University Senate Executive Committee Minutes, January 6, 2006

RUTGERS UNIVERSITY SENATE
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE M I N U T E S
January 6, 2006

MEMBERS PRESENT: Boikess, Borisovets, Cotter (Chair), Curtis, Darien, DeLuca, LaSala, Rabinowitz (Vice Chair), Swalagin (Executive Secretary)

EXCUSED: Panayotatos

ALSO ATTENDING: Alger (Vice President and General Counsel), Furmanski (Administrative Liaison), Gould (Faculty Affairs and Personnel Committee Co-chair), Leath (New Brunswick Faculty Council Chair, and Faculty BOT Representative), McCormick (Administrative Liaison), O'Connor (Budget and Finance Committee Co-chair), Scott (Faculty BOT Representative)

The regular meeting of the University Senate Executive Committee was held on Friday, January 6, 2006 at 1:10 p.m. in Conference Room A/B, Administrative Services Building III, Cook Campus.

1. Chairperson’s Report

Chairperson Cotter briefly summarized the activities of the Senate's Steering Committee on the Task Force on Undergraduate Education (TFUE) which had taken place earlier that day. The discussion of the Senate's response to the TFUE continued as a docketed agenda item later in this meeting (See items 4 and 5 below).

2. Secretary's Report

Minutes: The minutes of the November 4, 2005 Senate Executive Committee meeting were approved as distributed by the Secretary.

3. Administrative Report

President McCormick's administrative report included comments on:

Task Force on Undergraduate Education: He will remain in contact with Chairperson Cotter as he awaits the Senate February response to the Report of the Task Force on Undergraduate Education. Once the Senate's response is complete, a special meeting of the Board of Governors will convene to act on the Task Force recommendations and other input received. Thereafter, a "sizeable" implementation process will begin. He gave his assurance that all recommendations would be carefully examined.
His meeting the previous week with Governor-Elect Corzine, during which they spoke about the proposed $2.7 billion higher ed bond issue for voters in November 2006; the "Edison Innovation Fund" and related plans to reinvest in New Jersey's strongest research areas; the state budget and Rutgers tuition, how Governor-Elect Corzine wants higher education represented in his administration, and the Task Force on Undergraduate Education.
Recommendations to the Board of Governors on the Task Force on Undergraduate Education (TFUE): In response to Chairperson Cotter's question about what level of detail will be in his recommendations to the Board of Governors on the TFUE, President McCormick said they would be in two parts: 1) principles and recommendations on which the board clearly needs to act, including issues of implementation and accountability; and 2) narrative, not requiring board vote, but outlining goals and ambitions and how to achieve them. He added that his recommendations will be a public document, with some window for comment before the board acts.

Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Furmanski continued the administrative report with comments on:

Rutgers' upcoming (in about two years) Middle States accreditation, on which the Senate will have representation. It will be done as a single institution, with focus on undergraduate education, assessment of our assessment processes, and issues from the prior accreditation. Jerry Warshaver is the administrative person handling the process at Rutgers, and Rob Heffernan will do the institutional research. The process starts now, and will continue for the next two years.
Deans' reviews, five of which are done or are in process. Noting that the evaluation process needs refinement, he said he will bring some thoughts to the Senate about some of the mechanics of the process (e.g., FAS needing to survey all faculty).
Chairperson Cotter reminded EVP Furmanski that his office needs to elect staff Senators from all three campuses.

Discussion of the Administration's Response to the Senate's Recommendations on E-mail Privacy: The administration's response to the Senate's October 2004 report and recommendations on e-mail privacy was discussed. Vice President and General Counsel Jonathan Alger, who was present at the meeting, said that he, Associate General Counsel Fran Loren, and Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs Karen Stubaus have been working on a few of the "legal perspective" issues. They will meet with the Senate's Faculty Affairs and Personnel Committee to discuss the issue.

Discussion of the Administration's Response to Senate Recommendations on FAIR v. Rumsfeld: VP Alger and President McCormick summarized the administration's position on this issue, and responded to questions from the Executive Committee and, in particular, from Michael LaSala, who is also co-chair of the Senate's Equal Opportunity Committee, from which the Senate's recommendations on FAIR vs. Rumsfeld issued. President McCormick offered to make a statement on the subject to the Senate on January 20, 2006.

[Note: President McCormick did make a statement to the Senate on January 20. Also, on January 23, 2006, President McCormick sent to the Senate (via its executive secretary) a memorandum which included the following statement: "Equal opportunity is one of the core principles of our academic community. Rutgers University is strongly committed to a policy of non-discrimination with regard to sexual orientation, and it is my fervent hope that the military will follow the example of Rutgers and many other institutions around the country in ensuring that all individuals, including gay and lesbian men and women and all members of the LGBT community, among others, are treated equally. With regard to the particular legal case at hand, the University did not file a separate brief or make a formal statement in the Supreme Court litigation because we believe that it is more effective and appropriate in such circumstances to speak with a united voice through the national organizations that represent higher education (as did other public universities around the country). In this instance, the Association of American Law Schools, of which the two Rutgers law schools are members, filed a brief in support of FAIR and emphasizing the importance of academic freedom and respect for educational values and decision-making. Whatever the outcome of the litigation, the University will remain strongly committed to its policy of non-discrimination and equal opportunity for all members of our community."]

4. Continuing Discussion of Updated (January 4, 2006) Reports of All Standing Committees in Response to Charge A-0503, Senate Response to Task Force on Undergraduate Education Report

Based on discussions in the Senate's TFUE Steering Committee (comprised of Executive Committee members, standing committee chairs, and New Brunswick Faculty Council Chair Paul Leath) the Executive Committee decided that the Senate would first act on what it deemed non-controversial issues (at the January 20 Senate meeting), then take up the more contentious issues in February. Secretary Swalagin was instructed to arrange two additional Steering Committee meetings before the February Senate meeting: on January 27 at 9:30 a.m., and on February 3 at 9:30 a.m.

5. January 20, 2006 Senate Meeting Agenda

Items were docketed, and time limits set, for the Senate's January 20, 2006 agenda, as follows:

First-Phase Senate Response to the Task Force on Undergraduate Education Report, which will be presented as a single item, with the Senate voting on the entire report and all of its recommendations as a unit, unless there is a successful motion from the Senate floor to divide it. Time limits were set at one hour for overall debate of the item, and three minutes per speaker.
New Brunswick Campus Report - Philip Furmanski, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
Report on Plus/Minus Grades - Academic Standards, Regulations and Admissions Committee [Later withdrawn; not docketed]

6. Old Business

Senator Boikess asked about the status of the Senate's review of the draft, revised academic integrity policy. The Executive Committee had charged the Academic Standards, Regulations and Admissions Committee with reviewing the policy, and will address the charge soon.

Senator Borisovets, who chairs the Senate's Instruction, Curricula and Advising Committee, said that Chief Technology Officer Chuck Hedrick had asked for members of her committee to be on the Sakai pilot evaluation committee. She gave him three names, but he then incorrectly announced that a Senate subcommittee was looking at it.

7. New Business

There was no new business.

8. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 2:48 p.m. by Chairperson Cotter.

Kenneth Swalagin
Executive Secretary of the Senate