Penn State Faculty Senate members will discuss the potential restructuring of the senate, the future of the Penn State World Campus and the removal of the Integrated Student Information System.
The 1:30 p.m. meeting will be held in 112 Kern Graduate Building and is open to the public.
The Faculty Senate meeting is to open with a 30-minute presentation and discussion on the potential restructuring of the senate, according to the agenda.
“The big topic is going to be under forensics, which will be the reorganization of the senate,” Larry Backer, senate chairman, said. “We want to know how to make ourselves better.
Backer added that the restructuring of the senate will improve operations in a big way and result in higher efficiency when making important decisions regarding the welfare of the university.
The Faculty Senate also plans to make suggestions for the Penn State’s Board of Trustees to reorganize the board, a suggestion that is past the beginning stages of planning, Backer said.
No details about what these suggestions would include were available by press time Monday.
There will also be two 15-minute presentations on the present and future of Penn State World Campus and on the future of the ISIS, according to the faculty senate agenda.
“Dr. Smutz, executive director of Penn State World Campus, is giving the presentation, and the focus will be on the future of World Campus, in particular, addressing the misconceptions people have,” said Elizabeth Seymour, professor of anthropology, communications and history at Penn State’s Altoona campus.
Backer also said World Campus’ future at Penn State is not something to be taken lightly.
“One of the center points of the Blue and White Council meeting last week was how critically important the future of World Campus is to the university, and we’ll continue to discuss that at the meeting,” Backer added.
The senate will also present ideas for a replacement system for Penn State’s ISIS, according to the agenda.
Penn State’s ISIS manages all student records — undergraduate, graduate, non-credit and credit — at all Penn State locations, according to the administrative information services website. Records managed by ISIS include billing, scheduling, transcripts and student aid, according to the website.
“Everyone is annoyed with the current ISIS system, so this presentation will say, ‘we’re getting rid of ISIS, tell us what you think we should replace it with,’” Backer said.
