy, and this preparation is achieved by working on this topic with potential students and their parents on occasions, such as Experience Temple Day.

William Black then began to answer some questions from the FSSC.

• When asked: Who are the right students who share Temple values? He answered that these are those students who fit the “access” part of the Temple mission.  They represent Temple’s emphasis on diversity, community involvement, and metro-engagement that are all pieces of the Temple plan.

He went on to say that In the realm of diversity, we have gained in African American students, although we are losing Black female students, and we are doing fine with Hispanics and Asian students as well as with the “other” category. 

He pointed out that we could be doing better if our students did not spend 20 hours a week working.  In the Financial Aid brochure, it is emphasized that a student’s job is going to college and that in order to graduate in four years, there may be a need to borrow money.  He said that Temple tends to retain those students who register for 15 and not 12 credits;

• When asked about students who have trouble keeping their loans, if they do not carry a full schedule, he stressed that those students who keep a full schedule, take out loans, and work minimally outside of their courses, do better.  He argued that this is where financial literacy is very important;
• In the case of dance, where students tend to go to private studios to obtain the dance training required for entrance auditions, there can be special problems with admissions.  Black said that he would like to work with Luke Kahlich (BCMD) on admissions in this area. 
• A concern was expressed that by having a profile of the Temple student in mind, some excellent candidates might not be sought.  Bill Black explained that Ruth Ost (Honors) stays on potential high achieving students for the Honors Program.  She and her staff are aggressive in trying to encourage them to come to Temple.

He spoke of the two predictive student models:  Bread and Butter and Aspirers.

Bill Black also talked of the need to shape the incoming class by reestablishing alumni/ae recruiting.  This approach has been very effective in Los Angeles and he hopes to expand this initiative to Boston, Atlanta, Chicago and Phoenix. 

• When questioned about students from Philadelphia, Bill Black explained that his office recruits in this area but that unemployment has hurt the city and some of the suburbs.  He also spoke of the “feeder counselors” who help Temple recruit. 
• Another FSSC member asked about what the group could do to help with the recruitment effort.  Bill Black said that they can sign invitation letters and they can assist at Open Houses and Experience Temple Days. 
• Asked about the recruiters in each college and school, Bill Black says every one of the colleges/schools has a recruiter.  He also said that personnel from his office meet with recruiters. 
• Accommodations for special needs students and older students were raised.  Bill Black said that only when students were admitted could these issues be addressed. 
• Bill Black ended by speaking about the Mayor’s organization of Student Success Centers.   Temple has been assigned to Frankford High School.  It was also mentioned that some schools, such as Masterman, run workshops with faculty from different universities.  Hopefully, Temple could take part in such activities. 

Vice President’s Report:  Paul S. LaFollette

Paul LaFollette said that the electronic balloting seems to be going well.  There was a problem with some ex-officio members who wanted to vote, but that has been resolved.  As he is a candidate, Vice President LaFollette will not look at the voting while it is going on.  Voting will be over next Monday. 

A concern was raised by a FSSC representative that Nominating and Floor candidates were not distinguished on the ballots for this election.  He thought that this was a standard way of stating how the candidates were chosen and was used by most organizations.

President Turner asked representatives to send out reminders to their faculty about voting.

An issue was raised about adjunct and emeritus faculty who wondered if there are places for them on committees.  It was stated that they are most welcome to serve on committees.  In the medical school, for example, these adjunct and emeritus faculty are already members of committees.

David Waldstreicher (Fac. Herald) was congratulated on an excellent recent edition of The Faculty Herald.

Old Business:

Concerning the adjunct policy for teaching, Deputy Provost Richard Englert and Associate Dean of the Graduate School, Zebulon Kendrick, are working on the issues concerning the policy as it affects graduate students.  They are soliciting opinions and are working on clarifying the policy. 

Faculty Senate representatives for the Director of the General Education Search Committee were discussed.  Each representative spoke on behalf of the faculty who had volunteered to serve from their school/college.  After the discussion of the volunteers, FSSC members were asked to select four names from the list of seventeen candidates and forward them to President Turner.  Four names will be sent forward to the Provost.

New Business:
There was none.

Adjournment: 
The meeting ended at 3:03 p.m.

Joan P. Shapiro

Secretary