UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — In its final meeting of the 2022-23 cycle, the Penn State Faculty Senate heard updates from President Neeli Bendapudi on the University’s state appropriation and continued support of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on affirmative action and use of race in admissions. The senate also discussed proposed changes to the 2024 health care plans, passed recommendations on further standardizing faculty workload across the University, and voted on revisions to its policy on auditing and visiting courses. 

Faculty senate also passed a positional resolution, affirming its support for antiracism and the principles of affirmative action, racial, social and environmental justice, as well as the ongoing University efforts in diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging. 

Updates from University leadership 

Less than two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court ended race-conscious admissions programs at institutions of higher education, Bendapudi in the senate meeting reiterated Penn State’s commitment to DEIB. Her remarks on the subject follow a University-wide statement on the ruling.  

“Penn State firmly believes — and I believe — the educational experience for everybody is deeply enriched when we’re in communities that reflect broad diversity, identity, perspectives and life experiences,” Bendapudi said. “Our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging is absolutely rock-solid and we will continue to pursue everything we can, given the narrow ruling on admissions.”  

Bendapudi also addressed uncertainty surrounding the state appropriations, after Pennsylvania’s General Assembly adjourned for summer recess without officially passing a budget. Regardless of what happens with state funding, Bendapudi said the University remains committed to upholding its mission of protecting access and affordability for its students.  

She reminded the senate about the upcoming July 20-21 Board of Trustees meeting, during which University leaders will seek approval for a two-year budget. The two-year, data-driven model is designed to enhance predictability and improve the strategic allocation of University resources to better control costs and place funding where it is most needed. She said she’s optimistic the proposed budget will show the University is making progress toward its goal of a balanced budget by fiscal year 2025-26.  

Pointing to recent news coverage of Penn State enrollment numbers, particularly media accounts regarding decreases in students at Penn State’s Commonwealth Campuses, Bendapudi said the University's support of the commonwealth mission remains strong.  

“The tone of the coverage might give some anxiety about our commitment to the Commonwealth Campuses. And I just wanted to reiterate again that we go back to our values and believe our Commonwealth Campus system is an amazing, distinctive characteristic of Penn State,” she said. “When you think of the access and affordability mission, when you think about students, staff and interdisciplinary research, the land-grant commitment, diversity, equity and inclusion and operational excellence, all of those are reflected every day in our Commonwealth Campuses.”

She also thanked faculty for their contributions to Penn State’s strong results in the 2023 QS World University Rankings by Subject — Penn State ranked in 41 out of 54 subjects across all five broad subject areas. Also, Penn State improved from 93 in 2022 to 83 worldwide in the 2023 QS Overall World University Rankings.  

“It's a big deal because that means we’re in the top 6% of universities in the world for our impact. It puts us No. 8 among public universities in the United States,” she said. “That is something that we would not be able to do without each of you as faculty. I just wanted to say that I'm so grateful to you and so thankful and, one year in, I'm very optimistic about how we project.” 

Jennifer Wilkes, vice president for Human Resources and chief human resources officer, answered questions from faculty regarding the University’s Compensation Modernization Initiative. The Penn State Human Resources (HR) team released an online preview of the new full-time staff catalogue in June.   

Senators expressed concerns over changes to some job titles and exemption statuses, and about how those changes might impact morale among staff members. Wilkes said none of these changes impact rate of pay, and that employees who feel they have been misplaced can speak with their supervisors and HR strategic partners to discuss their concerns.  

Proposed changes to 2024 health care policies discussed 

After meeting throughout the spring, the Senate Committee on Faculty Benefits, the Health Care Advisory Committee and Human Resources shared proposed changes to 2024 health care plans and recommendations with the full senate.  

Penn State is considering updates to health care contributions in 2024, for the first time since 2018. Though not yet finalized, proposed updates to 2024 plan contributions would see only modest monthly increases for employees earning less than $160,000 each year. Below that threshold, the proposed contribution increases range from between 22 cents and about $6 a month, depending on salary and what health plan an employee selects, while maintaining the current “Lion Traditional” and “Lion Advantage” plan designs. University leaders emphasized that the proposed approach is still under discussion with stakeholders and may yet change. 

The proposed updates to employee plan contributions have been designed to minimize impact on most employees while maintaining the University’s long-term commitment to pay 75% of employee health care costs. 

Under the proposed plan, employees who earn between $160,000 and $180,000, and employees who earn $180,000 or more, would see a larger increase in monthly premiums, between about $27 and about $84 a month, depending on salary and selected coverage options. 

Some faculty members questioned the salary tiers and why the contribution percentages don’t increase progressively past $180,000. According to Jill Musser, senior director of employee benefits, these tiers are in line with those of other Big Ten universities. 

“Since we won't be making any decisions on this until early fall, we have enough time to adjust whatever we need to in the systems,” said Sara Thorndike, vice president for Finance and Business. “Before any decisions are made early this fall, I would encourage faculty members to continue to communicate with other faculty benefit or health care advisory committee members so that we have their feedback, as we're looking at different alternatives and scenarios.”  

Human Resources and stakeholders will continue discussions throughout the summer. Updates are expected to be shared in September on the Human Resources Benefits website, in Penn State Today and on other University platforms.  

Email reminders regarding the annual benefits open enrollment process also will be shared with all benefits-eligible employees in September, and educational webinars will be conducted during October and November. All benefits-eligible employees can take advantage of the Benefits Mentor decision tool, available on Workday, to compare plans using their individual claims history. The Highmark concierge team will also be available for specific coverage and claims questions. 

Faculty workload recommendations  

The Senate Committee on Faculty Affairs presented an advisory report on faculty workload and recommendations to send to the president for how to make the implementation of faculty workload policies more equitable across the University.   

The report builds upon work done by a 2021-22 taskforce focused on creating guidelines to better standardize faculty workload across the commonwealth campuses. The senate committee’s recent evaluation of that data found that inequalities and variations in how workload is calculated across campuses still exist and that the current policies need updated to increase standardization.  

In addition, faculty interviewed raised concerns about variation in quality and quantity of service opportunities among campuses and consistency in expectations of what constitutes research, along with expectations for and recognition of advising workloads. 

The committee’s recommendations include sending a similar questionnaire to faculty across all units at University Park, reviewing and revising the guidelines from the original taskforce, and making the guidelines into enforceable policies while monitoring compliance with follow-up reporting of data. 

Committee members reiterated that these recommendations will serve as a starting point for updating these policies. The proposed recommendations passed, 78-23, and will be sent to University leadership for consideration.  

Visitation and auditing policy revisions 

The senate voted 113-4 to implement revisions to its student policy on auditing and visiting classes. The changes were proposed by the Senate Committee on Admissions, Records, Scheduling and Student Aid to better align these procedures with child protection policies and reduce risks for faculty associated with visitors in their classrooms.  

These proposed revisions were initially brought before the full assembly during its April meeting, when the senate voted to send the legislative report back to the committee to work on adding more specific language around exactly which visitors the policy applies to and how they are accounted for.  

Permission for visiting a class is based on the consent of the instructor and space availability. Minors not enrolled at Penn State may visit classes as long as they are accompanied by a parent or guardian or an authorized Penn State adult. The faculty members must also have up-to-date clearances on file with human resources. 

Other business 

The senate voted, 73-4, to pass a nonbinding resolution, reinforcing its support for the continued teaching of racial and social justice, and expressing solidarity with faculty, students and staff engaged in those disciplines. Positional resolutions passed by the University Faculty Senate are nonbinding statements that express the opinion of the senate on a particular subject.  

The Senate also 

• Received a response from Kathy Bieschke, vice provost for faculty affairs, regarding the administration’s process for reviewing and responding to advisory/consultative reports. Bieschke, along with Laura Pauley, executive director of the University Faculty Senate, developed a list of the advisory/consultative reports for the past two years, and will provide an updated version of that list at each Senate Council meeting that includes a few sentences on progress made. A link to this updated document will be included with the council minutes, beginning in August.  

• Heard a report about the Penn State Student Engagement Network’s Engagement App, which launched in January 2022, and website. The purpose of the app is to promote student engagement across all 24 campuses, including helping to inform students of various events, funding, job opportunities and other activities.