Faculty Assembly Minutes, April 28th, 2021

Faculty Assembly Minutes
April 28, 2021

 Presenters: Naseem Choudhury (President, SSHS), Katie Cohen (Library), Mihaela Serban (SSHS), Lysandra Perez-Strumolo 

 Guests: President Peter Mercer; Susan Gaulden (Interim Provost, VP Academic Affairs); Chris Romano, (Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs); Kirsten Loewrigkeit (Vice President for Administration and Finance); Stephen Rice (Academic Review Committee, Chair); Sarah Carberry (GECCo, Chair); Nicole Morgan-Agard (Chief Equity and Diversity Officer); Rob Doster (CIO)

 

Meeting began at 1:02pm.
FA Minutes: April 7, 2021 minutes were approved via Qualtrics.

  

FACULTY ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Faculty Handbook Task Force: This is working well. We expect a revised schedule with a goal of having the revisions completed by the end of the calendar year.

 Nominees for Faculty BoT Positions: Candidates (Prof. Rikki Abzub, Human, Capital and Financial Resources Committee, and Prof. Kathryn Yeaton, Audit Committee) will be voted on in the next FA survey.

FA Bylaw Survey: Please complete it.

 Thank You to President Mercer: Naseem thanked President Mercer for his service. Katie Cohen presented a thank you from the faculty assembly. Unit representatives shared their gratitude and memories, as well.

 Thank you to IDC and FRC: Lysandra presented the gratitude of the faculty for all Michael Bitz, Trish Williams, and Tammi Redd have done to support faculty during these trying times.

 

PRESIDENT’S REPORT
State of The Union Address: President Biden will be announcing a plan for up to two years of free tuition, which will result in a total of 4 years (2 from the federal government with 2 from the Garden State Guarantee). By the end of May we should know where we stand budgetarily. Funding for these programs is of concern.

President Mercer: Shared sentients about his and Jackie’s time at the College.

 

PROVOST’S REPORT

Provost Announcement 4/27: April 21st enrollment in the graduate and undergraduate programs was presented. Registration began on April 12th. First year students have not yet registered which will result in more than half of undergraduate students having some F2F courses. The most enrolled mode at present is: Hybrid In-person-Virtual-Synchronous; online was the least preferred.

Technology Needs for Return to Campus Teaching. Contact your technology-needs unit representative so the proper items can be procured for the fall.

COVID Dashboards: Data information faculty helped develop this. One quarter of all residential students are tested each week. One of 179 student tests was positive for the week ending April 23, 2021.

Faculty Awards: Dr. Ellen Kaiden was awarded a much deserved award for all she has contributed to Ramapo College. This was granted remotely. Dr. Lisa Lutter was also recognized for her wonderful service and choral performances throughout her tenure at Ramapo College. She was presented with her award in person.

 

EMSA REPORT (Chris Romano, Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs)

Enrollment Update: Graduate programs have continued to increase in enrollment (13% Spring 2021 versus 2% Spring 2020). Ramapo College is outperforming other institutions in New Jersey.

Fall 2021 Admissions Statistics: Applications are down, as they are nationally. New Jersey is down 22.5%, SUNY enrollment is also down. Transfer and readmission applications come in later in the year. Community college enrollment has been declining 14% year after year. The State and Federal governments are working to help students afford higher education.

Student Deposits: We are 1.1% ahead of where we were a year ago. There are 670 deposits.  

Housing: The target is to 1,250 students in residence.  We are at 63% of our goal.

Continuing Student Deposits:  These total 1,110 of a 700 student goal representing 159% of the goal. Part of this may be due to the reduction of the deposit amount from $500 to $100. Some changes are expected. There is cautious optimism about the incoming class. There are more Presidential Scholarship recipients coming in than ever before; this may be due to having removed the SAT requirement.

Weekly Updates: These are sent to deans; contact them with questions about enrollment in your convening group.

 

 KIRSTEN LOEWRIGKEIT REPORT (Vice President for Administration and Finance)

 FY21 and FY22 Outlook:

Housing Occupancy Fall 2021: This is at 48% occupancy as compared to 16% this academic year.

Grant funding: This is expected to be approximately $19.9 million. This will help with lost revenue and additional expenses due to COVID-19. A 3.8 million deficit was expected; we received $15 million that was unanticipated. Now there is a surplus but it will be needed next year as such additional revenues are not expected next year.

FY20: This started as a stellar year but refunds changed the anticipated income. Net revenue comes from room and board.

Structural Deficit: Why are we focusing on this? In the past, tuition increases could be made to meet the budget needs. Tuition increases are approximately 2%. If anyone receives a COLA/step, the College will have expenses higher than the revenue stream.

How The College Addresses These Issues: Residence Life and Food Services has resulted in financial strain at many other institutions. Despite having $7.4 million in debt services there was still a net profit generated of $3.9 million for the College despite student refunds given. Graduate programs are net revenue generating. 

Takeaway: We are grateful for governmental support but we still have to work towards having a long-term sustainable financial model.

 

Prof. STEPHEN RICE (Academic Review Committee, Chair):

New Program Proposals: ARC is advancing the following with the recommendations that they be approved via a FA Qualtrics Survey:
1) Proposal for a New Major in Neuroscience (SSHS)
2) Proposal for a New Minor in Climate Change, Policy and Action (SSHS)

Thank you: Stephen thanked the committee, which has held 25 meetings this year 

Paperless Submission Procedure: This is the plan for the next academic year.

 

Prof. SARAH CARBERRY (GECCo, Chair)

Submit Gen Ed Syllabi: Please send these to your representative if you will be teaching a course in the fall.

Three Open Positions: The current representatives have agreed to stay on. We will vote in the fall.

 

NICOLE MORGAN AGARD (Chief Equity and Diversity Officer) EDIC Announcements:

Introduced Rachel Sawyer who has been hired to as Associate director for EDIC

Rites of Passage Pre-Commencement Ceremony: This will be on May 12th via Webex from 5:30-6:30pm. The Webex link will be provided in the Daily Digest.

Staff Recognition Awards: Faculty was asked to thank staff who have gone above and beyond. The deadline is May 14th.

Diversity Training: A new training is being planned for next year.

CIO REPORT (Robert Dossert)

Password Changes: the screen has changed and will make us more secure.

 

Meeting Adjourned at 2:27pm.

 

 

 

 

 

Categories: FA RCNJ 2021, FACULTY ASSEMBLY MINUTES, FAEC meeting Minutes 2021