THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY

The University Faculty Senate

AGENDA

Tuesday, October 23, 2001, at 1:30 PM in

112 Kern Graduate Building

[In the case of severe weather conditions or other emergencies, you may call the Senate Office at (814) 863-0221 to inquire if a Senate meeting has been postponed or canceled. This may be done after normal office hours by calling the same number and a voice mail announcement can be heard concerning the status of any meeting. You may also leave a message at that time.]

A. MINUTES OF THE PRECEDING MEETING -

Minutes of the April 24, 2001, Meeting in The Senate Record 34:7

Minutes of September 11, 2001, Meeting in The Senate Record 35:1

B. COMMUNICATIONS TO THE SENATE - Senate Curriculum Report (Blue Sheets)

of August 28, 2001 and October 9, 2001

C. REPORT OF SENATE COUNCIL - Meetings of August 21, 2001 and October 2, 2001

D. ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE CHAIR -

E. COMMENTS BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY -

F. FORENSIC BUSINESS –

Senate Council

Joint Committee to Review the University Calendar – Initial Findings

G. UNFINISHED BUSINESS -

H. LEGISLATIVE REPORTS –

I. ADVISORY/CONSULTATIVE REPORTS -

J. INFORMATIONAL REPORTS –

University Planning

Budget; Strategic Planning (new approach); and Budget Planning,

Rodney A. Erickson, Executive Vice President and Provost of the University

Senate Council

Status Report on the College of Medicine and the Milton S. Hershey

Medical Center, Darrell G. Kirch, Senior Vice President for Health Affairs

and Dean

Joint Committee on Insurance and Benefits

Annual Report

Admissions, Records, Scheduling and Student Aid

Summary of Petitions for Waiver of the Twelve-Credit Limit

for Non-degree Conditional Students

Awards and Scholarships

K. NEW LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS -

L. COMMENTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE GOOD OF THE UNIVERSITY -

-----------------

Note: The next regular meeting of the University Faculty Senate will be held on Tuesday,

December 4, 2001, at 1:30 PM in Room 112 Kern Building.

THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY

The University Faculty Senate

101 Kern Graduate Building

University Park, PA 16802

(814) 863-1202 – phone (814) 865-5789 – fax

Date: October 3, 2001

To: John S. Nichols, Chair, University Faculty Senate

From: Louis F. Geschwindner, Chair, Senate Committee on Curricular Affairs

The Senate Curriculum Report, dated October 9, 2001, has been circulated throughout the University. Objections to any of the items in the report must be submitted to the University Curriculum Coordinator at the Senate Office, 101 Kern Graduate Building, e-mail ID sfw2@psu.edu, on or before November 8, 2001.

The Senate Curriculum Report is available on the web. It can be accessed via the Faculty Senate home page (URL http://www.psu.edu/ufs). Since the Report is available on the web, printed copies are not distributed to the University community. An electronic mailing list is used to notify individuals of its publication. Please contact the Curriculum Coordinator at the e-mail ID indicated above if you would like to be added to the notification list.

Publication of the 2002-2004 Undergraduate Degree Programs Bulletin
Work is currently underway for the next paper publication of the Undergraduate Degree Programs Bulletin. The cut-off date for changes to the Bulletin is February 15, 2002. Curricular changes that are to appear in the 2002-2004 Bulletin must be through the approval process (academic and administrative) by February 15, 2002. Proposals that need to go through both the academic approval process and the administrative approval process should have been submitted to the Senate Office by September 24, 2001. Other changes need to be submitted by the November 5, 2001, deadline.

JOINT COMMITTEE TO REVIEW THE UNIVERSITY CALENDAR

Initial Findings

(Forensic)

Background:

Comments received during the Senate Officers’ visits to colleges and campuses as well as communication directly to the administration highlight several problems with the present academic calendar. Items mentioned by students and faculty include:

· absences during the three days prior to Thanksgiving

· a “telescoped” orientation period at U.P. prior to fall semester

· the lack of designated exam days in the summer sessions (UP)

· the disruption of fall semester caused by three “breaks” (Labor Day, fall break, Thanksgiving)

· the availability of sufficient orientation time (especially if “diversity” orientation is to be added)

· the adequacy of study days.

Questions have also been raised whether more effective use could be made of time at the end of the semester, instead of traditional final exams, as many faculty adopt active and collaborative learning models. Alternative forms of assessment throughout the semester have become common in many disciplines. The Calendar Committee was asked to review the University calendar to respond to these concerns.

When the Senate last conducted a comprehensive review of the university calendar (presented in “The Bennett Report” 1985), there was considerable divergence of faculty opinion regarding the optimum semester timetable. At that time more faculty supported the idea of a “14-week semester” with extended class periods than any of the other alternatives discussed, including the present 15-week semester.

To facilitate discussion, the Calendar Committee has operated on the assumption that alternatives to the present calendar should be considered. We have also assumed that a new survey of faculty opinion would reveal a diverse range of opinion, similar to the Bennett survey, and therefore is impractical, particularly since the charge included the expectation that recommendations on calendar be brought forward in the fall. The intent of this report is to share with the Senate as a whole the findings of our investigation of the calendars of comparable institutions as well as to suggest alternative calendar configurations that Penn State might consider. We hope that the discussion not only will express the opinions of our academic community regarding possible changes in the calendar but also will provide suggestions for improving on the alternatives we have proposed.

Foundations:

In the course of our deliberations, the Calendar Committee quickly reached consensus on several principles brought forward by its members:

· The University calendar should provide flexibility in serving the academic interests and needs of students and faculty.

· The calendar should provide appropriate time for examinations and other assessment activities as part of the fall and spring semesters and each summer session.

· The fall and spring semesters should be as symmetrical (i.e., equal in length) as possible.

· There should be an appropriate “break” during each semester.

· A post-Labor Day start is highly desirable.

· The fall semester should end before the traditional December holiday season.

· National holidays should be recognized if possible.

· Arrival day (UP) should occur on a Saturday.

· Commencement (UP) should occur on a Saturday.

· There should be provision for orientation time at the beginning of each semester.

The principles above are open to discussion; however since they arise from pro and con comments regarding the present calendar and from various practical considerations of scheduling, they constitute the framework against which our committee has tested various calendar configurations.

The committee conducted benchmarking to examine the calendars of comparable institutions both within the Commonwealth and around the country. According to the academic calendars posted on their websites, Temple and Pitt schedule classes using the following arrangement of instructional days:

Institution Fall Spring Total

Temple University 70 70 140 + final examinations

Univ. of Pittsburgh 71 69 140 + final examinations

Penn State 74 75 149 + final examinations

Fall 2001 Temple Pitt Penn State

First Day of Fall Classes 8/27 8/27 8/21

Labor Day Holiday 9/3 9/3 9/3

Semester Break N/A N/A 10/8-9

Thanksgiving 11/22-25 11/21-25 11/22-25

Study Days 12/6-7 N/A N/A

Classes End 12/8 12/7 12/7

Final Exams 12/10-15 varies 12/10-14

Spring 2002 Temple Pitt Penn State

First Day of Spring Classes 1/22 1/7 1/7

MLK Holiday -- 1/21 N/A

Spring Break 3/11-15 3/4-8 3/4-8

Classes End 5/6 4/19 4/26

Study Day 5/7 N/A N/A

Final Exams 5/8-14 varies 4/29-5/3

Current “Big Ten” comparisons appear in Table 1. During the past academic year the University of Michigan, in its own calendar study, compiled national comparative data on instructional days (Table 2). Current practices at Penn State, including the use of final exam days, were examined as well. The analysis of this information led the committee to the following conclusions:

· There is no universal standard for class days/hours in class per credit hour, nor is there one standard for state or state-related institutions in Pennsylvania.

· There is no universal standard for a minimum number of “instructional days” per course or for counting the instructional days since some institutions include final exam days while others do not.

· Within the “Big Ten” the present calendar places Penn State among the highest-ranking schools on the semester calendar in terms number of “instructional days” whether or not exam days are counted.

· Similarly, compared to other national research universities, Penn State semesters are among the longest, with several outstanding institutions having significantly fewer instructional days per semester.

· At University Park, approximately 40% of classes actually schedule final examination periods.

· Because of increased pedagogical diversity (e.g., active and collaborative learning) and alternative means of assessment (e.g., group project presentations), the number of classes needing final examinations has declined and may decline further.

· If there is no change to the class schedule (i.e., minutes per class), the impact of calendar change on scheduling classrooms and laboratories will be minimized.

· It would be possible to maintain the total number of instructional minutes in a shortened semester by lengthening class minutes (e.g., to 55/80 minutes), though a lengthened class day complicates the scheduling of facilities.

· Considerable precedent at other institutions and residual support at Penn State exist for shortening the semester to 14-weeks of “instructional days.”

· Fall semester issues are much more troublesome than spring semester issues.

Possible Calendar Configurations:

The Calendar Committee has discussed several alternative configurations for the Penn State academic calendar. Among the possibilities not advanced are models including asymmetrical semesters, usually scheduling a significantly shorter fall semester always beginning after Labor Day and ending before the December holiday season. Another modification discussed would be to shorten the final examination period, possibly to as few as two days to accommodate only those courses needing extended-period or common exams; however there are scheduling problems at all locations as well as the potential for dramatically increasing conflicting exams for students. We offer the following four configurations as the most likely alternatives for our consideration:

1. A 15-week instructional semester, plus 5 days of final exams.

This alternative maintains the status quo. Depending on the particular year, classes begin during the third or fourth week of August and continue until early December, followed by a week of final exams. While some modification of the Fall Break and Thanksgiving recess may be possible, the other issues prompting the review of the calendar will remain unresolved.

2. A 15-week semester, including final exams and all forms of final assessment.

This alternative maintains the current class duration (e.g. 50 or 75 minutes) for the 15- week semester, but does not include a separate final examination week. This recommendation can provide flexibility for various types of instruction and assessment: activities that can occur throughout the duration of the semester (such as group projects or research papers) as well as those (such as comprehensive exams) which occur at the end of the semester, perhaps using more than one class meeting for long exams. This calendar would have the net effect of shortening the semester by a week, allowing classes to start later in the fall and to begin later in the spring (assuming the current semester end-dates). A post-Labor Day start would be possible in some years, and additional time could be available for expanded orientation activities for freshmen. To implement this plan requires the revision of Senate policy 44-20 regarding final exam days. The 40% of classes at University Park which schedule final exam periods would need to schedule exams during class periods or alter their methods of final assessment. Common exam periods and alternate rooms (for exam seating configurations) would be difficult, if not impossible, to schedule. The last days of the 15^th week will likely be “exam heavy” and using time during the final week for assessment activities will shorten the traditional “instructional” time.

3. A 14-week instructional semester (extended class times), plus 5 days of final exams.

As with Alternative 2, this schedule has the net effect of shortening the semester by a week, but it maintains a separate final exam period. The “Bennett Report” offered a similar scenario as part of its survey of faculty opinion, and while at that time no alternative received a clear majority of opinion, more faculty supported an extended-period 14-week semester than any other alternative schedule. The number of instructional minutes would remain unchanged, as would the ability to schedule final examination periods. However, the re-engineering of daily classroom schedules to accommodate 55/80-minute class sessions will not be an easy task at University Park and at other locations. Additional minutes may be found at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day. Changing the passing time between classes (to increase class minutes) may not be practical since many faculty feel that the time between classes is compressed to the limit now. Students are often reluctant to schedule classes that meet very early or very late in the day. At some locations where a full schedule of evening classes begins immediately after the last “day” period ends, there may not be adequate flex time available to extend the day without postponing evening classes to start/end times that will discourage students from enrolling.

4. A 14-week instructional semester (established class times), plus 5 days of final exams.

This schedule is similar to Alternative 3, but because the current schedule of class times is maintained, it has the effect of reducing the number of instructional minutes in order to shorten the semester by one week. Other institutions, such as Temple and Pitt, use such a schedule, and this type of semester still offers at least 69 days of instruction in the fall semester, comparable to the schedule at the University of Michigan. However, we recognize the concern that current courses would need modification to fit this shortened schedule.

Fall Break/ Spring Break

The Calendar Committee did not consider a recommendation to change Penn State’s traditional Spring Break. However, our charge prompted considerable discussion regarding the current Fall Break and the traditional Thanksgiving holiday. It is widely held that these recesses during the fall semester provide the occasion for informal extension of the breaks due to student absences in spite of the University's efforts to discourage the practice.

The University established a mid-semester Fall Break in 1999, responding to student concerns and recognizing that similar practices at other institutions were found to have academic value. One way to consolidate the interruptions of the semester and to provide a week-long break parallel (in length) to Spring Break is to combine Fall Break with Thanksgiving recess, offering students and faculty a class-free week late in the fall semester (typically the 12^th week). Although the break would occur past the mid-point of the semester, such a configuration would still provide time for “catch up” and “stress relief” prior to the end-of- semester-activities while minimizing the temptation to cancel/cut classes adjacent to the two partial-week breaks we now have. This redefinition of Fall Break could be included with any of the four semester configurations described above.

Summer Session Final Exams:

Alternatives 1, 3 and 4 for the semester calendar maintain the current policy of designated time for instruction and separate time for final exams or other final assessment activities (see Senate Policy 44-20). Currently the University Park summer sessions do not designate a specific, separate final exam period, while summer sessions at other university locations may do so. We suggest that if our practice is to keep final exams separate from instructional days, this practice should be applied consistently for the summer sessions as well.

Conclusion:

This report reflects the thinking of the Calendar Committee to this point in time. We look forward to using the information gained during the discussion prompted by this report to frame a recommendation to be forwarded to the Senate Committee on University Planning and Undergraduate Education for appropriate action.

JOINT COMMITTEE TO REVIEW THE UNIVERSITY CALENDAR

Anthony Baratta

George Bugyi

John Cahir

Peter Emigh

Donald Leslie

James Smith, Chair

Jane Sutton

Josh Troxell

James Wager

2001-2002

Big Ten Calendar Summary

Instructional Days

Universities on the Semester System	Fall Semester Instruction	Fall Semester Exams	Spring Semester Instruction	Spring Semester Exams	Total Inst Days	Total Inst + Exams
Illinois	72	6	72	6	144	156
Indiana	72	5	74	5	146	156
Iowa	75	5	74	5	149	159
Michigan	69	6	68	6	137	149
Michigan State*	71	5	71	5	142	152
Minnesota	72	6	74	6	146	158
Penn State	75	5	75	5	150	160
Purdue	73	6	75	6	148	160
Wisconsin	72	6	74	6	146	158

Universities on the Quarter System	1^st Quarter Instruction	1^st Quarter Exams	2^nd Quarter Instruction	2^nd Quarter Exams	3^rd Quarter Instruction	3^rd Quarter Exams	Total Inst Days	Total Inst + Exams
Northwestern	53	6	50	6	49	6	152	170
Ohio State	50	4	49	4	49	4	148	160

*Spring 2001 figures; Spring 2002 not available

University of Michigan Calendar Survey

INSTITUTION	TERM TYPE	FALL	SPRING	Total Days
ARIZONA	SEM.	74	75	149
BRANDEIS	SEM.	65	65	130
CARNEGIE-MELLON	SEM.	71	72.5	146.5
CASE WESTERN	SEM.	70	70	140
CATHOLIC UA	SEM.	70	70	140
COLORADO	SEM.	75	75	150
DUKE	SEM.	70	70	140
EMORY	SEM.	69	69	138
FLORIDA	SEM.	82.5	85	167.5	INCLUDES 6 DAYS OF EXAMS
HARVARD	SEM.	63	62	125
ILLINOIS	SEM.	72	72	144
IOWA	SEM.	76	74	150
IOWA STATE	SEM.	74	74	148
KANSAS	SEM.	75	75	150
MARYLAND	SEM.	72