Meeting of the CCAS Faculty Senate
Approved Minutes
January 31, 2023
The meeting was called to order at approximately 12:45 p.m., with CCAS Faculty Senate President Beth Rabinowitz presiding. There are 37 Senators, including 3 officers and 3 senators-at-large. Of the 37 voting members, 27 were present. A quorum was met.
- A motion to approve the minutes of December 5, 2022, was made. The motion to approve the minutes was approved.
Voting record: 25 ayes, 0 opposed, 2 abstentions.
- Courses and Programs presented by Alex Roche, Chair of the APC, for approval by the Faculty Senate:
|
Courses presented for approval by APC to Faculty Senate January 31, 2023 |
Voting Record |
||||||
|
Department |
Course # |
Course Title |
Credit Value |
New/ Revision |
Aye |
Nay |
Abstention |
|
Childhood Studies |
50:163:335 |
Media Stereotypes & Black Adolescent Identity |
3 |
New |
27 |
0 |
0 |
|
SACJ |
50:202:343 |
Philadelphia Organized Crime |
3 |
New |
27 |
0 |
0 |
|
Mathematical Sciences |
50:640:123 |
Active Calculus I |
4 |
New |
27 |
0 |
0 |
|
Mathematical Sciences |
50:640:124 |
Active Calculus II |
4 |
New |
27 |
0 |
0 |
|
Mathematical Sciences |
50:640:480 |
Scientific Computing with C++ |
3 |
New |
27 |
0 |
0 |
|
Physics |
50:750:361 |
Introduction to Mechatronics |
3 |
New |
27 |
0 |
0 |
|
Physics |
50:750:364 |
Introduction to Mechatronics Lab |
1 |
New |
27 |
0 |
0 |
|
Psychology |
50:830:310 |
Careers in Psychology |
3 |
New |
27 |
0 |
0 |
|
Psychology |
50:830:414 |
Drugs and the Brain |
3 |
New |
27 |
0 |
0 |
|
Philosophy & Religion |
50:840:203 |
God |
3 |
New |
27 |
0 |
0 |
- Proposed Bylaw Amendments
The President put forward a motion to rescind the previous Bylaws vote, held during the last Senate meeting, due to concerns raised regarding the procedure that was followed being unclear to many senators. The motion to rescind the former vote was approved.
Voting record: 27 ayes, 0 opposed, 0 abstentions.
- Sections II, III (Committees) – The President shared reasons behind the proposed amendments to committees. The goal is to make faculty committees more effective and in turn increase the faculty voice.
- Suggestions were raised regarding committee structures and how changes might be implemented. There is a struggle to encourage faculty to participate in committees in part due to the requisite number of members for some committees, in comparison to the size of the campus. A feeling of being stretched too thin.
A sub-committee was created to review suggestions, reach out to committees, and draft another revision of bylaw amendments to be reviewed later.
Revisions Committee: Beth Rabinowitz, James Boucher, Lorrin Thomas, George Kumi, and Sean Duffy.
- Section I (Meetings) – The President opened the floor for discussion and viewpoints in reference to members of Administration attending Senate meetings for an undisclosed amount of time. The general consensus is that the Dean’s presence at Senate meetings may not allow for open communication, in particular for junior faculty. It may hinder discussions on sensitive topics.
- Dean Griffin addressed the Senate to convey intentions in wanting to attend meetings for the purpose of learning about the faculty. He stressed that he is an advocate for the faculty and understands there will be times private discussions must take place.
A Qualtrics vote will be created and sent to senators for the Bylaw amendment referring to how administrators are involved in Senate meetings.
The meeting adjourned at 1:45 p.m.
Present: Ross Allen, James Boucher, Jim Brown, I-Ming Chiu, Iman Dehzangi, Sean Duffy, Jamie Dunaev, Jinglin Fu, Anthony Geneva, Julie Griepenburg, Aaron Hostetter, Holly B Humes, Nick Kapur, George Kumi, Ana Laguna Smith, Randy Mershon, Kayla Preito-Hodge, Beth Rabinowitz, Jovanna Rosen, James Rushing, Stass Shpanin, Lorrin Thomas, John Wall, Zara Wilkinson, Anthony Wright
Absent (Senators): Margery Amdur, Paul Bernstein, Anthony Grasso, Rafey Habib, Osama Hamed, Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn, Xingyun Qi, Sarah Tosh, Nate Wright
Excused Absent (Senators):
Present Senators-at-Large: Bart Everts, Paul Jargowski
Absent Senators-at-Large: Nathan Fried
Excused Senators-at-Large:
Present (Invited Guests): Selim Cakmakli, Mary Beth Daisey, Bill Fitzgerald, Dean Griffin, Diana Keough, Haisheng Li, Joan Mazelis, Susan Mokhberi, Tom Ryan, Assoc. Dean Siegel, Jennifer Thiel
Drafted by Melinda Aviles, 2/2/23