Faculty Assembly Executive Council | Minutes | 3/06/19

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

Date: Wednesday, March  6, 2019 | Location: A220  | Time: 10:30 am to 12:00 pm

Attendees: Kathryn Zeno, Tae Kwak, Donna Flynn, Sam Mustafa, Kathy Zeno, Renata Gangemi, Christina Connor, Hugh Sheehy, Eva Ogens, Catalin Martin

Secretary: Nakia Matthias

Guests:  Provost Becker

FAEC Minutes Approved

1. Delayed Opening and Early Closing Policies

The delayed opening and early closing policies should be clarified.  For some faculty and students several hours are missed for class time that cannot be made up.  This especially the case with labs and clinics, as lab time and clinical hours cannot be recovered.  

In the past specific classes that would be impacted by the late opening have been indicated in the late opening alert messaging. This has not been done consistently. President Mercer has been informed regarding the concerns over the early closure messaging but has not yet responded.  

Additionally, as RCNJ is a state college, on January 30, 2019 the College had an early closing in keeping with the closing of state institutions as ordered by the governor.  However, on Wednesday February 20, 2019 RCNJ opened despite the governor’s declaration of a State of Emergency.

FAEC suggests revision of the language contained in the alert messages to indicate that classes with half of their meeting time remaining should continue to meet despite the delayed opening.

FAEC also notes the possibility that late opening procedures can be specified within course syllabi and that an enforcement mechanism can be implemented by faculty to encourage attendance.

2.  RCNJ Interim Suspension Policy

A taskforce will convene to review the interim suspension policy and make recommendations accordingly.  FAEC notes that it is unclear as to how the taskforce will be populated but assumes that it will incorporate various stakeholders. At present the policy does not permit for RCNJ’s Public Safety Officers to make distinctions between the nature acts which have resulted in students’ suspension.  Therefore, incidents whereby students are found on campus during a period of interim suspension are potentially handled in a similar manner despite the reason for the suspension.

3.  African American Literature and Native American History Lines

RCNJ should be supporting and pushing curricular diversity. Faculty lines are curricular issues and the FA is duty bound to ensure that the best academic offerings are made despite constraints.  Presently there has been no renewal or removal of the temporary line. However, if the African American Literature line opens it is important that that diversity is preserved in the hiring of the candidate. It could be converted to a tenure-track line, although the school dId not want to advertise the position as a tenure-track line due to stagnant enrollment numbers.  There has been no push to continue this line by the Provost. Temporary full time positions are renewable up to three years. Someone cannot remain in a temporary line for more than six years. Beyond this point they must be offered tenure.

The existing two African American literature classes are under-enrolled. However the African American history class is popular and the college should be to push to support it. It should not be incumbent on a first-year contingent faculty member to redirect students across campus into courses or programs the College has not devoted energy to developing.

Similarly, the Native American History line has not been renewed nor removed.

Conversations should be had with deans about the availability and need for new lines.

4.  120 Credit-hour cap and 3 Credit courses

Although RCNJ received an extension making the legislation to convert to a 120 hour credit system moot .  The provost would like to consider the options of adopting 3 credit courses. The benefits of the 4 credit system are questioned by existing faculty. The vast majority of faculty do not want to move to a 4/4 teaching load as the 4 credit model is more difficult and would detract from original research time. Perhaps this option could be determined on the basis of curricular need.  Due to the accreditation requirements of the programs in the business school, there must be time for faculty to publish. There is an apparent correlation between course load uptake and scholarship production.

5.  Provost’s Discussion Memo About 4/4 Course Load Adoption

Although the document circulated by the Provost among the faculty is framed as a basis for discussion rather than as a plan it lacks detail. The document’s ambiguity makes for uncertainty in terms of how faculty should view its proposals.

The Provost mentioned that Fall 2020 is simply a date to push the discussion and to determine  whether the move to a 4/4 credit system is desirable as well as feasible. He affirmed that there is no definite plan in place but rather discussion about the possibility of a 4/4 credit hour system is desired. In graduate programs 3 credit courses exist but faculty are compensated for 4 credits.  He affirmed that scholarship, mentoring, and service productivity are the foremost important aspects of the experience, and if they decline then the 4/4 credit hour system should not happen.

The provost mentioned that If a change should occur, decisions should be made at the departmental level as to which should be 3 and 4 credit courses.  

The FAEC maintains that a 3/3 teaching load has helped a change in the character of the faculty in terms of attracting a diverse range of candidates as applicants attracted to this.

FAEC voiced concern over the creation and allocation of release time among the faculty. Some faculty would have to do a 3/3 course load while others would have to do a 4/3 or 4/4 course load.  The Provost mentioned that course size would also impact this as the number of students equated with the number of credits assigned to the courses that faculty are compensated for has to make financial sense.

The Provost stated that before any movement on the issue is to be made there would need to be an examination of the College’s existing resources and where they stem from. He also stated that he is concerned about decreasing enrollment and seeks to avoid creating a downward spiral for RCNJ.

Meeting Adjourned at 12:00 pm

Categories: FACULTY ASSEMBLY MINUTES