RUTGERS UNIVERSITY SENATE
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
M I N U T E S
June 5, 2020

MEMBERS PRESENT:  Bachmann, Boikess, Borisovets, Dasari, Gillett, Gould, Hunter, Kane, Matto, Oliver (Chair), Parsa, Thompson, Van Stine

MEMBERS ABSENT: Kane, Shobut

ALSO ATTENDING:  B. Ballentine (U. President Chief of Staff), T. Calcado (Executive Vice President for Strategic Planning and Operations and Chief Operating Officer), R. Crews (20-21 Staff Member of the Executive Committee), R. Giraud (20-21 Camden Faculty Member of the Executive Committee), A. Haley (20-21 BOT Faculty Representative), A. Kashilakar (19-20 BOG Student Representative), B. Lee (Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs), M. Mickelsen (University Senate Executive Secretary), B. Paskhover (19-20 and 20-21 BOT Faculty Representative), R. Schwartz (20-21 At-Large Faculty Member of the Executive Committee), T. Shinbrot (20-21 BOG Faculty Representative),  A. Simonds (20-21 At-Large Faculty Member of the Executive Committee), T. Struble (20-21 Alumnus Member of the Executive Committee)

The regular meeting of the University Senate Executive Committee was held on Friday, June 5, 2020 at 12:00 p.m. remotely via WebEx.

1.Chair’s Report– Jon Oliver, Senate Chair

Senate and Executive Committee Chair Jon Oliver called the meeting to order at 12:00 p.m. He welcomed all to the meeting, including members of the 20-21 Senate Executive Committee and Board Representatives.  He expressed his thanks to the current Senate Executive Committee for their continued hard work through the COVID crisis. He continued his expression of gratitude for the Senate Parliamentarian and Vice Chair Peter Gillett, Senate Executive Secretary Mary Mickelsen and Senate Administrative Assistant Morgan Smith.  He concluded his report with a suggestion for all senators to follow the Senate on social media to include Instagram and Twitter (@RutgersSenate).

2. Secretary’s Report – Mary Mickelsen, Executive Secretary of the Senate

• Agenda: The meeting agenda was approved
• Minutes: The following meeting minutes were approved:
  • April 17, 2020 Executive Committee Meeting
  • May 1, 2020 Regular Senate Meeting
  • May 21, 2020 Special Executive Committee Meeting
• Communications:
  • Chancellor Strom’s Response to the Senate’s Resolution on RBHS Contract Negotiations and the Status of Negotiations between the University and AAUP-BHSNJ
  • President Barchi’s Response to the Executive Committee’s Statement on University Response to Current Crisis (COVID-19)
  • The Following University Policies have been updated in the University Policy Library:
    • Policy 10.3.2: Student Residency for Tuition Purposes
    • Policy 60.4.3: Employment Protection and Job Security for Managerial, Professional, and Confidential (MPSC) and Other Non-aligned Employees
    • Policy 10.2.13: Academic Integrity Policy
    • Policy 60.1.32: Policy on Consensual Relationships in Academic Settings (NEW)
    • Policy 60.5.4: Faculty Appointment Procedures and Faculty Responsibilities

3. Update on the University’s Response to COVID-19– Brian Ballentine, Chief of Staff to the University President and Tony Calcado, Executive Vice President for Strategic Planning and Operations and COO

Calcado presented a high-level overview of the administration’s (confidential) draft plan (distributed at the meeting for the review of the Senate Executive Committee only) with focus on the health and safety of the Rutgers community and its visitors and explained it as a “controlled phased approach to re-opening”.

He then answered questions on the following topics:

• Plan for students returning
• Increase in “no touch” doors, ID swipes, elevators, etc.
• A possible change to the academic calendar
• International Students
• Staff layoffs/furloughs and the plan to have them return to work
• Work being done to prepare the buildings for reopening
• Final number of students committed to RU for the Fall semester
• Student Fees
• Face covering guidelines
• Practicalities of resuming teaching for faculty and the flow of students with the new social distancing guidelines

Calcado then asked all EC members to review the report and send all comments and questions to him at eoc@rutgers.edu.

4. Administrative Report – Barbara Lee, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Barbara Lee presented an administrative report, which included comments on:

• COVID-19 Update
  • Preliminary plan on re-populating Rutgers to be released in a few weeks
  • Extension of relaxed telecommuting policy through June 30
  • Despite federal and state stimulus money, Rutgers has sustained a large gap in revenue
  • There will be no increase in tuition and fees
• 2020 Virtual Commencement featuring Lester Holt as the speaker for NB and RBHS

Lee then responded to comments on the above topics as well as the following:

• The status of PTL employment

5. Standing Committees/Panels  

Committee Roster Review

Secretary Mickelsen reviewed all draft committee assignments with the Executive Committee. There was discussion on appointing EC Liaisons for each committee as well as additions to the new Information Technology Committee (ITC). Co-Chair of USGC Jon Oliver reported his intention to resign as Co-Chair and Senators for his replacement were suggested. Mickelsen will communicate with all nominees for the various positions as well as communicate final committee assignments in the coming weeks.

Proposed Charges:

Proposed Charge to the Student Affairs Committee (SAC) on Review of the New Title IX Rules – Submitted by Xiangyue Wang, SAS-NB (S)

Charge: Investigate the current Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance (VPVA) services available to students. To gather input from student and VPVA in terms of how the university should respond in the face of the new Title IX. To recommend what changes should be made to university policies and what new services put in place.

Rationale: The new Title IX, effective in August 2020, has significant consequences for Rutgers students. Among other changes, it redefines what is constituted as “harassment”, requires schools to allow cross-examination from both parties, and allow schools to choose the standard of evidence necessary to constitute “harassment”. Rutgers needs to re-evaluate its VPVA services and university policies in order to adjust to the new Title IX. Furthermore, Rutgers needs to seek input from students to ensure that students feel safe on campus under the new Title IX.

Senate Chair Oliver read the charge and gave SAC Chair Elizabeth Matto a chance to respond with her thoughts. Secretary Mickelsen alerted the committee to Judith Ryan’s, Institutional Compliance Officer for Title IX, email on May 13, 2020 requesting 2 student senators (1 undergraduate and 1 graduate) to serve on a working group reviewing the new Title IX policy. In light of this information, the EC agreed to wait on assigning this charge to SAC until the working group report is released in mid-August. The EC will then review this report and decide if a charge is necessary during the September 2020 meeting.

Committee Reports

Instruction, Curricula, and Advising Committee (ICAC) Report on S-2016: Lessons Learned from University-wide Online Learning (Interim Report) – Natalie Borisovets, ICAC Chair

ICAC was charged as follows: Evaluate the current policies, practices, plans and outcomes for remote instruction across the University in response to the COIVD-19 pandemic. Assess any session learned from the transitioning to online learning because of the pandemic. Respond to the Senate Executive Committee by November 23, 2020.

Borisovets reviewed the background on the committee’s work and draft recommendations. After much discussion and a recommendation to make minor grammatical edits, as well as the following addition on page 8 in the background,…

Part-Time Lecturers: PTLs in general also faced special challenges in the move to remote instruction. Like all faculty, they had to scramble to recreate their courses for remote instruction, a process requiring a major commitment of time and energy—and a tremendous amount of uncompensated additional work for those who are paid by the course. Like many faculty, many PTLs were not set up to teach remotely and had to expend their own resources for equipment and access. Like many across the University, they had serious concerns about their health and that of their families. However, these are individuals who were stressed to begin with by their tenuous appointments, low pay, and lack of healthcare. Particular attention should be paid to the extra stress, uncompensated additional work, and further difficulties that PTLs face.

… a vote was cast to send this interim report to the Rutgers Administration. The transmittal will express the sentiment that these recommendations are in draft form and not yet approved by the Senate. It is the intention of ICAC for a final report to be submitted for Senate review and approval at the December 2020 Senate meeting.

6. Selection of Members of the University Commencement Panel (UCP) – Peter Gillett, 2020-21 University Commencement Panel Chair

Gillett reviewed the process for the selection of (UCP) members as well as the their charge (outlined in the USGC report –  S-1410: Honorary Degree and Commencement Speaker Selection Processes). He presented the UCP from last year and requested nominations for the 2020-21 panel. Executive Secretary Mickelsen will send out a call for nominations in the coming weeks and the final UCP will be approved at the September 2020 Executive Committee Meeting.

7. New Business

There was no New Business

8. Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 4:20 p.m.

Minutes written and submitted by,

Mary Mickelsen
Executive Secretary of the University Senate