RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
UNIVERSITY SENATE

MINUTES: Regular Meeting of the University Senate

DATE: October 19, 2018

TIME AND PLACE: 1:10 p.m., Multipurpose Room, College Avenue Student Center, College Avenue Campus

MEMBERS PRESENT:Acosta; Ahmed; Atkins; Aubert; Awan; Balaguru; Barbarese; Bhuyan; Boikess; Bora; Borisovets; Bridgeman; Bugel; Butler; Chunn; Cole; Craig; Dane; D'Anna; Dasari; DeFabiis; DeFilippis; Denham-Barrett; DiLalo; Dowlin; Dreyer; Ebert; Emmons; Esposito; Estriplet; Fagan; Fellenz; Filippelli; Gillett; Goldfarb; Gould; Gower; Graber; Gross; Gursoy; Han; Heckscher; Hunter; Hunter-Fratzola; Joergensen; Johnson; Kaminskas; Kane; Kelly; Kettle; Kurtas; Kustka; Langer; Langsam; Lee; Lema; Lindboe; Little; LoGrippo; Lombardi; Lutz; Maglione-Rico; Mahajan-Cusack; Maloney; Mammis; Mancini; Mansukhani; Marchetta; Markert; Marsic; Masiello; Matto; Mazurek; McKeever; Mena-Segovia; Murphy; Nickitas; Norris; O'Connor; Oleske; Oliver; O'Neill; Pandey; Pappas; Parrish; Parsa; Patel; Patel; Patton; Perez; Peyrek; Pichugin; Pinto-Figueroa; Piotrowski; Powell; Pradhan; Puar; Puhak; Rabinowitz; Ravichandran; Raza; Rivera; Rosen; Rothpeltz-Puglia; Saltzman; Sanchez; Schwartz; Sen; Serrano; Sesti; Shah; Soto; Spiegel; Steinberg; Struble; Szatrowski; Tharney; Thompson; Thompson; Thuravil; Tracey; Trees; Van Stine; Vidal; Zhang; Ziessler

EXCUSED:Avallone; Bekdash; Brewster-Bauzyk; Brunson; Carson; Collins; Cummings; Everett; Field; Giraud; Goodman; Guo; Hartman; Honeycutt; Junboota; Kane; Miller; Patel; Rajan; Raval; Shinbrot; Silver; Takhistov; Tsakalakos; Wilde

ABSENT:Alexander-Floyd; Alidou; Alizadeh; Alvarez; Ardeshna; Artun; Barchi; Barone; Butterfield; Cahill; Cantor; Carty; Carvajal; Chinn; Conway; Cotter; Covington; Cummings; Dettloff; Eastman; Eaton; Eisenstein; Farmbry; Farris; Feldman; Gabriel; Ganesh; Ghesani; Gonzalez; Greenberg; Haddon; Halkitis; Hanna; Hatefi; Holzemer; Iannini; Jarrin; Johnson; Kabia; Kettler; Kukor; LaPointe; Lei; Lewis; Lindenmeyer; Lopez; Lugg; Mahon; March; Menifield; Molloy; Murphy; Norville; O'Brassill-Kulfan; Pagan; Pardlo; Paskhover; Patel; Ponzio; Porumbescu; Potter; Potter; Schiavo; Schneider; Shah; Shapses; Sheridan; Song; Stauffer; Strom; White; Williams; Yang; Young


ATTENDANCE SUMMARY:   Faculty: Of 116 total: 65 present (66%), 13 excused (11%), 26 absent (22%); Students: Of 42 total: 26 present (62%), 6 excused (14%), 10 absent (24%); Administrators: Of 41 total: 5 present (12%), 3 excused (7%), 35 absent (85%); Staff: Of 19 total: 14 present (74%), 3 excused (15%), 2 absent (11%); Alumni: Of 6 total: 4 present (67%), 1 excused (17%), 1 absent (17%)
View Senate Attendance Record for this year

CALL TO ORDER, DETERMINATION OF A QUORUM, INTRODUCTION OF COMMITTEE CHAIRS AND CHARGES, AND CHAIR’S REPORT - Peter Gillett, Chair

Senate Chair Peter Gillett called the meeting to order at 1:10 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room of the College Avenue Student Center, College Avenue Campus, New Brunswick. He welcomed all present to the meeting and highlighted Senior Vice President Barbara Lee's Administrative Report, which was to happen later in the agenda. He reported on the October 5 Senate Committee Chairs meeting and that the Senate Executive Committee selected possible Decanal Evaluation Committee members - which will be sent to their respective chairs, once final confirmation of their willingness to participate is made - at the last meeting. He also made the Senate aware of his intentions to attend the Big 10 Academic Alliance in Iowa City later in the month.

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY - Mary Mickelsen, Executive Secretary 

COMMITTEE REPORTS

University Structure and Governance Committee (USGC) Response to Charge S-1501: Eligibility, Nomination, and Election of Senate Leadership and Board Representatives - Jon Oliver, USGC Chair

The USGC was charged as follows: Consider and make recommendations on the eligibility of candidates, and the nomination process and schedule for election of Senate officers, Executive Committee members, and board representatives.

USGC Chair Jon Oliver presented and summarized the USGC's Response to Charge S-1501 on Eligibility, Nomination, and Election of Senate Leadership and Board Representatives. There was much discussion over the 3-year experience requirement, especially as it relates to student eligibility. An amendment was proposed and seconded for the 3-year requirement to be changed to 2-years. After further debate, the amendment was voted on and carried. The resolution, in its entirety, was then voted on and approved in its amended form.

Faculty and Personnel Affairs Committee (FPAC) Response to Charge S-1712: Procedures for Handling Student Complaints Against Rutgers Personnel - Farid Alizadeah and Joseph Markert, FPAC Co-Chairs

The FPAC was charged as follows: Consider and make recommendations for improving procedures for handling student complaints against Rutgers personnel, as well as how those procedures are communicated to students and personnel.

FPAC Co-Chair Joseph Markert presented and summarized the FPAC's Response to Charge S-1712 on Procedures for Handling Student Complaints Against Rutgers Personnel. There was one point of clarification on what types of complaints would be handled by this resolution. The resolution was then voted on and passed.

Executive Committee (EC) Resolution on Contract Negotiations - Ann Gould, Senate Executive Committee Member

Senate Executive Committee Member Ann Gould, on behalf of the Executive Committee, presented a Resolution on Contract Negotiations:

Be It Resolved That:

The Rutgers University Senate calls upon all parties to do all that they can to complete the negotiations of all collective bargaining contracts still awaiting settlements fairly and promptly.

After much debate, a motion was presented from the floor to amend the above resolution to read:

Recognizing that there are thousands of Rutgers faculty and employees currently working under expired contracts; and that the current lack of progress in contract negotiations jeopardizes the retention of high-quality faculty and staff at Rutgers as well as effectiveness of the educational process; the Rutgers University Senate therefore calls upon the administration to add more energy, resources, and commitment to union contract negotiations to effect fair and just, and timely settlements.

The amended version of the resolution was voted on and passed.

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT - Barbara Lee, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

SVP Lee then presented an Administrative Report that included comments on:

Gillett summarized the format and time limits for Senior Vice President Lee's administrative report. SVP Lee then responded to questions from his report and other Rutgers-community issues such as:

OLD BUSINESS: There was no old business.

NEW BUSINESS: There was no new business.

SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT - Senate Vice Chair Jon Oliver reported on the October 5, 2018 Senate Executive Committee meeting.

REPORTS OF REPRESENTATIVES TO BOARDS OF GOVERNORS AND TRUSTEES: Senator Samuel Rabinowitz, Faculty Representative to the Board of Governors and Senator Nicole Lema, Student Representative to the Board of Governors, reported on the October 4 Board of Governors meeting. Senator Robert Schwartz, Faculty Representative to The Board of Trustees and Ilce Perez, Undergraduate Student to the Board of Trustees, reported on the September 25 meeting.

REPORTS OF CAMPUS FACULTY AND STUDENT LIAISONS: Camden Student Senator Michael Van Stine reported on recent plans and activities of Camden student governing associations. Camden Faculty Senator Samuel Rabinowitz reported on his constituency's plans/activities. New Brunswick Student Senator Emily Kane reported on recent plans and activities of New Brunswick student governing associations. New Brunswick Faculty Senator Sanjib Bhuyan reported on the September 28 NB Faculty Council meeting. There were no faculty or student representatives available to report from Newark or RBHS.

ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 3:14 p.m.