RUTGERS UNIVERSITY
SENATE
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
M I N U T E S
November 22, 2013
MEMBERS PRESENT: Barraco (by phone), Berman, Boikess,
Burrell, Cotter (Vice Chairperson/New Brunswick Faculty Liaison),
Gillett, Gould
(Chairperson), Oliver, Puhak, Swalagin
(Executive
Secretary), Thompson, Vodak
MEMBERS EXCUSED: Benjamin, Sheth
ALSO
ATTENDING: Baffo (Student Representative to the Board of
Trustees), Borisovets (Instruction, Curricula and Advising
Committee Chair/Liaison), Cashin (Student Representative to the Board
of Governors), Novak (Vice President for Continuing Education and
Distance Studies), Otto (Research, and Graduate and
Professional Education Committee Co-chair/Liaison),
Rabinowitz
(Faculty
Representative to the Board of Governors/Camden Faculty Liaison),
Samant (Faculty Representative to the Board of Trustees), Spiegel
(Faculty Representative
to the Board of Trustees), Stubaus (Vice President for Academic Affairs
and Administration), Vaz (Student Representative to the Board of
Trustees)
The regular meeting of the University Senate Executive Committee was
held on
Friday, November 22, 2013 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 Ann Gould called the
meeting to order at 1:16 p.m. She informed the Executive Committee that
Richard Novak, Vice President for Continuing Education and Distance
Studies, would be speaking to the committee that day on the Pearson
contract. She also said that she had reached out to Executive Vice
President Edwards regarding Senate
reports on which the administration had not responded, and had also
asked if he would again review the Senate
recommendations on tuition remission for PTLs.
2. Secretary’s Report - Ken Swalagin,
Executive Secretary of the Senate
- Agenda: The meeting agenda
was approved as distributed by the executive secretary.
- Minutes:
- Draft
Schedule of 2014-15 Senate and Senate Executive Committee meetings:
A draft schedule of 2014-15 Senate and Executive Committee meetings was
discussed briefly, then withdrawn by the executive secretary for
further editing.
- Potential Executive Committee
Meeting date change from April 11
to April 18 (Good Friday): Chairperson Gould has a schedule
conflict with the April 18 Executive Committee meeting, and asked if
the meeting could be rescheduled to April 18. It was decided that the
date would remain April 11, and that Gould would teleconference the
meeting while Vice Chairperson Cotter presides.
3. Pearson eCollege and Online
Degree Programs - Richard
Novak,
Vice President for Continuing Education and Distance Studies
Richard Novak, Vice President for Continuing Education and Distance
Studies, and Karen Stubaus, Vice President for Academic Affairs and
Administration, joined the meeting at 1:30 p.m. Novak spoke and
responded to questions on distance learning and Pearson eCollege at
some length. Stubaus also participated in the discussion and
question-and-answer period. Ann Gould, noting that Senator Boikess had
asked that someone be invited to present a differing perspective on
Pearson, said that she would contact David Hughes, and possibly Rudy
Bell, about presenting at a future Executive Committee meeting.
4. Standing Committees
Committee
Reports
Instruction,
Curricula and Advising Committee (ICAC) Response
to Charge S-1308 on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) Reconsidered -
Natalie Borisovets, ICAC chair, summarized her committee's report in
response to Charge S-1308 on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
Reconsidered. The ICAC had been
charged as follows:
Massive Open
Online
Courses (MOOCs) Reconsidered:
Reconsider and make recommendations regarding the current and rapidly
changing
situation with Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), and Rutgers
policies and
procedures related to MOOCs. Respond to Senate Executive Committee
by
January 2014.
Borisovets noted that, in the interim since the ICAC received
this charge, the Senate had also received
President
Barchi's response to the February 2013 ICAC/Senate
Response
to Report and Recommendations on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).
The report was docketed for action at the December 6 Senate meeting.
Academic Standards, Regulations and Admissions Committee (ASRAC)
Response to Charge S-1206 on Academic Regulations, Student Performance,
and Use of Resources - Martha Cotter, ASRAC co-chair, said that
her committee may be able to finalize a report on Charge S-1206, on
Academic Regulations, Student Performance, and Use of Resources, to be
docketed for action at the December Senate meeting. The ASRAC had been
charged as follows:
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. Respond to Senate Executive Committee by
December 2013.
The anticipated report was docketed provisionally for action at the
December Senate meeting. It is to be circulated by email to the
Executive Committee before being placed on the Senate agenda. [Note:
The ASRAC was not able to finalize the report in time for the December
Senate meeting.]
Issues/Proposed
Charges:
Potential
Charge to University Structure and Governance Committee (USGC) on Senator Allocation for University Libraries
- Submitted by Senator Marianne Gaunt and Executive Secretary Ken
Swalagin. Secretary Swalagin summarized what he, in consultation with
Senator/University Librarian Marianne Gaunt, had proposed as a charge
to the USGC, as follows:
Draft
Proposed Charge: Consider and make recommendations on adding additional
faculty Senator positions to the University Libraries, and whether
those allocations can be made at-large without employing the formula
used for most other faculty Senator entitlements.
Rationale: The University Libraries currently do not
have the option afforded most other faculty units within the Senate,
wherein the number of Senators to which the unit is entitled may be
based on the number of faculty lines, or the number of
full-time-equivalent students. Many units' faculty Senator entitlements
are based on the number of students rather than the number of faculty
lines, because that formula yields a larger entitlement. Although the
libraries serve all Rutgers students, faculty, as well as the greater
Rutgers community, the number of Senators allocated to this
universitywide unit is only two. It seems appropriate that, in the case
of the University Libraries, the Senate entitlement should be a
designated number similar to that of at-large faculty, staff, or alumni.
Senator Gillett, USGC co-chair,
recommended that the USGC be allowed to consider this issue as part of
Charge S-1307, which had been issued as follows:
Campus-Based
Senate Eligibility: Consider and
make
recommendations regarding campus-based Senate eligibility and Executive
Committee positions in light of the integration of UMDNJ. Respond to
Senate
Executive Committee by January 2014.
Gillett's suggestion was endorsed by the Executive Committee, which
broadened (by removing the term "campus-based") and reissued Charge
S-1307 as follows:
Senate
and Executive Committee Eligibility: Consider and make
recommendations regarding Senate eligibility and Executive
Committee positions in light of the integration of UMDNJ. Respond to
Senate
Executive Committee by January 2014.
Potential
Charge to Faculty and Personnel Affairs Committee (FPAC) on Travel and Business Expense Reimbursement
- Submitted by Senator Ann Gould, FPAC
Co-chair, on behalf of the FPAC. Ann Gould summarized a charge which
she had proposed, as follows:
Travel
and Business Expense Reimbursement (TABER): Review current
university policies and practices
concerning reimbursement to faculty and staff for professional
expenditures,
including but not limited to, travel, conference attendance, and
purchases; survey
impacted constituencies for suggestions, and propose
possible modifications or improvements
to the current system. Respond to Senate Executive Committee by
November 2014.
Rationale:The
Faculty and Personnel Affairs Committee
respectfully requests that the Senate Executive Committee issue a
charge to the
F&PAC (solely or jointly with another committee).We perceive
substantial
faculty and staff dissatisfaction with the present TABER system, based
in part
on the substantial delays encountered and the burdens of required
documentation, even for minor expenditures. With the merger of the
medical
school, which may have somewhat different traditions and practices,
into
Rutgers, this requested charge is especially timely.
During
discussion, it was agreed that, if the FPAC had questions it believed
the Budget and Finance Committee (BFC) may be able to answer, it would
bring those questions to the BFC. The charge was then issued as
proposed.
Charge
Deadline Extensions:
Deadlines on pending committee charges were extended as follows:
- Charge S-1212 to Faculty and Personnel Affairs Committee on
Definition of "Faculty" in University Policies extended to February 2014
- Charge S-1302 to University Structure and Governance Committee on
Full-time, Non-tenure-track Faculty extended to February 2014
5.
Agenda for December 6, 2013 Senate Meeting
The agenda for the December 6, 2013 Senate meeting was discussed.
Specifically:
- Senator Joseph Cashin had submitted a request that Senate
meetings include reports of student liaisons, as they currently do for
campus faculty liaisons. Ken Swalagin asked that, if student liaison
reports are made part of Senate agendas, that the student members of
the Executive Committee be designated as the campus student liaisons
for their respective campuses, that they canvass all student governing
associations on their respective campuses for elements to be included
in the reports, and that they be responsible for making the reports to
the Senate. Peter Gillett suggested trying the arrangement on a trial
basis before considering revising Senate bylaws to include the reports.
The Executive Committee agreed to begin docketing campus student
liaison reports on Senate agendas in January 2014.
- Budget and Finance Committee Chair Menahem Spiegel will present a
report of approximately 20 minutes on the Rutgers University budget, as
specified in the BFC standing charge.
- The ICAC report on MOOCs will be on the docket for Senate action.
6. Old
Business
Strategic Plan: Senator
Gillett
noted that the Strategic Planning website is not up to date, and that
the posted Strategic Plan Framework does not include the Senate's
additional foundational element, which was accepted by President Barchi
when adopted by the Senate. He suggested that, if the plan is to be
presented to the Board of Governors on December 3, there should be a
plan to voice Senate objections to the plan, if there are any such
objections.
7. New
Business
There was no new business.
8. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 4:07 p.m.
Minutes written and submitted by,
Ken Swalagin
Executive Secretary of the University Senate