M I N U T E S
January 17, 2003
MEMBERS PRESENT: Borisovets, Cotter, DeRosa, Hirsh, Rabinowitz (Vice Chair), Panayotatos (Chair), Scott, Swalagin (Executive Secretary)
EXCUSED: Barone, Manhoff
ALSO ATTENDING: Kauffman (New Brunswick Faculty Liaison), McCormick (Administrative Liaison), Mickelsen (Senate Administrative Assistant), Seneca (Administrative Liaison), Walker-Andrews (Faculty BOG Representative), Wozniak (Faculty BOG Representative)
The regular meeting of the University Senate Executive Committee was held on Friday, January 17, 2003 at 1:10 p.m. in the President’s Dining Room, Brower Commons, College Avenue Campus.
1. Chairperson’s Report
Chairperson Panayotatos began by welcoming all present to the first Senate Executive Committee meeting with President McCormick. He noted that the agenda was a full one, and that the meeting would be ending at 3:00 p.m.
Chairperson Panayotatos read to the committee a December 16, 2002 letter to Dr. P. Roy Vagelos in his capacity as chair of the Review and Implementation Committee of the NJ Commission for Health Science, Education and Training. The letter suggests that a carefully implemented restructuring plan requires that:
Chairperson Panayotatos said that the Governance Committee and Executive Committee had met and approved via e-mail a resolution, the fundamental recommendations of which were:
Lastly, Chairperson Panayotatos noted that Secretary Swalagin has added a page of links to recent Senate reports and resolutions to the Senate website.
2. Secretary's Report
Minutes: The Minutes of the November 1, 2002 Executive Committee meeting were approved as distributed by the Secretary.
Communications: The following communications was presented and acted upon as indicated:
In his administrative report, President McCormick said that shared governance is to be taken seriously, and should include extensive conversation with all stakeholders. He noted that the University Senate is a good forum for that kind of communication. President McCormick’s administrative report also included comments on: meetings with New Jersey State legislative and executive branch leaders, including Governor McGreevey; Rutgers’ and other public research universities’ roles in research and training for a new economy; scheduled “Meet the President” events around the state; Federation and fundraising plans and activities; a recent meeting in Trenton at which the university’s budget and tuition were discussed, as well as the restructuring of higher education in New Jersey, and a higher-education bond issue; and a variety of issues related to the Report of the New Jersey Commission on Health Science, Education and Training.
University Vice President for Academic Affairs Seneca’s administrative report included comments on: the relationship between Rutgers and a healthy and growing state economy; discussions with the New Jersey State Treasurer; factors impacting the deeply constrained current fiscal environment in New Jersey; and faculty recruitment.
4. Standing Committee Actions, Reports and Charges
A proposed charge regarding biased treatment of Israeli academics by British and other European universities was considered. The committee agreed that it was an external issue which did not fall within the domain of the University Senate’s committee structure. The charge was not issued.
A charge regarding evaluation of the current Knight Express program was considered. The committee asked for further information on what reviews of the program may have already been done. Secretary Swalagin will contact Vice President for Student Affairs Emmet Dennis to request this information.
A charge regarding addition of Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah to the university holidays, beginning classes earlier, and adding a break midway through the fall semester was considered. Noting that all of these issues have already been exhaustively studied by Senate committees, the committee declined to issue the charge.
A charge to the Budget and Finance Committee regarding installation of additional blue-light safety phones on all three campuses was considered. It was suggested that the issue would be more appropriately addressed by the University’s Safety Committee. Senator Scott asked for more information on the issue. Secretary Swalagin will ask James Kohl, Executive Director for Public Safety, for further information.
Senator Haym Hirsh agreed to become co-chair of the Faculty Affairs and Personnel Committee.
The Executive Committee reviewed, and approved for forwarding to the Budget and Finance Committee, the Student Affairs Committee’s response to Charge S-0208A, on After-Hours Study Space, Classroom/Building Security, and Vandalism. The charge called for input on the Budget and Finance Committee’s charge to report on these issues.
Secretary Swalagin was asked to draft a charge to the Instruction, Curriculum and Advising Committee regarding review of Winter Session, pursuant to the report and recommendations approved by the University Senate on October 27, 2000. The draft charge is to be circulated to the Executive Committee via e-mail for approval before being issued.
Pursuant to University Senate action which returned the Instruction, Curriculum and Advising Committee’s report on Student Advising to committee pending further student input, the Student Affairs Committee was charged, as follows: “Per University Senate action on November 1, 2002, provide input on the Instruction, Curricula and Advising Committee’s Charge S-9912 on Student Advising, and its report and recommendations. The ICA Committee’s report was sent back to committee for review and revision pending Student Affairs Committee input. Submit comments and input to Senate Executive Committee by March 1, 2003.”
Relative to the preceding item, a new report date for the Instruction, Curricula and Advising Committee’s report on Charge S-9912 on Student Advising was issued. The revised report will be due on April 11, 2003.
An extensive, categorized list of questions relating to the proposed restructuring outlined in the Report of the New Jersey Commission on Health Science, Education and Training was summarized by Chairperson Panayotatos. The list had been compiled based on extensive information-gathering from the University community conducted by the administration. Chairperson Panayotatos suggested Senate standing committees to which many of the individual items could be referred for review and comment. Following discussion, it was agreed that Secretary Swalagin will draft one charge to be issued to all committees, asking each to select and prioritize the items to which they feel it appropriate to respond, given their standing charges. The draft charge will be circulated to the Executive Committee for approval prior to being issued to committees.
5. New Business
The Executive Committee approved Senator Hirsh’s request that he be given privilege of the floor at the January 24 Senate meeting in order to speak on the death of Professor Saul Amarel, Alan Turing Professor of Computer Science.
Senator Walker-Andrews volunteered to be the Rutgers representative to the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics being formed by faculty governance leaders. The coalition will include representation from Bowl Championship Series conference schools, the AAUP, and the Association of Governing Boards.
6. Senate Meeting Agenda
The following items were docketed for the January 24, 2003 meeting agenda:
The meeting was adjourned at 3:10 p.m. by Chairperson Panayotatos.
Kenneth Swalagin
Executive Secretary of the Senate