Meeting Minutes #212

Members Present: E. Alessi, O. Alidou, D. Ballentine, S. Bhuyan (Vice Chair), R. Boikess, S. Cirignano, M. Cotter, G. D'Arcangelo, M. Flahive DiNardo, J. Flieger, M. Gliserman, D. Hamilton, S. Bhuyan, R. Boikess, S. Cirignano, S. Connolly, M. Cotter, M. Doerfel, M. Flahive DiNardo, J. Friedman, M. Gliserman, D. Hamilton, A. Hetling, M. Killingsworth, D. Kruse, T. Kuchi, J. Langsam, C. Lugg, K. McKeever, T. Ozel, A. Pichugin, J. Pietruska, M. Schwander, J. Shandler, N. Shapley, N. Sheflin, T. Stephens (Chair), K. St. Martin, T. Szatrowski, K. Thompson, X. Wang, J. Zahn

Non-Members Present: R. Edwards (New Brunswick Chancellor), K. Swalagin (Recording Secretary)

1.    Call to Order – Tom Stephens, New Brunswick Faculty Council (NBFC) Chair
 
Council Chairperson Tom Stephens called the 212th meeting of the New Brunswick Faculty Council to order at 1:10 p.m. on Friday, October 21, 2016 in Brower Commons Room ABC, College Avenue Campus. 

2.    Approval of Agenda
 
He asked that the previously distributed agenda be modified to place Mark Killingsworth's Update on Evaluation of Teaching first on the agenda, after noting that Provost Edwards would not arrive at the meeting until 2:00. The appropriate motion was made and seconded, and the Council adopted the agenda change.
 
3.    Update on Evaluation of Teaching - Mark Killingsworth

Mark Killingsworth presented an update on evaluation of teaching, and said that there should be a report coming to the Council by the end of the semester. Discussion followed, during which several suggestions were made. Killingsworth asked Stephens to memorialize certain of the comments, and send them to him. 

[At this point in the meeting, Stephens was called away on a family emergency, and left the meeting. Vice Chair Sanjib Bhuyan assumed the chair.]

4.    Approval of Minutes of March, April and September 2016
 
Martha Cotter led a discussion of the minutes and proceedings of the previous three Council meetings. She spoke of the Council's draft statements on professionalization of PTLs, and on presidential search and selection, which were to be written in final form and sent to NBFC members for approval, but which were not yet ready. Cotter moved to delegate Killingsworth to correct or amend the April minutes on the issue of those two statements, with Council members to send their input to Killingsworth beforehand. The April minutes were therefore deferred. The March minutes were adopted.
 
5.     Chair's Report - The chair having been called away from the meeting, there was no chair's report.

[Chancellor Edwards had not yet arrived at the meeting, so the administrative report, which was next on the agenda, was deferred.]

6.    Committee Reports

Some committee chairs reported on their committees' activities and plans. Edwards arrived at the meeting at 1:52 p.m., so the remainder of the committee reports were deferred until after Edwards' administrative report.

7.    Administrative Report - Richard Edwards, New Brunswick Chancellor

New Brunswick Chancellor Richard Edwards' administrative report included comments on:

  • Committee on Enslaved and Disenfranchised Populations in Rutgers History;
  • upcoming decanal review of Cathryn Potter, Dean of the School of Social Work;
  • ongoing search for replacement for James Hughes, Dean of the Bloustein School, who will step down at the end of this academic year;
  • startup of regular reviews of schools, centers, and institutes, starting this year with the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences;
  • questions that had been sent to him by Stephens on issues including:
    • parking space issues;
    • infrastructure improvements and deferred maintenance;
    • budgetary matters, and IT changes; and
    • administrative assistance for the Council, on which Edwards said that Susan English, of his office, would be taking over the NBFC website; and
  • the Curriculum Committee.

6.A.    Committee Reports (continued)

Committee chairs continued their reports on their committees' activities and plans.

8.    Other Business

Robert Boikess raised the issue of RUConnect, and the related definition of "University business." He suggested that Michelle Norin, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, should be asked for a protocol on what constitutes "University business." There was also discussion about the roles of the New Brunswick Faculty Council, the University Senate, and how the Council could be empowered or further legitimized in the shared governance structure at Rutgers, as well as the idea of having Council representation from every New Brunswick department.

9.    Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 3:06 p.m.

Minutes written and submitted by,
Ken Swalagin
Recording Secretary of the New Brunswick Faculty Council