Faculty Assembly Executive Council | Minutes | 4/3/19

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

Date: Wednesday, April  3, 2019 | Location: A220  | Time: 10:30 am to 12:00 pm

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

Secretary: Nakia Matthias

Guests:  Provost Becker

I.  Two Previous FAEC Minutes Approved

II.  Cost savings at RCNJ

Based on Provost Becker’s remarks, FAEC discussed possible ways that cost savings could be achieved.   

FAEC considered the possibilities associated with reducing adjuncts, moving from paper to online course evaluations,  generally reducing paper for various administrative tasks, and potentially reducing the number of employees within the Ramapo Foundation. It was discussed that there is uncertainty about whether these measures would truly alleviate any debts that RCNJ bears.

Dramatically increasing student enrollment was mentioned, however any drastic uptick in enrollment  would require RCNJ to reduce admissions standards. The caliber of students will be transformed and cause for increased remediation.

III.  Student Enrollment and Revenue Increases

RCNJ is trying to increase its undergraduate population from 946 new admits to 1000.  It is also understood that graduate programs help to offset increased expenses. At RCNJ the African American demographic is shrinking each year while the Asian American and Hispanic American demographic is growing.  It is suggested that the transportation link to areas of New Jersey such as Patterson are essential and be expedited to garner more African American students.

Feeder colleges, such as Bergen Community College (BCC) are considering the development of an RN to BSN program.  However, this would be detrimental to RCNJ’s ability to enroll students in its nursing programs. BCC’s proposal has thus far been turned down by the state.

IV.  Administrative Bloat at RCNJ

Ramapo is the least efficient college in the state of New Jersey as 24.4% of employees are office and administrative support.  FAEC suggests that reducing non-essential administrative employees could help satisfy cost savings. Additionally, is necessary to examine how administrative bloat impacts RCNJ’s budget through spending and allocation assessment.  FAEC suggest that before cuts to faculty and teaching are considered reducing administrative bloat should be prioritized.

Provost Becker mentioned that his goal is planning for and implementing greater efficiencies at RCNJ. He stated that revenue growth will come form online courses, partnered satellite programs, and graduate programs.

Meeting Adjourned at 12:00 pm

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