UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania – During its regularly scheduled February meeting (Feb. 27), Penn State’s Faculty Senate and University leadership discussed updates on the ongoing Academic Portfolio and Program Review (APPR) and the strategic planning process. The senate also passed revisions to its standing rules and heard reports on topics such as student health services and the new Employee Assistance Program.
This marked the second public Faculty Senate meeting in February, as the senate held an off-cycle meeting on Feb. 14.
Committees working in tandem with University leaders on initiatives such as the Academic Portfolio and Program Review (APPR), consultation on the impact of the budget model on research and graduate education, and the implementation of blended learning programs gave reports on their progress, with the majority reporting engagement and consultation with the administration in various forms.
President Neeli Bendapudi shared that her office received the nonbinding “Agreement of Shared Governance Cooperation” passed during the early February meeting. The president indicated she will discuss it with the Board of Trustees leadership and looks forward to responding to the senate no later than the end of March as requested.
“My entire leadership team and I are committed to working with each group (in the senate), Bendapudi said. “I very much look forward to working with each of you on a bright future for Penn State and every Penn Stater.”
Budget and other updates from President Bendapudi
Bendapudi addressed the senate on the steps the University is taking toward creating a sustainable model for higher education, a necessary effort to confront changing demographics and stagnant funding from the state.
Bendapudi will be advocating for more funding for Penn State, which has for decades received less funds per student than other state-related institutions and schools within the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), during testimony Thursday in front of the Pennsylvania House Budget Appropriations Committee. The president said one aspect of her testimony will be to make the case for more equitable, performance-based funding.
“I want to make clear that we are not asking that funding should be reduced for any of our peers. Pennsylvania is at the bottom in terms of funding for per student education,” Bendapudi said. “But this much disparity in funding per student at all of our campuses, including University Park, is a challenge that is honestly too much for us to bear. We must have the state step up to support us.”
Based on 2022-23 data, Penn State received state funding of approximately $5,757 per Pennsylvania resident undergraduate, well below the national average and significantly behind the per-student support received by the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education ($8,754), Temple University ($9,233) and the University of Pittsburgh ($9,436).
Additionally, a potential benefit to performance-based funding, according to Bendapudi, is the ability to allocate increased funding through subvention and other tools to areas across the University that have unique teaching requirements or a need for strategic investment, such as the liberal arts and the humanities.
She also reiterated her support for the impact the Commonwealth Campuses have on their communities by highlighting two recently announced public-impact research funding opportunities. The Presidential Public Impact Research Awards (PPIRA) and Commonwealth Campus Undergraduate Community-Engaged Research Award (UCERA) programs. The programs are intended to provide additional support for researchers and students at Commonwealth Campuses who are conducting impactful work that benefits their communities and improves the well-being of Pennsylvanians. Applications are being accepted until April 12.
Bendapudi addressed questions she said her office has received about the necessity of the APPR and whether the University would be undergoing the process if it weren’t facing budget challenges in 2025-26.
“As those of you who work with students know ... part of the reason people come to get a college degree is the hope it will make a difference for their family and their communities,” she said. “So, we are constantly asking ourselves, is the curriculum we’re providing, the modality in which we’re delivering it, and the way we are teaching making a difference for our commonwealth and matching what our students want?”
Bendapudi said that through the APPR, faculty and staff are able to determine that Penn State is providing the courses and community engagement that is most in demand and most impactful.
Questions from faculty members in the senate focused mainly on the new data-driven budget model and 2025-26 budget allocations that were laid out in the major ‘roadmap’ update released Jan. 22. Several faculty senators raised concerns about how reductions in allocations would impact Commonwealth Campuses, including efforts to increase enrollment and graduation rates for low-income and first-generation students.
Bendapudi said her goal is for performance-based funding from the state to prioritize metrics that give weight to enrollment and graduation of first-generation and low-income students.
The state of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) and antiracist education were also topics of discussion. Some senators voiced concerns that budget reductions would threaten investments in those initiatives.
The president affirmed her continued commitment to these efforts, highlighting the $2 million investment the University made in DEIB efforts in fiscal year 2024, with the same investment expected again in 2025 — including additional support for the Center for Black Digital Research and Penn State Dickinson Law’s Antiracist Development Institute.
Strategic Plan and APPR progress
As the strategic planning process progresses to its second phase, Executive Vice President and Provost Justin Schwartz gave an update on the appointment of new teams that will lead work over the spring and summer. The workgroups are charged with advancing President Bendapudi’s six key goals over the six-phase process.
Building on the information gathering and analysis work done in the first phase, the six groups— starting with those aligned with student success and DEIB — will be drafting strategies and measuring progress, Schwartz said. As the teams make progress, work will begin on the research and land-grant impact goals, followed by goals to transform internal operations and the health enterprise.
“We have reached out to the senate’s Committee on University Planning for ideas on how to engage them and the senate throughout this process,” Schwartz said. “The drafts that will emerge from these teams will also be shared with the University community, including the senate, for their ideas and feedback. We also plan to engage the standing committees in the senate directly during this feedback process to make sure that back-and-forth is built into the system.”
Schwartz thanked those who participated in the previous week’s elected senators meeting focused on the APPR. He said their feedback is being incorporated into the core steering committee’s thinking and planning.
Since his last update to the full senate, Schwartz said that the steering committee, which includes faculty and staff from across the University, has been expanded, and that adding student representatives is in progress as well. He said nominations are still being sought for people to serve on the emerging working groups, which will focus on areas such as working with an external consultant to gather data and review recommendations, and engaging with the Penn State community throughout the process. Descriptions of the working groups and nomination forms can be found on the newly launched APPR website.
Schwartz said a working meeting with the Graduate Council, similar to the recent meetings with the Academic Leadership Council and elected faculty senators, is in the works.
“I want to thank everybody who has either nominated themselves or someone else to be a part of this enterprise,” Schwartz said. “As of 1:25 p.m., we had 267 nominations through the website, which is truly wonderful. Right now, we are building a team to address the details. So, please continue to engage through comments and volunteerism.”
Schwartz also addressed progress made working with senate standing committees, including on the length on non-tenureline contracts at Commonwealth Campuses and the hiring of a vice president for Inclusive Excellence.
The meeting was interrupted by a ‘Zoom bombing’ near the end by an unknown individual using hateful language, who was quickly removed from the meeting. The University released a statement, denouncing the act of hate and harassment, and affirming Penn State’s commitment to creating a welcoming and inclusive environment free of bias and discrimination. Faculty Senate Chair Michele Stine also apologized and denounced the incident, thanking the senate staff for quickly ejecting the individual from the online meeting.
Other Business
The senate heard an informational report on Penn State’s new Employee Assistance Program, SupportLinc, which became available to employees Jan. 1. SupportLinc offers access to confidential resources related to emotional well-being and work-life balance for employees, their spouses and dependents, and people living in their households.
In addition to face-to-face, brick-and-mortar support, SupportLinc also offers virtual video counseling and text therapy.
“We have had 267 engagements with SupportLinc to date since Jan. 1,” said Jill Musser, senior director of employee benefits. “Connecting with mental health providers is a huge challenge and having the ability to connect with someone quickly to help you with your situation is an absolute resource.”
The senate also heard a report from the Council of College Multicultural Leadership (CCML), during which several senators expressed interest in expanding the council from academic colleges to also cover campuses and other units.
They also heard a report on student health resources and services across all campuses, which includes access to a 24/7 advice nurse that students can call any time to help them determine whether they need immediate attention and to provide tips for self-care.
The senate also:
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Voted to pass legislative reports clarifying the nominations and elections timelines for senate officers and other positions to reflect the more flexible calendar passed last year; and amending the standing duties of the Committee on Committees and Rules to specifically mention the advisory nature of the committee.
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Held a discussion about challenges related to tracking research expenditures in SIMBA. The informational report detailed obstacles related to transactions, training and reporting. The discussion included updates on progress made on addressing these challenges.