FAEC Minutes, December 2, 2020

FAEC MINUTES 12/2/2020

 

Present: Naseem Choudhury (President, SSHS), Katie Cohen (Library), Donna Flynn (Councilor-at-Large under 11, TAS), Scott Frees (Vice President, TAS), Kim Lorber (Secretary), Lisa Lutter, (CA), Thierry Rakotobe-Joel (ASB), Mihaela Serban (SSHS), Ed Shannon (HGS), Bonnie Blake (Councilor-at-Large over 11, CA)  

 

Guests: Peter Mercer (President), Susan Gaulden (Provost), Chris Romano (Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs.

Vote to bring meeting to order at 10:04am. 

Minutes Approval: The 11/18/20 minutes were approved. 

  

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Meeting with President Mercer: Report by Scott Frees. Updates about COVID-19 vaccine administration on campus and the challenges were noted as this is not as easy to distribute as the flu vaccine.

 

Meeting with Provost Gaulden: Report by Naseem Choudhury. What are the anticipated budget concerns for the next semester? Will students be able to live on campus?

 

 

FAEC DISCUSSION

 

Under Enrolled Programs: Some students are choosing to take a year off until they can attend face-to-face courses.

 

Pass/Fail Grades: SGA has a petition seeking to use this model for this semester as done last.

 

R/F Policy: Can this policy be clarified?

 

Student Opinion Surveys: How can these be most useful for all constituencies?

 

Faculty Service Expectations: This was discussed. Some do more service and others do much less. How do junior faculty find service opportunities? 

 

Furlough Questions: AFT will be having a meeting today about this.

 

PRESIDENT MERCER

Budget: FAEC asked to understand budget implications if a portion, or the entirety of the spring semester moves to remote. Currently it is difficult to estimate.

 

Pandemic Impact: The President would like us to be inward focused as well as outward focused as most of the Ramapo community is suffering some sort of stress.

 

PROVOST GAULDEN

 

R/Fs: This is being discussed to expand this grading option to 4 courses or 16 credits. This does not have to be for a failed course but also for anyone who earned a grade they wish to improve. This policy is based on a review of what other colleges are doing.

 

Y Grade: Theatre 021, 022 and Pathways courses, for example, are zero credit courses and students who do not complete them earn an F. This can appear misleading on a transcript so a Y grade is being developed.

 

Student Complaints to Deans: These are handled differently in units. Students should be referred back to the professor. Provost Gaulden will remind deans of this at tomorrow’s Dean’s Council.

 

Online Courses: These do not have a specific schedule and therefore do not have an assigned exam window; leave the exam window open for 24 hours so all students can take the exam on the day.

 

 

 

VICE PRESIDENT ROMANO

 

Finances: One third of students who live on campus have chosen to stay. Ninety percent of those who are living on campus now are choosing to come back in the spring. The refunds for fall 2020 are minimal. More than 600 students are expected to live on campus in the spring. The biggest concern is the status of academic athletics. Decisions have not been made about the winter and spring. If athletics is allowed, we will likely have closer to 1,000 students in residence. Students who deferred from fall to the spring has resulted in having more students enrolled for the coming semester.

 

Junior Registration: There seems to be a delay in juniors registering for spring courses. The data is being explored. Freshman registration is a bit delayed. Students still need to get immunization paperwork to the Student Health offices even if they are learning remotely and never on campus. They cannot register without this by state law.

 

High School Student College Applications: High school senior student applications are down 60% nationally from the past fall. Much of the application process is running 30-45 days behind. Many high school guidance counselors are behind. Ramapo is only 19% down in applications. We have the lowest decrease in the state when compared with last year. The test optional change has been beneficial. Early decision acceptance letters are going out tomorrow; these students are committed to coming to Ramapo College. Private colleges are struggling. Provost Gaulden noted people are busy dealing with crises so the timeline is a bit delayed but it does not mean we are losing students.

 

 

Gen Ed Completion: There is an increased focus on students to complete their general education requirements by the time they have completed 60 credits.

 

Registration Data: Chris is crunching numbers to see the trends in delayed registration.

 

Banner Down: U.Achieve, Banner, etc. all went down this week. Chris will make sure faculty is informed in the future.

 

Meeting adjourned at 11:52am.

 

 

 

 

Categories: FAEC MEETING MINUTES 2020, RAMAPO FAEC