Meeting Minutes #246

Members Present: Akin, Benaroya,  Berthiaume, Boikess, Bouchard, Bowering Mullen, Faga,  Figueira, Flahive DiNardo, Gajic, Gasman, Gliserman, Gonzalez, Haley, Kalan,  Lapointe, Linardopoulos, Morales, Ozel, Parker, Ryan, Sanchez, Shapley, Smart, Szatrowski, Taghon, Thompson, Williams, Womack, Zahn

Non-Members Present: Francine Conway (New Brunswick Chancellor-Provost), Martha Cotter (Parliamentarian)

1.   Call to order: The meeting was called to order by Chair Marybeth Gasman on Friday, October 15, 2021, at 1:10 PM via Zoom.

2.   Approval of the agenda  

The agenda was approved.

3.   Approval of the minutes of the meeting of September 17, 2021

Parliamentarian Cotter reported that the following edits should be made:

  •  “via zoom” should be added to the end of the call to order.
  • Martha Cotter should be listed under Non-Members Present in the attendees list.
  • Add Saundra Tomlinson-Clarke’s title.

With these changes. the minutes were approved with the understanding that additional minor edits might be made.

4.   Chair's Report – Marybeth Gasman

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

  • The NBFC is co-sponsoring a teaching conference on December 3rd from 1- 4:30 p.m.  There will be representation from Council members and other faculty members from across Rutgers-New Brunswick. More information will be forthcoming from the Chancellor-Provost’s office. This event is considered one of the inaugural events included in President Holloway’s inauguration ceremonies.
  • Update on the Faculty Council’s involvement with the Academic Master Plan (AMP).
    • Chair Gasman, a member of the steering committee for the AMP, facilitated a conversation as part of the AMP planning process with research faculty related to the strengths and weaknesses of the New Brunswick campus in terms of  support for faulty carrying out research.
    • There will be a forthcoming conversation with tenure-track faculty, NTTs and PTLs related to teaching. Chair Gasman indicated that she asked that the PTLs Karen Thompson nominated for the teaching conference be invited to share their ideas in the forthcoming conversation as well. 
  • Chair Gasman spoke with Chancellor-Provost Conway about the Poet Laureate resolution.  The Chancellor-Provost was very supportive and has assigned Saundra Tomlinson-Clarke, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, to work with the NBFC on the matter.
  • Chair Gasman spoke with Chancellor-Provost Conway about our resolution on gender, transgender, and non-binary issues from last year and the Chancellor-Provost suggested that we work with Salvador Mena of Student Affairs and Anna Branch from Central Rutgers Diversity. Sal Mena and Anna Branch will be invited to the November Council meeting to talk about the resolution and how we can support students around gender issues in the classroom and beyond and educate ourselves about gender and gender issues.
  • The BOG’s approval of our inclusion in the University Policy Library will take place in the December BOG meeting.
  • Martha Cotter is working with the NBFC Executive Committee on recruiting to fill the open positions on the Council.  If there are open positions in your school, please help us recruit new members.  Chair Gasman will be speaking with the New Brunswick Deans at one of the upcoming Dean’s Council meetings and will ask the Deans to help recruit members from departments in their schools.

5.   Administrative Report – Francine Conway, New Brunswick Chancellor-Provost

Chancellor-Provost Conway thanked the group for welcoming her to speak and noted that she will be counting on the NBFC to advise her and support her as we work together to make Rutgers all that it can be. She then made the following comments:

  • She expressed her appreciation and thanks to the Rutgers faculty for all that they do to support the student body and the community. She said that the way the faculty handled the pandemic showed their true dedication.
  • She expressed her excitement at the opportunity to work closely with the NBFC and to align the interests of both parties. She encouraged the NBFC to reach out when in need of administrative support from The Chancellor-Provost’s office. 
  • She thanked Chair Gasman for setting the stage in a positive way and conveyed her belief that it is important to build relationships when times are good, not just when there are problems.
  • She thanked the NBFC for being eyes and ears on the ground for her.

The Chancellor-Provost then presented the following information on the Academic Master Plan.

  • The AMP will inform the direction of our academic priorities for the next 5 years or so.
  • It flows directly from the mission of the university as well as President Holloway’s hallmark around the relentless pursuit of academic excellence.
  • The focus is on content (academic program) and structure (infrastructure).
  • The AMP focuses on three areas:
    • Developing an academic vision statement
    • Planning for sustainable growth that reflects excellence and signature experiences as well as coordination among academic units.
    • Developing a pathway for progress through innovative research, inclusive pedagogy, and public service that impacts the intellectual life of our faculty, students, and staff.

The Chancellor-Provost would like to invite the NBFC and by extension, other faculty, to engage with her in this Academic Master Plan process. Ways in which faculty can help include:

  • serving on one of  the AMP committees,
  • responding to the survey that goes out to the broader community.
  • directly asking a question/making a comment through the website

Q and A Period: The following questions/comments/responses were made during the Q&A period following the administrative report:

  • Several members expressed concerns about lack of consultation with the faculty before decisions are made that will greatly impact New Brunswick faculty and about which  faculty possess needed expertise. Instead decisions are usually made without faculty input and the decision then simply announced afterwards to the faculty.
  • Chancellor-Provost Conway responded that she is committed to changing this situation and plans to be in constant communication with the Council through Chair Gasman. She  noted that she is aware of the challenges faculty face and committed to addressing the concerns faculty expressed in the COACHE survey. She further noted that she plans to add PTLs to the COACHE survey.
  • Ellen Williams then asked for an update on the Brandt Center.
  • Chancellor-Provost Conway responded that the Brandt Center, a multi-disciplinary behavioral and mental health center for youth, is under development and estimated to open in about 1.5 years.
  • Juan Gonzalez commented that there is a need for clarification on testing availability for vaccinated students and faculty.
  • Chancellor-Provost Conway responded that she plans to have a conversation with Tony Calcado and Brian Strom to get answers for faculty.
  • In response to concerns in the Latinx/African American/Asian communities about enrollment, Chancellor-Provost Conway responded that enrollment in the Honors College has increased and there has been a student-led initiative called True Inclusion to create increased diversity. We are also partnering with a number of land-grant and minority- serving institutions to increase the diversity of Ph.D. students.   

6.  Committee Reports:

  Student Affairs – Chair: Christine Morales

  • The Committee  is looking forward to the conversation in the November meeting around the resolution on gender indentities. Members are committed to making sure the resolution actually improves things for students and not just makes a point on paper.
  • Some feedback from students and faculty on how students are doing has been received.  For example, students in SAS seem to be thriving because they are happy to be back on campus.
  • The committee wants to gather food resources for those who have food insecurities specific to their gender status.

Faculty and Personnel Affairs – Chair: Francois Berthiaume

  • As part of its consideration of diversity inclusion issues, the committee is gathering data on minority group enrollments and faculty hires.
  • The committee is still considering a possible free speech resolution. Jonathan Zimmerman will be a guest speaker in January. It will help us figure out the direction we want to go on this issue.
  • The committee has set up a task force to pursue the issue of NTTs being appointed as program directors and chairs.
  • The committee is finalizing a survey to be distributed to New Brunswick faculty on how Rutgers supports its faculty in various areas of teaching, research and service.

Budget, Planning, and Infrastructure – Chair: Tom Figueira

  • The committee continues to pursue the issue of parking.
  • The committee continues to address budget issues regarding athletics, with the possibility of creating a task force or doing something in an inter-committee format.

Athletic Affairs – Chair: Ken McKeever

  • Chair McKeever, who could not be in attendance, has nothing to report.

Academic Affairs – Chair: Bob Boikess

  • The committee continued its discussion of the appropriate role for student teaching evaluations. In particular, it must decide what student evaluations should look like and how they should be used.
  • The committee believes we need another resolution on student teaching evaluations to draw the attention of the new administration to this matter.
  • The committee is looking into complaints that the Honors College is lacking in diversity and would like to invite Matt Matsuda, the Honors College academic dean, to an upcoming meeting to discuss this issue.

7.  New Business

     There was no new business.

8.  Old Business  

     There was no old business.

9.  Adjournment

    Chair Gasman adjourned the meeting at 3:00 PM.

 

Respectfully submitted:

Maria Crocco, Office of the Chancellor-Provost (10/29/21)