Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Present: Paul S. LaFollette (Pres.), Joan Shapiro (V. Pres.), Mark C. Rahdert (Sec’y), Karen Turner (Past President), Nora Alter (SCT), Mark Anderson (Law), Adam Davey (CHPSW), Joan Delalic (Engr.), Michael Jackson (STHM), Tricia S. Jones (Educ.) [teleconference], Charles Jungreis (Med.), Stephanie Knopp (Tyler), Jim Korsh (CST), Laurie MacPhail (Dent.), Joseph Schwartz (CLA), Jeffrey Solow (BCMD), David Waldstreicher (Fac. Herald), Cheryl Mack (Coord.)
Absent: Deborah Howe (SED), Forrest Huffman (FSBM), Michael Jacobs (Phar).
1. Call to order
The meeting was called to order at 1:04 PM.
2. Approval of Minutes
The minutes of the October 25, 2011 meeting were approved with corrections.
3. President’s Report
President LaFollette reported that Senior Vice Provost Peter Jones has informed him that, based on some of the responses at last week’s FSSC meeting, the Student Feedback Form Committee will be changing its recommendation regarding on-line administration of SFF’s. Instead of recommending the commencement of university-wide on-line administration this fall, the Committee will recommend that the 2-year experiment in on-line administration begin with the spring 2012 term.
LaFollette also reported that the Board of Trustees has chosen the membership of the Presidential Search Committee. The Trustee members are: Patrick J. O’Connor, Chair ; Theodore Z. Davis; Ronald R. Donatucci; Richard J. Fox; Lewis F. Gould, Jr.; Lewis Katz; Susanna E. Lachs; Theodore A. McKee; Mitchell L. Morgan; Bret S. Perkins (President of Alumni Association); Daniel H. Polett; and Jane Scaccetti. The Faculty members are: Paul S. LaFollette (President of Faculty Senate, CST), and Luis T. Gonzales del Valle (CLA). The Student member is Colin Saltry (President of Student Government). The search firm has been selected and will be Witt/Kieffer.
A general discussion of the search committee members and the search firm ensued.
Several FSSC members registered disappointment that no female faculty members or additional students were chosen. LaFollette undertook to arrange a time for the two faculty representatives to the search committee to meet with the FSSC. He also observed that they will attend the Representative Faculty Senate meeting next week in order to hear about the search from those in attendance.
4. Vice President’s Report
Vice President Shapiro reported that Joel Maxcy (STHM), who was appointed last week to CATA, also wishes to serve on the International Programs Committee. After discussion a motion to appoint Prof. Maxcy to the International Programs Committee was approved.
Release Time and Workloads. Some discussion followed regarding practices for teaching load relief for members of the FSSC. President LaFollette responded that there is a history of teaching load relief for officers of the Faculty Senate, but that teaching relief for FSSC members is up to individual school and college deans. President LaFollette said he would discuss the matter with Provost Englert.
This discussion led to a more general discussion about teaching workloads and advising assignments across the university. Several FSSC members expressed concern that NTT faculty members, despite their heavy teaching loads, are being asked to do more and more service. Other faculty noted that in many schools research activities regularly lead to teaching relief, but service responsibilities almost never do. Additionally, in some schools the kind of research being done (and the associated frequency of publication of the results) can affect the amount of teaching relief.
5. FAR Forms
President LaFollette invited discussion regarding the recently raised issue of administration efforts to have state-required faculty activity (FAR) forms completed early in the semester. Some members observed that while the announcement goes out early, faculty members actually have until early December to complete the forms. Others noted that the forms inevitably represent estimates of time spent on different activities, and that the need for estimation is not necessarily a bad thing. Others noted, however, that it is important to make the reporting as accurate as possible, since both the university administration and legislative committees look at the forms and take them seriously. Information gleaned from the forms often gets raised in legislative university budget appropriation hearings.
6. Cost of New Construction
FSSC members discussed the status of the University’s 2020 Framework for new construction. Members asked about the present status of the plan, given that ground has been broken on some projects but not on others. They also registered concern about the information developed last year and over the summer which suggests that funds from the operating budget and student tuition dollars may be being spent on construction. Some members noted that expected state funding may not be forthcoming given the fiscal challenges the Commonwealth is facing. There was also concern about the rising cost estimates for new construction. There was general agreement that the administration needs to address these financial concerns in a concrete way. As a first step, President LaFollette stated that he would ask Executive Vice President Anthony Wagner to meet with the FSSC in the near future to give us an update and respond to these concerns.
7. Student Feedback Forms
There was further discussion of the problems associated with on-line administration of SFFs. FSSC members registered specific concerns about the limited testing that has been done regarding reliability of student feedback if response levels fall significantly. They also reiterated concerns about the lack of adequate incentives to motivate better student response. Some members noted that there may be some courses for which response levels could actually go up, since students in those courses might not be actually physically present when paper SFF forms are filled out. Others noted the high risk for adjuncts and NTT’s, for whom positive student feedback is often a key determinant in getting re-hired. There were many who registered concern about the uses to which SFF’s are put, particularly in the absence of actual, existing supplementary methods for assessing classroom effectiveness. It is not enough to just say we should have other methods; they need to be in place before we move to on-line administration. The upshot was that President LaFollette will ask Senior Vice Provost Jones to engage in further discussion with faculty on these issues.
8. General Education
There was further discussion of the issues facing General Education. Various concerns about the current state of GenEd were raised, including: a perceived lack of connection between what happens in GenEd and upper division instruction; the lack of authority or leverage by GEEC over the actual operation of the program; cutbacks on resources and staffing; wide variance in quality control; the impact of huge changes in class size for some courses; and the need for something resembling a College of General Studies to control and administer the program. There was general agreement that we need a good deal more information about how GenEd is actually functioning, and how much (or little) its implementation has departed from the original design. On President LaFollette’s suggestion, a motion to create a small ad hoc liaison committee to work directly with GEEC was approved. LaFollette and Tricia Jones agreed to serve as FSSC members on the committee.
9. Budget Review Committee
Last week’s report from the Budget Review Committee was discussed. Members expressed considerable concern about the lack of budget detail being provided. It was noted that the TAUP contract requires the university to make a detailed budget available in the Library. President LaFollette agreed to write to the President and Provost requesting prompt action to provide a detailed current budget.
10. Representative Senate Meeting Agenda
The following items will go on the agenda for the November Representative Senate meeting:
•Professors LaFollette and Gonzalez del Valle will hear from faculty regarding the Presidential search
•Provost Englert will be invited to report on the status of his white paper on reorganization
•Senior Vice Provost Jones will be invited to exchange with faculty regarding on-line SFF administration
•Vice Provost of the Arts Robert Stroker will be invited to discuss the responsibilities and portfolio of his new position
11. Old Business
FSSC members thanked Professor Michael Jackson and Faculty Senate Coordinator Cheryl Mack for their hard work in planning and carrying out a tremendously successful event to honor faculty members who have performed outstanding service. The event was well attended, had excellent food, in a superb venue, and afforded a nice opportunity for Deans and faculty members to mix with one another in a congenial setting. There was some discussion about how to get some positive publicity for the event in the Faculty Herald, Temple Times and elsewhere.
12. New Business
One FSSC member asked about school/college protocols on faculty and student safety. There have been occasions recently where adjunct and NTT faculty, in particular, have had difficulties dealing with problem students. Various members mentioned the availability of the University CARE team to deal with such issues, as well as the presence of faculty ombudspersons in each school and college who can potentially mediate a difficult situation.
The University task force on relations with the community needs a faculty representative. Michael Jackson agreed to serve.
13. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 2:51 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Mark C. Rahdert
Secretary
