UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — At the first meeting of the Penn State Faculty Senate of the spring 2023 semester, the senate heard updates from University leadership, including Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi’s goals for her presidency, in addition to other items of senate business.
Updates from University leadership
In her remarks, Bendapudi shared forward-looking insight into her goals as president in the coming years. She identified key priorities including enhancing student success and seeing that students graduate on time to best prepare them for lifelong achievement and career success; continuing to grow Penn State’s world-class research enterprise and expand the global impact of Penn State research, including through major research grants; improving Penn State’s internal operations and processes to make the University easier to navigate; and continuing Penn State’s mission of land-grant outreach and service to benefit the citizens of the commonwealth, while also building relationships in the state legislature and advocating for more equitable state appropriations.
Bendapudi also affirmed that enhancing DEIB across the University through accountable, data-driven strategies is a critical component of her presidency. A new publicly available dashboard, currently under development, will track DEIB-related data from across the University, helping leadership to make informed decisions on important topics including closing gaps in graduation rates across students of different backgrounds and identities, and improving recruitment, retention and advancement for underrepresented faculty. “You cannot have racial justice if you have not done this work,” Bendapudi said, “and you cannot have DEIB efforts if you haven’t achieved racial justice — it is at the heart of everything we do.”
Bendapudi also touched on several initiatives that have launched since beginning her presidency — including efforts to balance the University’s budget, the planned reunification of Penn State’s two law schools, and the optimization of shared services across the University.
Bendapudi noted that Penn State’s new budget allocation model allocates $50 million for investments in strategic commitments. In addition to other investments across the University, Bendapudi said some of these funds are intended for upgrading the University’s core research facilities to help maintain and expand Penn State’s research excellence and wide-ranging impact. She also affirmed that she plans to visit every academic college at University Park over the course of the spring semester to hear directly from their faculty, staff and students.
“We really are here with a sense of mission, and that mission is larger than any single one of us — it is to be sure we truly achieve the potential of Penn State, which resides in each and every one of you, in our staff, and in our students and alumni,” Bendapudi said.
Interim Executive Vice President and Provost Justin Schwartz celebrated Levon Esters being named the dean of the Graduate School and Penn State World Campus’ recent recognition as one of the top online degree programs in the nation. He also noted the panel to reunify Penn State’ law schools has been named by the school’s two deans and that the School of International Affairs unanimously voted to remain affiliated with the law school as that process moves forward.
Schwartz noted that work is underway on the first-year implementation the University’s new budget allocation model, noting that funds continue to exist in the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost dedicated to faculty diversification and retention. He also shared that a group of University leaders are working to refine how the University handles articulation agreements and transfer credits with international universities. These efforts are related to the growing population of college-aged students in India and the work of many Indian universities to establish partnerships with other universities around the globe. Schwartz identified this as an opportunity for increased revenue and enrollment, especially at the University’s Commonwealth Campuses. He noted that resources to support international students is an important element of this conversation and said the Faculty Senate will be an important partner as this work continues.
Other senate business
The senate passed a positional resolution, 142-9, expressing support for the Prison Education Program administered by the Restorative Justice Initiative housed within the College of Education. A positional resolution is a non-binding statement that expresses the senate’s opinion on a topic for the benefit of the University. The resolution notes that incarcerated students in qualifying programs will become eligible for federal Pell Grants beginning this summer and that the Prison Education Program is developing a bachelor’s degree program in rehabilitation and human services. The resolution recommends setting a tuition rate for the Prison Education Program in-line with World Campus tuition rates to reduce costs for incarcerated students.
The senate also received an informational report from the Faculty Senate Committee for Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity about Penn State’s record-breaking research expenditures. Associate Vice President for Research John Hanold shared that the University’s 1931 research expenditures totaled $388,761 — a figure that has grown to more than $1 billion in 2022. Penn State’s research expenditures represent wide-reaching impact and funding sources across the University as well as private industry, research foundations, and state and federal agencies.
The senate also heard a report on resources at Penn State to support data management and sharing policies and received several web-only reports on the BUILD @ PSU diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging education initiative; the senate’s annual undergraduate scholarships; the annual University faculty census report; and the University’s processes related to satisfactory academic progress for students who receive federal financial aid.
The next meeting of the Penn State Faculty Senate will take place on Feb. 28 in a virtual format.