RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
UNIVERSITY SENATE
 
MINUTES: General Meeting of the University Senate

DATE: January 24, 2014

TIME AND PLACE: 1:10 p.m., Multipurpose Room, Rutgers Student Center, New Brunswick Campus

MEMBERS PRESENT: Alder, Alizadeh, Anderson, Angell, August, Avadhani, Baffo, Bagchi, Barchi, Barone, Beachem, Bell, Berman, Boikess, Bolden, Bridgeman, Buchholtz, Bugel, Cadoff, Caler, Cashin, Cimiotti, Cohen, Coleman, Copeland, Cotter, Covington, Creese, D'Anna, Dasari, Delnevo, Devnani, DiBona, DiVito, Edwards, Elkabes, Fagley, Fehn, Feldman, Fennell, Fernandez, Fiore, Fitzgerald-Bocarsly, Gallo, Geis, Gillett, Glaser, R. Goldstein, Gomes, Gould, Gower, Hackworth, Haibach, Heckscher, Hetling, Hyndman, Karamichael, Kenfield, Kietrys, Kressel, Jane Lewis, Lin, T. Liu, Maillet, Mapes, Markert, McKeever, Meggali, Midlarsky, Miller, Miranti, Mistry, Moomjy, Moore, Naus, Navrot, Niederman, Nieman, Norville, O'Connell, O'Connor, O'Malley, Oliver, Otto, Ottomanelli, N. Patel, S. Patel, Pintar, Pirrello, Puhak, Rabinowitz, J. Robinson, Rodriguez, Rothpletz-Puglia, Saltzman, Samant, Sambol, Scardino, Schantz, M. Schwartz, R. Schwartz, Shapiro, Shapley, Sheflin, Soskind, Spatocco, Spiegel, Stein, Stillwagon, Struwe, Szatrowski, Tesoro, Thompson, Thuno, Toney-Boss, Tsakalakos, Tursi, Uzun, Van de Walle, Wagner, Wang, Winkler, Winterbauer

EXCUSED: Ahmed, Allen, Apuzzio, Barraco, Benjamin, Burrell, Daniels, DeCastro, Farris, Gaunt, Gilman, Heider, Hughes, Kocak, Krymchanskaya, Lee, Jan Lewis, Lindgren, A. Liu, LoMonaco, Markowitz, Middleton, Mitchell, Padgett, Pavlovic, Redlawsk, Rhoads, Rivera-Medina, Scherrer, Sirkin, Suplee, Teters, Tiedeken, VanderHoff, Wurster, Zimmerman

ABSENT: Abu El-Haj, Amaya-Fernandez, Ameri, Amenta, Ansari, Aubry, Avakame, Balog, Barbarese, Joseph G. Barone, Bhatt, Cantor, Clarke, Clear, Connors, Davidov, Davis, DeLisi, Dietrich, Dominguez, Eastman, Edward, Eldasher, Falk, Farmbry, Farmer, Gajic, Ganesh, D. Goldstein, Goodman, Grabosky, Harris, Hinch, Holtzman, Holzemer, Holzer, Hudson, Jimenez, Johnson, Joshi, Katz, Krasovic, Kukor, Kumar, Laguna, Langer, Lara, Lindenmeyer, Lynch, Maher, Mao, Marchik, Mazurek, McIerney, Messer, Millonig, Nagarajan, Ortiz, Pandey, Postadan, Potter, Pratt, Pritchett, Reade, R. Robinson, Rodgers, Rogers, Sahi, Saito, Salmond, Schiavo, Schurman, Scotto, Shafer, Sheth, Simmons, Solomon, Spiegle, Stauffer, Strom, Taghon, Triner, Vaz, Vodak, Wasserman, Weigert, Wise, Yeagle, Yu,  

ATTENDANCE SUMMARY: Faculty: Of 131 total: 70 present (53%), 20 excused (15%), 35 absent (27%); Students: Of 56 total: 28 present (50%), 9 excused (16%),  19 absent (34%); Administrators: Of 43 total:  9 present (21%), 5 excused (12%), 29 absent (67%); Staff: Of 13 total: 10 present (77%), 2 excused (15%), 1 absent (8%); Alumni: Of 6 total: 5 present (83%), 1 excused (17%), 0 absent (0%)
View Senate Attendance Record for this year

PRESIDING OFFICER: Ann Gould, Chairperson

CALL TO ORDER, DETERMINATION OF A QUORUM, CHARGES, AND CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT - Ann Gould, Chairperson

Senate Chairperson Ann Gould called the meeting to order at 1:20 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room of the Rutgers Student Center, College Avenue Campus, New Brunswick. She welcomed all attendees to the first meeting of the calendar year, and thanked everyone for their committee work that morning addressing the proposal to merge two nursing units. She reminded the committee chairs that their reports on that proposal were due the following Wednesday. Gould also said that today would be the first time the Senate agenda would include reports of campus student liaisons, and that this item would become standard on future Senate agendas.

SECRETARY'S REPORT - Ken Swalagin, Executive Secretary

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Academic Standards, Regulations, and Admissions Committee (ASRAC) Response to Charge S-1206 on Academic Regulations, Student Achievement, and Effective Use of Resources - Martha Cotter and Dan Schantz, ASRAC Co-chairs

ASRAC Co-chairs Martha Cotter and Daniel Schantz presented their committee's report on Charge S-1206 on Academic Regulations, Student Achievement, and Effective Use of Resources. Cotter summarized the report, which was a response to the ASRAC having been charged as follows:

Academic Regulations, Student Achievement, and Effective Use of Resources: Examine how well current academic regulations and procedures serve to maximize student academic achievement and result in the most effective use of our resources. In particular, look at the effect on student achievement and use of resources of regulations and procedures related to (1) students retaking courses they have failed or withdrawn from many times; (2) replacement of grades when a student retakes a course; (3) dismissal of students for poor academic performance and readmission of students who have been dismissed; and (4) deadlines for withdrawal from courses. Suggest changes in policies and procedures where needed in order more effectively to foster student success and use limited resources.

Cotter said that, on the recommendation of Senate Parliamentarian Peter Gillett, Recommendations 1 and 5 would be considered separately, and 2, 3, and 4 would be considered as a group. Recommendation 1 was then adopted unanimously without question or comment from the Senate. Senator Gillett moved that Recommendation 3 be clarified to indicate that any given course could only be replaced once. The amendment was accepted as friendly by Cotter. On Recommendation 2, Senator Samuel Berman moved to increase the number of replaceable grades from four to six. The motion was seconded, and discussed. The motion failed by a large majority. Recommendations 2, 3, and 4 were voted on as a group and adopted with few opposed. Recommendation 5 was adopted without discussion, with one opposed.

There was no comment, question, or discussion from the Senate on the report. The report did not include any recommendations for change to current Rutgers policy or practice, and was therefore presented for information only. No vote was taken on this matter.

Academic Standards, Regulations, and Admissions Committee (ASRAC) Response to Charge S-1304 on Test-Optional Admissions - Martha Cotter and Dan Schantz, ASRAC Co-chairs

ASRAC Co-chairs Martha Cotter and Daniel Schantz presented their committee's report on Charge S-1304 on Test-Optional Admissions. Schantz summarized the report, which was a response to the SAC having been charged as follows:

Test-Optional Admissions: Look into whether test-optional admissions should be implemented for applicants to some or all of our undergraduate schools and colleges.

There was no comment, question, or discussion from the Senate on the report. The report did not include any recommendations for change to current Rutgers policy or practice, and was therefore presented for information only. No vote was taken on this matter.

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT - Robert Barchi, University President

President Barchi presented an administrative report, commenting on topics including:
As noted by Gould prior to the administrative report, Barchi kept his report brief and deferred responding to questions so that Interim New Brunswick Chancellor Richard Edwards would have more time to present his New Brunswick Campus Report.

NEW BRUNSWICK CAMPUS REPORT - Interim New Brunswick Chancellor Richard Edwards

Interim New Brunswick Chancellor Richard Edwards presented a New Brunswick campus report. Edwards' notes on the presentation, as well as the accompanying PowerPoint slides, have been posted online.

Edwards then responded to questions on topics including:
OLD BUSINESS: There was no old business.

NEW BUSINESS: There was no new business.

REPORTS OF THE REPRESENTATIVES TO BOARDS OF GOVERNORS AND TRUSTEES: Senator Samuel Rabinowitz, Faculty Representative to the Board of Governors, reported that the Board of Governors had not met since the previous Senate meeting, but would meet again on February 4 in Newark. Senator Menahem Spiegel, Faculty Representative to the Board of Trustees, reported on the December 19 Board of Trustees meeting.

CAMPUS FACULTY LIAISON REPORTS: Senator Samuel Rabinowitz, Camden Faculty Council Chairperson, reported that his group had not met since the previous Senate meeting, but would meet on February 7. Senator Martha Cotter, New Brunswick Faculty Council Chairperson, reported on her group's recent activities, including issuing a report and recommendations concerning the proposed New Brunswick honors college.

CAMPUS STUDENT LIAISON REPORTS: Senator Samuel Berman, New Brunswick Student Member of the Executive Committee, reported on New Brunswick student government activities, but noted that most groups had not yet met this semester. Senator Thomas Moomjy, a Newark student Senator, reported that Newark student leaders are looking at ways to improve the efficacy of student government in Newark.

ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 2:49 p.m.

Minutes Written and Submitted by,
Ken Swalagin
Executive Secretary of the University Senate