RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
UNIVERSITY SENATE

MINUTES: Regular Meeting of the University Senate

DATE: October 18, 2024

TIME AND PLACE: 11:10 a.m., Remote via Zoom

MEMBERS PRESENT: Abdelfattah, Alkhalili, Allen, K. Anderson, C. Anderson, Andrews, Apel, Askew, Axelsson, Bachmann, Baker, Borie-Holtz, Borisovets, Boucher, Boxer, Bridgeman, Brown, Cafiero, Caponegro, Carney-Waterton, Clarke, Collick, Cooper, Cuitiño, Curchitser, Davis, DeMatteo, Diaz-Tena, Dock, Easley , Ebert, Esposito, Everett, Everts, Fatahzadeh, Fedorko, Fenker, Figueira, Foster, Gilmartin, Giraud, Godoy, Gower, Grachan, Graham, Graham, Granadeiro, Griffin, Gurbuzbalaban, Gursoy, Haberl, Haley, Hisham Hamawy, Haviland, Henry, Hewitt, Hoffman, Izhar, Jaber, Javanmard, Jeyaprakash, Jordan-McKinney, Kayyal, Keates, Kettle, Khan, Kiss, Knievel, Kustka, Lam, Lee, Lobman, Lutz, Maeng Brown, Maerhofer, Mahajan-Cusack, Maliga, Markowitz, Mazurek, Mbadugha, McCarthy, Moghe, Morales, C. Morton, P. Morton, Murphy, Murtha, Nadeem, O’Connor, Oberle, Olivera, Osorio-Fernandez, Özel, Parsa, K. Patel, S. Patel, V. Patel, Pichugin, Pierce, Pintar, Pontes, Purcell, Quincy, Rabinowitz, Ramachandran, Ramirez Polo, Reshamdalal, Risman, Robles, Rodriguez, Rokerya, Rossman-Murphy, Roth, Salas-de la Cruz, Santos Mendoza, Schafer, Schwartz, Sergel, Shah, Shapiro, Shinbrot, Simonds, Sloan-Power, Smart, Smith, Sonnenberg, Sow, Spiegel, Suh, Syed, Szatrowski, Taha, Takhistov, Tirino, Torres, Truschke, Wagner, White, Wirtenberg, Wolfe, Yang, Yusuf, Zarouni, Zwick

MEMBERS EXCUSED: Ardeshna, Bhuyan, Cahill, Dane, Eastman, Firat, Green-Mercado, Kamen, Maganti, A. Patel, Saltzman, Shaw, Usman, Volino, Williams

MEMBERS ABSENT: Adamo, Adya, F. Ahmed, B. Ahmed, Ameri, Amjad, Anderson Eloy, Anner, Barbarello Andrews, Barone, Begum, Boikess, Bond, Boppey, Chama, Chao, Chiricolo, Choron, Conway, Dai, DiGiovanni, Dylewska, Elkholy, Feldman, Feng, Fulton, Geary, Giermanski, Gnanaprakasam, Gong, Guo, Halkitis, Hart, Henderson, Holloway, John, Johnson, Kaplan, Kaye, Khan, Ladell, Lawson, Lehman, Lei, Leibowitz, Lemish, Lescht, Mao, Matise, Mattis, McCarthy, McKeever, Nickitas, Nucci, P. Patel, Perez, Ramchandani, Rapciewicz, Rentzel, Robinson, Robson, Ruocco, Sarath, Savage, Sayde, Schroth, Searcy, Senger, Shapiro, Shobut, Silva, Soler, Span, Starkweather, Strom, Tewfik, Tillis, Wade, Weiss, Zhang, Zhou

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

Chair Foster called the meeting to order at 11:11 a.m.

SECRETARY’S REPORT – Vicki Hewitt, Executive Secretary

• Agenda: The meeting agenda was approved.
• Minutes: The minutes of the Sept. 20, 2024 Senate meeting were approved as distributed by the Executive Secretary.
• Communications
  • 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.
  • There is a Provosts’ Roundtable scheduled for: Fri. Jan. 31 from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
  • Senators are reminded to log in to the Senate website for attendance and voting access.

CAMDEN CHANCELLOR REPORT – Sandra Richtermeyer, Provost, Rutgers-Camden

INTRODUCTION OF, AND COMMENTS BY, STANDING COMMITTEE CHAIRS

OLD BUSINESS
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 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. The resolution was adopted.

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 report and recommendations to the Senate. The recommendations were adopted.

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 I

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 of Article I to the Senate. This will be brought back to the Senate for a vote at the November Senate meeting.

NEW BUSINESS**

A motion to add to the agenda a resolution concerning a Camden Town Hall was adopted:

Given The University Senate’s role in serving as an advisory body to the President of Rutgers University, the University Senate recommends President Holloway plan an open, public, and in-person town hall on the Camden Campus, ideally in coordination with and participation from Chancellor Tillis, prior to the end of the Fall 2024 semester.

The resolution was amended as follows:

• “Whereas members of the Camden campus community have expressed concerns regarding communication with the Chancellor and his administrative team, be it resolved that:” was added as the first statement.
• The phrase “town hall on the Camden campus” was amended to “town hall with adequate time for an question and answer session on the Camden campus.”
• The phrase “with adequate time for an question and answer session” was amended to “with half of the time dedicated for a question and answer session.”

The amended resolution was adopted.

SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT

Vice Chair Esposito reported on the Oct. 11, 2024 Senate Executive Committee meeting.

REPORTS OF THE REPRESENTATIVES TO BOARDS OF GOVERNORS AND TRUSTEES

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

REPORTS OF CAMPUS FACULTY AND STUDENT LIAISONS

Senator Haley reported on behalf of New Brunswick Faculty. Senator Kettle reported Newark Faculty had not met. Senator Salas-de la Cruz reported Camden Faculty had not met.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 1:49 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