RUTGERS UNIVERSITY
SENATE
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
M I N U T E S
October 31, 2014
MEMBERS PRESENT: Barraco (by phone), Boikess,
Borisovets, Burrell, Cotter (Vice Chairperson/New Brunswick
Faculty
Liaison), Dy, Gould
(Chairperson), Joshi, Langer, Oliver, Otto, Puhak, Swalagin
(Executive
Secretary), Thompson, Velan
MEMBERS ABSENT: Meggali
ALSO
ATTENDING: Barchi (University President), 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 31, 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 1:31 p.m., after the group returned from vacating
the building in response to a fire alarm. She explained that the
October Senate meeting had been canceled in order to avoid bringing the
Senate into a meeting with a slim agenda. She said the Faculty Caucus
went until 2:30 to discuss shared governance. Nam Dy said the Student
Caucus went well, and that committee activities were discussed. Jon
Oliver said that the Staff Caucus focused primarily on public safety
issues.
Gould encouraged the committee chairs to be attentive to charge
deadlines. She also said she planned to talk about honorary degrees
with President Barchi later in the meeting.
2. Secretary’s Report - Ken Swalagin,
Executive Secretary of the Senate
- Agenda: A Faculty Caucus
proposed charge on search processes for senior administrators was added
to the agenda, as was a proposed charge for the Academic
Standards, Regulations and Admissions Committee on the Academic
Integrity Policy. So amended, the meeting agenda was
approved.
- Minutes: The Minutes
of the October 10, 2014
Senate Executive Committee Meeting were approved as
distributed by the Executive Secretary.
- Communications: The
following communications were presented and acted upon as indicated:
- President
Barchi's Response to Senate Endorsement
(with contingency) of Proposal
for Union of Nursing Programs and Personnel on the Stratford Campus of
the Legacy UMDNJ School of Nursing with the Rutgers School of Nursing -
Camden and Transmittal
Letter Removing Approval Contingency. Noted.
- President
Barchi's Response to Senate Response
to Charge S-1405 on Procedures for Selecting Commencement Speakers and
Honorary Degree Recipients. Noted.
- President
Barchi's Response to Senate Preliminary
Response
to Charge S-1012A on Balance of Full-time and Part-time Faculty
Teaching. Noted.
- New
Rutgers Policy on Open Access, September 2014. Noted. Jane Otto,
Chair of the Research, and Graduate and Professional Education
Committee, and a primary proponent and author of the Senate Report on
Open Access, spoke about the success and widespread interest in
Rutgers' new policy.
- Recording of committee meetings. Swalagin said that he had been
told that some or all of the recent Budget and Finance Committee was
recorded by one of the participants. The Executive Committee discussed
the matter, with President Barchi voicing concern about the practice in
general. Citing confidentiality and other issues, the committee asked
Swalagin to inform all committee chairs that all participants in
meetings should be told that there is to be no recording of meetings
unless there are special circumstances warranting that, and then only
after all participants are told of, and agree to, the recording.
3. Administrative Liaison
University President Robert Barchi presented
an administrative report, which
included comments on:
- honorary degrees and commencement speakers, including a brief,
confidential discussion with the New Brunswick Executive Committee
members (who constitute the New Brunswick Honorary Degree Committee) on
issues relating to New Brunswick only;
- fundraising;
- effects of Rutgers' entry into the Big Ten;
- applications and admissions;
- physical master plans for all campuses;
- the new Honors College in New Brunswick, including hiring of
senior administrative and academic positions;
- upcoming posting of the position of Executive Vice President for
Academic Affairs; and
- the incorrect Targum report that the president's office would be
moving from Old Queens, and decommissioning of 12 inefficient buildings
(e.g., Records Hall and some Kilmer Campus buildings in New Brunswick),
with operations currently housed there moving into a newly acquired
building.
Barchi then responded to questions, or heard comments, on the above and
other topics that
included:
- the New
Brunswick Honors College; and
- admissions and demographic areas; and
- a PPO or HMO product being put together in-network at RBHS.
4. Standing Committees
Issues/Proposed
Charges:
Proposed
Charge to Academic Standards, Regulations and Admissions Committee
(ASRAC) on Expediting the Education of
Military Veterans at All Rutgers University Campuses, submitted
by
Senator Nambaramey Dy. Dy summarized his proposed charge, which had
been submitted as follows:
"Examine
obstacles preventing military
Veterans from expediting their education at all Rutgers campuses. If deemed appropriate, recommend policy and
process changes that would promote growth of inter-campus collaboration. Refer to Student Caucus proposal for this
charge when deliberating. Identify
issues to be further considered by the Instruction, Curricula and
Advising
Committee, if necessary. " [Follow this link to read the
rationale
submitted for this charge.]
The
charge was discussed, including the related Department of Defense Joint Services
Transcript
program. ASRAC Co-chair Martha Cotter said she would speak with Mary
Beth Daisey in Camden, and would do some other preliminary work or
investigation on the matter, after which the Executive Committee could
better consider this proposed charge. No charge was issued.
Proposed
Charge to Faculty and Personnel Affairs Committee (FPAC) on Improving
Search Processes for Senior Administrators,
submitted by Martha Cotter on behalf of the Faculty Caucus. Cotter
summarized the proposed charge, and its rationale, which had been
submitted as follows:
Proposed Charge: Improving Search
Processes for Senior Administrators: Consider the processes used in
recent searches for senior administrators on the University and campus
levels, and make recommendations for improving the search process.
Justification: Widespread unhappiness with aspects of recent searches
including lack of appropriate faculty input and the use of search firms
with possible conflicts of interest.
The charge was issued to the FPAC as submitted, with a reporting
deadline of April 2015.
Proposed
Replacement for Charge S-1310, on Proposed Changes to the Rutgers
Academic Integrity Policy,
submitted by Martha Cotter. Cotter asked that Charge S-1310 on the
Academic Integrity Policy be placed on hold, and that a new charge be
issued. Following some discussion, Charge S-1310 was dropped, and a new
charge issued as follows:
Charge
S-1412 - Reconciling Rutgers and Legacy UMDNJ
Code of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity Policy: Consider changes
to the
Rutgers Academic Integrity Policy proposed by the ad hoc committee
charged with
reconciling the Rutgers Code of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity
Policy
with the Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences document "Student
Rights,
Responsibilities, and Disciplinary Procedures." Respond to Senate
Executive Committee by March 2015.
Committee Reports:
University
Structure and
Governance Committee (USGC) Response
to Charge S-1309 on Senate Election Procedures - USGC Co-chair
Jon Oliver said the report on this
matter was not yet ready, but should be by the December deadline.
Research, and Graduate and
Professional Education Committee (RGPEC) Interim Report on Charge
S-1207 on Support for International Students - RGPEC Chair Jane
Otto said that she should be able to submit an information-only interim
report on Charge S-1207 on Support for International Students, which
could be docketed on the upcoming Senate agenda. The Executive
Committee agreed to docket that report as a for-information-only agenda
item at the upcoming Senate meeting.
5. New Business
Planned Center for Teaching
Advancement and Assessment Research (CTAAR) Conference on Academic
Integrity: Martha
Cotter said that Rutgers' CTAAR is planning a conference on academic
integrity. She suggested that the Senate should co-sponsor the
conference, and that the co-sponsorship would consist mainly of lending
the Senate name to the event. The Executive Committee agreed to that
limited co-sponsorship.
New
Brunswick Faculty Council/Senate Faculty Caucus Proposed Resolution on
Salary and Tuition:
This item had not been received in time to be added to the agenda. A
proposed Resolution on Salary and Tuition was discussed. The resolution
had been adopted in the New Brunswick Faculty Council, and had been
discussed in the Senate Faculty Caucus. Robert Boikess said that two
faculty members involved in the Faculty Caucus discussion of this
matter were to bring language making the resolution more appropriate
for the Senate, but that that had not yet been received. The resolution
was not advanced, but may be brought back to the next Executive
Committee agenda with revised language.
6. University
Senate Agenda for November 14, 2014
The agenda for the November 14, 2014
Senate meeting was discussed, and will include:
- Meeting to be held in Camden
- Bus and Lunch have been arranged
- Interim RGPEC report on Support for International Students
- Camden Campus Report - Phoebe Haddon, Camden Chancellor
- Presentation on Responsibility Center Management - Michael
Gower,
Senior Vice President for Finance
- Faculty and Student Liaison reports to be grouped by campus at
the end of the meeting
7. Old
Business
Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics
(COIA) Update: Senator
Robert Barraco, COIA Representative, summarized recent COIA activities
and communications, including a Drake Group request that a Presidential
Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics Reform be created.
8. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 3:48 p.m.
Minutes written and submitted by,
Ken Swalagin
Executive Secretary of the University Senate