UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Student mental health and housing and food insecurity were among the topics discussed at the final Faculty Senate meeting for the calendar year on Nov. 28. The senate also heard updates on enrollment, state appropriations and the University’s anticipated general salary increase (GSI). 

The current generation of students and its needs 

University Provost and Executive Vice President Justin Schwartz led a discussion about the characteristics of Generation Z, roughly defined as individuals born between 1997 and 2012, which encompasses the majority of the current and future student populations. 

Schwartz talked about the findings detailed in the book “Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents — and What they Mean for America’s Future” by Jean Twenge. Compared to previous generations, Schwartz said Gen Z has been slower to reach some milestones, such as earning their driver’s license, drinking alcohol, dating, working for pay or becoming sexually active. 

“It means that many of our students are having these experiences for the first time not at home, not when they’re under their parents’ watch, not with their best friend right down the street, but having these experiences for the first time when they’re with us,” he said. “So, they’re coming with a different level of life experience when they come to us. And this affects the way they show up in class, and the way they present in terms of needing support.” 

Schwartz continued, “We talk often about our primary goal, our mission of student success, and we talk a lot about what is success. But we don’t talk as often about who are our students.” 

The provost said as the University carries out its teaching mission, it’s important for faculty and staff to understand Gen Z’s characteristics and needs as they interact with these individuals. 

In terms of current and future student needs, a separate presentation to the senate discussed  how Penn State is supporting housing or food insecure students and efforts underway to assist.   

Leanne Lenz, associate director of Student Care and Advocacy; Leslie Pillen, associate director of farm and food systems; Dan Murphy, director of Commonwealth Campus support; and Nick DiPierro, president of Lion’s Pantry, talked about learnings from the 2022 Food and Housing Needs Survey and the various resources across the institution available to students. 

Conducted in fall 2022 across the entire student population, a key finding of the survey was that more than 14% of students (across all campuses) indicated that within the last 30 days they did not eat for an entire day due to being unable to afford food. On the housing front, students who said they were facing difficult housing situations included living with others beyond the capacity of the house or apartment (5.3%) or having to move often (three or more times in the last 30 days) (6.5%). 

The presentation Tuesday let faculty know that the University has expanded resources, recognizing that food and housing insecurity impacts not only the health and well-being of students, but also their progress toward a degree. Available Penn State resources include, but are not limited to: 

• Student Affairs’ Basic Needs Support Center, which has expanded to include two full-time basic needs case managers at University Park and a new basic needs request form to help streamline requests. 

• Basic needs case management across all campuses, with all students eligible for support. 

• Students United Against Poverty and Project Cahir, which are designed to increase awareness of poverty and its effects on Penn State students and beyond. 

• Sustainable Food Systems Network, which includes the Dr. Keiko Miwa Ross Student Farm at Penn State, the Feed the People market stand and farms and gardens at the Brandywine, Beaver, Behrend, Fayette, Hershey and Shenango campuses. 

• Food Recovery Network, a new student organization dedicated to recovering food from campus dining commons and distributing it to people experiencing food insecurity. 

• Campus food pantries located at every Penn State campus, including the Lion’s Pantry at University Park. 

Individuals who wish to help can donate to the Student Emergency Fund and the Lion’s Pantry. 

Updates from the president 

Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi as part of her regular updates to the senate, shared some recent news related to the University’s fall 2023 enrollment numbers. Bendapudi said Penn State’s enrollment remained relatively stable, with a rise in residential (in-state) underrepresented student enrollment. 

“It’s something to be celebrated, but our work is not done,” Bendapudi said about the growth in underrepresented students at the University. She added that the University also has been able to stem the decline in enrollment at the Commonwealth Campuses. The University is looking to grow student numbers beyond attracting and retaining traditional-aged college students as one enrollment strategy. Penn State welcomed 16,239 first-year undergraduate students in fall 2023, and overall enrollment remains steady across the institution, 

The president touched on the recently approved state appropriation and Penn State’s continued desire for additional per-student funding, which remains below all other institutions across the Commonwealth. 

“I’m hoping that by talking constantly about tying funding to any kind of metric that we are going to get the legislature, the executive branch, to think about some sort of performance-based funding,” she said. 

With the approved 2023-24 state funding, Bendapudi said the University is moving ahead with its planned general salary increase (GSI). As she answered senators’ questions and concerns about the GSI, Bendapudi said she hopes in the future Penn State will be able to provide regular cost-of-living adjustments and merit-based raises to employees. 

“Over the long term, my hope is that we get to a place where every year we are able to count on something for cost-of-living adjustments or inflation and have a merit pool,” she said. “The goal is to make us a competitive place to attract and retain the best people that we can.” 

Bendapudi thanked the faculty for its work inside and outside of the classroom, as well as the efforts of staff and students. 

Updates from leadership 

In his remarks to the Faculty Senate, Schwartz: 

• Addressed questions about accessibility challenges to campus facilities and how the University is working to tackle them; 

•  Announced a planned shift of Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) from Penn State Information Technology to the University Libraries. Schwartz said the move will allow Penn State IT to focus on technology infrastructure as TLT’s mission more closely aligns with the University Libraries’ academic support work; and 

• Clarified that final grades for the fall semester are due at midnight on Tuesday, Dec. 19. He said the University will consider changing the deadline of final grades for future semesters. 

Other business 

The senate passed two recommendations related to the sabbatical leave policy (AC-17). The changes, recommended by the Senate Committee on Faculty Affairs, would expand the policy to include teaching and clinical professors and establish a joint task force to develop guidelines for professional development sabbaticals for teaching for non-tenure-line faculty. Both recommendations will be sent to President Bendapudi for consideration. 

The senate also: 

• Passed legislation to update the structure of its curricular affairs subcommittee and to clarify the rules on closed committee meetings. 

• Heard informational reports on efforts to update senate election guidelines; employee disability services and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act; Human Resources’ Benefits Mentor tool for the annual employee benefits open enrollment; and the University’s telephony transformation project.