RUTGERS UNIVERSITY
SENATE
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
M I N U T E S
April 11, 2014
MEMBERS PRESENT: Berman, Boikess, Cotter (Acting
Chair/Vice Chairperson/New Brunswick Faculty
Liaison), Gillett, Oliver, Puhak, Swalagin
(Executive
Secretary), Thompson, Vodak
MEMBERS EXCUSED: Barraco,
Gould (Chairperson)
ALSO
ATTENDING: Barchi (University President), Borisovets
(Instruction, Curricula
and Advising
Committee Chair/Liaison), Jackson (President's Chief of Staff), Otto
(Research, and
Graduate and
Professional Education Committee Co-chair/Liaison), Samant
(Faculty Representative to the Board of Trustees), Spiegel
(Faculty Representative
to the Board of Trustees)
The regular meeting of the University Senate Executive Committee was
held on
Friday, April 11, 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 Chair Ann Gould was away. Senate and
Executive Committee Vice Chair Martha Cotter presided, calling the
meeting to order at 1:16 p.m. She reminded everyone that there was much
to do, and that the committee looks at standing committee reports with
a goal of deciding whether or not to docket those reports for Senate
action.
2. Secretary’s Report - Ken Swalagin,
Executive Secretary of the Senate
- Agenda: Peter Gillett
pointed out that continued discussion of the Pearson eCollege issue,
which was to have been brought back to the Executive Committee at this
meeting, had been left off of the agenda. Ken Swalagin said he would
place it on the agenda for the May meeting. The meeting agenda
was modified to change a docketed issue on budget transparency to an
issue on investment strategy and divestiture of Rutgers endowment funds
from fossil fuel companies. With that change, the agenda was
approved.
- Minutes: The March 7, 2014
Senate Executive Committee Meeting Minutes were approved.
3. Administrative Liaison
University President Robert Barchi presented
an administrative report, which
included comments on:
- his recent meetings with alumni groups and donors;
- new student counseling services initiated by Greg Jackson and his
team;
- the Strategic Plan, and its reception by alumni groups and others;
- new hires and searches, including Shadd Maruna as Dean of the
School of Criminal Justice in Newark, the near-completion of the search
for a Camden chancellor, final interviews for deans of the School of
Arts and Sciences-New Brunswick and the Graduate School of Education,
and initiation of a search for dean of the Rutgers Business School in
Newark;
- status of the 100-day initiatives, and related formation of a
Committee on the Near- and Long-Term Impact of Instructional
Technology, co-chaired by Darrin York and Susan Albin, and a Committee
on the Future Academic Structure of the University, co-chaired by Linda
Brzustowicz and Clement Price;
- recent meetings and activities with the Diversity Council; and
- Rutgers agreement to avoid vendors who utilize sweatshops, and
signing onto the Bangladesh Accord.
President Barchi then responded to questions, or heard
comments, from
those present on the above and additional subjects, including:
- permanent New Brunswick chancellor search;
- provost searches;
- composition and Senator membership on the initiatives committees;
- mechanisms or plans related to non-tenure-track faculty moving
from industry into academia;
- rumors of reductions of teaching assistantships; and
- members of the Diversity Council.
[Barchi and Jackson left the meeting at 1:46 p.m.]
4. Standing Committees/Panels
Nominating
Panel Update - Ken Swalagin informed the committee on progress
of the Nominating Panel, and responded to questions regarding how and
when unit elections are conducted.
Committee Reports
Student
Affairs Committee
(SAC) Response
to Charge S-1210 on Early-Open Study Space -
[Note: This report was not yet available at the time of this meeting.
The link above goes to the report as docketed for action, and adopted,
at the May 2, 2014 Senate meeting.] - SAC Co-chair Sam Rabinowitz
summarized his committee's deliberations and ongoing work on the report
on Charge S-1210 on Early-Open Study Space. The SAC
had been charged as follows:
Early-Open Study
Space: Determine the
interest in, and feasibility of, a study area on each campus opening
early
(5:00 a.m.) for commuter students.
The report was then
docketed provisionally for introduction at the upcoming Senate
meeting, pending email circulation to, and approval by, the Executive
Committee.
Discussion resulted in an approved motion that the report's title make
clear the preliminary nature of this report, and that a final report
will be forthcoming. The report was then
docketed provisionally for action at the upcoming Senate
meeting, pending email circulation to, and approval by, the Executive
Committee.
Definition
of "Faculty" in University Policies:
Investigate
whether there is a need for a definition of "faculty" to be used in
University Policies. If so, develop a definition of "faculty" to be
incorporated into those policies.
Neither FPAC co-chair was able to attend the meeting to summarize this
report. Discussion resulted in some minor editorial suggestions for the
concluding sentence, and a suggestion that another related charge may
be considered in the future. The report was then
docketed provisionally for action at the upcoming Senate
meeting, pending email circulation to, and approval by, both the FPAC
and the Executive Committee.
Issues/Proposed
Charges:
Discussion
and Potential Charge to
Committee on Rutgers Endowment Investments - Submitted by
Samuel
Berman
Samuel Berman had, in March, proposed a charge on budget transparency,
which was discussed at the March 7 Executive
Committee, at which Senator Spiegel, Chair of the Budget and Finance
Committee, said he would like to wait to see what relevant results may
come from recent Budget and Finance Committee reports. The Executive
Committee had then agreed this should come back on the docket for
today's
meeting. At this meeting, Berman changed this to a proposal to charge
the Budget and Finance Committee with soliciting information to support
a movement to have Rutgers shift its endowment investments away from
fossil fuels. Following discussion, the committee asked Berman to draft
a memo to be sent to President Barchi on behalf of the Executive
Committee asking which of a list of 200 fossil-fuel companies are
included in Rutgers' endowment investments, or are included in funds in
which Rutgers is invested.
Proposed Issue on Nursing Merger Proposal Process, and Possible
Appeal
- Submitted by Bob Boikess
The
following docketed issue was tabled until the May meeting in order to
accommodate the discussion below on the Camden/Stratford Nursing
union proposal: Determine
whether there may have been violations
of University
Regulation 50.2.2A and B with
respect to the various reorganizations of Nursing on the various
campuses. In
the event that the EC finds that there may have been such violations,
formulate
an appeal as defined in 50.2.2B2, with the help of University Counsel
if
necessary.
[Borisovets and Berman left the meeting at 2:35 p.m.]
Proposed Issue on Senate Role in Advisory Council for
University Retirees
- Submitted by Bob Boikess
The following docketed issue was also tabled until the May meeting in
order to accommodate the discussion below on the Camden/Stratford
Nursing union proposal: Consider whether there is any appropriate role
for the Senate related
to the Advisory Council for University retirees.
Proposed Issue and Resolution
Regarding Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh -
Submitted
by Andrea Parente,
United Students
Against Sweatshops - This issue was not discussed at this
point in the meeting, but was considered answered by President Barchi
in his administrative report, during which it was stated that Rutgers
has signed on to the Bangladesh Accord.
5. Proposal
for Union of Nursing Programs and Personnel on the Stratford Campus of
the Legacy UMDNJ School of Nursing with the Rutgers School of Nursing -
Camden - Sent by Joanne Robinson, Dean of the Rutgers School
of Nursing - Camden
At 2:36 p.m. Joanne Robinson, Dean of the Rutgers School of Nursing -
Camden, and Marie O'Toole, Associate Dean of Nursing - Stratford,
arrived at the meeting, and participated in a 42-minute discussion with
the Executive Committee members and others present regarding the
proposal to unite the nursing programs and personnel on the Stratford
Campus of the Legacy UMDNJ School of Nursing with the Rutgers School of
Nursing - Camden. Robinson and O'Toole then left the meeting at 3:18
p.m., after which the Executive Committee continued the discussion,
focusing on how to respond to this second, recent proposal regarding
nursing mergers, with this one having been sent with even shorter
notice than the Newark/New Brunswick proposal. Much of the discussion
focused on the particulars and lack of some important information in
the proposal, and a significant portion of the discussion also
addressed the need to protect the Senate's legislative authority in
matters involving formal relationships among academic units, and the
time in which the Senate could reasonably be expected to act in such
matters.
[Boikess left the meeting at 3:37 p.m.]
Discussion continued, eventually resulting in a decision that the
Executive Committee would draft a report to go to the Senate at the
upcoming meeting, in which the Senate would state the process issues,
the specific questions remaining about the proposal, and that in the
absence of the remaining questions and additional information required
for the Senate to make a considered decision, that the Senate could
neither reject nor approve the proposal at this time.
[Thompson left the meeting at approximately 3:50 p.m.]
6.
Agenda for May 2, 2014 Senate Meeting
The agenda and schedule for the May 2 Senate regular meeting, and
2014-15 Senate organizational/election meeting were discussed. The
committee decided to start the meeting at 10:30 a.m. [Note: This
ultimately was not done, after it was realized that the reports
docketed for action at the regular meeting were not expected to consume
as much time as would justify the early start. With the Executive
Committee's approval via email, the Senate meeting ultimately followed
the normal schedule, beginning at 1:10 p.m.]
7. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 4:06 p.m.
Minutes written and submitted by,
Ken Swalagin
Executive Secretary of the University Senate