University Senate Executive Committee Meeting Minutes

RUTGERS UNIVERSITY SENATE
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
M I N U T E S
June 2, 2017

MEMBERS PRESENT: Boikess, Borisovets, Cotter, Esposito, Gillett (Chair), Gould, Krapivin (on phone), Mouradian, Puhak, Thompson

MEMBERS EXCUSED: Janniger, Krutyansky, Otto, Pirrello, Van Stine, Wang

NON-MEMBER EXCUSED: Ken Swalagin (Executive Secretary of the University Senate)

ALSO ATTENDING: B. Lee (Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs), M. Mickelsen (Administrative Assistant to the Senate), J. Oliver (2017-18 Senate Vice Chair), H. Parsa (2017-18 Executive Committee, Alumni Association), S. Rabinowitz (Faculty Representative to the Board of Governors), A. Samant (Faculty Representative to the Board of Trustees), R. Schwartz (2017-18 Faculty Representative to the Board of Trustees), J. Serrano (2017-18 Undergraduate Representative to the Board of Trustees), A. Settles (FPAC Co-Chair and 2017-18 Executive Committee Full-Time Faculty, At-Large)

The regular meeting of the University Senate Executive Committee was held on Friday, June 2, 2017 at 12:00 p.m. in Executive Conference Room of ASB-III on the Cook Campus.

1. Chair’s Report - Peter Gillett, Senate Chair

Senate and Executive Committee Chair Peter Gillett called the meeting to order at 12:00 noon.

2. Secretary’s Report - Mary Mickelsen, Senate Administrative Assistant

Senate Executive Secretary Ken Swalagin was unable to attend the meeting. Senate Administrative Assistant Mary Mickelsen substituted, and drafted these minutes.

Agenda: The meeting agenda was approved as distributed by the Executive Secretary.
Minutes:

The April 7, 2017 Senate Executive Committee Minutes were approved.
The April 28, 2017 Senate Meeting Minutes (which the Executive Committee approves because the 2016-17 Senate does not meet again) were not completed for this meeting, but will be distributed by the Executive Secretary via email to the Executive Committee for approval.

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

President Barchi's Response to the Senate's report and recommendations on Charge S-1413 on Selection Process for Software Packages or Services of Significant Instructional Impact [Noted and discussed.]
President Barchi's April 5, 2017 Response to the Senate's March 2017 Resolution Endorsing the March for Science [Noted.]
President Barchi's April 20, 2017 Response to the Senate's April 2016 Response to Charge S-1403 on Process for Unit Mergers - [Discussed, and decided that Peter Gillett, 2017-18 Senate Chair, and Jon Oliver, 2017-18 Senate Vice Chair, will bring the Executive Committee's concerns to the President in their one-on-one meeting, which takes place in the beginning of the 2017-18 academic year.]
President Barchi's April 20, 2017 Response to the Senate's April 2016 Response to Charge S-1504 on Determination of Student Participation [Noted.]
Final Report of the Rutgers Academic Unit Organization Committee [Noted.]

[Senator Boikess joined the meeting at 12:18 p.m.]

3. Administrative Report - Barbara Lee, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Barbara Lee presented an administrative report, which included comments on:

overall success of students in several Academic Competitions this year, including the Fed Challenge and the CME Challenge;
Upshot in the NY Times regarding Economic Mobility;
fundraising for this year should reach $200 Million by the end of the FY;
Rutgers Impact on the Economy of NJ;
President's meeting with Moody's Investor's Services and Rutgers' credit rating, which is higher than than that of the State of New Jersey;
Rutgers 251st Commencement with 17,700 degrees awarded;
ongoing construction on College Avenue, including addition of bike lanes and crossings;
admissions;
the President and Senior Vice Presidents will be moving out of Old Queens and into Winants Hall the beginning of next year, and Old Queens will house the new New Brunswick Chancellor and his staff; and
progress of the Learning Management Systems working group, chaired by Doug Blair.

Lee then responded to questions, or heard comments on the above subjects, as well as:

where the Senate Office will eventually be moved.

4. Old Business

Academic Standards, Regulations and Admissions Committee (ASRAC) DRAFT Response to Charge S-1509 on Default 16-Year Academic Calendar - Martha Cotter and Matthew Winkler, ASRAC Co-chairs

Academic Standards, Regulations and Admissions Committee (ASRAC) Co-Chair Martha Cotter summarized her committee's draft report on Charge S-1509, Default 16-Year Academic Calendar. It was suggested an official resolution be added to the report. Cotter agreed to the change. The report, after it is revised and recirculated to this year's ASRAC, will be docketed for the September 8, 2017 EC meeting for final review before it goes to the Senate on September 22, 2017. [Note: Cotter noted after the meeting that the calendar used is actually a 17-year calendar, and requested that the charge be changed to reflect the additional year.]

[Senator Serrano joined the meeting at 12:30 p.m.]

Proposed Charge on Sale of Alcohol in Stadiums - Submitted by former New Brunswick Student Member of the Executive Committee Justin Schulberg

Peter Gillett summarized the proposed charge, noting that the EC had previously determined that an ad hoc committee would be formed to examine this once the Ad Hoc Committee on Webstreaming Senate Meetings had completed its work. Barbara Lee stated she is not aware of the Administration looking into this matter currently. The following charge was issued to the Ad Hoc Committee on Sale of Alcohol at Athletics Venues, which will consist of Robert Schwartz (chair), Robert Boikess, Adrienne Esposito, Houshang Parsa, and Julieline Serrano:

Consider the rationale and RUSA resolution on the potential sale of alcohol at Rutgers stadiums. Explore the issue, and make recommendations, as appropriate. Respond to Senate Executive Committee by February 2018.

Faculty and Personnel Affairs Committee (FPAC) and Faculty Caucus Responses to President Barchi's Response to FPAC R eport on Charge S-1409 on Greater Integration of Contingent Faculty in the Rutgers Community and Appendix A

After much discussion it was determined that FPAC Co-chairs Joseph Markert and Alexander Settles will revise the letter they drafted stating the FPAC's concerns with President Barchi's response to S-1409, and send it to Ken Swalagin, Executive Secretary of the Senate, to transmit to President Barchi on behalf of the Executive Committee.

Discussion of how to get agenda items out faster, how to avoid last-minute wordsmithing, and how business is handled generally at the Executive Committee meetings

Executive Committee and Senate Chair Peter Gillett summarized his concerns regarding how the Executive Committee conducts business and asked for suggestions on how to improve effectiveness of the meetings. Four points were agreed upon to begin implementing at the September 8, 2017 meeting:

The Executive Secretary is to distribute draft meeting minutes one week after the meeting.
A schedule will be established for Senate reports to be submitted to the Executive Secretary no later than 10 days before the EC meeting at which they will be reviewed. If that date is not met, the report will not be placed on the agenda. To aid in this process, a schedule of due dates for all reports will be published on the Senate website. Agendas for Senate and EC meetings will be distributed no later than seven days in advance of the meetings.
A report template and best practices summary will be created and made available as a follow up to the Parliamentary Procedure appendix.
The EC will attempt to establish time limits for discussion and handling of agenda items.

[Senator Krapivin joined the meeting by phone at 1:49 p.m. Senator Lee left the meeting at 1:50 p.m.]

Senate Reports for Follow-Up/Review

S-1406 Balance of Full-time and Part-time Faculty Teaching: It was determined that since there was no response from President Barchi on this charge that the Executive Secretary will send a letter to the President requesting a response. Follow-up on this charge was tabled until that response is received.
Merger of the Rutgers University - Camden School of Law and the Rutgers University - Newark School of Law: It was determined that due to the several reports on the success of the merger put out by the Administration that no further follow-up is needed.
S-1608 Employee Professional and Personal Development, Reviewed: This is currently a pending charge to the FPAC to revisit and renew the Senate's Response to Charge S-0801, Employee Professional and Personal Development. FPAC Co-chair Alexander Settles' request for a deadline extension to December 2017 was approved.

Possible Senate or Committee Action on the Senate's March 2017 Committee-of-the-Whole Discussion on Free Speech and Academic Freedom - Michael Van Stine

Senator Van Stine was not in attendance at this meeting, so the discussion was be postponed until the September 8, 2017 EC meeting.

5. Standing Committees/Panels

Draft Standing Committee Rosters 2017-18, and Assignment of Chairs: Mary Mickelsen distributed hardcopies of draft 2017-18 committee rosters, and summarized the assignments and those still needing additional work. Robert Schwartz volunteered to co-chair the Academic Standards and Regulations Committee. Suggestions were made as to who may want to chair the Research, and Graduate and Professional Education Committee and those Senators will be contacted by the Executive Secretary. Samuel Rabinowitz stated he will be on sabbatical in Fall 2017, and suggested a co-chair in his place. Ken Swalagin will contact that Senator. Swalagin will also forward the completed list to President Barchi so that he may select and assign administrative liaisons. The EC then approved the standing committee rosters provisionally based on the summary of what would be changed or added.

Issues/Proposed Charges:

Request to "Correct the Record": Rick Hearin, Executive Director of University Career Services - New Brunswick, had asked that the record be "corrected" regarding statements about Career Services in the Proposal to Form a School of Graduate Studies. Following discussion, the EC determined that the issues brought forth by Hearin are embedded within responses from the deans, and not in the resolution or the report on which the Senate ultimately voted. Swalagin will inform Hearin that he should contact the deans who authored the document in question.

Proposed Charge to Faculty and Personnel Affairs Committee (FPAC) on Stipend or Course Release Payment for PTL Senators - Submitted by Karen Thompson

A proposed charge and accompanying rationale, submitted by Senator Karen Thompson, on stipend or course release payment for PTL Senators were discussed, and a charge issued to the FPAC with a March 2018 deadline, as follows:

Consider the role of PTLs in shared governance at Rutgers, investigating policies at other Big Ten institutions as well as the unique circumstances at Rutgers University, and make recommendations to allow for adequate participation with appropriate incentives.

Rationale: Despite PTLs being responsible for such a large portion of the instruction at Rutgers and therefore given the importance of their having a meaningful role in shared governance, compensation on a per-course or piecework basis makes it unlikely that PTLs will be able or willing to spend time with governance. Governance participation for full-time faculty may be a consideration for promotion, may generate course release, or may otherwise provide incentive/compensation. There are no such provisions for PTLs.

Proposed Charge to Instruction, Curricula and Advising Committee (ICAC) on Learning Management Systems, and Rationale - Submitted by Robert Boikess

The following proposed charge and rationale were discussed, and it was determined that because SVP for Academic Affairs Barbara Lee already has a committee actively working on this, with a report anticipated for the Fall 2017, the Senate does not need to address this issue at this time. After that committee's report is issued, if there are still issues the Senate would like to address, the Executive Committee can revisit this proposed charge and issue it to committee at that time.

Proposed Charge: Consider the nature and use of the available Learning Management Systems on all the campuses of Rutgers and make recommendations to the Administration for improvements that also protect the rights and interests of faculty and students.

6. New Business

There was no new business.

7. Close of 2016-17 Senate Year

Gillett expressed his appreciation to all 2016-17 EC members and board representatives for their hard work this year, and welcomed all new EC members and board representatives coming on board next year. He reminded new and continuing members that the next EC meeting will be on September 8, 2017.

8. Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 3:33 p.m.

Minutes written and submitted by,

Mary Mickelsen, Administrative Assistant to the Executive Secretary
and edited by Ken Swalagin, Executive Secretary of the Senate