RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY

UNIVERSITY SENATE

Executive Committee Minutes

March 8, 2019

MEMBERS PRESENT:  Desari, Field, Gillett (Chair), Oleske, Oliver, Parsa, Serrano, Thompson, Van Stine

MEMBERS EXCUSED: Borisovets, Gould, Kelly, Pappas

MEMBERS ABSENT: Estriplet

ALSO ATTENDING:  R. Boucher (Senior Director, University Brand and Marketing), J. Johnson (Associate Director, University Brand and Marketing), B. Lee (Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs), M. Mickelsen (Senate Executive Secretary), K. Manning (Vice President, University Communications and Marketing), R. Schwartz (Faculty Representative to the Board of Trustees)

The regular meeting of the University Senate Executive Committee was held on Friday, March 8, 2019 at 12:00 p.m. in Room 202ABC at the Cook Student Center, Cook Campus.

1.    Chair’s Report  - Peter Gillett, Senate Chair and Senate Executive Committee Chair Peter Gillett called the meeting to order at 12:00 p.m. He welcomed all members, reviewed the speakers for the afternoon and asked everyone be conscious of the time as there are many items of discussion.

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

3.    Administrative Report

Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Barbara Lee presented an administrative report, which included comments on:

Senior Vice President Lee then heard and responded to topics including:

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.

The following decisions were made:

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 

Vice President Manning and her team answered questions and heard comments on the following:

6.    Old Business:

Proposed Charge to the Instruction, Curricula, and Advising Committee on Issues Surrounding Prerequisite Couse Availability - 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 student 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. Serrano presented the charge in its current form and responded to questions. The Executive Committee issued the charge to ICAC with a due date of February 2020.

Selection of Members of Chancellor Evaluation Committee for Dr. Nancy Cantor

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 which resulted in the following selections:

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

After much discussion and the Executive Committee agreed Senate Executive Secretary Mickelsen and Chair Gillett will write to the New Brunswick Faculty Council Chair, Sanjib Bhuyan (knowing the NBFC Academic Affairs Committee is already looking into the matter), expressing the Senate EC's full support of the mission and willingness to assist if/when necessary.

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.]

The Executive Committee appointed Ann Gould (Chair), William Field, and Houshang Parsa.

8.    University Senate Agenda The March 29, 2019 Senate Meeting agenda was discussed, and will include:  

9.    Adjournment   

The meeting adjourned at 2:51 p.m.

Minutes written and submitted by,

Mary Mickelsen, Executive Secretary of the University Senate