Meeting Minutes #222

Members Present:  J. Aiello, S. Bhuyan, R. Boikess, W. Castellano, S. Connolly, M. Doerfel, B. Faga, Z. Gajic, M. Gliserman, J. Gonzalez, A. Gould, D. Hamilton, P. Hirschfield, J. King, T. Kuchi, K. Kwan, K. McKeever, A. Pichugin, P. Pietroski, J. Pietruska, I. Rauschenbach, G. Rendsburg, S. Shapses, N. Sheflin, K. Sloman, T. Stephens, K. Thompson, S. Westfall, E. Williams, J. Worobey, 

Non-Members Present: D. Dutta (New Brunswick Chancellor), P. Hammond (Assistant Vice Chancellor, RU-NB), D. Kumar (AAUP-AFT President), M. Mickelsen (NBFC Recording Secretary)

1.    Call to Order – Sanjib Bhuyan, New Brunswick Faculty Council (NBFC) Chair 
 
New Brunswick Faculty Council Chairperson Sanjib Bhuyan called the 222nd meeting of the New Brunswick Faculty Council to order at 1:10 p.m. on Friday, February 23, 2018 in Room 120 of the Busch Student Center, Busch Campus. His report included comments on:

  • the NBFC Executive Committee's piece in the Daily Targum on the use of student surveys;
  • UHR initiating background checks for all new hires and Vivian Fernandez agreeing to address the NBFC EC on the matter at the March 9 meeting; and
  • the Ad Hoc Committee on Organizational Structure, Roles, and Responsibilities short meeting immediately following this meeting.

2.    Approval of Agenda 
 
The Agenda was approved as distributed with the amendment that Athletics Committee was to give their report first under Committee Reports.
 
3.    Approval of Minutes of January 26, 2018 Meeting

The January 26, 2018 NBFC Minutes were approved.

4.    Presentation on Infosilem - Paul Hammond, Assistant Vice Chancellor, RU-NB

Paul Hammond, Assistant Vice Chancellor, RU-NB, presented on Infosilem, the new course scheduling system at Rutgers. He broke for the Chancellor's Administrative Report at 1:34 p.m. and resumed his presentation with a short question and answer period at 1:54 p.m., which included comments on:

  • the integration of student travel patters within the system;
  • implementation in Newark and Camden;
  • faculty parking issues;
  • whether the system takes into account accessibility issues;
  • reconciliation of time and room availability;
  • members of the Scheduling Committee; and
  • cost of the system.

5.    Administrative Report - Deba Dutta, New Brunswick Chancellor

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

  • his expression of thanks for the committee's expedited approval of the Athletics Academic Oversight Committee report;
  • his State of the University Address on February 28;
  • his recent Campus Conversations and Town Hall Meetings; and
  • the state of the University's Budget in relation to New Brunswick and the implementation of RCM.

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

  • what he is taking away from the Campus Conversations and Town Hall Meetings;
  • in-state vs. out-of-state and international enrollment; and
  • the misproportion of PTLs vs. full-time faculty.

6.    Resisting the Corporatization of the University and Strengthening Faculty Governance - Deepa Kumar, President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT

Deepa Kumar, President of the Rutgers AAUP-AFT and David Hughes, Vice President of the Rutgers AAUP-AFT, presented the desire for all Rutgers unions to come together in the name of bargaining for the common good. Their presentation included topics such as:

  • involvement with DACA;
  • affordable health care and health care of PTLs;
  • $15 minimum wage;
  • the university shifting toward becoming a profit center;
  • endowments;
  • the misproportion of PTLs vs. full-time faculty;
  • job security;
  • faculty leadership and strengthening faculty governance;
  • making Rutgers family friendly with 1 semester leave for new parents;
  • academic freedom; and
  • gender and race equality issues.

7.   Committee Reports

  • Athletic Affairs Committee - Kenneth McKeever, Chair 
    • McKeever discussed the AAOC charge that was received by the Chancellor and the work the Athletic Affairs Committee did to turn the charge around on a very short timeline and the advisory role the NBFC will play going forward. 
  • Academic Affairs Committee - Robert Boikess, Chair
    • Boikess discussed the committee's response to their charge on evaluation of teaching. A draft of the response will be distributed at the next meeting.
  • Budget, Planning, & Infrastructure - Triveni Kuchi, Co-Chair
    • Kuchi discussed the committee's plans to run a survey regarding faculty's concerns and experiences.  A draft of the survey will be available for input by the next meeting.  
  • Faculty and Personnel Affairs - Karen Thompson/Tugrul Ozel, Co-Chair
    • Thompson discussed the committee's concerns regarding the new initiative by UHR on conducting background checks for new hires as well as the new course scheduling system.
  • Student Affairs - Sue Shapses, Chair
    • Shapses spoke about her committee's plans 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. Shapses looked for recommendations on how to target student issues more effectively.

8.    Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 3:19 p.m.

 

Written and submitted by
Mary Mickelsen
NBFC Recording Secretary