RUTGERS UNIVERSITY SENATE
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
M I N U T E S
February 5, 2016


MEMBERS PRESENT: Borisovets, Cotter, Gillett, Gould (Chair), Janniger, Langer, Lee, Oliver, Otto, Puhak,  Schulberg, Swalagin (Executive Secretary), Thompson

MEMBERS EXCUSED:   Barraco, Theiss

ALSO ATTENDING: B. Lee (Senior V.P. for Academic Affairs), S. Rabinowitz (Faculty Representative to the Board of Governors), A. Samant (Faculty Representative to the Board of Trustees), M, Spiegel (Faculty Representative to the Board of Trustees), A. Tamburello (Research and Graduate & Professional Education Committee Chair)

The regular meeting of the University Senate Executive Committee was held on Friday, February 5, 2016 at 1:10 p.m. in the Executive Board Room of Administrative Services Building-III, Cook Campus.

1. Chair’s Report 

Senate and Executive Committee Chair Ann Gould called the meeting to order at 1:13 p.m. She said the meeting agenda was full, and noted that New Brunswick and RBHS Executive Committee members were being asked to remain after the meeting adjourned to review honorary degree nominations.

2.    Secretary’s Report - Ken Swalagin, Executive Secretary of the Senate
3.    Administrative Report - Barbara Lee, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Barbara Lee presented an Administrative Report, which included comments on:
 4.    Standing Committees

Reports:
Research, and Graduate and Professional Education Committee (RGPEC) Response to Charge S-1505 on Implementing ORCID Identifiers - Anthony Tamburello, RGPEC Chair

RGPEC Chair Anthony Tamburello presented a summary of his committee's response to Charge S-1505 on Implementing ORCID Identifiers. The RGPEC had been charged as follows: "Investigate and make recommendations with regard to an implementation of ORCID identifiers (i.e., issuing ORCID IDs) at Rutgers. If deemed appropriate, make specific recommendations for incremental implementation, for example, beginning with the graduate schools. Identify benefits, processes, timeline, who would be involved, and approximate costs." A minor change to the resolution was suggested, and the report was docketed for action at the upcoming Senate meeting.

[Tamburello left the meeting at 1:51 p.m.]

University Structure and Governance Committee (USGC) Response to Charge S-1403 on Process for Unit Mergers or Other Structural Changes - Jon Oliver and Robert Puhak, USGC Co-chairs

USGC Co-chairs Robert Puhak and Jon Oliver presented a summary of their committee's response to Charge S-1403 on Process for Unit Mergers or Other Structural Changes. The USGC had been charged as follows: "Consider whether the University Senate should establish a general procedure, timeline, template and process for merging, dissolution or making structural changes to any University unit. Consider how such a process could assist the University and units in working in a deliberate, consultative and rational way so that all issues, impacts, concerns and benefits can be properly considered on a timely basis. Make recommendations on time limits and process." The report's resolution was modified. The USGC response to this charge includes recommended changes to Senate Bylaws and Senate-enabling University Policy, and was therefore docketed for introduction at the upcoming Senate meeting, with the expectation that it would be voted on at the following meeting, in accordance with established parliamentary procedure and Senate protocol.
Instruction, Curricula and Advising Committee (ICAC) Response to Charge S-1504 on Determination of Student Attendance - Natalie Borisovets, ICAC Chair

ICAC Chair Natalie Borisovets summarized her committee's response to Charge S-1504 on Determination of Student Attendance. The ICAC had been charged as follows: "Develop guidelines that would allow units and individual instructors to comply with U.S. Department of Education requirements that Rutgers keep records for students receiving federal financial aid that substantiate students' participatory attendance in the classes for which they are registered." The report was discussed, and several changes were suggested. Borisovets will revise the report, which will then be docketed for action at the upcoming Senate meeting.

Issues/Charges:

Proposed Charge on Responsibility Center Management (RCM) and Allocation of Faculty Lines - Submitted by Senator Karen Thompson

Karen Thompson, PTL Member of the Executive Committee, summarized a charge proposal emanating from the New Brunswick Faculty Council on RCM and allocation of faculty lines. Thompson's rationale and proposed charge were:
Rationale: With student enrollment growing at Rutgers, and with Responsibility Center Management (RCM) as our budgeting model, we increasingly notice that departments no longer retain control over faculty lines and/or have great difficulty obtaining a line when the enrollment and the curriculum suggest a line is needed. Faculty in individual departments who design courses/curricula are in the best position to determine the need and allocation of lines.

Proposed Charge: Investigate policies at Rutgers regarding allocation and retention of faculty lines, especially in comparison with peer or aspirant institutions. Consider how these policies have changed over the years and to what extent faculty have been involved in the decision-making process concerning line allocation. Make recommendations about how to ensure that lines are preserved, grow as enrollment does, and that decisions are based on academic priorities. Respond to Senate Executive Committee by [insert deadline].

The proposed charge was discussed. It was decided that it would be issued to the Budget and Finance Committee after its chair, Menahem Spiegel, modifies the wording but retains the spirit of the charge. The reporting deadline would be one year from date of issue.

[Barbara Lee left the meeting at 2:29 p.m.]

Distinguished Professor Job Title - Submitted by Senator Kwangwon Lee: The following issue had been raised by Senator Kwangwon Lee: "The Professor II title has been changed to Distinguished Professor in 2013. However, Rutgers Directory does not properly list faculty who have earned the Distinguished Professor title. Instead of Distinguished Professor, the Directory still lists Professor II, which is a term Rutgers no longer uses. 'Professor II' designation appears in many places, including the Academic Appointments Manual." Barbara Lee said she would deal with the Academic Appointments Manual portion of the issue, but that the directory part is probably the responsibility of University Human Resources. [Note: After the meeting, Lee responded to both portions of the issue.]

Charge Revision Request - Submitted by Senator Joseph Markert, Faculty and Personnel Affairs Committee (FPAC) Co-chair: FPAC requests deletion and resubmission of Charge A-0812-3 to indicate a focus on chancellors only:

Evaluation of Administrators, Part II: Evaluation of Chancellors: Reconsider the process for evaluating upper administrators  recommended by the University Senate in 2012, focusing on a process for evaluating the chancellors. Respond to the Senate Executive Committee by [insert deadline].

This issue was discussed, and it was decided, because the evaluation process had already been adopted by the Senate, that FPAC Co-chair Ann Gould would draft a resolution to go to the Senate to make the remaining portion of the charge applicable to the chancellors.


Proposed Charge on Test-Optional Admissions - Submitted by Senator Robert Boikess: "Dear EC Members, Perhaps it might be appropriate for you to issue a charge related to 'test optional admissions' in light of this new information from today's [January 26, 2016] Inside Higher Ed." This issue was discussed, and it was decided that ASRAC Chair Martha Cotter would speak with Vice President for Enrollment Courtney McAnuff before any charge is issued, to determine if test-optional admissions are possible at Rutgers.

5.    Old Business

Addition of Deadlines/Timeframe to Response to Charge S-1410 on Honorary Degree and Commencement Speaker Selection Process per President Barchi's Response

To accommodate President Barchi's request that timelines be added to the Senate's recommendations on the Honorary Degree and Commencement Speaker Selection Process, the EC discussed appropriate amendments to be made by resolution from the Senate because the report was now in the domain of the Senate since being adopted at the November 2015 Senate meeting.

Review of University Structure and Governance Committee (USGC) Charges: USGC Co-chair Robert Puhak asked for clarification on Charge S-1404 on Revisions to the University Policy Library. The charge was discussed briefly, but no action was requested or taken. Charge S-1407 on Disparities Between Parliamentary Procedure and Senate Practices was also discussed. Peter Gillett said that his original intention in raising the issue was to start a discussion, rather than have a charge issued. The charge was dropped.

Annual Review of All Outstanding, Pending Committee Charges: Peter Gillett reminded the EC that charges issued to committees lapse in March of the year following the year in which the charge was issued. Ken Swalagin was asked to email all standing committee chairs to ask for a status report on pending charges to be docketed for EC consideration at the next meeting.

Senate Transparency, and Live Streaming and Web Posting of Senate-Meeting Videos: This issue had been discussed at previous EC meetings. Ken Swalagin will work with Senator Justin Schulberg on a charge to be issued to an ad hoc committee that will be formed to explore the matter.

6.    New Business

NJPIRG Student Chapters Concept Plan Review: NJPIRG Student Chapters had submitted their Concept Plan and audit reports to the Senate office and directly to the Student Affairs Committee during the first week of this semester, in preparation for a Fall 2016 referendum. A cover memo was submitted later when Ken Swalagin requested it. The Student Affairs Committee (SAC) met with NJPIRG representatives and discussed the documents at the January 22 SAC meeting, and had submitted the following response to the Executive Committee:

"There is no doubt that the presence of NJPIRG on Rutgers campuses provides educational value. While the students do express some concern about the eventual fate of the funds provided by the student body and the formal wording of the proposed resolution, NJPIRG is welcome to continue to work with the Rutgers community."

On January 26, Nick Jermer, a member of the Executive Committee of the NJPIRG Students Board of Directors, sent a "NJPIRG Budget Shorthand" email directly to Ann Gould.

The policy on funding for special student organizations is online here. It was pointed out that the policy requires that the concept plan include information and justifications beyond just demonstration of educational value of the organization's programs, and that the additional information was not present in the concept plan as submitted. Ken Swalagin was instructed to request the additional information, primarily about justification for the proposed fee, and the need for the special funding mechanism, from NJPIRG Student Chapters. They will also be asked to adhere to the process as outlined in the policy specifically.

7.    University Senate Agenda

February 19, 2016 Senate Meeting:

Items were docketed for the February 19, 2016 Senate meeting in Camden, including committee reports docketed above, and:
8.    Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 3:57 p.m.

Minutes written and submitted by,

Ken Swalagin
Executive Secretary of the University Senate