RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
UNIVERSITY SENATE

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 1:20 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room of the Rutgers Student Center, College Avenue Campus, New Brunswick. After welcoming everyone to the Senate meeting, and noting that there were many action items to be dealt with by the Senate, he moved directly to the agenda.

SECRETARY'S REPORT - Ken Swalagin, Executive Secretary

• Agenda: The meeting's agenda, including time limits, was approved as distributed by the executive secretary.
• Minutes: The January 29, 2010 Senate Minutes were approved as distributed by the executive secretary. There were no minutes from the February meeting, which was cancelled due to a weather-related closure of the Newark Campus.

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT - President Richard L. McCormick

• Governor Christie's proposed budget, which includes a $173 million cut in higher education funding, and no funding for Rutgers' negotiated salary increases;
• Rutgers' contributions to New Jersey's economy;
• his appreciation and thanks for the university community's understanding and efforts in dealing with severe budget constraints; and
• the governor's proposal to make Thomas Edison State College, the state museum and libraries part of Rutgers.;

President McCormick then responded to questions or comments on subjects including:

• a comparison of the governor's proposals for merging other institutions to the former "Vagelos Plan" to merge other institutions with Rutgers, and whether he would consider asking the Senate to explore the current proposal (President McCormick responded with a "qualified 'yes,'" saying that the administration and Senate would have to consider together how to work on the issue); and
•  his views on requiring New Jersey state employees to live in New Jersey (which McCormick does not believe is a good idea).

NEWARK CAMPUS REPORT - Newark Chancellor Steven Diner

Newark Chancellor Steven Diner presented the Newark Campus Report, originally scheduled for the cancelled February meeting, and which included comments on:

• Rutgers Newark's opportunity, diversity, research, and urban mission and engagement;
• media and other outside recognition of the quality of Rutgers Newark;
• extraordinary faculty achievements, particularly books;
• the dramatic increase in external research support;
• new leadership and programs;
• enrollment;
• community engagement;
• new academic initiatives and facilities; and
• parking.

Chancellor Diner then responded to a question about a rumored NJIT/UMDNJ merger, to which he replied that he had heard nothing substantive on the matter.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Chairperson Rabinowitz called the Senate's attention to the time limits for individual comments during discussion, and noted that Parliamentarian Greenhut would be projecting a timer to facilitate discussion.

Faculty and Personnel Affairs Committee Response to Charge A-0812, Part I, Evaluation of Deans  - Ann Gould and Paul Panayotatos, Co-chairs: Faculty and Personnel Affairs Committee Co-chairs Paul Panayotatos and Ann Gould presented and summarized their committee's report and recommendations on part one of Charge S-0812, on Evaluation of Deans. The report was supplemented by two appendices: Appendices II (Faculty Survey Template) and III (Staff Survey Template). The co-chairs explained both the history of the ongoing deans' evaluation process, as well as the reason for dividing the charge response into two parts for efficacy. Senator Gould then moved the resolution at the end of the report. There was no discussion from the floor. The report and recommendations were adopted unanimously by acclamation.

Budget and Finance Committee Response to Charge S-0803, Rutgers Emergency Communication Processes - Menahem Spiegel, Chair: Budget and Finance Committee (BFC) Chair Menahem Spiegel was joined at the podium by Senator Robert Wilson, who was a member of the BFC subcommittee that generated the docketed report. Spiegel explained that Andrew Lemieux, a former Senator who had chaired the subcommittee, had been invited to co-present the report, but was unable to attend the meeting. Wilson noted that the committee considered budgetary constraints when formulating recommendations, and believed that none of the recommendations was cost-prohibitive. He then summarized the recommendations. An additional recommendation, proposed by Senator Panayotatos, was adopted by the BFC as friendly, as follows: "The university administration should examine the feasibility of reactivating the campus classroom speaker-box phones so they can be used in a reverse 911 system." The report, so amended, was adopted on card vote. [Note: The link above goes to the report as presented to the Senate. Follow this link to view the Report As Adopted.]

University Structure and Governance Committee Response to Charge S-0908, Proposal to Increase Staff Membership on the Senate - Peter Gillett and Jon Oliver, Co-chairs: [Note: The recommendations in this report include a change to Senate Bylaws/University Regulations. In accordance with established parliamentary procedure, this report was introduced at the January 2010 Senate meeting, and was docketed for Senate action at this meeting.] University Structure and Governance Committee (USGC) Co-chairs Peter Gillett and Jon Oliver came to the podium. Gillett summarized the USGC report and recommendations on Charge S-0908, calling for an increase in staff membership on the Senate. Without further discussion, the Senate adopted the report and its recommendations on card vote.

University Structure and Governance Committee Response to Charge S-0902, Senate Speakers, Discussions, Forums -  Peter Gillett and Jon Oliver, Co-chairs: [Note: The recommendations in this report include a change to Senate Bylaws/University Regulations. In accordance with established parliamentary procedure, this report was introduced and discussed at this meeting, but will not be up for adoption until the April 30, 2010 meeting.] USGC Co-chairs Gillett and Oliver remained at the podium. Gillett summarized the report and read its recommendations. Senator Martha Cotter suggested that Recommendation 4, which relates to how non-Senators wishing to comment on items before the Senate can request privilege of the floor, required clarification relating to when Senate agendas must be published online. Gillett accepted the suggestion as a friendly amendment, and will revise the report before it comes back to the Senate next month.  

University Structure and Governance Committee Response to Charge S-0904, Assessment of Research, and Graduate and Professional Education Committee Standing Charge -  Peter Gillett and Jon Oliver, Co-chairs:  [Note: The recommendations in this report include a change to Senate Bylaws/University Regulations. In accordance with established parliamentary procedure, this report was introduced and discussed at this meeting, but will not be up for adoption until the April 30, 2010 meeting.] USGC Co-chairs Gillett and Oliver remained at the podium. Gillett summarized the report and read its recommendation. There was discussion of whether "individuals or groups" or "those" should be used to replace "students and faculty" in the RGPEC standing charge, and likewise in the recommendation contained in this report.

Research, and Graduate and Professional Education Committee Response to Charge S-0913, Opportunity Disparities between Part- and Full-Time Master’s and Professional Degree Programs - Daniel McArdle and Gayle Stein, Co-chairs: USGC Co-chairs Gayle Stein and Daniel McArdle summarized their committee's report. Senator Panayotatos moved amendment of Recommendation 2 to clarify what evening meetings are being discussed, by replacing "lab" with "research." The amendment was accepted as friendly by the RGPEC co-chairs. Senator Borisovets moved to insert a pattern of evening accommodation, and Senator Cotter's related motion to add language along the lines of "such as the first Tuesday of every month" was also accepted as a friendly amendment. The report, as amended, was then adopted by the Senate on card vote. [Note: The link above goes to the report as presented to the Senate. Follow this link to view the Report As Adopted.]

OLD BUSINESS: There was no old business.

NEW BUSINESS: There was no new business.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT: Acting Senate Vice Chair Martha Cotter reported on the February 12, 2010 and March 12, 2010 Senate Executive Committee meetings.

REPORTS OF REPRESENTATIVES TO BOARDS OF GOVERNORS AND TRUSTEES: Student Representative to the Board of Governors Eric Kaplan reported on the February 17 Board of Governors meeting, which had been postponed from February 11 due to snow. There had been no Board of Trustees meeting since the previous Senate meeting.

CAMPUS FACULTY LIAISON REPORTS: Senator Robert Wilson, chair of the New Brunswick Faculty Council, reported on that group's plans and recent activities, including adopting a resolution approving establishing a Navy ROTC program in New Brunswick.

ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 3:11 p.m.

Ken Swalagin
Executive Secretary of the University Senate