UNIVERSITY SENATE
Executive Committee

A G E N D A
March 2, 2018 - 12:00 noon
Cook Student Center Room 202 ABC, Cook Campus

AGENDA

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

2.    Secretary’s Report - Mary Mickelsen, Interim Executive Secretary of the Senate

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

4.    Schedule of Senate and Executive Committee Meetings, Academic Year 2018-19

5.    Committees/Panels

Committee Report:

Research and Graduate & Professional Education Committee (RGPEC) Response to Charge S-1703 on Grant Costs - Adam Kustka, RGPEC Chair

The RGPEC has been charged as follows:  

Identify specific grant cost issues that negatively impact the University's mission to conduct research across disciplines, and actively engage in its students in that research, including but not limited to: tuition, fringe rate, Facilities and Administrative costs ("F&A," formally known as indirect costs), support services, and negotiated vendor contracts.  Identify and engage stakeholders, and make recommendations.

Issues and Proposed Charges:
Proposed Charge to Instruction, Curricula, and Advising Committee (ICAC) on How OIT and Other Offices Solicit and Integrate Feedback - Submitted by Jon Oliver

Proposed Charge: Investigate and make recommendations on how OIT and other offices solicit and integrate feedback from all constituencies at Rutgers to ensure the optimal purchase and use of information systems.
Rationale:  The university has seen major changes to its procurement and enterprise resource planning systems over the past 3 years.  This trend is continuing with the study and implementation of a new human resource and student information systems.  The Office of Information Technology (OIT) has also undertaken multiple studies and working groups investigating cloud information systems, storage, and research computing to name a few.  While all of these significant changes have had various stakeholder participation study, not all have included all university constituencies.

Proposed Charge to Instruction, Curricula, and Advising Committee (ICAC) on Online and Hybrid Course Support - Submitted by Jon Oliver

Proposed Charge:  Investigate and consider how online and hybrid courses are supported at Rutgers.  How are courses created and delivered and how are faculty supported.  What tools, licensed software technologies are used for the best content delivery?

Proposed Charge to Instruction, Curricula, and Advising Committee (ICAC) on A Policy Relating to Student Posting of Faculty-Owned Documents - Submitted by Peter Gillett

Proposed Charge:  Investigate and make recommendations on University Policies relating to students' posting of syllabi, slides, tests, examinations, and other professor-created documents to sites such as Course Hero.  This compromises both copyright, and instructors' ability to manage and control the effective use of the materials they create.
           
6.    New Business
Issue Raised by Newark Faculty Council Chair, Jane Gilman, regarding holding more Senate meetings on the Newark Campus.  
   
The following is an email sent to Senator Robert Puhak from Chairwoman Gilman on February 12, 2018:
         
The Newark Faculty Council discussed its interaction and connection with the University Senate at today's meeting.

 I am writing to ask whether as one of the Newark representatives to the Senate,

you are willing to ask the Senate (i) to hold more meetings in Newark. Instead of one out of nine yearly meetings, perhaps the Senate could hold at least two of  them in Newark and (ii) to arrange for Newark representatives to participate via Skype in Senate meetings. If there were place dedicated to Skype for Newark faculty, that would be an improvement to the current situation. If this arrangement were of interest to Camden faculty, they should be included, of course. A similar Skype arrangement for Senate committees would also be desirable.

Request for a Presentation on "Bargaining for the Common Good" at the March 23 Senate Meeting - Submitted by Robert Boikess

The following is an email sent to Senate Executive Committee Member Robert Boikess from David Hughes, VP of the Rutgers AAUP-AFT Faculty Union on February 25, 2018:

As you well know, the union contracts of 24 bargaining units – covering 20,000 Rutgers workers – expire on 1 July 2018.  The coalition of these unions is requesting to make a presentation to the plenary of the University Senate on 23 March.  In the context of the negotiations beginning in March, we would like to share our proposals of “bargaining for the common good.”  Those proposals include:

     Reduced health insurance premiums and greatly expanded accessibility to health insurance for all university employees:

    Collective bargaining rights for all university employees;

   Tuition benefits for all university employees;

  A minimum wage of $15 for all university employees;

     A tuition freeze for students.

The presentation would allow us to seek input from the largest representative body of the University community, surely a worthwhile process.  The presenters would be:

  Premelia Toney-Boss, Corresponding Secretary, AFSCME Local 1761;

David M. Hughes, Vice-President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT.

I would be grateful if you could pass this request along to the Executive Council of the Senate.  Feel free to share the message in its entirety.
 

7.    University Senate Agenda
March 23, 2018 Senate Meeting:
8.    Adjournment