April 6, 2007

ALSO ATTENDING:  Furmanski (Administrative Liaison), Leath (Faculty BOG Representative), Scott (Faculty BOT Representative), Spiegel (Budget and Finance Committee Chair)

EXCUSED:  Borisovets, Eldreth

The regular meeting of the University Senate Executive Committee was held on Friday, April 6, 2007 in the Executive Board Conference Room, Administrative Services Building III, Cook Campus 

Chairperson Martha Cotter called the meeting to order at 1:13 p.m. Noting the meeting’s lengthy agenda, she skipped the Chairperson’s Report.

2.  Secretary’s Report

• Minutes: The March 2, 2007 Senate Executive Committee Minutes were approved as distributed by the Executive Secretary.

• Communications: The following communication was presented by the secretary and duly noted by the Executive Committee:

         President McCormick’s Response to Senate SAC/EC Approval of NJPIRG Student Chapters Concept Plan

3.  Administrative Liaison

President McCormick was called away before the meeting convened. Executive Vice President Furmanski delivered the Administrative Report, which included comments on:

• Rutgers’ continuing dialog with Governor Corzine and the state legislature on the budget;
• efforts to secure funding on technology and economic growth, and stem cell research;
• discussions and planning related to proposed restructuring and reorganization of New Jersey’s higher education system, which discussions are currently on hold pending resolution of some activities at UMDNJ; and
• the nearly completed development of priorities and the prospectus for the upcoming capital campaign, which development has included involvement of the Senate and faculty councils.

Furmanski responded to questions on topics which included:

• the upcoming Middle States accreditation process, and the importance of assessment of teaching outcomes; and
• means by which the Rutgers community can become informed about, and positively engaged in, the accreditation process.

4.  Committee Reports and Actions

Recommendations for Nominating Panel Membership: Potential members of the 2007-2008 Senate Nominating Panel were suggested. Secretary Swalagin will solicit the named Senators’ participation in the panel.

Academic Standards, Regulations and Admissions Committee (ASRAC) Response to Charge S-0408, Academic Integrity Policy Review: Martha Cotter, ASRAC co-chair, said that she and the committee are working on an interim report on the Academic Integrity Policy review. She expects the report to include some general comments about what the committee liked about the general thrust of the policy, what areas still need further consideration, and recommendations about the need for greater community input and for establishment of procedures to educate the community about academic integrity and implementation of the policy. Cotter will e-mail the expected report to the Executive committee for docketing on the April 27 Senate agenda.

Budget and Finance Committee (BFC) Response to Charge S-0414, Student Fees: BFC Chair Menahem Spiegel, and BFC Student Fees Subcommittee Chair Edward Ng summarized their committees’ report on student fees. During discussion, they accepted suggestions for clarification of one element, and for minor structural changes. The report was docketed for action at the April 27 Senate meeting.

University Structure and Governance Committee (USGC) Response to Charge S-0604, Shared Governance: USGC Co-chair Jonathan Tittler summarized the committee’s rough-draft response to the charge on shared governance. He said the committee would continue to refine the report, and he solicited suggestions for new or improved recommendations. Tittler praised the University of Maryland’s statement on shared governance.

Kim Mauroff and Gayle Stein raised issues of student and staff representation on university committees and in shared governance, and ways to ensure that those representatives are known to their constituencies, are communicating with those constituencies, and are representing them appropriately. Stein also said that there a large number of Rutgers staff members at a variety of levels who do not have access to e-mail at work. Cotter suggested that the issue of how to get information communicated to the entire Rutgers community is a separate issue which should be charged to a committee.

Stein moved the USGC report back to committee. The motion was not seconded. Stein objected to the report’s implication “that staff are not included as part of shared governance.” She also raised general concerns regarding Rutgers’ shared governance system, and suggested that it be reexamined in terms of staff and what types of shared-governance activities involve staff. Ted Szatrowski suggested that the call for that examination should be included in this version of the report. Tittler offered to consult further with Stein, and to add another bullet point on the staff issue to the report’s recommendations. Suggestions were also made regarding refining the report’s language, particularly that related to the all-funds-budgeting test case. The report will be revised and docketed for the April Senate meeting.

[At Stein’s request, the Executive Committee took a brief recess at 3:10 p.m. Dr. Furmanski left the meeting during the recess.]

Student Affairs Committee (SAC) Report on Charge S-0702 (formerly S-0406), Tolerance and Sensitivity:  SAC Co-chair Kimberly Mauroff, noting that the charge had recently been made joint with the Equal Opportunity Committee, summarized the committees’ report. Following discussion, the Executive Committee asked Mauroff and Ken Swalagin to edit the report. The report, with expected revisions, was docketed for the April Senate meeting.

[Senators Ng, Thompson, Leath, and Scott left the meeting during, or just prior to, the above discussion of the SAC report.]

Proposed Charge to USGC on Staff Affairs Committee: Stein’s (on behalf of the Staff Caucus) proposal that a Staff Affairs Committee be added to the Senate’s standing committee structure was discussed. Swalagin will draft a charge to be issued to the USGC on this issue.

Charge Deadlines Extension, USGC, Charge S-0603, Senate Membership - New Brunswick (Student and Faculty Membership, Faculty Component), and Charge S-0107, Guidelines for Special Student Organizations: The deadlines on these two USGC charges were extended to November 2007. Gayle Stein made suggestions to USGC Co-chair Jonathan Tittler regarding election of one at-large Senator (staff, faculty or other) from each New Brunswick residential campus to represent that campus.

Term Extensions for FAS/SAS-NB Faculty Senators: The Executive Committee authorized Swalagin to offer one-year term extensions to faculty Senators currently representing, and elected by, colleges which were restructured into the School of Arts and Sciences-New Brunswick. Cotter noted that there had been some discussion among SAS-NB faculty Senators of campus representation.

Proposed Charge to USGC on Revising Student Charter Trustee Nomination and Election Process: The EC considered a recommendation from Senator Brian Spatocco (Engineering, student) that a charge be issued to the USGC to examine and make recommendations for improving the Student Charter Trustee nomination and election processes. Swalagin will draft the charge for consideration at the June 2007 EC meeting.

6.  Old Business

There was no old business.

7.  New Business

Stein asked that the retirement of Mike McKay, with whom she works, be recognized by Cotter in her April chairperson’s report to the Senate. Cotter agreed to the request, noting that McKay was a longstanding, involved Senator.

Stein also wanted the Senate to be informed of a new policy limiting the number of pages which can be printed in computer labs, and of a survey asking students to determine for themselves what the threshold number of pages should be. She referred to possible academic freedom implications, and said that the issue would be coming up next year. No action was taken by the EC on this matter.

8.  April 27, 2007 Senate Agendas

The format, schedule and agendas for the April 27, 2007 Senate Organizational Meeting and Senate Regular Meeting were discussed and established.

9.  Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 4:55 p.m.