FAEC MINUTES 03/25/2020

DRAFT FAEC Minutes 3/25/2020

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

Date: Wednesday, March  25, 2020 | Location: ONLINE/REMOTE  | 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. FA President

• The state government is not releasing more than 480 million to colleges and public schools.
• Parents have been asking about refunds for tuition
• All Summer classes will run as remote classes all in person and hybrid courses will follow a remote delivery model.
• The April 13th withdrawal deadline is the standing deadline for this semester
• It will take at least a week to receive the Chromebooks that have been ordered by the College for distribution among staff or faculty
• Altice Optimum has an open wi-fi network which can possibly be used by students in New Jersey for internet access 

III. April 29th FA meeting

The response rate for the previous FA Qualtrics survey was much higher than similar surveys in other semesters as 160 votes were registered when in some instances 60 votes would be received.  FAEC is un sure of what to do for the 4/29 FA meeting regarding the facilitation of recording votes for voting items. It is possible to record content for faculty accompanied by an online forum for discussion using Webex or zoom. FAEC plans to donate the remainder of the FA budget to the Student Emergency Relief fund.  

IV. COVID-19 Communication and RCNJ Response

Faculty and staff were not forewarned about the March 14th college closure in any COVID-19 communication.  The Bergen County Executive made a decision to close all schools earlier than The administration decided to close The College and it is disturbing that the approach taken by The College was conservative.  Emergency committees needs include faculty representation with issue-specific specialization. It should be determined as to whether members of the Emergency Response Team would like assistance from the faculty also.

V. REMOTE INSTRUCTION,  CAMPUS AFFAIRS, and INFORMATION DISSEMINATION 

There is a need to update and revise an informational document due to the constant new developments related to the shift to remote instructional delivery.  To avoid informational mis-matches and lags, it is imperative that the administration facilitate communication as information regarding remote instruction, as well as faculty and staff affairs is time sensitive and routinely developing.  This information must be centralized and published on the RCNJ websites in versions for faculty, staff, and students. FAEC does not want to be a secondary source of information and is not comfortable having two sets of information that two different bodies are be responsible for.  FA unit representatives can e-mail faculty in their respective units to gather input and questions that can be answered and features on an informational page dedicated to faculty concerns.  

VI. REFUNDS on DORMS AND TUITION

The College has not barred anyone from dorms but it is suggested that students do not come or stay off of campus. Students were encouraged to obtain their textbooks out of their dorms if they planned to leave campus.  The College is considering a plan whereby it will not issue refunds on dorms to offering pro-rated refunds on dorms. These cases need to be handled on an individual basis until they come up with a standing policy. The New Jersey Statewide stay at home order makes it so that students cannot move out or come to campus to move out in large groups. According to President Mercer students can retrieve their dorm contents and a staggered schedule has been developed to facilitate small groups with retrieving their possessions.  If some deans have communicated with students about this already it is due to their coordination with Residence Life. At present the college is not closed but some students and parents want to withdraw from the college for the semester. The biggest concern for the college is a flux or requests for tuition and dorm refunds from students and parents as this will contribute to budgetary shortfalls this year.  A proposed model that the provost is considering is a refund for graduating seniors and credit for those who are not graduating in for their enrollment in future years.  

VII. GRADING POLICY 

Graduation requirements have to be waived in certain cases. A Pass/fail option should be considered and feedback about this should be solicited from faculty.  The College must consider how such a move would impact financial aid or students’ ability to go to graduate school programs that may require letter grades. At present TCNJ and Rutgers University are issuing pass/fail grading options.  Students can be presented with a pass/fail grade choice but faculty still have to allocate letter grades. Students are urged to meet with their faculty advisor. Incomplete grades can also be a consideration in some cases.FAEC is concerned that students will ask faculty about the consequences of opting for pass/fail grades and faculty may not have certainty about this.  A flexible incomplete or withdrawal and/or possible pass/fail options are desired. However, there are conflicting opinions about a pass/fail option among faculty and consensus must be obtained. The Provost does not want to inform students about this possibility in order to encourage students to give online learning a chance.

VIII. TESTING and EXAM CONCERNS

Faculty are concerned about how they will deal with remote exam facilitation for students taking exam remotely.  Some faculty can allow them to type their answers or photograph their written responses then send them via e-mail. The college will be using  a program called restorium for the delivery of exams to nursing students.

IX. RCNJ LIBRARY

Based on preliminary planning, Linden Hall was the prefered space for computer accessibility for students, however, there would be no in-person library services, such as book check-outs. Librarians and library staff were originally charged to come in on a rotating basis but no provisions were made for PPE or cleaning instructions. Over the weekend, Governor Phil Murphy and the Secretary of Higher Education ordered that all university and college libraries be closed to the public not excluding faculty, students and staff.  Library faculty and staff continue to work remotely and are allowed to retrieve personal materials on the coming Sunday and Monday. 

Some database companies, such as Project Muse and JSTOR, have given free open access to their collections and librarians have been authorized to purchase more e-books (update 4/1/2020: librarians are no longer authorized to purchase new materials). For information on services and electronic materials, consult the library’s Remote Access Libguide: https://libguides.ramapo.edu/remote-access  

X. President  Mercer

The President seeks to make space available on campus for a field hospital.  

The State is concerned about revenues over the next year and the state of the public purse.  A billion in spending will be put in reserves and this can impact public colleges. Fifty percent of operating aid to colleges can be slashed by $70 million.  It is unclear as to whether there will be a bailout at the state level.

XI. Interim Provost Gaulden

The Provost wants to thank faculty for their response to the abrupt change and the transition to online instruction.

Meeting Adjourned 12 pm

Categories: FAEC MEETING MINUTES 2020, RAMAPO FAEC