RUTGERS UNIVERSITY
SENATE
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
M I N U T E S
February 6, 2015
MEMBERS PRESENT: Barraco (by phone), Boikess,
Borisovets, Burrell, Cotter, Gould (Chair), Joshi, Langer,
Oliver, Otto,
Puhak, Swalagin
(Executive
Secretary), Thompson, Velan
MEMBERS ABSENT: Meggali
ALSO
ATTENDING: R. Chen (Dean, Newark Law School), Edwards (Executive
Vice President for Academic Affairs), J. Oberdiek (Dean, Camden Law
School), Rabinowitz
(Faculty Representative to the Board of
Governors), Spiegel (Faculty Representative to the Board of
Trustees)
The regular meeting of the University Senate Executive Committee was
held on
Friday, February 6, 2015 at 1:10 p.m. in the Executive Board Room of
Administrative Services Building-III, Cook Campus.
1. Chair’s Report
Senate and Executive Committee Vice Chair Martha Cotter called the
meeting to order at 1:19 p.m., saying that Chair Ann Gould was on her
way to New Brunswick after giving a talk in Pennsylvania. There was,
therefore, no chair's report at this time.
2.
Secretary’s Report - Ken Swalagin,
Executive Secretary of the Senate
- Agenda: The meeting
agenda was
approved as distributed by the Executive Secretary..
- Minutes: The January 9, 2015
Senate Executive Committee Meeting Minutes were approved with one
revision to the Chair's Report section regarding the responsible
executive on the Open Access Policy.
- Communications: The
following communication was presented and acted upon as indicated:
- Amber Hirsh has resigned her position as Graduate Student
Representative to the Board of Trustees. Self-nominations for a
replacement will be solicited for an election to be held at the
upcoming Senate meeting. Noted, and agreed that nominations from the
floor for this, as well as the Executive Committee positions indicated
below, would not be accepted for this election.
- Nam Dy has resigned from the Senate, and therefore from his
position as Camden Student Member of the Executive Committee.
Self-nominations for a replacement will be solicited for an election to
be held at the upcoming Senate meeting. Noted. Also, George Meggali,
the Newark Student Member of the Executive Committee, who had been
consistently absent from the meetings, and whose Senate attendance was
also poor, would be asked to resign, and that position would also
filled in an election at the upcoming Senate meeting.
- In response to a request for an estimate of when a report may
be issued,
Linda Brzustowicz, Chair of the Committee on the Future
Academic Structure of the University, wrote: “We are actually on
a longer
time-frame [than the Committee
on Near- and Long-term Impact of Instructional Technology], our
interim report is not due until the end of the summer.” Noted.
3. Administrative Liaison Report
Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Richard Edwards presented
an administrative report, which
included comments on:
- the proposed merger of the School of Law - Newark and the School
of Law - Camden;
- the following week's site visit from Middle States relative to
Rutgers' major substantive change request after integration of RBHS;
- ongoing searches for Henry Rutgers professorships and Henry
Rutgers term professorships;
- plans to institute term professorships for New Brunswick;
- completion of some deans' evaluations, including Bloustein School
Dean James Hughes, and anticipation of receiving names from the Senate
for other dean's evaluation committees;
- ongoing searches for deans of the School of Communication and
Information, and for the School of Management and Labor Relations, as
well as for the University Librarian; and
- the expectation of beginning a search for Vice Chancellor
for Academic Affairs in New Brunswick.
[Sherry Burrell joined the meeting during the Administrative Liaison
Report.]
Edwards then responded to questions or heard comments on subjects
including:
- the ongoing search for Senior Vice President for Academic
Affairs, which will be an internal search;
- administrative restrictions and details relating to
implementation of 50-percent tuition remission for part-time lecturers;
and
- [Natalie Borisovets joined the meeting at 1:34 p.m. Senate Chair
Ann Gould joined the meeting at 1:35 p.m.]
- merging of Rutgers Business School Newark and New Brunswick, as
relates to the proposed law schools merger;
Ann Gould assumed the chair at 1:35 p.m.
4. Standing Committees/Caucuses
Committee
Chair: Matt Winkler has volunteered to co-chair the Academic
Standards, Regulations and Admissions Committee (ASRAC). ASRAC Chair
Martha Cotter endorses the appointment. The Executive Committee
approved the appointment.
Committee
Reports:
University
Structure and Governance Committee (USGC) Response
to Charge S-1309 on
Senate Election Procedures [Report is for information only. No
bylaws or procedural changes are recommended.] - USGC
Co-chairs Jon Oliver and Robert Puhak, and USGC member and Senate
Executive Secretary Ken Swalagin summarized their committee's report on
Charge S-1309 on Senate Election Procedures. The USGC had been
charged as follows:
Charge
S-1309, Senate Election Procedures: Review election procedures
used by the Senate, and, if appropriate, recommend improved procedures.
The
report was docketed for information only at the February 20 Senate
meeting.
In
a related issue, Swalagin described an issue requiring attention
relative to an amendment to Senate bylaws made from the floor at the
April 2005 Senate meeting, which he described as impossible to
implement. The amendment stipulated that nominees in the Senate's
election of Senate chair and vice chair, Executive Committee members,
and board representatives could run for more than one position in the
same election. The committee instructed Swalagin to draft a report
recommending removal of that clause of the bylaws, that could be
introduced to the Senate at the February meeting, and could be voted on
at the subsequent meeting. The draft was to be circulated to the
Executive Committee by email for approval prior to docketing. [Note:
Swalagin drafted a report that was docketed for introduction at the
February 20 Senate meeting. The report was amended at that Senate
meeting, but is online in its as-introduced form here.]
Faculty and Personnel Affairs Committee
(FPAC) Response
to Charge S-1313 on Travel and Business Expense Reimbursement (TABER)
Appendix 1:
TABER Survey Appendix 2:
TABER Survey Summary - FPAC
Co-chair Ann Gould summarized her committee's report on Charge S-1313
on Travel and Business Expense Reimbursement (TABER), including the
survey document and results. The FPAC had been charged as follows:
Charge
S-1313, Travel and Business Expense Reimbursement (TABER): Review
current university policies and practices
concerning reimbursement to faculty and staff for professional
expenditures,
including but not limited to, travel, conference attendance, and
purchases;
survey impacted constituencies for suggestions, and propose possible
modifications or improvements to the current system.
The
report was docketed for Senate action at the February 20 Senate meeting.
5. Discussion of
Proposed Merger of School of Law - Camden and School of Law - Newark
- John Oberdiek, Acting Dean of the School of Law - Camden, and Ron
Chen, Acting Dean of the School of Law - Newark, arrived at the meeting
at 2:12 p.m. for a discussion of the proposed merger of the Camden and
Newark Law Schools. Prior to this meeting, the committee had been sent
the following supporting documents prepared by the law schools'
administration::
Chen and Oberdiek summarized the merger proposal, then responded to
questions from the committee and others present. At the end of the
discussion, Gould asked all committee chairs (at least one chair of
each committee was present) to take the documents and discussion to
their committees, and forward to Swalagin a list of questions that
would then be compiled and sent to the law deans for response. The
Executive Committee will then consider those responses, and produce a
report that can go to the Senate floor for a vote on approving the
merger.
4-A.
Standing Committees/Caucuses (Continued)
Issues/Proposed
Charges:
Proposed
Charge (Revised) to University Structure and Governance Committee
(USGC) on The
State of Shared Governance at Rutgers, submitted by Jon Oliver,
USGC Co-chair: USGC Co-chair Jon Oliver summarized his proposed charge
to the USGC, which had been submitted as follows:
Consider
the state of shared governance at Rutgers including its strengths and
challenges. Recommend any changes based on our aspirant AAU and Big 10
peers
and on the basis of the foundational element of "Robust Shared
Governance,
Academic Freedom, and Effective Communication" in the university
strategic
plan.
The
charge was issued as proposed, with a February 2016 deadline.
Report
on Staff Caucus Meeting with Deputy Chief Michael Rein, Division of
Public Safety - Jon Oliver, Staff Caucus Convener: Jon Oliver,
who, by virtue of his position as Staff Member of the Executive
Committee, also convenes the Staff Caucus, summarized a recent meeting
of several staff Senators with Division of Public Safety heads and
chiefs of police of Rutgers Camden, Newark, and New Brunswick, as well
as emergency management and emergency services personnel. It was
suggested that the Senate could host a similar presentation by the
Division of Public Safety sometime next year.
6. Old Business
Proposed Charge on Modifying Academic
Calendar and Exam Times for Online Courses,
submitted by James Massachaele, Executive Vice Dean of SAS-NB via email
as follows:
"I
write in my capacity as Executive Vice-Dean of SAS to ask the Senate to
consider a proposal for making an adjustment to the University's exam
schedule.
A number of faculty in SAS have asked for an improved process for
scheduling
final exams in online courses. Currently the University makes no
provision for
this. Many faculty who teach online courses feel that in-person final
exams are
the best way to ensure the integrity of the exam. To make the
scheduling of
final exams for online courses more effective, we propose that the
University
set aside and advertise certain time slots as standard exam times for
online
courses. You can find details
of the proposal on the attached document. Please
let me know if you need more detail or if there is a different avenue I
need to
pursue to have the proposal considered by the Senate."
This matter was discussed at the January Executive Committee meeting,
where it was suggested that ASRAC Chair Martha Cotter would consult
with Instruction, Curricula and Advising Committee (ICAC) Chair Natalie
Borisovets to determine how this issue may fit in with ICAC discussions
on exam space and facilities, and online course exams. The issue was
discussed again at this meeting, at which Academic
Standards, Regulations, Admissions Committee Co-chair Martha Cotter and
Instruction, Curriculum and Advising Committee Chair Natalie Borisovets
were present. Cotter and Borisovets will draft a charge on the matter,
which will come to the Executive Committee at the next meeting.
Jerry Langer also mentioned that the RBHS academic calendar is
different from the current Rutgers University academic calendar, and
that some Rutgers University holidays conflict with the RBHS teaching
schedule. It was suggested that this may be an issue for future
consideration by the Executive Committee.
Proposed Merger (or formation of an
umbrella unit) of the Graduate School
of Biomedical
Sciences with a
new Rutgers Division of Graduate Studies - This issue, having
been previously discussed in the Executive Committee, was again
discussed. Graduate School New
Brunswick Dean Jerry Kukor and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Dean Kathy Scotto had been given the USGC draft questionnaire on
mergers, and will prepare a proposed timeline, as well as responses to
the appropriate portions of the questionnaire, and will meet with the
Executive Committee in March.
7. New Business
There was no new business.
8.
University
Senate Agenda for February 20, 2015
The February 20 Senate meeting agenda was determined, and will
include:
- Election of Camden and Newark Student Executive Committee
Members, and of
Graduate Student Representative to the Board of Trustees
- Newark Campus Report - Nancy Cantor, Chancellor of
Rutgers - Newark
- Annual Budget Report - Menahem Spiegel, Budget and Finance
Committee Chair [Note: This item was later postponed to March 2015.]
- Camden and Newark Physical Master Plan Presentation - Antonio
Calcado, Vice President for
University Facilities and Capital Planning [Note: The subject reports
of this item were not completed by the Senate meeting date. This item
will be presented to the Senate at a later time.]
9. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 3:36 p.m.
Minutes written and submitted by,
Ken Swalagin
Executive Secretary of the University Senate