Faculty Senate discusses pass/fail grading policy, installs new officers

UNIVERSITY PARK – At its final regular meeting of the spring 2024 semester (April 16), the University Faculty Senate debated revisions to its pass/fail policy, heard a presentation on the University’s budget model and oversaw the transition of senate leadership from outgoing Chair Michele Stine to incoming Chair Josh Wede, among other business.

“When I tell you that Josh is a tireless champion for the faculty, I mean tireless. The man is on the phone more than anyone who doesn't work for a phone company,” Stine said. “He has never stopped advocating for the faculty, senate, students and staff, and for that we are all grateful. We look forward to his success next year as chair.”

Wede thanked Stine for her “tireless work” and said he’s confident that by working together, the Senate can help create positive change for Penn State.

Wede will officially begin his term as chair on July 1. Other officers installed were Michele Duffey, who is continuing her role as secretary, and Frank Marko as the new chair-elect.

Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grading policy

The senate debated making revisions to Senate Policy 49-60, aimed at implementing its modified pass/fail grade policy. An update to this policy was passed by the senate during its Sept. 14, 2021, meeting, reframing the policy as concerning “pass/fail” grading instead of “satisfactory/unsatisfactory” grading. The update was developed by the Policies Influencing Equity (PIE) task force, which was co-charged by the Senate and Undergraduate Education with examining this and other policies to advance educational equity and contribute to a more positive educational experience.

That policy has not yet been implemented by the Administrative Council on Undergraduate Education (ACUE), due to concerns raised by several associate deans, faculty groups and advisers that led the policy to be referred back to Faculty Senate for further consideration. The revisions introduced for discussion Tuesday, aimed at alleviating those concerns, include decreasing the maximum number of credits a baccalaureate student can take on a pass/fail basis from 24 to 18, moving the deadline for opting for the pass/fail option up from the last day of classes to the late-drop deadline and allowing all major programs to designate some courses that must be taken for a letter grade.

Under the policy, as it stands, letter grades from A through C would be recorded as PS, or “passing satisfactory,” a grade of D would be recorded as PD, or “passing D,” and an F would be recorded as UNS, or “unsatisfactory.” PS and PD grades would count toward degree requirements as appropriate, but none would be factored into the student’s GPA.

Of contention among senators discussing the revisions was the number of credits allowed. Some senators suggested the limit should be decreased to 12, while others advocated for bringing the limit back up to 24. The debate centered on how best to balance allowing students the room to explore new subjects and take risks, while preparing them for future success and keeping the integrity of a Penn State GPA intact.

The senate ultimately voted to send the legislative report back to the senate committees on Education, Curricular Affairs, Admissions, Records, Scheduling, and Student Aid and Educational Equity and Campus Environment for further discussion.

This policy is separate and distinct from the temporary grading policy 49-70 put into place to minimize GPA impacts during the remote education period amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Committee reports

Committees tasked with working in tandem with University leaders on various initiatives also reported on their progress:

The Senate Committees on Curricular Affairs, Education, Intra-University Relations has had a brief pause in consulting about finalizing the request for proposals for an outside consultant to assist with the Academic Program and Portfolio Review, due to the departure of Provost Justin Schwartz. In the meantime, the committee has been contemplating how to assign the nearly 500 people who volunteered to participate in the process with corresponding project teams.
Research Scholarship and Creative Activity and University Planning has had ongoing conversations with Vice President for Research Andrew Read about additional ways to support research.
Faculty Affairs, Intra-University Relations, and University Planning has had “excellent interactions” with the administration since February, University Planning committee chairman Jim Strauss reported. They reviewed the budget model with Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Sara Thorndike in March so it could be presented to the full senate in April. They also heard about the strategic plan process from Assistant Vice Provost for Planning Daniel Newhart and received new details from Thorndike about capital plan and potential new dormitories.
Admission, Records, Scheduling and Student Aid and Education met with Vice Provost for Online Education Renata Engel, as they start to work on addressing policy barriers to implementing blended learning programs.
Education, Educational Equity and Campus Environment, and Student Life had no new updates to report on restructuring Undergraduate Education, Student Affairs and Faculty Affairs.
Faculty Benefits reported continued consultation with the administration on faculty benefits, including on health care benefits for next year. The information will be shared with the Health Care Advisory Committee next week.
Faculty Affairs had nothing new to report on the status of non-tenure-line contracts at Commonwealth Campuses.

Updates from University leadership

Addressing the Senate for the first time since it was announced Executive Vice President and Provost Justin Schwartz would be leaving the University this summer for a new position, President Neeli Bendapudi shared updates on the position and affirmed that work on provost-led initiatives, such as the Academic Portfolio and Program Review (APPR), would continue and that faculty and the faculty senate would continue to be closely involved.

Bendapudi thanked Penn State’s vice provosts, including Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs Kathy Bieschke, for their advice and feedback on the best ways to move forward and said she’s excited by the nearly 500 people who have volunteered to be a part of the APPR process and thanked everyone for their patience and understanding.

Bendapudi shared other updates from across the University, including the successful completion of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) accreditation process and Carey McDougall being elevated to chancellor at Penn State Beaver, and praised faculty for their role in Penn State’s strong showing in the 2024 World University Rankings by Subject.

She also announced that she will be joining Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses and Executive Chancellor Margo DelliCarpini and other University leaders on April 24 at Penn State Altoona for a conversation with Commonwealth Campus employees and students to discuss how to support the development of sustainable plans and strategies for the future of the campuses. Penn Staters from all campuses are invited to join that conversation via Zoom.

Tracy Langkilde, the Verne M. Willaman Dean of the Eberly College of Science, was named the University's interim executive vice president and provost, effective April 15. Longtime senate member Mary Beth Williams, professor of chemistry and senior associate dean of science education in the Eberly College of Science, will assume the role of acting dean of the college.

“Thank you, Neeli, so much for trusting me with this position. It’s a huge honor. It’s only been hours, but it’s been super exciting so far,” Langkilde said during her first remarks to the senate. “I have a lot to learn and I’m looking forward to learning and working with and supporting all of you. As you know, Mary Beth Williams is a longtime and experienced senator who has trained me through the years on how important faculty governance is and about all the incredibly important work you do. So, thank you so much; I'm excited to be able to engage with you in this new way.”

Bieschke also shared updates with the senate, noting that, out of an abundance of caution, Penn State is shifting the date of its fall commencement ceremonies to Sunday, Dec. 22, to avoid a potential conflict with the NCAA’s expanded College Football Playoff system. The change would not impact Commonwealth Campuses. She said she hopes to work with the senate on a long-term plan to avoid running into this conflict in the future.

Bieschke also noted she charged the new Faculty Safety Committee with beginning its work. The idea for this committee, which will be co-chaired by Seria Chatters, assistant vice provost for educational equity, and Kofi Adu, assistant professor of physics at Penn State Altoona, will address safety issues address safety concerns both inside and outside the classroom.

In response to a question that came up during the March Faculty Senate meeting, Bieschke said that a strategy has been developed with Faculty Affairs to survey non-tenure-line faculty to come up with a name that better describes that group. The surveys will be used to inform the final decision and the changes will not impact ranks and titles, Bieschke said.

Bieschke also informed the senate that the University is moving forward to work with Harvard’s Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) to engage in the Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey, a three-year process to measure faculty job satisfaction.

Impacts of new budget model

The Senate heard a presentation from and engaged in conversation with Senior Vice President for Business and Finance Sara Thorndike about the factors used to determine revenue allocation in the University’s new budget model, including weighted student credit hours, three-year student headcount averages, research incentives and tuition weighting in upper division undergraduate and graduate courses.

The data-driven budget model, adopted beginning in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 fiscal years, replaces the previous incremental budget approach with a new hybrid allocation model. The model is used to calculate allocations for units funded with education and general funds but not for self-supporting units such as Auxiliary and Business Services, Intercollegiate Athletics or the College of Medicine.

“We wanted a model that would have the ability to look at metrics but also provide what we call subvention, which are additional funds for strategic needs and other items that a budget model can’t properly account for,” Thorndike said. “We balanced trying to keep the model simple, while also having the flexibility to calculate for factors such as cost of instruction and student success.”

The income for the general and education budget is generated mainly from tuition and state appropriations, and some investment funds. While that revenue is funneled into the allocation model, $101 million is set aside as subvention – additional funds for strategic needs and to provide additional support to resource-intensive programs critical to the University’s mission.

The University also has $26 million in “carryforward” investment reserves that have yet to be allocated for the 2026 fiscal year. The expectation is that $20 million will go to the colleges and campuses and $6 million to administrative units, Thorndike said.

Thorndike was asked whether this type of revenue model penalizes the Commonwealth Campuses, where tuition is cheaper than at University Park, class sizes are smaller, and students may need more resources.

“A big part of our discussion on how the subvention should be allocated was many of the points that you just mentioned, which is why the campuses get $30 million in subvention compared to the colleges, which get $10 million,” Thorndike said. “We've also received a lot of feedback about how we do that weighting and we feel like it's very important to keep the tuition at the lower rate at the campuses because that is really supporting enrollments.”

Several senators commended the administration for an increased level of transparency when it comes to the budget allocation model and encouraged continuation. A special plenary meeting devoted to the budget, where Thorndike plans to go over the spreadsheets that contain the numbers from the budget model for each year, is planned to be held after final exams.

“I look forward to meeting with you in a few weeks when we will be providing the numbers from the actual budget model for each year, as well as what has been added back for salaries, faculty promotions and other adjustments so that we’re providing full transparency to what those numbers look like and continue to keep that spreadsheet updated,” Thorndike said.

Other business

Stine addressed the written response from President Neeli Bendapudi to the Agreement of Shared governance Cooperation the Senate passed during an off-cycle meeting in February. Among other details, the response from the president noted the creation of a task force on shared governance, on which Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs Kathy Bieschke, Senior Vice President for Research Andrew Read, and Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff Michael Wade Smith will serve alongside professors and faculty senators Amit Sharma, Beth King, and Roger Egolf.

“While we were disappointed that the administration did not sign off on the budget cooperation agreement and that it did not spur more conversation on some of the specific details, we are delighted that they have agreed to participate in the shared governance task force that we had asked for earlier,” Stine said. “We are very excited to dig into that work as soon as possible.”

The Senate also heard an annual update from Levon Esters, dean of the Graduate School and vice provost for graduate education. Esters announced the creation of a special task force charged with comprehensively examining the state of graduate funding at the University and identifying ways to improve funding for graduate students. The process will take about nine months to a year to complete, he said.

The Senate also:

Passed an advisory/consultative report recommending measures aimed at increasing the benefits of the Bursar Billing program, which allows students to charge for the cost of textbooks to their Bursar account and pay in installments. Recommendations include making more students aware of the Bursar Billing program, increasing the $500 credit limit and allowing students to use the service for required non-textbook course materials. The recommendations will be sent to University leadership for consideration.
Passed an amendment removing the two-year term limits for Senate Standing Committee members.
Congratulated six graduating student recipients of the John W. White Graduate Fellowship: Gabriella Achampong, Megan Conklin, Lindsay Conrad, Katelyn Farrar, Alyssa Lynch and Suzuka Yamane.
Thanked and said goodbye to senators who are ending their terms of service: Annie Taylor (College of Earth and Mineral Sciences), Fran Ruggiero (College of Medicine) and Mary Beth Williams (Eberly College of Science.)
Discussed reports from the Senate Committee on Faculty Benefits about pay disparities and retiree benefits and heard a presentation on student housing across Penn State.
Asked the administration to clarify the senate’s role in reinforcing the advising initiatives for increased investment and improvement in advising efforts across all campuses mentioned by the provost in faculty senate meetings last fall.

The next regular meeting of the Faculty Senate will be held at 1:30 p.m. July 9 via Zoom.

About Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate is a legislative body comprised of 200 faculty, elected by their peers from each college and campus. The senate also includes representatives from the undergraduate and graduate student body and University administration. The senate holds legislative authority on educational matters including curriculum, student policies, admissions, and retention/graduation requirements. The senate also serves as an advisory and consultative body to the University administration, a process referred to as shared governance.

Last Updated April 23, 2024