RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY UNIVERSITY SENATE

MINUTES: Regular Meeting of the University Senate

DATE: October 16, 2020

TIME AND PLACE: 1:10 p.m., Remotely via Zoom

MEMBERS PRESENT: Ahmed; Albert; Alizadeh; Allamand; Ameri; Arman; Aubert; Margaret Avallone; Bachmann; Baldi; Barbarese; Bekdash; Bhatt; Bhattacharya; Bhuyan; Bogden; Boikess; Boison; Borisovets; Bridgeman; Britton; Castaneda; Cavanagh; Chefitz; Chen; Chintalapudi; Choo; Coleman; Cooper; Crews; Dane; Dasari; Ding; Dool; Drazer; Eafrati; Ebert; English; Esposito; Everett; Farley; Farmer; Feldman; Fellenz; Fernandez Arroyo; Foster; Fox; Garcia; Garner; Gillett; Giraud; Gohel; Gomes; Goonetilleke; Gould; Gower; Guo; Gursoy; Haley; Hara; Hodes; Holdom; Holloway; Hunter; Hurd; Ibrahim; Immidisetti; Jarrín Montaner; Joergensen; Kane; Kashalikar; Kaye; Kettle; Kiss; Kothari; Kovacs; Lamar; Lawson; Liu; Lutz; Maddox Douglas; Maglione Rico; Mahajan-Cusack; Mansukhani; Marchetta; Markowitz; Marsic; Matto; Mayes; McKeever; Mena-Segovia; Mendicino; Miller; Miranti; Moghe; Molloy; Morton; Oliver; Ozel; Parsa; Patel; Pedro-Santiago; Pichugin; Pinto-Figueroa; Piotrowski; Rabinowitz; Ribau; Rivera; Rizvi; Roth; Ryan; Sacks; Sagarra; Sahota; Saltzman; Schroth; R. Schwartz; S. Schwartz; Sesti; Shapses; Shinbrot; Shobut; Siederer; Simonds; Spiegel; Stephens; Stephenson; Struble; Szatrowski; Takhistov; Thompson; Todorinova; Trees; Valverde; Van Stine; Vargas; Vellangany; Ventura-Martinez; Vidal; Virani; Volino; Wang; Ward; Warde; Wayne; White; Willett; Winters; Yamaok

EXCUSED: Buyske; Chadalvada; Dreyer; Linardopoulos; Lyles; Oberle; Sinacori; Tommasi

ABSENT: Adya; Alexander-Floyd; Anderson Eloy; Atkins; Ayad; Barone; Bator; Beegan; Blanchett; Brienza-Arcilla; Cabrera; Cantor; Chiu; Cifelli; Cohen; Cole; Conway; Davidson; Eaton; Fadahunsi; Farris; Figueira; Flynn; Granadeiro; Halkitis; Hatefi; Henderson; Hsueh; Huang; Hunter-Fratzola; Johnson; Joy; Kaplun; Kosar; Kukor; Kustka; Lei; Lopez; Madson; Mahon; Maloney; March; Marchitello; Markert; Marsh; Mazurek; Menifield; Moore; Murphy; Mutcherson; Nath; Nelson; Nickitas; O’Connor; Paskhover; Ponzio; Potter; Potter; Rajan; Shankar; Shapiro; Silver; Song; Stern; Strom; Tan; Thakuriah; Veysey; Walkup; Wang; Williams; Wirtenberg

CALL TO ORDER, DETERMINATION OF A QUORUM, INTRODUCTION OF COMMITTEE CHAIRS AND CHARGES, AND CHAIR’S REPORT – Jon Oliver, Chair

Senate Chair Jon Oliver called the meeting to order at 1:10 p.m. He welcomed University President Jonathan Holloway and thanked him for his continued support of shared governance at Rutgers and the University Senate. He continued by introducing the day’s speakers: Chief Information Officer Michele Norin and Elie Honig, Executive Director of the Rutgers Institute for Secure Communities. Lastly, he highlighted the newly tenured faculty on the call and encouraged them to stay for the meeting and consider joining the Senate.

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY – Mary Mickelsen, Executive Secretary

• Agenda: The meeting’s agenda including time limits, was approved by the Senate.
• Minutes: The Minutes of the September 25, 2020 Senate meeting were approved as distributed by the Executive Secretary.

• Communications: The following communications were presented by the Executive Secretary:
  • The following polices have been updated/added in the University Policy Library:
    • Policy 100.3.1: Influenza Immunization Policy for Covered Individuals (PDF)
    • Policy 100.3.2: Tuberculosis Surveillance (PDF) ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT – Jonathan Holloway, University President

Following introductions from Senate Chair Oliver, President Holloway delivered his Administrative Report touching on the following topics:

• Congratulations to all newly tenured faculty
• Approval of a revised budget by BOG
• $86M in restored funding by the state
• Prabhas Moghe began his tenure as the EVP for Academic Affairs on October 5
• Planning for Spring 2021 is underway in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and regular communications are expected from the administration in the coming months
• Engagement with SAS-NB by the Administration regarding PTLs layoffs for the Spring 2021 semester within the Writing Program and the subsequent reinstatement of many based-on seniority
• Ambassador Deborah Birx, White House Corona Virus Task Force Response Coordinator, visited New Brunswick Campus as part of a college and small-town nation- wide tour

President Holloway then answered questions on the above topics and the following:

• Student Health Insurance Plans (SHIP) and the plans to revisit how they are selected and through what funding
• Mental health services at Rutgers, specifically the anticipated surge CAPS might face when students return to campus after the pandemic and its ability to handle such numbers
• Pay equity issues and concrete steps to address major public relations and ethical challenges going forward
• Rutgers collaboration with Newark communities focusing on ensuring higher education opportunities for black and brown students
• Professional development support for PTLs
• Possible adverse effects of a medical school merger on students’ post-MD residency placements

COMMITTEE REPORT

Response to S-2018: University Policy 60.1.33 Title IX Policy and Grievance Procedures and University Policy 10.2.11 Code of Student Conduct presented by the Academic Standards, Regulations and Admissions Committee (ASRAC) and Student Affairs Committee (SAC) – Babu Dasari, ASRAC Co-Chair, Elizabeth Matto, SAC Co-Chair, Robert Schwartz, ASRAC Co-Chair

The ASRAC and SAC were charged as follows:

Review and make recommendations on:

• the new Interim University Policy 60.1.33 (intended to replace 10.3.12 and 60.1.28) Title IX Policy and Grievance Procedures
• the Interim University Policy 10.2.11 Code of Student Conduct which reflects the proposed changes made to the University’s Title IX Policy

Senator Matto reviewed the background of the charge, the committee’s work and the recommendations that followed. After some discussion, the following amendment to Recommendation E was made, due to the stricken points no longer being valid, and was then voted on and approved:

• ORIGINAL: Develop and execute a process by which the policies are reviewed and subsequently revised, if necessary, with particular attention to the timeliness by which Code of Student Conduct cases are reviewed and adjudicated as well as the requirement for in-person cross-examination with Code of Conduct violations. This review process should include a timeline that allows for modifications to policies to be in place for the Fall 2021 semester or soon thereafter pending the student body’s return to campus.
• APPROVED REVISION: Develop and execute a process by which the policies are reviewed and subsequently revised, if necessary, with particular attention to the timeliness by which Code of Student Conduct cases are reviewed and
  This review process should include a timeline that allows for modifications to policies to be in place for the Fall 2021 semester or soon thereafter pending the student body’s return to campus.

The Senate then approved the amended report.

ELECTION OF STUDENT MEMBERS OF THE SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE AND BOARD REPRESENTATIVES – This election was held because no eligible candidates were nominated during the May 1, 2020 Organizational meeting. Self-nominations were solicited from eligible student Senators prior to, as well as from the floor during, the meeting.

• 2020-21 Slate of Nominees
• Campaign Statements

The candidates for each position can be found in the linked documents above.

Results of the 20-21 Student Executive Committee Members and Board Representatives Election

• Camden Student Member of the EC: Michael Van Stine, GS-C (S)
• Newark Student Member of the EC: Sarah Shobut, SAS-N (S)
• New Brunswick Student Member of the EC: Marie Yamaoka, SAS-NB (S)
• RBHS Student Member of the EC: Amanda Immidisetti, RWJMS (S)
• Student Representative to the BOG: Gavin Mayes, SAS-NB (S)
• Undergraduate Student Representative to the BOT: Nina Gohel, SAS-NB (S)
• Graduate Student Representative to the BOT: Robert Wayne, NJMS (S)

RUTGERS INSTITUTE FOR SECURE COMMUNITITES – Elie Honig, RISC Executive Director

Executive Director Honig delivered a report focusing on the important work done at RISC as well as his opinions regarding the Trump Administration and the 2020 Presidential election.

TWO-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION – Michele Norin, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer

SVP Norin gave a detailed report on the University’s new cyber-security initiative on Two-Factor Authentication and answered questions relating this and other topics, including the sudden unanticipated loss of Proctortrack and plans for alternative solutions.

OLD BUSINESS: There was no old business.

NEW BUSINESS: There was no new business.

SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT – Senate Vice Chair Peter Gillett reported on the October 9, 2020 Senate Executive Committee Meeting

REPORTS OF CAMPUS FACULTY AND STUDENT LIAISONS: Camden Faculty Senator, Sam Rabinowitz reported on the Camden Faculty Council’s last meeting and points of interest. Faculty Senator Tugrul Ozel, New Brunswick Faculty Council Chair, reported on the New Brunswick Faculty Council will meet again on October 23. Sarah Shobut, Newark Student Senator reported on the recent activities of the Newark students. Senator Laura Willett reported on the plans and activities of the RBHS Faculty Council.

ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 4:01 p.m.

Minutes prepared by:
Mary Mickelsen, Executive Secretary of the University Senate

 

Committee Meetings

Academic Standards, Regulations & Admissions Committee Meeting

Zoom @ 10:30 am

Budget & Finance Committee Meeting

CASC, Atrium Conference Room @ 10:00 am

Faculty Affairs & Personnel Committee Meeting

Zoom @ 10:30 am

Information Technology Committee Meeting

Zoom @ 10:00 am

Instruction, Curricula & Advising Committee Meeting

Zoom @ 10:00 am

Research, Graduate & Professional Education Committee Meeting

CASC, Room 109 @ 10:00 am

Student Affairs Committee Meeting

Zoom @ 10:00 am

University Structure & Governance Committee

CASC, Room 115 @ 10:00 am