RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
UNIVERSITY SENATE

MINUTES: Regular Meeting of the University Senate

DATE: September 20, 2024

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

MEMBERS PRESENT: Adamo, Ahmed, Allen, Amjad, C. Anderson, K. Anderson, Andrews, Apel, Ardeshna, Askew, Axelsson, Begum, Bhuyan, Boikess, Borie-Holtz, Boucher, Boxer, Bridgeman, Brown, Cafiero, Caponegro, Chama, Choron, Clarke, Collick, Conway, Cooper, Curchitser, Davis, DeMatteo, DiGiovanni, Diaz-Tena, Dock, Ebert, Esposito, Everett, Everts, Fatahzadeh, Fedorko, Fenker, Figueira, Firat, Foster, Gilmartin, Giraud, Godoy, Gower, Grachan, Granadeiro, Green-Mercado, Z. Guo, Gurbuzbalaban, Gursoy, Haberl, Haley, Hart, Haviland, Henderson, Henry, Hoffman, Izhar, Jaber, Javanmard, A. John, Jordan-McKinney, Kayyal, Keates, S. Khan, R. Khan, Kiss, Knievel, Ladell, Lee, Lehman, Lescht, Lobman, Maeng Brown, Maerhofer, Maganti, Mahajan-Cusack, Markowitz, Nkechi Mbadugha, McCarthy, McKeever, Morales, C. Morton, P. Morton, Murphy, Nadeem, O’Connor, Oberle, Olivera, Osorio-Fernandez, Özel, Parsa, S. Patel, A. Patel, V. Patel, K. Patel, Pichugin, Pierce, Pimentel, Pontes, Purcell, Quincy, Rabinowitz, Reshamdalal, Risman, Robinson, Robles, Rodriguez, Roth, Salas-de la Cruz, Santos Mendoza, Sarath, Sayde, Schafer, Schroth, Schwartz, Searcy, Senger, Sergel, Shah, Shaw, Shinbrot, Simonds, Sloan-Power, Sonnenberg, Span, Spiegel, Suh, Syed, Szatrowski, Tirino, Torres, Truschke, Usman, Volino, Wagner, Weiss, White, Williams, Wirtenberg, Wolfe, Yang, Yusuf, Zarouni, Zhou, Zwick

MEMBERS EXCUSED: Baker, Dane, Easley, Eastman, Gong, Graham, Lutz, Maliga, Mattis, Mazurek, Moghe, Rokerya, Saltzman

MEMBERS ABSENT: Abdelfattah, Adya, Ahmed, Ameri, Anderson Eloy, Anner, Bachmann, Barbarello Andrews, Barone, Bond, Boppey, Borisovets, Cahill, Carney-Waterton, Chen, Chiricolo, Cuitiño, Dai, Dylewska, Feldman, Feng, Fulton, Geary, Giermanski, Gnanaprakasam, Graham, Griffin, Halkitis, Hamawy, Holloway, Johnson, Joseph, Kaplan, Kaye, Kettle, Lawson, Lei, Leibowitz, Lemish, Mao, Matise, McCarthy, Murtha, Nickitas, Nucci, P. Patel, Perez, Pintar, Ramachandran, Ramchandani, Ramirez Polo, Rapciewicz, Rentzel, Robson, Rossman-Murphy, Ruocco, Savage, M. Shapiro, S. Shapiro, Shobut, Silva, Smart, Soler, Starkweather, Strom, Takhistov, Tewfik, Tillis, Wade, Williams, Zhang

CALL TO ORDER, DETERMINATION OF A QUORUM, AND CHAIR’S REPORT – Lucille Foster, Chair

Chair Foster called the meeting to order at 1:10 p.m. She welcomed senators to the new academic year and encouraged participation in meetings, guided by civility and respect for different viewpoints. She noted President Holloway’s announcement that he will conclude his service as University President in June 2025.The Senate will continue to work with his office throughout the year and will seek representation on the search committee for the next President.

SECRETARY’S REPORT – Vicki Hewitt, Executive Secretary

• Agenda: The meeting agenda was approved, with the addition of two items of New Business and after reordering.
• Administrative Responses
  • Response to S-2203: Examining the Efficacy of the GRE
  • Response to S-2110: Research Information Systems
  • Response to 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
  • Response to S-2312 Senate Officer Compensation
  • Response to S-2319 Explore Mechanisms, Methods and Processes for Senators to Communicate Senate Work and Information to their Constituents
• Policy Updates
  • University Policy 40.4.2 Rutgers University-Sponsored International Travel Policy
• Communications
  • 2024-2025 Senate Calendar
  • New Senator Orientation was held on September 13, 2024. Materials are available on the Information for Senators page, under Additional Resources.
  • Volunteer to Be Liaison to the Medical School Merger Committee: Deadline Fri. Sept. 27 at noon.
  • The Senate is co-sponsoring an Academic Freedom Panel: Wed. Oct. 16 from 3:00 – 4:30 p.m.
  • The October 18 Senate Meeting will start early: 11:10 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Standing committees will meet from 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. Caucuses will not meet this month.
  • There is a Senate Budget Town Hall scheduled for: Wed. Oct. 23 from 9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
  • Senate Socials will be held on: Fri. Nov. 8 and Fri. April 11 from 12:00 – 2:00 p.m.
  • Following up on Senate recommendations, the Senate office has created a Recent Actions of the Rutgers University Senate page and Email Updates announcement listserv.
  • Following up on Senate recommendations, the Senate Roster page now includes senator email addresses and a mechanism to filter by constituency.
  • Senators are reminded to log in to the Senate website for attendance and voting access.

2024 ELECTION – VOTING RESOURCES AND SUPPORTING STUDENTS – Elizabeth Matto, Director, Eagleton Institute of Politics

UNIVERSITY PROVOSTS – Sandra Richtermeyer, Camden Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost; Saundra Tomlinson-Clarke, New Brunswick Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs; Bonnie Veysey, Newark Interim Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor

NEW BUSINESS

Resolution for Rutgers Senate Inclusion in Rutgers President Search – Submitted by Senator Anna Haley

Senator Haley presented this resolution to the Senate. Minor amendments were made with unanimous consent. The 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 on Caste-Based Discrimination at Rutgers  – Submitted by Senator Audrey Truschke, School of Arts and Sciences – Newark, Faculty

Senator Truschke presented this resolution to the Senate. The resolution was adopted.

Executive Committee
Resolution to Clarify Senate Handbook, Article III: Senate Meetings, Voting, #4

This section currently states: “Senators may not accept nomination, nor be placed on the initial ballot, for more than one position in any single election.”

The proposed amendment would change it to: “Senators may not be placed on the initial ballot for more than one position in any single election.”

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

Ad Hoc Committee on University Senate Parliamentarian
Jon Oliver, Chair
Report on S-2332: University Senate Parliamentarian

The committee was charged as follows:

Currently, the Parliamentarian must be a Senator. To maintain neutrality in the role and allow a Parliamentarian senator to speak on the Senate floor, consider whether changing the qualifications of the Parliamentarian to allow the appointment of a non-Senator, such as a professional hired for the role or a former Senator, and/or allowing for a Deputy Parliamentarian would better allow Senators to participate in Senate business and enhance the functioning of the Senate.

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

Ad Hoc Committee on Review of the University Senate’s Governance Documents and Formulation of University Senate Bylaws and University Structure and Governance Committee

• Draft Article Iand Article II
• Draft Article III, Article IV, Article V, and Article VI
• Draft Article VII, Articles VIII, IX, and X

The committee was charged as follows:

Review the existing governance documents of the University Senate, including University policies, past Senate reports, and the Senate Handbook. Develop Bylaws for the University Senate consistent with Robert’s Rules of Order.

Chair Foster presented the draft Bylaws to the Senate. Draft Article I and II will be discussed at the October Senate meeting.

OLD BUSINESS

There was no old business.

NEW BUSINESS

Resolution in Support of Letter Requesting Asynchronous Instruction on Election Day – Submitted by Senator Christopher Godoy

Senator Godoy presented this resolution to the Senate.

A motion was made to amend the resolution to add: “RESOLVED, per Rutgers University policy, the University Senate holds regulatory power in the establishment of the University calendar. Therefore we resolve that as of the 2025-2026 academic year, and forward in perpetuity, the first Tuesday of November, as Election Day, shall be a university holiday with no classes scheduled or meeting.” The motion was adopted.

The amended resolution was adopted.

SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT

Vice Chair Esposito reported on the Sept. 6, 2024 Senate Executive Committee meeting.

REPORTS OF THE REPRESENTATIVES TO BOARDS OF GOVERNORS AND TRUSTEES

Senator Purcell reported on the Board of Trustees meeting. Chair Foster reported the Board of Governors had not met.

REPORTS OF CAMPUS FACULTY AND STUDENT LIAISONS

Senator Haley reported New Brunswick Faculty had not met. Senator Olivera reported Newark Students had not met. Senator Salas-de la Cruz reported Camden Faculty had not met. Senator Roth reported RBHS Faculty had not met.

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