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

DATE: October 18, 2013

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

MEMBERS PRESENT: Ahmed, Alder, Alizadeh, Zambo-Anderson, Angell, Apuzzio, August, Avadhani, Baffo, Barbarese, Barchi, Barone (A), Barraco, Beachem, Bell, Berman, Boikess, Bridgeman, Buchholtz, Bugel, Burrell, Caler, Cashin, Clarke, Coleman, Copeland, Cotter, Covington, Creese, D’Anna, Daniels, Dasari, Davidov, DeCastro, Delnevo, Devnani, DiBona, Eastman, Elkabes, Fagley, Farmbry, Fehn, Fennell, Fernandez, Fiore, Fitzgerald-Bocarsly, Gijic, Gallo, Geis, Gillett, R. Goldstein, Gomes, Gould, Hackworth, Haibach, Heckscher, Hetling, Hinch, Holtzman, Jimenez, Karamichael, Kenfield, Kietrys, Krasovic, Krymchanskaya, Kumar, Langer, Lee, Lewis (F), Lin, A. Liu, T. Liu, Mapes, Markowitz, Mazurek, McKeever, Midlarksy, Millonig, Miranti, Mistry, Moomjy, Naus, Navrot, Nieman, Norville, O’Connell, O’Connor, O’Malley, Oliver, Ottomanelli, Pirrello, Pratt, Puhak, Rabinowitz, Redlawsk, Rhoads, Rivera-Medina, Rothpletz-Puglia, Saltzman, Samant, Sambol, Scardino, Scherrer, R. Schwartz, Shapiro, Sheflin, Simmons, Spiegel, Stein, Stillwagon, Struwe, Suplee, Szatrowksi, Taghon, Tesoro, Teters, Thompson, Thuno, Tiedeken, Toney-Boss, Tursi, Uzun, Vanderhoff, Vodak, Wagner, Wang, Winkler, Winterbauer, Wise, Wurster

EXCUSED: Abu El-Haj, Allen, Bagchi, Balog, Benjamin, Bolden, Cadoff, Cimiotti, Cohen, Desai, DiVito, Edward, Gaunt, Gilman, Glaser, Goodman, Heider, Hudson, Hughes, Johnson, Kressel, Lewis (A), Lindgren, LoMonaco, Maillet, Markert, Messer, Middleton, Miller, Muse, Niederman, Otto, S. Patel, Pavlovic, Pintar, J. Robinson, Saito, Schantz, M. Schwartz, Sirkin, Wasserman, Weigert, Zimmerman

ABSENT: Amaya-Fernandez, Ameri, Amenta, Ansari, Aubry, Avakame, Barone (F), Bhatt, Borisovets, Bunch, Clear, Connors, Davis, DeLisi, Dietrich, Dominguez, Edwards, Eldasher, Falk, Farmer, Farris, Feldman, Ganesh, D. Goldstein, Grabosky, Harris, Holzemer, Holzer, Hyndman, Joshi, Katz, Kukor, Laguna, Lara, Lindenmeyer, Lynch, Maher, Mao, Marchik, McIerney, Mitchell, Molloy, Nagarajan, Ortiz, Padgett, Pandey, Pant, N. Patel, Potter, Pritchett, Reade, R. Robinson, Rodgers, Rogers, Sahi, Salmond, Schiavo, Schurman, Scotto, Shafer, Shapley, Sheth, Shivakumar, Solomon, Spiegle, Stauffer, Triner, Tsakalakos, Van de Walle, Vaz, Yeagle, Yu

ATTENDANCE SUMMARY: Faculty: Of 132 total: 80 present (61%), 25 excused (19%), 27 absent (20%); Students: Of 50 total: 28 present (56%), 5 excused (10%), 17 absent (34%); Administrators: Of 39 total:  5 present (13%), 8 excused (21%), 26 absent (67%); Staff: Of 14 total: 7 present (50%), 5 excused(36%), 2 absent (14%); Alumni: Of 6 total: 6 present (100%), 0 excused (0%), 0 absent (0%)
View Senate Attendance Record for this year

PRESIDING OFFICER: Ann Gould, Chairperson

CALL TO ORDER and CHAIRPERSON'S REPORT - Ann Gould, Chairperson

Chairperson Ann Gould called the meeting to order at 1:15 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room of the Rutgers Student Center, College Avenue Campus, New Brunswick. She welcomed all attendees.

SECRETARY'S REPORT - Ken Swalagin, Executive Secretary

AD HOC TASK FORCE REPORT

Ad Hoc Strategic Planning Task Force (AHSPTF) Proposal for an Additional Foundational Element of the Strategic Planning Framework [Note: Link goes to the report as amended and adopted.] - Martha Cotter, Task Force Chair

The Senate Executive Committee had formed an Ad Hoc Strategic Planning Task Force and charged it with formulating an additional strategic planning framework foundational element on shared governance. The AHSPTF was chaired by Senator and Senate Vice Chair Martha Cotter, who summarized the task force report and recommendations. A similar report and resolution had been adopted by the Camden, Newark, and New Brunswick Faculty Councils. Cotter then read the resolution contained in the report. Senator Samuel Berman noted that the New Brunswick Student Assembly had also adopted a similar resolution. The resolution only was then adopted unanimously by the Senate as follows:

Whereas, we, the members of the Rutgers University Senate, believe that strong shared governance, academic freedom, and responsive leadership and effective communication are fundamental components that must be in place to support a higher-performing, more efficient organization and to permit Rutgers to achieve its goals and realize its aspirations; and

Whereas, we are convinced that there needs to be an additional foundational element in the strategic plan framework dealing with shared governance, academic freedom, leadership, and communication;

Therefore, be it resolved that the Rutgers University Senate strongly urges that "Robust shared governance, academic freedom, and responsive leadership and effective communication" be added to the strategic plan framework as a separate foundational element.

The Senate then turned its attention to the report itself, including the foundational element and supporting bullet points, which were not part of the resolution. Senator Rudolph Bell moved a friendly amendment to add a sixth bullet point as follows: "Include the concerns of non-tenure-track faculty, whether part-time or full-time, in all elements of the strategic plan." The amendment was accepted by the AHSPTF as friendly. The report, so amended, was then adopted unanimously by the Senate.

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT - President Robert L. Barchi

President Barchi presented an administrative report, which included comments on topics including:
President Barchi then responded to questions, or heard comments, on a variety of subjects, including:
COMMITTEE REPORT
Faculty and Personnel Affairs Committee (FPAC) Response to Charge A-1303 on the Minors on Campus Task Force Report - Ann Gould and Rudolph Bell, FPAC Co-chairs

This report was presented to the Senate for information only. FAPC Co-chair Ann Gould summarized the report.

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 on the October 2 Board of Governors meetings. Senator Asha Samant, Faculty Representative to the Board of Trustees, reported that there had been no Board of Trustees meeting since the previous Senate meeting.

CAMPUS FACULTY LIAISON REPORTS: Senator Samuel Rabinowitz, Camden Faculty Council Chairperson, reported on that group's recent plans and activities. Senator Martha Cotter, New Brunswick Faculty Council Chairperson, reported on that group's recent plans and activities

CHAIR'S CLOSING COMMENTS: Chairperson Gould reminded the Senate that the next Senate meeting would be held on November 15 in Newark.

ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 2:00 p.m.

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