1. Chairperson’s Report
2. Secretary’s Report
Administrative Report4. Committee Charges and Changes
Proposed Charge to Equal Opportunity Committee (Drafted by Ted Szatrowski at Executive Committee's request): Review what relevant services are available on each campus for dealing with diversity and tolerance issues, and assess how well they are serving their intended functions within current budget limitations. This review should include an assessment of how well the University population on each campus knows about these functions generally, as well as the ease of finding this information for those who might seek help on specific issues arising in these areas. A prioritized list of future directions for reallocating, improving and/or expanding services might also be developed in this review.5. Student Affairs Committee Nomination of Candidates for Student Charter Trustee VacanciesSelection of New Chair for University Structure and Governance Committee: Gary Gigliotti, who currently chairs the Senate's University Structure and Governance Committee (USGC), has been appointed to an associate vice president position in the Office of Academic Affairs, and will consequently be leaving his position as USGC chair. He has recommended that the Executive Committee consider the following as candidates for chair: Jonathan Tittler, Trisha Nolfi, Peter Gillett.
Request for Extension of Report Deadline, Budget and Finance Committee, Charge S-0414, Student Fees: The Budget and Finance Committee (BFC) requests extension of this charge's report deadline to May 2007. The BFC is awaiting the completed report of the Student Fees Task Force that is being chaired by Associate VP Brian Rose. The Specific Charges of the task force are as follows:
1. Recommend a simplified student fee structure that consolidates all similar fees into common student fee categories.Proposed Charge to Faculty Affairs and Personnel Committee (from B.J. Walker, Staff Representative, AAUP, via Ann Gould):
2. Recommend a definition for each student fee category in enough detail that what expenditures are properly charged to each category is clear and transparent.
3. Recommend the allocation of current student fees, by Campus, into the proposed new categories of student fees.
4. Recommend a base amount for each student fee category, by campus, following a consolidation of current fees.
Review current practices related to the granting of tenure to administrative appointees. Determine whether university regulations and policies governing faculty appointments with tenure are sufficiently clear and/or consistently followed for administrative tenure appointments so as to ensure appropriate consultation with the faculty of the respective academic units. Recommend guidelines and/or principles to protect the integrity of the tenure process with regard to administrative hires with tenure.Background (excerpted from an e-mail from B.J. Walker to Ann Gould):Proposed Charge to Instruction, Curricula and Advising Committee (from Natalie Borisovets on behalf of the ICAC): Examine how other institutions offering intersession programs have dealt with the time constraint issue, and offer recommendations on how Rutgers may adapt its programs so as to best meet student needs while maintaining acceptable pedagogical standards. Background/Rationale for this charge.
Tenure is a distinctive characteristic of academic life and has proven indispensable to the success of an institution in fulfilling its obligations to its students and to society. Tenure is a means to certain ends: freedom of teaching and research and of extramural activities and a sufficient degree of economic security to make the profession attractive to men and women of ability.
Rutgers University has long recognized the award of faculty tenure is not automatic and that there are two kinds of factors which must be considered in the selection process leading to tenure: (1) the application of criteria for the advancement of individual faculty members, and (2) the determination of educational needs for faculty projected over a period of years.
The determination of the educational needs of a School or College for full-time tenurable faculty should be made primarily by the faculty of the respective academic unit subject to the approval of the appropriate administrative officers whose judgment should reflect the needs of graduate and undergraduate education, including the needs of the professional and non-degree programs. (See Appendix E of Rutgers University Statement on Tenure Adopted by the University Senate on November 23, 1976.) Peer review of new appointments by qualified colleagues protects the interest of professors, the department, the college and the University. (See University Policy with Respect to Academic Appointments, Reappointments and Promotions, Section III.C.)Proposed Charge to Instruction, Curricula and Advising Committee (from Gayle Stein): Explore and report on the status of contact hours within the context of the expanding use and availability of hybrid or blended-instruction courses, in which online time is substituted for classroom time. Consider: how "contact hours" are now redefined, inclusion of online elements in traditional classroom instruction, effects on rules and standards for contact time, issues of synchronous versus asynchronous online/classroom scheduling, student reception and participation in asynchronous online activities, etc.
Proposed Charge to University Structure and Governance Committee (from Gayle Stein): Examine and address the impact of the recent addition of Staff Senators to the University Senate. Consider issues such as: Whether the Executive Vice President for Administrative Affairs should also be an administrative liaison to the Senate Executive Committee. Should the Senate recommend that the Board of Governors and Board of Trustees also now include staff representatives, as they currently include student and faculty representatives? Do Senate powers and responsibilities, as stated in its bylaws or enabling University Regulations, need to be expanded to cover staff issues? Should the Senate's committee structure and standing charges be updated (i.e., Staff Affairs Committee)?
Proposed Charge to Budget and Finance Committee (from the Office of Information Technology, via Gayle Stein): Examine the benefits of and strategies to accomplish university-wide academic and administrative software purchasing and licensing to lower prices for the institution, faculty, and students and to make academic software more accessible for those who need it.
Board of Trustees bylaws provide for Student Charter Trustee members. Bylaw I.2.D. establishes criteria for the election of student Trustees: Twenty-eight charter Trustees, of whom at least three shall be women, [shall be] elected by the Board of Trustees. Commencing with the charter Trustee election of 1991 and continuing biannually thereafter, with the final total of three being reached in 1995, three of the charter Trustees shall be initially elected as undergraduate students entering their junior year at the University following the completion of a minimum of two full years of study at the University. Efforts will be made to the extent possible to diversify representation among the three Rutgers campuses in the selection of the student charter Trustees. Commencing in 1995, at least one of the three student charter Trustee seats shall be occupied by a student from Camden or Newark campuses. If a student charter Trustee resigns during his or her term of office, the vacancy shall be filled by an undergraduate student entering his or her junior year at the University following the completion of a minimum of two full years of study at the University.6. Committee ReportsThe University Senate procedure for recommendation of names to the Nominating Committee of the Board of Trustees for Student Charter Trustee vacancies include the following:
Each undergraduate Student Governing Association is invited to present to the Student Affairs Committee of the University Senate, for each open Student Charter Trustee position, one student who will be a junior on July 1, 2007, who is in good standing, and who is willing to carry out the responsibilities of the Student Charter Trustee term(s) commencing July 1, 2007.
The submissions from each undergraduate Student Governing Association must be addressed to: “Student Affairs Committee, Rutgers University Senate” and must be sent to the University Senate Office.
The Student Affairs Committee will review all complete submissions for evidence of public service to the University and community. The Student Affairs Committee will then forward at least three of the submissions to the Executive Secretary of the University Senate by Tuesday, January 23, 2007, to be circulated for Senate Executive Committee review and transmission to the Nominating Committee of the Board of Trustees.
University Structure and Governance Committee (USGC), Response to Charge S-0608, Merger Proposals
Original Charge: Proposals to Merge Rutgers, UMDNJ, NJIT: Revisit the structural and governance aspects of the proposals to merge all or part of UMDNJ, and perhaps NJIT, with Rutgers University, with or without splitting the merged entity into parts. Review President McCormick's recent testimony (11/09/06) on this subject before the Lesniak-Caraballo Legislative Task Force on Higher Education, as well as previous Senate reports and recommendations concerning the merger proposal put forth three years ago by the Vagelos Commission. Are there additional key principles to emphasize beyond those enunciated by President McCormick? What are the broad pros and cons of the various structural and governance models that have been proposed? Which of the concerns and recommendations put forth by the Senate in November 2003 are still valid and worthy of reiteration? Consult with the Faculty Affairs and Personnel Committee concerning personnel ramifications of the various proposals. Also obtain input from the Newark and New Brunswick Faculty Councils and from faculty governance groups in Camden. Respond to Senate Executive Committee by February 2007.USGC Chair Gary Gigliotti notes: "The committee did not correspond directly with the Faculty Council in New Brunswick or in Newark, nor with faculty governance groups in Camden. As I understand it, those groups were working directly with the Executive Committee. We did not coordinate our efforts with the Faculty Affairs and Personnel Committee, mostly because we felt that, given the deadline we faced, we had enough information to make our report."
Original Charge: Senate Membership-New Brunswick: Make recommendations for revision of the Senate membership and bylaws in light of the restructuring of the New Brunswick schools and colleges. Respond to Senate Executive Committee by January 24, 2007.This report responds to the part of the charge relating to election of New Brunswick student Senators from the School of Arts and Sciences. There should be some minor updates to the report by the Executive Committee meeting date. In particular, USGC Chair Gigliotti has asked the committee to clarify Item 3 in Recommendation 1, to explain: 1) whether "elected internally" means from within the Student Assembly; 2) whether "at large" refers to all SAS students regardless of their membership or non-membership in the Student Assembly; and 3) if they want the Senate or the Student Assembly to decide which of the two options (elected internally through the Student Assembly, or at-large across the SAS campuses) will be implemented.
Original Charge S-0208 to the Budget & Finance Committee (Menahem Spiegel, Chair): Safety Issues, Classroom/Building Security and Vandalism: Investigate the level of security normally maintained in classroom and office/research buildings, and the current levels of vandalism and other criminal behavior in those buildings. Investigate the use of buildings/classrooms for after-hours study space*, and whether there is an increased cost of maintenance and repair due to unsupervised use. Formulate a policy for locking buildings and classrooms to ensure security. Make recommendations on how to provide students with space on each campus for after-hours study, and the amount of space that seems appropriate.* Explore risk-reduction strategies and mechanisms, and ways to heighten awareness of safety issues. Investigate the potential for a safety week on campus each semester or year. In addition, explore the potential for a website that would include a safety forum for discussion and hazard evaluation. [*The Student Affairs Committee was asked to provide input on the kinds and amounts of after-hours study space that would meet student needs, and on ways to address problems of vandalism. That input was forwarded to the Budget and Finance Committee on January 17, 2003.] Report to Executive Committee by November 2006.7. NJPIRG Student Chapters Concept Plan for Review by Student Affairs Committee for Fall 2007 Referendum [Please note this is a very large .pdf file which may take awhile to download, particularly if you connect to the Internet via dialup. A limited number of hardcopies will be available at the Executive Committee meeting.]Preliminary report [http://senate.rutgers.edu/bfctereportmulti092904.html] submitted to Executive Committee September 2004, Reviewed October 1, 2004.
Addendum to Charge 10/04: Using the committee’s September 28, 2004 preliminary report on this issue as a basis for discussions, apply the same review and considerations to safety and security issues on the Newark and Camden campuses. Respond to Senate Executive Committee by November 2006.
As with the recent Targum Concept Plan, the Student Affairs Committee is responsible for reviewing the NJPIRG Concept Plan to determine the educational value of NJPIRG and its programs. NJPIRG seeks to conduct its referendum during the Fall 2007 semester.
8. Old Business
9. New Business
10. February 16, 2007 Senate Meeting Agenda