UNIVERSITY SENATE
Executive Committee

A G E N D A
March 8, 2019 - 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, Executive Secretary of the Senate

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

4.    Annual Review of All Outstanding, Pending Committee Charges: Charges issued to committees lapse in March of the year following the year in which the charge was issued. Mary Mickelsen has emailed all standing committee chairs to ask for a status report on pending charges for EC review at this meeting. [Hardcopies will be distributed at the meeting.]

5.    Redesign of the Rutgers University Website - Kim Manning, Vice President, University Communications and Marketing, Rebecca Boucher, Senior Director, University Brand and Marketing, and Jeremee Johnson, Associate Director University Brand and Marketing  

6.    Old Business

Proposed Charge to the Instruction, Curricula and Advising Committee on Issues Surrounding Prerequisite Course Availability - Submitted by Julie Serrano, New Brunswick Student Member of the Executive Committee

Charge: Consider the issues relating to availability to students of courses that must be completed in sequence. Is there a way to ensure that students who fail a prerequisite course are able to register for that course the next time that it is offered?

Rationale: Students who are struggling in a course may or may not complete that course successfully. They may not know if they have failed the course until the final grades are submitted. If this is a course that is a prerequisite to other courses, it may be closed out before the student knows that they need to retake the course. If they cannot take the prerequisite, they obviously cannot register for subsequent courses either. This may significantly increase time towards degree.

This proposal was originally submitted by SEBS Student Senator Abhiskek Kashalikar, at the February 1 meeting. The Executive Committee requested the charge language be reworded and presented again at this meeting.

Selection of Members of Chancellor Evaluation Committees for Dr. Nancy Cantor, Newark Chancellor

After reviewing The Process for the Evaluation of Chancellors, the Executive Committee submitted suggestions for Dr. Nancy Cantor's Chancellor Evaluation Committee at the February 1 meeting. Chair Gillett contacted the faculty nominated and will give an update at this meeting.

7.    New Business

Concerns Regarding the Closure of the New Brunswick Libraries Media Center - Submitted by Anne-Catherine Aubert, SAS-NB Faculty Senator

The following email was sent to Chair Peter Gillett on March 1, 2019:

I am writing to you about a concern I share with many members of the Rutgers Community and I would like to ask if you are aware that the RU Library administration is planning to close the Media Center, and fire some of its best qualified employees - and that many faculty members are upset about the lack of transparency as well as what it will mean for their teaching and research. If this is possible at all, I would like to request that the Senate take up this matter as a topic of discussion and draft a resolution of some kind. I thank you for your attention.

Best wishes, Anne-Catherine Aubert

Nominating Panel 2019: An email will be sent by Mary Mickelsen to all current Senators next week announcing the opportunity to submit self-nominations or nominations of others for 2019-2020 Senate officer and board representative positions. The email will direct Senators to nominating instructions and the Nominating Panel Charge. The Executive Committee is asked to appoint Senators to serve on a Nominating Panel that can be called upon to suggest additional nominees in categories not sufficiently populated within the next several weeks. [Senate rosters will be distributed in hardcopy at the meeting.]

8.    University Senate Agenda

March 29, 2019 Senate Meeting: 
9.    Adjournment