RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
UNIVERSITY SENATE

MINUTES: Regular Meeting of the University Senate

DATE: February 16, 2024

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

MEMBERS PRESENT: Abusah, Adamo, Allen, Amjad, Anderson, Andrews, Apel, Ardeshna, Askew, Ayorinde, Bachmann, Bhavaraju, Bhuyan, Boikess, Boison, Borie-Holtz, Borisovets, Boucher, Boxer, Bridgeman, Cahill, Caponegro, Clarke, Collick, Cooper, Dai, Dinnall, Ebert, Edelstein, Everett, Everts, Fang, Fatahzadeh, Fedorko, Figueira, Foster, Fudge, Giberson, Giraud, Godoy, Gong, Gower, Graham, Granadeiro, Guo, Gursoy, Haley, Hamawy, Haviland, Hayes, Hennessy, Hernandez, Hewitt, Holloway, Joseph, Kahanda, Kahng, Kaplan, Kelly, Kettle, Khan, Kiss, Knievel, Kustka, LaMorte, Ladell, Lamorgese, Levine, Lutz, Manzini, Marchetta, Markowitz, Mayers, Mbadugha, McCarthy, McKeever, Morales, Morton, Nucci, O’Connor, O’Halloran, Oberle, Olivera, Osorio-Fernandez, Parsa, S. Patel, P. Patel, Pierce, Prihoda, Purcell, Quincy, Rabinowitz, Ramachandran, Rodriguez, Santos Mendoza, Schnetzer, Schroth, Scott, Searcy, Sergel, Serrano, Shinbrot, Siederer, Simonds, Sloan-Power, Smart, Smith, Sonnenberg, Suh, Szatrowski, Takhistov, Thompson, Tirino, Torres, Truschke, Volino, White, Winters, Wirtenberg, Wolfe, Yusuf, Zhang, Özel

MEMBERS EXCUSED: Anderson, Axelsson, Barbarello Andrews, Ciolek, Dane, Fulton, Salas-de la Cruz, Saltzman, Sayde, Weiss

MEMBERS ABSENT: Adya, Ameri, Anderson Eloy, Ariwoola, Aubry, Barone, Blanchett, Bond, Campbell, Cantor, Carpenter, Chama, Chang, Charles, Chiricolo, Choron, Conway, Copeland, Cuitiño, Cundiff, Davis, Desir, Di Bella, DiGiovanni, Ditching, Dock, Easley , Eastman, Eaton, Edwards, Esposito, Feldman, Flynn, Fortson, Fox, Gahlawat, Geary, Giermanski, Glenn, Griffin, Guo, Habeb, Halkitis, Henderson, Ibrahim, Inman, Javanmard, Johnson, Kamen, Kaye, Keates, Kolben, Lawson, Lee, Lehman, Lei, Leibman, Lemish, Levin, Lildhar, Maeng Brown, Matta, Mattis, Mazurek, Merisier, Meshoyrer, Moghe, Murphy, Murtha, Nickitas, Orelus, Paiste, Papakonstantinou, K. Patel, Perez, Pichugin, Pintar, Robson, Rossman-Murphy, Roth, Samaan, Sarath, Savage, Schwartz, Shafik, Shapiro, Shapiro, Shaw, Shobut, Spiegel, Strom, Tewfik, Tillis, Vito, Wade, Wagner, White, Whitehead, Yang, Zhou

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

Chair Simonds called the meeting to order at 1:10 p.m. Chancellor Conway was unable to attend the Senate meeting and will be rescheduled for a later date. Chair Simonds announced she will not run for a third term as Senate Chair and encouraged senators to volunteer for leadership positions for the 2024-25 Senate year. The Senate will hold a social event on Fri. April 12 from 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. at Livingston Student Center.

SECRETARY’S REPORT – Vicki Hewitt, Executive Secretary

• Agenda: The meeting agenda was approved, with the addition of one item of New Business.
• Minutes: The minutes of the Jan. 19, 2024 Senate meeting were approved as distributed by the Executive Secretary.
• Communications
  • Entitlement memos for 2024-25 Senate elections were sent out to units in January.
  • The senate email list is active.
  • Senators can submit agenda items for the Executive Committee via the Rutgers Executive Committee Agenda Item Submission Form.
  • There is a vacancy on the Executive Committee for an RBHS Student Representative. Please contact the Executive Secretary if you would like to be on the ballot for this position.
  • Reminder to log in to the Senate website for attendance and voting access.
• Administrative Response
  • Response to S-2201-1: Approved Electronic Notebooks

REPORT ON UNIVERSITY FINANCES – Jonathan Holloway, President and University Professor

President Holloway then answered questions on the following topics:

• Enabling senators to communicate with their constituencies.
• Availability of MPOWER Financing for student loans for international students.
• Staff representation on the Board of Governors and Board of Trustees.

RESOLUTION ON DOXXING – Submitted by Senator Fauzan Amjad, Student Charter Trustee

Senator Amjad presented an amended resolution to the Senate. The resolution was further amended as follows:

• In the final clause, the phrase “students and faculty members” was amended to “students, staff, and faculty members.”
• The first, second, third, fifth, sixth, and seventh clauses were struck.
• In the amended second clause, the word “prevent” was amended to “minimize.”
• In the amended second clause, the word “minimize” was amended to “protect,” and the word “protect” was amended to “support.”

The amended resolution was adopted.

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.

Executive Committee
Resolution to Change the Name of the Nominating Panel to the Election Committee

To better reflect the committee’s purpose, the name of the Nominating Panel will be changed to the Election Committee.

As this resolution would be a change to the Senate Handbook, it will be brought back to the Senate for a vote at the March Senate meeting.

Faculty and Personnel Affairs Committee
Report on S-2103-1: Review of the Current Procedures for the Periodic Evaluation of Deans (Information Only)
Paul Boxer and Anna Haley, Co-Chairs

The FPAC was charged as follows:

Review the current procedures for the periodic evaluation of deans.

Senator Haley presented this information-only report to the Senate.

Faculty and Personnel Affairs Committee
Report on S-2117-1: Hiring Transparency and Equality (Information Only)
Paul Boxer and Anna Haley, Co-Chairs

The FPAC was charged as follows:

Investigate the current practice of hiring faculty at RBHS with full titles but described on appointment as part time and contingent on their maintaining employment at RWJBH. Make any appropriate recommendations.

Senator Boxer presented this information-only report to the Senate.

Faculty and Personnel Affairs Committee
Report on S-2315: University Vision Benefits
Paul Boxer and Anna Haley, Co-Chairs

The FPAC was charged as follows:

Investigate the policies which currently govern the University’s practice of reimbursing employees for eye exams, glasses and contact lenses, frames, and coatings. Determine if current policies match industry practices. Investigate how many employees actually receive reimbursements, and explore possible recommendations for new policies, plans, or programs related to vision and eye care for Rutgers employees.

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

Budget and Finance Committee
Report on S-2302: Budgetary Considerations Underlying Potential Merger of the RBHS Subunits Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and New Jersey Medical School into One Medical School
Abdelrahman Ibrahim and Carolyne White, Co-Chairs

The BFC was charged as follows:

Investigate any relevant financial issues that will emerge if there is a proposed merger of RWJMS and NJMS. Make necessary recommendations to the Senate.

Senator Pintar presented this report and recommendations to the Senate. A motion was made to postpone consideration of this report to the March Senate meeting so edits can be made. The motion was adopted.

OLD BUSINESS

None.

NEW BUSINESS

A motion to add to the agenda a resolution to amend the Senate Handbook to allow committees to elect their own chairs was adopted. A motion to add to the agenda a resolution to amend the Senate Handbook to change the eligibility requirements for the Senate Chair and Senate Vice Chair was lost.

The resolution to amend the Senate Handbook to allow committees to elect their own chairs is:

• Senate Committees shall henceforth elect two co-chairs to two-year staggered terms with no term limits.
• A sitting co-chair shall only be deposed following a majority vote of committee members.

A motion was made to amend the resolution to add the following:

Be it resolved that any voting Senator is eligible to stand for office of the chair and vice-chair of the Senate, and the following clause be struck from the existing Senate by-laws: “Candidates for chair and vice chair shall be elected Senators with two or more years of experience (not necessarily consecutive) on the Senate and at least one year as either a member of the Executive Committee or as a committee chair or co-chair.”

The motion was adopted.

As this resolution would be a change to the Senate Handbook, it will be brought back to the Senate for a vote at the March Senate meeting.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 4:23 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