RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
UNIVERSITY SENATE
MINUTES: Regular Meeting
of the University Senate
DATE: January 23, 2009
TIME AND
PLACE: 1:10 p.m., Multipurpose
Room, Rutgers Student Center, 126 College Avenue, College
Avenue Campus, New Brunswick
MEMBERS PRESENT: Agarwal,
Barone, Beachem, Benovitz, Bhuyan, Blimling, Bodnar, Boikess,
Borisovets, Boylan, S. Brooks, Bumby, Burrell, Caprio, Ciklamini,
Cohick, Cooke, Cooper, Cotter, Creese, DeMoya, Dutta, Edwards, Ellis,
Figueira, Fishbein, Furmanski, Gao, Gillett, Gimenez, Gomes, Roe
Goodman, Gould, Grant, Greaux, Greenhut, Gursoy, M. Hall, S. Hall,
Hanebrink, Heckscher, Hicks, Holcomb, Hughes, Hyndman, Jaluria, Janes,
Kalekar, Kaplan, Katz, Kelly, Kemeny, Kind, Kowler, Kukor, Leath,
Leonard, Levinson, Li, Lintakoon, Loh, Lomiguen, Lynch, Mariscal,
Markert, Markowitz, Matsuda, McArdle, McCormick, McKeever, Messer,
Meyer, Miller, Minucci, Mittra, Molloy, Muse, Nolfi, Norville, Nycz,
Oliver, Panayotatos, Papathomas, Pavlik, Picarelli, Pignatiello,
Pinchuk, Prekopa, Rabinowitz, Rankin, Rocafort, Rockland, Rudman,
Rudrapatna, Schaffner, Schantz, Schnetzer, Schurman, Sheflin, P.
Simmons, Spiegel, Stauffer, G. Stein, J. Stein, Stevens, Stewart,
Sukul, Szatrowski, F. Thompson, K. Thompson, Tittler, Toney-Boss,
Traxler, Vitello, Vodak, Wagner, Walters, Y. Wang, Weber, Weigand,
Weinstock-Gallagher, West, Wild, Winterbauer, Yakal-Kremski,
Yannakogeorgos, Yares, Zullo
EXCUSED: Abercrombie,
Allender, Barrett, Blumenthal, E. Brooks, Bubb, Carr, Covey, Cowen,
DeLisi, Deutsch, Diner, Finegold, Gaunt, Gonzalez-Palmer, Robert
Goodman, Greenberg, Husein, Joel, Kanj, Levine, LoSasso, Malik, Marsh,
Palis, Perrone, Pottick, Rhee, Roth, Schramke, Sharp, R. Simmons,
Tomassone, Wyhopen, Yeagle
ABSENT: Adam, Alger, Anand, Appiah-Kumi, Brown,
Buckley, Chann, Cruzan, Davidson, Diamond, Foley, Gale, Glickman,
Gliserman, Goldman, Graycar, Guo, Habib, Hey, Holzer, Hussein, Kerkhof,
Kerrigan, Kociol, Koza, Lehne, Lemieux, Ludescher, Minsky, Mistry,
Niederman, Pedersen, Ramasamy, Rodgers, Schement, Simon, Solomon,
Stone, Thakuri, Tumer, H. Wang, White, Williams
ATTENDANCE SUMMARY: Faculty: Of 97
total: 62 present (64%), 15 excused (15%), 20 absent (21%); Students: Of 57 total: 36 present (63%), 6 excused (11%),15 absent (26%); Administrators: Of 36 total: 17 present (47%), 11 excused (31%), 8 absent (22%); Alumni: Of 6 total: 4 present (67%), 2 excused (33%), 0 absent; Staff: Of
10 total: 9 present (90%), 1 excused (10%), 0 absent
View Senate Attendance Record for
this year
PRESIDING
OFFICER:Samuel Rabinowitz,
Chairperson
CALL TO ORDER, DETERMINATION OF A QUORUM, AND CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT - Samuel Rabinowitz, Chairperson
Chairperson Rabinowitz called the meeting to order at 1:19 p.m.
SECRETARY'S REPORT - Kenneth Swalagin, Executive Secretary
- Agenda: The meeting's agenda was approved as distributed by the executive secretary.
- Minutes: The November 21, 2008 Senate Meeting Minutes were
approved as distributed by the executive secretary. [Note: Later in the
meeting, the Senate adopted a motion to amend the minutes to include
the tally of a roll-call vote conducted on the referendum guidelines
action item. The revised minutes were subsequently brought back to the
Senate at the February 27, 2009 meeting.]
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT - President Richard
L. McCormick
President McCormick presented
an administrative report which included comments on the following
topics:
- election of Barack Obama as President of the
United States, and Obama's general spirit of support for colleges and
universities, and opportunities presented by the proposed federal
economic stimulus package;
- enrollment and admissions;
- planned imiprovement and expansion of capital facilities;
- intercollegiate athletics, the ongoing search for a new director
of athletics, and Carl Kirschner's appointment as interim director of
athletics;
- implementation of the recommendations of the Athletics Review Committee;
- challenges to, and goals of, Rutgers in terms of education and service; and
- his commending of the Rutgers community for its commitment to shared goals.
President McCormick then responded to questions regarding diversity of faculty, and the recent Senate recommendations on tuition remission for part-time faculty.
NEW BRUNSWICK CAMPUS REPORT - Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Philip Furmanski
Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Philip Furmanski presented the
New Brunswick Campus Report, which included comments on:
- markers of excellence,
- facilities,
- academic opportunities for students, and
- notable external grants and contracts.
A complete list of the report's highlights is posted online at the link above.
Furmanski then responded to questions or comments on topics including:
- withdrawal of institutional sponsorship of the Study Abroad Program in Israel;
- development of online and Internet-based courses, particularly in the context of the current economic downturn; and
- possible implications of the financial crisis on promotion and tenure, and recruitment and retention.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE - Vice Presidient of Public Affairs Jeannine LaRue
Jeannine LaRue, Vice President of Public Affairs, reported, and
responded to questions, on state and federal legislative activities
affecting higher education, and Rutgers' activities and responses in
those areas.
OLD BUSINESS:
The Senate adopted Senator Jonathan Nycz's motion to amend the
previously approved November 2008 Senate minutes to include the tally
of the roll-call vote on the Revised Referendum Guidelines action.
NEW BUSINESS: There was no new business.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT:
Vice Chairperson Paul Leath reported on the
January 9, 2009 Senate Executive Committee meeting.
REPORTS OF THE REPRESENTATIVES TO BOARDS OF GOVERNORS AND TRUSTEES: Senator Ryan Cooke, Student Representative to the Board of Governors,
reported on the December 12, 2008 Board of Governors meeting. Senator Vodak,
Faculty Representative to the
Board of Trustees,
reported
on the October 30 and December 18, 2008 Board of Trustees meetings.
CAMPUS FACULTY LIAISON REPORTS: Chairperson Rabinowitz reported on the ongoing
Camden chancellor search. Senator
Stan Hall reported on the activities of the
Newark Faculty Council,
and also commented that Newark Chancellor Diner has said that
additional parking may not be available in Newark for another five
years.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 3:11 p.m.
Kenneth Swalagin
Executive Secretary of the University Senate