RUTGERS UNIVERSITY SENATE
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
MINUTES
October 11, 2024

MEMBERS PRESENT: Boxer, E. Brown, R. Maeng Brown, Esposito, Foster (Chair), Haley, Kiss, Olivera, Pierce, Rodriguez, Roth

ALSO ATTENDING: K. Anderson (ITC Committee Chair), R. Boikess (BOT Faculty Representative), J. Boucher (USGC Committee Chair), M. Carmona (Senior Executive Assistant to the Camden Chancellor), T. Cooper (ICAC Committee Chair), M. Dock (ABIDE Committee Chair), T. Figueira (BFC Committee Chair), R. Giraud (Senator), V. Hewitt (University Senate Executive Secretary), T. Knievel (ITC Committee Chair), P. Moghe (Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs), K. O’Halloran (Vice President for Academic Planning & Administration, EVPAA), K. Patel (SAC Committee Chair), W. Purcell (BOT Faculty Representative), R. Quincy (ABIDE Committee Chair), R. Schwartz (ASRAC Committee Chair), T. Shinbrot (BFC Committee Chair), M. Smith (University Senate Administrative Assistant), A. Tillis (Camden Chancellor), N. Yusuf (BOT Graduate Student Representative)

The regular meeting of the University Senate Executive Committee was held on Friday, October 11, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. remotely via Zoom.

Chair’s Report– Lucille Foster, Senate Chair

Chair Foster called the October 11, 2024 Senate Executive Committee meeting to order at 11:02 a.m.

Secretary’s Report– Vicki Hewitt, Senate Executive Secretary

• The October 11, 2024 Executive Committee Agenda was approved.
• The September 6, 2024 Senate Executive Committee Minutes were approved.
• Four administrative responses were received:
  • Response to S-2110: Research Information Systems
  • Response to S-2302: Budgetary Considerations Underlying Potential Merger of the RBHS Subunits Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and New Jersey Medical School into One Medical School
  • Response to S-2312 Senate Officer Compensation
  • Response to S-2319 Explore Mechanisms, Methods and Processes for Senators to Communicate Senate Work and Information to their Constituents
• Communications announced:
  • Academic Freedom Panel: Wed. Oct. 16 from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
  • Budget Town Hall: Wed. Oct. 23 from 9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
  • Senate Socials: Fri. Nov. 8 and Fri. April 11 from 12:00 – 2:00 p.m.
  • Provosts’ Roundtable: Fri. Jan. 31 from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.

Administrative Report – Prabhas Moghe, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

Dr. Moghe provided the Administrative Report consisting of the following topics:

• President Holloway’s Stakeholder Address
• Appointment of John J. Farmer, Jr. as Interim Senior Vice President and General Counsel
• S. News & World Report College Rankings
• International Student Enrollment
• Roadmaps for Collective Academic Excellence
• 2024 Rutgers Innovation Awards Banquet

Dr. Moghe then answered questions on the following topics:

• Home countries of international students
• Support services for international students

Discussion – Antonio Tillis, Camden Chancellor

Appointment of a Non-Senator to a Senate Committee – Adam Kustka (ABIDE)

Adam Kustka has filled a vacant seat on the Senate, so this agenda item was no longer needed.

Standing Committees/Panels

2024-2025 Committee Chair Positions
ABIDE: Malica Dock and Ronald Quincy
ASRAC: Robert Boikess and Robert Schwartz
BFC: Thomas Figueira and Troy Shinbrot
FPAC: Paul Boxer and Anna Haley
ICAC: Natalie Borisovets and Taryn Cooper
ITC: Katie Anderson and Tim Knievel
RGPEC: Monica Mazurek
SAC: Rachel Maeng Brown, Gary Santos Mendoza, Kush Patel
USGC: James Boucher and Wendy Purcell

Proposed Charge:

The Creation of a University-Wide Storage Solution for Club/Organizational Equipment as well as the Repurposing of Abandoned/Defunct Buildings for Club Storage Purposes – Denis Parfilko, Non-Senator

Charge: The lack of adequate storage for many organizations on campus, many of which cannot operate, despite already having paid for their equipment simply because Rutgers does not allow for clubs to have dedicated storage space. Simply put, the committee should provide storage for the equipment already owned by Rutgers (by virtue of being owned by clubs) and was bought with Rutgers money (through SABO).

Rationale: Many organizations have RUSA approved equipment that was already paid for by SABO (such as audio equipment, machinery, expensive tools, etc.) which, due to their cost and/or size, can neither be expected to be safely kept in a student dormitory nor safely transported via the campus bus system to wherever they are used. Moreover, Rutgers buildings provide no club storage options whatsoever (paid or otherwise) simply because they do not have the power to do so. This puts many organizations in a weird position where they often have equipment for a specific purpose that is paid for with SABO funds as well as having the appropriate approval from the relevant student bodies, BUT they cannot use said equipment simply because the building managers cannot guarantee the safe storage of their equipment. This creates an absurd situation where literal HUNDREADS of clubs are limited in what they are able to do simply because of storage concerns. They have the equipment, but they cannot bring it on campus because they cannot store it. Here is a real life example: The Voice Acting Network and Collective of Entertainers bought microphones and various sound equipment during Spring 2023 as part of their organizational costs, and was reimbursed by SABO for it. This equipment, unsurprisingly, was intended to be used for Voice Acting purposes. The Club advisor approved of the purchase, the Treasurer of the club signed off on the purchase, the packaged were confirmed as shipped by Amazon and received at the right time, the proof of purchase was provided and SABO issued the appropriate reimbursement, the Alexander Library (place of recording) was aware of the equipment’s existence and consented to the equipment being used on their premises, there was agreement on all sides, and yet, the equipment still cannot be stored anywhere in the Alexander Library because they cannot provide storage. Worse still, the staff of the nearby Simon De Witt Building, the School of Communications Building, Campbell Hall, Brower, Student Center, Stonier Hall, Student Activities Center, and College Avenue Gym all said the same thing “we cannot store club equipment, and because we can’t store it on the premises you’re not allowed to use it”. In fact, there existed NO BUILDING, private, public, or otherwise on College Ave at all that was willing to store this Rutgers equipment (which remember was rubber stamped by everyone up to the dean). I ended up talking with the representatives of SABO, the Allocations Board, Rutgers Student Storage, Central Receiving & Storage, the Office of Institutional Planning and Operations, RUSA, RUPA, NJPIRG, Francine Conway, and every other bureaucrat in New Brunswick only to be told that “your issue is very important to us, BUT another department deals with this specific issue”. I spent the last two years being rattled around by the labyrinth of inconsistent regulations all to be told that “NO, actually, you, a RUTGERS CLUB, paid for by RUTGERS’ BUDGET, are not allowed to use your RUTGERS EQUIPTMENT, bought with RUTGERS MONEY, inside a RUTGERS BUILDING, for the purposes of a RUTGERS CLUB because RUTGERS refuses to store said equipment, but will also not allow you to keep it in a student dorm, an off campus dorm, or a third location for security reasons”. It’s a truly bizarre and Kafkaesque world that we live in where university policy approves of and is willing to endorse almost every single kind of club request EXCEPT for adequate storage, and insist upon the fact that clubs can somehow magically operate and maintain their equipment without any kind of storage solutions. The great irony isn’t even that Rutgers thinks that Microphones and sound systems can be stored in hammerspace and be pulled out whenever needed, rather it is the fact that the university INSISTS that there is always a lack of space when there is a Disneyland’s worth of abandoned buildings on campus, starting with the Bowling Alley on Douglass and ending with Davidson Hall on Busch. The funniest part is that this systemic issue is easily solvable. This can be easily done by repurposing many of the dilapidated Rutgers owned buildings on campus into storage space for various clubs and organizations. The repurposing of Ford Hall on College Ave alone could satisfy the needs of well over 200 organizations at a minimal cost on already owned land. Conveniently, this also removed on of College Ave’s biggest eye sores, a dilapidated building from the 1980s within eyeshot of The Yard, by far the most trafficked are of Rutgers. Additionally Ford Hall was one of the buildings that was planned to be renovated anyway for the Rutgers2030 initiative, why not make it useful. This cheap solution also happens to have wide support among Rutgers students (a poll among various club eboards was done in the Spring of 2024 and found that well of 90% of students support the repurposing for Ford Hall for club needs).

Outcome: The Executive Committee declined to issue this charge, as it is specific to one Chancellor-Led Unit and not University-wide. The proposer will be invited to submit this charge to the New Brunswick Faculty Council.

Proposed Charge:

Whether a Professor Can Ask Students to Turn on Their Cameras in a SYNCHRONOUS Online Course – Senator Bharat Sarath, Rutgers Business School:Undergraduate NB, Faculty

Charge: Why students are not obliged to turn on their cameras with a blurred background when they are in a synchronous online session. If they leave their video turned off and you ask them a question and they fail to respond, can they be penalized.

Rationale: When Covid was rife, students had to involuntarily attend online sessions and maybe privacy protection was an issue. Now, when students CHOOSE an online course, the need to turn on cameras can be put as a requirement for enrolling in the course.

Outcome: The Executive Committee declined to issue this charge; the proposer will be asked to revise and resubmit. Senators Boxer and Haley will consult with the proposer.

Open Charge Request:

ITC requests a deadline extension to January 2025 for the following charge:

S-2325: Explore the Current Virtual Senate Meeting Format and Develop Best Practices and Meeting Format Recommendations

Outcome: The deadline for S-2325 was extended to January 2025.

Old Business

Allocation of the Board of Governors Representatives’ Seats

This was postponed to the November Executive Committee meeting.

New Business

One item of New Business was added to the agenda with unanimous consent: USGC requested clarification on S-2314-1 Continued Assessment of Ongoing Merger Process of New Jersey Medical School and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. The Executive Committee discharged S-2314-1.

Adjournment

The Executive Committee adjourned at 12:39 p.m.

Minutes prepared by: Vicki Hewitt, Executive Secretary of the University Senate