UNIVERSITY SENATE
Executive Committee
AGENDA
May 18, 2012 - 1:10 p.m.
1. Chairperson’s Report
2. Secretary’s Report
- Approval of Agenda
- Approval of [Link not yet active.] Minutes
of April 13, 2012 Senate Executive Committee Meeting
- Communications:
- Video of Robert L. Barchi's remarks to Rutgers' governing boards. At 2:22 in the video, Dr. Barchi comments on the role of faculty in shared governance.
- Email from Senator Gayle Stein: "I am writing to request
clarification of an issue raised during the last Senate meeting. During
the discussion on academic freedom, a question was raised about how the
word "faculty" was being used in the university policy. I do not
believe that the question was adequately answered. A graduate student
approached me after the meeting to ask if he has academic freedom in
the classroom in his role as a TA teaching part of a course. A
co-adjutant member of the faculty asked me the same question. I would
be most appreciative if you could find out from the Secretary of
the University to whom the policy applies. Thank you."
- Email from Professor William Fitzgerald, English Department,
Camden College of Arts and Sciences: "I submit this recently discovered
report
commissioned by Rowan to advise it in its takeover efforts. Of note, is
that the report was completed by The Learning Alliance on January 26,
2012, one day after Governor Christie accepted and endorsed the Barer
Commission Advisory Report. Please forward to appropriate University
Senate officers."
3. Administrative Liaison
4. Nominations for Deans' Evaluation Committees
Nominees are needed to populate two slates, each consisting of eight
faculty members from outside of the evaluee's unit, for dean's
evaluation committees for:
- Douglas Greenberg, Executive Dean, School of Arts and Sciences - New Brunswick
- Jorge Schement, School of Communication and Information
5. Standing Committees
Proposed Charge to Academic Standards, Regulataions, and Admissions
Committee (ASRAC), submitted by Martha Cotter, ASRAC
Co-chair:
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withdrawn from many times; (2) replacement of grades when a student retakes a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.
Rationale: This proposed charge results from faculty
complaints concerning (1) students who keep registering for the same course
they have failed or withdrawn from many times (8 times in one recent case)
without even speaking with the instructor or an academic adviser; (2) students
who purposely fail a course in which they think they may receive a C or D or
beg a faculty member to change a D to an F after the fact; (3) students who
manage to continue at Rutgers for long periods of time despite very poor
academic performance by manipulating apparently somewhat lax procedures (at
some schools) regarding dismissal and readmission and monitoring of readmitted
students; (4) problems that result when students from different schools
registered in the same course have substantially different deadlines for
withdrawal from the course.
Request for Modification of Research, and Graduate and Professional
Education Committee (RGPEC) Charge S-1108 on Research Support Infrastructure, submitted by Gayle
Stein, RGPEC Co-chair:
Stein states that, "The RGPEC is
requesting that charge S-1108 be divided into smallercharges as
follows, in order to make the results more manageable. The committee
plans to invite a number of experts to speak at our meetings and
believe that it can fulfill its charge more effectively if it is broken
up."
Charge S-1108 Research Support Infrastructure:
In preparation for the Rutgers/UMD merger, investigate the status of
the research supportinfrastructure at Rutgers, including
instrumentation, equipment,maintenance contracts, site licenses, and
shared data storage. Provide recommendations that have the potential to
reduce associated costs and enhance opportunities for information,
equipment, and instrumentationsharing. Provide recommendations about
research data security and academic and non-academic support services.
Draft Breakdown:
S-1108-1
- Data and information sharing
- Public vs. private
- RUCore access
- Seminars/workshops
- Streaming video, video on demand
S-1108-2
- Secure data storage
- Local, central, cloud
- Access
- Working data vs. archived data
- Costs
- Federal policies re data access and storage
S-1108-3
- Data transport
- Networking
- Internet2
S-1108-4
- Scientific equipment
- Sharing (maintenance funding)
- Inventory (over $X)
S-1108-5
- Research support services
- Site licenses
- High performance computing
- Memberships/subscriptions
- NJEDge.Net, Internet2, etc.
Proposed Charge to Research, and Graduate and Professional Education
Committee (RGPEC), submitted by Gayle
Stein, RGPEC Co-chair:
Support for International Students: Investigate
and make recommendations with regard to core university support for
international students, particularly in the area of visas.
Rationale: A significant number
of international students are not getting adequate advising with regard
to visa issues and in some cases find themselves unable to return to
the US to complete their graduate work.
6. Old Business
7. New Business
8. Adjournment