Senate Council Meeting
November 13, 2007
Minutes
Attendees:Brady Colyer, Warren Fass, Steve Hardin, Mark Kelley, Rick Knott,
Trisha Morris, Steve Robar, John Slimick
The minutes of the October 30 meeting were approved, with the following correction: In the Academic Freedom section, the sentence beginning “If content is proscribed,…” be amended to “If content is prescribed by accrediting agencies or other requirements,…“.
Academic Freedom
Move the issue now to EPC. Additional discussion followed about courses that have prescribed content.
Report on Faculty Assembly Meeting in Oakland, November 7
Faculty Senate presidents from Greensburg, Johnstown and Bradford were invited to the Faculty Assembly meeting to present issues of concern at the regional campuses. Steve Robar reported Bradford issues included increased enrollments and development of new programs coupled with a decrease in full-time faculty. This has led to increased reliance on adjuncts, including coverage of courses in the major. His concern is that the Provost’s Office continues to assert that Bradford is already staffed to handle 1500 students. Faculty workload was discussed in general.
Robar reported that Vice Provost Patricia Beeson addressed the assembly about student learning assessments. Her office is going to be working to coordinate assessment matrices. A Web site is also planned. This will allow sharing among disciplines. Also mentioned was GE assessment. A commonality was expressed between information competency and general education.
Freshman Seminar
Robar, who is currently coordinator for the Freshman Seminar program, reported that this fall there are 16 sections, with a few planned for the spring to accommodate new students, etc. He also reported that a student focus group has been established to identify needs voiced by the students. Robar urged the need now to plan for the impact of larger enrollments.
A Council member noted that there has been a perception expressed among faculty that volunteering to teach Freshman Seminar is a sign of weakness, e.g., inability to otherwise meet load. There needs to be a change to the perception so that teaching Freshman Seminar is viewed as stepping up to a worthy cause important to retention. NSSE data may help bolster Freshman Seminar perception. Robar urged the division representatives to take the Freshman Seminar discussion to their division meetings.
Currently, there is no formalized process for identifying faculty and topics for Freshman Seminar, no requirement that divisions each staff a certain number of sections. Robar will bring more information to the next meeting, including goals (e.g., introduction to GE, cultural events, immersion of students in culture of campus, mentoring for freshmen). James Baldwin is working with Robar on retention stats.
Concern was expressed that Freshman Seminar not look like any other course. There should be some value recognition for FS instructors. Reliance on adjuncts to teach FS sections is comparable to the heavy use of adjuncts for English composition – students rarely see these instructors again. Full-time faculty should not be closeted into their discipline; they should contribute to the breadth of offering via teaching FS (or perhaps composition I). However, this would be difficult for highly prescribed programs. Need discussion with faculty outside meeting environments (e.g., Council, EPC, division meetings). Dean Hardin reported that he will be calling a general meeting for faculty in January, which will be a good forum for FS discussions.
Future of Faculty Leadership on campus
Robar wondered – with so many demands on faculty, how do we recruit more faculty to be involved in campus governance?
Tasking of Standing Committees
Discussion of the remaining committees (Faculty Welfare and Health and Safety) will be tabled until spring. Need to re-evaluate standing committees and their currency, and decide if there is a need to restructure.
Adjournment
Motion by Slimick, seconded by Kelley; carried.
- Submitted by Julie Dykstra, Office of Academic Affairs