Meeting Minutes #184

Members Present: R. Boikess, E. Boling, M. Cotter, T. Gerhard, T. Glynn, S. Gully, M. Ierapetritou, J. Langsam, K. McKeever, L. Nepomnyaschy, R. Niederman, D. O'Connor, P. Panayotatos, D. Redlawsk, J. Reed, H. Sackrowitz, K. Safir, J. Shapiro, T. Szatrowski, K. Thompson, E. Williams, R. Wilson, L. Windsor

Non-Members Present: L. Beckman (Targum), J. Delaney (CTAAR), M. Devanas (CTAAR), R. Edwards, P. Leath, K. Swalagin (Recording Secretary) 
  
1.     Call to Order and Chairperson’s Report - Joel Shapiro, NBFC Chairperson 
  
Council Chairperson Joel Shapiro called the 184th meeting of the New Brunswick Faculty Council (NBFC) to order at 1:16 p.m. on Friday, February 3, 2012 in Room 116 of the Busch Campus Center, Busch Campus. He reminded everyone to sign in.
  
2.     Approval of Agenda and Minutes 
  
The meeting agenda was approved. Shapiro said that minutes are posted on the web, and asked everyone to review them before coming to meetings. The Minutes of the December 2, 2011 NBFC meeting were approved.

3.     Results of Bylaw-Change Voting

At the May 13, 2011 meeting of the NBFC, modifications to the NBFC bylaws were adopted, both provisionally and to become permanent. NBFC bylaws require that, to make a permanent change to the bylaws, “a secret ballot on the proposed amendments shall be sent to all Council members. Adoption of amendments shall require a two-thirds vote of the members who cast a ballot.” Shapiro had conducted the required secret ballot online, and at this meeting announced the successful revision of Paragraphs 1 and 8 of Article II (Election, Representation, and Composition) of the NBFC bylaws as follows:

1. 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 Rutgers University faculty based in New Brunswick. It shall also include faculty members in dual-campus faculties whose principal duties are in New Brunswick . In addition, two representatives of annual and part-time faculty will serve on the council, as specified in #8 below. 

8. Annual and part-time faculty shall elect two representatives in a manner consistent with how all other Council representatives are chosen, modified as necessary to suit the special circumstances consequent to their temporary status. The specifics of their electoral practice shall be conveyed to the Faculty Council Chair for review and certification. 
 

These revisions remove the tenure-track requirement and the last two sentences of paragraph 8 concerning allocation of those two representative lines.

4.     Administrative Report  - Richard Edwards, Interim Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
  
Richard Edwards, Interim Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, presented an administrative report which included comments on:

  • the second Barer Committee report, which underscores the recommendations of the first report, and now includes a proposal to cede Rutgers-Camden to Rowan University;
  • forums and meetings held or planned on Rutgers campuses related to the Rutgers-Camden proposal, and strong opposition to the proposal voiced therein;
  • negative effects of the Camden proposal on enrollments, applications, and recruitment of faculty and students;
  • UMDNJ/Rutgers merger plans, progress, and integration issues in a broad variety of areas;
  • Livingston Campus construction updates;
  • consideration and planning for a consortial arrangement in Camden as an alternative to the transfer of Rutgers-Camden to Rowan;
  • recent reductions to, and increased transparency of,  the athletics budget;
  • other issues related to athletics, including donations, the advertising value of televised Rutgers athletics events, and costs related to renovating the football stadium; and
  • continuing plans for collaborative programs in China, including the possibilty of a Rutgers campus in China.

5.     Report on Student Evaluation of Courses - Monica Devanas, Center for Teaching Advancement and Assessment Research  
  
Monica Devanas, Director of Faculty Development and Assessment Programs, of the Center for Teaching Advancement and Assessment Research, presented an overview of (largely online) processes by which Rutgers collects and compiles data on student evaluation of courses. Devanas then heard and responded to questions and concerns regarding those evaluations, including:

  • the environment or conditions in which students may be completing online evaluations;
  • prevalence of hate speech/language online;
  • validity of evaluations submitted by students who do not attend the classes they are evaluating;
  • continuing availability of paper-based evaluations;
  • department chairs' rejection of suggestions of mandatory responses from students on these evaluations;
  • evaluations' use and involvement in faculty promotion or other employment/personnel processes, and related recommendations from the NBFC and University Senate; and
  • grade inflation.

Shapiro suggested that some of these issues should be docketed for discussion at a subsequent NBFC meeting.

6.    Response to the University of Medicine and Dentistry Advisory Committee Report (also known as the “Barer Report”) 

A draft response to the Barer Report was distributed in hardcopy at the meeting, and moved for adoption by Chairperson Shapiro. The response was discussed, and changes suggested. The question was called, and the response adopted unanimously, assuming Shapiro's revision in accordance with the changes discussed. The following was later posted on the NBFC website as the officially adopted version:

The New Brunswick Faculty Council (NBFC) believes that the Final Report of the University of Medicine and Dentistry (UMDNJ) Advisory Committee contains excellent recommendations concerning the Newark and New Brunswick/Piscataway institutions, but has very grave reservations about the proposals for Southern New Jersey, and insists that the proposals must be separated.

The merger of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, and the School of Public Health with Rutgers-New Brunswick will greatly enhance both institutions, and will provide increased opportunities for collaboration and for obtaining large grants. The majority of faculty and students at both institutions are enthusiastic about this merger, and preparations and planning for that merger are well underway. Therefore, the NBFC strongly endorses the proposal for this merger.

This, however, stands in sharp contrast to the report’s proposal for Southern New Jersey. No preparations have been initiated yet for a merger of Rutgers-Camden with Rowan University, so the two proposals are, at the very least, not on the same timetable. The geography of combining Rowan and Rutgers-Camden is far less favorable than the New Brunswick/Piscataway merger. The faculty and students of Rutgers-Camden are vehemently opposed to the proposed merger with Rowan. Forced mergers in academia seldom work well, as the faculty the resultant institution would most like to retain are those who are most likely to leave even before the merger is finalized.

In addition, Rutgers-Camden is an essential part of Rutgers, and must remain so if Rutgers is to remain true to its name, “The State University of New Jersey”. Therefore, the NBFC is strongly opposed to any action which would remove Rutgers-Camden from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and urges the Rutgers Board of Governors and Board of Trustees to insist on separating the proposals, and to vote “No” on the proposed merger of Rutgers-Camden with Rowan. The NBFC supports the consortium model for strengthening higher education in South Jersey, which allows both Rutgers-Camden and Rowan University to retain their unique identities and cultures. 

7.    Resolution on Faculty Athletic Representative

A resolution on Faculty Representation for Administrative Tasks, specifically addressing the Faculty Athletic Representative, had been circulated electronically, and was discussed by the NBFC. Some revisions were suggested, and the resolution was adopted as follows:


Whereas the operation of the University benefits from consultation between the administration and faculty governance for appointments of faculty to key oversight positions; and 

Whereas such a practice is followed, among others, in the appointment of faculty to decanal evaluation committees with the presentation from shared governance bodies of a list from which the administration chooses the faculty members; and 

Whereas the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics (COIA), an alliance of 57 university faculty senates representing member senates at universities participating in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly Division 1A of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), has published best practices in their white paper Framing the Future: Reforming Intercollegiate Athletics (2007); and 

Whereas such practices include the recommendation that "The Faculty Athletic Representative... should be appointed by the University President based on recommendation by the campus faculty governance body (COIA, 2007, p. 11)"; and 

Whereas a survey published in the Journal of Intercollegiate Sport found that the majority of Faculty Athletic Representatives were appointed by the university president after consultation with and approval of the campus faculty governance body;

Therefore be it resolved that the NBFC asks the President to appoint the faculty representative for a definite term only after consultation with the Council about both the criteria and the individual to be appointed. 
 

8.    Proposed Charge on Revision of Bylaws

The NBFC considered and discussed the possibility of charging an ad hoc committee with reviewing and suggesting comprehensive revisions to the NBFC bylaws. It was agreed that this item would be postponed pending further information on the merger with the medical school.

9.    Other Potential Charges to Standing Committees

The NBFC discussed other potential charges to standing committees. Among the issues suggested were:

  • Patents, obstacles thereto, and scarcity thereof: [Docketed on the agenda as coming from the NBFC Executive Committee, but not discussed or charged at this meeting.]
  • Faculty-run meetings of department chairs: [Docketed on the agenda as coming from the NBFC Executive Committee.] Paul Leath suggested an annual retreat of the NBFC where faculty could discuss issues without deans present, to be funded by the administration. Alternatives were suggested, including NBFC-members-only meetings, or meetings at which department chairs and/or deans could be present to suggest NBFC agenda items. Ted Szatrowski moved that the Faculty Affairs Committee (FAC) be charged with exploring this issue, and to create a survey form through which department chairs could identify issues of concern to them. Paul Panayotatos, current FAC chair, asked Dan O'Connor to assume chairship of that committee. O'Connor agreed.
  • AAU peers, and what can be learned from them: [Docketed on the agenda as coming from the NBFC Executive Committee, but not discussed or charged at this meeting.]

10.    Old Business

There was no old business.

11.    New Business

There was no new business.

12.     Adjournment 
  
The meeting adjourned at 3:25 p.m. 
    
Minutes Written and Submitted by: 
Ken Swalagin
Recording Secretary of the New Brunswick Faculty Council