Meeting Minutes #208
Members Present: J. Aiello, E. Alessi, N. Belkin, S. Bhuyan, R. Boikess, S. Cirignano, S. Connolly, M. Cotter, D. Fishman, M. Flahive DiNardo, J. Friedman, Z. Gajic, M. Gasparotto, M. Gliserman, A. Hetling, P. Hirschfield, M. MacKenzie (for C-C. Huang), T. Kahlaoui, M. Killingsworth (Chair), P. Klein, D. Kruse, J. Langsam, K. McKeever, R. Niederman, T. Ozel, J. Pietruska, M. Rockland, S. Rubenstein, M. Schwander, J. Shandler, L. Sun, T. Szatrowski, K. Thompson, J. Worobey, L. Yu, J. Zahn
Non-Members Present: R. Edwards (New Brunswick Chancellor), R. Hearin (University Career Services), W. Jones (University Career Services), K. Swalagin (Recording Secretary)
1. Call to Order - Mark Killingsworth, New Brunswick Faculty Council (NBFC) Chair
Council Chairperson Mark Killingsworth called the 208th meeting of the New Brunswick Faculty Council to order at 1:13 p.m. on Friday, February 26, 2016 in Brower Commons Room ABC, College Avenue Campus.
2. Approval of Agenda
The agenda was approved as distributed.
3. Approval of Minutes of January 29, 2016
The Minutes of the January 29, 2016 NBFC meeting were approved as distributed.
4. Administrative Report - Richard Edwards, New Brunswick Chancellor; Rick Hearin, University Career Services Executive Director; and Will Jones, University Career Services Director of Operations and Strategic Initiatives
Richard Edwards, New Brunswick Chancellor, introduced a presentation on University Career Services. Rick Hearin and Will Jones of Career Services spoke, focusing primarily on a 2015 Post-Graduation Survey their department had conducted. Hearin said that final data from the survey would be online by March 1.
5. Chair's Report - Mark Killingsworth, NBFC Chair
NBFC Chair Mark Killingsworth said that he had an interesting discussion with the chairs of the other Rutgers faculty councils at a recent University Senate meeting, and that the New Brunswick Faculty Council (NBFC) is far beyond where the others are, and that the NBFC should be proud of that.
6. Status Report, Ad Hoc Committee on Academic Analytics - Sanjib Bhuyan, NBFC Vice Chair and Ad Hoc Committee Chair
Council Vice Chair Sanjib Bhuyan had presented a report on Academic Analytics at the October 2015 NBFC meeting, and additional reports at each subsequent meeting. He presented another status report at this meeting. Bhuyan said that a final report should be ready for the next Council meeting.
7. Evaluation of Teaching: Report and Resolution - Robert Boikess, Academic Standards, Regulations and Admissions Committee (ASRAC) Chair
ASRAC Chair Robert Boikess presented a draft report and resolution on Evaluation of Teaching, which was distributed in hardcopy at the meeting. It was discussed at some length, and the following resolution was then adopted unanimously by the Council:
RESOLUTION
The New Brunswick Faculty Council calls upon the Rutgers administration to work together with the New Brunswick Faculty Council to create and charge a Task Force with developing a teaching evaluation program that will, as accurately as possible, assess quality of instruction. The Task Force should be broadly representative of the faculty and students. It should include tenure track faculty at various ranks, nontenure track faculty, part time lecturers, and teaching assistants, as well as students from the sciences and the nonsciences. It should also include academic administrators, a representative of CTAAR, and an outside expert.
Rutgers must have a teaching evaluation program that will:
- provide a rigorous and meaningful evaluation of the quality of faculty teaching for consideration in decisions about the renewal, promotion, and tenure of faculty.
- provide feedback on the quality of faculty teaching that will help units maintain their overall commitment to pedagogy and help individual faculty members continue to develop their teaching skills.
In order to achieve these goals, the Task Force should address and remedy the defects of our current Student Evaluation system; should rely on faculty to develop methods of evaluation that may often be uniquely suited for their disciplines; and should be provided with such funding, staff support, and professional expertise as the Task Force may require to fulfill its charge.
Boikess then successfully moved that the report and resolution be sent to the University Senate.
8. Academic Freedom: Discussion of the "Chicago Statement" (Report of the Committee on Freedom of Expression, University of Chicago
Killingsworth introduced a general discussion of the Report of the Committee on Freedom of Expression of the University of Chicago. Richard Edwards said that a message on this subject was emailed to the Rutgers community the previous day.
9. Old Business
There was no old business.
10. New Business
There was no new business.
11. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 2:40 p.m.
Minutes written and submitted by,
Ken Swalagin
Recording Secretary of the New Brunswick Faculty Council