RUTGERS UNIVERSITY SENATE
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
MINUTES
January 10, 2025

MEMBERS PRESENT: Boxer, Esposito, Foster (Chair), Godoy, Haley, Kiss, Pierce, Rodriguez, Roth, Salas-de la Cruz, Schroth, Simonds

ALSO ATTENDING: R. Boikess (BOT Faculty Representative), B. Fedorko (BOT Undergraduate Student Representative), A. Fulton (Senator), V. Hewitt (University Senate Executive Secretary), P. Moghe (Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs), K. O’Halloran (Vice President for Academic Planning & Administration, EVPAA), W. Purcell (BOT Faculty Representative), J. Robinson (Rutgers-Newark Interim Chancellor), M. Smith (University Senate Administrative Assistant)

The regular meeting of the University Senate Executive Committee was held on Friday, January 10, 2025 at 12:00 p.m. remotely via Zoom.

Chair’s Report– Lucille Foster, Senate Chair

Chair Foster called the January 10, 2025 Senate Executive Committee meeting to order at 12:00 p.m.

Secretary’s Report– Vicki Hewitt, Senate Executive Secretary

• The January 10, 2025 Executive Committee Agenda was approved with the addition of one item of New Business.
• The December 6, 2024 Senate Executive Committee Minutes were approved.
• Communications announced:
  • Provosts’ Roundtable: Fri. Jan. 31 from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
  • President Holloway’s Report on University Finances: Fri. Feb. 14 from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

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

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

• Rutgers’ voluntary agreement with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR)
• Faculty awards and honors
• Research help bot launched for Institutional Review Board proposals
• Grant from the Advanced Research Projects Agency

Dr. Moghe then answered questions on the following topics:

• Retroactive discipline against student groups as part of the OCR agreement
• Training and climate assessment as part of the OCR agreement
• Student recruitment

Discussion – Jeffrey Robinson, Rutgers-Newark Interim Chancellor

University’s Operating Margin

The Executive Committee will invite Tony Calcado and Mike Gower to meet with them to discuss facilities plans and deferred maintenance.

Undemocratic Changes to Executive Committee Composition via Proposed New Bylaws

Amendments will be proposed at the January Senate meeting.

Resolution on Chat Settings During Senate Meetings

The Executive Committee docketed this resolution for the January Senate agenda.

Format of the 2025-26 Executive Committee and University Senate Meetings

Executive Committee meetings and University Senate meetings will be held remotely via Zoom in 2025-26.

Standing Committees/Panels

Proposed Charge

Senate Role in Shared Governance – Senator James Boucher, Camden At-Large, Faculty

Charge: Request that the University Structure and Governance Committee closely review and evaluate University policy 50.2.2 with the goal of further clarifying, verifying, and delineating the Senate’s official role in shared governance.

Rationale: This was part of a previous charge (S-2314). The first half of S-2314 was discharged, however, the issue of 50.2.2 and the University Senate’s role in shared governance remains a critical question that should be examined by USGC and discussed more broadly with the wider Senate body.

Outcome: The University Structure and Governance Committee was issued this charge with a deadline of January 2026.

Old Business

Allocation of the Board of Governors Representatives’ Seats

This issue will be discussed at the January Senate meeting as part of the Bylaws review.

New Business

One item of New Business was added to the agenda with unanimous consent:

Ad Hoc Committee on University Senate’s Communication with Constituents Through Social Media – Abigail Fulton and Christopher Godoy, Co-Chairs

Report on S-2335: University Senate’s Communication with Constituents Through Social Media

The committee was charged as follows:

Charge an ad hoc committee to explore and recommend how the University Senate can utilize social media platforms (i.e., Instagram) to create and enhance communications to foster awareness and engagement.

Outcome: The Executive Committee docketed this report for the January Senate agenda.

Adjournment

The Executive Committee adjourned at 2:51 p.m.

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