Meeting Minutes #189

Members Present: G. Ashley, R. Boikess, D. Britton, M. Cotter, T. Glynn, S. GullyP. Hirshfeld (for L. Clarke), H. Janes, M. Joo, M. Killingsworth, J. Kim, D. Kumar, D. Lammerts, J. Langsam, X. Liu, K. McKeever, L. Morrow, D. O’Connor (Chairperson), D. Redlawsk, H. Sackrowitz, M. Schwander, J. Shapiro, K. Thompson, E. Williams, W. Ward, D. Wilder 
  
Non-Members Present: T. Stephens, K. Stubaus, K. Swalagin (Recording Secretary) 
  
1.     Call to Order and Chairperson’s Report – Daniel O’Connor, NBFC Chairperson 
  
Council Chairperson Daniel O’Connor called the 189th meeting of the New Brunswick Faculty Council (NBFC) to order at 1:15 p.m. on Friday, February 1, 2013 in Room AB of Brower Commons, College Avenue Campus. 
  
2.     Approval of Agenda 
  
The agenda for this meeting was adopted as distributed by the chair,

3.     Approval of Minutes 

The Minutes of the November 9, 2012 NBFC meeting were adopted as submitted by the recording secretary.

4.     Administrative Report – Karen Stubaus, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Administration
  
Karen Stubaus, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Administration, presented an administrative report which included comments on:

  • Rutgers' membership in the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), and the benefits thereof;
  • Rutgers' strategic planning processes; and
  • integration of UMDNJ units into Rutgers University.

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

  • Regarding the CIC:
    • collective bargaining at CIC member institutions;
    • CIC lobbying in Washington, DC;
    • veterinary schools at CIC member institutions;
    • reciprocal tuition remission arrangements;
    • creation of a website to inform the Rutgers community of the benefits of CIC membership;
    • utilization and organization of adjunct faculty at CIC member institutions;
    • relative levels of funded doctoral students among peer institutions; and
    • assessment of CIC programs and collaborations;
    • CIC membership limited to Rutgers New Brunswick;
  • Regarding strategic planning:
    • contracting Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to facilitate the strategic planning process;
    • processes, committees and personnel at Rutgers working toward developing the strategic plan;
    • how the Rutgers community may participate in strategic planning, including the possibility of arranging interviews with individual faculty members who request them;
    • surveys conducted of faculty, and planned for PTLs, staff, and students;
    • timelines for the strategic planning process;
    • a positive response to Dan O'Connor's request for a list of department chairs;
    • land-grant institutions and the historical mission of the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, and the roles thereof in strategic planning, as well as BCG's experience with such institutions;
    • funding of athletics programs, and availability of related reports;
    • when, and by whom, the first draft of the strategic plan will be written;
    • consolidation of programs, and mission differentiation;
    • recognition of the importance of humanities programs; and
    • School of Arts and Sciences - New Brunswick budget deficit;
  • Regarding UMDNJ integration:
    • Rutgers' overall debt load, and as related to UMDNJ debt; and
    • continuing discussion of which Rutgers campus designation will be assigned to units that span campuses.

5.         Chairperson’s Report – Daniel O’Connor, New Brunswick Faculty Council Chairperson 
  
Dan O’Connor, NBFC Chairperson, presented a chairperson’s report which included comments on: 

  • results of the NBFC survey of NBFC representatives and department chairs;
  • NBFC membership and list of representatives, verification and updating, and related issues of units without full representation, which issue O'Connor will docket for discussion at the next NBFC and/or Executive Committee meeting after receiving the list of chairs;
  • additional information he may request from Stubaus, including the number of people in departments;
  • some pending issues may be postponed until next year in order to focus on strategic planning;
  • plans for an additional NBFC website that will allow tweets and postings by members, and to which access to some parts will be password protected;

6.    Matters Completed, Status, and Matters Pending

An open discussion was held, during which matters discussed included:

  • NBFC resolution on athletics budget (Tom Stephens said that the athletics budget/plan has been redone since Rutgers joined the Big Ten, and that if the Board of Governors allows it, he will bring it to the NBFC. O'Connor said he will try to get the NCAA report from the Athletics Department, and that Tim Pernetti has agreed to speak with the NBFC); and
  • strategic planning and how the NBFC will participate therein, particularly in issues such as:
    • budget model;
    • courses/curriculum and issues such as clustering;
    • TA/GA/RA status and appointments;
    • research coordination and integration;
    • faculty councils and faculty governance;
    • faculty promotion policies including inclusion of faculty on Promotion Review Committee;
    • online teaching initiatives.

7.    Faculty Athletic Representative Report - Tom Stephens, Faculty Athletic Representative

Tom Stephens, Faculty Athletic Representative, reported on his recent activities, and distributed copies of the January 8, 2013 report he sent to President Barchi.

8.    Resolution on Faculty Athletic Representative

Dan O'Connor distributed copies of a Resolution on Faculty Athletic Representative, which the NBFC Executive Committee had asked him to prepare. The resolution was moved, seconded, amended, and adopted as follows:

Whereas, Rutgers participates in Division 1-A athletics and is currently required under the NCAA Constitution and Bylaws to have a Faculty Athletic Representative (FAR); and, Whereas, the Faculty Athletic Representative reports on FAR activities to the New Brunswick Faculty Council; Therefore, Be It Resolved, that the New Brunswick Faculty Council invites the Rutgers Faculty Athletic Representative to attend and participate in the New Brunswick Faculty Council meetings in an ex officio capacity and to report on FAR activities to this body; and, Be It Further Resolved that the New Brunswick Faculty Council recommend faculty members to be appointed to and serve as the Rutgers Faculty Athletic Representative.

O'Connor will forward the resolution to the administration.

9.    Library Report on Research Services - Ryan Womack, Rutgers University Libraries Faculty Coordinator

Ryan Womack, Rutgers University Libraries Faculty Coordinator, distributed and discussed an Executive Summary of the Research Services Report produced by the Planning and Coordinating Committee of the University Libraries. He said that the full report is being finalized, that it will include additional material on each of the topics listed in the Executive Summary, and that he will forward the report to Dan O'Connor when it is completed.

10.    Old Business

There was no old business.

11.    New Business

There was no new business.

12.    Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 3:23 p.m.

Minutes written and submitted by,

Ken Swalagin
Recording Secretary of the New Brunswick Faculty Council