Behrend Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, April 4, 2023
4:30 p.m. via Zoom

I. Call to Order – Lisa Jo Elliott, Faculty Senate Chair

A. Approval of minutes from the Faculty Senate meeting in March

Victoria Kazmerski; Adam Simpson


II. College Updates (up to 5 minutes each)

A. Ralph Ford, Chancellor

  • Chancellor Ford shares the sad news of the passing of two long-time and recently retired faculty members, Bruce Paul Wittmershaus and Jonathan Meckley. Information on services will be shared soon.
  • End-of-semester events include the Behrend-Sigma Xi Undergraduate Research and Creative Accomplishment Conference; the student art show; the business showcase; the engineering design conference and other events. These events are important for our students. For this reason, faculty participation is always encouraged.
  • Commencement:
    • The external speaker is Ala Stanford, one the CNN top ten heroes for 2021. Dr. Stanford is a Behrend alum who has been working to change Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy among people of color. Her group, the Black Doctors Covid-19 Consortium, has brought testing and vaccines to residents of Philadelphia’s minority neighborhoods. 
    • The faculty speaker is Dr. Greg Dillon.
  • Accreditation visit for the Black School of Business: We had a very positive visit. Congratulations to the faculty and staff who worked hard to prepare well for the visit. Community engagement was praised for how strong it is. We are expecting a positive outcome. The accreditation is not easy to obtain; less than 6% of business schools worldwide have the AACSB accreditation, a real milestone for the Black School of Business.
  • A reflection on recent news shared by media outlets concerning layoffs at the University. As President Neeli Bendapudi explained, there are adjustments that need to be made for the budget between 2023 and 2025. The large part of the problem is at University Park. Behrend has made the adjustments that were necessary. There was a discussion on layoffs. Behrend has not submitted any staff layoff names; this is not in our plan for this year. Our faculty contract information went out several months ago. Behrend still has to deal with a reduction next year, about a million dollars. There is work to do for 2023 and 2024, but we should remain flat in 2025. We have challenges ahead of us, but we do not need to get caught up in some of the concerns that have been going out across the entire University.
  • Behrend had a very successful open house this last weekend. A lot of students and parents participated. Our efforts in recruiting students are paying off. We are growing even if we still have further to go in this cycle of growth. A thank you to all who participated.
  • Chancellor Ford thanks Lisa Jo Elliott for her work leading Faculty Senate and Faculty Council. Lena Surzhko-Harned will be the chair for academic year 2023-2024.
  • Lisa Jo Elliott thanks the Behrend administration for good leadership and expresses appreciation for the work of Behrend administration.

B. Pam Silver, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs

  • We have the Honors and Awards convocation (April 17, 2023).
  • We have the Behrend-Sigma Xi Undergraduate Research and Creative Accomplishment Conference.
  • It’s important to participate.

C. Alicyn Rhoades, Interim Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies

  • We are reviewing proposals for the student summer research grants; we are trying to fund as many as possible.
  • Alicyn Rhoades shows a slide that features research partnerships between Behrend and a number of companies and organizations. There has been an uptick in the number of new projects and renewals Behrend has secured. There has been an uptick in the types of gifts and endowments Behrend receives. We are seeing larger investments coming to campus alongside sponsored research programs. Faculty members who have projects to promote should share information with Alicyn Rhoades.
  • Lisa Jo Elliott thanks Pam Silver and Alicyn Rhoades for their hard work this year.

D. Senator update

  • Matt Swinarski’s update is on the Canvas page of the Behrend Senate.
  • Tracy Halmi: The Senate passed a recommendation to faculty to make the election day a remote day. The language is vague. It’s a recommendation, not a requirement. Faculty at Behrend will need to have a conversation on this topic to ensure we send a consistent message to students.
  • Lisa Jo Elliott adds that Behrend faculty had a strong say in the discussion.


III. Last meeting for the 22-23 academic year.

Adjournment

  • Laurie Urraro; Victoria Kazmerski