RUTGERS
UNIVERSITY SENATE
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
M I N U T E S
September 9, 2016
MEMBERS PRESENT: Boikess, Borisovets, Cotter, Esposito, Gillett
(Chair),
Gould, Krapivin, Krutyansky, Mouradian, Otto, Puhak, Swalagin
(Executive Secretary), Thompson, Van Stine, Wang
MEMBERS EXCUSED: Pirrello
ALSO ATTENDING: B. Lee (Senior Vice President for Academic
Affairs), A. Patel (Student
Representative to Board of Governors), S.
Rabinowitz (Faculty Representative to the Board of Governors) [Note:
There was a conflicting Board of Trustees meeting in Camden at the time
of this meeting.]
The regular meeting of the University Senate Executive Committee was
held on Friday, September 9, 2016 at 1:10 p.m. in Room ABC of Brower
Commons, College Avenue Campus.
1.
Chair’s Report
- Peter Gillett, Senate Chair
Senate and Executive Committee Chair Peter Gillett called the
meeting to order at 1:10 p.m. He called for introductions all
around. He referenced the email he had sent to the Senate at the
beginning of the academic year,
which summarized his vision and goals for the Senate going forward. He
also spoke about:
- ongoing discussions on the proposed formation of a School of
Graduate Studies (see "New Business");
- plans for meetings with himself, Vice Chair Puhak, President
Barchi, and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Lee, and his
intention to try to extend those meetings to include chancellors;
- the upcoming Big Ten Faculty Leadership Conference, which he will
attend;
- the new seating arrangement for Executive Committee meetings, and
his intention to start these, and full Senate, meetings on time; and
- the need to submit agenda items earlier so that agendas can be
prepared and published sooner.
2. Secretary’s Report - Ken Swalagin,
Executive Secretary of the Senate
- Agenda: Gillett
successfully amended the agenda to include Appointment of the
University Commencement Panel to the end of Old Business. The meeting agenda,
so amended, was approved.
- Minutes: The Minutes of June 3, 2016 Senate Executive
Committee Meeting were approved.
- Communications: The following communications were
presented by the Executive Secretary and acted upon by the Executive
Committee as indicated:
- Policy
Update: Acceptable Use
Policy for Information Technology
Resources (revised). Noted, and discussed further under "New
Business."
- From
Student Senator Viktor Krapivin: The Rutgers University
Student Assembly (RUSA) is advocating in favor of a voting student
representative to the Board of Governors. A bipartisan bill (S2249) has
been
introduced in the State Senate and an identical bill has been
introduced in the
State Assembly. For more information please see this Daily
Targum Article. Noted.
- Secretary
of the University Kim Pastva is sending out a second call for 2018
commencement speaker and honorary-degree recipient nominations today.
Noted, and discussed further under Old Business.
3. Administrative Liaison
Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Barbara Lee presented
an administrative report, which
included comments on:
- New Brunswick Chancellor Richard Edwards returning to the faculty
at the end of June 2017;
- Timothy Fournier named Senior Vice President, Enterprise Risk
Management, Ethics, and Compliance;
- Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy Dean
James Hughes will retire at the end of this academic year;
- Lisa Hetfield is serving as Interim Director of Rutgers Institute
for Women's Leadership, following the death of Director Alison
Bernstein;
- new construction, and opening of new buildings;
- statistics on the newly arrived Class of 2020, which is the
largest in Rutgers history;
- enrollments, including those in the Honors College;
- her request that she and Ann Gould report on the Middle States
accreditation process at the October Senate meeting;
- an RBHS proposal for a new Institute for Translational Medicine
unit; and
- processes for addressing student complaints against faculty and
staff.
Lee then responded to questions, or heard comments on the above
subjects, as well as:
- College Avenue parking;
- files maintained by the Office of Employment Equity; and
- a newly constructed road on Busch Campus which seems to lead
nowhere.
4. Standing
Committees
Issues/Proposed
Charges:
Gillett
reminded the committee members that they were being asked whether or
not to issue the proposed charges; not to debate the issues themselves.
Proposed
Charge to Academic Standards,
Regulations and Admissions Committee (ASRAC) on Change in Graduation
Date for Students Completing Degrees in Summer - Requested by
Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Barbara Lee, Submitted by
Immediate Past Senate Chair Ann Gould
The above matter and rationale submitted by Lee were discussed, and a
charge issued to the ASRAC as follows:
Charge A-1610 - Change in Graduation Date
for Students Completing Degrees in Summer: At
the request of Senior Vice President for
Academic Affairs Barbara Lee, consider a proposal to move the official
graduation date from October to August for students who complete degree
requirements in the summer, which ensures that official reporting of
summer
degrees falls within the parameters of federal reporting regulations
and better
reflects when students actually complete their degrees. Respond to the
Senate
Executive Committee by November 2016.
[Barbara
Lee left the meeting at 2:00 p.m.]
Proposed
Charge to Student Affairs Committee (SAC) on University Policy on
Student Use of Drugs and Alcohol -
Submitted by Student Senator and New Brunswick Student Member of the
Executive Committee Viktor Krapivin
The
above matter and rationale submitted by Krapivin were discussed, and a
charge issued to the SAC as follows:
Charge S-1611 - Examination of University
Policy on Student Use of Drugs and Alcohol: Consider, evaluate,
and make recommendations, if necessary, for changes to university
policy on student
use of
drugs and alcohol. Consider the role of restorative justice in
university
policy. Consider the role of restorative justice in this university
policy. Consider any deterrent effects of current policy to students
seeking
emergency medical services. Refer to the Medical
Amnesty Report authored by the Rutgers University Student
Assembly for additional information
when considering this charge. Respond to Senate Executive Committee by
January 6, 2017.
Proposed
Charge to Academic Standards, Regulations and Admissions Committee
(ASRAC) on Changes to the Rutgers University Academic Integrity
Policy - Submitted by Faculty Senator and ASRAC Co-chair Martha
Cotter
The above matter and rationale submitted by Cotter were discussed, and
a charge issued to the ASRAC as follows:
Charge S-1609 - Revisions to Rutgers
University Academic Integrity Policy: Consider and make
recommendations on how the Rutgers University Academic Integrity Policy
should
be revised in light of the merger with units of the former UMDNJ.
Should there
be a single academic integrity policy applicable to all Rutgers schools
and
colleges? Should the procedures for adjudicating alleged violations of
academic
integrity be different for different types of schools? As part of the
deliberations,
consider the draft academic integrity policy tentatively endorsed by
the 2013
ad hoc committee charged with reconciling the Rutgers Code of Student
conduct
and Academic Integrity Policy with the UMDNJ document Student Rights,
Responsibilities, and Disciplinary Procedures. Respond to Senate
Executive Committee by November 4, 2016.
[Ann Gould left the meeting at 2:30 p.m.]
Proposed
Charge/Issue Raised on Implementation of Senate Reports/Recommendations
- Submitted by PTL Senator and Executive Committee Member Karen Thompson
The following submission by Thompson was discussed:
“I
would like to figure out how to maximize the
possibility that reports/recommendations such as this one (Response
to Charge S-1409 on Greater Integration of Contingent Faculty in the
Rutgers
Community) do in fact reach implementation of some sort. Could we
consider
assigning another committee the task of developing a method of ensuring
implementation of Senate recommendations in this specific case and with
others?
If that is to be the EC’s role, could we consider how to best
ensure that
something indeed happens. I seem to recall that there is an opportunity
for the
Chair of the Senate to meet with the President/Chancellors to discuss
just this
problem and President Barchi has, I think, made some headway in this
area. Could
we talk about a more concrete procedure to use in the future?”
No
charge was issued, but the following were suggested to help track
implementation of Senate reports and recommendations:
Add
a regular item to Executive Committee agendas reviewing Senate
recommendations from the past two or three months.
Create
a separate webpage of Senate reports lacking administrative responses,
and link that to each Executive Committee agenda.
Ken
Swalagin will draft a table of the previous two years' Senate
reports/recommendations, and the administrative responses to those
items. That will be brought to the Executive Committee to discuss what
has, or may have been, implemented. Where there are still questions
regarding implementation, the Executive Committee will ask President
Barchi to respond.
This matter, now somewhat revised from
previous discussions, had been discussed in general terms at previous
Executive Committee meetings. Gillett explained that a proposal to
create a new Rutgers School of Graduate Studies was nearing completion
by Dean Jerome Kukor and Dean Kathleen Scotto, and that the proposal
and
Senate-mandated questionnaire should be completed within the next week.
When the proposal is received, Swalagin will send it to all committee
chairs for review at their upcoming meetings on September 23, and will
include the following instruction/timeline:
- Immediately: Distribute (or send the link to) the proposal to
your committee members,
and ask them to review it before Friday’s committee meeting.
- By Thursday, September 29: Send to Ken Swalagin
(swalagin@rci.rutgers.edu) for
the Executive Committee a list of any additional questions your
committee has
for the deans regarding this proposal.
- October 14: At your committee meeting, discuss the proposal and
responses
received on any questions you have submitted. (At this or your
subsequent
committee meeting, the deans may be asked to join your committee to
answer any
additional questions.) Consider whether you can endorse the proposal to
the
Senate Executive Committee.
- By
Friday, October 21: Respond to Ken Swalagin (for the Executive
Committee) with
your decision on whether to endorse the proposal.
- October
28: The Senate Executive Committee will consider your responses, and
either schedule further consultations with the deans, or docket the
matter for
action at the November 11 Senate meeting.
5.
University Senate Agenda
The
September 23, 2016
Senate Meeting agenda was discussed, and will include:
- President
Barchi's
"President's Address" early in the agenda, followed by a
30-minute question-and-answer period
- Election of Newark Student Member of the Executive Committee
(There were no nominees for the April election.)
- Newly
tenured faculty reception at Faculty Caucus (80 promotions with tenure,
and 14 appointments with tenure)
- Ad
Hoc Committee on Webstreaming and Video Archiving Senate Meetings to
convene one hour before standing committees, with membership consisting
of two volunteers from each standing committee
6.
Old Business
Proposed
Charge on Handling of Student Complaints: This matter had been
discussed previously [See Section 4, Standing Committees -
Issues/Proposed Charges in the
Minutes of June 3, 2016 Senate Executive
Committee Meeting.] Faculty Senator David
Hughes had written: "The union is now dealing with at least two
grievances
arising from student complaints handled poorly." Natalie Borisovets
discussed the matter with Hughes, and writes that it "...does seem to
be a legitimate area of concern. There are apparently a couple of cases
where the AAUP has had to become involved because the lack of any
recognized channels for student complaints resulted in things
escalating way beyond what would seem to be necessary." Hughes proposed
a charge "along the lines of":
Design a procedure for investigating
student complaints against instructors, beginning at the department
level, and, if necessary, escalating upwards from there.
Barbara Lee had responded previously
with additional information about how complaints are, or can be,
handled. The Executive Committee again discussed the matter, and issued
a charge to the Student Affairs Committee, as follows:
Procedures
for Handling Student Complaints Against Rutgers Personnel:
Investigate
procedures at Rutgers for handling student complaints against
University
personnel, and make recommendations regarding how such procedures
should be
best publicized and communicated, and how the rights of all parties
might be
appropriately protected. Consider also how training might improve our
response
to such complaints. Respond to Senate Executive Committee by March 17,
2017.
Draft
Report on Parliamentary Procedure - Submitted by Peter
Gillett,
Senate Parliamentarian and Chair: This matter had been discussed at the
June 2016 meeting, at which time Gillett asked for additional feedback
to be sent to him. He again asked for feedback for the November
Executive Committee meeting, stating that his intention was that the
elements of his report be added to the Senate Handbook.
Appointment
of University Commencement Panel: Appointment of a University
Commencement Panel (UCP) is codified in a policy and
report
issued by the Senate, and emanating from the University Structure
and Governance Committee. The UCP is responsible for appointing
Senators to the chancellors' commencement committees. Pursuant to the
policy and adopted procedure, volunteers for the UCP will be solicited
(by Ken Swalagin), and the Executive Committee will make appropriate
appointments to the UCP at the next Executive
Committee meeting.
7.
New Business
Appointment
of Senate Parliamentarian for Academic Year 2016-17: The
Executive Committee approved Peter Gillett's appointment of Jon Oliver
as Senate Parliamentarian for the current academic year. Oliver has
agreed to serve in this capacity.
Discussion
of Revised Acceptable Use
Policy for Information Technology
Resources: Natalie Borisovets expressed concern about the
Acceptable Use Policy for Information Technology Resource containing
reference to a particular piece of software, as well as other problems
with the revised policy. Adrienne Espositio volunteered to consult with
the IT staff who worked on revising the policy, and bring a proposed
charge to the Executive Committee at the next meeting.
8.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 4:47 p.m.
Minutes written and submitted by,
Ken Swalagin
Executive Secretary of the University Senate