Meeting Minutes #224

Members Present:  E. Alessi, S. Bhuyan, R. Boikess, W. Castellano, M. Doerfel, B. Faga, M. DiNardo, Z. Gajic, M. Gliserman, A. Gould, P. Hirschfield, J. Kenfield, D. Knight, T. Kuchi, M. Mayer, T. Ozel, A. Pichugin, J. Pietruska, J. Rubin, F. Ryan, S. Shapses, N. Sheflin, K. Sloman, T. Stephens, T. Szatrowski, P. Takhistov, K. Thompson, S. Westfall, E. Williams, R. Womack, J. Worobey, J. Zahn

Non-Members Present: H. Agnostak (Associate Vice President of Labor Relations), F. Cornilliat, M. Cotter (NBFC Parliamentarian), D. Dutta (New Brunswick Chancellor), M. Mickelsen (NBFC Recording Secretary), K. Mittra (Director of Talent Acquisition)

1.    Call to Order – Sanjib Bhuyan, New Brunswick Faculty Council (NBFC) Chair 
 
New Brunswick Faculty Council Chairperson Sanjib Bhuyan called the 224th meeting of the New Brunswick Faculty Council to order at 1:07 p.m. on Friday, April 20, 2018 in Room 174 of the Busch Student Center, Busch Campus. His report included comments on:

  • an update on and next steps following a presentation made by Pat Hobbs, Rutgers Athletic Director, to the NBFC Executive Committee on how athletics relates to academics at Rutgers;
  • progress of the new NBFC website;
  • thanks to Martin Gliserman for all his work on the Report on the Teaching Conference on Evaluation of Teaching

2.    Approval of Agenda 
 
The Agenda was approved as distributed by the Chair.
 
3.    Approval of Minutes of March 30, 2018 Meeting

The March 30, 2018 NBFC Minutes were approved with a minor spelling correction.

4.    Administrative Report - Deba Dutta, New Brunswick Chancellor

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

  • an update on the office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation, headed by Dr. Prabhas Moghe;
  • his work with the NJ Governor’s office; and
  • the rise in online education and how Rutgers-NB can open its doors to non-traditional students, particularly for undergraduate degrees.

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

  • Rutgers leading the Big 10 in overuse of PTLs; and
  • Athletic and Academic Oversight Committee Requirements.

5.    Language Requirement at Rutgers-New Brunswick – Professor Francois Cornilliat

Professor Cornilliant discussed his report that was presented to the University Administration and the New Brunswick Deans and faculty last year.  The report proposed two different language requirements to be considered:

  • Incentives of heritage speakers to advance their language which would add 6-8 credits to their major. (Noted: this was met by great reluctance by many schools)
  • A 1-credit requirement meant to work as a trigger in coordination with another course – eg: service to the community, etc.  This is looking to change the perception of a language as a skill that you tack on.

Professor Cornilliant expressed interest in bringing students own language competencies to the forefront and celebrating them.  The resolution in the report asks for 2-3 years to develop content and creation of an ad hoc committee that would take over where the task force left off.  The resolution is to be presented on May 1 at the SAS-NB faculty meeting with other schools following, excluding Rutgers Business School, which has declined to present the resolution to faculty.

6.   UHR’s New Policy on Employee Background Checks – Kaushik Mittra, Director of Talent Acquisition and Harry Agnostak, Assoicate Vice President of Labor Relations

Mittra and Agnostak presented on UHR’s new policy regarding faculty and staff background checks. *insert slide deck*

They then answered questions on the following:

  • new hires for ex-felons and who makes the determination on eligibility;
  • having a criminal record and whether that is a disqualifier;
  • whether or not this process applies to graduate students;
  • length of time to complete the process;
  • cost of the program and who will be responsible;
  • other Big 10 schools who actively engage in background checks for employees;
  • confidentiality; and
  • social media searches.

7.        Committee Reports

  • Ad Hoc Committee on Organizational Structure, Roles, and Responsibilities – Ann Gould, Chair
    • Gould discussed the committee’s charge: Examine and evaluate changes of administration structure and plans to submit the committee’s interim report.

 

  • Academic Affairs Committee - Robert Boikess, Chair and Alexander Pichugin
  • Pichugin discussed the April 10 Infosilem Committee meeting at which Chris Morret gave a presentation on the functionality of the system as well as a general timeline for the launch.  Morret expressed concern about the ADA components, which will have to be done manually

 

  • Athletic Affairs Committee – Tom Stephens, Member
    • Stephens gave a report in the chair’s absence.  An anticipated report will be submitted on athletic conferences this committee’s members have attended over the course of the AY.   The committee also plans to follow up on the AAOC report. 
  • Budget, Planning, & Infrastructure – Ryan Womack, Co-Chair
    • Womack reported that a preliminary brief parking survey was conducted with a 22% response rate. The committee plans to work over the summer on a full report.  
  • Faculty and Personnel Affairs - Karen Thompson/Tugrul Ozel, Co-Chair
    • Thompson reported on the committee’s discussions on the new scheduling system, background checks and the decreasing number of tenure-track faculty positions and the increased reliance on PTLs.  The committee plans to look at the underlying issues surrounding tenure-track and PTL issues over the summer.
  • Student Affairs - Sue Shapses, Chair
    • Shapses expressed her committee’s concern regarding deans being moved to College Avenue and not being on the same campus as their students and faculty.  She also expressed concern regarding the apparent rising number of campus deaths and what the university is or is not doing in response.

8.        Election of Vice Chair and Executive Committee Members for 2018-19 and University Senate Faculty Senator At-Large New Brunswick

Martha Cotter, NBFC Parliamentarian, led the process for electing 2018-19 Council leadership and the University Senate, Faculty Senator At-Large New Brunswick seat.  Nominations were made and members voted which resulted in the following:

  • 2018-19 Council Executive Committee 
    • Chair: Sanjib Bhuyan
    • Vice Chair:    Tugrul Ozel
    • EC Members:
      • Robert Boikess
      • Martin Gliserman
      • Ann Gould
      • Ted Szatrowski
      • Karen Thompson
  • University Senate Senator At-Large New Brunswick
    • Ken McKeever, 3-year term ending June 30, 2021 

9.        New Business

Resolution for EC on Heavy-Handed Treatment of Student Protestors – Robert Boikess

After reading the resolution and answering related questions, Boikess moved that the NBFC recommend the Resolution Regarding RU-NB Student Protestors.  The resolution carried unanimously.

Ozone Passes – Ted Szatrowski

Szatrowski informed the council that during the month of May on Ozone Alert Days NJ Transit is offering a fare of $1.60 for all riders. (For Information Only)

10.      Old Business There was no other business.

11.    Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 3:36 p.m.