RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
UNIVERSITY SENATE

MINUTES: Regular Meeting of the University Senate

DATE: April 29, 2022

TIME AND PLACE: 1:10 p.m., Rutgers Academic Building East, Room 4225 and Remote via Zoom

PRESENT: Alizadeh, Amjad, Anderson, Andrews, Aubry, Bachmann, Bernstein, Bhavaraju, Bhuyan, Bogden, Boikess, Delev Boison, Borisovets, Boxer, Bridgeman, Brienza-Arcilla, Buyske, Chefitz, Choo, Clarke, Cooper, Dane, Davis, Den Bleyker, Dool, Drazer, English, Esposito, Everett, Farmer, Fatahzadeh, Figueira, Foster, Fudge, Giraud, Gomes, Gower, Granadeiro, Guo, Gursoy, Haley, Hatefi, Hauck, Haviland, Hewitt, Holloway, Hu, Hunter, Hurd, Kahanda, Kettle, Kiss, Kothari, Kustka, LaMorte, Laraia, Lawson, Linardopoulos, Lutz, Lyles, Mahajan-Cusack, Mansukhani, Manzini, Marchetta, Markert, Markowitz, Marsic, McKeever, Miller, Morton, O’Connor, Oberle, Oliver, Ozel, Parsa, Pinto-Figueroa, Poole, Potter, Prihoda, Rabinovich, Rabinowitz, Roth, Ryan, Saltzman, Schroth, R. Schwartz, S. Schwartz, Scott, Shapiro, Shapses, Shih, Siederer, Simonds, Smith, Sonnenberg, Spiegel, Struble, Swamy, Szatrowski, Tadros, Taipe, Tewfik, Thompson, Torres, Tsakalakos, Valle, Valverde, Vellangany, Volino, White, Willett, Wirtenberg, Woortman

EXCUSED: Allamand, Levine, Shinbrot

ABSENT: Abdel-Wahab, Abuilak, Adya, Ameri, Anderson Eloy, Ardeshna, Askew, Azer, Baldi, Barbarese, Barlow, Barone, Beegan, Bhattacharya, Blanchett, Bonne, Broggi, Cabrera, Campbell, Cantor, Cardoso, Carrero, Castellano, Charles, Chowdhury, Cimer, Cole, Conway, Crawford, Crews, Daughety, Davidson, Eaton, Edelstein, Elsaid, Emedom-Nnamdi, Ewins, Farris, Feldman, Fellenz, Fernandez, Flynn, Fougnies, Fox, Garner, Goonetilleke, Halkitis, Halprin, Hara, Hein, Henderson, Hsueh, Huang, Husan, Irizarry, Javeri, Joergensen, Johnson, Kahng, Kaye, Kelly, Knode, Kovacs, Kozlosky, Kukor, Lei, Leibman, Lino-Barbosa, Liu, Lopez, Maddox Douglas, Mahon, March, Marchitello, Marich, Matto, Mazurek, McCarthy, Menifield, Mignogna, Molloy, Moore, Mutcherson, Nath, Nickitas, S. Patel, M. Patel, Pichugin, Pintar, Potter, Riedel-Prabhakar, Rivera, Rizvi, Robalino, Sagarra, Samlin, Aman Shah, Aanchel Shah, B. Shah, Sharma, Shawl, J. Smith, Stephens, Stroiman, Strom, Sutton, Takhistov, Tan, Thakuriah, Todorinova, Vega, Virani, Wang, Warde, Westrich, Whitehead, Yamamoto

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

Chair Oliver called the meeting to order at 1:15 p.m. He announced the passing of former Senator Dr. Gary Taghon (SEBS Marine & Coastal Science) and asked for a moment of reflection for colleagues lost this past year. He reported on the Big 10 Academic Alliance Academic Governance conference, hosted by Rutgers at the beginning of April. He introduced President Jonathan Holloway for an administrative report and Chancellor Antonio Tillis with the Camden Campus Report. He also announced a presentation on Rutgers Research by Michael E. Zwick, Senior Vice President for Research, and José Miguel Román, Vice President, Research Administration. Chair Oliver expressed his gratitude to the Senate as his term as Chair comes to an end, and congratulated Adrienne Simonds on her election as Chair and Lucy Foster on her election as Vice Chair for 2022-23. He thanked President Holloway for his commitment to shared governance. He also thanked Chair of the Board of Governors Mark Angelson, Chair of the Board of Trustees Tilak Lal, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Prabhas Moghe, the Chancellors, Peter Gillett, Morgan Smith, Ann Gould, Natalie Borisovets, Sam Rabinowitz, Adrienne Simonds, Vicki Hewitt, and all Senators.

SECRETARY’S REPORT – Vicki Hewitt, Executive Secretary

• Agenda: The meeting’s agenda was approved by the Senate.
• Minutes: The minutes of the March 25, 2022 Senate meeting were approved as distributed by the Executive Secretary.
• Communications:

• • The following University policies were recently reviewed/updated:
    • University Policy 40.2.8: Cash Handling
    • University Policy 50.1.13: Formulation, Issuance, and Maintenance of University Policies
    • University Policy 40.2.13: Donor Gift Policy
    • University Policy 90.2.1: Animal Welfare Policy Governing the Use of Animals in Research, Teaching, Testing, and Production
  • Responses were received from President Jonathan Holloway:
    • Response to S-2113: PTL Pay and Recognition
    • Response to S-1909-1: Searches for University Leadership
    • Response to S-2101: Review of the University Policy 10.2.4 Units of Credit
    • Response to S-2012-1: Procedures for Handling Student Complaints Against Rutgers Personnel Regarding Instruction
  • Seasoned Senators are invited to volunteer at New Senator Orientation on September 16, 2022
  • The 2022-23 University Senate Calendar has been posted to the Senate website.

Vicki Hewitt turned the Secretary’s Report over to Vice Chair Adrienne Simonds to present a resolution celebrating Jon Oliver’s 3-year tenure as the University Senate chair. The resolution passed with unanimous consent.

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT – Jonathan Holloway, President of the University

President Holloway provided the Administrative Report consisting of the following topics:

• Congratulations to the new slate of officers for 2022-23 and thanks to Chair Oliver for his service
• Student award recipients, including Goldwater Scholarships, Fulbright Grants, and Soros Fellowship
• Recent wins by Rutgers athletic teams, including baseball and lacrosse
• Rutgers University Dance Marathon and Rutgers Day
• COVID-19 pandemic protocols
• Admission trends
• University Diversity Strategic Plan
• 2022-2027 Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences Strategic Plan
• Rutgers-New Brunswick Academic Master Plan
• Report from the Future of Work Task Force expected next month
• Mobilizing the University for Climate Transformation Conference on May 4

There were no questions for President Holloway.

CHANCELLOR REPORT – Antonio D. Tillis, Camden Chancellor

RUTGERS RESEARCH PRESENTATION – Michael E. Zwick, Senior Vice President for Research, and José Miguel Román, Vice President, Research Administration

COMMITTEE REPORTS/RESOLUTIONS

Budget and Finance Committee (BFC)
Recommendation to Upgrade/Update the Presentation of Rutgers University’s Annual Budget (Information Only)
Menahem Spiegel, BFC Chair, and Senator Ashley Bernstein

Senators Spiegel and Bernstein presented this recommendation to the Senate. It has been shared with J. Michael Gower, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

University Structure and Governance Committee (USGC)
Response to S-2108 – Senate Procedures for Debate, Amendment and Voting
Perry Dane and Kevin Schroth, USGC Co-Chairs

The USGC was charged as follows: Investigate and make any appropriate recommendations with regard to changes in Senate procedures for debate, amendment, and voting that might improve their efficiency and effectiveness without unduly restricting their democratic nature.

Senator Dane presented this report and resolutions to the Senate. The resolutions were adopted.

Information Technology Committee (ITC)
Response to S-2201: Approved Electronic Notebook Programs (Information Only)
Adrienne Esposito and Katie Anderson, ITC Co-Chairs

The ITC was charged as follows: Investigate the use of electronic lab notebooks. Review the current policies and practice of notebook creation and cloud storage. Recommend the best practices for maintaining the security, integrity, and accessibility of these notebooks.

Senator Anderson presented this report and recommendations to the Senate.

University Structure and Governance Committee (USGC)
Response to S-2112: Free Speech Issues at Rutgers and the University Senate’s Role (Information Only)
Perry Dane and Kevin Schroth, USGC Co-Chairs

The USGC was charged as follows: Consider the most effective mechanism to enable the University Senate to provide the administration with feedback and advice from the Rutgers University community relating to statement, policy, and implementation on matters of free speech. Look at peer best practices. Make any appropriate recommendations.

Senator Schroth presented this report and recommendation to the Senate.

Executive Committee (EC)
Resolution on Academic Freedom and Racial, Gender, and Social Justice
Jon Oliver, Executive Committee Chair

Chair Oliver presented this resolution to the Senate. The resolution was adopted.

SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT – Senate Vice Chair Simonds reported on the April 7, 2022 Senate Executive Committee Meeting.

OLD BUSINESS: There was no old business.

NEW BUSINESS: There was no new business.

REPORTS OF THE REPRESENTATIVE TO THE BOARDS OF GOVERNORS AND TRUSTEES: Senator Rabinowitz reported on the Board of Governors meetings on April 12 and April 22. Senator Haley reported the Board of Trustees had not met.

REPORTS OF CAMPUS FACULTY AND STUDENT LIAISONS: Senator Rabinowitz thanked Chancellor Tillis for his report on behalf of the Camden Faculty. Senator Van Stine did the same on behalf of Camden Students. Senator Markert reported on behalf of Newark Faculty. Newark Students had no report. Senator Bhuyan reported on behalf of New Brunswick Faculty Council. Senator Amjad reported on behalf of New Brunswick students. Senator Willett reported on behalf of RBHS Faculty. Senator Hauck reported on behalf of RBHS students.

ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 3:49 p.m.

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

Committee Meetings

Academic Standards, Regulations & Admissions Committee Meeting

No location or time for this committee meeting

Budget & Finance Committee Meeting

No location or time for this committee meeting

Faculty Affairs & Personnel Committee Meeting

No location or time for this committee meeting

Information Technology Committee Meeting

No location or time for this committee meeting

Instruction, Curricula & Advising Committee Meeting

No location or time for this committee meeting

Research, Graduate & Professional Education Committee Meeting

No location or time for this committee meeting

Student Affairs Committee Meeting

No location or time for this committee meeting

University Structure & Governance Committee

No location or time for this committee meeting