Meeting Minutes #243

Members Present: Akin, Bal, Benarova, Berthiaume, Bhuyan, Boikess, Castellano, Faga, Figueira, Gajic, Gasman, Gliserman, Gonzalez, Greenfield, Hirschfield, Hoover, Linardopoulos, Longo,  McKeever, Morales, Mullen, Ozel, Paul, Pichugin, Rendsburg, Ryan, Shapses, Szatrowski, Thompson, Tsakalakos, Williams, Winters, Womack, Zahn

Non-Members Present: Christopher Molloy (New Brunswick Chancellor), Brian Ballentine (Senior Vice President for Strategy), Ashwani Monga (Newark Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor ), Romayne Botti (New Brunswick Vice Chancellor for Finance), Martha Cotter (Parliamentarian)

1. Call to Order – Tugrul Ozel, New Brunswick Faculty Council (NBFC) Chair

Chair Ozel called the meeting to order at 1:10 PM on Friday, March 12, 2021 remotely via Zoom.

2. Approval of Agenda

The agenda was approved.

3. Approval of the Minutes of the February 26, 2021 Meeting

The minutes were approved with the understanding that several typos would be corrected.

4. Chair’s Report – Tugrul Ozel

Chair Ozel welcomed everyone to the meeting and presented the following updates:

  • The University Senate University Structure and Governance Committee (USGC) has issued a report and resolution calling for the inclusion of the Rutgers Faculty Councils in the University Policy Library. This will be presented to the full Senate for a vote at the Senate meeting on March 26, 2021 at 1:10 PM.
  • The New Brunswick Chancellor’s Report will also be presented at the March 26th Senate meeting.
  • The NBFC has been looking into the current Rutgers financial situation and collecting information related to the New Brunswick campus. Chancellor Molloy will join us later in the meeting to provide further information.
  • Five NB Faculty Council members have been serving on COACHE working groups providing feedback on Provost’s initiatives.
  • The Rutgers Coalition of Faculty Councils will be meeting on March 23 to get organized and prepared for a meeting with President Holloway’s team.

5. Administrative Report – Chancellor Christopher Molloy

Chancellor Molloy began his comments by noting that it has been one year since the lockdown began. He thanked faculty members for their outstanding help during this very challenging year and expressed his optimism about the 2021-22 academic year, particularly the spring 2022 semester.

The Chancellor then provided the following information about the financial state of the University in general and the New Brunswick campus in particular, in response to a series of questions generated by the NBFC Budget, Finance, and Infrastructure Committee:

  • The projected deficit of $37.5 million is based on a series of assumptions about cost saving targets, government assistance, enrollments, etc. The budget situation is fluid and still critical.
  • Federal programs have given us excellent resources to be able to maintain student financial aid. The only cutback needed was a small cut in the funds for presidential scholarships.
  • We have had to cut way back on capital projects. We’ve managed to complete a very small number of projects that were well underway but otherwise everything is on hold.
  • I (the Chancellor) do not know what the criterion is for a declaration of financial emergency.

Following the Chancellor’s comments, there was an inconclusive discussion of ways to improve communication between the Chancellor and the NBFC.

6.   Presentation on the Five-Year Review of RCM at Rutgers – Senior Vice President Brian Ballentine, Newark Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ashwani Monga, and New Brunswick  Vice Chancellor Romayne Botti

Brian Ballentine, assisted by Ashwani Monga and Romayne Botti, presented an overview of the five-year review process for RCM.  Some of the major points of the presentation were as follows:

  • The review committee was charged to:
    • Assess how effectively the current budget model is being used to support institutional priorities, such as academic excellence, public mission, diversity, equity and inclusion, and strategic clarity.
    • Review formulas and allocation methodologies to assess how the University’s campus and school-level needs are balanced against strategic and discretionary funding.
    • Recommend improvements in the mechanics of RCM that would help achieve desired institutional outcomes.
    • Devise strategies to make the mechanics of the model transparent to stakeholders, and facilitate communication and honest dialogue between units across the University.
  • The RCM Community Perception Survey was sent to faculty and staff in January 2021 to gauge community perceptions of the current Rutgers RCM model.  1574 people responded, of which 370 described themselves as highly engaged in the budget process, 484 described themselves as having limited engagement with the budget process, and 720 described themselves as not engaged in the budget process.
    • A substantial majority of respondents in all three categories agreed that the current RCM model does not provide an adequate level of transparency.
    • Only small percentages of respondents agreed that the current budget model supports institutional priorities, supports excellence in teaching and research, or supports collaboration, diversity, and public engagement. For example, for the respondents who are highly engaged in the budget process, the percentages are 15% for institutional priorities, 10% for excellence in teaching and research, and 6% for collaboration, etc.
    • Of those most highly engaged in the budget process (deans, department chairs, center directors, etc.), well under half indicate that they fully understand the current model while another 50% - 60% indicate that they understand most of it.
  • Other problems with the current model identified from community input include:
    • The lack of transparency makes it difficult to find information and contextualize budgeting decisions.
    • The model discourages academic collaborations of all kinds, particularly between schools.
    • The model discourages interdisciplinary research efforts.
    • Uncertainty over how funding decisions are makes it difficult to maintain appropriate balance between funding to support core strengths and support for new, strategic initiatives.
  • All the respondents to the RCM Community Perception Survey were given a list of proposed ways to improve the current RCM model and asked to select up to three top choices. The four most popular choices, in descending order, were:
    • Improve communication and education about how the model works.
    • Clarify how the model aligns with institutional priorities and values.
    • Clarify services provided by central offices.
    • Improve how the model facilitates collaboration between units.

7.  Committee Reports

Student Affairs – Haym Benaroya and Emily Greenfield, Co-chairs

  • The committee is working on a resolution responding to the concerns of students regarding gender identity. They hope to present the resolution at the April 23rd Council meeting.

Faculty and Personnel Affairs – Francois Berthiaume, Chair

  • Committee members continued to discuss the issue of NTTs serving as center directors, undergraduate chairs, etc.  They have decided to recommend the establishment of a task force to consider the issue since they failed to agree on more specific recommendations. The committee plans to present a resolution at the April 23rd Council meeting.

Budget, Planning and Infrastructure – Tom Figueira and Ryan Womack, Co-chairs

  • The committee is considering sending a memo to Chancellor Molloy in response to his answers to our questions on rhe financial state of the University.

Athletic Affairs – Ken McKeever, Chair

  • The committee had a short meeting in which members discussed the possibility that the excellent athletics academic advising system could be used as a model to improve general academic advising.

Academic Affairs – Bob Boikess and Marybeth Gasman, Co-chairs

  • The committee is continuing to discuss various aspects of the evaluation of teaching. It will have a number of suggestions to make but needs additional information.   

8.  New Business

There was no new business.

9. Old Business – Elections Updates

  • Chair Ozel asked parliamentarian Cotter to say a few words about the upcoming election of NBFC officers for 2021-22.
  • Cotter said that she will soon send out a request for nominations for Chair, Vice Chair, and other EC members and reminded those nominated that they will have to submit a brief campaign statement.
  • Karen Thompson reminded everyone that there needs to be an election for the two PTL representatives to the Council. Parliamentarian Cotter will start the process by preparing an email requesting nominations, which will be sent to the Chancellor’s office by NBFC Chair Ozel with the request that it be distributed to all New Brunswick PTLs.

10. Adjournment

Chair Ozel adjourned the meeting at 3:15 PM.

Written and submitted by

Martha Cotter, NBFC parliamentarian and substitute recording secretary