Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Present:
Paul S. LaFollette (Pres.), Joan Shapiro (V. Pres), Roberta Sloan (Secy.), Karen Turner (Immed. Past President), Joan Delalic (Engr.), Michael Jackson (STHM), Margaret Devinney (CLA), Tricia S. Jones (Educ.), Charles Jungreis (Med.), Jim Korsh (CST), Laurie MacPhail (Dent.), Mark C. Rahdert (Law), Jeffrey Solow (BCMD), Adam Davey (CHPSW) David Waldstreicher (Fac. Herald), Deborah Howe (SED) by phone, Jay Sinha (FSBM), Cheryl Mack (Coord.).
Absent:
Luke Kahlich (BCMD – on leave for Fall, 2010), Nora Alter (SCT – on leave for 2010-2011), Charles Ruchalski (Pharm)
Call to Order:
The meeting began at 1:04 pm.
Approval of Minutes from 10-5-10:
The minutes were accepted, with two additions suggested by Karen Turner.
President’s Report:
President Paul LaFollette reported that the guests today are President Hart and Vice President for Computer and Financial Services and Chief Information Officer Tim O’Rourke.
President LaFollette reported that he met with President Hart this past week, and presented Professor Scott Gratson’s resolution. She was very supportive and subsequently met with Professor Gratson. As a result, there will be a questionnaire, jointly sponsored by the President’s office, the Faculty Senate and the chair of the committee of the Board of Trustees who deals with such issues and that the questionnaire will be used to ascertain the climate towards GLTBTQ students, faculty and staff at Temple University.
Vice-President’s Report:
Vice-President Joan Shapiro directed the members of the FSSC to the draft included in their packet regarding candidates for vacancies on various committees. Although this was decided at the very end of the meeting, all candidates who submitted their names were approved to be placed on the ballot (in the case of elected committees) or accepted as new members of the committees for which they applied. VP Shapiro stated that the members of the FSSC still need to encourage faculty to apply for the various remaining vacancies.
Guest # 1 – President Ann Hart:
President LaFollette welcomed President Hart. Members of the FSSC introduced themselves, and she greeted each individually. President Hart feels as if it has been a great “opening of school.” She explained the position of Faculty Fellow in the President’s Office, which is currently being advertised, and encouraged everyone to speak with colleagues about this new position. Originally, she thought that it should be a full professor with tenure, but now thinks that perhaps that is not necessary. When asked, she responded that the position might be a bit overwhelming at times, and that in all probability the Presidential Faculty Fellow should not teach during the time of his/her commitment to her office. The person will be paid for twelve months. Some of the duties that she envisions for the Presidential Faculty Fellow are working with the Board of Trustees, involvement with faculty affairs, promotion and tenure, helping to elucidate faculty responsibilities, working with the dysfunctional rules committee, accreditation, issues related to athletics, and representing the president’s office on deans’ searches and other higher level appointments. She said that the position could be somewhat tailored to the interests of the person selected for the position. There is a term limit for this appointment (three years), but President Hart mentioned that it would be negotiable. She averred that this position could be a stepping-stone to work in academic administration. Senator Mark Rahdert felt that this offer is now percolating among the faculty, but does suggest that making it clear that it could be two years rather than three might elicit more interest. President Hart will try to get more information out on the faculty listserv about this position.
President Hart reported on her meetings with President LaFollette and Professor Scott Gratson regarding a university-wide survey to “try to get a handle,” on the level of discrimination towards students, faculty and staff based upon sexual orientation. She reported that 10% of our university population falls within the GLBTQ population. She hopes that the survey will reveal the level of harassment that may or may not be taking place, and she expects the survey to identify how much of an issue this might be at the university. The University Administration, the Board of Trustees, and the Faculty Senate will co-sponsor this initiative. It is intended to be widely distributed.
President Hart then said many of the same things that had been shared with the FSSC previously by Vice-President and Acting Provost, Dick Englert. She mentioned that she is excited that accreditation went so well with a ten-year approval and a five-year written report. Other information she shared included: The SATs for the incoming freshman class was five points higher than last year (1114), and this is 120 points higher than the Pennsylvania average. She mentioned that there are 2800 transfer students with an average GPA of 3.01. She further explained that 71% of all Temple students are from Pennsylvania, which means that the university is attracting more students form the tri-state area and the west. The university is attempting to increase the number of faculty-supervised dual admissions. She reported that diversity at the university remains strong with 14% of incoming freshmen coming from an African-American background, 12% from an Asian background, 4% from a Hispanic background, and the remaining students either listing themselves as “other,” or “white.” She pointed out that interestingly and happily, there is an increase in African-American men in our university population.
President Hart shared that she has set aside some money for academic investments from the stimulus funding. She set aside long-term funding for special projects designed to make a difference at a” higher level.” She envisions this as seed money for special projects. One example is the new Institute for Drug Discoveries.
President Hart reported that there could be a huge gap in the Harrisburg budget. The “word is” that the universities are going to work very hard to get their fair share. This year will be a tough one for higher education. Higher Ed has not been at the top of Governor Rendell’s list. She feels [Dan] Onorato and [Tom] Corbett will be under huge pressure. Temple University has asked for a 6% increase, which would “kick us” back to 2008 budget. She will be happy if that happens. She will be spending quite a bit of time in Harrisburg, working for the interests of Temple University. She stated that she appreciates the support of everyone who makes contact with legislators to help with budget considerations.
President Hart announced that on October 25, from 11:00 am-12:30 pm, Secretary Arnie Duncan will be a guest speaker at The Baptist Temple. His presentation will be about teacher education and how to encourage students to make the choice to teach. Television commentator, Chris Matthews, will be on campus on October 21st at Bell Tower at 5:00 pm, as part of his “college tour.” Temple is one of three campuses from which Matthews will broadcast.
As previously reported by Vice President and Acting Provost, Dick Englert, President Hart mentioned that graduation rates over a six-year period are 67%. This is an accomplishment when compared with 54% at many other colleges and universities. Apparently, students are not as familiar with the eight semester plans that have been developed for each major. She is going to try to let students know about the eight semester plans that are available. She also mentioned that the university has funded 10 more advisor positions for next year. It was reiterated by an FSSC member that the issue of 9:00 am – 5:00 pm academic advising does not meet the needs of students who attend Temple at night only.
President Hart mentioned that the MBA program was just named one of the top 50 in the world. She mentioned that the Law School had the highest graduation rate in the Commonwealth last year. She is proud that last year, every senior football player graduated. Additionally, every Pharmacy student passed their state boards. She said that the university is receiving more graduate applications and that “more qualified” graduate students are coming in.
VP Shapiro asked about post-graduate work at Temple. President Hart responded that there isn’t any at this time.
Past President Turner mentioned that we never saw the graduate report, and President Hart said she will ask Ken Blank to issue the graduate report so that the FSSC can review it.
Senator Jackson (STHM) asked about the response to the Athletics Town Meeting. President Hart felt that it went really well, and suggestions were made for future town meetings that will be announced and implemented. Upcoming town meetings will address undergraduate education, the 20-20 plan, and graduate education. Senator Michael Jackson brought up issues related to graduate externs, and President Hart said that she didn’t know that the university had graduate externs.
Senator Jim Korsh brought up the fact that a number of deans have either sent out or verbally stated their policies on outside work and being away from campus, and asked why this was happening. President Hart said that Legal Counsel George Moore was responding to some issues that had arisen. Senator Korsh said that he felt it is a bad mistake to develop a policy that affects everyone when there are only “a few issues.” Paul LaFollette brought up the fact that yet once again faculty were not involved in the development of this policy. Senator Jeff Solow brought up the fact that outside work is often intimately involved with matters considered for tenure, promotion, etc, and so any university-wide policy might inhibit this necessary work. President Hart will look into this, and will find out how any new policy is being applied.
Senator Mark Rahdert (Law) brought up the issue of the bylaws being held up in George Moore’s office, after the FSSC has been promised, for quite some time, that they will be given to the FSSC for review. President Hart promised to look into this issue.
Senator Karen Turner brought up the issue that there is no formal process for faculty to respond to Student Feedback Forms (SFF’s). The information hangs out there like low-hanging fruit, and there’s no formal way that faculty can dispute erroneous information, nor are they given an opportunity to respond. She further explained that students have the ability to say whatever they wish and feels that there are times when responses are merited.
Time having run out, President LaFollette thanked President Hart for coming to the Faculty Senate Steering committee, and sharing her thought.
Guest # 2 – Vice-President for Computer and Financial Services and Chief Information Officer, Tim O’Rourke
President LaFollette welcomed VP for Computer and Financial Services and Chief Information Officer Tim O'Rourke, who brought with him, Associate VP, Barb Dolhansky. They have been completely consumed with undertaking and implementing a very large project – Banner. Banner is a 38 million dollar project. The staff responsible is spending tens of thousands of hours on this project. The purpose of the project is to replace the old system put in 1983 (ISIS), since that system is not equipped to keep up with modern technology. VP O’Rourke reported that the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system is a complete system, which is now on Version 8. He feels that many of the “bugs” have been worked out and that the vendor provides excellent support. He assured us that the vendors are constantly changing and upgrading the system. The vendor provides periodic upgrades to improve functionality.
VP O’Rourke stated that the timeline is moving along as expected and that ultimately everything will be integrated. He said that the finance system went up in 2009 and that the TU marketplace went up in 2009. He mentioned that Kronos has gone up and that has caused a lot of change and issues, but the system is working. HR was supposed to go up in January, 2010, but actually went up in March, 2010. In August, 2010, Enrollment Management became functional. Now, students are recruited and admitted through Banner. The university catalogue and scheduling are now up on Banner. In the first week of November, all room assignments will become functional in Banner. Financial Aid goes up in January, 2011. This means that a student admitted for Fall, 2012 will be able to use this feature. The Office of Advancement will not be part of common data base, but will become functional in February. Registration and tuition functionality will go up in March, 2011. Non-credit courses will be added in June as will posting of grades. He mentioned that one of the main issues is decommissioning the mainframe. He feels that the whole process is, for the most part on time, and is definitely on budget.
Associate VP, Barb Dolhansky, spoke next. She explained the system that Banner uses for new prospective students and the process that is employed in that endeavor. Banner tracks potential new students automatically from the first point of a prospective student through inquiry, applicants, and admittance. She mentioned that this is called a “Customer Relationship Management Process” in business. In Banner, it is the Banner Enrollment Management (BRM) Recruitment and Admissions process. An email went out to 50,000 students and invited them to come to TU portal and begin an account with us. All inquiry data is housed in Banner. There is an online application process that can be completed in multiple sittings. Prospective and applying students can check to make certain that they have completed the information. Through Banner, they can sign up for orientation sessions. They will also be able to do priority registration. In order to accommodate Banner, registration will begin a week later and will go on for fifteen days rather than ten days. There will be real-time prerequisite checking.
Senator Stephanie Knopp brought up that she has been told that once Banner is up, we will not be able to put in new courses for about a year. VP Dolhansky said that she will look into this issue. Upcoming implementations are also planned for advancement, cashiering, travel & expense reports, transcripting, and Continuing Education (Non-credit courses). The design of how to implement grade changes is currently under discussion and being designed. Town Hall Meetings are scheduled to explain the rest of the implementation of Banner as it goes forward.
Senator Mark Rahdert asked about the Law School. VP O’Rourke’ response is that the Law School has been involved in Banner since “day one.”
VP O’Rourke mentioned that PHEAA (PA Higher Education Assistance Agency) processes financial aid for the university and two weeks ago, he received a letter that they would not continue to do that. He feels that because of Banner, this will not present a problem.
He mentioned that he is very appreciative of the work of the faculty members who have been very influential on every committee and particularly sighted Senator Turner for her work.
Faculty members are on every committee and have been very influential.
Old Business:
Since the hour was late and there was pending new business, President LaFollette did not ask for old business.
New Business:
Vice President Shapiro asked for a motion to approve those who have applied for vacancies on committees and that other applicants be placed on the ballot. VP Shapiro again encouraged the FSSC members to encourage faculty to apply and to fill the still open vacancies on some committees.
President LaFollette mentioned that our speaker next week will be Senior Vice Provost of Strategic Initiatives and Communication, Betsy Leebron Tutelman.
Adjournment:
The meeting ended at 3:06 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Roberta R. Sloan, Ph.D.
Faculty Senate Secretary
