September 29, 2006 University Senate Minutes

TIME AND PLACE: 1:10 p.m., Multipurpose Room,Rutgers Student Center, 126 College Avenue, College Avenue Campus

MEMBERS PRESENT: Adelman, Allen, Allender, Atmeh, Barone, Bernstein, Bhuyan, Bodnar, Bodnar, Boikess, Borisovets, Bosotov, Boylan, Bravo, Bubb, Busia, Bynes, Carbone, Carey, Chabal, Cohick, Coit, Colaizzi, Cole, Cooke, Copeland, Coppolo, Cotter, Cowen, Creese, DeLisi, E. Dennis, Dienst, Dixon-McInerney, Dutta, Edwards, Eldreth, Finegold, Fowler, Furmanski, Galili, Gaunt, Gigliotti, Gonzalez-Palmer, Gould, Grant, Greenhut, Gunderson, Guo, Hall, Heckscher, Hyman, Johnson, Jozefczyk, Kalelkar, Keating, Kern, Kirby, Kirschner, Kokini, Krenos, Laguna-Diaz, Larmony, Levitsky, Lipman, Lippert, Livingston, Marchetta, Markowitz, Mauroff, McCabe, McCoy-Carter, McKay, J. Meyer, W. Meyer, Mulcahy, Nayyar, Ng, Niederman, Nolfi, Norville, Obayashi, Ozbay, Palmon, Patel, Puniello, Samuel Rabinowitz, Sidney Rabinowitz, Rankin, Reiss, Rennie, Rivera, Robinson, Sanders, Schaich, Schantz, Schwab, Scott, Shah, R. Simmons, Sofer, Sonariwo, Soyosa, Spotacco, St. John, Staples, Stein, Sukhdeo, Szatrowski, Taulane, Tevis, Thompson, Toney-Boss, Traxler, Van Til, Venzie, Vera, Vodak, Wagner, Williams, Winterbauer, Wright, Wyhopen

EXCUSED: Alger, Alley, Ambar, Bay, Caprio, Covey, Curtis, DeLuca, Deutsch, Friedrich, Gillett, Gimenez, Goodman, Hughes, Jackson, Lashley, Leath, Lehne, Markert, Marsh, McCormick, McKeever, Miller, Oppenheim, Oren, Panayotatos, Pittman, Quinn, Rockland, Schorr, P. Simmons, Spiegel, Tittler, Wallace, Wang, Whitfield

ABSENT: Amirahmadi, Apfel, Barbarese, Bellany, Blimling, Bosch, R. Dennis, Diner, Duncan, Habib, Harris, Hart, Hyndman, Kennedy, Klein, Koza, Maher, Murthy, Ocone, Pedersen, Schein, Schock, Simon, Solomon, Stauffer, Urbaniak

ATTENDANCE SUMMARY: Faculty: Of 85 total: 57 present (67%), 17 excused (20%), 11 absent (13%); Students: Of 49 total: 38 present (78%), 7 excused (14%), 4 absent (8%); Administrators: Of 34 total: 12 present (35%), 11 excused (32.5%), 11 absent (32.5%); Alumni: Of 6 total: 6 present (100%), 0 excused, 0 absent; Staff: Of 10 total: 9 present (90%), 1 excused (10%), 0 absent

CALL TO ORDER, DETERMINATION OF A QUORUM, AND CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT - Martha Cotter, Chairperson

Chairperson Cotter called the meeting to order at 1:28 p.m. After welcoming all to the first regular meeting of the Senate (the first meeting of the year being the President's Annual Address meeting), and noting the day's fairly short agenda, she said that her report would be very brief, that there would be no administrative report because President McCormick was out of town, and that Executive Vice President Furmanski said that there was no change to report since the president's address two weeks earlier. Cotter then reviewed the day's agenda, which included a special election for staff senator member of the Executive Committee, and an update on undergraduate education initiatives from Newark and New Brunswick. She noted that the Senate would hear about undergraduate initiatives in Camden when Camden Provost Dennis presents his Camden Campus Report at the Senate's October 27 meeting. Cotter also thanked Senator David Cole for serving as parliamentarian, substituting for Senator Jillian Curtis, who was unable to attend the meeting.

Agenda: The meeting's agenda was approved as distributed by the executive secretary.

Minutes: Secretary Swalagin made two corrections to the April 28 organizational meeting minutes which had originally been posted online, and noted that the online minutes had been updated to reflect the corrections, as had the hardcopies distributed at the start of the meeting. The April 28 organizational meeting minutes were then approved. The minutes of the September 15, 2006 President's Address Senate meeting were approved as distributed by the executive secretary.

Chairperson Cotter introduced the election of staff senator member of the Senate Executive Committee. She noted that the election was being conducted now because staff senators had not yet been elected by their respective campuses when the other Senate officers and Executive Committee members were elected in April. The following staff senators were then recognized in alphabetical order, given privilege of the floor, and made brief statements in support of their candidacies: Crystal Grant (Newark staff), Betty McCoy-Carter (New Brunswick staff), and Gayle Stein (New Brunswick staff).

Written campaign statements had been posted on the Senate website prior to the meeting, and had been distributed in hardcopy at sign-in along with paper ballots. Cotter asked Senators to complete their ballots, indicating their selection of one of the three candidates.The ballots were then collected and tabulated by Ms. Mickelsen. (Results were announced later in the meeting.)

In New Brunswick, Implementation of Task Force Initiatives - Barry Qualls, Interim Vice President for Undergraduate Education

Cotter introduced Barry Qualls, Interim Vice President for Undergraduate Education, who spoke about implementation of initiatives in New Brunswick arising out of recommendations of the Task Force on Undergraduate Education. Qualls commented on:

In Newark, Initiatives in Undergraduate Education - Edward Kirby, Dean of Faculty of Arts and Sciences-Newark

Cotter introduced Edward Kirby, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences-Newark, who spoke about initiatives in undergraduate education in Newark. Kirby commented on:

SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE CHAIRS' UPDATES

Senate standing committee chairs' comments on activities and plans for their committees included the following:

Academic Standards, Regulations & Admissions Committee - Martha Cotter and Jillian Curtis, Co-chairs

ASRAC Co-chair Martha Cotter reported that the ASRAC has three charges: one on content of student transcripts, which the committee had dealt with that morning; one on academic integrity, which is pending; and a third on assessment of admissions, recruitment and financial aid. She expects all of those charges to be completed this year.

Senator and B&FC member Oded Palmon reported for Committee Chair Menahem Spiegel, who was unable to attend the meeting. Palmon reported that the committee anticipates a report by Nancy Winterbauer about budget cuts and how they are being dealt with. Cotter said that if the B&FC would like the Executive Committee to issue a formal charge on budget cuts, the committee should request it. Palmon also said that the committee continues its work on pending charges concerning safety and vandalism, parking and transportation, transparency and uniformity of student fees, and all-funds budgeting.

Senator and EOC member Richard Simmons reported for Committee Chair Gustav Friedrich, who was unable to attend the meeting. Simmons reported that, although the committee currently has no specific, pending charges, its chair and members feel its standing charge is important and will be taken seriously in the committee. He also said that, anticipating a formal charge regarding creation of a stand-alone diversity center or office, the committee has begun discussions of that issue, and is also considering avenues through which students can address grievances when they sense hostility in classrooms.

Faculty Affairs & Personnel Committee - Ann Gould and Paul Panayotatos, Co-chairs

FAPC Co-chair Ann Gould reported on the committee's pending charges. On the status of full-time, nonclinical, nontenure track faculty, the FAPC is reviewing their status and proposing changes to university policy, as well as considering associated issues such use of these faculty, their contributions, current staffing levels and changes, benefits, governance, variations in roles of annuals among units, performance issues and promotions, access to funds for career development and travel, continuity of appointment, and the four-year rule. Gould said that, although the committee is still in the factfinding stage, it has heard from representatives of the AAUP, individuals on annual contracts, and EVP Furmanski on the charge and its issues. The FAPC is also working on its charge on faculty retirement incentives, which currently has a November 2006 deadline.

ICAC Chair Natalie Borisovets reported that the committee had met that morning and devoted much of its discussion to a longstanding charge on availability of syllabi during add/drop, on which it expects to report and make recommendations at the October 2006 Senate meeting. She said the committee will then move on to its charge on placing course textbooks on reserve, and to other issues of interest discussed during that day's committee meeting, including possibly requesting a charge on looking at wintersession in a broader fashion.

SAC Co-chair Kimberly Mauroff reported on her committee's three pending charges. Work will begin next semester on the academic integrity policy charge, after the ASRAC makes its recommendations, and after survey results are available. The committee is reviewing the Targum concept plan, and, if charged by the Executive Committee, will assess whether students think they're getting a quality newspaper that meets their needs, and if the fee is reasonable. The charge on ways in which tolerance and sensitivity can be promoted at Rutgers has been discussed at length, and the SAC decided to create a subcommittee to consider and expand the charge. The subcommittee will solicit suggestions from, and will work with, the Equal Opportunity Committee, and will expand its contacts and consultations on this issue. They hope to have final recommendations on the tolerance and sensitivity charge by March 2007.

USGC Chair Gary Gigliotti reported that his committee is working on its charge to review and revise the referendum guidelines, and will be working with Student Affairs Committee on the Targum issue. The committee will also address its charges on Senate representation relative to the restructuring in New Brunswick, and on issues associated with the upcoming reaccreditation process. The USGC may also discuss concerns about a potential merger with UMDNJ.

Chairperson Cotter announced that Gayle Stein had been elected Staff Senator Member of the Senate Executive Committee.

Senator Markowitz moved that the Senate support the October 4 rally at Brower commons to protest budget cuts. The motion was seconded. There was no discussion. The motion carried with several abstentions, but without opposition.

Senate Vice Chair Rabinowitz reported very briefly on the Executive Committee's activities, noting that both Chairperson Cotter and SAC Co-chair Mauroff had spoken about charges issued by the Executive Committee.

Martha Cotter reported on the July 14 and September 22, 2006 Board of Governors meetings. She noted that the next Board of Governors meeting is scheduled for October 13, 2006.

New Brunswick Faculty Council Chair Jozef Kokini reported on recent activities and plans of the council.

Senator Stan Hall, a member of the Newark Faculty Council, reported on recent activities and plans of the council.

Camden Faculty Senate Chair Charles Jarrett reported on recent activities and plans of the senate.