RUTGERS UNIVERSITY
SENATE
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
M I N U T E S
April 10, 2015
MEMBERS PRESENT: Barraco, Boikess,
Borisovets, Burrell (by phone), Cotter, Gould (Chair), Janniger,
Oliver, Otto,
Puhak, Thompson, Velan
MEMBERS EXCUSED: Bodrog,
Joshi, Langer, Swalagin (Executive Secretary)
ALSO
ATTENDING: R. Edwards (Executive
Vice President for Academic Affairs), M. Mickelsen (Senate
Administrative Assistant), S. Rabinowitz
(Faculty Representative to the Board of
Governors), R. Schwartz (Faculty Representative to the Board of
Trustees)
The regular meeting of the University Senate Executive Committee was
held on
Friday, April 10, 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 Chairperson Ann Gould called the
meeting to order at 1:17 p.m. Gould mentioned in her Chair's
Report that she and Martha Cotter will be meeting with President Barchi
on April 27.
2. Secretary's Report -
Mary Mickelsen, Administrative Assistant to the Senate
- Agenda: The meeting
agenda was approved with the revision that Dr. Richard Edwards will
be
giving the Administrative Report.
- Minutes: The March
6, 2015 minutes were not prepared for this meeting and will be
distributed at the next EC meeting.
- Communications -The
following communication was presented and acted upon as indicated:
3. Administrative Liaison Report
Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Richard Edwards
presented an administrative report which included comments on:
- enrollment data for the new Honors College, and Rutgers overall;
- increase in average SAT scores among applicants;
- four out of five Rutgers students accepted for Goldwater
Scholarships, three from SAS-NB and one from the School of Engineering;
- new RWJMS Dean, Dr. Sherine Gabriel to start August 1, 2015;
- Tony Calcado presented the Newark Physical Master Plan to the
Board of Governors
at the April 2 meeting, and will present the Camden plan this June;
- Deans Evaluation Committee for Jerome Kukor met on April 10, but
due
to the time of year nothing will happen until the summer;
- the Board of Governors approved the merger of the Newark and
Camden Law Schools,
which is contingent on ABA approval; and
- the newly instituted Honorary Degree recipient process, which
worked well.
Edwards then responded to questions or heard comments on subjects
including:
- enrollment details of the Honors College to include how many beds
are available, specifics on cutoff criteria, communication to
prospective students; and
- general enrollment data.
4. Committee Reports
Research
and Graduate & Professional Education Committee (RGPEC) Response
to
Charge S-1207 on Support for International Students Survey - RGPEC
Chair Jane Otto summarized the committee's report on Charge S-1207 on
Support for International Students, including the survey document and
results. The RGPEC had been charged as follows:
Charge S-1207, Support for
International Students: Investigate and make recommendations with
regard to core university support for international students and
postpocs, particularly in the area of visas.
The report was docketed for Senate action at the May 1 Senate meeting.
Academic Standards, Regulations and
Admissions Committee (ASRAC) Response
to Charge S-1414 on Removing
Barriers to the Education of Veterans - ASRAC
Co-Chair
Martha Cotter summarized her committee's report on Charge S-1414
on Removing Barriers to the Education of Veterans. The ASRAC had
been charged as follows:
Charge S-1414, Removing Barriers to
the Education of Veterans: Examine obstacles preventing military
veterans from expeditiously completing their education at Rutgers, The
State University of New Jersey. If appropriate, recommend policy
and process changes that would expedite completion of studies and
promote growth of inter-campus collaboration. Refer to the
Student
Caucus rationale for this charge when deliberating.
This report was docketed for Senate
action at the May 1 Senate meeting.
5. Issues/Proposed Charges
Proposal
to Reorganize the School of Public Health (RSPH), submitted by
Jasjit Ahluwalia, RSPH Dean Designate and Brian Strom, RBHS Chancellor:
Senate Vice Chair Martha Cotter summarized her and Ann Gould's
meeting with Jasjit
Ahluwalia, and his proposed charge to the Senate, which states, in part:
"The proposed reorganization and
expansion will expand the breadth and depth of SPH research programs by
increasing its number of faculty and encouraging collaborations; unify
faculty across RBHS with a public health focus; and enhance SPH
educational, research, and service programs. This will be
achieved with full approval and endorsement of affected faculty and
without loss of any faculty positions. This is the first step of many
that will be planned in the upcoming years as we strive to compete with
the strongest schools of public health in the country."
Due to the many concerns voiced by the majority of the Executive
Committee this proposal will be tabled until Ann and Martha can meet
with Dean Designate Ahluwalia and Chancellor Strom and obtain more
detailed information.
[Burrell left the meeting at 2:58 p.m.]
Potential
Charge to Budget and Finance Committee (BFC) on Office of Informational
Technology Responsiveness - submitted by Senator Charles
Heckscher, BFC Member: Ann Gould summarized the email from Charles who
wrote, in part:
"My department has asked me to voice a
concern about the way the computer outage was handled a couple of weeks
ago -- especially the lack of any information at all over 48 hours.
Many faculty struggled individually to figure out what was going
on in that time and to work out how to reach their students."
Mary Mickelsen, Administrative
Assistant to the Senate, mentioned Charles called the Senate office a
few days prior and stated he was advised to do so by Senator Menahem
Spiegel, BFC Chair, and that Menahem may have more specific charge
language. Menahem was out of the country and could, perhaps, furnish
that language upon his return.
New Brunswick Faculty Council
Resolution on Shared Governance - submitted by Robert
Boikess,
Senator and NBFC Committee Chair: Robert summarized the NBFC
Resolution on Shared Governance which has been submitted as follows:
"The NBFC calls upon the University to
incorporate the following statement into the University Policy Library:
All faculty or students or
staff who are participants in shared governance shall be free to
communicate about the functioning of the University without restraint
or fear of discipline."
Ann Gould and Martha Cotter will
discuss this resolution with President Barchi at their meeting on April
27.
Proposed Charge to Instruction,
Curricula, and Advising Committee on Class Attendance Record Keeping
Requirements for Students Receiving Federal Funds - suggested by
Fran Bouchoux, Interim Senior Vice President and Chief Enterprise Risk,
Ethics, and Compliance Officer: Ann Gould summarized the proposal on
Class Attendance Record Keeping Requirements for Students Receiving
Federal Grants which had been submitted as follows:
"We ask that the University Senate
provide guidance, in collaboration with relevant units, to develop a
systematic approach to complying with attendance requirements.
The DoE's guidance on this issue suggests institutions have a
broad latitude in its approach to capture the necessary information.
Collaboration in developing a clearly defined protocol will
assure an efficient and optimal way that best suits the academic
practices at Rutgers."
ICAC has accepted this charge after
Natalie Borisovets, ICAC Chair, creates official charge language.
6. Commencement Speaker and
Honorary Degree Committee
Leslie Fehrenbach, University Secretary, has issued a call for
nominations for commencement speakers and honorary degree candidates.
Ann Gould reported the Senate Honorary Degree Committee - New
Brunswick, in the absence of official protocol, will proceed in the
same manner as it did last year and will meet the morning of June 5.
7. Nominating Panel
Ken Swalagin has issued a call to all Senators for
self-nominations to Senate leadership, Executive Committee member and
board representative positions. Robert Puhak and Jon Oliver have
volunteered to co-chair the Nominating Panel. The year's
Nominating
Panel charge is online. Ann Gould asked for self
nominations from the table; Robert Schwartz and Edmund Janniger
nominated themselves.
8. Old Business
Questions
from Senate Committees
related to the Division
of Graduate Studies Proposal, and Overview of
Graduate School - New Brunswick and GSBS Overview
- submitted by
Kathleen Scotto, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Dean and Jerome
Kukor, Graduate School-New Brunswick Dean.
Ann Gould red the email she received from Dean Kukor thanking the
Senate for their guidance thus far however, there is no need for
action
until September.
Proposed Charge on Modifying the
Academic Calendar and Exam Times for Online Courses - submitted
by James Massachaele, Executive Vice Dean of SAS-NB via email.
This matter was reviewed at the February Executive Committee meeting,
where it was discussed that, ICAC Chair Natalie Borisovets, would draft
a charge to be issued to the ICAC on related work they are already
doing. Natalie will have that language by the next EC meeting on
June 5. Details
of the proposal.
9. New Business
There was no new business.
10. University Senate Agenda for
May 1, 2015
The May 1 Senate meeting agenda was determined, and will include:
- Committee meetings will run from 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon;
There will be no caucus meetings; Senate Organizational Meeting
will start at 12:30 p.m.; [It was later determined that the meeting
would begin at
1:10 p.m., as usual, and that caucuses would meet at noon.]
- First, the Organizational meeting of the 15-16 Senate, at which
the
Senate will elect next year's Senate chair, vice chair, Executive
Committee members, and board representatives;
- Immediately following the 15-16 Organizational Meeting is the
last meeting of the 14-15
Senate;
- 3 Committee Reports;
- Administrative Report by President Barchi;
- Enterprise Risk Management presentation carried over from last
month's Senate agenda - Nicole Mendrozo, Deputy Chief of Enterprise
Risk and Compliance and Fran Bouchoux, Interim Senior Vice President
and Chief Enterprise Risk, Ethics, and Compliance Officer.
11. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 3:41 p.m.
Minutes written and submitted by:
Mary Mickelsen
Administrative Assistant to the University Senate