The first meeting of this year's University Faculty Senate was about new beginnings -- a new academic year, a new legislative voting method and a new student caucus.
Student senate representatives discussed the formation of a new student caucus, senate chair Dawn Blasko said in opening remarks. The caucus was formed to address student concerns and would be "mentored" by past chairs Jamie Myers and Joanna Floros.
The caucus will meet the day of senate meetings with all University Park senators and the Sunday before meetings with both University Park and commonwealth campus senators, said
Katelyn Holmes, student representative for the College of Health and Human Development.
"One of the few places at University Park where elected students can participate in shared governance is in the faculty senate," Holmes said. "To not caucus and not make the most of that opportunity is foolish."
Previously, student faculty senators did not meet together, said Leah Liu, the Eberly College of Science student senator. Ralph Crivello, College of Engineering student senator, said Sunday meetings will replace the Academic Assembly, which dissolved last year.
Penn State President Graham Spanier also addressed the senate and spoke about the incoming freshmen class, among other issues.
Spanier said University Park enrollment has leveled off, which is what the administration intended, after record high enrollment with the 2006 freshmen class.
Enrollment in 2006 jumped by more than 2,000 students from the year prior to 42,039, according to the Penn State Fact Book. In July, Robert Pangborn, vice president and dean of
undergraduate education, said roughly 6,870 students accepted an offer of admission -- nearly 1,150 students fewer than last year.
"We're going to try to decrease it a little bit more," Spanier said, adding that commonwealth campus enrollment is up this year.
He also spoke about the recently released report on Penn State's student conduct systems, saying the report had been forwarded to relevant senate committees for feedback.
On Monday, Penn State's Judicial Affairs committee issued 12 recommended policy changes, including that disciplinary warnings may be issued at the university's discretion in high-profile, off-campus cases.
It also reported that students' participation in extra-curricular activities could only be restricted in special and rare cases.
"We have an excellent Judicial Affairs system here, but we do have to make adjustments from time to time," Spanier said.
The senate also voted on revisions to Policy 42-50, Credit by Examination or Undergraduate Proficiency Examination using the Personal Response System or "clicker" to record votes.
Credit by examination includes when a student requests an examination as a substitute for taking a course. The student receives credit for the course with a grade of "C" or above. Under the revised policy, students are charged a fee for each credit attempted regardless of the grade, and it is included in the calculation of the student's G.P.A.
