PRESIDING OFFICER: Paul Panayotatos, Chairperson

CALL TO ORDER, DETERMINATION OF A QUORUM, AND CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT - Paul Panayotatos, Chairperson

Chairperson Panayotatos called the meeting to order at 1:13 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room of the Rutgers Student Center, College Avenue Campus, New Brunswick. He welcomed everyone to the first Senate meeting of 2012, which he predicted would be an "interesting year." Panayotatos's chairperson's report included comments on:

• the Senate Executive Committee's acceptance, by acclamation, of Newark student Senator Daniel Rosario's volunteering to serve as the Newark student member of the Executive Committee;
• recent discussions and activities of the Senate's Ad Hoc Shared Governance Task Force, formerly chaired by Panayotatos, and now chaired by Senator Peter Gillett, and the task force's recent issuing of charges on the Senate's composition to the University Structure and Governance Committee; and
• the report of the UMDNJ Advisory Committee, and the Senate's swift, negative response to some similar recommendations issued years ago in the Vagelos Report.

SECRETARY'S REPORT - Ken Swalagin, Executive Secretary of the Senate

• Agenda: Executive Secretary Swalagin said that the agenda would be changed to place the New Brunswick Campus Report before the Administrative Report. So changed, the meeting's agenda, including time limits, was approved by the Senate.
• Minutes: The Minutes of November 4, 2011 Senate Meeting were approved as distributed by the executive secretary.[Note: December 2011 Senate activities were dedicated to committees. The full Senate did not meet.]  
• Communications: The following communication was presented by the executive secretary:
• President McCormick's Response to Senate report and recommendations on Charge CI-1106 on Input to the Code of Student Conduct. Academic Standards, Regulations and Admissions Committee (ASRAC) Co-chair Martha Cotter commented on the response, which she described as a compromise agreed upon by the ASRAC chair and the administration, and one which she believes is a less-cumbersome, improved approach than the Senate's original recommendations.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Instruction, Curricula and Advising Committee (ICAC) Response to Charge S-1105 on Recording of Presentations - Natalie Borisovets, ICAC Chair, summarized her committee's report and recommendations on Recording of Presentations. Following very brief discussion, the report was adopted by the Senate.

Academic Standards, Regulations and Admissions Committee (ASRAC) Response to Charge S-0807A on Add/Drop Period - Dan Schantz, ASRAC co-chair, summarized his committee's report and recommendations on the Add/Drop Period. Schantz and ASRAC Co-chair Martha Cotter responded to questions from the Senate, after which the report was adopted unanimously.

Academic Standards, Regulations and Admissions Committee (ASRAC) Response to Charge A-0906B - Academic Calendar, Commencement Dates, Part 2 - Permanent Change of Commencement Dates- Martha Cotter, ASRAC co-chair, summarized her committee's report and recommendations on a Permanent Change of Commencement Dates, and read the resolution contained in the report, after which the report was adopted by the Senate. 

OLD BUSINESS: Chairperson Panayotatos asked Ad Hoc Shared Governance Task Force (AHSGTF) Chair Peter Gillett to comment on the activities and plans of the AHSGFT. Gillett explained that the main focus of the task force was to look at shared governance at Rutgers generally, and the perception thereof. He said that there will be continued discussion regarding the size of the Senate, and that, although he does not expect to have a report on those discussions at the next Senate meeting, he will have some summary for the Senate by the end of the academic year.

NEW BUSINESS: Senator and Faculty Representative to the Board of Governors Sam Rabinowitz moved a resolution on the proposal to merge Rutgers-Camden with Rowan University. The proposal had been endorsed that morning by the Senate's Student Affairs Committee, University Structure and Governance Committee, and Faculty and Staff Caucuses. The resolution was duly seconded, discussed briefly, and adopted by the Senate as follows:

Rutgers-Camden is an essential part of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and of the Rutgers University Senate, and must remain so. Therefore, the Rutgers University Senate is strongly against any action which would remove Rutgers-Camden from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. We support the consortium model for strengthening higher education in South Jersey, which allows both Rutgers-Camden and Rowan University to retain their unique identities and cultures.

NEW BRUNSWICK CAMPUS REPORT - Interim Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Richard Edwards

Interim Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Richard Edwards presented a New Brunswick campus report, which included comments on:

• integration of Rutgers University with the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Cancer Institute of New Jersey, and School of Public Health;
• a higher education bond issue that may be on the ballot in November, and ongoing evaluation of proposals for activities and facilities at Rutgers that may be funded through such a bond issue;
• expansion of Rutgers programs locally and globally, including international programs in China, Liberia, India, and Brazil;
• achievements, awards, and honors of faculty, staff, and students;
• enrollment and admissions;
• the wide range of outstanding programs at Rutgers, many of which are ranked in the top ten nationally, and many more of which are ranked in the top 20; and
• faculty research funding, which remains strong.

Edwards then responded to questions regarding censorship by the Chinese government, details of the higher education bond issue, and efforts to combat crime on campus.

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT - President Richard L. McCormick

President McCormick presented an administrative report, which included comments on topics including:

• departure of football coach Greg Schiano, who is leaving Rutgers to coach the Tampa Bay Buccaneers;
• recommendations, both expected and unexpected, of the governor's advisory committee on UMDNJ; and
• implications contained in that UMDNJ report that will, or may, affect Newark and Camden campuses.

McCormick then responded to questions, or heard comments, primarily on concerns related to the proposal to merge Rutgers-Camden with Rowan University.

REPORTS OF REPRESENTATIVES TO BOARDS OF GOVERNORS AND TRUSTEES: Senator Samuel Rabinowitz, Faculty Representative to the Board of Governors, reported on the December 14, 2011 Board of Governors meeting, and said that the next Board of Governors meeting would be held in Camden on February 15. Senator Martha Cotter, Faculty Representative to the Board of Trustees, reported on the December 1, 2011 Board of Trustees meeting.

CAMPUS FACULTY LIAISON REPORTS: Senator Joel Shapiro, chair of the New Brunswick Faculty Council, reported that contingents from the New Brunswick Faculty Council (NBFC) and University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) had met recently to discuss the planned merger of some UMDNJ units with Rutgers, and had discussed how the UMDNJ faculty could be integrated into the NBFC.

ADJOURNMENT: On motion and duly seconded, the meeting adjourned at 3:34 p.m.

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