Faculty Assembly Meeting Minutes, March 3, 2021

Faculty Assembly Minutes March 3, 2021

 

Presenter: Naseem Choudhury (President, SSHS)

 Meeting began at 1:03pm.

 Minutes Approved: December minutes were approved via Qualtrics

 Guests: President Peter Mercer, Interim-Provost Susan Gaulden, Sarah Carberry (GECCo Chair), Chair Stephen Rice (ARC, Chair), Sarah Carberry (GECCo), Katie Cohen (Library), Virginia Galdieri (ER), Rob Doster (IT), Nicole Morgan Agard ( EDIC), Ben Levy (Ramapo International)

  

FACULTY ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Faculty Handbook Revision: FAEC has been in constant contact with ER and HR. The task force has been reconvened and had its first meeting.

Vaccination: ER has been asked if Ramapo can become a vaccination site.

Unemployment: There is now a dedicated email to use: HR2020@ramapo.edu.

State of the College: Conversations with CFO and President Mercer suggests that overall, we are not doing too badly, considering broader and current economic circumstances.

Faculty Only: After the business of the Faculty Assembly has been concluded, the faculty will meet in closed session.  

 

COLLEGE PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Free Tuition 2 Years: The NJ government is interested in making tuition free for the first 2 years of undergraduate college at 2 year and 4 year schools (Garden State Promise). Financial shortfalls may fall on the College. This would not happen for at least 2 years. The income threshold will be $65,000 and below with sliding deduction from $65,000 – $85,000. Still needs to make it through the legislature.

Next Year’s Budget: This will be more like that of two years ago. We hope to run a full program without the debt problems of last year. There are still budgetary issues to bridge the gap of what we propose and what we have. Increased graduate applications are making up for the slight drop in undergraduate enrollment. There is the hope to have 1,000 students in residence to bring us closer to our previous budget.

New President: President Mercer eagerly awaits the announcement.

 

PROVOST’S REPORT

Fall 2021 Course Schedule: Beth Foster of the Registrar’s Office has sent the current version to deans and conveners for review. A second draft will be sent by tomorrow. Additional changes will be done in real time. Respond promptly. Confusion remains about delivery modes.

Provost’s Council is Revising and Creating Policies: They are announced on the Provost’s web page and are announced in the Daily Digest.  She has asked the deans to solicit feedback from the faculty about policies under review.

Minimum Technology Policy: This is being discussed. The upcycle technology program at Montclair is available and Ramapo has asked to participate. Ideally, this would allow students to all have some sort of technology.

Covid-19 Positive Students: If a student tells you, make sure the student has told Debra Lukacsko. You can also inform her directly. Then the contact tracing team will inform anyone who needs to self-quarantine or isolate. The trained team will determine if classes will need to go remote. Remember to abide by HIPPA protections.

SGA Spring Break: Students are reporting a great need for a break. If it works with our courses, perhaps we can give lighter homework, if possible during that week (March 13 – 19, 2021).

 

 ACADEMIC REVIEW COMMITTEE (Stephen Rice, Chair)

Recommendations were made by ARC to approve the following:

Program Revision: Name Change, Liberal Studies contract major (HGS) to the Humanities and Global Studies contract major

Program Revision: Revise the Journalism concentration in the Communication Arts major, and Name Change of the concentration to Digital Journalism and Writing

 

GECCo COMMITTEE (Sarah Carberry, Chair)

Assessment: This semester or next year, you will likely receive an email from the coordinator with a syllabus request in order to audit all courses for easier assessment next year.

GECCo Questions: If you have Gen Ed-related questions please email GECCo: GECCo@ramapo.edu

 

LIBRARY (Katie Cohen, Interlibrary Loan, Reference & Instruction Librarian)

Information Literacy Sessions: It is not too late to request sessions as we approach mid-terms. If you have questions about information literacy sessions, please email infolit@ramapo.edu or contact Christina Connor, Information Literacy Coordinator.

 

ER REPORT (Virginia Galdieri, Assistant Vice President, Human Resources and Benefits Administration)

New Adjunct Executed Contract: As soon as this is available, it will be posted on the website and a notice will be emailed to alert everyone.

Furlough Time: Please reach out to AVP Galdieri or ER if you need help accounting for this time. The second 5 day week will the week of June 7th. If someone is teaching in the summer, please reach out to ER. Some have asked to take incremental days. These are ok with your dean’s approval. One week was taken by most during winter break as well as a 6th day on the day after Thanksgiving.

Applying for Unemployment: HR has designated Lori Zuccola the point person to help us through key issues. Email HR2020@ramapo.edu and note in the subject line: Unemployment Issues. She will reach out to those who are still facing challenges getting registered or receiving claim money. ER and AFT are limited as to what they can do but they will do what they can.

Faculty Handbook: This is being revised after years of requests. The task force was derailed this year and met for the first time in February. There are 6 unit members, 2 from AFT, 1 from Dean’s Council, 1 from EDIC, and 1 from MFSA. Subcommittees have been formed to address each of the questions; some require more attention than others. Chairs of each will be identified by Friday to then be able to reach out to others outside of the committee to help with their expertise. Hopefully, a rough draft will be done by the end of the academic year. The group plans to meet in the fall to have a draft ready to be reviewed before winter break.

 

IT (Robert Doster, Chief Information Officer)

Password Reset Process: Our cyber security upgrade is now about a decade more advanced. To avoid doing this in the future, Duo will be rolled out for 2 level log-ins. This will used for VPN and Banner Self Service.  A smartphone is strongly recommended. This means password changes will be phased out. The goal is to maintain cyber security.

 

EDIC (Nicole Morgan Agard, Chief Equity and Diversity Officer)

Diversity Convocation: This has been moved to March 31st to accommodate the Presidential Search. Reshma Saujani, Founder and CEO of Girls Who Code, will be the keynote speaker. Diversity Convocation information is available here: https://www.ramapo.edu/diversity-convocation/

EDIC Web Page: There will be information about the Women’s Center and information for Women’s History Month.

 

RAMAPO INTERNATIONAL (Ben Levy, Director of International Education)

Global Talks: We invite you and your students to join the Ramapo Global Talks series. Full schedule and details can be found here: https://www.ramapo.edu/international/globaltalks/

Annual Fulbright Day: The College will host an Annual Fulbright Day on 31 March, 2-4:30. Schedule and details online: https://www.ramapo.edu/international/fulbright/fulbright-day/

 

Meeting Adjourned at 1:46pm.

 

 

 

 

 

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