RUTGERS UNIVERSITY
SENATE
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
M I N U T E S
October 10, 2014
MEMBERS PRESENT: Barraco (by phone), Boikess,
Borisovets, Burrell (by phone), Cotter (Vice Chairperson/New Brunswick
Faculty
Liaison), Dy, Gould
(Chairperson), Oliver, Puhak, Swalagin
(Executive
Secretary), Thompson, Velan
MEMBERS EXCUSED: Joshi,
Langer, Otto
MEMBERS ABSENT: Meggali,
ALSO
ATTENDING: Rabinowitz (Representative to the Board of
Governors), Spiegel (Representative to the Board of Trustees)
The regular meeting of the University Senate Executive Committee was
held on
Friday, October 10, 2014 at 1:10 p.m. in the Executive Board Room of
Administrative Services Building-III, Cook Campus.
1. Chairperson’s Report
Senate and Executive Committee Chairperson Ann Gould called the
meeting to order at 1:14 p.m. She spoke about that morning's meeting of
the newly formed New Brunswick/RBHS Honorary Degrees Committee, at
which its
members worked on short notice to review and vet nominations for
honorary degrees for the upcoming two years, and created a ranked list
of candidates for honorary degrees, which will be sent to the Board of
Governors.
Gould then reported on the Committee
on Institutional Cooperation's Faculty Governance Conference, which
she had attended two weeks earlier. She said the overarching themes of
the conference were academic freedom, communication with constituents
and between leadership. Also addressed at the conference were issues
such as whether staff should be members of a senate, sexual assault and
hazing on campus, professional development and leadership training,
evaluation of administrators, and use of part-time lecturers. She also
reported on the University
Innovation Alliance, which is a group of 11 higher-education
institutions looking to identify best practices. The Executive
Committee discussed the conference and related issues.
2. Secretary’s Report - Ken Swalagin,
Executive Secretary of the Senate
3. Administrative Liaison
No administrative liaison was available to present an administrative
report, but the committee expressed disappointment and concern about
not having this administrative exchange, and stressed the importance of
having an administrative report at each Executive Committee meeting.
Gould said that, when she and Vice Chair Martha Cotter meet with
President Barchi, they will convey those concerns.
4. Standing Committees
Revised Charge to Budget and Finance
Committee (BFC) on Athletics Department Funding - BFC Chair
Menahem Spiegel proposed, and the Executive Committee approved,
revising his committee's Charge S-1408 on Athletics Funding as follows:
Athletics
Funding: Study the sources and
the use of funds by the Athletic Department and make recommendations
concerning
the use of funds from the University operating budget and student fees
to
support athletics expenditures. When discussing this charge, the Budget
and
Finance Committee may wish to ask the Student Affairs Committee for
input
relative to student funding of athletics. It may also want to consider
the
recent New Brunswick Faculty Council’s detailed report entitled
the ”Athletics
Program's Revenues, Expenditures, and Deficit.” Respond to Senate
Executive
Committee by February 2015.
Committee Reports - No
committee reports or proposed new charges were submitted for this
Executive Committee meeting.
5.
Agenda for October 24, 2014 Senate Meeting
The agenda for the October 24, 2014 Senate meeting was discussed. Gould
suggested that liaison reports be grouped by campus at the end of all
Senate agendas. The Executive Committee agreed that Senate practice
would now be to docket board reports, then do faculty and student
liaison reports by campus instead of the past practice of calling first
for campus faculty liaison reports from all campuses, then moving to
campus student liaison reports.
Noting the lack of action items for the Senate meeting, the Executive
Committee discussed possible options to round out the agenda. Gould
will present a report on the CIC conference, and will also contact
Michael Gower and ask him to present a report on responsibility center
management.
[Note: Subsequently, after confirming that there would be no
administrative, committee, or special reports available for the October
24 Senate agenda, the Senate meeting was canceled. Committee meetings
and caucuses were held as usual.]
6. Old
Business
Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics
(COIA) Update - Robert Barraco, Rutgers and Senate COIA
Representative, reported on current COIA issues, particularly those
relating to problems with the NCAA
and recent revisions to NCAA rules, and reform efforts.
Barraco will write to President Barchi to ask for his stance on this
matter.
"Continued
Discussion of Managed
Online Programs Agreement between Rutgers University and eCollege.com
[See also Executive Committee Minutes of November 2013, March 2014, and September 2014.]
Instruction, Curricula and Advising Committee (ICAC) Chair Natalie
Borisovets summarized ICAC and Senate prior discussions on managed
online programs agreements. At the previous Executive Committee
meeting, Borisovets had offered to draft a charge to her committee on
the issue. The draft charge she presented was discussed, and
suggestions were made for modifications. Borisovets will redraft the
charge and forward it to Swalagin. The draft charge discussed at this
meeting was:
Using
the most
recent Pearson contract as a case in point, review the process by which
large
contracts that have the potential to seriously affect curricular or
academic
areas of the University are awarded. How are bids for such contracts
narrowed,
and by what criteria are choices made? How much diversity is there in
the kinds
of components included in the various platforms for which there have
been bids?
How do we ensure that pedagogical priorities and faculty preferences
and
control are included in the consideration of such packages?
Committee
on the Near- and Long-Term Impact of Instructional Technology, and Committee
on the Future Academic Structure of the University: Swalagin had
sent an email to both committees'
co-chairs asking if interim reports are available, or, if not, when
those reports may be available for the EC to review.
7. New Business
There was no new business.
8. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 2:47 p.m.
Minutes written and submitted by,
Ken Swalagin
Executive Secretary of the University Senate