Meeting Minutes #210

Members Present: E. Alessi, S. Bhuyan, R. Boikess, S. Cirignano, S. Connolly, M. Cotter, M. Doerfel, M. Flahive DiNardo, J. Friedman, M. Glisherman, A. Hetling, P. Hirschfield, H. Janes, M. Killingsworth, P. Klein, D. Kruse, D. Kumar, C. Lugg, J. McDonnell, K. McKeever, M. Mackenzie, M. Meyer, N. Minsky, R. Niederman, T. Ozel, J. Pietruska, J. Shanderl, T. Stephens, T. Szatrowski, B. Tesar, K. Thompson, J. Worobey, J. Zahn

Non-Members Present: M. Mickelsen (Administrative Assistant to the U. Senate)

1.    Call to Order – Mark Killingsworth, New Brunswick Faculty Council (NBFC) Chair
 
Council Chairperson Mark Killingsworth called the 210th meeting of the New Brunswick Faculty Council to order at 1:19 p.m. on Friday, April 22, 2016 in Brower Commons Room ABC, College Avenue Campus. He asked that everyone be sure to sign in at the back of the room and pick up a copy of the agenda and campaign statements for today's election.

2.    Approval of Agenda
 
The agenda was approved.
 
3.    Approval of Minutes of March 25, 2016
 
The Minutes of the March 25, 2016 meeting were not yet available for distribution.
 
4.    Chair's Report - Mark Killingsworth, NBFC Chair

NBFC Chair Mark Killingsworth met with Chancellor Edwards in early April and discussed the following:   

  • Resolution on Teaching Evaluations
    • Chancellor Edwards is enthusiastic about looking into the recommendations and suggested formulating a task force consisting of Administration and representatives from the NBFC to look at what other universities are doing on the subject and offer recommendations on what Rutgers can do to improve the current survey that evaluates teachers.
  • Resolution on Academic Analytics
    • Chancellor Edwards is willing to listen to what the NBFC has to say on the subject of Academic Analytics but, is not enthusiastic about changing the current system.  He is willing to look at a way for faculty members to gain access to their data and allow for corrections however, there is no chance the Administration is going to drop Academic Analytics completely.  Edwards suggested a task force be formed to look at this subject in more depth.
    • A lively discussion followed the report.  It was agreed this is a subject that needs to be follow up on and a task force should be formed to monitor the progress and report back regularly.  It was also suggested a connection be formed with other CIC schools to evaluate best practices and possibly the chair of the CIC should write an attachment to the resolution.  Killingsworth will work on this during the summer break and report back to the Council in the fall.

5.    Administrative Report - No administrative report (Chancellor Edwards was traveling to China)

6.    Statement on Presidential Search and Selection

NBFC Chair Mark Killingsworth introduced the Statement on Presidential Search and Selection acknowledging he does not know when the next President will be selected but, wanted to get out in front of the issue with an official statement approving the comments of Dr. William Bowen, president-emeritus of Princeton University, at the presidential symposium on the Future of the Research University held April 7, 2016.

          "…strong faculty involvement [in the selection of a university president] is today a sine qua non, as it was not in early days. Faculty are likely to have a keen sense of what an institution needs most in a new           leader; they will be able to discern whether particular candidates have the requisite sensitivities to lead an academic enterprise; and, finally, faculty can be extremely helpful in persuading the right                          candidate to accept a genuinely tough job…. In almost all situations, the best candidate will want to be sure that he/she has the support of the faculty as well as of the board."

After much discussion on the issue the statement was unanimously passed with the following amendment:

  • The statement will not just include selection of the university president, but other senior administrators as well.


7.    Statement on Professionalizing "NTT" Faculty

NBFC Chair Mark Killingsworth introduced the Statement on Professionalizing "NTT" Faculty, prefacing it with the understanding this also stemmed from Dr. William Bowen's comments at the Presidential Symposium held on April 7, 2016.  There was an active discussion on this topic with it resulting in it being passed unanimously with a few amendments.  Killingsworth will distribute the amended statement via email.


8.    Election of Vice Chair and Executive Committee Members for 2016-17

Mark Killingsworth led the process for electing 2016-17 Council leadership. Nominations and statements were made, and the 2016-17 NBFC Leadership was established.

  • Tom Stevens, Chair
  • Sanjib Bhuyan, Vice Chair
  • Martha Cotter, At-Large Member of the Council
  • Members of the Executive Committee
    • Robert Boikess
    • Jeffrey Friedman
    • Martin Gliserman
    • Catherine Lugg
    • Karen Thompson

9.    Old Business

There was no Old Business

10.    New Business

There was no New Business

11.    Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 2:52 p.m.

Minutes written and submitted by,
Mary Mickelsen
Assistant Recording Secretary