RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
UNIVERSITY SENATE

MINUTES: Regular Meeting of the University Senate

DATE: December 11, 2020

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

MEMBERS PRESENT:  Albert, Alexander-Floyd, Alizadeh, Allamand, Ameri, Arman, Aubert, Bachmann, Baldi, Barone, Bekdash, Bhatt, Bhattacharya, Bhuyan, Bogden, Boikess, Boison, Borisovets, Brienza-Arcilla, Britton, Buyske, Castaneda, Cavanagh, Chefitz, Chiu, Choo, Cole, Coleman, Cooper, Crews, Dane, Davidson, Ding, Dool, Drazer, Dreyer, Ebert, English, Esposito, Everett, Farmer, Fernandez Arroyo, Figueira, Foster, Gillett, Gohel, Gomes, Gower, Granadeiro, Guo, Gursoy, Haley, Hara, Hodes, Holloway, Huang, Hunter, Hunter-Fratzola, Hurd, Ibrahim, Immidisetti, Jarrin Montaner, Kane, Kettle, Kosar, Kothari, Kovacs, Lawson, Lutz, Maddox Douglas, Maglione-Rico, Mahajan-Cusack, Mansukhani, Marchetta, Markert, Markowitz, Marsic, Matto, Mayes, Mazurek, McKeever, Mena-Segovia, Mendicino, Miller, Miranti, Moghe, Molloy, Morton, Murphy, O’Connor, Oberle, Oliver, Ozel, Parsa, Patel, Pedro-Santiago, Pichugin, Pinto-Figueroa, Piotrowski, Ponzio, Potter, Rabinowitz, Ribau, Rivera, Rizvi, Roth, Ryan, Sagarra, Sahota, Saltzman, Sass, R. Schwartz, S. Schwartz, Sesti, Shapiro, Shapses, Shinbrot, Shobut, Siederer, Simonds, Song, Spiegel, Stephens, Stephenson, Strom, Struble, Szatrowski, Takhistov, Thompson, Todorinova, Tommasi, Trees, Valverde, Van Stine, Vargas, Vellangany, Ventura-Martinez, Vidal, Virani, Volino, Wang, Ward, Warde, Wayne, White, Willett, Winters, Wirtenberg, Yamaoka

EXCUSED: Avallone, Bridgeman, Fellenz, Fox, Giraud, Hodes, Kiss, Lamar, Sinacori

ABSENT: Adya, Ahmed, Anderson-Eloy, Atkins, Ayad, Barbarese, Bator, Beegan, Blanchett, Cabrera, Cantor, Chadalvada, Chen, Chintalapudi, Cifelli, Cohen, Dasari, Eafrati, Eaton, Fadahunsi, Farley, Farris, Feldman, Flynn, Garcia, Garner, Goonetilleke, Halkitis, Hatefi, Henderson, Holdom, Hsueh, Hoergensen, Johnson, Joy, Kaplun, Kashalikar, Kaye, Kukor, Kustka, Lei, Linardopoulos, Liu, Lopez, Lyles, Madson, Mahon, Maloney, March, Marchitello, Menifield, Moore, Mucherson, Nath, Nelson, Nickitas, Paskhover, J. Potter, Rajan, Sacks, Schroth, Shankar, Silver, Stern, Tan, Thakuriah, Veysey, Walkup, Wang, Williams

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

Senate Chair Jon Oliver called the meeting to order at 1:10 p.m. remotely via Zoom. He announced Rutgers will be hosting the BTAA in October 2021 giving us a chance to showcase the work of the Senate and its individual members. Oliver reported that Chancellor Brian Strom will be delivering the RBHS Chancellor’s Report and Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway will be providing the Administrative Report. He asked all senators, especially around the time of the holidays, to take a moment and think of all in need globally. He wished all a peaceful and healthy holiday break.

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY – Mary Mickelsen, Executive Secretary

• Agenda: The meeting’s agenda including time limits, was approved by the Senate.
• Minutes: The November 20, 2020 Senate minutes were approved as distributed by the Executive Secretary.
• Communications: The following communications were presented by the Executive Secretary:
  • Mickelsen reported that the following polices have been updated/added in the University Policy Library:
    •  Policy 80.1.1: Permission for External Companies to Film, Videotape, and Photograph at Rutgers (PDF)
    • Policy 80.1.6: Communications and Relations with the News Media (PDF)
    • Policy 10.3.13: Student Immunizations and Health Requirements (PDF)
    • Policy 100.2.12: Notice of Non-Discrimination for Language and Interpretation Services under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Section 1557 (PDF)

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Instruction, Curricula, and Advising Committee Report on S-2016: Lessons Learned from University-Wide Online Learning – Natalie Borisovets, ICAC Chair

The ICAC was charged as follows: Evaluate the current policies, practices, plans, and outcomes for remote instruction across the university in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Assess any lessons learned from the transitions to online learning because of the pandemic.

ICAC Chair Natalie Borisovets summarized the work of the committee and the ICAC’s Response to Charge S-2016 on Lessons Learned from University-wide Online Learning. The Senate discussed a few amendments to the recommendations, voted, and approved the report as amended. (The above linked report is the final version.)

*Due to scheduling conflicts, the ICAC report on S-2016 was tabled for a short time to accommodate President Jonathan Holloway’s Administrative Report*

 ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT – Jonathan Holloway, President of the University

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

• Honored the memory of Joseph Seneca
• Rutgers Faculty and Student Honors/Awards
  • Rutgers’ 2020 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • 2020 Cundhill History Prize awarded to Camilla Townsend, SAS-NB History professor for her work “Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs”
  • Rutgers’ Students named as Marshall and Schwarzman Scholars
• Searches are underway Rutgers-Camden Chancellor and Senior Vice President for Research
• Committee formed and actively working on the Review of the Responsibility Centered Management (RCM) budget model, headed by SVP Brian Ballentine
• Ad Hoc Committee has been created on divesting from fossils fuels, also under the leadership of SVP Ballentine
• Plans for Spring 2021 have been announced by each campus chancellor, which will primarily consist of remote learning and continue the Fall 2020 model with a large reduction in on-campus housing

President Holloway then answered questions on the following topics:

• Non-administrative faculty members ability to make a meaningful contribution on the RCM committee
• Clarification of layoffs of PTLs for the spring 2021 semester
• Pay equity issues

*Following President Holloway’s report, the ICAC report on S-2016 was picked back up off the table for continued discussion and final voting.*

COMMITTEE REPORTS (con’t)

Information Technology Committee Report on S-2017: Evaluation of the University’s Continuity of Operations – Adrienne Esposito and Brian Everett, ITC Co-Chairs

The ITC was charged as follows: Evaluate the IT implications of remote instruction, research and telecommuting necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Examine issues including the range of remote instruction offered to students and the transition to Canvas and make any recommendations.

ITC Member Marty Siederer summarized the work of the committee and reviewed the recommendations of ITC’s response to Charge S-2017: Evaluation of the University’s Continuity of Operations. Co-Chair Adrienne Esposito read the resolution and answered related questions. There were no amendments posed, and the resolution passed.

CHANCELLOR’S REPORT – Brian Strom, RBHS Chancellor

Chancellor Strom presented the Chancellor’s Report and then answered questions on the following topics:

• 5-year strategic plan initiative
• Economic outlook for Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas vs. Rutgers University and how federal bailouts were permitted to be utilized
• Hospital staff vs. Medical School faculty turnover rates
• False negative COVID-19 testing
• Flu data in comparison to COVID-19
• Contact tracing program
• Population-specific clinical practice policies
• Effectiveness/efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine and medications used to treat COVID-19 illness
• The anticipated Medical School (RWJMS & NJMS) affiliation process and the wide-spread involvement and consultation necessary throughout
• The economic impact (if any) on the hiring of new deans and faculty
• The phenomenal work done by existing faculty and staff in response to the pandemic

*During Chancellor Strom’s report, Chair Jon Oliver proposed a 30-minute extension of the meeting. The proposal passed following a vote.*

SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT – Senate Vice Chair Peter Gillett reported on the December 4, 2020 Executive Committee meeting.

REPORTS OF REPRESENTATIVES TO BOARDS OF GOVERNORS AND TRUSTEES: No Reports

REPORTS OF CAMPUS FACULTY AND STUDENT LIAISONS: Camden Faculty Senator Samuel Rabinowitz and Camden Student Senator Michael Van Stine reported on their respective campus activities/meetings. Newark Student Senator Harrison Chiu reported on the student issues on the Newark Campus. New Brunswick Faculty Senator Tugrul Ozel, New Brunswick Faculty Council Chair, reported on the November 13th New Brunswick Faculty Council meeting. Senator Laura Willett reported on the RBHS Faculty Council’s current initiatives.

ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 4:44 p.m.

Minutes prepared by:

Mary Mickelsen, Executive Secretary of the University Senate

 

Committee Meetings

Academic Standards, Regulations & Admissions Committee Meeting

Zoom @ 10:30 am

Budget & Finance Committee Meeting

Zoom @ 10:00 am

Faculty Affairs & Personnel Committee Meeting

Zoom @ 10:30 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