Meeting Minutes #214

Members Present:  J. Aiello, E. Alessi, S. Bhuyan, R. Boikess, S. Cirignano, S. Connolly, M. Cotter, M. Doerfel, D. Fishman, J. Friedman, P. Hirschfield, K. John-Alder, M. Kiessling, D. Kruse, T. Kuchi, M. MacKenzie, J. McDonnell, N. Minsky, T. Ozel, A. Pichugin, J. Pietruska, M. Rockland, J. Shandler, N. Sheflin, R. Shwom, T. Stephens, T. Szatrowski, K. Thompson, J. Worobey, L. Yu, J. Zahn

Non-Members Present: R. Edwards (New Brunswick Chancellor), M. Norin, F. Reda, R.V. Simmons, K. Swalagin (Recording Secretary), C. Villalba

1.    Call to Order – Tom Stephens, New Brunswick Faculty Council (NBFC) Chair
 
Council Chairperson Tom Stephens called the 214th meeting of the New Brunswick Faculty Council to order at 1:10 p.m. on Friday, January 27, 2017 in Busch Campus Center Room 120ABC, Busch Campus. He said that the meetings have been moved from Brower Commons so that those members utilizing wheelchairs can enter and exit the meeting site without using an elevator.

2.    Approval of Agenda
 
The Agenda was approved as distributed. [Note: The agenda was later reordered to place some committee reports before a report and discussion on the Language Requirement Task Force.]
 
3.    Approval of Minutes of December 2, 2016

The December 2, 2016 NBFC Minutes were approved with one amendment removing "Executive Committee of the" from the resolution condemning Watchlist.

4.    Chair's Report - Tom Stephens, New Brunswick Faculty Council Chair

Council Chair Tom Stephens summarized the meeting agenda.

5.    Administrative Report - Richard Edwards, New Brunswick Chancellor

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

  • Task Force on Inclusion and Community Values;
  • the first Rutgers Dream Week, which he believes will become an annual set of activities;
  • faculty development projects in the New Brunswick Strategic Plan:
    • Faculty Leading Change Program;
    • Rutgers Connection Network Mentoring Program;
    • OASIS Leadership and Professional Development Program;
    • Preparation for Research Excellence Program;
    • Senior Women in STEM Leadership Program; and
  • a three-year cohort program.

Edwards then responded to questions, or heard comments, on the above subjects, as well as media reports of identification of a suspect in recent distributed denial of service attacks at Rutgers.

[At this point in the meeting, the guest speakers for the next docketed item had not yet arrived, so the Council moved ahead to Committee Reports.]

6.    Committee Reports

Academic Standards, Regulations and Admissions Committee (ASRAC) on Academic Advising: ASRAC Chair Robert Boikess reported on Academic Advising, and moved a resolution that was adopted unanimously by the Council as follows:

 

Preliminary Report on the Evaluation of Teaching: Mark Killingsworth spoke about a preliminary report on evaluation of teaching, which is still being written and edited, but which he expects will be available by the April 21 NBFC meeting.

[At this point in the meeting, the guest speakers on the Language Requirement Task Force had arrived, so the agenda moved to that item.]

7.    Report on Language Requirement Task Force - François Cornilliat, Department of French, SAS

François Cornilliat, Distinguished Professor in the Department of French, School of Arts and Sciences - New Brunswick, spoke about ongoing discussions on whether Rutgers should have a language requirement, and related activities of the Core Evaluation Committee.

8.    Report/Discussion on RU Connect, and Email Protocol for "Official" Rutgers Business - Michelle Norin, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, and Frank Reda, University Director of Enterprise Client Services

Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer Michelle Norin spoke about RU Connect and the Office 365 email migration initiative. University Director of Enterprise Client Services Frank Reda also spoke on the matter. Discussion and questions from the Council focused largely on the definition of "official Rutgers business" as it relates to these issues. During the discussion, Norin said she would like to come back to the Council to speak about general strategic priorities for IT.

[At this point in the meeting, Stephens thanked Mary Mickelsen for her quick and effective action in moving the meeting locations.]

6.1.   Committee Reports, Continued

Faculty Athletics Report (FAR) - Tom Stephens, NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative

Speaking as NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative, Stephens presented a report which covered a multitude of athletics-related topics.

9.    Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 3:42 p.m.

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