Meeting Minutes #221

Members Present:  B. Alderman, S. Bhuyan, R. Boikess, W. Castellano, S. Chan-Malik, S. Connolly, E. Curchitser, M. Flahive DiNardo, M. Gliserman, J. Gonzalez, D. Hamilton, J. King, D. Knight, T. Kuchi, M. Mayer, K. McKeever, K. Morgan, T. Ozel, A. Pichugin, P. Pietroski, J. Pietruska, I. Rauschenbach, G. Rendsburg, J. Rubin, S. Shapses, N. Sheflin, K. Sloman, T. Stephens, T. Szatrowski, K. Thompson, N. Wacholder, S. Westfall, E. Williams, R. Womack, J. Worobey, J. Zahn

Non-Members Present: M. Cotter (Parliamentarian), D. Dutta (New Brunswick Chancellor), B. Lee (Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs),  M. Mickelsen (Interim Recording Secretary)

1.    Call to Order – Sanjib Bhuyan, New Brunswick Faculty Council (NBFC) Chair 
 
New Brunswick Faculty Council Chairperson Sanjib Bhuyan called the 221st meeting of the New Brunswick Faculty Council to order at 1:19 p.m. on Friday, January 26, 2018 in Room 174 of the Busch Student Center, Busch Campus. His report included comments on:

  • announcing the Executive Secretary of the Senate will continue to serve as Recording Secretary of NBFC after Ken Swalagin retires; and
  • Chancellor Dutta is in the process of moving and may or may not be available for the Administrative Report, if he is not, Karen Stubass will fill in.

2.    Approval of Agenda 
 
The Agenda was approved as distributed with the amendment that Retirement of Ken Swalagin was moved forward in the agenda, depending on when Ken arrived.
 
3.    Approval of Minutes of November 17, 2017 Meeting

The November 17, 2017 NBFC Minutes were approved.

4-1.    Committee Reports

Academic Affairs Committee - Julia Sass Rubin

Julia Rubin presented on Evaluation of Teaching and the EJBSPPP TEAM (Teaching Evaluation & Monitoring) Pilot Program. The pilot is close to completion and Rubin will share final the committee's final results with the NBFC after Chancellor Dutta has approved and the EJBSPPP faculty reviews it.  

[Committee reports were suspended at 1:31 pm for the Administrative Report]

5.    Administrative Report - Deba Dutta, New Brunswick Chancellor

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

  • his official relocation from Purdue to Rutgers;
  • reflecting back on his first year as NB Chancellor and several initiatives that have started to include: Town Halls, Faculty Breakfasts, Campus Conversations and the Chancellor Colloquia;
  • his meetings with public officials, to include Governor-Elect Murphy and Congressman Sweeney, in order to promote a more positive working relationship;
  • his meetings with alumni in regards to fundraising and a more active involvement at Rutgers;
  • hiring of Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation, Dr. Prabhas Moghe;
  • appointment of Interim Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Dr.Wanda Blanchett; 
  • current dean search for EJBSPPP and SMLR;
  • his review of the RU-NB budget with focus on RCM;
  • his desire to work with the NBFC as the voice of New Brunswick.

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

  • the Land-Grant Extension, in particular the Ag-Experiment Station;
  • the NBFC having a larger role in shared governance; 
  • rights for PTL's;
  • his assessment of the tension between Rutgers and Trenton.

6-1.  New Business - Resolution in Appreciation of Ken Swalagin's Service to the NBFC

New Brunswick Faculty Council Chairperson Sanjib Bhuyan, read a resolution in recognition of Ken Swalagin's 15 years of service as Recording Secretary of the NBFC.  Bhuyan then presented Swalagin with a plaque which read:

The New Brunswick Faculty Council of Rutgers University extends its sincere appreciation to Kenneth Swalagin for 15 years of exemplary service as Recording Secretary. January 2018


 4-2.    Committee Reports, continued

Committee chairs continued to report on recent activities and plans of their committees, as follows:

  • Academic Affairs Committee - Robert Boikess, Chair
    • Boikess discussed the NBFC Executive Committee Proposal on Evaluation of Teaching; specifically focusing on peer observation, the student evaluation components, and the implementation schedule.  During discussion it was noted that the implementation schedule was no  longer active and Bhuyan will ask Barbara Lee, SVP for Academic Affairs, for the updated schedule. 
    • It was moved for discussions to go into a Committee of the Whole.
  • Athletic Affairs Committee - Kenneth McKeever, Chair 
    • McKeever discussed how the Athletic Affairs Committee is looking into student fees and how they are used at our peer institutions as well as how the different campuses at Rutgers utilize student fees and what portion of them go to athletics.
  • Budget, Planning, & Infrastructure - Triveni Kuchi, Co-Chair
    • Kuchi discussed the lack of communication from Rutgers Parking and the committee's plans to run a survey regarding faculty's concerns and experiences.  The practicality of RCM and how it was working for different schools/departments was also discussed.  The committee will be running another survey in regards to this issue, targeted at deans and financial officers of the schools.
  • Faculty and Personnel Affairs - Tugrul Ozel, Co-Chair
    • Ozel discussed the concerning trend in regarding to the decline of tenrue track faculty and overall PTL lines exceeding the Big10 average.  The committee has planned to research this issue further and prepare a report for consideration.
  • Student Affairs - Sue Shapses, Chair
    • Shapses spoke about her committee's plan to look into student fees across the board and will collaborate with the Athletic Affairs Committee on the student fees as it relates to athletics. There are also plans to look into why enrollment of International Students is on the decline and what implications that has on the student body.

7.   6-2    New Business, Continued

8.    Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 3:12 p.m.

 

Written and submitted by
Mary Mickelsen
Interim Recording Secretary