Meeting Minutes #218

Members Present:  S. Bhuyan, R. Boikess, C. Brennan, W. Castellano, G. D'Arcangelo, B. Faga, M. Gliserman, A. Gould, D. Hamilton, P. Hirschfield, J. King, T. Kuchi, M. Mayer, K. McKeever, N. Minsky, T. Ozel, A. Pichugin, J. Pietruska, I. Rauschenbach, M. Rockland, J. Rubin, S. Shapses, T. Stephens, T. Szatrowski, P. Takhistov, K. Thompson, S. Westfall, E. Williams, R. Womack, J. Worobey, L. Yu

Non-Members Present: D. Dutta (New Brunswick Chancellor), B. Lee (Sr. Vice President for Academic Affairs), M. Mickelsen (U. Senate Administrative Assistant)

1.    Call to Order – Sanjib Bhuyan, New Brunswick Faculty Council (NBFC) Chair
 
Council Chairperson Sanjib Bhuyan called the 218th meeting of the New Brunswick Faculty Council to order at 1:12 p.m. on Friday, September 29, 2017 in Busch Student Center Room 174, Busch Campus. 

2.    Approval of Agenda
 
The Agenda was approved as distributed.
 
3.    Approval of Minutes of April 21, 2017

The April 21, 2017 NBFC Minutes were approved.

4.    Chair's Report - Sanjib Bhuyan, New Brunswick Faculty Council Chair

Council Chair Sanjib Bhuyan's Chair's Report included comments on:

  • announcing Barbara Lee will arrive at 3pm to discuss the proposal on the evaluation of teaching;
  • announcing Deba Dutta, New Brunswick Chancellor, will arrive at 2pm for his administrative report;
  • the possibility October committee meetings being canceled due to the Conference on Undergraduate Education;
  • an introduction of himself and background; 
  • announcing Martha Cotter as the 2017-18 NBFC Parliamentarian; 
  • attempting to obtain funding to restructure the NBFC website; and
  • plans to fill the two vacant PTL positions on the council by the October meeting. 

5.   Update on the NBFC Teaching Conference - Martin Gliserman

[ Moved up in the agenda while the committee awaited Chancellor Dutta's arrival.]

Martin Gliserman discussed the details of the Conference on Undergraduate Education to include:

  • conference will be held on Friday, October 27, 2017 in the Center Hall on the Busch Campus;
  • breakfast and a boxed lunch will be provided;
  • when registering, copy and paste the link into the browser; and
  • breakout group topic suggestions and faculty to lead the breakout groups are needed.

Gliserman then responded to questions to the above topics as well as:

  • a request to have the invitation sent again to faculty who's emails have recently changed; and
  • sending the invitation to individual department's undergraduate directors.

6-1.    Committee Reports

Academic Affairs Committee - Robert Boikess

Robert Boikess discussed the Academic Affairs Committee's plans to submit a resolution at the October meeting in favor of making standardized tests optional in the Rutgers admission process.  Boikess outlined the committee's rationale for proposing the resolution and asked for comment.  After much debate, for and against the proposal, it was suggested the committee consider a Test Flexible approach, currently being used by NYU and other universities, before submitting the resolution at the next meeting.

[Committee reports were suspended at 1:59 pm for the Administrative Report]

7.   Administrative Report - Deba Dutta, New Brunswick Chancellor

New Brunswick Chancellor Deba Dutta's administrative report included comments on:

  • thanking the council for the invitation to speak;
  • wanting to make the administrative report more of an active dialouge at future meetings;
  • introduction of himself and background;
  • being a major supporter of the Land-Grant concept; 
  • his interest in actively fundraising, especially among the RU-NB alumni;
  • engaging local and state politicians in the RU-NB mission;
  • making RU-NB a University of the World;
  • plea to faculty to think of ways to make the community more active in the future of RU-NB; and
  • his conducting of small group discussions through the Chancellor Coloquiums.

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

  • the Land-Grant Extension;
  • the restructuring at SAS-NB; 
  • a language requirement for degrees earned at RU-NB;
  • the need for improvements to the infrastructure;
  • health insurance for PTL's;
  • Comprehensive Land-Grant approach in an effort to enhance the humanities; and
  • university resources/funds and the equal distribution to all campuses.

8.    A Proposal to Improve Evaluation of Teaching at Rutgers University - Barbara Lee, Sr. Vice President for Academic Affairs

Barbara Lee summarized the Proposal to Improve Evaluation of Teaching at Rutgers University.   After responding to questions she asked the council to carefully consider the report and respond to the Task Force on Evaluating Teaching by December 1, 2017.

[Sanjib Bhuyan successfully moved to extend the meeting time by 30 minutes.]

6-2.    Committee Reports (continued)

Athletics Committee - Kenneth McKeever

Kenneth McKeever reminded the council the Athletics Committee was created last year in order to have a more functional liaison between the NBFC and the Athletics Department and that this was the committee's first meeting.  McKeever reviewed the list of subjects the committee is interested in exploring to include: academic support for athletes, athletics budget, athletic facilities, character of coaches and staff, alumni giving, demographics of students, general perception of athletics at Rutgers and engaging the student body in athletics.  The members of the committee will decide at the next meeting the top three areas of concern and concentrate of those for this year.

Faculty and Personnel Affairs - Tugrul Ozel and Karen Thompson

Tugrul Ozel expressed the committee's concern regarding the current restructuring at the School of Arts and Sciences - New Brunswick and wished to submit a resolution against it for the councils consideration.  It was decided the committee will speak to the New Brunswick Chancellor regarding its concerns and evaluate the result of the faculty's meeting with Dean Peter March on October 20, 2017 before presenting the resolution.

Student Affairs - John Worobey

John Worobey discussed a few items the Student Affairs Committee is currently exploring to include advising procedures and communication with faculty.

Budget, Planning, and Infrastructure - Triveni Kuchi/Ryan Womack

Ryan Womack discussed the activities of the committee to include looking at to what extent schools are retaining revenue and what schools are siphoning funds; what level of allocations do non-revenue service programs require to adequately perform their functions; and the apparent lack of communication from Facilities regarding parking specifically on College Avenue and Livingston. Womak did make a request to the chair for a current copy of the budget allocations for the past 5 years so the committee can analyze the data and submit a report on their findings.

9.  Old Business

There was no old business.

9.    Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 3:54 p.m.

Minutes written and submitted by,
Mary Mickelsen
Substitute NBFC Recording Secretary