RUTGERS UNIVERSITY
SENATE
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
M I N U T E S
October 30, 2015
MEMBERS PRESENT: Barraco (by phone), Borisovets, Cotter,
Gillett,
Gould (Chair), Janniger (by phone), Oliver, Otto,
Puhak, Schulberg, Swalagin (Executive Secretary), Theiss, Thompson, Wang
MEMBERS
EXCUSED: Langer, Mhaske
ALSO
ATTENDING: R. Barchi (University President) (by phone), B. Lee
(Senior V.P. for Academic Affairs), S.
Rabinowitz
(Faculty Representative to the Board of
Governors), A. Samant (Faculty Representative to the Board of
Trustees)
The regular meeting of the University Senate Executive Committee was
held on
Friday, October 30, 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 Chair Ann Gould called the
meeting to order at 1:13 p.m. She gave a brief update on that morning's
meeting of the Ad Hoc Web Accessibility Committee (AHWAC) with
Christian Aziz (Manager of Information Technology) and Gayle Stein
(Associate Director for Instructional Technology) of the OIT-Office of
Instructional and Research Technology, during which a list of concerns
about the Web
Accessibility Policy were given to Aziz and Stein, who will take
those concerns to colleagues and counsel. She said the AHWAC had also
recommended that the upcoming Senate agenda should include a
presentation on the policy by Stein and others, followed by a
committee-of-the-whole discussion, and that the AHWAC would draft a
resolution on the policy to go before the Senate in December. She also
said that the NB/RBHS Honorary Degree Committee had met in October. She
then summarized the confidential rankings of the
honorary-degree-recipient and commencement-speaker nominees.
[Yuchung Wang joined the meeting at 1:16 p.m. Robert Barraco joined the
meeting by phone at 1:17 p.m.]
2.
Secretary’s Report -
Ken Swalagin, Executive Secretary of the Senate
[Justin
Schulberg joined the meeting at 1:19 p.m.]
3.
Administrative Report -
Robert Barchi, University President, and Barbara Lee, Senior Vice
President for Academic Affairs
University President Robert Barchi joined the meeting by phone, and
presented an Administrative Report, which included comments on:
- changes in
the University's administrative structure, on which he will bring a
formal description after January 1, 2016;
- Bruce
Fehn's upcoming retirement, and Don Smith's return to the faculty;
- appointment
of Michele Norin as Senior Vice President and Chief Information
Officer, effective December 1, 2015;
- ongoing
searches for Rutgers General Counsel, and for Senior Vice President and
Chief Enterprise Risk, Ethics and Compliance Officer;
- recent
distributed denial of services attacks;
- Rutgers'
250th anniversary celebration, which begins November 10;
- budgetary
efficiencies resulting from the merger of the Camden and Newark law
schools; and
- plans to
move administrative systems to the cloud.
Senior Vice
President for Academic Affairs Barbara Lee continued the Administrative
Report, commenting on:
- planned
academic symposia, including an April 2016 symposium on the research
university, and an October 2016 symposium on humanities, as well as
others being planned for the 250th anniversary;
- ongoing
searches for Vice President for International and Global Affairs, and
for Rutgers University Press director; and
- ORCID
implementation.
4. Standing
Committees
Reports:
University
Structure and Governance Committee (USGC) Response
to Charge S-1410 on Honorary Degree and Commencement Speaker Selection
Processes [Link goes to report as
amended by the USGC and Senate at the November 13, 2015 Senate meeting.
]
– Jon Oliver and Robert Puhak, USGC Co-chairs
This
report had been discussed at several previous Executive Committee
meetings. Extensive discussion continued at this meeting, with the
Executive Committee deciding to hold a special meeting to review and
edit the document, after which it would be revised and docketed for
initial Senate action at the November 13, 2015 Senate meeting. The
portion of the report's resolution amending the Senate's bylaws by
adding the standing charge of a USGC-recommended standing panel would
be introduced at the upcoming Senate meeting, and be docketed for
action at the December 2015 Senate meeting.
[Barbara
Lee left the meeting at 2:03 p.m. Asha Samant left the meeting at 2:17
p.m.]
Issues/Charges:
Proposed
Charge to Research, and Graduate and Professional Education Committee
(RGPEC) on Responsible Conduct of Research
- Submitted
by Anthony Tamburello, RGPEC Chair
Jane Otto, a member of
the Research, and Graduate and Professional Education Committee,
summarized the proposed charge on Responsible Conduct of Research that
had been submitted by RGPEC Chair Anthony Tamburello. The Executive
Committee then issued the charge to the RGPEC, as follows:
Responsible
Conduct of Research: Investigate
and make recommendations on establishment and implementation of
a universitywide policy on training and oversight in the responsible
conduct
of research (RCR) at Rutgers. Where appropriate, make specific
recommendations for different training tracks, e.g. NSF- and NIH-
compliant
programs. Identify gaps in current resources, the intended recipients
of RCR
training (e.g. graduate students, undergraduate researchers, postdocs,
faculty,
etc.), the expected costs (if known) and benefits of implementing
recommendations, and the unit(s) responsible for implementing and
tracking
compliance. Report to Senate Executive Committee by December 2016.
Proposed Charge to Academic Standards,
Regulations and Admissions Committee (ASRAC) on Default 16-Year
Academic Calendar - Submitted by Ken Swalagin, Executive
Secretary of the Senate
Ken Swalagin summarized the charge he
had proposed on a default 16-year academic calendar that had been
drafted by Mary Mickelsen, the Senate's administrative assistant. The
charge was issued as follows:
Default 16-Year Academic Calendar:
Review the 16-year default academic calendar drafted by Mary Mickelsen.
Make revisions as needed. Report to Senate Executive Committee by
February 2016.
Proposed Charge to Instruction, Curricula and Advising Committee (ICAC)
on Online Teaching Evaluations, and Best Practices in Evaluation of
Teaching -
Submitted by Natalie Borisovets, ICAC Chair
ICAC
Chair Natalie Borisovets had submitted charge language on online
teaching evaluations, as requested by the Executive Committee. The
charge was discussed, amended to include soliciting input on personnel
ramifications related to the issue from the Faculty and Personnel
Affairs Committee, and issued as follows:
Online
Teaching Evaluations, and Best Practices in Evaluation of Teaching
2015: Revisit the March
2012 Instruction, Curricula and Advising Committee report on Charge
S-1104, on Online Teaching Evaluations, and Best Practices in
Evaluation of Teaching. Consider questions such as: Have there been
changes in the completion rates and use of the Student Instructional
Rating Surveys (SIRS)? How can we make students more aware that the
results of the SIRS are available to them? Are the questions on the
SIRS still valid, or do they need to be modified in light of changes in
educational technologies? To what extent should the SIRS results be
used in the evaluation of teaching and the promotion/tenure process?
Are other Big-10 schools using such surveys, and to what purpose?
Solicit input on personnel ramifications from the Senate's Faculty and
Personnel Affairs Committee. Respond to Senate Executive Committee by
February 5, 2016.
[Note:
Ken Swalagin later drafted and issued a charge to the Faculty and
Personnel Affairs Committee (FPAC) regarding its input to the ICAC on
this charge, as requested by FPAC Co-chair Ann Gould, as follows:
Personnel Considerations Related to Online Teaching Evaluations, and
Best Practices in Evaluation of Teaching: Provide input to the
Instruction, Curricula and Advising Committee (ICAC) regarding
personnel considerations and ramifications related to their
deliberations on Charge S-1510 on Online Teaching Evaluations, and Best
Practices in Evaluation of Teaching 2015. Noting the ICAC's reporting
deadline of February 5, 2016, coordinate directly with the ICAC chair
regarding deadlines and issues.]
Charge Deadline Extension - At
the request of the Research,
and Graduate and Professional Education Committee (RGPEC), the
deadline on Charge S-1505 was extended to February 1, 2016.
On Campbell Field, Camden -
Submitted by Brandon Theiss, Camden Student Member of the Executive
Committee
Brandon
Theiss had submitted the following issue for consideration: “The
Camden Riversharks, an unaffiliated minor league
baseball team, that played for the past 15 years in the $25 Million
Dollar
Campbell Field have ceased operations. Rutgers is the titleholder of
the
6,700-seat waterfront ballpark. Prior to folding, the Riversharks had
been
responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the stadium. Who will pay
for the
upkeep of the stadium while the Camden County Improvement Authority
attempts to
find a new tenant? What say if any will Rutgers have in the selection
of a new tenant?
In the event that a new tenant can not be found (which is quite likely
given
the Phillies must approve the new tenant), will the Rutgers Scarlet
Raptors
Athletics teams be forced to relocate?” The issue was discussed
briefly, with President Barchi suggesting that Tony Calcado could
provide facts clarifying the matter, but no action was taken by the
Executive Committee.
5.
University Senate Agenda
The
agenda for the November 13, 2015 Senate meeting was discussed at this
point as well as later in the meeting. Items were docketed as listed on
the Senate agenda.
Future Senate Agenda actions by the Executive Committee will be
docketed after Old Business.
6.
Old Business
Senate Faculty Membership Entitlements by
Unit: Determination
of which numbers of faculty lines should be
used for Senate entitlement calculations had been discussed at previous
Executive Committee meetings. Ken Swalagin had said that numbers
received in the past from the
administration have included only state-funded lines, and did include
TA and GA lines, and that RBHS and possibly
other
units include many faculty not on state
lines.
In the interim, Swalagin had received total numbers of faculty in each
unit, and had recalculated all Senate entitlements based on those
numbers. He said that the recalculation yielded very little change, but
that the total number of Senators had increased from 242 to 250.
Swalagin was asked to do additional research on University Policies 50.2.1
and 60.5.2
A and B, as well as the Senate Response
to Charge S-1307 on Senate and Executive Committee Eligibility
(with Appendix
A and Appendix
B), and bring the matter back to the Executive Committee.
Resolutions of
Support of PTL Negotiations - Karen Thompson
submitted related resolutions in support of PTL negotiations
adopted by the New
Brunswick Faculty Council, and by the Camden
Faculty Council, as well as one presented to the Executive
Council of Rutgers AAUP-AFT on September 9, 2015. She asked for
these or a similar resolution to be placed on the upcoming Senate
agenda. Following discussion, Thompson was asked to draft a resolution
on the issue from the Executive Committee that could be circulated by
email, edited, and docketed for action at the upcoming Senate meeting.
[Note: That Resolution in Support of Part-Time
Lecturers was presented by Brandon Theiss on behalf of the
Executive Committee, and adopted by unanimous consent by the Senate at
its November 13, 2015 meeting.]
Follow-Up
on Law Schools Merger - Brandon
Theiss had submitted an issue for discussion, as follows:
"Dr.
Barchi in his address to the Senate on several occasions
stated that the combined law schools will generate administrative
cost
savings. However, both Camden Law Campus
acting Dean Oberdiek and Newark Law Campus Dean
Chen, when questioned were unaware of the
administrative cost savings the President was referring to and did not
know
where such savings could be realized. In fact, Acting Dean Oberdiek
suggested
that there was an increase in administrative costs associated with the
merger.
Further, both Deans emphasized there was not a planned reduction in
faculty or
staff as a result of the merger. In addition, the cost of operating the
physical buildings will increase over time and in fact the immersive
classroom (aka
the "holodeck") will not be
paid off for several year. If the campus Deans are unaware of the
sources of
the savings and are not labor and facilities,
where will the savings come from and how will we know if the savings
actually
occurs?" This matter was discussed briefly at the previous EC meetings,
at which time Gould noted that status
reports on Senate-approved mergers need to be scheduled.
Law Deans Chen and Oberdiek will be invited to an upcoming Executive
Committee meeting to present a merger update.
Proposal
on "Senate Transparency" - This issue, submitted by Justin
Schulberg, had been discussed at previous meetings. It was discussed
briefly again at this meeting, and Ken Swalagin was asked to do further
research with RUTV to determine if it would be possible to have Senate
meetings webcast.
[Martha Cotter left the meeting at 4:13 p.m.]
University Policy Revision Process:
At its September meeting, the EC approved a motion to invite Kim
Pastva, Interim Secretary of the University, to attend an EC meeting to
discuss how University Policies are revised and disseminated. At this
meeting it was decided that Ms. Pastva would be invited to the January
2016 meeting, and that Law Deans Chen and Oberdiek would be invited to
the December 2015 meeting to provide an update on the law schools'
merger.
[Robert Barraco left the meeting (teleconference) at 4:31 p.m.]
7.
New Business
There was no new business.
8.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 4:42 p.m.
Minutes written and submitted by,
Ken Swalagin
Executive Secretary of the University Senate