The following is published in accordance with the Faculty Senate Rules. Among other purposes, the publication of SEC actions is intended to stimulate discussion among the constituencies and their representatives. Please communicate your comments to Patrick Walsh, executive assistant to the Senate Office, either by telephone at (215) 898-6943 or by email at senate@pobox.upenn.edu

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Actions

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Chair’s Report. After introductions, Faculty Senate Chair Steven Kimbrough welcomed the members of the Senate Executive Committee (SEC) and offered a brief review of the Senate and its structure. He indicated that the responsibility of SEC is to be the central mechanism for input and feedback between faculty and Penn leaders. He encouraged SEC members to serve as conduits for communication between the Standing Faculty and the Senate leadership. A full roster of SEC members is available on the Senate’s website (http://www.upenn.edu/faculty_senate/sec_members.html). Dr. Kimbrough described the recent redesign of the Senate’s website, which is intended to enhance efficiency and advance SEC’s role in communicating with the faculty. A faculty web portal is under development, which will serve as a repository for information presented to, and discussed by, the Senate, thereby making that information available to the entire faculty. Additional features are planned to expand the website as a faculty resource.

Past Chair’s Report. The report was deferred to a future meeting.

Faculty Handbook Amendment (Faculty Parental Policy, Section II.E.4). (See Almanac, May 28, 2019.) Following on SEC’s May 15, 2019, discussions of proposed revisions to the Parental Leave Policy, a set of questions and concerns was forwarded to Vice Provost for Faculty Anita Allen, whose written reply was shared with SEC members in advance of the meeting along with an amended draft policy revision. After discussion with Dr. Allen, SEC members approved the amended version of the Policy draft as presented.

Discussion of Draft Committee Charges.  The specific charges of the Faculty Senate standing committees were reviewed and approved. Discussion topics for future SEC meetings were proposed.  A SEC member suggested that Penn faculty should identify approaches to more systematically ensure that its faculty are nominated for positions in honor societies. Since nominations into these societies typically require past inductees to submit candidate nominations, the member suggested that SEC should propose a process to ensure that people who are positioned to submit nominations do so in order that those who deserve honor society participation are identified and nominated.

Ad Hoc Committee on Scholarly Communications. Senior leadership from Penn Libraries joined the meeting: H. Carton Rogers III Vice Provost and Director of the Penn Libraries Constantia Constantinou, Associate Vice Provost and Deputy University Librarian Jon Shaw, and Associate University Librarian for Collections Brigitte Weinsteiger. Ms. Weinsteiger and Dr. Kimbrough reported on their recent participation at the University of California’s “Open Access Tipping Point Workshop,” held in Washington, DC, on August 28-29, 2019. They together recommended that the Faculty Senate convene faculty and relevant stakeholders at Penn to discuss Penn’s role in communication and dissemination of scholarly research.  Following discussion, SEC members approved the creation of an Ad Hoc Committee on Scholarly Communications with the following charge: “The Faculty Senate’s Ad Hoc Committee on Scholarly Communication will convene for the 2019-2020 academic year with a focus on deliberating on current issues in the publisher ecosystem and the dissemination of scholarly research. Specifically, the Committee will evaluate how publishers are influencing, and at times inhibiting, the production of and access to information resources and explore opportunities to form unique partnerships and transformative agreements. The Committee will also address overarching issues (e.g., publisher influence, partnerships and publisher agreements, open access/scholarship, copyright and retention of author’s rights, privacy, new and experimental models for publishing, the production and dissemination of information), broadly disseminating a common understanding of the scholarly resource landscape and developments within it. The Ad Hoc Committee’s work will be prioritized by the group to keep interests aligned with the priorities of the Senate. The Committee may review some of the current topics and engender greater collective awareness of the issues involved. The Committee may delve into practices of the faculty in their various roles in scholarly production (e.g., as authors, editors, reviewers) and consider how, as a University, we can support greater dispersal of information resources developed and managed at Penn. The Committee shall have power to present reports and recommendations on any matter relating to scholarly communications to the Senate. The Committee shall be governed in its responsibilities and procedures by rules established by the Faculty Senate. The Committee’s work will be reviewed on a yearly basis by the Senate Executive Committee.”