RUTGERS UNIVERSITY
SENATE
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
M I N U T E S
June 4, 2010
MEMBERS PRESENT: Bodnar, Cotter
(Interim Vice Chair and Faculty BOG Representative), Gillett,
Gould, Katz (by phone), Levine, McArdle, Nycz, Panayotatos, Rabinowitz
(Chair),
Swalagin
(Executive Secretary), Thompson, Wild
2010-11 MEMBERS-ELECT PRESENT: Binetti, David, Fishbein
EXCUSED: Borisovets, Leath
ALSO ATTENDING: Furmanski
(Administrative Liaison)
The regular meeting of the University Senate Executive Committee was held on
Friday, June 4, 2010 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 Samuel
Rabinowitz
called the meeting to order at 1:17 p.m., welcoming all present to the
"summer edition" of the Executive Committee. Noting that present were
members of both this- and next-year's committee, he asked everyone to
introduce themselves. He summarized the role and responsibilities of
the committee at these meetings, as well as what would be done at the
current meeting.
Rabinowitz said that chairperson's reports at Executive Committee
meetings vary in length, but that today's would be short. He then made
brief comments about Commencement.
2. Secretary’s Report
[Senator Nycz arrived at the meeting at 1:32 p.m.]
3. Administrative Liaison
President McCormick was in China. Executive Vice President
Furmanski presented an administrative report which included comments on:
- President McCormick's trip to China, and Rutgers' associations with approximately 50 universities and agencies in that country;
- enrollments, which should exceed 56,000 universitywide in the coming academic year, as well as retention rates;
- State of New Jersey and Rutgers budgets;
- a state-imposed four-percent cap on tuition increases for all state colleges and universities; and
- cuts in state funding for EOF, and Rutgers' efforts to have those funds restored.
Furmanski then responded to questions, or heard comments, from the Executive Committee on topics which included:
- the ongoing process of changing class designations for the fall semester, as recommended recently by the Senate;
- formation of a budget advisory group at Rutgers;
- the status of agreements with aligned and non-aligned staff relative to the budget situation; and
- plans to award certificates instead of money to Bloustein scholars.
4. Standing Committees
Selection/Nomination of Standing Committee Chairs: [Draft Committee
rosters for 2010-11
were posted online, and were distributed in hardcopy at
the meeting. The Executive Committee then nominated co-chairs for the
Student Affairs Committee, and the Research, and Graduate and
Professional Education Committee (RGPEC). It had been suggested and
agreed that the RGPEC should have a faculty co-chair. Secretary
Swalagin will contact the nominees to ask if they're willing to serve
as co-chairs.
University Structure and Governance Committee (USGC) Co-Chair:
Secretary Swalagin explained that Jon Oliver, staff Senator who had
been co-chairing the USGC, had been first runner-up in the New
Brunswick staff Senator election, and had therefore just missed being
re-elected. Swalagin also said that there had been only two nominees
for [then only] three Newark staff Senator positions, so one was
vacant. Noting Senator Oliver's excellent service as USGC co-chair,
Swalagin asked to be allowed to place Oliver in the vacant position for
Newark staff Senator. The Executive Committee, after some discussion,
declined that request, but voted instead to place Senator Oliver on the
committee roster as non-Senator co-chair. [Note: Subsequent review of
Senate bylaws revealed a requirement that committee chairs must be
Senators, so the co-chairship was not assigned to Oliver, who will
instead be a non-Senator member of the USGC.]
Charge to University Structure and Governance Committee on Staggered Terms for Staff Senators:
Because staff Senators were recently appointed through a single
election, their two-year terms are all concurrent. The Executive
Committee asked the secretary to draft and issue a charge to the USGC
to consider adding staggered terms for staff Senators.
Faculty
and Personnel Affairs Committee Response to the Administration's Request for
Further Information on FPAC's Report on E-mail
Privacy adopted by the Senate in November 2004: [See also President McCormick's
Response
to the November 2004 FPAC report.] Ann Gould, co-chair of the Faculty
and Personnel Affairs Committee (FPAC), summarized her committee's response to discussions with the administration involving development of a Revised OIT Acceptable Use Policy,
which covers email privacy and acceptable use at Rutgers. Specifically,
three areas of concern listed at the end of the FPAC response were
discussed. Executive Vice President Furmanski commented on, or replied
to, questions raised in those three areas, and offered to look further
into each. FPAC Co-chair Paul Panayotatos was also present at the
meeting, and engaged in this discussion. Senator Gillett asked about
information discovered through examination of emails that is beyond the
target of that examination, and that is being introduced as evidence in
a case or in court. Furmanski said he will take up the matter with
Shirley Weitz, who is an expert in that area. Gould thanked the
administration for giving the FPAC an opportunity to comment on the
revised policy.
Review/Continuation of Current Pending Charges:
Standing committees' specific, pending charges were reviewed by the
Executive Committee. On Charge S-0909, on University College, SAC
Co-chair Rabinowitz asked Furmanski if there were any new developments
on the proposal to merge Thomas Edison State College with Rutgers.
Furmanski responded that there are not. Senator Cotter, co-chair of the
Academic Standards, Regulations and Admissions Committee noted that
Charge A-0906, on Academic Calendar and Commencement Dates, is now only
about academic years 2011-12 and beyond. Swalagin will redraft the
charge and assign a new charge number. Senator Gillett, noting the new
policy of reviewing all unresolved, pending charges at the end of each
academic year, moved to continue those charges not yet completed.
Discussion of Additional Issues for 2010-11
Senate/Committee Consideration
The Executive Committee discussed, and acted upon as noted, the
following potential committee charges submitted by Senator and 2010-11
Executive Committee Member Leslie Fishbein, who was present at the
meeting:
- Improving Form 1a to make it more user-friendly and usable:
Senator Fishbein will draft a charge to be issued to the Faculty and
Personnel Affairs Committee (FPAC) with an April 2011 response deadline.
[Senators Panayotatos and Katz left the meeting at 3:32 p.m.]
- Improving the orientation of new faculty members and facilitating
their ability to perform their duties in a timely fashion: This item
was discussed, and considered to be an issue that would be part of the
deliberations on existing FAPC Charge S-0911 on Faculty Orientation
Programs.
- Reconsidering the extension of the add-drop period: Senator
Cotter, who co-chairs the ASRAC (whose response on this matter Fishbein
was asking to be reconsidered), pointed out that the current extension
of the add-drop period is for a trial period of one year, for the fall
2010 and spring 2011 semesters. No additional charge was issued.
- Need for a review of current information, data, and media systems
to insure that they are as modernized as we can afford them to be and
that they communicate well with one another: The Executive Committee
discussed this issue at some length, including elements relating to
RIAS. Senator Gillett suggested that a charge be issued to the Budget
and Finance Committee to prioritize and update Fishbein's suggestions,
and make recommendations which would also include suggestions on
appropriate procedures such as consultation with end users. Swalagin
will draft a charge for consideration by the Executive Committee in
September.
[Senators Thompson and Wild left the meeting at approximately 4:00 p.m.]
5. Old Business
Secretary Swalagin asked that discussion or action on developing an Ad
Hoc Shared Governance Task Force be postponed until the beginning of
the September Executive Committee, when more of next-year's committee
members, including the 2010-11 chairperson, could be present. The
committee agreed to docket this item first on the September agenda,
before the administrative report.
6. New Business
There was no new business.
7. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 4:18 p.m.
Ken Swalagin
Executive Secretary of the University Senate