Meeting Minutes #185

Members Present: G. Ashley, J. Camacho, L. Clarke, J. DeFilippis, D. Fishman, T. Gerhard, T. Glynn, S. Gully, M. Ierapetritou, M. Killingsworth, J. Langsam, K. McKeever, N. Minsky, R. Niederman, D. O'Connor, P. Panayotatos, D. Redlawsk, J. Reed, H. Sackrowitz , J. Shapiro (Chairperson), G. Springs, T. Szatrowski, P. Takhistov, K. Thompson. G. Werlen, E. Williams, R. Wilson, L. Windsor

Non-Members Present: F. Cornuilliat, R. Edwards, T. Matise, C. Rowe-Ellier, K. Swalagin (Recording Secretary) 
  
1.     Call to Order and Chairperson’s Report - Joel Shapiro, NBFC Chairperson 
  
Council Chairperson Joel Shapiro called the 185th meeting of the New Brunswick Faculty Council (NBFC) to order at 1:14 p.m. on Friday, March 30, 2012 in Room 116 of the Busch Campus Center, Busch Campus. Before starting the agenda, he spoke about some issues not docketed thereon:

  • Earlier that day a contingent of NBFC members met with EVPAA Edwards, and reached a tentative agreement to have the NBFC officially recognized in University Policies. Shapiro is hopeful that will happen.
  • Questions were raised at the previous NBFC meeting regarding whether meetings are open. The bylaws state that the meetings are open to all members of the New Brunswick faculty, and that others may be invited. Although the bylaws do not state that the meetings are open to all others, it is generally understood that they are, and therefore members should not assume that reporters are not present.
  • Barry Qualls wants the NBFC to consider the upcoming Middle States review, and to have Rich DeLisi involved in that discussion, but both Qualls and DeLisi were unavailable for the current meeting, so that will be scheduled for the May 2012 meeting.
  • Laura Mullen and Jane Otto want to address the NBFC on the open access repository, an issue which involves several elements of vital concern to faculty research. Dan Fishman asked the NBFC to docket this presentation and discussion, but it seemed more appropriate to have a non-NBFC, open meeting on the matter around finals time. Shapiro is trying to arrange that.
  • There had been discussion of whether the NBFC should docket an agenda item to consider the Barer Report recommendations on the medical school and Rutgers-Camden. This was not docketed because it was decided that the NBFC had responded to the issue previously in its resolution on the matter, which Shapiro was able to email to all New Brunswick faculty.
  • At the previous council meeting, SIRS evaluation of teaching was discussed, including the role of those evaluations on reappointment and promotions. The concerns were conveyed to a University Senate committee, which responded with a motion emphasizing that evaluation of teaching should not be based solely on the student evaluations.
  • The council previously discussed a request for input on specific issues and on five specific questions presented by the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics (COIA). This has been referred to the appropriate NBFC committee, and a discussion will be docketed at a future meeting.

Shapiro noted that a resolution on athletics sponsored by Professor Killingsworth, discussed previously by the NBFC, was docketed on this meeting's agenda. 
  
2.     Approval of Agenda and Minutes 
  
The agenda was then adopted, as were the February 3, 2012 NBFC Minutes.

3.     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: 

  • continuing discussions and controversy related to the proposal to cede Rutgers-Camden to Rowan University;
  • UMDNJ/Rutgers merger plans, progress, and integration issues in a broad variety of areas;
  • possibilities and discussions related to a proposal expected to soon come to Rutgers' boards regarding development of the New Brunswick Theological Seminary property on Seminary Place in New Brunswick;
  • continuing plans for collaborative programs in China, including a proposed Rutgers campus in China;
  • a proposal he received from a group of faculty and department chairs to consider and enhance the process of recruiting department chairs; and
  • a proposal received from the University Senate recommending changing some wording in letters going to outside referees for faculty coming up for promotion on the ten-year rule.

Edwards then responded to questions or heard comments on the above, as well as:  

 4.         New Initiatives for Online Course Support – Paul Panayotatos (for David Finegold, Senior Vice President for Lifelong Learning) 
  
Paul Panayotatos, who also chairs the University Senate, reported on a discussion the Senate’s Executive Committee had recently with David Finegold regarding an RFP issued and responded to by companies which would provide support for online teaching. He said there were concerns that this may be a reiteration of an earlier, Senate-opposed proposal to establish a College of Applied and Professional Studies (CAPS) at Rutgers, but that this current RFP did not represent a return to a CAPS-like proposal. Panayotatos spoke about the current status of the project, including establishment of a faculty committee to oversee development of the program, and placement on that committee of the Senate’s Instruction, Curricula and Advising Committee and Student Affairs Committee chairs. There was considerable discussion on this issue, including questions and comments from several non-NBFC faculty who were present at the meeting. 
  
[IEVP Edwards left the meeting at 2:26 p.m.] 
  
5.         Proposed Resolution on Support of Athletics, and a Proposed Substitute Resolution 
  
Mark Killingsworth proposed and distributed in hardcopy a Resolution on Athletics [Link goes to resolution as adopted.]. Karen Thompson moved to amend by adding “and to use at least some of these savings to enhance instruction.” The amendment was seconded, but not adopted. A motion to separate the sections of the resolution also failed at this point. Concerns were raised regarding the appropriateness of recommendations on student fees being part of a resolution from the NBFC. Paul Panayotatos moved to separate the resolution’s first two bullet points from the third. The motion to separate was seconded, and adopted. The resolution’s first two bullet points were then adopted, and discussion on the third bullet point followed. A subsequent, successful motion to amend that previous vote enabled revision of two deadline dates in the resolution. The second part of the third bullet point was withdrawn, and the remaining portion adopted.
  
[Note: The proposed substitute motion was addressed later. See below under “Old Business.”] 
  
6.         Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics (COIA) Recommendations 
  
Ken McKeever summarized and recommended NBFC adoption of five points COIA’s policy recommendations. The documents had not been widely available to the NBFC in advance of the meeting, so it was decided that Shapiro would post the documents on the NBFC website, and arrange a secret ballot by which the council members could vote on adopting the policy recommendations. [Note: McKeever’s resolution was subsequently adopted by secret ballot conducted electronically.] 
  
7.         Old Business 
  
Resolution on Part-Time Lecturers: Karen Thompson moved to amend (by removing the title) and adopt the substitute resolution that had been docketed as part of item #5 above. On motion, the resolution was further revised by deleting references to athletics, and was then adopted. 
  
8.         New Business 
  
There was no new business. 
  
9.         Adjournment 
  
The meeting adjourned at 4:13 p.m. 
  
Minutes written and submitted by, 
Ken Swalagin 
Recording Secretary of the New Brunswick Faculty Council