RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
UNIVERSITY SENATE

MINUTES: Regular Meeting of the University Senate

DATE: November 18, 2022

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

MEMBERS PRESENT: Abdelwahab, Adamo, Alizadeh, Allamand, Allen, Anderson, Ardeshna, Askew, Aubry, Barlow, Bhavaraju, Bhuyan, Boikess, Boison, Borisovets, Boucher, Boxer, Bridgeman, Caponegro, Cary, Clarke, Conway, Cooper, Dai, Davidson, Davis, Drazer, Farmer, Fatahzadeh, Figueira, Foster, Fudge, Gahlawat, Giraud, Gomes, Gong, Granadeiro, Guo, Gursoy, Haviland, Hewitt, Holloway, Holmes, Hunter, Jaffe, Joergensen, Kahanda, Kahng, Kaplan, Kelly, Kettle, Kiss, Kolben, Kustka, Ladell, LaMorte, Lawson, Li, Losada, Lutz, Lyles, Mahajan-Cusack, Malin, Matto, Moghe, Morton, O’Connor, O’Halloran, Oliver, Ortiz, Ozel, S. Patel, P. Patel, Pierce, Pintar, Pistell, Prihoda, Rabinowitz, Ramirez, Roth, Sagarra, Savage, Schnetzer, Schroth, Schwartz, Scott, Shih, Shinbrot, Siederer, Simonds, Smart, M. Smith, Sonnenberg, Strom, Struble, Swamy, Thompson, Todorinova, Torres, Valverde, Volino, White, Zhang, Zolezi

MEMBERS EXCUSED: Abuattieh, Carpenter, Dyckman, Kretov, Levine, Marchetta, Nayar, Olivera, Sharma

MEMBERS ABSENT:, Abuliak, Adya, Alkhwekhi, Ameri, Amjad, Anderson Eloy, Andrews, Bachmann, Baldi, Barone, Bhattacharya, Blanchett, Bogden, Brienza-Arcilla, Campbell, Cantor, Chefitz, Choo, Cole, Copeland, Crutcher, Cuitiño, Dane, Den Bleyker, Eastman, Eaton, Edelstein, English, Esposito, Everett, Feldman, Fellenz, Flynn, Galsim, Geary, Gower, Graham, Griffin, Haley, Halkitis, Hatefi, Henderson, Hien, Irizarry, Javanmard, Johnson, Kothari, Lei, Lopez, Mahon, Mansukhani, Manzini, March, Markert, Mazurek, McCarthy, McKeever, Menifield, Meshoyrer, Miller, Mittal, Mukherjee, Murtha, Mutcherson, Niaz, Nolan, Nucci, O’Toole, Oberle, Oladimeji, Osorio-Fernandez, Papakonstantinou, Parsa, Pedersen, Pichugin, Poole, C. Potter, J. Potter, Quincy, Roy, Rush, Saltzman, Shah, M. Shapiro, S. Shapiro, Tridib Shome, J. Smith, Spiegel, Srivastava, Stephens, Szatrowski, Takhistov, Tare, Tewfik, Tillis, Torres, Tsakalakos, Vadapalli, Van Stine, Vellangany, Wang, Whitehead, Wirtenberg

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

Chair Simonds called the meeting to order at 1:07 p.m. She reported that Senate leadership has received concerns from senators regarding the potential merger of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and New Jersey Medical School. She thanked RBHS Chancellor Brian Strom for his transparency and collaboration throughout the Senate process. An Envisioning the Future of Academic Medicine website has been launched, with a link to questions from the University Senate about the proposed merger. Many senators are also serving on the committees formed to respond to the Senate’s questions. Chair Simonds expressed gratitude to all senators and the Senate office, and asked senators to express gratitude to someone they know in the spirit of Thanksgiving. She also asked senators to consider donating to food pantries across Rutgers and the surrounding communities.

SECRETARY’S REPORT – Vicki Hewitt, Executive Secretary

• Agenda: The meeting agenda was approved, with one change. Senator Markert requested that the Proposed Response to Administration Response on S-2113: PTL Pay and Recognition be considered an information-only report.
• Minutes: The minutes of the Oct. 21, 2022 Senate meeting were approved as distributed by the Executive Secretary.
• Communications:
  • Senators are reminded to log in to the Senate website for attendance and voting access.
• The following University policy was recently reviewed/updated:
  • University Policy 80.1.7 Rutgers University Website Policy

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT – Jonathan Holloway, President and University Professor

President Holloway provided the Administrative Report consisting of the following topics:

• Student scholarship awards
• The Academic and Workplace Behaviors and Environment Survey
• Increases to the state health insurance plan premiums
• Proposed merger of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and New Jersey Medical School
• Dean searches
• Mistakes in the Oct. 28 payroll

President Holloway then answered questions on the following topics:

• Delay in responses to Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests concerning the proposed merger of the medical schools
• Tobacco-Free by ’23
• Academic labor strikes at other universities
• Clarification request concerning searches for senior leadership
• Payroll deductions for taxes on tuition remission
• Union negotiations
• Staff shortages
• Increasing stipends for graduate students
• Searches for senior leadership

COMMITTEE REPORTS/RESOLUTIONS

Ad Hoc Committee on Examining the Efficacy of the GRE
Report on S-2203: Examining the Efficacy of the GRE
Richard Dool (New Brunswick SC&I-Faculty), Adam Kustka (Senator, School of Arts and Sciences-Newark Faculty), Suja Patel (Senator, Newark Staff), Lucille Foster, (Vice Chair and Senator, Newark Staff), Co-Chairs

The ad hoc committee was charged as follows: Examine the effectiveness of the Graduate Records Examination (GRE) and its impact on Rutgers University’s graduate programs. Investigate other peer aspirants.

Senator Kustka and former senator Ashley Bernstein presented this report and resolutions to the Senate. A motion to amend the resolutions was lost. A motion to call the previous question carried. The unamended resolutions were adopted.

Faculty and Personnel Affairs Committee
Proposed Response to Administration Response on S-2113: PTL Pay and Recognition
Farid Alizadeh and Joseph Markert, Co-Chairs

Senator Markert presented this proposed response. After discussion and by unanimous consent, the proposed response was submitted to the Senate for a vote instead of being considered as an information-only item. The proposed response was adopted.

OLD BUSINESS

There was no old business.

NEW BUSINESS

There was no new business.

SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT

Vice Chair Foster reported on the November 4, 2022 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 Amjad reported on the Board of Trustees meeting.

REPORTS OF CAMPUS FACULTY AND STUDENT LIAISONS

Senator Rabinowitz reported on behalf of Camden Faculty. Senator Markert reported on behalf of Newark Faculty. Senator Ozel reported on behalf of New Brunswick Faculty. Senator Roth reported on behalf of RBHS Faculty. Senator Amjad reported on behalf of New Brunswick Students.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 3:34 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