Minutes
of

The Purdue University Calumet

Senate Meeting
of November 6, 2002

 SFLC 321

PRESENT: Senators D. Barbour, C. Barczyk, M. Cahn, Y. Choi, V. Damusis, M. Darayseh, H. Daubek, O. Farook, L. Hopp (Presiding Officer), M. Joyce, K. Jordan, M. Longas, J. Lu, L. Mura, D. Niedner, B.  Robinson, J. Tazbir, C. Shinn, Chancellor Cohen, Vice-Chancellor Academic Affairs Singer, Parliamentarian: R. Stankowski, D. Underwood-Gregg, SGA President C. Perry, Secretary (Minutes recorded by S. Czekaj for A. Agosto-Severa)

ABSENT:  R. Bennett, C. Boiarsky, K. Corey, M. Mojtahed, S. Ruiz, S. Scachitti, E.Vockell, Vice-Chancellor Student Services Bryant, Vice-Chancellor Administrative Services, G. Newsom

GUEST:    R. Foreman, V. Garibay, C. M.Parry, B. Pellicciotti

I.      Call to Order
Chair L. Hopp called the meeting to order at 3:39 p.m.

II.      Approval of the Agenda

The Chair called for approval of the agenda.
Motion to approve the agenda was made by Professor Niedner.  Seconded by
Professor Mura. 

III.      Approval of the Minutes
The Chair called for approval of the minutes.  Motion to approve the minutes was made by Professor Mura.  Seconded by Professor Choi. 

IV.      Chancellor’s Report

Ø      The Chancellor presented highlights of the Strategic Plan that will be presented to the Board of Trustees. He also provided additional details on items that have been accomplished over the course of the past year (the presentation will be posted to our website after the November 21st meeting of the board.)   He reported that Purdue University Calumet is committed to student success and that we intend to become the preferred university for the quality of our programs and not merely as a result of convenience.  We are in the process of developing the Student Success Network, which will be addressed today along with other "success" items the committees have been developing.  Once initiatives are in place, enrollment can be expected to increase. 

Ø      We will develop five new programs over the next five years.  One of those has been approved.  The second is at the President’s office and will be on the Board agenda possibly in December.  The third has been approved on campus and we will be sending that to the President’s office.  Over the next several years, there will be at least two additional new programs that we will be developing and funding.

Ø      We have articulated six of the eight programs of the Community College system of Indiana offered in our region.  The two that we are not articulated with are Pre-Law and General Liberal Arts.  We are positioning ourselves for serving our transfer students, which is part of our strategic plan. 

Ø      Purdue Calumet intends to intensify our engagement in the region by creating more advisory boards and by having more faculty and staff involvement in the community.  We are conducting a baseline study on community involvement to identify current and desirable levels of involvement.  We have added two boards; we have two more in the pipeline, and expect that we will probably add more over the next several years.

Ø       Dr. Singer and Beth Pellicciotti will present, later in this meeting, information on the “Student Success Network”.  A decision will have to be made whether this program will be advantageous before allocating resources.

Ø       New Student Conference - This is another term for orientation. The plan is to connect new student orientation activities with registration and make it part of the enrollment process.  Another important aspect is getting the student connected to academic disciplines.  We have on-going pilot programs in Social Studies, Engineering, and Psychology.  The preliminary retention results of students in the seminars in comparison to the students who did not enroll in the seminar are quite astounding and encouraging.

Ø       We are working on several scholarship endowments.  The two new Purdue university scholarships are the Chancellor’s Scholarship and the Community Service Scholarship. We have been meeting with the Community Hospital to develop additional nursing scholarships.  There are certainly other potential funding sources to assist students.

Ø       Financial Support – This fund has been increasing.  In 2001 Purdue Calumet awarded approximately $450,000.  Over the past year we were able to provide approximately $600,000 in financial aid. We will continue to make that effort a priority. Since tuition has increased, it is important that we keep financial aid levels up so students can maintain or increase their credit hour loads.

Ø       Monies have been allocated to student wages this year through two new sources. One was a $50,000 allocation made out of the tuition surcharge for the strategic plan and the other came through brand-funded sources for another $68,000.  We have established a committee who will provide advice about the process for managing and allocating the wage monies.  We know that with about 30 hours of work a week, a student’s performance drops markedly.  We need to find ways to increase the hourly student worker wage and help them keep the hours that they work under control.

Ø       Student Housing - Student Housing is also being addressed and we will be going to the Board of Trustees for authorization to proceed with architectural and engineering drawings.  We will need to raise the money that will be needed to get this project started.  The remainder of money will come from rents.  We need to raise about two million dollars over the course of this coming year. 

Ø       Center for Professional Development - This month we will be receiving a report from the task force working on the program statement for the Center for Professional Development. 

Ø       New Faculty Positions and Growth Programs – We added some faculty positions over the course of the last year.  It is our intention to identify enrollment targets  and growth and add more positions as part of the strategic plan with reallocated dollars. 

Ø       Salaries - This study is in progress and we're trying to increase the percentage of full-time faculty.  Over the years, the number of part-time faculty has increased as a result of financial and budget issues.  A part of our budget request will include an increase of full-time faculty.  We recognize that this will be a tough year to get additional state funds.  A budget request for the 2003-2005 includes $500,000 dollars for salaries each year of those two years.  We expect that some of the funding will have to come from the reallocated monies.

Ø       South County Learning Center - We would like to have our own building on that property in Merrillville to consolidate other South County locations.  This work is in progress but nothing definite to report.

Ø       High Performance Learning Environment – We are setting the project toward the end of the Strategic Planning period. 

Ø       Labs - The Chemistry labs will be renovated beginning in December. Our comprehensive fund raising plan will include plans to raise additional dollars for HTM, ISCP and Construction Technology lab updates within the next couple years.

Ø       Entrepreneurship Center is relocating to 169th Street.  This location will provide the E-Center with more space for staff and participants interested in that program.

Ø       Center for Advanced Analysis – This is a proposal from the School of Engineering, Math & Science.  We will attempt to fund this project through our comprehensive campaign fund.  This is one of the ways we are moving ahead as part of our commitment to economic development in the region.

Ø      Northwest Indiana Technical Center - Groundbreaking occurred October 17.  We are expecting, sometime in November in the next appropriation cycle, to have the rest of the dollars needed for this technology incubator.  We expect construction to begin sometime during the Spring 2003.

Questions for the Chancellor

Ø      Senator B. Robinson asked about the number of full-time faculty. The Chancellor commented that 58% of our courses are taught by full-time faculty or by full-time continuous lecturers.  Professor Robinson suggested that he make that clearer in the presentation.

Ø      Y. Choi asked about the renovation of the Gyte Annex.  The Chancellor stated that in the 2003-2005 budget, request was made to tear down Gyte Annex and replace it with a larger building.  He further stated that it is our highest priority request for the next budget.  If we are not successful in getting it in for 2003/05, then it will be our top request for the next budget.

Ø      Professor Hopp asked for the date that the Board of Trustees meet to authorize housing.  The Chancellor informed the committee that the Board of Trustees meets in December 2002.

Ø      Professor Hopp provided an update on behalf of Vice Chancellor Bryant.  We are working toward providing web registration for students for Fall 2003.  The New Student Orientation committee has been working hard and will be presenting, to the Senate, the documents coming from those efforts in terms of the freshmen experience courses. 

V.      Report of the Chair of the Senate

Ø      Professor Hopp has been involved in the task force planning for Professional Development and the progress made so far will help to serve the strategic plan initiatives.  As we increase numbers of full-time faculty, we will put programs in place for developing new faculty among other target groups. Increasing engagement with the community has been one of our major themes.

Ø      Professor Hopp reported that there's been approval to hire a staff member who will be responsible for increasing the web presence for the Senate. Ms. Stankowski discussed a need to include other staff.  A half-time position has been approved.  This person will work with all senate members including chair of Curriculum and Educational Policy Committee to provide a cohesive structure.  She hopes to have this position filled by the beginning of the Spring semester.

Ø      Professor Hopp would like to develop a history of faculty governance at Purdue Calumet.  She is looking for someone to help with the writing.  Professor Joyce recommended Professor Damusis but he declined based on his lack of longevity on the Senate.  Professor Hopp asked for volunteers.

Ø      Professor Hopp made the following announcements:

Reserve the following important Dates: 

§        Faculty Convocation January 9, 2003 at 8:30 a.m.  Professor Hopp and Chancellor Cohen will develop the agenda.  The strategic initiatives and any other items that require all faculty discussion will also be included on the agenda.

§        Mid Winter Celebration-January 31st. Music and food will be provided.  A silent auction is also being planned.  Ticket price will be approximately $25.00 a person.  This event would serve the purposes of building a better sense of community and connection to this campus.

Ø      Professor Niedner and Professor Hopp will be attending the Intercampus Council on Friday, November 22.  This is a gathering of all faculty chairs and agenda chairs of all the regional campuses.

Ø      Professor Hopp was asked by Liz Osika, as a representative of Faculty Senate, to participate in the discussions with a group at West Lafayette, relating to the possibility of moving to an Enterprise Level web based Course Management System.  The enterprise level system is Web CT and looks a lot like a portal.  She will be looking at that system for opportunities and challenges of possibly our campus using that management system.  She appreciates being asked and was the only faculty member asked and invited to be involved.  The web CT people have been very attentive to Professor Hopp's input.  They are very anxious for this enterprise system to be used in a Big 10 university. 

Special Business of the Day

Ø      Roy Foreman, acting department head for ISCP, reported for Dennis Korchek.   For the past 20 years, they have been asking for a name change for ISCP.  Degree programs fall under both IS (Information Systems) and IT (Information Technology).  Therefore, it's been decided to rename the department as Computer Information Systems and Information Technology (CISIT).   Time frame for approval of name change is uncertain at this time.  Faculty feels it’s important to get accreditation and change name to reflect programs offered.  Bill Robinson questioned is this was just an interim measure?  Roy Foreman responded, no, he sees this lasting as long ISCP.  The prefix on the classes will remain CIS.  Casey Barczyk questioned the length of the title.  Professor Hopp was unsure if length is appropriate since Anne Severa was not in attendance at the meeting.

Ø      Student Success Network - Dr. Singer and Beth Pellicciotti presented the information.  Dr. Singer reported that the task force work finished early in this semester.  The proposal had been presented to various groups of university faculty and staff including a presentation made to Senior Leadership.  They were pleased with the product.  Feedback is needed here today and to help improve this concept as it is still just a concept.

§        The Student Success Network grew out of the Strategic Plan.  One of the primary objectives is to increase student success.  Now no longer using the word “center” but calling it a network.  Dr. Bryant was instrumental in the development of this concept.

§        Benchmarking and basic research kicked off the project.  We are studying local retention activities already going on.  In addition, task force looked at retention activities at peer institutions that enjoy a good reputation.  We called most of them to find out who was in charge of Student Success initiatives on their campuses.  Student success activities were located in various offices.  Several did not have dedicated space for offices.

§         Things we are doing well already on campus are the following: University Division provides free tutoring (early morning to late at night, on Saturdays and Sundays and one on one), supplemental instruction pilot and Freshman Experience Courses.  Dennis Barbour also has undergrad mentoring in English courses.  Dr. Singer questioned if we should put activities in a central location.  We want a network, not just a center, to help students obtain their goals.

§        Beth Pellicciotti discussed the main challenge:  To create an organizational unit but not centralize information.  We want to link units across campus.  If we can link units, we can expand successful, current pilot programs. The Chief Administrator will coordinate activities.   Focus must be on the first year students.  The first year is critical and many of these activities do focus on the first year.  Some key retention activities are listed in handout packets.  These are the kinds of things that we have heard from other schools.  We need to look for funds for key retention activities.  As we ask for strategic planning funds, it will be for some of these kinds of activities.  An evaluator is required to continue assessment and revision of plans.  Coordination and collaboration are crucial.  We have recently received a grant for approximately $70,000 for student employment. 

§        Next Steps:  Input from campus community

·        Hold university forum

·        Discuss with different campus governance groups

·        Prepare budget and resource plan

·        Create flexible and dynamic organizational structure

C. Barczyk asked what is the intrinsic reward.  Dr. Singer responded that the Chief Administrator has earmarked for initiatives leading to students' success.  One part would be for a pilot and the other one would be to sustain proven success initiatives.

VI.       Unfinished Business

 None.

     VII.      Reports of the Committees

 Agenda Committee                                 D. Niedner
 Professor Niedner reported that the committee met and prepared the agenda
 approved for today's meeting.

Academic Support Services Committee            K. Corey
No reports.

Curriculum and Educational Policy Committee         L. Mura
Professor Mura indicated that there are documents pending to be discussed at the next Curriculum and Educational Policy committee meeting.

Faculty Affairs Committee                     M. Cahn
No report.

Nominating Committee                                 D. Niedner
Professor Niedner brought forth a request from Mary Beth Rincon, Director of Human Resources.  She is requesting a volunteer from the Senate to assist in reviewing and recommending changes to the current retiree picnic and the annual recognition luncheon for Administrative/Professional and Clerical/Service Staff scheduled for 2003.  Senator C. Barczyk volunteered to serve.

Student Affairs Committee                     D. Underwood-Gregg
No report.

Student Government                                       Ms. Ruiz
The report was presented by V. Gariby and C. Marilyn Parry.  The Student Government Association will be coordinating the Town Hall meeting on November 12 in Gyte 103 from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.  Vice- Chancellors will be reporting about the future budget proposals.  The student organization is also working on other upcoming activities such as the Clothing Drive, Toy Drive held in the Advising Center and stress week activities scheduled the week before finals.

  VIII.      Other New Business

H. Daubek:  School of Management is looking at the possibility of teaching two eight-week courses within a semester instead of a standard sixteen-week course.

Professor Hopp:  The Smoking Policy – Currently the campus has a 50 feet smoking policy that is not enforced.  Senior leadership has requested that all campus governance groups discuss the current policy and make recommendations based on two options:

1.      Should PUC be a non-smoking campus period?  If so, what are the next steps to be implemented?

2.      Should PUC allow smoking?  If yes, what should next steps be?

A motion to make Purdue Calumet a smoke free campus was made by Professor Robinson.  Seconded by Professor Hopp.

This discussion will need to be continued as old business during the next meeting. 

Moved to adjourn.

  IX.      Adjournment

     The meeting adjourned at 5:05 p.m.