Faculty Assembly Executive Council | Minutes 10/31/18

DRAFT

Ramapo College of New Jersey
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Faculty Assembly

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1.  Faculty Assembly Minutes Approved

2.  FA President

Snow Day

Snow day has been changed to a Sunday December 23, 2018. Since make-up classes are on a Sunday shuttle-bus hours need to be expanded as shuttle bus service currently does not begin until 1pm on Sundays.

Paper Evaluations as the Default

It is premature to switch to electronic evaluations for the Spring 2019 semester as response rates are low. There needs to be an increase in the the online response rate to be statistically significant and useful for faculty.  Paper evaluations will remain the default for this semester. However, Faculty may elect to can elect to have online course evaluations. Once the roll-out of online course evaluations among tenured faculty evidences significant and reliable increase in response rates then we can switch to online. Additionally procedures for evaluating faculty must be negotiated with the AFT.

The New Jersey Secretary of Higher Education Visit to RCNJ

Zakiya Smith Ellis NJ Secretary of Higher Education visited RCNJ.  During Secretary Ellis’ visit President Mercer requested that more funds and additional resources be allocated to RCNJ.  The Secretary was also asked to assist with – acquiring new Board of Trustees members.  RCNJ is scheduled to replace six BoT members.  Trustees are appointed to a 6-year term and may be reappointed to a second 6-year term. At present, we have five trustees awaiting reappointment to their second term, and one trustee who has served his two terms and is up for replacement.  

Promotion and Tenure

FAEC requested that President Mercer release the dates for promotion and tenure earlier.  He has agreed to do this.

Sabbaticals

A process is currently being developed to ensure that faculty are able to take sabbaticals when they are up for them.

3.  RCNJ PRESIDENT’s REPORT

Redistribution of Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Compliance Resources

Chief Equity and Diversity Officer, Nicole Morgan Agard distributed an e-mail to the RCNJ community which explained the redistribution and increase of resources toward the Enhancement of Diversity, Inclusion and Compliance.

Library Task Force Meetings

On October 30th the Library Learning Commons Cabinet met for the first time. A meeting will be scheduled for the Library Renovation Task force.  The ribbon cutting for the Library Learning Commons is scheduled for for August 2021. Any concerns about the Library Renovation Task Force can be directed to Roark Atkinson.

Dissolution of the Diversity Action Committee (DAC)

Although DAC no longer exists Nicole Morgan Agard seeks to convene an advisory council comprising faculty, students, and staff.  President Mercer concurred with faculty members’ sentiments that the DAC website needs to be updated or deactivated to reflect the fact that DAC is no longer a functioning committee at RCNJ.

New Strategic Plan for Higher Education

After meeting with The New Jersey Secretary of Higher Education, Zakiya Smith Ellis, the president report that a new strategic plan for higher education will address the lack of a funding formula.  Smith-Ellis suggested that a new funding formula proposal will be at the base of the new strategic plan. The president affirmed that the budgetary process is akin to austerity measures marked by benign neglect during the Christie administration as there were no cuts or increases to the budget.  

RCNJ Budget

President Mercer confirmed that the RCNJ budget will not see any increases. In response to a faculty member’s question President Mercer stated that this is an austerity measure due to inflation.  President Mercer explained that it receives a lower amount of funds that The College of New Jersey and that this has had negative ramifications on the college. The president is meeting with local stakeholders on a weekly basis to address the funding challenges at the college.

Padovano Commons [PC]

The President welcomes for use of PC and notes the need for a booking plan for use of the space.  He suggested that revisiting the idea can be a possibility so that faculty may be able to make use of the PD during this time and proposed that shorter classes may help furnish the time for a common hour.

4.  RCNJ PROVOST’s REPORT

Student-faculty Relations

The Provost thanked the faculty for their dedication and explained that dedication to students’ success is reflected through the nature of interaction among faculty and students inside and outside the classroom.  He suggests that and “open college meeting” is a selling point for RCNJ as it represents faculty dedication to students’ educational experience.

Course Evaluations

The Provost seeks a complete switch to online course evaluations in the near future.  He suggests that a best practices examination of the faculty exhibiting high response rates for online course evaluations be prioritized.  He welcomed input from faculty that enjoy high response rates for online course evaluations. He espoused the advantages of online evaluations to include: no paperwork processing; the immediate availability; and features within the software that enable faculty to monitor course evaluation responses in real-time.  

Faculty Record-keeping for Promotion & Tenure Processes

Employee Relations wants to access to tenure and promotion documents via an electronic/online interface. Spool is the software currently used within RCNJ for electronic record-keeping. The Provost explains that document for P&T processes can be submitted up until the deadline and once the deadline has been reached the uploading period will end but the P&T committee would be able to access the candidates’ records.  He suggest that the contents of binders be scanned and uploaded to the Spool system by each program and unit. He also explained that online storage to such records facilitates ease of access to faculty materials for Middle States review.

Textbook Costs and Open Education Resources

Faculty encouraged use open education resources the cost of textbooks can be exorbitant and cause burdens to students and their parents.  The provost stated that the, “…cost for textbooks have grown four times faster that the rate of inflation since the last ten years.” A survey will be disseminated among faculty to assess how much students are paying for course textbooks.

Padovano Commons

The Provost will have lunch hours in Padovano Commons and welcomes all to have lunch with him to discuss any matters of interest of concern at RCNJ. The Provost made known that he is open to ideas and exchange.

Library Learning Commons

The Library Learning commons is on schedule and several of its resources will be relocated to Linden Hall over the winter break.  Items can be retrieved from storage if interlibrary loan is not a viable option.

5.  FA VOTING ITEM: Student Course Survey Revision Task Force

FA voted in favor of the revised instrument.  The motion passed with the following results:

YES: 71% [58 respondents]   

NO: 16%  [13 respondents]  

ABSTAIN: 13% [10 respondents]

TOTAL VOTES: 81

The revised evaluation instrument omits questions about RCNJ’s pillars, faculty availability, and student interests

• The task force was not charged with determining the validity of the instrument
• Biases are inherent in evaluation for various reasons and therefor they must be interpreted with caution 
• A Multi-method approach to evaluation is best

Teaching Effectiveness is assessed according to the following

1. Self-Evaluation
2. Review of Course Materials
3. Peer Evaluation of teaching
4. Dean Evaluation of teaching
5. Data from student rating

• DRAFT REPORT: Student Course Survey Rev. Task Force
• Sample Revised Survey

6.  INFORMATION ITEMS

Padovano Commons (Jim Morley)

Jim Morley discussed Anthony Padovano’s contributions to the RCNJ community during his time as a faculty member, as well as the value of the Padovano Commons to the faculty, staff, and students.  Padovano commons is open for faculty and staff use. It should be used for collegial activities including sharing research and projects; faculty and staff events; socialization and lunch gatherings

Information about The Padovano Commons is available via the following link: https://www.ramapo.edu/conferences/padovano-commons/

Counseling Services (Maya Poran)

The Counseling Center has scaled back its services and the ‘step-model’ of care is not offered to all students.  Instead a triage is performed and extensive care is limited. Request for approval for funding to secure additional staff including paid interns and case managers for counseling services at RCNJ.  At present counseling services does not utilize or employ RCNJ’s trained student-counselors for clinical practice. Therefore funding is needed to acquire additional staff.

Faculty Appreciation (Robert Trupiano, Campus Bookstore)

The Campus Bookstore provided complimentary cookies to demonstration faculty appreciation.  Faculty textbook orders can be made using the online form or the standard form. Rollover requests for text adoptions can be forwarded to Robert Trupiano via:  0396txt@fheg.follett.com

Faculty Assembly Adjourned at 3 pm

Categories: FACULTY ASSEMBLY MINUTES