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THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE
UNIVERSITY
The University Faculty
Senate
AGENDA
Tuesday, September 11, 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
B.
COMMUNICATIONS
TO THE SENATE - Senate Curriculum Report (Blue Sheets)
of
August 28, 2001
C. REPORT OF SENATE COUNCIL - Meeting of August 21, 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 -
Admissions,
Records, Scheduling and Student Aid
Summary
of Petitions for Waiver of the Twelve-Credit Limit
for
Non-degree Conditional Students
Awards
and Scholarships
Senate
Council
Free
Speech
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,
October 23, 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: August 24, 2001
To: John S. Nichols, Chair, University Faculty Senate
From: Louis F. Geschwindner, Chair, Senate Committee on Curricular Affairs
The Senate Curriculum Report, dated August 28, 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 September 27, 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 be submitted to the Senate
Office by September 24, 2001. Other changes should be submitted by the November
5, 2001, deadline
Prerequisite Class List
The first phase of the automated prerequisite checking system, initiated by
the Senate Committee on Curricular Affairs, has been implemented. All faculty
members are encouraged to use the faculty page on eLion to gain access to a
list of those students who do not meet the listed prerequisites for their
courses. For information on the policy regarding prerequisites and
disenrollment, use the help link on the Prerequisite Class List page. Feedback
on the usefulness of this feature would be welcome at the Senate Office.
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 15th 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 12th 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