FAEC Meeting Minutes, April 28th, 2021

FAEC MINUTES (draft)
4/28/21

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

Guests: President Peter Mercer, Interim-Provost Susan Gaulden, Chris Romano, Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs

Vote to bring meeting to order at 10:03am.

Minutes Approval: The 4/21/21 minutes were approved. 

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Transition Team Meeting: The campus survey has been distributed and is noted in the Daily Digest. Dr. Jebb will receive the schedule of regularly scheduled meetings this week for the next academic year.

Special Unit Councils with Dr. Jebb Fall 2021: This has been cancelled for 9/15/21 due to the holiday of Yom Kippur.

FAEC Meeting with Dr. Jebb: We will try to meet with Dr. Jebb in July.

SGA President: Naseem met with newly re-elected Anjali Patel who will join FA, today. She did not bring up concerns. Students would welcome more on-campus courses.

Provost Council: Naseem attended.

Bylaw Revisions Survey: 61 faculty have responded so far and this closes May 8th.

FAEC Surveys: We have several more to send. Some will be combined. One will address the May 25th Dr. Jebb FA meeting.

FAEC DISCUSSION

President’s Tribute: Today we will present the tribute crafted by Katie Cohen with music arranged and conducted by Lisa Lutter. This will be followed by a tribute from one representative from each school and the Library.

OSHE Restart Plan: https://www.state.nj.us/highereducation/documents/pdf/index/OSHErestart.pdf

Bylaws: Discussions continue about revisions to these and the amendments.

Committee Candidates: We have one candidate for each of these committees:

Audit Committee:  Kathryn Yeaton

Finance Committee:  Rikki Abzug

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

President Bident’s Speech Tonight: Concerns were shared about the plan for free community college here and from other constituencies. Will the government make up the financial deficits? The STARS program cost over $1 million per year and it was not supposed to have impacted the College’s budget.

Enrollment: This is looking good. Chris Romano will share more.

Last FAEC Meeting: This is the end of an era, as it is Pres. Mercer’s final Faculty Assembly Executive Council meeting. The FAEC wished him well.

PROVOST’S REPORT

Academic Achievement Ceremony on Campus: 5/12 at 9am; rain date is 5/14 at 9am. Lisa Lutter will be providing the music. Live streaming will be available.

Qualtrics Survey for Academic Achievement Ceremony: This was in the Provost’s email yesterday seeking help with the on campus guests for the in-person graduation festivities.

Seats Taken Across Delivery Modes: Fall 2021 Enrollment delivery modes were reviewed. More registrants are coming. Student preference for courses does not break down the number of students represented or if this is their preferred delivery mode.

Adjunct Faculty: Some adjunct faculty reported that they feel out of touch  regarding changes, course delivery information, etc. Can they be more efficiently informed?

Faculty Review of Registration Modes for Same Course: It seems in some majors, the virtual sections are filling while in-person is not.

July/August Delivery Mode Decisions: It is still too early to finalize these. Room assignments have not been assigned for lecture courses. Once the current courses are roomed, room stock will be known for additional courses. The CDC has changed its regulations and says common surfaces do not have to be cleaned between courses. Some limited shifts will be possible. Changes will likely not be accepted after the end of July as classroom assignments will have been made and Webex room kits purchased. 

Vaccination Mandate: Rutgers and Montclair are requiring vaccines. Our current understanding is that sState institutions cannot make this mandate as these are for emergency use at this time. Anecdotal evidence suggests that a  few students selected Ramapo because it is not requiring the vaccine. Any changes in   state regulations may affect  enrollment. Such changes  will help determine how many students can be in a classroom at one time. This is being discussed. 

Campus Surveillance Testing on Campus: There have been few cases. There was not a single case of in-class transmission. April 23rd testing of 179 students resulted in 1 positive case.

OSHE Clarification of Practicable Accommodations: The strategic plan submitted to OSHE was updated requiring any student who is unable/unwilling to participate in on-campus courses must be able to attend remotely. First choice: take a remote section. Second choice: Pick a different elective. Third choice: Convener can make a course substitution. Required course: You cannot come to campus; take next semester or after. If the student needs the course to graduate, they will have to be accommodated. OSHE said if we tell a student to delay a course, we must explain to them how this might delay their graduation.

The Provost reported that in a phone conversation with an OSHE representative she was told we have to provide an option for remote learners, regardless of the student’s stated reason for not coming to campus. Recording class sessions and posting them on Canvas is one way to accommodate their learning needs; some privacy issues may emerge.

CHRIS ROMANO (Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs)

FA Presentation Today: Chris will present the most up-to-date information about enrollment for Fall 2021.

Presidential Scholarship Applications: We have the most presidential deposits than ever before, possibly as a result of eliminating the SAT requirement.  

Undergraduate Deposits:  We are ahead of last year. The target is to have 800 deposits by May 1st.

Campus Housing: The deposit has been reduced from $500 to $100 and if decisions are made to not live on campus, the deposit will be applied to students’ accounts; in the past, refunds were not given.

Montclair as Vaccination Site: Montclair has partnered with Walmart. Montclair is a research university so they have different state vendor options than we do. The College has reached out to different potential partners. If vaccines become required at Ramapo, would international students vaccinated at home with different vaccines need to be revaccinated here?

Meeting adjourned at 12:00pm.

Categories: FAEC meeting Minutes 2021, RAMAPO FAEC