UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- It began, unofficially, in Schwab Auditorium on the University Park campus.
Before the Penn State Faculty Senate was founded as a formal body more than 100 years ago, the faculty of the University – still called the Pennsylvania State College at that time – found themselves in need of the opportunity to come together and discuss the business of the institution. And so they did, with no formal name or governing documents.
These informal “all faculty” meetings in Schwab Auditorium were the precursor to the modern Faculty Senate, the representative body of elected senators from across the Penn State’s colleges and campuses responsible for overseeing the University’s curriculum and the academic life of the University. These meetings ultimately led to the formal creation of the Penn State Faculty Senate in October 1921, with 56 official members in its first year.
The senate underwent significant transitions to its membership and structure in the 1960s and 1970s, ultimately leading to its contemporary form that broadly and intentionally represents the University’s diverse academic disciplines and campus locations. Today, 200 faculty representatives from across Penn State make up the Faculty Senate, which meets regularly in the Kern Graduate Building at University Park throughout the academic year to discuss wide-ranging business related to Penn State’s academic mission.
As the senate officially commemorates its centennial anniversary this year, Teaching Professor of Biobehavioral Health and Faculty Senate Chair Michele Stine said understanding and appreciating the senate’s history informs the body's ongoing commitment to its mission and to the shared governance of the University.
“The primary function and responsibility of the Faculty Senate is curriculum, instruction and all things related to the academic mission of the University,” Stine said, noting as universities and their faculties have grown larger and more diverse throughout their histories, having a formal body for faculty to fulfill that responsibility has become increasingly important. “It is crucial we act as both stewards of the curriculum and the University’s academic mission, but also as an advisory board to the administration. We bring together that knowledge of what’s happening at all the campuses and units across the University, so we can share that information and perspective with the administration in an efficient and productive way. That is shared governance.”
From the early days to “the new senate”
Building off those early “all faculty” meetings, the Faculty Senate was officially codified in October 1921 by then-University President John Martin Thomas, who led the institution between 1921 and 1925.
“Looking at those 56 members of the original senate, more than 11 of them have buildings named after them at University Park, names that most people at University Park would recognize,” said Roger Egolf, associate professor of chemistry and Faculty Senate historian. Among those names are William Frear, namesake of the North and South Frear Buildings; Robert Sackett, namesake of the Sackett Building; and Joseph Willard, namesake of the Willard Building.
The formalization of Penn State’s Faculty Senate occurred at roughly the same time as the founding of similar bodies at other universities, including many of Penn State’s contemporary Big Ten peers. Egolf said universities began establishing these bodies as college education became more widely accessible to more people, leading to the increased growth of institutions of higher education. As the faculty of an institution grew larger, it became increasingly difficult to schedule and run informal meetings that were open to all faculty members, thus leading to the creation of formalized faculty governance organizations meant to represent all faculty.
In the early days of Penn State’s official Faculty Senate, membership was by appointment rather than election. In 1966 under then-President Eric Walker, the senate officially became a body predominately composed of elected faculty members, which Egolf called “the start of the new senate.” This move toward a more broadly representative structure was continued in 1971 with the addition of elected faculty senators from all Commonwealth Campuses, and was further codified with a new constitution in 1975, which opened the senate’s committee membership to senators from all campus locations.
Egolf said these structural updates throughout the senate’s history are part of a deliberate effort to represent all faculty in an inclusive and democratic way, in order to best serve the University and fulfill the senate’s commitment to shared governance.