Meeting minutes #227

Members Present:  J. Aiello, S. Bhuyan, R. Boikess, W. Castellano, E. Curchitser, M. Doerfel, B. Faga, M. Flahive DiNardo, A. Gibmey, M. Gliserman, J. Gonzalez, E. Greenfield-Cohen, R. Kettler, D. Knight, T. Kuchi, J. Longo, S. Martin Marquez, K. McKeever, D. Miller, K. Morgan, T. Ozel, A. Pichugin, P. Pietroski, G. Rendsburg, F. Ryan, S. Shapses, T. Szatrowski, E. Williams, R. Womack, L. Yu, J. Zahn, A. Zervingon

Non-Members Present:  P. Gilmore (Administrative Dean – New Brunswick Honors College), B. Lee (Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs), M. Matsuda (Academic Dean – New Brunswick Honors College), C. Molloy (New Brunswick Interim Chancellor), M. Nemes (Assistant NBFC Recording Secretary)

1.    Call to Order – Sanjib Bhuyan, New Brunswick Faculty Council (NBFC) Chair 
 
New Brunswick Faculty Council Chairperson Sanjib Bhuyan called the 227th meeting of the New Brunswick Faculty Council to order at 1:07 p.m. on Friday, November 30, 2018 in Room 174 of the Busch Student Center, Busch Campus. His report included comments on:

• the Administrative Report will be given by Interim Chancellor Molloy

2.    Approval of Agenda 
 
The Agenda was approved
 
3.    Approval of Minutes of September 28, 2018 Meeting

The October 26, 2018 NBFC Minutes  were approved with one correction – K. Morgan was present.

4.    Administrative Report – Christopher Molloy, Interim Chancellor – Rutgers New Brunswick

Interim Chancellor Christopher Molloy’s administrative report included comments on:

• reorganization of the New Brunswick Chancellor Cabinet;
• visits with local politicians including Senator Sweeny;
• New Brunswick budget planning to include the hiring of a Vice Chancellor of Finance and Chief Financial Officer and exploring issues related to RCM;
• working to prioritize with the academic deans via bi-weekly meetings;
• closing the gap between PTLs and full-time faculty;
• fundraising efforts;
• improving the marketing and branding of the university- specifically in relation to New Brunswick;
• improving the student experience in relation to career services support;
• the Canvas migration; and
• online education.

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

• attracting more out-of-state and international students;
• Rutgers identity especially in relation to applicants;
• Rutgers Food Pantry;
• drug-related student deaths and the administration’s response;
• Governor Murphy’s support of Rutgers;
• facilities issues, in particular mold due to flooding;
• the possibility of Rutgers absorbing central state community colleges, similar to Rowan University; and
• issues regarding accepting transfer credits and are they adequate pre-requisites.

6.   Honors College Update – Paul Gilmore, Administrative Dean – New Brunswick Honors College and Matt Matsuda, Academic Dean – New Brunswick Honors College

Gilmore and Matsuda gave a detailed update on the New Brunswick Honors College

He answered questions on the following:

• acceptance rates to the Honors College;
• weight placed on SAT scores to determine acceptance;
• student’s ability transferring out of programs who opt out of the Honors College in order to be considered/accepted;
• the Honors College collaborative approach, especially between the school honors programs;
• Capstone research project.

7.   Evaluation of the Teaching Update – Barbara Lee, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Gary Gigliotti, Associate Vice President, Academic Affairs – Teaching and Assessment Research, and Monica Devanas, Director of Teaching Evaluation and Faculty Development

Lee, Gigliotti, and Devanas updated the Council on the progress of the Evaluation of Teaching which included comments on:

• history of the origin of the research – including work at the level of the University Senate’s Faculty and Personnel Affairs Committee;
• student feedback;
• classroom observation;
• teaching portfolios;
• task force which looked at student surveys and that continues to use student feedback in collaboration with observation and portfolios, while keeping in mind student feedback is not the only criteria for evaluation;
• work with departments on holding seminars on the process;
• subcommittees focusing on improving the peer review process and portfolios and allowing the schools to craft their own portfolio requirements which can include a description of teaching philosophies, etc; and
• utilization of eXplorance Blue for student surveys.

Lee, Gigliotti, and Devanas then responded to questions on the above topics and the following:

• enrollment in faculty seminars;
• inaccurate information relayed to first-year professors regarding student evaluations being the sole source of teaching evaluations;
• evaluation process for professors who teach outside of the classroom, i.e. advising and special projects;
• the criteria by which eXplorance Blue was chosen and possible biases of the program;
• action against incomplete student response rates; and
• biases within student evaluations.

7.   Committee Reports

• Academic Affairs Committee - Robert Boikess
  • Boikess relayed the committee’s interest in researching academic integrity at Rutgers to augment the committee put in place by Barbara Lee.  Issues related to enforcement, resources, administrative receptiveness. Also, to what level would the NBFC and, possibly, Senate be involved. 
     
• Athletic Affairs Committee – Ken McKeever
  • McKeever reported requests for the Athletics budget has not been answered and is requesting a meeting with the Athletic Director, Patrick Hobbs.

• Budget, Planning, & Infrastructure – Ryan Womack and Triveni Kuchi, Co-Chairs
  • Kuchi reported that the data captured in the parking survey needs to be finalized.  She discussed the NB Libraries strategic planning efforts including a survey engaging faculty and students.

• Faculty and Personnel Affairs - Karen Thompson/Tugrul Ozel, Co-Chair
  • Ozel reported that his committee discussed the inappropriate use of student teaching evaluations in recent personnel decisions and also inconsistent applications of tenure and promotion criteria by promotion review committees not following the established practice at the university.

• Student Affairs – Sue Shapses, Chair
  • Michelle Jefferson, New Brunswick Campus, Dean of Student Affairs spoke about the centralization of the deans and accessibility of the students.  She also spoke about the opioid problem at Rutgers and the legalization of marijuana and how the administration plans react.

Teaching Conference 2019 – Martin Gliserman

Gliserman discussed the desire to hold another teaching conference in 2019.  Currently there is a solicitation for topics which can be submitted to NBFC Sanjib Bhuyan. Gliserman will be on sabbatical in 2019 and is looking for a replacement to chair the planning committee.

8.   New Business 

Resolution on the Faculty Contract Settlement – NBFC Executive Committee

Robert Boikess discussed the need to create a resolution to the administration regarding facilitating a quicker settlement of faculty contracts.

9.   Adjournment 

The meeting was adjourned at 3:32 p.m.

Written and submitted by:

Morgan Nemes
Assistant NBFC Recording Secretary