Rutgers University Senate Minutes

RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
UNIVERSITY SENATE

MINUTES: Regular Meeting of the University Senate

DATE: December 9, 2016

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

MEMBERS PRESENT: Anaele, Ardeshna, Arezzi, Artun, Barbarese, Barchi, Bekdash, Bhuyan, Boikess, Borisovets, Boruchoff, Bradshaw, Bridgeman, Burley, Carrasco, Chandler, Chang, Chayko, Clark, Collado-Garrido, Cotter, Craig, Cutler, Dana, Dane, Dasari, Davis, Desai, Deshpande, DiVito, Edward, Eisenstein, Esposito, Fagley, Farris, Field, Fitzgerald-Bocarsly, Fox, Gillett, Gould, Gross, K. Gursoy, M. Gursoy, D. Hughes, Huselid, Jackson, Jaffry, Joergensen, A. Johnson, Joseph, Junboonta, Kaptan, Kalan, Kelly, Kelshikar, Kouraeva, Krapivin, Krutyansky, Langer, LaPointe, Lattime, B. Lee, Jane Lewis, Lutz, Maloney, Mammis, Marchetta, Marcone, Markert, Markosian, McKeever, Meck, Miranti, Moran, Moseray, Mouradian, Nasr, Norville, O'Connell, Oleske, Oliver, Otto, Pagan, Pappas, A. Patel, D. Patel, Pintar, Pirrello, Ponzio, Puhak, Rabinowitz, Rivera, Rothpletz-Puglia, Samant, Schwartz, C. Scott, K. Scott, Serrano, Settles, Sharp, Sheehan, Sheflin, Shinn, Soto, Spiegel, Stepleton, Strom, Sulley, Szatrowski, Takacs, Thomson, Thompson, Thornton, Toney-Boss, Torres, Upadhyay, Van Stine, Wakim, Wang, Wasserman,

EXCUSED: Brunson, R. Chen, Collins, Dreyer, Durham, Flores, Grant, Joo, Leibman, Linz, Lugg, Marchick, Nissen, Okada, O'Neill, Pandey, Powell, Romanchuk, Roth, Saltzman, Schneider, Scoloveno, Settimo, Taillefer, Thomas, Winkler, Zurlo

ABSENT: Alizadeh, Balaguru, Balmer, Barone, Benford, Blanchett, Bubb, Bugel, Butterfield, Cahill, Calabrese, Cantor, Charles, Y. Chen, Coiro, Conway, Cooper, Covington, Diaz, Dixon, Drachtman, Eastman, Edwards, Farmbry, Feldman, Fletcher, Gabriel, Ganesh, Goh, Goodman, Goswami, Gowr, Haddon, Hart, Hayton, Heckscher, Holzemer, Holzer, J. Hughes, Iannini, Janniger, R. Johnson, Kukor, Kustka, Kuzma, K. Lee, Lei, Jan Lewis, Levy, Lindenmeyer, Mahon, March, Martinez, Mazurek, Morrell, Paneque, Parmar, K. Patel, C. Potter, J. Potter, Robinson, Rozenberg, Salazar, Salmond, Santana, Schiavo, Scotto, Shapses, Shapiro, Shinbrot, Singh, Stauffer

ATTENDANCE SUMMARY: Faculty: Of 106 total: 69 present (65%), 16 excused (15%), 21 absent (20%); Students: Of 50 total: 31 present (62%), 5 excused (10%), 14 absent (28%); Administrators: Of 40 total: 5 present (12.5%), 2 excused (5%), 33 absent (82.5%); Staff: Of 18 total: 12 present (67%), 3 excused (17%), 3 absent (16%); Alumni: Of 4 total: 3 present (75%), 1 excused (25%), 0 absent (0%)
View Senate Attendance Record for this academic year

PRESIDING OFFICER: Peter Gillett, Chair

CALL TO ORDER, DETERMINATION OF A QUORUM, AND CHAIR’S REPORT - Peter Gillett, Chair

Senate Chairperson Peter Gillett called the meeting to order at 1:10 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room of the College Avenue Student Center, College Avenue Campus, New Brunswick. He welcomed all attendees to the final Senate meeting of 2016. Gillett's Chair's Report included comments on:

a summary of the activities of the University Commencement Panel;
the status of the proposal to form a new School of Graduate Studies in New Brunswick; and
the meeting agenda.

SECRETARY'S REPORT - Ken Swalagin, Executive Secretary

Agenda: The meeting's agenda was approved as distributed by the Executive Secretary.
Minutes: The Minutes of the November 11, 2016 Senate Meeting were approved as distributed by the Executive Secretary.
Communications - The following communication was presented by the Executive Secretary:

President Barchi's Response to Senate and Faculty and Personnel Affairs Committee April 2016 Response to Charge A-1603 on Evaluation of Administrators, Part II: Evaluation of Chancellors

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Research, and Graduate and Professional Education Committee (RGPEC) Response to Charge S-1508 on Responsible Conduct of Research - Jane Otto, RGPEC Chair, and Judy Neubauer, Associate Vice President for Research and Regulatory Affairs, and RGPEC Member

Research, and Graduate and Professional Education Committee Chair Jane Otto, and RGPEC Member Judy Neubauer presented the RGPEC response to Charge S-1508 on Responsible Conduct of Research. Otto then read the report's resolution, which was discussed briefly, then adopted by the Senate.

Executive Committee (EC) Resolution on Rutgers, a Safe and Welcoming Environment - Peter Gillett, EC Chair, and Ann Gould, EC Member

Senate and Executive Committee Chair Peter Gillett introduced the EC's Resolution on Rutgers, a Safe and Welcoming Environment. EC Member Ann Gould then read the resolution, which began discussion on the matter. Senator William Field, proposed amending the resolution to include a recommendation that "The Rutgers University Senate encourage the full faculty of Rutgers University to self-report to the Watchlist." This referred to the Turning Point USA list of "professors that advance a radical agenda in lecture halls." The amendment was seconded and discussed, then failed. Senator Akeen Anaele moved to delete the second element under "Be It Further Resolved." [See the link above for the specific language, which remains in the resolution.] The amendment was seconded and discussed, then failed. Following some additional discussion, the Resolution was adopted by the Senate.

RUTGERS BIOMEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES (RBHS) CHANCELLOR'S REPORT - Brian Strom, RBHS Chancellor

Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (RBHS) Chancellor Brian Strom presented an RBHS Chancellor's Report. The presentation on that report is linked above. Strom then responded to questions, or heard comments, on the report and related issues.

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT - Robert Barchi, University President

President Barchi presented an administrative report, commenting on topics including:

his appeciation for the Senate's, faculty councils', and other entities' support of Rutgers initiatives on safe environment;
the Professors Watchlist; and
the Cornerstone Project.

Barchi then responded to questions, or heard comments, on the above, as well as:

Rutgers' financial reserves;
postdoc salaries;
boundaries and contemporary standards of free speech;
Rutgers students winning the College Fed Challenge in Washington, DC;
humanities and STEM initiatives and funding; and
academic freedom for part-time lecturers.

SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT - Senate Vice Chair Robert Puhak reported on the November 18, 2016 meeting and activities of the Senate Executive Committee.

REPORTS OF THE REPRESENTATIVES TO BOARDS OF GOVERNORS AND TRUSTEES: Senator Samuel Rabinowitz, Faculty Representative to the Board of Governors, reported on the December 6, 2016 Board of Governors meeting. Senator Asha Samant, Faculty Representative to the Board of Trustees, said that there had been no meeting of the Board of Trustees since the previous Senate meeting. Akeen Anaele, Undergraduate Student Representative to the Board of Trustees, said that the next Board of Trustees meeting would take place on December 14, 2016.

REPORTS OF CAMPUS FACULTY AND STUDENT LIAISONS: Senator Samuel Rabinowitz, a member of the Camden Faculty Council, reported on that group's recent activities. Senator Michael Van Stine, Camden Student Member of the Executive Committee, reported on recent Camden student governing association plans, activities and events. Senator Sanjib Bhuyan, Vice Chair of the New Brunswick Faculty Council, reported on that group's recent activities and plans. Senator Viktor Krapivin, New Brunswick Student Member of the Senate Executive Committee, reported on New Brunswick student governing association activities.

ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 3:08 p.m.

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