Faculty Assembly

Faculty Assembly Executive Council | Minutes | 11/14/18

FAEC Minutes 11/14/2018

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

Date: Wednesday, November 14, 2018 | Location: A218 | Time: 10:00 am to 12:00 pm

Attendees: Tae Kwak, Donna Flynn, Mark Skowronski, Sam Mustafa, Cristina Perez, Hugh Sheehy, Renata Gangemi, Christina Connor

Secretary: Nakia Matthias

Guests: SGA Liaison, Philip Buechel and Provost Becker

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1. FAEC Minutes Approved

2. SGA Liaison, Philip Buechel

Buechel asked questions about the functions, roles and goals of the FAEC.

3. FA Morale Fund

The FAEC Morale Fund is the operating Budget for FA. It may be used fo retirement events, service awards, and any faculty-related celebratory events. FA received $2000 from Ramapo Foundation. Coffee service costs $205. The FA Morale Fund budget has been cut to $1500 for next year. The FA was able to eliminate paper ballots as there has only been one within the last two years.

FAEC had deliberately spent less of our funds in order to help seed SGA’s Student Emergency Relief Fund (SERF) for SGA. We did this by eliminating cookies and snacks (ordering just coffee and tea) as well as forgoing one beverage service. Tamka Quick inquired about how much FAEC is willing to donate to SERF. At the end of AY 2016-17 and 2017-18, FA donated about $600 each to SERF. We were hoping to make a last donation of about $1000 at the end of this year.

The RCNJ SERF fund arose through a larger movement in New Jersey State. Students Government Associations in other colleges established agreements with food services so that skipped meals could be donated to other students in need. This is not possible through the RCNJ meal plans provided by Sodexo, as the food service provider does conduct a diaggreate of actual versus. used meal plans. Furthermore these has been no cooperation between RCNJ and Sodexo for meal skipping and donation.

4. General Education Curriculum Committee (GECCo)

GECCo will be modeled after ARC and create a handbook. The FAEC President is talking with Sarah Carberry and Michael Unger about the creation of a new committee. It must be determined whether there is another FA endorsement to revert to the GECCO’s original (more expansive) charge. Sarah and Michael will be asked if they would like to address this during the next FA meeting.

5. Shared Governance at RCNJ

6. Provost’s Council

The Provost’s Council has not met this year and will only convene when there is a voting Item. The Provost’s Council makes changes to policies whereby FA is afforded 30 days to discuss the proposed changes and provide input. If the FA makes no recommendations the policy proposal is implemented. This was problematic in the past as policy proposals and changes were made during the summer months when the FA does not assemble.

7. Innovation Task Force

The new task force requires more participants that are knowledgeable of innovation in higher education and institutional change. Each unit should have three to five representatives on the task force.

8. President’s Advisory Council [PAC]

PAC has not met in nearly a calendar year. It is open to faculty and staff and functions as a way to communicate between the President’s Cabinet and faculty.

9. Employee Relations and Chief Diversity Officer Restructuring

Nicole Morgan Agard has been hired to replace the Director of Employee Relations. Morgan-Agard started in August 2016 and became Chief Diversity Officer (CDO). This raised concerns about conflicts of interest from the Minority Faculty and Staff Association. The Director of Employee Relations position will be dissolved and Morgan-Agard will only function and CDO. the MFSA expressed concerns about Morgan-Agard assuming the role of Chief Diversity Officer.

RCNJ has a separate Employee Relations (ER) and Human Resources (HR) departments although this is not typical in most New Jersey public colleges and universities. According to our union (AFT), RCNJ has filed relatively fewer formal grievances than other colleges in NJ precisely because of our peculiar structure. The change in structure will negatively impact AFT on campus, as the point-person for the AFT will no longer be the Director of Employee Relations. This places the AFT at a strategic disadvantage. Mercer does not want to hire a new Director of Employee Relations however.

The following is a copy of the letter from AFT President Martha Ecker to College President Mercer and his response:

November 9, 2018

…

Dear President Mercer,

We have come to understand that the Office of Employee Relations is to be disbanded and its functions to become part of Human Resources. As President, it is your managerial prerogative to structure the administrative function and organization of the college; however we believe that this change will not be beneficial to the college as a whole.

Since 2009, the Office of Employee Relations has reported directly to the Office of the Provost rather than the Vice President for Administration and Finance. The collaborative relationship enjoyed by the AFT and Employee Relations has produced relatively harmonious labor relations that has resulted in significantly fewer issues leading to grievances and related filings. Even during the time when the faculty and professional staff were working without a contract, the collaborative nature of the working relationship between the AFT and Employee Relations benefited not only the faculty and professional staff, it benefited the students and the administration as well.

When we searched for a Director of Employee Relations, Nicole Morgan Agard’s background and experience fit the needs of the position. The search for an Assistant Vice President of Human Resources did not include the duties of the Director of Employee Relations in the job description.

We see the Office of Employee Relations as an indispensable entity uniquely tasked with the effective implementation of the union contract. The office has served an important role to the administration, faculty and professional staff in ensuring adequate adherence to the union contract and effective management of disputes. No rationale has been provided by your office for its elimination beyond the need to meet other administrative initiatives. This represents a concerning disregard for the needs of faculty and professional staff.

We respectfully ask you to reconsider your decision in the best interest of students, faculty, professional staff and the college.

Sincerely,

Martha Ecker

President

November 13, 2018

…

Dear Professor Ecker:

Thank you for your letter of 9 November 2018.

I agree that the functions of the Office of Employee Relations are indispensable and responsibility will be allocated within the Office of Human Resources to ensure that those functions will continue to be carried out effectively under the new arrangement. I have spoken with Virginia Galdieri and she is committed to maintaining the excellent relationship with the AFT and to meeting the needs of faculty and professional staff.

I look forward to further discussions on how best to prepare a smooth transition in the few weeks remaining before the implementation date of January 1, 2019.

Sincerely,

Peter P. Mercer, J.D., Ph.D.

President

10. Vice Provost

The Vice Provost position remains unfilled. The position of Interim Vice provost had been offered to Michael Unger, but he is currently filling the Director of Assessment Position. There is alco a vacancy for the Deputy Provost for Graduate Programs position. Provost Becker believes that the Deputy Provost for Graduate Programs may be unnecessary.

11. AFT OPRA Request for Presidential Cabinet Salary Disclosure

The RCNJ AFT has filed an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request regarding the salaries of the RCNJ President’s cabinet members. Raises were granted for the President’s cabinet members. The salary information has been released by the AFT.

12. Provost Becker and Curricular Innovation

Ramapo Online

Provost Becker wants to expand online classes, including graduate-level courses to increase RCNJ revenues. He proposes a Ramapo Online initiative to grow programs, their revenues, as well as public-private partnerships in support of existing and new programs. Becker mentioned that at present the MBA program has 30 students and an online version of the program is needed. He sees online expansion as a possibility for the forthcoming music and DNP programs.

Data Science

Becker seeks to initiate an interdisciplinary Data Analytics program as he sees the demand for data science in the private and public sectors. The program is in the early planning stages marked by discussions about its features and potential implementation. The Provost asserts that a Data Analytics program would incorporate RCNJ’s core courses in business analytics, coding and statistics, Becker envisions that the data analytics program will serve the RCNJ strategic plan and suggests that it could be a signature program at the graduate and undergraduate levels. His goal is to position RCNJ as the hub for Data Science in the region with national and international reach.

Program Reviews

Provost Becker recommends that program reviews be conducted as part of the planning for curricular innovation. The process involves program-level assessment of the work that units do to include self-evaluation, external evaluation, and the responsive development of a 5 to 7 year plan based on the feedback. The Provost will provide guidelines for program reviews, secure external evaluators, and work through deans for scheduling them.

Meeting Adjourned 12:00 pm

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Faculty Assembly Executive Council | Minutes | 11/14/18