February 7, 2014 Rutgers University Senate Executive Committee Minutes

RUTGERS UNIVERSITY SENATE
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
M I N U T E S
February 7, 2014

MEMBERS PRESENT: Barraco (by phone), Berman, Boikess, Burrell, Cotter (Vice Chairperson/New Brunswick Faculty Liaison), Gould (Chairperson), Oliver, Puhak, Swalagin (Executive Secretary), Thompson, Vodak

MEMBERS EXCUSED:  Benjamin, Gillett, Sheth

ALSO ATTENDING: Andreassen (Chief of Staff, RBHS Chancellor's Office), Barchi (University President, Administrative Liaison), Borisovets (Instruction, Curricula and Advising Committee Chair/Liaison), Cashin (Student Representative to the Board of Governors), Jackson (Chief of Staff, President's Office), Otto (Research, and Graduate and Professional Education Committee Co-chair/Liaison), Rabinowitz (Faculty Representative to the Board of Governors/Camden Faculty Liaison), Samant (Faculty Representative to the Board of Trustees), Spiegel (Faculty Representative to the Board of Trustees), Strom (RBHS Chancellor)

The regular meeting of the University Senate Executive Committee was held on Friday, February 7, 2014 at 1:10 p.m. in the Executive Board Room of Administrative Services Building-III, Cook Campus.

1.     Chairperson’s Report

Senate and Executive Committee Chairperson Ann Gould called the meeting to order at 1:19 p.m.

2.    Secretary’s Report - Ken Swalagin, Executive Secretary of the Senate

Agenda: The meeting agenda was approved as distributed by the executive secretary.
Minutes: The November 22, 2013 Senate Executive Committee Meeting Minutes were approved.
Draft Schedule of 2014-15 Senate and Senate Executive Committee meetings: A draft schedule of 2014-15 Senate and Executive Committee meetings was presented by the executive secretary, and approved by the Executive Committee.
Communications: The following communications were presented by the executive secretary, and acted upon as indicated.

University Strategic Plan: Discussed at various times during this meeting, including mention of the Senate's contribution to the plan (see page 47).
Invitation to 2014 COIA National Meeting: Chairperson Gould asked Executive Committee members to contact her if they were interested in attending the COIA National Meeting.

3. Administrative Liaison

University President Robert Barchi presented an administrative report, which included comments on:

the Strategic Plan, and upcoming, continuing processes to further develop and implement the plan;
his recent responses to pending Senate reports transmitted to the administration, and his request that the Executive Committee send him a list of still-relevant reports from 2004 to 2009 to which administrative responses have not yet been received;
the Senate's consideration of the proposed merger of Newark and New Brunswick nursing schools, and the context in which those discussions should take place; and
progress and plans relating to development of Rutgers' physical master plan.

President Barchi then responded to questions, or heard comments, from those present on the above and additional subjects, including:

the Senate's responsibilities and authority regarding the proposed nursing merger, and the related timeframe for the merger;
the role of faculty in student advising;
creation of endowed chairs, and the resources required;
integration of Rutgers and legacy UMDNJ administrative systems;
Rutgers' state funding and other revenue streams, as well as costs related to the UMDNJ integration;
the second negative administrative response to the renewed request for consideration of tuition remission for PTLs; and
ongoing fitgap analysis with IT systems, and related UMDNJ integration issues.

At 2:15 p.m., Gould pointed out that RBHS Chancellor Strom was scheduled to arrive at 3:00 to discuss the proposed nursing merger. She asked for permission to amend the agenda to try to consider docketed committee reports, then discuss the nursing proposal, and to address the proposed charges afterward, time permitting. Jane Otto said that the Research, and Graduate and Professional Education Committee item was time-sensitive, and should be addressed because it was carried over from the canceled January meeting. The agenda was amended accordingly. [Note: The meeting adjourned before the remaining proposed charges could be addressed. They were carried over to the March 7, 2014 meeting.]

4. Standing Committees

Committee Reports

University Structure and Governance Committee (USGC) Response to Charge S-1302 on Full-Time, Non-Tenure-Track Faculty Senators and Response to Charge S-1307 on Senate and Executive Committee Eligibility - [Note: These reports were not finalized at the time of this meeting. The links above go to the reports as docketed for introduction to the Senate at the February 21, 2014 Senate meeting.] - USGC Co-chair Peter Gillett was unable to attend the meeting. USGC Co-chair Jon Oliver summarized his committee's deliberations and ongoing drafting of reports on Charges S-1302 on Full-Time, Non-Tenure-Track Faculty Senators, and S-1307 on Senate and Executive Committee Eligibility, which would reference each other and presented as a package. The USGC had been charged as follows:

Charge S-1302 - Full-time, Non-tenure-track Faculty Senators: Clarify the role and positions that full-time, non-tenure-track faculty can hold in the Senate, particularly if they are annual appointees." Rationale: In the resolution that was passed in April 2001 annuals are mentioned but it is not clear if this is in reference to part-time annuals or full-time annuals.

Charge S-1307 - Senate and Executive Committee Eligibility: Consider and make recommendations regarding Senate eligibility and Executive Committee positions in light of the integration of UMDNJ.

The reports and charges were discussed, and docketed provisionally for introduction at the upcoming Senate meeting. Both reports address issues that require changes in Senate Bylaws/University Policy, and therefore require introduction at a Senate meeting before being acted upon by the Senate at the subsequent meeting.

An Instruction, Curricula and Advising Committee (ICAC) Committee Report on Testing Facilities had been prematurely docketed by the executive secretary, and was withdrawn from the agenda.

Issues/Proposed Charges:

Update/Discussion on Research, and Graduate and Professional Education Committee (RGPEC) Charge S-1207 on Support for International Students - RGPEC Co-chairs Jane Otto and Gayle Stein

Charge S-1207: Support for International Students: Investigate and make recommendations with regard to core university support for international students and postdocs, particularly in the area of visas.Respond to Senate Executive Committee by March 2014.

The following had been submitted by Jane Otto: ":RGPEC's charge on support for international students (S-1207) is due in March. We have recently learned that the Centers for Global Advancement and International Affairs (GAIA Centers) have a parallel initiative going on (related to a similar charge they received from Dick Edwards), and we have begun coordinating with them, in order to avoid any duplication of effort. This has complicated the response to our own charge, because coordination is taking some additional time and the scope of the charge may need to expand. Rather than simply ask for more time, Gayle and I thought it might be a good idea to check in with the Executive Committee to discuss how this is working and what implications there may be for delivering a report and recommendations this spring."

Otto summarized the matter, which was then discussed by the Executive Committee. It was decided that the survey should be sent to the Rutgers community via email from Executive Vice President Edwards' office, and that the optimal time for that transmittal would be in mid-February, but that did not seem likely. The possibility of the RGPEC issuing an interim report on the charge was discussed, but deemed unnecessary. The deadline for RGPEC reporting to the Executive Committee was then changed to December 2014.

5. Discussion of Nursing Units Merger and Combined Senate Committee Responses to the Merger Proposal - Brian Strom, Rutgers Biological and Health Sciences (RBHS) Chancellor

Prior to RBHS Chancellor Strom's arrival, the Executive Committee discussed the continuing examination of, and Senate standing committee responses on, the proposal to merge nursing schools in Newark and New Brunswick. Concerns were raised regarding the process and timeline of Senate consultation on the matter, and of the Senate's duty to "regulate formal relationships among academic units within the University, including the organization of the disciplines" as codified in the University Policy 50.2.2.A. RBHS Chancellor Strom and RBHS Chief of Staff Steven Andreassen arrived at 3:05 p.m., and responded to questions regarding the proposal. At the end of the discussion, it was agreed that the Executive Committee would compile a list of questions to which Strom would respond quickly, with the intention of providing all Senate standing committees with the responses to be discussed at the February 21 committee meetings. Strom also said that a more detailed proposal document would be provided.

Executive Secretary Swalagin then asked if Strom could provide information regarding the structure of faculty shared-governance bodies at RBHS. Strom responded that a single faculty body has not yet emerged. RBHS Chief-of-Staff Andreassen offered to consult with Swalagin on RBHS student and faculty governance structures.

6. Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 4:07 p.m. Docketed items not addressed during this meeting were deferred, and will be redocketed on the March Executive Committee agenda.

Minutes written and submitted by,

Ken Swalagin
Executive Secretary of the University Senate