FAEC MINUTES 03/04/2020

FAEC Minutes 3/04/2020

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

Date: Wednesday, March  04, 2020 | Location: B226  | Time: 10:30 am to 12:00 pm

Attendees: Tae Kwak, Donna Flynn, Kathy Zeno, Christina Connor, Scott Frees, Roark Atkinson, Naseem Choudhury, Ashwani Vashihth (Interim SSHS Representative), Pinar Kayaalp (interim HGS Representative), Lisa Lutter

Secretary: Nakia Matthias

Guests: President Mercer and Provost Gaulden

I.  FAEC Minutes Approved 

II. RCNJ COVID Response

President Mercer informed FAEC that a COVID-19 Preparedness Plan in place  that has been devised by RCNJ’s Pandemic Assessment Team which is chaired by Melissa Van Der Wall.  All international travel for students and faculty will be banned for the rest of the semester..

The Provost met with Michael Bitz to examine options for a shift to online course delivery in the event of an emergency that prevents campus based interaction.  This option will only require In instances of There is no expectations that a classroom based course should fully transition to an online interface overnight. Also it is understood that there will be challenges in the delivery of labs, art classes, theater classes, and the like  online.   

It is important to ensure that content delivery can be achieved remotely.  Faculty will be asked to work with Michael Bitz, IT, and their deans to determine any technological needs, capabilities and compatibility for online course delivery.  Assistance will be provided to secure software other requirements. This will also serve to allay concerns regarding returned study abroad students and potential exposure to COVID-19.

Students have been informed that they should return from study abroad programs and they have agreed to do so. RCNJ is assisting and monitoring students that are traveling back to the US from study abroad to ensure that they have access to what they need.  A self-quarantining requirement is in place for all study abroad students. President Mercer was in a conference call with the governor about this issue and the Pandemic Team has reached out to the Bergen County Health Department.

III. Contract Majors and Programs

It is imperative that students that are contract majors receive a degree that reflects their experiences.  Contract Major will earn a bachelors that will be called liberal studies or social science. The Contract Major programs were intended to assist students that have specific needs and interests that may lie outside of RCNJ programmatic offerings. For instance, the social science contract major can be used to help students pursue a criminal justice degree although there is no Criminal Justice Program at RCNJ.  Currently there are Psychology Social Science and Liberal Studies contract majors. There are currently no regular faculty teaching contract majors. Contract major faculty may not be part of any convening group but serve an advisory role to students in contract majors. RCNJ should view trends in contract major programs that show a strong interest in a particular area of coursework and study as an indication that the school should develop programs in the respective areas for inclusion in the school’s curriculum.  

IV. Degree Completion Programs 

The Communication and Social Science Degree Completion Programs are run in an inconsistent manner.  Some students have been able to take courses in the degree completion program with permission although they are completely different courses. Students have been enrolling in these courses as a ‘backdoor’ when they fail to complete science-based program/major  requirement. 

Meeting Adjourned 12 pm

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