Meeting Minutes # 174
Members Present: Boikess, Clarke, Cooper, Cotter, Crowley, Gerhard, Janes, Jiang, Larrier, Li, McKeever, Markert,Nepomnyaschy, Panayotatos, Reed, Rodenburg, Sackrowitz, St. John, Schneider, Schurman, Schwarzschild, Shapiro, Szatrowski, Thompson, Weber, Werlen, Wiggins, Wilson, Windsor, Yang, Zervigon
1. Call to Order - Robert Wilson, NBFC Chairperson
Council Chairperson Robert Wilson called the 174th meeting of the New Brunswick Faculty Council (NBFC) to order at 1:13 p.m. on Friday, February 5, 2010 in Trayes Hall in the Douglass Student Center.
2. Approval of Agenda and Minutes
The current meeting agenda was approved, and the Minutes of the November 20, 2009 meeting were approved.
3. Administrative Report - Philip furmanski,Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
Dr. Fumanski reported on the status of the University. He noted that the budget situation is dire. Recisions may be necessary for the current fiscal year, and next year there is a 20-30% shortfall in the state budget that will have to be closed. The new governor, Chris Christie, appears to recognize the need for training and education in this difficult economic climate. On the bright side, Rutgers is doing very well in research support. The dollar value of all funded grants is up by about 25% from last year. Dr. Furmanski noted that Rutgers brings in more research dollars than all other NJ colleges combined. He also highlighted the new Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health as a major initiative that is going forward despite the budget issues. Dr. Peter Gillies was recently hired to direct this institute.
Dr. Furmanski then addressed questions from the council. He was asked about the progress that has been made toward getting the state to give back the money it collects as a "tax" on out of state students. Dr. Furmanski stated that the state government is going to give back 100% of this tax this year. The statute allowing the state to collect this tax is still in force, NJ is just choosing not to exercise it.
Dr. Furmanski was asked whether the numbers he had cited about grants received by Rutgers included grants received by UMDNJ. He replied that those numbers did not include UMDNJ.
Next, Dr. Furmanski was asked about how the transfer of the Rutgers Camden Medical School to Rowan University will affect Rutgers. He noted that the answer to this question was extremely complex.
However, Rutgers New Brunswick still hopes to be able to combine with UMDNJ someday. When asked whether Governor Christie was in favor of such a merger, Dr. Furmanski replied that Governor Christie seems to like the idea, but the obstacles, including cost, still remain.
Dr. Fumanski was then asked about the possibility of offering Associate's Degrees. It was noted that Rutgers used to do this. Many of these programs were unique, could not be offered by area community colleges, and were necessary for job training. He replied that Rutgers is studying this idea, but has not yet made a decision. He noted that it is well recognized that Rutgers does not handle non-traditional students well, and these types of programs would help in that regard.
Finally, Dr. Furmanski was then asked whether the budget situation would have any impact on the redevelopment of the Livingston Campus. He noted that the money allocated to this project is separate from the operating budget of the university, and therefore would not be impacted. Also, the redevelopment of Livingston is expected to increase the University's revenue by bringing in more students, especially MBA students.
4. Committee reports
Student Affairs Committee {SAC) Ken McKeever, Chair:
Professor McKeever presented the council with a written report on the subject of allowing the Navy to establish an ROTC program at Rutgers. The SAC committee recommended overwhelmingly that Rutgers allow the Navy to establish this program. Some members of the Council voiced reservations on principle. By a vote of 19 in favor, 3 opposed, 6 abstaining, the Council approved the following resolution:
Be it resolved that the New Brunswick Faculty Council recommends that the University move forward with re establishing Naval ROTC at Rutgers.
Curriculum, Teaching, and Honors Committee (CTHC) - Jocelyn Crowley, Co-Chair:
Consideration of the affiliation of Rutgers with the Servicemember's Opportunity College has let to discussion of support services available to non-traditional students. At Professor Crowley's request, Professor Susan Schurman, discussed such services available in New Brunswick.
5. Presentation by John Asprey and Matt Cordeiro , Chair, Rutgers University Student Assembly:
Mr. Asprey and Mr. Cordeiro spoke about plans for RUSA to incorporate and apply for Special Student Organization (SSO) status. SSO status would allow them to receive funding in the same way that the Targum and NJPIRG receive money, as a line item on each student's term bill. Students would have the option to opt out of the program. This would allow RUSA to have a steady stream of funding, with which they could hire a staff person to give them better institutional memory. RUSA asked for the Council's advice in drafting a concept plan to be presented to the University Senate.
6. Old business
There was no old business to report.
7. New Business
Two questions were raised. The first concerned changing the grading system to allow offering minus and A+ grades. It was noted that this has been tried several times in the past, and each time the students protested that it would lower their grades and was not passed. The second question was whether there were any university resources available to help faculty implement a resolution passed by the University Senate Faculty Caucus calling for all course syllabi to be posted on the web. Dr.
Furmanski noted that there are resources available to help faculty write the syllabi, but it is up to each department to maintain their websites and post the syllabi.
8. Adjournment
Chairperson Wilson reminded the Council that the next meeting will be held on Friday, April 2, 2010 in Multipurpose Room C of the Cook Campus Center. Wilson then adjourned the meeting at 3:27 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Lisa Rodenburg, Acting Recording Secretary