1.             Chairperson’s Report

Chairperson Cotter said that the Board of Governors had voted to approve President McCormick's recommendations for transforming undergraduate education in New Brunswick/Piscataway based on the report of the Task Force on Undergraduate Education (TFUE) and input from the Senate and the Rutgers community.  Chairperson Cotter received praise and thanks from those present for her work in bringing the Senate's TFUE recommendations to completion.

Minutes:  Secretary Swalagin had been unable to attend the February 3, 2006 Executive Committee meeting.  By agreement with Chairperson Cotter, there were no minutes produced for that meeting.

Communications:  The following communications were presented and acted upon as indicated:

• Draft Schedule of 2006-2007 Senate and Senate Executive Committee meetings: The schedule was discussed and accepted.  [Secretary's note:  Some Executive Committee dates were later changed to accommodate the Board of Governors' schedule.]  Vice Chairperson Rabinowitz noted that a meeting held on September 22 must end before sunset as it is the beginning of Rosh Hashanah.  It was also suggested that the schedule, when published, should indicate that the last meeting may begin at 11:00 a.m. to allow time for the annual election to be held if there is a heavy agenda for the regular Senate meeting which is held on the same day. It was also agreed that Executive Committee meetings would be held in ASB-III, the same location as the Senate office.  [Schedule discussed and approved.]
• President McCormick's March 7, 2006 e-mail to the Rutgers-New Brunswick/Piscataway community regarding "President's Recommendations for Transforming  Undergraduate Education":  [Noted.]
• Solomon Amendment Upheld:  Secretary Swalagin distributed copies of Senator Oren's e-mail, which read:  "The Supreme Court today upheld, 8-0, the Solomon amendment barring universities from limiting military recruiters. The opinion, by Chief Justice Roberts, says that colleges and universities have less drastic ways of protesting military policy on gays, and that 'the Solomon Amendment neither limits what law schools may say nor requires them to say anything.'"  [Noted.]

3.             Selection and Charge of Nominating Panel for April 28, 2006 Election of Officers

To enable nomination and election of Senate officers, Executive Committee members, and board representatives for next year, suggestions were made for membership on the Senate's 2006 Nominating Panel. The Charge to the Senate Nominating Panel was also reviewed.   Senator Daniel O'Connor was again suggested as chair of the panel. Secretary Swalagin will contact all suggested panel members to determine if they are willing to serve, and will begin scheduling panel meetings.  The Senate election will take place at the April 28, 2006 Senate meeting.

4.             Charge to University Structure and Governance Committee regarding Proposal for Establishment of a School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers-Newark.

• On October 24th, 2005 the Faculty Council unanimously voted to endorse the proposal for a School of Public Affairs and Administration.
• On February 1st, 2006 the Faculty of Arts and Sciences passed the following motion: "The Faculty of Arts and Sciences-Newark enthusiastically endorses the proposal for establishment of the School of Public Affairs and Administration."

The proposal was discussed. The University Structure and Governance Committee (USGC) was then charged with responding to the request to establish the school. The USGC's deadline on this charge was April 5.

5.             March 24, 2006 University Senate Meeting Agenda

Items were docketed for the Senate's March 24, 2006 meeting on the Newark Campus, as follows:

• Newark Campus Report - Newark Provost Steven Diner
• Summary of Rutgers' Strategic Plan for Information Technology - Michael McKay, Vice President for Information Technology

6.                 Old Business

There was no old business

7.             New Business

There was no new business.

8.             Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 2:00 p.m. by Chairperson Cotter.