RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
UNIVERSITY SENATE

MINUTES: Regular Meeting of the University Senate

DATE: April 28, 2023

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

MEMBERS PRESENT: Abuattieh, Abuliak, Adamo, Allen, Anderson, Andrews, Bachmann, Barlow, Bhavaraju, Bhuyan, Bogden, Boikess, Boison, Borisovets, Boucher, Boxer, Bridgeman, Brienza-Arcilla, Campbell, Caponegro, Carpenter, Chefitz, Choo, Clarke, Cooper, Dai, Davis, Drazer, Edelstein, English, Esposito, Everett, Farmer, Fatahzadeh, Fedorko, Foster, Gahlawat, Geary, Giraud, Gong, Gower, Graham, Granadeiro, Guo, Gursoy, Haviland, Hewitt, Holloway, Holmes, Hunter, Kahanda, Kahng, Kaplan, Kelly, Kettle, Kinare, Kiss, Kolben, LaMorte, Ladell, Lawson, Lehman, Levine, Li, Lyles, Manzini, Marchetta, McKeever, Moghe, Morton, Nucci, O’Connor, Oberle, Oliver, Olivera, Ortiz, Osorio-Fernandez, Ozel, Parsa, S. Patel, Pedersen, Pintar, C. Potter, Prihoda, Quincy, Rabinowitz, Roth, Sagarra, Schnetzer, Schroth, Schwartz, Scott, Shih, Shinbrot, Siederer, Simonds, Smith, Sonnenberg, Spiegel, Stephens, Struble, Swamy, Szatrowski, Tewfik, Thompson, Tillis, Tirino, Todorinova, Torres, Valverde, Van Stine, Vellangany, Volino, Wirtenberg

MEMBERS EXCUSED: Copeland, Figueira, Lutz, Sharma

MEMBERS ABSENT: Abdelwahab, Adya, Alkhwekhi, Allamand, Ameri, Amjad, Anderson Eloy, Ardeshna, Askew, Aubry, Baldi, Barone, Bhattacharya, Blanchett, Cantor, Cary, Cole, Conway, Crutcher, Cuitiño, Dane, Davidson, Dinnall, Dyckman, Eastman, Eaton, Rafael Escalante, Feldman, Fellenz, Flynn, Fudge, Galsim, Garcia, Gomes, Griffin, Haley, Halkitis, Hatefi, Henderson, Hien, Irizarry, Javanmard, Joergensen, Johnson, Kaye, Kazi, Kothari, Kretov, Kustka, Lei, Lopez, Losada, Mahajan-Cusack, Malin, Mansukhani, March, Matto, Mazurek, McCarthy, Menifield, Merians, Meshoyrer, Miller, Mittal, Mukherjee, Murtha, Mutcherson, Muthukumar, Nayar, Niaz, Nolan, O’Halloran, O’Toole, Oladimeji, Papakonstantinou, P. Patel, K. Patel, Pichugin, Pierce, Pinto-Figueroa, Pistell, Poole, J. Potter, Raheel, Ramirez, Saltzman, Savage, Shah, Shapiro, Shapiro, Shome, Smart, Strom, Takhistov, Tare, Torres, Vadapalli, Wang, White, Whitehead, Zhang, Zolezi

CALL TO ORDER, DETERMINATION OF A QUORUM, AND CHAIR’S REPORT – Adrienne Simonds, Chair

Chair Simonds called the meeting to order at 1:19 p.m. She welcomed new senators attending the meeting. She thanked current senators who were not continuing on the Senate for their service, as well as committee chairs, members of the Executive Committee, and the Senate leadership team.

SECRETARY’S REPORT – Vicki Hewitt, Executive Secretary

• Agenda: The meeting agenda was approved, with the addition of two items of New Business.
• Minutes: The minutes of the March 24, 2023 and April 7, 2023 Senate meetings were approved as distributed by the Executive Secretary.
• Policy Update
  • University Policy 10.1.15 Digital Credentials
  • University Policy 100.2.2 Excluded Individuals and Entities
  • University Policy 100.2.8 Fraud, Waste and Abuse Protection and the Federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005
• Communications
  • 2023-2024 Senate Calendar
  • SAVE THE DATE: New Senator Orientation – September 15, 2023
  • Reminder to log in to the Senate website for attendance and voting access.

REMARKS – Jonathan Holloway, President and University Professor

NEW BRUNSWICK CHANCELLOR-PROVOST REPORT – Francine Conway, Chancellor-Provost, Rutgers University-New Brunswick

COMMITTEE REPORTS/RESOLUTIONS: The report will be presented/summarized by the committee chair, then will be discussed, and acted upon by the Senate. Substantive amendments to these reports should be given to the Senate secretary in writing prior to or at the time the amendment is moved.

Ad Hoc Committee on Review Proposal for Merger of the Medical Schools

Report on S-2303: Review Proposal for Merger of the Medical Schools

Adrienne Esposito, Lucille Foster, and Geza Kiss, Co-Chairs

The ad hoc committee was charged as follows:

Constitute an ad hoc committee in anticipation of a proposal to the Senate for a merged medical school at Rutgers.

Senator Geza Kiss presented this report and recommendations to the Senate. The recommendations were adopted.

OLD BUSINESS

There was no old business.

NEW BUSINESS

By unanimous consent, two items of new business were added to the agenda.

The first was a motion to refer the following charge to the Faculty and Personnel Affairs Committee: “Review the university’s policies regarding professional development opportunities to attend conferences and meetings. Investigate and, when appropriate, make recommendations regarding campus and unit rules on (i) How long a faculty member may be absent for professional development opportunities? (ii) What are the policies for making alternative arrangements if a faculty member is absent? (iii) Who covers costs if a guest lecturer is hired? (iv) Can all faculty members, including PTLs, teach occasional classes online if necessary due to justified absences? (v) How do policies about professional development opportunities differ among schools and Chancellor-led units?”

The motion to refer this item to the Faculty and Personnel Affairs Committee was adopted.

The second was a motion to adopt a Resolution on the President’s Role in Conducting Contract Negotiations Fairly and Equitably.

This resolution was adopted.

SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT

Vice Chair Foster reported on the April 7, 2023 Senate Executive Committee Meeting.

REPORTS OF THE REPRESENTATIVE TO THE BOARDS OF GOVERNORS AND TRUSTEES

Senator Rabinowitz reported on the Board of Governors meeting. Senator Dane reported on the Board of Trustees meeting.

REPORTS OF CAMPUS FACULTY AND STUDENT LIAISONS

Senator Rabinowitz reported on behalf of Camden Faculty. Senator Van Stine reported on behalf of Camden Students. Senator Bhuyan reported on behalf of New Brunswick Faculty. Senator Gahlawat reported on behalf of New Brunswick Students. Senator Roth reported on behalf of RBHS Faculty. Senator Ortiz reported on behalf of RBHS Students.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 3:30 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