Meeting Minutes #235

Members Present:  Alderman, Boikess, Carbonell-Nicolau, Castellano, Curchitser, Faga, Figueira, Flahive-DiNardo, Gajic, Gonzalez, Gould, Hirschfield, Hoover, Linardopoulos, Margolis, McKeever, Morgan, Mullen, Ozel, Pichugin, Ritter, Ryan, Shapses, Szatrowski, Thompson, Womack, Yu, Zhan

Non-Members Present:  V. Fernandez (Senior Vice President for Human Resources and Organizational Effectiveness), B. Lee (Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs), S. Mena (Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, RU-New Brunswick), M. Mickelsen (NBFC Recording Secretary)

1. Call to Order – Tugrul Ozel, New Brunswick Faculty Council (NBFC) Chair 
 
New Brunswick Faculty Council Chairperson Tugrul Ozel called the 235th meeting of the New Brunswick Faculty Council to order at 1:14 p.m. on Friday, January 31, 2020 in Room 174 of the Busch Student Center, Busch Campus. Tugrul Ozel presented his Chair’s Report (slides) and answered questions on the following topics:

  • Resolution on the Athletics program passed at the November 22, 2019 meeting, which was sent to the President, BOG, and NJ media. There has been no response from the RU Administration.
  • New Brunswick Advisory Council meeting on December 9th and provided updates about the hiring of Greg Shiano as the new football coach, food insecurity, fundraising and diversity, inclusion and community engagement, and the new Vice Chancellor, Anna Branch.
  • The University Senate University Structure and Governance Committee is reviewing the charge to include the faculty councils in the University Policy Library.
  • President-Designee Jonathan Holloway was announced and all four faculty councils came together and drafted a letter to be sent on the same day he was appointed and Holloway responded (slides).

2.  Approval of Agenda 
 
The agenda was approved.
 
3.  Approval of Minutes of October 25, 2019 Meeting

The November 22, 2019 minutes were approved.

4.  Administrative Report – Salvador Mena, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs RU-New Brunswick

Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Salvador Mena presented a report and answered questions on the following:

  • Rutgers Food Pantry; Food Insecurity and the bi-annual survey;
  • Student Mental Health
    • Embedding counselors in communities to reduce stigma and increase accessibility;
    • Addition of diverse resources that match the community’s needs;
    • Peer Counseling/Coaching
    • Mental Health Training for faculty and peers;
  • Generalized Personal Wellness
  • Diversity and Inclusion
  • Sexual/Interpersonal Violence
    • ISpeak Survey 2018;
    • understanding and being sensitive to cultural boundaries;
    • development of an action plan
  • Capital Planning
    • space challenges;
    • Student Life Master Plan future goals;
    • E-Gaming Center in the Busch Student Center planned for spring 2020;
    • Livingston Student Center, Multipurpose Lounge moved to new location to include a meditation/prayer space;
    • opening of Café West in the Rutgers Academic Building;
    • Daily Targum relocating to the Student Activities Center;
    • IFNH has opened a Harvest Juice Bar on the Busch Campus
  • Issues the NBFC could help with
    • Take the mental health first aid training
    • Faculty are not alone when you encounter a situation involving a student. Contact Dean of Students if there are issues and they will direct faculty to the appropriate resource

5. Updates on One Source– Vivian Fernandez, Senior Vice President for Human Resources and Organizational Effectiveness

SVP Fernandez gave an overview (slides) of the new UHR program One Source– which included information on:

  • Launched on August 29th
  • Improves the customer experience and a greater level of service with one-point of contact
  • 3-Tier System (0-online; 1-problem resolution; 2-specialized support from experts)
  • High level of training
  • Increase in response time due to improving training and de-bugging the system

 

6. Update on Consensual Relationship Policy – Barbara Lee, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

SVP Lee reviewed the background on the work of the sexual harassment committee and the recommendations made. One of which was the forbiddance of a relationship between staff/faculty and students due to creating a conflict of interest and whether or not the relationship can truly be consensual. A subcommittee looked into peer institution policies, and University of Texas was used as a model for the Rutgers draft policy.  A draft policy was put together and several Rutgers entities were asked to review it. Once all responses are consolidated, the final policy will be revised and sent to the Board of Governors. Lee asked the NBFC to review the policy and alert her to any issues found.

7.  Discussion of the Appeal to the Senate on not Consulting with Faculty about the implementation of Course Atlas (link resolution)

Robert Boikess discussed the background and supporting evidence behind the request for an appeal. After fielding questions, a vote was called and the motion passed unanimously.

8. Committee Reports

  • Academic Affairs Committee - Robert Boikess, Chair
    • Boikess reported his committee is looking into gathering data around the issue of grade inflation and the reliance of student evaluations. He asked the council to inform him of any specific data they would want the committee to look at in addition.
  • Athletic Affairs Committee – Ken McKeever, Chair
    • McKeever reported the committee continues to brainstorm on positive aspects of athletics that will contribute to the university in a positive way. They are looking at bridging the gap between the NBFC and the athletics administration. The committee members have specific assignments to complete which they will bring back for the next meeting.
  • Budget, Planning, & Infrastructure – Ryan Womack and Tom Figueira, Co-Chairs
    • Womack circulated the parking survey to the council and offered to submit it to Jack Molenaar, Director of Parking Services and/or Christopher Molloy, NB Chancellor. There was some discussion regarding issues with electric charging stations that are broken and others that are in constant use and not enough for all.
  • Faculty and Personnel Affairs - Francois Berthiaume and Karen Thompson, Co-Chairs
    • Thompson reported the committee discussed what some priorites for the President-Elect might have and how the NBFC might forster his support in faculty governance.  The main topics included the proliferation of NTT faculty as directors and that these positions should go to tenured professors.
  • Student Affairs – Sue Shapses, Member
    • Shapses reported no members attended the meeting and therefor no discussion ensued.

9. New Business

  • New Brunswick Level Strategic Plan for the Libraries.
  • The Learning Management System Steering Committee member Julie Sass Rubin is stepping down and the next meeting was on February 7th and a new member is needed to replace her. NBFC Chairperson Ozel called for volunteers and Nikolaos Linardopoulos volunteered to serve as NBFC Faculty Representative in the LMS Steering Committee.

10.  Adjournment 

Meeting Adjourned at 3:38pm

Written and submitted by:

Mary Mickelsen
NBFC Recording Secretary