MINUTES OF THE 93rd NEW BRUNSWICK FACULTY COUNCIL MEETING
May 5, 2000
Members present: Lynne Allen, Rudolph Bell, William Berz, Michael Caggiano, Theodore Chase, Jolie Cizewski, Paul Clemens, Roger Cohen, Eliane Condon, Martha Cotter, David Denhardt, Keith Diem, Charles Fay, Daniel Fishman, Martin Gliserman, Judith Grassle, Victor Greenhut, David Guston, Len Hamilton, Jeannette Haviland-Jones, Haym Hirsh, Frederick Kauffman, John Krenos, Paul Leath, Roy Licklider, Marc Manganaro, Angela O’Donnell, Oded Palmon, Antoinette Rogers Farmer, Kathleen Scott, Charles Sims, James Swenson, Ted Szatrowski, Arlene Walker-Andrews, Mike Westendorf, Barbara Zilinskas
Guests: University Vice President Joe Seneca, Dean Mary Edna Davidson, Dean Sandra Harris, Dean Louise Wilkinson, Kristine Dress (RCGA Academic Affairs), Ritu Pancholy (RCGA Academic Affairs)
1) Call to Order:
Chair Arlene Walker-Andrews called to order the 93rd meeting of the New Brunswick Faculty Council at 1:35 p.m. on Friday, May 5, 2000, in Brower Commons AB, College Avenue Campus.
2) Approval of Agenda and Acceptance of the Minutes
The Agenda for May 5, 2000 was unanimously
approved. The minutes of March 31, 2000 were accepted
unanimously.
3) Report of Chair - Arlene Walker-Andrews
Chair Walker-Andrews reported that elections to NBFC are still underway, although some have been completed. She also reported that Kathy Scott would continue as President of the Senate, that she [Dr. Walker-Andrews] and Paul Leath would be serving on the Executive Committee of the Senate, and that Paul Panayotatos would be serving as an At-Large member of the Senate in his capacity of NBFC Chair-2000-01.
The motion concerning review of administrators that was passed at the March meeting has been forwarded to the Executive Committee of the Senate.
The Chair of the Student Affairs and Athletics Committee has yet to be selected but all other committee Chair selections have been made.
University Vice President Joe Seneca has asked for the Faculty Council for nominees to serve on the Search Committee for the position of Executive Dean of Cook College and Director of the New Jersey Agricultural Experimental Station. Please send nominations to the Chair; the Executive Cabinet will forward these to Dr. Seneca.
4) Report of the University Vice President of Academic Affairs - Joseph Seneca
Dr. Seneca reported that Rutgers University
has received the full state appropriation of Performance Based
Funding in the amount of $2.8 million. He stressed that Rutgers
is one of only 6 institutions state-wide that received 100% of
the amount possible and that there were appropriations [those
based on performance] as low as 35% for some institution(s).
The new Dean of Mason Gross School of the Arts will be Dr. George
Stauffer. Dr. Stauffer is currently the Chair of the Music
Department and a member of the graduate faculty of City
University. Dr. Seneca recognized the outstanding contributions
of the retiring Dean Marilyn Somville. Dr. Stauffer will begin
his service on August 1.
Dr. Richard Falk from the department of Mathematics has been
appointed the Acting Dean of FAS and of the Graduate School.
Vice President Seneca extended his congratulations of behalf of
the University to a number of faculty achievers. The faculty of
SCILS was rated 4th out of 15 in national ranking of
programs. The GSE is one of 4 finalists for a major NSF award for
learning and teaching; there were 136 letters of intent and 52
applications. Additionally, a number of individual faculty will
be receiving University awards recognizing their scholarship.
Nationally, Rutgers received 4 Guggenheim Awards. Dr. Seneca also
commented on the favorable coverage of the Edward J. Bloustein
School in the New York Times.
A member commented that he understood that transfer student
criteria were factored into the performance criteria in the
allocation procedure and asked Dr. Seneca for clarification. Dr.
Seneca replied that RU is measured on the extent to which it
meets transfer agreements made throughout the state.
5) Preliminary report of the Physical Plant and Services Committee—Martin Gliserman, Chair
Dr. Gliserman pointed out that this a very preliminary report. The Committee was charged with investigating the parking and classroom situation on the NB campus. The recommendation from the Committee was that the NBFC create a liaison between the Faculty Council and committees already in place that are investigating the parking issue. Work has been done on this issue by other university bodies resulting in reports, such as Parking and Transportation Committee of 1999 and Comprehensive Study of the NB Campuses in 1999. Information obtained from such committees and reports indicates that the problem is a daunting one. For example, while there are 19,000 parking spaces, 33,000 faculty/staff permits were issued. Although the number of classrooms seems to be a more workable (350 units) situation, each classroom has connected to it a host of issues from painting to overhead lighting to teaching resources such as overhead projectors. The Committee suggests that participating and cooperation with the committees that are already in place to address these issues is the desired course of action.
6) Report of the Undergraduate Education, Teaching Subcommittee –Angela O'Donnell, Chair
This report sought to address faculty concerns about Winter Session and the quality of its courses. An extensive evaluation of the first Winter Session at RU was completed by the Office of Continuous Education and Outreach (Dr. Caprio's office). This entailed the standard student evaluations, plus comments from most of the instructors who taught Winter Session courses and focus groups that examined the issues. Students tended to rate the courses high (4+ on a 5-point scale) on the usual evaluation questions and rated the courses about 3.7 (out of 5) on the questions added by the Teaching Committee (whether the student would take a Winter Session course again, how many hours were spent studying every day). Instructors and focus groups provided useful feedback regarding Winter Sessions. Students appeared to be highly motivated.
Based on these evaluations, Dr. Caprio has recommended that the Winter Session continue for 2 more years as a pilot program. Additionally, he suggested a move toward 1- or 2-credit courses rather than 3-credit courses. The 1- or 2-credit courses should be those that are particularly suited to such a condensed but intensive presentation. Additionally, there is the suggestion that course access be limited to exclude freshmen and students in poor academic standing. The Committee recommends that the NBFC support the recommendations of Dr. Caprio.
A discussion of whether all courses are suited for Winter Session ensued when a member asked whether the issue of course feasibility for this format had been addressed. Is this a different experience than that which occurs in the regular-semester class? Dr. Manganaro was asked to comment as a member of the Educational Policy and Planning Committee of the University Senate. He indicated that the Senate committee had come to similar conclusions [as the Teaching Subcommittee] concerning the desirability of continuing the Winter Session and also was concerned about similar issues, such as whether a 3-credit course can be taught successfully during this time frame. A member commented that fewer hours are devoted to class time during Winter Session. Another brought up the issue of curricula review which prompted another member to comment that courses offered should be those that require a high degree of involvement and are well suited to a singular focus. The question of whether there is time to subject proposed courses to curricula review brought the answer that there was not, at least for the 2001 Winter Session.
It was noted that many students performed well. 36% earned As; 40%, Bs. The students as a group may have been highly selective and highly motivated. Some faculty noted that courses in their departments were very successful because of the singular focus of the students.
A specific question that emerged concerned the comfort level of departments in accepting Winter Session courses as prerequisites for more advanced courses. A related question concerned whether such courses would be acceptable towards fulfillment of major requirements. The point was raised that it will become increasingly difficult to determine whether courses presented for transfer from other universities were offered as a traditional classroom course, in an abbreviated session, or as an asynchronous learning course.
7) Report of the Graduate and Professional Policy Committee --Paul Clemens, Chair
This preliminary report was a response to the TA training report presented to the Council by student Senators, Avram Fechter and Deborah Sands, at the November 1999 meeting. Dr. Clemens focused on three issues: TA resources, TA training, and English-as-a-second language. He noted that RU needs a comprehensive plan to increase the number of TAs and suggested adding 20 TAs per year (cost: $ ¼ million per year) for 5 – 10 years. He suggested that departments, after deciding what the needs are, appoint someone responsible for TA training, even amending their by-laws to accomplish this. An ongoing training program should commence before the TA goes into the classroom. Many of the issues regarding international TAs involve mis- and non-communication; he thought that involving ESL people in TA training would be advisable. The related issues regarding PTLs are also a bit different since it is more difficult to define a PTL.
A member asked about using the TAP program to address some of these issues. The problem is that the program is set up to respond to requests for assistance and may not have the resources to deal with all of the issues. Other members turned the topic back to the suggested increase in the number of TAs. One noted that the number given does not bring RU up to the numbers of TAs at other AAU institutions. However, the issue is one of numbers vs. dollars. A possible solution offered was that a "partial" TA position be created that would not include tuition remission but would include benefits. TA support may be contingent on whether the student has completed his/her coursework, at least in some departments. Another possibility involves the use of undergraduates as TAs. A number of members pointed out that some departments already do this. For example, the math department uses highly qualified seniors as recitation instructors and this has been very successful. In effect, the LRCs also do this by offering tutoring by undergraduates. A member pointed out that many graduate students coming into RU programs have had TA experiences at their undergraduate institutions. Someone suggested that a possible solution to the money issue would be to offer undergraduates the opportunity to act as a TA for course credit instead of monetary compensation.
8) Report of the President's Faculty Advisory Committee--Roy Licklider, Marc Manganaro, Angela O'Donnell
Dr. Licklider indicated that an issue that has emerged recently concerns the Public Access of Information Act being discussed in the Legislature. This act would make virtually any information emanating from a public institution available to anyone who wished to view it, including everything from research notes to information compiled by the University for use in fund raising campaigns. The media is aggressively pushing this bill: its aim is really at municipalities who are perceived to be conducting business behind closed doors. However, it presents real problems. In states that have forms of this act (Florida and North Carolina) research has been made more difficult. One member offered that "disastrous" would be a more appropriate view. Another member suggested that a way around the access issue would be to clearly define just what a "record" is; this could be defined to exclude protected data that, for example, had been collected under confidentiality or had not yet been published.
Dr. Licklider also indicated the RU copyright policy is under revision and that the faculty should stay informed. Information is available at http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/rr_gateway/research_guides/copyright/copyright.shtml
A link to this site is available on the NBFC homepage.
A third topic that emerged was the AAU Graduate Education Report. This underscores the need for information on graduate students and their progress. RU will initiate a study to explore this issue.
9) Report from the Committee to Examine Faculty and Administrative Relations-2 (CEFAR-2) --Dan Fishman, Chair
Dr. Fishman indicated that a full report that will include focus group work, conclusions and themes, and recommendations and specific resolutions would be presented in the fall. It is likely to recommend an external review of the LRCs and the creation of a RU-NB task force on academic support composed of 2 subcommittees, one focusing on the short term (use of LRCs) and the other on an in-depth look at academic support services at RU.
He reported that the focus groups were meaningful and produced a range of opinions. This led to the realization that perceptions concerning the LRCs do not divide along faculty/administrative lines, that this a complex process, and that this is a good opportunity for RU to make major contributions to the area of academic support. The task will be to find the middle ground; different departments have very different requirements. It was also noted that given the different department structures and pedagogical traditions of a discipline, there may be less compatibility between some departments and the offerings of the LRCs.
A member suggested expanding the external review to include other types academic support as well. It was noted that the LRCs were created to serve the typical student while other groups offering academic support focus on particular groups of students. On the other hand, as another member noted, units often overlap; inclusion of other groups in an external review may be advantageous. The response was that the Task Force would look at all academic support but that the external review would center on LRCs. Many of the other academic support mechanisms/groups are reviewed in the context of a department or other external evaluation.
10) Other Business
Dr. Walker-Andrews discussed NBFC internal elections, explaining the nomination procedure for the Executive Cabinet and President's Faculty Advisory Committee positions. Members are asked to email nominations to her until May 12. The ballot for NBFC internal elections will be mailed to members via campus mail.
11) Adjournment
There was a motion to adjourn and the 93rd NBFC meeting was adjourned at 3:45 p.m.