RUTGERS UNIVERSITY
SENATE
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
M I N U T E S
May 18, 2012
MEMBERS PRESENT: Barraco (by phone), Borisovets, Gillett,
Gould,
McKeever, Muse, Panayotatos (Chair), Puhak, Rosario, Swalagin
(Executive
Secretary), Thompson
MEMBERS EXCUSED: Bubb, Muse,
Paterno,
Yoon
ALSO
ATTENDING: Cashin (2012-13 Executive Committee Member)
The regular meeting of the University Senate Executive Committee was
held on
Friday, May 18, 2012 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 Paul Panayotatos called the
meeting to order at 1:19 p.m. He welcomed new members to the Executive
Committee, and thanked current Executive Committee members, both
continuing and not returning.
2. Secretary’s Report - Ken Swalagin,
Executive Secretary of the Senate
- Agenda: The meeting
agenda was adopted as presented by the Executive Secretary.
- Minutes: Swalagin asked
for, and was given, permission to submit the April 13, 2012
Executive Committee minutes and April 27, 2012 Senate meeting minutes
at a later date.
- Communications: The following communications were presented by
the secretary, and acted upon as noted:
- Video
of Robert L. Barchi's remarks to Rutgers' governing boards.
At 2:22 in the video, Dr. Barchi comments on the role of faculty
in shared governance. Noted.
- Email from Senator Gayle Stein: "I am writing to request
clarification of an issue raised during the last Senate meeting. During
the discussion on academic freedom, a question was raised about how the
word "faculty" was being used in the university policy. I do not
believe that the question was adequately answered. A graduate student
approached me after the meeting to ask if he has academic freedom in
the classroom in his role as a TA teaching part of a course. A
co-adjutant member of the faculty asked me the same question. I would
be most appreciative if you could find out from the Secretary of
the University to whom the policy applies. Thank you." The
issue was discussed at some length, and it was decided that the
question would be referred to University Secretary Leslie Fehrenbach.
- Email from Professor William Fitzgerald, English Department,
Camden College of Arts and Sciences: "I submit this recently discovered
report
commissioned by Rowan to advise it in its takeover efforts. Of note, is
that the report was completed by The Learning Alliance on January 26,
2012, one day after Governor Christie accepted and endorsed the Barer
Commission Advisory Report. Please forward to appropriate University
Senate officers." Noted.
3. Nominations for Deans' Evaluation Committees
After Paul Panayotatos summarized the process, the Executive Committee
suggested nominees for the following deans' evaluation committees:
- Douglas Greenberg, Executive Dean, School of Arts and Sciences -
New Brunswick
- Jorge Schement, School of Communication and Information
4. Standing Committees
Proposed Charge to Academic Standards, Regulations, and Admissions
Committee (ASRAC), submitted by Martha Cotter, ASRAC
Co-chair: The following proposed charge and rationale were
summarized by ASRAC Co-chair Martha Cotter. The charge was issued as
proposed, with a January 2013 reporting deadline.
Academic Regulations,
Student
Achievement, and Effective Use of Resources: Examine how well current academic
regulations and procedures serve to maximize student academic
achievement and
result in the most effective use of our resources. In particular, look
at the
effect on student achievement and use of resources of regulations and
procedures related to (1) students retaking courses they have failed or
withdrawn from many times; (2) replacement of grades when a student
retakes a
course; (3) dismissal of students for poor academic performance and
readmission
of students who have been dismissed; and (4) deadlines for withdrawal
from
courses. Suggest changes in policies and procedures where needed in
order more
effectively to foster student success and use limited resources.
Rationale: This
proposed charge results from faculty
complaints concerning (1) students who keep registering for the same
course
they have failed or withdrawn from many times (8 times in one recent
case)
without even speaking with the instructor or an academic adviser; (2)
students
who purposely fail a course in which they think they may receive a C or
D or
beg a faculty member to change a D to an F after the fact; (3) students
who
manage to continue at Rutgers for long periods of time despite very
poor
academic performance by manipulating apparently somewhat lax procedures
(at
some schools) regarding dismissal and readmission and monitoring of
readmitted
students; (4) problems that result when students from different schools
registered in the same course have substantially different deadlines
for
withdrawal from the course.
Request for Modification of Research, and Graduate and Professional
Education Committee (RGPEC) Charge S-1108 on Research Support
Infrastructure, submitted by Gayle
Stein, RGPEC Co-chair: The following request to modify RGPEC charge
S-1108 was discussed. No member of the RGPEC was present at the
meeting. Gayle Stein will be asked to provide a category title or
heading for each of the subcharges, as well as for individual reporting
deadlines, and the request will be reconsidered by the Executive
Committee.
Stein states that, "The RGPEC is
requesting that charge S-1108 be divided into smaller charges as
follows, in order to make the results more manageable. The committee
plans to invite a number of experts to speak at our meetings and
believe that it can fulfill its charge more effectively if it is broken
up."
Charge S-1108
Research Support Infrastructure:
In preparation for the Rutgers/UMD merger, investigate the status of
the research support infrastructure at Rutgers, including
instrumentation, equipment,maintenance contracts, site licenses, and
shared data storage. Provide recommendations that have the potential to
reduce associated costs and enhance opportunities for information,
equipment, and instrumentation sharing. Provide recommendations about
research data security and academic and non-academic support services.
Draft Breakdown:
S-1108-1
- Data and information sharing
- Public vs. private
- RUCore access
- Seminars/workshops
- Streaming video, video on demand
S-1108-2
- Secure data storage
- Local, central, cloud
- Access
- Working data vs. archived data
- Costs
- Federal policies re data access and storage
S-1108-3
- Data transport
- Networking
- Internet2
S-1108-4
- Scientific equipment
- Sharing (maintenance funding)
- Inventory (over $X)
S-1108-5
- Research support services
- Site licenses
- High performance computing
- Memberships/subscriptions
- NJEDge.Net, Internet2, etc.
Proposed Charge to Research, and Graduate and Professional Education
Committee (RGPEC), submitted by Gayle
Stein, RGPEC Co-chair: The following proposed charge
to the RGPEC was considered, modified by adding "and postdocs"
(included in the charge as it appears below), and issued with a
February 2013 deadline.
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.
Rationale: A significant number
of international students are not getting adequate advising with regard
to visa issues and in some cases find themselves unable to return to
the US to complete their graduate work.
[Note: No administrative
liaison attended the meeting, so there was no Administrative Report.]
5. Old
Business
There was no old business.
6. New Business
There was no new business.
7. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 2:07 p.m.
Written and submitted by,
Ken Swalagin
Executive Secretary of the University Senate