FAEC MINUTES 11/06/2019

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

Date: Wednesday, November 06, 2019  | Location: A 226  | Time: 10:00 am to 11:00 am

Attendees: Tae Kwak, Donna Flynn, Roark Atkinson, Hugh Sheehy, Eva Ogens, Lisa Lutter, Christina Connor, Robert Becklen, Scott Frees

Guests: Ruma Sen, Renata Gangemi (Communication Arts Covener) , Jackie (ARC Chair), Maya Poran (Psychology Convener),

Secretary: Nakia Matthias

1. FAEC Minutes Approved  

2. Three Plus One Program [TPO’s]

In relation to TPO’s it appears that  FA President is not informed with reliable information from the Office of the Provost.  Some faculty have the impression that Provost and Deans are circumventing convening groups to develop TPO’s.  If the Provost wants TPO’s to go online ASAP he must not work with individual convening groups but rather than ask conveners to work with each other to examine them.  FAEC suggests that a Vote of No Confidence will be conducted for any dean that attempts to create curriculum as deans are not faculty members. FA must halt further developments until there is agreement among administrators regarding the processes involved in formulating TPO’s.  FAEC will also vote on a resolution that cost benefit analyses must be developed and shared with faculty to illustrate reasons and need for TPO’s. Currently Chris Romano has some preliminary cost-benefit numbers on the prospective tPO’s but has not shared this information. Furthermore, TPO’s are sanctioned by the law which supports their materialization and they have the support of RCNJ’s BoT..  

The benefit of TPO’s is obvious for Community Colleges as they would want to use the TPO’s as  some students would remain enrolled with their institution for longer and TPO’s will attract new students that desire to earn Bachelors degrees.

The provost has stated that courses that are reduced from 4 to 3 credits do not have to be reviewed via ARC.  All courses that are making changes to the number of credits that they bear must go through ARC review. Additionally, all academic programs that are developed at RCNJ are subject to ARC review.  Administrators and adjuncts cannot submit courses for ARC vetting as this is the purview of the faculty. This undermines the purpose of ARC and jeopardizes shared governance.

RCNJ Programs or courses that are taught at external colleges or institutions are not assessed by ARC or faculty members. Their course content is not assessed.

The Psychology convening group [CG] was tapped for TPO’s with Sussex Community College whereby the faculty devised a list of concerns and resources needed for the endeavor.  However, this was never addressed. The CG was asked to provide a curriculum and told that if they did not furnish one, then their dean would create and submit one.  

FAEC suggests that FA produce a list of issues and concerns about TPO’s before moving forward with any aspect of TPO’s and that faculty should take note of any specific changes that are being made to the curricula. FA will address the broader structural/macro level Issues that impact each school in relation to TPO’s.  Processes involving ARC and procedures that ensure shared governance must be examined. There is concern that TPO’s also bear potential negative impact on non-tenured faculty and that some programs will be siloed.

3. ARC Review and TPO’s

The FA will put forth a vote to declare that TPO’s must be ARC approved before moving forward.  As a statement of principle FA can determine that faculty will not teach or contribute to programs that are not ARC approved.  ARC can only enforce this rule if programs come to ARC for review and it appears that the administration could avoid this process.  Part of this can involve outlining the ways that programs will be harmed should the review processes continue to be dismissed in the creation of TPO’s or other programs. A potential ARC sub-committee could serve to examine proposed TPO’s and related programs. FA could vote on an audit process but this would result in the loss of autonomy for convening groups if an external auditing body becomes responsible for vetting courses. There should be a way to empower ARC and convening group to have an audit process.  Every unit has a faculty controlled school curriculum committee that precedes the ARC process

Concerns were raised that administrators could develop versions of the Degree Completion Program which currently have no oversight from convening groups.  Additionally, if RCNJ faculty determine that they will not teach TPO courses then administration can hire adjuncts or temporary faculty to take on this role.  

Meeting Adjourned at 11:30 am

Categories: FAEC MEETING MINUTES 2019, RAMAPO FAEC, Uncategorized