UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State Faculty Senate covered a wide range of topics during its meeting Tuesday (Jan. 24), including the challenges facing universities in the future, student mental health services, fixed-term faculty titles and student financial aid.
President Eric Barron spoke about the challenges universities in the Northeast are facing at a time when the number of high school graduates in Pennsylvania and other states is declining. The trends are outlined in a Chronicle of Higher Education report on the shifts and challenges universities are facing in the next 10 years.
“We’re going to have heavy competition for students,” Barron said.
He said the focus on “open doors” in the upcoming campaign and making sure to serve needs-based students will be crucial.
“The report also tells me if we aren’t an inclusive university, increasingly we’ll pay a price going forward given what those demographics suggest,” Barron said.
Anna Griswold, executive director for Student Aid and assistant vice president for Undergraduate Education, also spoke on the topic of financial aid and endowed scholarships.
The Senate Committee on Admission, Records, Scheduling and Student Aid, which provided the advisory financial aid and scholarship report, made several recommendations, including that the University continue with the fundraising targets and strategies for student scholarship support, which were successful in the University’s last two philanthropic campaigns.
That recommendation is in keeping with one of the core priorities — a commitment to broad scholarship support — of the University’s upcoming fundraising initiative, “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence.”
The Faculty Senate also:
-Received a report from Ben Locke, senior director of Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), on services CAPS provides and trends at Penn State and nationally, including greater awareness of intervention services and growing demand for those mental health services. Locke, who made a similar presentation to the Board of Trustees in November 2016, said that CAPS is in the process of completing an assessment at the campuses with an aim to providing a number of services for all students at all campuses, such as having one crisis telephone number available to all students at all campuses.
-Reviewed a proposal from Faculty Affairs to standardize titles for fixed-term faculty and establish uniform titles across the university.
-Discussed and approved a motion affirming the Faculty Senate’s “commitment to pluralism, inclusiveness, and equity as core values and declaration to vigorously defend those values against hatred and bigotry.”
-Heard a report on addressing issues of climate and bias in the classroom, including the recommendation, which has already been implemented, for the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence to post a checklist of best practices for creating welcoming climates in classrooms and strategies for managing disruptions.
-Approved a recommendation that all academic units accept the same numbered courses that students complete at any Penn State academic unit or campus as credit toward graduation requirements. The Senate also approved a recommendation on enforcement of the policies that cover these issues.
-Heard reports from Global Programs, including efforts to increase participation in study abroad.
The Faculty Senate’s next meeting is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. March 14 in 112 Kern Building. The meetings can also be viewed via Mediasite.