RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
UNIVERSITY SENATE

MINUTES: Regular Meeting of the University Senate 

DATE: December 10, 2021

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

PRESENT: Abdel-Wahab, Abuilak, Alizadeh, Ameri, Amjad, Anderson, Andrews, Ardeshna, Askew, Azer, Bachmann, Baldi, Barbarese, Bernstein, Bhattacharya, Bhavaraju, Boikess, Boison, Boxer, Bridgeman, Brienza-Arcilla, Buyske, Castellano, Charles, Choo, Chowdhury, Clarke, Crawford, Crews, Dane, Daughety, Davidson, Dool, Drazer, Edelstein, Esposito, Everett, Ewins, Farmer, Fatahzadeh, Field, Figueira, Foster, Fougnies, Fudge, Garner, Gillett, Giraud, Gomes, Gower, Guo, Gursoy, Haley, Halprin, Hauck, Haviland, Holloway, Hu, Huang, Hunter, Hurd, Husan, Javeri, Joergensen, Kahanda, Kahng, Kelly, Kiss, Kovacs, Kozlosky, Kustka, Laraia, Lawson, Leibman, Levine, Linardopoulos, Lino-Barbosa, Lutz, Mahajan-Cusack, Manzini, Marchetta, Markert, Markowitz, Marsic, Matto, Mazurek, McKeever, Miller, Molloy, Morton, O’Connor, Oberle, Oliver, Ozel, Parsa, Patel, Pichugin, Pintar, Pinto-Figueroa, Poole, Prihoda, Rabinowitz, Zainab Rizvi, Roth, Ryan, Sagarra, Saltzman, Schroth, Schwartz, Schwartz, Scott, Shapses, Sharma, Shinbrot, Siederer, Simonds, Sinacori, Smith, Sonnenberg, Spiegel, Stroiman, Struble, Swamy, Szatrowski, Taipe, Takhistov, Tan, Tewfik, Thompson, Todorinova, Torres, Valle, Valverde, Vega, Vellangany, Virani, Volino, Wang, Warde, White, Willett, Woortman, Yamamoto

EXCUSED: Bhuyan, Goonetilleke, Kettle, Westrich, Shah

ABSENT: Adya, Allamand, Anderson Eloy, Aubry, Barlow, Barone, Beegan, Blanchett, Bogden, Bonne, Broggi, Cabrera, Campbell, Cantor, Cardoso, Carrero, Chefitz, Cole, Conway, Cooper, Davis, Den Bleyker, Eaton, Elsaid, Emedom-Nnamdi, English, Farris, Feldman, Fellenz, Fernandez, Flynn, Fox, Goonetilleke, Granadeiro, Halkitis, Hara, Hatefi, Hein, Henderson, Hsueh, Irizarry, Johnson, Kaye, Knode, Kothari, Kukor, LaMorte, Lei, Liu, Lopez, Lyles, Maddox Douglas, Mahon, Mansukhani, March, Marchitello, Marich, McCarthy, Menifield, Mignogna, Miranti, Moore, Mutcherson, Nath, Nickitas, Patel, C. Potter, J. Potter, Riedel-Prabhakar, Rivera, Robalino, Samlin, Shah, Shah, Shawl, Shih, Stephens, Strom, Sutton, Tadros, Thakuriah, Tsakalakos, Whitehead, Wirtenberg

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

Chair Oliver called the meeting to order at 1:10 p.m and welcomed everyone to the final meeting of the calendar year. He then went on to recognize that today is Human Rights Day and spoke on the importance of celebrating the end of the semester and taking time to be with the people we cherish the most. Chair Oliver also mentioned the dedication of 15 Washington Street on the Newark Campus as Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hall. He thanked the Board of Governors for their hard work in conjunction with the Senate.

SECRETARY’S REPORT – Morgan Smith, Interim Executive Secretary

• Approval of the Agenda* (including time limits) – agenda was approved
• Approval of the November 19, 2021 Senate Meeting Minutes – minutes were approved

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT: President Jonathan Holloway

President Holloway delivered his Administrative Report touching on the following topics:

• Charles B. Rangel Fellowship awarded to Anna Baker, a 2019 SEBS Graduate
• The Budget plans for 2022-2023
• Movement towards a Smoke-Free Campus with recommendations from the Senate as considerations. The goal for Rutgers to be smoke-free as of January 2023
• Details surrounding the continuation of relaxed telecommuting extension to June 30, 2022
• Clarity on the number of Central Staff members
• Support among the PTL community including the initiation of the “Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Part-Time Lecturer” that will launch in January

President Holloway then answered questions on the following topics:

• COVID-19 concerns in the Spring semester with remote teaching
• The Omicron Variant and mandatory booster vaccinations among students, staff and faculty
• Central Staff members

COMMITTEE REPORT [Please Note: Substantive amendments to these reports should be given to the Senate Executive Secretary in writing prior to or at the time the amendment is moved.]

Resolution submitted by the Executive Committee: Reintroduction of the Add/Drop recommendations from S-2021 Re-Examination of the Add/Drop Period During the COVID-19 Crisis and Beyond to be re-considered.

Be it resolved by the Rutgers University Senate that 1. With effect from Spring 2022, the Add period each semester be nine calendar days, with the Drop extended to nine calendar days, making the periods coterminous. On a tenth day, which we term a “switch day,”, a student may add a course only if the same student is also dropping a course, and vice versa. Permission of the instructor or school is required in order to add a course after it has already met twice.

The report was discussed and voted on and was amended to state: “Be it resolved by the Rutgers University Senate that 1. With effect from Spring 2022, the Add period each semester be nine calendar days, with the Drop extended to nine calendar days, making the periods coterminous.”

University Structure and Governance S-2008 How Staff Senators are Elected – Senator Peter Gillett, RBS U-NB, USGC Co-Chair (For information Purposes Only)

The committee was charged as follows: Investigate and report on how staff not aligned with any Chancellor are elected to the Senate and make recommendations.

Senator Gillett reviewed the report in detail for information purposes, and there were no questions.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT – Senate Vice Chair Peter Gillett reported on the December 3^th Executive Committee Meeting.

NEW BUSINESS [Note: Article IV.A. of the Senate Bylaws states, “All new matters shall be referred to committee before coming to the Senate (unless extenuating circumstances apply, as indicated under section C.4…” Also, the Senate Executive Committee has authorized committee-of-the-whole discussions under New Business as appropriate, and time permitting.]

Resolution on the Rutgers Response to SARS-CoV-2 variant Omicron – Submitted by Senator Rob Scott, SAS-NB (F)

Considerations:

• Resolution on the Rutgers Response to SARS-CoV-2 variant Omicron
• Early scientific investigation and a growing consensus of top virologists around the globe suggests that the recently emerged SARS-CoV-2 variant Omicron will likely evade immune responses elicited by currently available vaccines and render them much less efficacious against infection;
• The CDC has recognized that SARS-CoV-2 variant Omicron may also be more transmissible;
• In response to both of the above, the CDC has already strengthened its recommendation on booster shots to “Everyone ages 18 and older should get a booster shot either when they are 6 months after their initial Pfizer or Moderna series or 2 months after their initial J&J vaccine.”;
• Widespread rapid turn-around testing can reduce chains of SARS-CoV-2 transmission5 and the CDC has also emphasized the importance of testing;
• Maintaining Rutgers as an in-person University requires reducing the spread of all variants of SARS- CoV2; and
• A main lesson of the pandemic is that urgent, rapid, and preemptive action is critical

The Resolution was presented and summarized by Senator Rob Scott. After reviewing the resolution, there were no amendments. It was voted on and passed.

REPORTS OF THE REPRESENTATIVE TO THE BOARDS OF GOVERNORS AND TRUSTEES:  Senator Samuel Rabinowitz reported on the Board of Governors meeting that was on December 7th including comments on the pay equity process. Senator Anna Haley reported on the Board of Trustees meeting including comments on carbon neutrality efforts, and the gap between the Administration and BOT members.

REPORTS OF CAMPUS FACULTY AND STUDENT LIAISONS: Camden Faculty Liaison Samuel Rabinowitz met with Antonio Tillis for a follow-up on the administrative interaction with Camden Faculty members, Camden Student Liaison thanked Camden students for their efforts on inclusiveness across the campus, RBHS Faculty Member Laura Willett spoke on the joint chairs issue and the medical merger, RBHS Student Member made comments on town halls that have been happening.

ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 3:38 p.m.

 

Minutes prepared and written by:

Interim Executive Secretary Morgan Smith

 

Committee Meetings

Academic Standards, Regulations & Admissions Committee Meeting

Zoom @ 10:00 am

Budget & Finance Committee Meeting

Zoom @ 10:00 am

Faculty Affairs & Personnel Committee Meeting

Zoom @ 10:00 am

Information Technology Committee Meeting

Zoom @ 10:00 am

Instruction, Curricula & Advising Committee Meeting

Zoom @ 10:00 am

Research, Graduate & Professional Education Committee Meeting

Zoom @ 10:00 am

Student Affairs Committee Meeting

Zoom @ 10:00 am

University Structure & Governance Committee

Zoom @ 10:00 am