• Agenda: The meeting agenda was approved as distributed by the Executive Secretary.. 
• Minutes: The January 9, 2015 Senate Executive Committee Meeting Minutes were approved with one revision to the Chair's Report section regarding the responsible executive on the Open Access Policy.
• Communications: The following communication was presented and acted upon as indicated:
• Amber Hirsh has resigned her position as Graduate Student Representative to the Board of Trustees. Self-nominations for a replacement will be solicited for an election to be held at the upcoming Senate meeting. Noted, and agreed that nominations from the floor for this, as well as the Executive Committee positions indicated below, would not be accepted for this election.
• Nam Dy has resigned from the Senate, and therefore from his position as Camden Student Member of the Executive Committee. Self-nominations for a replacement will be solicited for an election to be held at the upcoming Senate meeting. Noted. Also, George Meggali, the Newark Student Member of the Executive Committee, who had been consistently absent from the meetings, and whose Senate attendance was also poor, would be asked to resign, and that position would also filled in an election at the upcoming Senate meeting.
• In response to a request for an estimate of when a report may be issued, Linda Brzustowicz, Chair of the Committee on the Future Academic Structure of the University, wrote: “We are actually on a longer time-frame [than the Committee on Near- and Long-term Impact of Instructional Technology], our interim report is not due until the end of the summer.” Noted.

• the proposed merger of the School of Law - Newark and the School of Law - Camden;
• the following week's site visit from Middle States relative to Rutgers' major substantive change request after integration of RBHS;
• ongoing searches for Henry Rutgers professorships and Henry Rutgers term professorships;
• plans to institute term professorships for New Brunswick;
• completion of some deans' evaluations, including Bloustein School Dean James Hughes, and anticipation of receiving names from the Senate for other dean's evaluation committees;
• ongoing searches for deans of the School of Communication and Information, and for the School of Management and Labor Relations, as well as for the University Librarian; and
• the expectation of beginning  a search for Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs in New Brunswick.

• the ongoing search for Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, which will be an internal search;
• administrative restrictions and details relating to implementation of 50-percent tuition remission for part-time lecturers; and
• [Natalie Borisovets joined the meeting at 1:34 p.m. Senate Chair Ann Gould joined the meeting at 1:35 p.m.]
• merging of Rutgers Business School Newark and New Brunswick, as relates to the proposed law schools merger;

Committee Chair: Matt Winkler has volunteered to co-chair the Academic Standards, Regulations and Admissions Committee (ASRAC). ASRAC Chair Martha Cotter endorses the appointment. The Executive Committee approved the appointment.

Committee Reports: 

University Structure and Governance Committee (USGC) Response to Charge S-1309 on Senate Election Procedures [Report is for information only. No bylaws or procedural changes are recommended.] - USGC Co-chairs Jon Oliver and Robert Puhak, and USGC member and Senate Executive Secretary Ken Swalagin summarized their committee's report on Charge S-1309 on Senate Election Procedures. The USGC had been charged as follows: 

Charge S-1309, Senate Election Procedures: Review election procedures used by the Senate, and, if appropriate, recommend improved procedures.

The report was docketed for information only at the February 20 Senate meeting.

In a related issue, Swalagin described an issue requiring attention relative to an amendment to Senate bylaws made from the floor at the April 2005 Senate meeting, which he described as impossible to implement. The amendment stipulated that nominees in the Senate's election of Senate chair and vice chair, Executive Committee members, and board representatives could run for more than one position in the same election. The committee instructed Swalagin to draft a report recommending removal of that clause of the bylaws, that could be introduced to the Senate at the February meeting, and could be voted on at the subsequent meeting. The draft was to be circulated to the Executive Committee by email for approval prior to docketing. [Note: Swalagin drafted a report that was docketed for introduction at the February 20 Senate meeting. The report was amended at that Senate meeting, but is online in its as-introduced form here.]

Faculty and Personnel Affairs Committee (FPAC) Response to Charge S-1313 on Travel and Business Expense Reimbursement (TABER)  Appendix 1: TABER Survey Appendix 2: TABER Survey Summary - FPAC Co-chair Ann Gould summarized her committee's report on Charge S-1313 on Travel and Business Expense Reimbursement (TABER), including the survey document and results. The FPAC had been charged as follows: 

Charge S-1313, Travel and Business Expense Reimbursement (TABER): Review current university policies and practices concerning reimbursement to faculty and staff for professional expenditures, including but not limited to, travel, conference attendance, and purchases; survey impacted constituencies for suggestions, and propose possible modifications or improvements to the current system.

The report was docketed for Senate action at the February 20 Senate meeting.

5.    Discussion of Proposed Merger of School of Law - Camden and School of Law - Newark - John Oberdiek, Acting Dean of the School of Law - Camden, and Ron Chen, Acting Dean of the School of Law - Newark, arrived at the meeting at 2:12 p.m. for a discussion of the proposed merger of the Camden and Newark Law Schools. Prior to this meeting, the committee had been sent the following supporting documents prepared by the law schools' administration::

• Rutgers Law: A 21st Century Public Law School
• American Bar Association Major Change Questionnaire

4-A.    Standing Committees/Caucuses (Continued)

Issues/Proposed Charges:

Proposed Charge on Modifying Academic Calendar and Exam Times for Online Courses, submitted by James Massachaele, Executive Vice Dean of SAS-NB via email as follows:

• Election of Camden and Newark Student Executive Committee Members, and of Graduate Student Representative to the Board of Trustees
• Newark Campus Report - Nancy Cantor, Chancellor of Rutgers - Newark
• Annual Budget Report - Menahem Spiegel, Budget and Finance Committee Chair [Note: This item was later postponed to March 2015.]
• Camden and Newark Physical Master Plan Presentation - Antonio Calcado, Vice President for University Facilities and Capital Planning [Note: The subject reports of this item were not completed by the Senate meeting date. This item will be presented to the Senate at a later time.]