UFS Meeting – March 12, 2013

Brian Aynardi

Remarks by President Erickson• Thanked ARSSA for quick action on implementing early registration status for active

military personnel/veterans (new policy effective Spring 2014• Called on faculty to provide extra seats in classes and try to accommodate these students

in the interim• Attempting to use current state budget as a floor and have budget increases in future• Asked representatives for more funding for Ag research and Cooperative Extension (Land

Grant Mission)• Very modest increase in tuition• Small salary increases starting October 1 for faculty• Effects of sequestrations: could be in ~$40M zone, especially for Federally funded

programs• Paid accepted students is on par with previous years (500 more at UP, 500 less at

Commonwealth campuses• Changes to BoT may be made this week with regards to structure• 78 of Freeh recommendations implemented• There will now be a focus on refurbishing old buildings as opposed to building new

facilites• Adding faculty for both the Children’s Protection Center in Hershey and for Natural Gas

research initiative

Legislative Reports

• Senate Self Study– All motions were passed, including the development

of discussion forum for senators• Original legislation called for anonymity, but it was

amended (by a vote of 1 more for the amendment than opposed to amending legislation) of 200+ senators

• Informational reports will now be online to reduce length of UFS meetings (yesterday’s meeting: 3 hours)

• Office of UFS will be more transparent with Deans, committee chairs, etc.

• Read more on the Self-Study at senate.psu.edu

Informational Session

Informational session presented regarding shared governance:

-Idea was to have BoT made aware of the report-Includes that 2 faculty members be voting

members of the BoT-Call on the floor to have the Senate endorse the report as a body-Senate voted unanimously to endorse the

statement

Joint Diversity Task Force• Will be comprised of 3 groups:

– Administration– Faculty– Students

• 4-5 members will be selected from each group

• List of candidates has been made but no selection has yet taken place

• Candidates have not been made aware of their consideration

Student Life CommitteeUpdate on St. Patty’s Day by VP Sims– 33 establishments downtown (Tavern Owner’s

Association) did NOT serve alcohol– Fraternities did not host parties and residence hall

students were limited to one guest– Large police force and PA LCB presence downtown– Aforementioned steps allowed police to focus on

rental homes and apartment complexes– Ambulance trips to Mt. Nittany down ~1/3– Overall it was a success, and the goal for next year is

to promote an event that brings all people downtown

Student Life CommitteeUpdate on Career Services by Jeff Garvis– Spoke regarding the centralized/decentralized nature of

career services– Most colleges and schools have their own career services

program– Students may receive mixed advice from the two sources– Companies pay big money to host banquets for students

they wish to recruit– Very decentralized institutions do not rank well– Websites to be launched by Career Services soon for both

students and employers to gain visibility

Internationalization at Commonwealth Campuses

Update provided by Andrea Dowhower– International programs are lacking at Commonwealth campuses, though all but

one of the campuses has been certified as an “international campus”– International enrollment varies greatly from ~230 students at Harrisburg to 3 at

DuBois– Faculty/staff are forced to assist students in unconventional ways to make-up for

lack of services– Many international students don’t have a place to go during breaks/holidays

(Possible implementation of “Host families” and alternative spring break opportunities

– For students in residence halls, it is a large financial cost for the University to keep them open for only a few studetns

– Enrollment numbers may be deceiving – not all international students speak the same language, practice same religion, etc.

– Lack of community and resources for students who bring families– Abington and Harrisburg provide very good services for international students, but

there is no residence halls at Abington, so housing is an issue

Internationalization Programs at UP

• Dr. Barry Lee and myself are researching both CIC and non-CIC institutions for services for international students

• Possible ideas include having international students provide on-camera advice/experience from Penn State to students from their home country via Survey Research Center (no scripts)

• Possible development of focus groups from UP and CCSG

HAVE A NICE DAY!