Meeting Minutes #162

Members Present: R. Boikess, R. Bumby, B. Callaway, M. Cotter, J. Crowley, H. Davidson, P. Findley, D. Fishman, M. Flahive DiNardo, N. Glickman, M. Gliserman, S. Harrington, C. Jager, H. Janes, T. Jiang, R. Kubey, R. Larrier, P. Leath, K. McKeever, R. Marker, J. Miller, A. Norris, A. Peterson, J. Rubin, H. Sackrowitz, A. St.John, R. Schuler, J. Shapiro, T. Szatrowski, P. Takhistov, K. Thompson, R. Wilson

Non-Members Present: P. Furmanski, J. LaRue, K. Swalagin (Recording Secretary)

1. Call to Order and Report of the Chair - Martin Gliserman

Council Chairperson Martin Gliserman called the 162nd meeting of the New Brunswick Faculty Council (NBFC) to order at 1:25 p.m. in the Cook Campus Center, Room 202, Cook Campus. There was no Chairperson’s Report.

2. Administrative Report - Philip Furmanski, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Philip Furmanski presented the administrative report, which included comments on:

Middle States reaccreditation process, the results of which will be official in June:

  • exit interviews conducted with the Middle States site visit team which indicate that they were very satisfied with Rutgers and the involvement of the Rutgers community relative to reaccreditation and the self-study report;
  • preliminary indications that Middle States has no requirements or recommendations for changes at Rutgers, and just nine suggestions, most of which Rutgers had already made for itself; and
  • his thanks to all who participated in the reaccreditation process.

Ethics, and related state and Rutgers regulations and policies:

  • update on developments in promulgation of new ethics regulations to apply to all state employees;
  • Rutgers’ efforts to work with the state to prevent unintended, negative consequences some of the proposed policies would cause for people engaged in scholarly activity; and
  • three components to be implemented at Rutgers soon, which are a "plain language" guide to ethics and ethical behavior, ethics training (probably web-based), and documentation of conflicts of interest.

Rutgers and the New Jersey State budget:

  • New Jersey’s financial support of higher education, which ranks at the bottom of the nation;
  • tuition differential for out-of-state students penalized by the state so that it decreases Rutgers’ budget;
  • contractual salary increases of $38.5 million;
  • failure to restore funding for the outstanding scholars program;
  • budgetary elements which exacerbate the 3.5 percent bottom-line budget decrease, such as debt service, insurance, salary increases, etc., which yield a $45 million shortfall;
  • potential state-imposed tuition caps;
  • Rutgers’ efforts to counter the budget cuts, including Furmanski’s reconvening of the budget advisory group convened two years ago, with many of the same people, groups and constituencies; and
  • tuition revenues.

Furmanski responded to questions, and heard comments, on subjects which included:

On reaccreditation:

  • gratitude for the work of Furmanski and his organization which contributed to the success of the reaccreditation;
  • the "assessment" component of the reaccreditation and self-study;
  • global reach initiatives; and
  • the structure and individuals in Rutgers’ own reaccreditation team.

On ethics:

  • logistics, and requirements for signing conflict-of-interest forms;
  • Furmanski’s own role as Rutgers’ ethics liaison officer;
  • provisions regarding faculty who use textbooks they have authored in their own courses;
  • a planned, broad campaign to inform the Rutgers community about the ethics-regulations issue;
  • oversight by the state ethics commission;
  • similarities for what is already being done online for IRB;
  • implications for activities during time other than when actively working for Rutgers, including summer;
  • outside consulting;
  • how and where to get help in determining if one has a problematic situation related to these ethics regulations; and
  • potential audits.

3. Approval of the Agenda and Minutes

The day’s agenda, and the Minutes of the February 15, 2008 New Brunswick Faculty Council meeting, were approved. Chairperson Gliserman noted that he would needed to leave the meeting at 3:15, so some of the agenda items may not be heard before the meeting adjourned.

4. Proposed Addition to the University Policy Library Recognizing the New Brunswick Faculty Council

Robert Wilson summarized and moved a revised, proposed addition to the University Policy Library recognizing and codifying the role of the New Brunswick Faculty Council. There was no discussion, and the resolution was adopted unanimously by the NBFC, as follows:

Proposed addition to the University Regulations (Rutgers University Policy Library)

Draft of revised proposal – 3/14/08

Section __._ New Brunswick Faculty Council

__._.1 New Brunswick Faculty Council Membership, Organization and Procedures

A. Faculty eligible to participate in Council elections and to serve as voting Council delegates (such faculty are henceforth referred to in this document as "faculty members") shall include all full-time tenured , tenure-track and clinical faculty who are appointed on faculty lines in faculties, schools, or libraries based in New Brunswick/Piscataway. It shall also include faculty members in dual-campus faculties whose principal offices are in New Brunswick/Piscataway. In addition, annual and part-time faculty shall elect two representatives to the Council.

B. Delegates to the New Brunswick Faculty Council shall be elected by appropriate disciplinary units within the schools, libraries and independent research institutes of Rutgers University in New Brunswick/Piscataway as well as annual and part-time faculty in the manner described in the Bylaws of the New Brunswick Faculty Council. These Bylaws shall be submitted to the Board of Governors for approval and, in the event the Bylaws are amended, shall be submitted for approval of the amended version

__._.2 Duties and Powers of the New Brunswick Faculty Council

A. The New Brunswick Faculty Council (NBFC) shall concern itself with all matters pertaining to the educational, scholarly and service missions of the University in New Brunswick/Piscataway. In particular, the NBFC shall study and make recommendations concerning academic policies and procedures established by the various units at New Brunswick/Piscataway and on relevant University-wide matters impacting the New Brunswick/Piscataway campus. The NBFC shall, in addition, have such other powers as the Board of Governors may delegate to it.

B. The NBFC may provide advice to the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs on matters of broad educational and research policy, which matters include but are not limited to: (a) budget priorities and allocations and general planning; (b) the establishment or dissolution of units of the University at New Brunswick/Piscataway; (c) special affiliations and programs; (d) regulations affecting students and faculty, such as those concerning academic freedom, equal opportunities, and personnel practices and procedures.

C. The Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs or an appropriate representative shall regularly inform the New Brunswick Faculty Council and/or its Executive Committee of current and contemplated actions concerning the areas described above.

5. SAS Curriculum Report and Motions

Paul Leath and Harriet Davidson spoke about the School of Arts and Sciences-New Brunswick core curriculum. [Comprehensive information about the status of the SAS-NB core curriculum is available on the Ad Hoc Core Curriculum Committee’s website at http://sas.rutgers.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=608&Itemid=27.]

Following considerable discussion of various aspects of the curriculum development, including specific elements, timing, assessment, and the need for careful consideration of the eventual outcome, the NBFC adopted Colin Jaeger’s motion to delay the voting on the proposed core curriculum to no sooner than Fall 2008, as follows:

Be It Resolved, that the vote on the proposed SAS-NB core curriculum be delayed until academic year 2008-09, so that the committee has sufficient time to produce a document that clearly articulates the components of the core, the learning goals for the core, and the assessment principles that will guide the process of selecting courses for inclusion in the core.

Jaeger gave the following as justification and support for his motion: "This motion is offered in support of the project of creating a core curriculum that has clearly defined learning goals and that conforms to the requirement that assessment occupy a clear place in the undergraduate learning experience. The request for additional time is intended to provide the faculty with a document that can be supported with enthusiasm. The current document is not in shape for review or approval; with the vote barely a month off, the most likely outcome is rejection and a setback. This motion evidences support of the project and charges the committee to continue."

6. Comments by Jeannine LaRue, Rutgers’ Vice President for Public Affairs

Jeannine LaRue, newly appointed Vice President for Public Affairs at Rutgers, spoke to the council on her background, contacts, experience, issues on which she is working currently (state budgetary support for Rutgers, transfer of credits from community colleges, and the State Commission of Investigations report and a state department of higher education), and how faculty and she can best interact and communicate. She believes it should take "about four or five years to build public relations for this great university." LaRue has offices on Rutgers’ Camden, Newark, and New Brunswick campuses. She invited all faculty to let her know how, and with whom, they need to connect regarding public affairs. LaRue also responded to questions regarding progress on, and the governor’s response to, the stadium-expansion plans, and on the possibility of future public relations efforts with the AAUP-AFT. LaRue suggested that anyone wishing to contact her should consult the Rutgers online directory.

7. Old Business

There was no old business.

8. New Business

There was no new business.

9. Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 3:23 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Ken Swalagin, Recording Secretary