DATE:  January 20, 2006

MEMBERS PRESENT:  Adarkwa, Alger, Allender, Ambar, Apfel, Atmeh, Axelrod, Barone, Bell, Bellany, Blimling, Bodnar, Boikess, Borisovets, Boylan, Bravo, Brazier, Cannon, Capuano, Chabal, Cohen, Coit, Colaizzi, Cole, Colin, Cooke, Cotter, Curtis, Darien, DeLisi, DeLuca, E. Dennis, Dent, Dhillon, Dutta, Edwards, Elkholy, C. Ellis, Feinberg, Finc, Fishbein, Friedrich, Furmanski, Gigliotti. Gillett, Gimbar, Goodman, Gould, Greenhut, Guo, Hall, Hart, Heckscher, Herrera, Hughes, Jackson, Johnson, Kagan, Kalelkar, Kanj, Kirby, Kirschner, Klepac, Kokini, Krenos, Laguna-Diaz, LaSala, Lashley, Leath, Lee, Liepmann, MacArthur, Maher, Mandelbaum, Markert, Markowitz, Martin, Mauroff, McCabe, McCormick, McKay, McKeever, Melwani, Meyer, Miller, Mohammed, Mulcahy, Muller, Ng, Niederman, Norville, Obayashi, Ocone, O’Connell, Oren, Ozbay, Palmon, Panayotatos, Pittman, Potenza, Samuel Rabinowitz, Sidney Rabinowitz, Reed, Rubin, Schaich, Schein, Schorr, Scott, P. Simmons, R. Simmons, Simon, Smith, Spero, St. John, Stauffer, Sukhdeo, Tittler, Tuckman, Turpin, Van Til, Vera, Vodak, Volk, Wang, Whitfield, Williams, Winterbauer, Wyhopen, Young, Zhitkevich

EXCUSED:  Caprio, Carr, Downs, N. Ellis, Farrell, Gaunt, Hmelo-Silver, Kennedy, Marsh, Messer, O’Connor, Puniello, Rabiner, Schock, Spiegel

ABSENT:  Aladdin, Banerjee, Barbarese, Bartosek, Bernstein, Boehmer, Breton, Butler, R. Dennis, Deutsch, Diner, Fincher, Fleming, Gyenfie, Hallmark, Hankins, Hyndman, John, J. Jones, Kavanagh, Klein, Labib, Lipman, Livingston, Marchetta, Nelson, Poyznyer, Reynolds, Ruiz, Sherman, C. Simmons, Snyder, Solomon, Spat, Stroud, Turner, Whang, Zaborszky

  View Senate attendance record for this year

PRESIDING OFFICE:  Martha Cotter, Chairperson

The text of Senator Bell's eulogy of Richard P. McCormick is online at http://senate.rutgers.edu/rpmccormickeulogybybell.html .

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY:  Agenda:  The agenda was approved as distributed by the Secretary.
Minutes:  On motion and duly seconded, the Minutes of the December 9, 2005 Senate special meeting were approved as distributed by the Secretary.  

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT:  President McCormick thanked Senator Bell and all members of the Rutgers community for their condolences on the death of his father.

President McCormick's administrative report included comments on:

• The administration's response to the Senate's report and recommendation on FAIR vs. Rumsfeld:  Noting that equal opportunity for all is very important at Rutgers, he explained that Rutgers decided not to file a separate brief in the case because it was deemed preferable to speak with a united voice through national institutions.  He added that, whatever the outcome of the FAIR vs. Rumsfeld litigation, Rutgers will remain committed to equal opportunity.  [President McCormick's response to the Senate's report on this matter is available online at http://senate.rutgers.edu/rlmackfairvrumsfeld.html.  The Senate Equal Opportunity Committee's Status Report, and the related Resolution adopted by the Senate are also available online.]
  

• Task Force on Undergraduate Education (TFUE):  President McCormick expressed his appreciation for the Senate's and Rutgers community's "earnest deliberation" on the TFUE Report and recommendations.  He said that, after the Senate's response in February 2006, he would complete his own recommendations and principles for the Board of Governors, and thereafter the task of implementation planning would begin.  [The text of President McCormick's e-mailed message to the Rutgers community on this issue is available online at http://senate.rutgers.edu/rlmtfueupdate020106.html.]

• State of New Jersey:  President McCormick said that Governor Corzine came to office at a time when New Jersey has a $5 billion state budget deficit, but that he has shown that he understands what universities -- and especially research universities -- are and do, as well as their importance.  McCormick said he will enlist all avenues of communication to work toward the best possible outcome for Rutgers in the context of the state budget issues.

FIRST-PHASE RESPONSE AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE TASK FORCE ON UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION REPORT

Chairperson Cotter relinquished the chair to Vice Chairperson Rabinowitz so she could present the Senate's first-phase response to the Task Force on Undergraduate Education Report.  The Senate's response had been assembled from elements of Senate standing committee reports on the TFUE by a steering committee which consisted of the members of the Senate Executive Committee and co-chairs of its standing committees.  Cotter, as chair of the Executive Committee and Steering Committee, presented the report, noting that the issues to be addressed today were considered to be less complex or controversial than those which would be addressed at the Senate's February 24 meeting.

The report and its recommendations were discussed at length.  Numerous motions and amendments were made and either adopted or defeated, resulting in a revised first set of recommendations which will be incorporated into a full report and recommendations to be finalized at the February Senate meeting.  The report which was considered, amended, and adopted by the Senate during this meeting is posted online at http://senate.rutgers.edu/taskforceresponseroundone.html.

NEW BRUNSWICK CAMPUS REPORT - Philip Furmanski, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

Executive Vice President Furmanski delivered the New Brunswick Campus Report, which included comments on:

• his appreciation for everyone's participation in the Task Force on Undergraduate Education discussions, and the need for continuing dialog and dynamic process to bring about "What could be" and to realize the enormous positive implications of the efforts to transform undergraduate education in New Brunswick;
• awards to faculty and students;
• administrative appointments, including Robert Goodman (Executive Dean of Cook College), Richard Edwards (Dean of the School of Social Work), Richard DeLisi (Dean of the Graduate School of Education), Kenneth Breslauer (Vice President for Health Science Partnerships), Michael Pazzani (Vice President for Research and Graduate Education), and Sybil James (University Ombudsperson)
• administrative searches, including Dean of the School of Management and Labor Relations, Dean of the School of Business:New Brunswick, and Vice President for Enrollment Management;
• recent events such as the visit of the Dalai Lama, and the football team's participation in its first-ever out-of-state bowl;
• institution-wide academic programs, and his and President McCormick's vision of developing "signature" academic programs at Rutgers;
• grants and program funding;
• curricula and faculty diversity and interests; and
• challenges facing Rutgers, including the state budget situation, the need for capital improvements, increasing costs of utilities and fuel, and funding for negotiated salary increases.

Executive Vice President Furmanski closed his report with thanks to all who help and work to move Rutgers forward.

ADJOURNMENT:  The meeting adjourned at 4:04 p.m.