Pennsylvania State University at Capitol Campus .
C MC. re 0 41 1 r
Volume 10, No. 5
By Harry H. Moyer
At the Feb. 13 meeting of
the Provost's Advisory Com
mittee on Student Welfare
held in the Gallery Lounge,
there was a major discussion
concerning the academic and
financial penalization of stu
dents absent as a result of
conditions at Three Mile Is
land.
During that discussion
Michael Sheldon and Mike
Cocciardi, SGA president and
vice-president, respectively,
suggested that the Provost
develop a "blanket policy" so
that all faculty members con
sistently recognize absences
due to Three Mile Island as
legitimate. Further discussion
centered upon the role of the
Provost in convincing the fac
ulty to follow his stance and
the possible need for an ap
peal mechanism for students.
It was noted that both class
attendance and - grades are
faculty prerogatives and that
the Provost has a limited
opportunity to affect an in
dividual classroom situation.
It was agreed that the Pro
vost would make an effort to
convince faculty to abide by
his statement of intention.
As a result of the discus
sion, the Provost has written
the following statement of in
tention to Michael. Sheldon
concerning financial and aca
demic penalization due to TMI
related absenses:
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Provost drafts
TMI statement
"In response to the con
cerns expressed by students,
regarding academic and fi
nancial considerations related
to incidents at Three Mile
Island, I would like to de
scribe our intentions.
"Two factors govern class
attendance at Capitol. The
first is a belief that class
instruction is important in the
development of students,
and thus students are encour
aged to attend all classes.
Secondly, each instructor has
a responsibility for establish
ing specific rules governing
attendance for his/ her
course. We recognize that
illnesses and other unforeseen
emergency circumstances will
arise, and students are allow
ed the opportunity to make up
work which is missed. Should
a situation develop where ra
dioactive materials are re
leased into the atmosphere
and individual - students feel
endangered, instructors
should provide the opportuni
ty to make up work which is
missed. This would include
scheduling a make-up exam
ination for any tests. Students
shall recognize their respon
sibilty to notify their instruc
tors if they miss class for any
reason. They shall make ar
rangements with their in
structor to complete assign
ments. In the event of a
release of radioactive mater
ials the campus administra
tion will be in contact with the
Consolidation of divisions planned for July
appropriate government offi
cials to 'determine whether
safety and health hazards are
posed by that occurrence
Should the situation warrant:
the campus will be closed or
appropriate guidelines issued,
as was true last spring. Spe
cific arrangements governing
the rescheduling of classes
and the reopening of the cam
pus will be announced.
"It is my belief that reso
lutions of student grievances
should occur in the least for
mal manner possible. As in
other situations involving
student/ instructor relations,
a student who feels that he/
she is being penalized by a
faculty member for reasons
related to conditions at Three
Mile Island should discuss this
GPP officers disappointed...
By Harry H. Moyer
The concert that was
sponsored by GPP on Tues
day night was a success for
almost all students that at
tended. The problem was that
only 150 students showed up.
As a result of the poor turn
out, most of the officers of
GPP have indicated their de
sire to resign.
In an interview with the
C.C. Reader, GPP President
Jay Redman, Vice-President
Annette Anasiewicz, and Ad
By Joan H. Klein
Plans are in progress at
Capitol Campus to consolidate
several of the nine present
divisions. The plan calls for a
new total of five.
These divisions have re
sulted: Science. Engineering
and Technology; Business;
Psychosocial Science and Ed
ucation; Humanities; Public
Affairs.
Engineering and Technol
ogy has combined with Math
Science. Administration and
Business Administration are
coupled, as are Education and
Social Science.
The reorganization means
some changes in administra
tive control. Details of tenure,
promotion and all personnel
actions will be dealt with
under one appropriate divi
sion head.
with the instructor. Should
the student and the instructor
be unable to resolve the mat
ter, the student should con
sult his/ her program head.
Each program head has a
procedure for reviewing con
cerns of students about in
struction. Should a student
find the results of this process
unsatisfactory, the student
should bring the matter to the
attention of the Associate
Provost Dean. Finally, the
Provost/ Dean would person
ally review any continuing
conflicts and attempt to bring
about a resolution.
" Related to these matters
is a question of financial ob
ligation. As was the case last
spring, should the campus be
vertising Chairman Joe Bruno
discussed their concern about
this Tuesday's concert and the
future of student events at
Capitol Campus.
"There are nearly 2400
students at this campus. We
worked very hard to offer a
good variety of music (one
band playing Top 40, one
playing Hard Rock) for the
students, and are very disap
pointed that only 150 students
came to the event," Redman
said.
Anasiewicz also expressed
her frustration with the poor
According to Dr. Duane R.
Smith, associate proVost/
dean, the new structure has
as its goals more efficient
handling of administrative
details. The changes should
have minimal effect on the
student body. All existing
programs and degrees will be
continued in one of the five
divisions.
There has been resistance
to the plan on the part of
individual faculty members,
according to Smith, on the
assumption that "larger is less
personal." He feels, however,
that objections can be over
come.
It is planned that the re
organization will be effective
Jul 1.
6 March 1980
closed, the administration of
this campus will, as it did last
spring, seek an appropriate
refund to students for any
services not provided. In the
area of housing and food ser
vice, for instance, we would
seek a refund for the differ
ence between the number of
days which the services were
actually available. In the
event that the campus does
not close down but individual
students choose to leave the
campus it would not be pos
sible for a refund to be pro
vided for housing and food
service.
"In all instances we antic
ipate that arrangements
would be made for the in
structional activities planned
for a normal term."
turnout. "I feel the students
have let us down," she said.
Four hundred students
were needed for GPP to break
even on the concert. Because
only 150 students showed up,
the committee lost around
$B5O on the concert. Even
though that might be a small
monetary loss compared to
concerts held at Capitol Cam
pus in other years, it is an
indication that Capitol is cur
rently not ready to host 'a
major concert.
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