Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Present:
Paul S. LaFollette (Pres.), Joan P. Shapiro (V. Pres.), Roberta Sloan (Secy.), Karen M. Turner (Immed. Past Pres.), Nora Alter (SCT), Adam Davey (CHPSW), Joan Delalic (Engr.), Margaret Devinney (CLA), Deborah Howe (SED), Michael Jackson (STHM), Tricia S. Jones, (Educ.), Charles Jungreis (Med.), Stephanie Knopp (Tyl), Jim Korsh (CST), Laurie MacPhail (Dent.), Mark C. Rahdert (Law), Charles Ruchalski (Pharm), Jeffrey Solow (BCMD), David Waldstreicher (Fac. Herald), Jay Sinha (FSBM)
Cheryl Mack (Coord.)
Absent:
Luke Kahlich (BCMD – on leave)
Call to Order:
The meeting began at 1:02 p.m.
Approval of Minutes from 8-31-10
The minutes were accepted, but later in the meeting, Mark Rahdert suggested a change to the minutes, and accepting that change, the minutes of 8/31/10 were approved.
President’s Report
President Paul LaFollette announced that Interim Senior Vice President and Provost Richard Englert and Diane Maleson, Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Development and Faculty Affairs, would be joining the meeting at 2:00 pm, in order to speak about the bylaws template among other issues.
The president reported that Dr. Englert does not feel CATA should be involved in the search for the Senior Executive VP –Health Science, because there is a firewall between the medical school and the hospitals.
George Moore, Senior Vice President and University Counsel requested that the FSSC consider any changes to their appointees to the Board of Trustees. The Senate President is normally on the Board of Trustee’s Executive Committee and Academic Affairs Committee, so President LaFollette will assume these positions. It was suggested that since Mary Anne Gaffney is head of EPPC, she should remain on the Board of Trustees Academic Affairs Committee. Leroy W. Dubeck, who is currently on the Budget Committee, has quite a bit of experience in budgetary matters, and so it was recommended that he remain on that committee. Erin Horvat, with a deep interest and knowledge of Athletics was also sighted as an excellent faculty member to remain on the Athletics Committee. It was suggested that the FSSC review the CV’s of those being nominated for appointment to the FSSC Committees. FSSC members who have been or are on Board of Trustees committees shared their experiences that in some cases, the faculty is very much involved, and on others, their input is rarely requested. Also, some committees ask faculty members to absent themselves when sensitive matters are being discussed. President LaFollette suggested retaining the aforementioned BOT committee members. It was decided that before a final vote is taken on this matter, their bios will be listed on the Faculty Senate website.
Vice President’s Report:
Vice President Shapiro reported that she forwarded the nominees for Invention and Patent Committee, and that President Hart seemed very pleased with the accomplishments and backgrounds of the nominees whose names were put forward.
VP Shapiro mentioned that the Research Programs and Policies Committee needs another Senate appointee, and not an elected member, and that this committee involves quite a bit of reading.
It was suggested that FSSC members make announcements at their collegial assemblies about how important shared governance is at the university, and in order to achieve this, it is important for faculty members to volunteer and serve on committees. It is hoped that these announcements will encourage faculty to participate.
Of major concern are finding qualified and willing faculty to volunteer to place their names in nomination for elected committees. VP Shapiro reiterated her request that FSSC members encourage faculty to apply. All that is needed is for the potential candidate to send their “Statement of Interest” and CV to senate2@temple.edu. It was stated that the full list of vacancies would be made available at the Monday Representative Faculty Senate Meeting.
Old Business:
Mark Rahdert suggested a change in the minutes that was accepted.
New Business
A discussion ensued regarding work outside of the university and remuneration that might accompany such work. Laurie MacPhail shared that she had read the written policy (P02.7811 (2002) policy), and that it mentions $300 and one calendar day a week. There was discussion of how the policy is handled in various colleges and schools. It appears that policies regarding outside work vary across campus. It was mentioned that at some institutions, outside work is often done during the summers. There was agreement that the underlying premise is that full-time faculty should actually work full-time. President LaFollette mentioned that he feels that the handling of this policy seems to be very discipline specific. An FSSC member suggested, “One size does not fit all.” There was general agreement that if a faculty member is full-time at Temple University, outside work should not interfere with Temple duties and activities, and that the dollar amount is not particularly important.
President LaFollette feels that the university has the right to oversee this issue, and mentioned that apparently, many colleges and schools have not developed policies about this. He encourages all colleges and schools to make the guidelines clear. VP Shapiro mentioned her feeling that any policy should have elasticity to it.
Invited Guests Richard Englert and Diane Maleson, Joined the Meeting
Interim Senior Vice President and Provost Richard Englert reported that he had met with the FSSC Executive Committee over the summer. He further announced that the searches for three new deans is underway, outside consultants are being hired, and he has either already met or will meet with the collegial assemblies of each of the affected schools. He made some general comments about the bylaws revision and an upcoming revision of the Promotion and Tenure Transmittal Forms. He then asked Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Development and Faculty Affairs Diane Maleson to make her comments.
Diane Maleson reported that two versions of the bylaws have been drafted and that they will be given to the FSSC for comments. The Templates should be available in a few weeks. There will be a “version A and version B” with preapproved language.
She also addressed the issue of the new transmittal forms for Tenure and Promotion, stating that the new forms will be in compliance with the TAUP contract. She stated that the intention is to “look at the whole person” in terms of tenure and promotion guidelines. She suggested that rather than having categories, the “whole person” will be described in a narrative and that this way of approaching the transmittal letters are more consistent with the TAUP contract. The objective will be an attempt to describe the faculty member in their totality. As before, primary consideration will be given to teaching and research/scholarship/creativity, with service being considered secondarily. There will no longer be checked categories with a vote of yes or no, but the emphasis will be on “why.” She said that the new guidelines would be widely disseminated. These changes will be announced through messages from President Hart and Provost Richard Englert.
Provost Englert then resumed his comments and shared his feelings that the incoming class is “fantastic.” There are over 4300 freshmen, and over 2800 transfer students. This incoming freshman class has the highest SAT’s ever. Last year, the average was 1110, and this year, it is 1114.
He also mentioned that the yield ratio, (which is the differential between how many students are accepted and how many students actually choose to come to the university) is up by two percentage points. Graduate numbers are also up from last year, which reverses the previous decline. The professional schools are stable with the exception of the Law School, which is higher than last year. He feels as if this is a real success story.
According to Dr. Englert, the move-in went really well and the Bar-B-Q for the students had enormous attendance. Six hundred students participated in Fresh Serve. Dr. Englert expressed his appreciation of the Administrative Staff and the excellence of the job they performed.
There will be 80 new tenured faculty authorizations for the upcoming year, and as previously mentioned, three dean searches. Dr. Englert has already asked for nominees to the search committees to be made by the Faculty Senate and the Collegial Committees. He stated that he fully expects all the searches to be successfully finished this year.
VP Englert reported that Temple University has been fully reaccredited. In four years, the university must prepare a paper self-study. He mentioned that the accrediting bodies are very interested in assessment activities. They wish to know what data has been gathered and what has been done on the basis of that data.
There will be a focus on undergraduate students and advising. In the next two years, ten new advisors will be hired, in order to strengthen the advising processes. A new career path structure for advisors is being instituted. Dr. Englert stated that at the present time, there seems to be uneven advising between colleges/schools and departments.
Graduation rates have improved. The six-year graduation rate is at 67%. He feels that the four-year matrix has helped. It was suggested that a six-year matrix would be very helpful for part-time students.
On the agenda for this year is “beefing up” summer courses. Vicki McGarvey, Vice Provost for University College, is doing a report on summer school. Dr. Englert stated that summer is an untapped resource. A few FSSC members mentioned that the new summer school formula had hurt summer school success in many departments. Dr. Englert mentioned that the new Banner System will be able to use “parts of terms,” so terms can be longer or shorter, thereby increasing the choices of how classes can be offered.
Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies, Peter Jones, has been using a predictive tool to be able to see if a student is might predictably have issues, in an effort to intervene early in the student’s career to make certain that the student is successful. There is also a “Critical Paths Initiative,” that identifies key markers in various programs what are predictive milestones, again, in an effort towards early intervention. In this program, key markers are identified in different majors and/or programs. These are milestones that can help identify whether or not a student needs help to succeed.
Dr. Englert spoke about the CARE team (Crisis Assessment Response and Education), and how it helps individual students who have been referred. The CARE team provides non-academic intervention when the need is indicated.
FSSC member, Michael Jackson, mentioned that he felt that more coordination between the Advising Team and the CARE Team would be most helpful.
Dr. Englert announced that Faculty award nominations and applications are now being accepted, and will be due by December 8th.
The “TALONing” Network (Temple Advocates Legislative Outreach Network) seems to be functioning very well. The university received 7.8 million in stimulus funding, 164.9 million for E and G funding, and 13.5 in Medical and other education funding. Next year the stimulus will go away and this is of major concern.
President LaFollette thanked the guests for their time and their very informative announcements and discussions.
Adjournment:
The meeting ended at 3:02 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Roberta R. Sloan, Ph.D.
Faculty Senate Secretary
