RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
UNIVERSITY SENATE

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 1:18 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room of the Rutgers Student Center, College Avenue Campus, New Brunswick. His chairperson's report included comments on:

• his revisitation of an external committee report commissioned by then-President Edward Bloustein in 1986 to review promotion practices at Rutgers when Rutgers was then poised to become a comprehensive research university;
• that report's conclusion that Rutgers faculty bore the responsibility of demonstrating that excellence in an institution with a unionized faculty can exist; and
• his belief that Rutgers faculty has fulfilled that responsibility.

SECRETARY'S REPORT - Ken Swalagin, Executive Secretary

• Agenda: The meeting's agenda, including time limits, was approved by the Senate.
• Minutes: The Minutes of the February 25, 2011 Senate Meeting were approved as distributed by the executive secretary.
• Communications: The following communications were presented by the executive secretary:
  • Call for Nominations for 2011-2012 Senate Officers and Executive Committee Members, and Representatives to the Boards of Governors and Trustees - Send nominations to the Senate Secretary. While unit elections for next year are pending, continuing Senators or those who are likely to be elected to the Senate may be nominated.
  • The April 29, 2011 Senate meetings include the first (organizational) meeting of next year's Senate, at which an election will be held for the positions described in the Call for Nominations, above, as well as the last meeting of this year's Senate. The day's proceedings may begin at 10:30 or 11:00 a.m. The start time will be determined by the Senate Executive Committee at its April 8, 2011 meeting.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

University Structure and Governance Committee (USGC) Response to Charge S-1014 to Review New Brunswick Student Senate Membership  - Peter Gillett, USGC Chair
USGC Chair Peter Gillett summarized his committee's report and recommendations on Charge S-1014, on Review of New Brunswick Student Senate Membership. The report and its recommendations were then adopted unanimously by the Senate on card vote.

Academic Standards, Regulations and Admissions Committee (ASRAC) Follow-Up Report on the January 2010 Senate ASRAC Response to Charge S-0807, Add/Drop Period - Martha Cotter and Dan Schantz, ASRAC Co-chairs
ASRAC Co-chair Martha Cotter summarized her committee's follow-up report and recommendations on Charge S-0807, on the Add/Drop Period. Following brief discussion, the report and its recommendations were then adopted by the Senate on card vote.

OLD BUSINESS: There was no old business.

NEW BUSINESS: There was no new business.

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT - President Richard L. McCormick

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

• his response to a question on the status of faculty salary increases, which he said are in various stages of arbitration and negotiation;
• the federal budget, and its proposed reductions in student and research support;
• the January 4 report of Governor Christie's Task Force on Higher Education, which was chaired by Former Governor Thomas Kean;
• Governor Christie's anticipated appointment of the Executive Order 51 committee which will take up all of the recommendations in the Task Force on Higher Education report, including those related to UMDNJ, and the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School becoming part of Rutgers;
• his meeting last week with Richard Bagger, Governor Christie's chief of staff, at which the report was discussed;
• his invitation for everyone to attend Rutgers Day on the last Saturday in April; and
• University Commencement, which will be held in a one-hour format and at Rutgers Stadium for the first time this year, and which will include Toni Morrison as the speaker.

President McCormick then introduced Rutgers' newly appointed Vice President for Public Affairs, Peter McDonough, who spoke about his background, and his plans and ongoing activities in his position as Vice President for Public Affairs. He responded to questions from the Senate, focused primarily on the budget, state and federal support for Rutgers and student financial aid, and the economic and social contributions Rutgers and its graduates make to the state and nation. McDonough invited comments to be made directly to him by phone or by email.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT: Vice Chairperson Ann Gould reported on the March 11, 2011 Executive Committee meeting.

REPORTS OF REPRESENTATIVES TO BOARDS OF GOVERNORS AND TRUSTEES: Senator Cotter, Faculty Representative to the Board of Governors, said that the Board of Governors had not met since the previous Senate meeting. Senator Rabinowitz, Faculty Representative to the Board of Trustees, said that the Board of Trustees had likewise not met since the previous Senate meeting, but was scheduled to meet next on March 31. 

CAMPUS FACULTY LIAISON REPORTS: Senator McKeever, chair of the New Brunswick Faculty Council, reported that the New Brunswick Faculty Council would meet on April 1, and would address a full agenda.  There were no reports from Camden or Newark faculty liaisons.

COMMITTEE-OF-THE-WHOLE DISCUSSION on Shared Governance, and on the Proposal for Establishing a School of Nursing at Rutgers-Camden

A committee-of-the-whole discussion on shared governance issues and the proposal for a new school of nursing on the Camden Campus had been docketed for the end of the meeting. Senator Gillett moved the Senate to committee of the whole. The motion was seconded, and the Senate adopted the motion.

Chairperson Panayotatos began the discussion with a summary of some of the key discussion points and conclusions of the Senate's Ad Hoc Shared Governance Task Force, which he also chairs, as follows:

• the decline in effectiveness of the Student Caucus;
• the lack of student and faculty awareness of, and interest in being involved with, the University Senate;
• students and faculty who are elected to the Senate but don't get involved, partly because they don't realize that Senate Fridays are all-day commitments with committee and Senate meetings;
• the need to promote community awareness of the work and value of the Senate through improved or increased communications such as a new website, videos on the website, an online living table of Senate recommendations implemented or not by the administration, press releases, faculty and staff bulletin announcements, and messages in student-life communications and newspapers;
• the need for closer relationships between the Senate and the Board of Governors and Board of Trustees;
• recognition that new Senators need to be provided with background information on ongoing issues and charges in the Senate; and
• agreements reached that will help strengthen ties between the Senate and student governing organizations.
  

Following additional discussion, on motion, the Senate rose from committee of the whole, and followed that motion with a motion to adjourn.

ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 2:46 p.m.

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