FAEC Minutes 10/02/2019

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

Date: Wednesday, October  2, 2019 | Location: A 226  | Time: 10:30 am to 12:00 pm

Attendees: Kathryn Zeno, Tae Kwak, Eva Ogens, Scott Frees, David Oh, Donna Flynn, Christina Connor, Hugh Sheehy

Guests: Provost Becker, President Mercer

Secretary: Nakia Matthias

1. FAEC Minutes Approved 

2. Public Safety Notice

FACE discussed the insensitivity and evocation of  stereotypes in the language contained in the public safety notice that was issued on September 26, 2019 to faculty, staff, and students.  The language in the notice described the two males as appearing to be of “Indian descent” as perpetrators of an act that caused safety concerns for a female students on TCNJ’s campus. Nicole Morgan Agard issued an apologetic statement on behalf of the Office of Equity Diversity and Inclusion to address the concerns of members of the RCNJ community regarding the language contained within the communication. 

3. Goal 2 Taskforce 

The Goal 2 Taskforce has not completed its charge as they have been slated for realization by 2021.  Due to Nicole Agard’s leave of absence, it’s unclear when the Goal 2 report will be submitted to Mercer, but it was due yesterday.  The task force was assembled to examine Goal 2 of RCNJ’s Strategic Plan [Cultivate and Support Equity, Diversity and Inclusion] and provide recommendations for crafting the plan’s objectives.  Presently, strategic goals are not being tracked by any office on campus. The plan’s definition of non-white students is formulated in a manner that is problematic.  For example, non resident students are counted as non-white even if they are white.

In New Jersey state African American and Hispanic enrollment, as well as graduation are important priorities.  The categories that quantify enrollment and graduation require disaggregation for the sake of tracking and clarifying objectives and goals.   RCNJ has exceeded their goal of enrollment numbers which appear to be arbitrary.  

4. Three Plus One Program

There is no new information about any potential Three Plus agreements or the status of their development between RCNJ and Community College institutions.   RCNJ maintains existing reciprocal agreements and a full time staff member from RCNJ at Bergen Community College for the purpose of soliciting and transitioning students into RCNJ.

5. Presidential Search

FAEC is composing a letter to submit to the Board of Trustees [BoT] to request that one faculty member per unit and the Library are included in the presidential search committee.  The FACE does not seek to ask to exclude or reduce the numbers of anyone that has been identified to sit on the committee.

The FA has been charged with the selection of criteria for choosing nominees for the committee.  At present the FACE intends to forward the names of three faculty members to the Hillary Goldstein in wait for a response to the letter for the inclusion of once faculty member per unit and the Library.

Some considerations for inclusion in the committee may include:

Faculty tenure status, length of service at RCNJ over ten years, and one’s classification and a member of a minority population.  FA members will be asked to determine the categories that they wish to be considered for. They will have to make their case for their nomination and an FA vote will be called for the nomination of a faculty member for each category.

The Minority Faculty and Staff Association (MFSA) request that a voting representative form the  group be seated on the search committee. The FACE supports the MFSA desire to include a voting member on the committee.

6. President Mercer [Full Professorship Promotions] 

The president confirmed that the faculty promotion slot numbers for Full Professorships will be made available by mid-October.   November 15, 2019 is the application deadline.  

7. Provost Becker and Three Plus One Agreements

Provost Becker affirmed that RCNJ is not entering a three plus one agreement with (BCC) and that any potential arrangement with the institution would cut RCNJ two-year transfers. He also pointed out that if another four-year institution enters a three plus one agreement with BCC this would harm RCNJ’s transfer enrollment.  The Provost stated that he would like to sign Three Plus One agreements “very quickly”. The provost indicated that per site where Three Plus One agreements would be formed, RCNJ we could attract 60 to 100 students. He also noted that the Budget Office is currently developing calculations to examine revenue and admission projections, as well as opportunity costs for Three Plus One programs.

Meeting Adjourned at 12 pm

Categories: FAEC MEETING MINUTES 2019, RAMAPO FAEC, RCNJ Faculty Assembly Minutes 2019