RUTGERS UNIVERSITY SENATE
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
M I N U T E S
February 2, 2018


MEMBERS PRESENT:  Boikess, Borisovets, Esposito, Gillett (Chair), Gould, Kelly, Krapivin, Oliver, Parsa, Scoloveno, Settles, Thompson, Van Stine

MEMBERS EXCUSED:    Walters

ALSO ATTENDING:  J. Gonzalez (Graduate Student Representative to the Board of Trustees), B. Lee (Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs), S. Rabinowitz (Faculty Representative to the Board of Governors), R. Schwartz (Faculty Representative to the Board of Trustees), M. Spiegel, (Faculty Representative to the Board of Trustees), M. Mickelsen (Interim Executive Secretary)

The regular meeting of the University Senate Executive Committee was held on Friday, February 2, 2018 at 1:10 p.m. in the Berson Boardroom at the Center for Law and Justice at Rutgers University - Newark.

1.    Chair’s Report  - Peter Gillett, Senate Chair

Senate and Executive Committee Chair Peter Gillett called the meeting to order at 1:15 p.m. He spoke about:
2.    Secretary’s Report - Mary Mickelsen, Interim Executive Secretary of the Senate
3.    Administrative Liaison

Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Barbara Lee presented an administrative report, which included comments on:
Lee then responded to questions, or heard comments on the above subjects, as well as:
4.    Standing Committees

Reports:

Student Affairs Committee (SAC) Response to Charge S-1713 on Procedures for Adjudicating Academic Integrity Policy Infractions - Viktor Krapivin & Samuel Rabinowitz, SAC Co-Chairs

The SAC has been charged as follows:

Review the current status of the educative and adjudication processes of the Offices of Student Conduct regarding infractions of the University Academic Integrity Policy. Identify areas of concern, and provide appropriate recommendations.  Provide a response which will be forwarded to the Senate's Academic Standards, Regulations, and Admissions Committee on this same issue (Charge S-1714).

Krapivin summarized his committee's report on Charge S-1713, on Procedures for Adjudicating Academic Integrity Policy Infractions, which had been requested as input to the ASRAC's work on the same issue. The SAC response was discussed at length. The report was then advanced to the ASRAC in compliance with the SAC's charge.

Faculty and Personnel Affairs Committee (FPAC) Response to Charge S-1707on Stipend or Course Release Payment for PTL Senators - Joseph Markert and Alexander Settles, FPAC Co-Chairs

The FPAC has been charged as follows:

Consider the role of part-time lecturers (PTLs) in shared governance at Rutgers, investigating policies at other Big Ten institutions as well as the unique circumstances at Rutgers University. Make recommendations regarding adequate participation with appropriate incentives.

Settles summarized his committee's report on Charge S-1707, on Stipend or Course Release Payment for PTL Senators. The report was discussed for some time and suggestions were made for changes.  The report, with suggested revisions, was then docketed for action at the upcoming Senate meeting.

Issues/Charges:

Proposed Charge on Rutgers Identity in Ratings Reports - Submitted by Jon Oliver, Staff Senator

Jon Oliver had submitted the following proposed charge and rationale on Rutgers Identity in Ratings Reports:
Proposed Charge:

Consider and make recommendations on how best to identify Rutgers in published ratings of universities. Identify areas of concern, as well as opportunities for improved or increased visibility and rankings. Recommend rational processes to simplify existing complexities in identifying various entities within Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

Rationale:

Thompson-Reuters recently released their 2017 ratings of the 100 most innovative universities. Rutgers was listed as number 78. Unfortunately, Thompson-Reuters lists our institutions as "Rutgers State University." The Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID), ResearchGate, Google Scholar, Academia all have multiple variations on the Rutgers name. This confusion in the institutional name negatively imipacts on searches and the visibility of the research that our faculty do and the societal impact that we as an AAU R-1 university has. For Rutgers to break in to the top tier of AAU institutions we must adopt a consistent institutional name.

After discussing the proposal and Senator Robert Boikess noting the New Brunswick Faculty Council is researching a related charge, it was determined the Senate will not look into the issue at this time. Instead, Peter Gillett will communicate with Kimberly Manning, Vice President for University Communications and Marketing, the Executive Committee's concerns and will report back at the March meeting.

[Scoloveno left at 3:05pm]

Proposed Charge on Employee Parking Costs - Submitted by Adrienne Esposito, Staff Senator

Adrienne Esposito had submitted the following proposed charge and rationale on Employee Parking Costs:

Proposed Charge:

Examine the existing RBHS and Rutgers legacy faculty/staff parking permit charges. Review the disparities, and, where appropriate, make recommendations for simplifying and normalizing the charges. 

Rationale:

Several of my RBHS team brought to my attention that they are paying considerably more for parking at Rutgers than their Legacy Rutgers counterparts. RUDOTS provided the following: "Legacy RU employees pay a different rate than UMDNJ/RBHS employees... UMDNJ/RBHS pay .005 X their salary. Legacy RU employees have a different sliding scale based on salary. Here is a link to that." The different policies and rates result in RBHS employees being charged approximately 40% more for their parking than Legacy Rutgers employees. The policy should be consistent across all employees, since the schools have "merged" since July of 2014 (3.5 years).

After a discussion, it was determined not to charge a committee with this issue, but rather to invite Tony Calcado, Executive Vice President for Strategic Planning and Operations and Chief Operating Officer, and Jack Molenaar, Senior Director of Transportation Services to address the Executive Committee on this topic.

Proposed Charge to University Structure and Governance Committee on Senator Alternates - Submitted by Sana Siddiqui, NJMS Student Senator

Sana Siddiqui had submitted the following proposed charge and rationale on Senator Alternates:

Proposed Charge:

Explore the feasibility of providing options for alternate student Senators, particularly for the New Jersey Medical School.

Rationale:

The curriculum at New Jersey Medical School is not conducive to having students attend meetings, due to national standardized exams being held on Fridays as well as clerkship schedules that are not up to our discretion. As such, it has been difficult to attend Senate meetings and even more difficult to attend committee meetings. It has been an issue for our representatives over a few years. This impairs the ability of our students to be involved with Senate proceedings as well as be able to voice their suggestions or concerns. We propose the position of a Senator Alternate, who may attend the committee and/or Senate meetings in case that the Senator representative cannot attend. The representative would be of a different class year. By providing the option for an alternate, NJMS students can be more involved with the Senate, and Rutgers University, over time.

Senator Siddiqui was not present to defend this charge, but the Executive Committee nevertheless discussed it at length. The consensus was that although effective participation and adequate representation are very important, this is not a University-wide issue and only pertains to only one particular group. Therefore, this issue will not be charged to a committee at this time.

[Lee left at 3:26 p.m.]

5.    New Business

 No new business.

6.    University Senate Agenda

The February 16, 2018 Senate Meeting agenda was discussed, and will include:

7.    Adjournment
 
The meeting adjourned at 3.52 p.m.

Minutes written and submitted by,

Mary Mickelsen
Interim Executive Secretary of the University Senate