Lincoln University of Pennsylvania Faculty Meeting Minutes Tuesday, September 7, 2004 Dickey Hall Auditorium Dr. Nelson convened the meeting 4:07 PM. I. REPORT FROM THE STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION . . . Mr. Abraham Hoff, Jr., SGA President Mr. Hoff introduced himself to the president, vice-president, the deans and the faculty. Then Mr. Hoffman introduced the members of the SGA executive branch: Mr. Zchagiel Monroe, Vice-President of Internal Affairs; Mr. Brian Dowling, Vice-President of External Affairs; Mr. Clifton Thomas, Treasurer; Ms. Shari Hathaway, Secretary and Ms. Rayshell Dobson President Pro-Tempore. On behalf of the Student Government Association of Lincoln University, I would like to express our profound gratitude to you, the faculty for the patience and efforts you have displayed in advancing the great Lincoln Legacy of producing leaders in all works of life. The theme for AY 2004-2005 is academic excellence which the Student Government Association is implementing through a tutoring program and the distribution of free used books to students in need. We, the Executive Branch of the Student Government Association, would like the faculty to implement to following: 1. Inspire and challenge students inside and outside of the classroom 2. Help place educational materials on reserve, in the library. 3. Provide the director of the Library with a list of current educational materials that he/she can purchase for students' use. 4. Assist students in getting the cost of textbooks lowered. 5. Organize evening sessions for freshman that will address critical issues that they face. Again, thank for the patient efforts you have displayed in advancing the great legacy of Lincoln University. II. REPORT FROM THE PRESIDENT . . . Dr. Ivory Nelson All students have e-mail accounts. We will have some 2,000 new e-mail accounts in the system; however, this may present some challenges to our information technology system. At 11:00 AM on September 18th, the official groundbreaking for the new dormitory will occur. I would like to direct your attention to the blue handout. At Lincoln, the freshman class is the largest class; where do all these freshmen come from? There are 516 new freshmen this fall, but there are 244 more who are returning freshmen. Over 50 percent of our enrollment is made up of freshmen. Students are starting out with 15 credits, but drop a class and end up with only 12 credits. Now let me direct your attention to the green handout. You can see that this has been a continuous pattern, at least since, 1998. Therefore, half of the students are freshmen each year. On the other hand, I do not believe that half of the courses we offer are freshmen courses. So, we have an imbalance in the way we structure and offer our courses. And we have got to address it. We have not been offering enough freshmen classes and returning freshmen are taking spaces in freshmen classes that our new freshmen need. Moreover, it is very likely that 140 of the 280 sophomores should be juniors. We must look at the schedule to meet this problem. Dr. Prigg: I am glad you are raising the issue, but I have a question of the faculty: How many here are academic advisors? How many saw this problem two years ago? This problem is not new for us; I hope we do what we always say we are going to do and that is deal with the issue. Dr. Nelson: We have to deal with the issue. There is no way out of it. Dr. Chapp: Are these students failing or dropping. Don't we need to know what the data says. Dr. Nelson: Yes but we need to deal with the broader issue. Mr. Bryson: Is it not really a question of preparedness? Dr. Nelson: We know that the average SAT score for those graduated from the Philadelphia Public School System is 820, for those who take the SAT. Also, there is only one math course that is required before a student is graduated from the system. But, one of the things Lincoln University is about is students who are not well prepared. And what we need to do is to design the system to better serve all the students. Professor Davis: As a freshmen advisor I struggled to get students 12 hours. Dr. Babatunde: We need a plan to go from where we are to where we need to be. We have many remedial students and we must look at the quality of those admitted. Dr. Nelson directed the body's attention to an analysis of state funding for Lincoln University. He pointed out that the operational and capital budgets are separate entities. Dr. Nelson noted that in the operational budget the state appropriation was $12,942,000 in 2000-2001, but had dropped to $12,619,000 in 2004-2005. Lincoln University's operating revenue, which comes from state appropriations, tuition and fees, and fund raising, increased from $38 million to almost $46 million. That increase came from increased tuition, fees, and fundraising while state appropriations dropped. Therefore, if Lincoln University became too selective in its admission process, Lincoln would be forced to drastically cut its budget or drastically raise tuition costs because the percentage of the operating budget coming from the state has gone from 33.97 percent in 2000-2001 to only 27.58 percent in 2004-2005. With regard to the capital budget, which is completely separate from the operational funding, we see that Lincoln University has already received $10,000,000 in capital funds from the state in order to complete a number of projects including the renovation of Ware Center, the renovation of University Hall, and the removal of asbestos on campus. To renovate both the Ware Center and University Hall, we are forced to go into the operating budget to provide for temporary space while the renovations are taking place. The $65,000,000 capital request from the state includes $31 million for the new science building, $19 million for the international cultural center, $8 million for the renovation of the Student Union Building, and $6 million for the renovation of Grimm Hall. II. Action Items . . . . Grant D. Venerable, II, Ph.D., Vice-President for Academic Affairs A. A. The minutes from the April 27, 2004 meeting were approved pending the following corrections: Dr. Nelson convened the meeting at 10:12 AM rather than 4:12 PM as originally reported in the minutes. Also, under II D. Recommendations from the Nominations Committee, there should be a colon after Dr. Dade's name. B. The nominations slate for 2004-2005 Committees was approved. Note: Lectures and Recitals newly elected committee member is Dr. San-ky Kim, not Dr. Sam-ky Kim. III. Discussion Items A. Undergraduate Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. Susan Safford Dr. Safford addressed the body in order to make the case for Lincoln University developing a comprehensive, formal plan for encouraging undergraduate research rather than encouraging undergraduate research in an ad hoc manner. Among the benefits accruing to students under the development of a comprehensive plan include increasing student interest in their discipline, strengthening students' critical thinking skills, increasing attendance by Lincoln University students in graduate and professional schools, and preparing students for the rigors of graduate schools. Discussion focused on the importance of the humanities to research efforts in the contemporary world. B. Bookstore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. Melvin Leaman Dr. Leaman: Dr. Kwame and I have talking about what we both see as inadequacies in the operation of the bookstore. In the last 8 semesters, there has only been one semester in which I have not a problem with the bookstore. Dr. Nelson: You are as frustrated as we are. We let out a bid for the operation of the bookstore-no one wanted to bid. Dr. Herring: Price is also a problem-i.e. $100 for a textbook. Dr. Nelson: We do need to find a replacement. Online does not seem to be a solution from what I know of some of the online bookstores. Dr. Hoogeveen: I would like to say that the bookstore has handled orders for hundreds of books for English 100 quite well. Dr. Stine: One of the problems that our students run into so is the book voucher issue. The students are dependent on the voucher to buy book and they must use it at the Lincoln University bookstore, which never has the books. We are going into our third week and the students do not have books. C: "A necessity: In Pursuit of Academic Excellence at Lincoln". . Dr. Abdulalim Shabazz Dr. Shabazz: It is a necessity that each academic year includes a period of 2 to 3 days to prepare for finals. It is on the weekend before finals that some of the biggest parties occur. This should embarrass Lincoln University faculty. A reading period needs to be set up in which students can review and re-assimilate the knowledge that they have amassed during the semester. Dr. Louden: Are you proposing a reading week? Dr. Shabazz: I hope and dream of a day or two. Dr. Sekoni: I agree with most of your position-the academic culture goes down every year. If we had two days for study, would we not end up with more parties. Dr. Louden: We mold by example. Dr. DeBoy: We need to get in touch with student planning. We need other divisions like student planning to refrain from planning parties, dances, toga parties, comedy shows, etc. from Wednesday to Sunday. Dr. Dade: I agree with Dr. DeBoy. I want to tie this in with what Dr. Nelson was addressing-returning freshmen, returning sophomores. Dr. Flint: I want to echo what has been said. Dr. Millette: Last semester we charged a committee with presenting a report on Academic Excellence. Dr. Green: We have a report that is forthcoming. Dr. Siddique: We need to emphasize efforts to stop the drinking and so forth. IV. Announcements A. United Way Campaign . . . . . . . . .Dr. Melvin Leaman, Marvin Powell, and Ms. Carrie Freeman Dr. Leaman: about five months ago, I was asked to join the board of United Way. I realized this was a great opportunity for Lincoln University to connect with the community. In addition, I realized that many of United Way's activities are human service activities and that this could be an avenue to engage students in field service programs. Ms. Carrie Freeman of Southern Chester County United Way: Of the 100,000 people in Southern Chester County, United Way agencies have helped 13,000. United Way agencies help the people of Southern Chester County in a myriad of ways including low income health and dental clinics, food banks, and helping people with cerebral palsy. Marvin Powell: I got involved with Carrie and United Way because I was inspired by the fact that such a high percentage of the money goes to people in need. The meeting was adjourned at 5:49 PM. Respectfully submitted, Donald J. Bradt Faculty Secretary