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January 27, 2021FA Minutes December 2, 2020

FACULTY ASSEMBLY
12/2/2020

Presenters: Ed Shannon (HGS, Moderator), Naseem Choudhury (President), Scott Frees (Vice President)

Guest Presenters: Susan Vallario (Board of Trustees Chair), Peter Mercer (President), Susan Gaulden (Provost), Eric Karlin (Presidential Search Committee), Nicole Morgan Agard (Chief Equity and Diversity Officer), Joel Weissman (Chair/Member of the Scholar’s Week Committee)

Kim Lorber (Secretary)

Meeting brought to order at 1:07pm.

Assembly Minutes: November minutes were approved via Qualtrics.

FACULTY ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Personnel Matters: Promotion, Reappointment, etc. has been something FAEC has been working on with the various constituencies on campus. Contact Janet Faber in ER if you have any questions. Tammi Redd is offering Faculty Development workshops. Send other questions to Jill Brown in HR.

PROVOST’S REPORT

Appreciation: The Provost reported on how well the faculty has worked to solve unanticipated problems. We seem to be on top of everything at this moment.

Student Evaluations: Will these be adjusted for remote teaching? Provost Gaulden has asked the faculty to review the current evaluation document.

Pass/Fail Fall 2020: Currently, we will not use this model. The date for withdrawal has been pushed back. The Provost Council is looking at the R/F grading policy (including repeating a non-failing grade). This is possibly going to be expanded to allow use for 4 courses or 16 credits. We are not looking at the Pass/Fail grading policy right now. Be flexible about Incompletes as requested. GPAs without data due to Pass/Fails can compromise financial aid, visas, and more. NJIT is allowing 2 courses to be pass/fail this semester. Last spring, Provost Gaulden found 1,000 students requested 2,000 grade changes; many were Bs or higher; some who earned As took a Pass grade, instead.

In-person courses Spring 2021: 185 courses will have some portion of meetings in-person of approximately 1,200 courses.

Incompletes: Extenuating circumstances can make students qualified, with justification, if needed; the usual requirement is completion of 2/3 of course work to qualify for an Incomplete. Faculty should use their best judgment.

Faculty Burnout: President Mercer acknowledged faculty burnout.

COVID-19 Positive Students: If they wish to have a medical incomplete, will they automatically qualify? What sort of documentation would be needed and to whom should it be sent?

Student Study Space: Why did 80% of students not know about the study spaces on campus? It is likely emails were not read; there will be more promotions of these spaces which will also be promoted via social media.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

COVID-19 Vaccines: These will not be available to the campus community unless someone is a first responder.

Budget: A cataclysmic event is not expected. We have 400 students in-residence and had hoped for twice that of 3,300 beds. Applications look good; these are down approximately 35% nationally, and ours are down by 18%. It is hoped this gap will be closed with incoming applicants.

New Board of Trustee Members: There are retirements coming up. Are there new trustees lined up?

BOT ADDRESS: Chair S. Vallario

Thank you: Chair Vallario has offered to the faculty the gratitude of the Board of Trustees for how we have managed during the pandemic.

New President: The Board of Trustees looks forward to working with the new president and to making a smooth transition.

ERIC KARLIN PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH REPORT

Search Update: Dr. Karlin provided an update about the search. More than 100 candidates were reviewed. Committee members voted for their top 5 candidates. The top 9 were interviewed remotely.  Finalists will be announced in December or early January.

NICOLE MORGAN AGARD REPORT, Chief Equity and Diversity Officer

Tamika Quick: Resigned. A Search Committee of 6, including Dr. Leah Warner as the faculty representative, is ongoing. A new hire is hoped to be announced soon.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: There is a task force of student, faculty and staff; more information will come.

Diversity Training: In Spring 2018, a training was held for faculty (not mandatory) and staff (mandatory). There was a lot going on in 2020 and it is hoped to be held in 2021.

Diversity Convocation: An announcement will be made in the Daily Digest. A strong keynote speaker is being sought. Updates will be provided soon.

FACULTY QUESTIONS

COVID-19 Cases on Campus: President Mercer said most cases are commuters. Provost Gaulden explained those who receive notification of a possible exposure does not mean those who are self-quarantining have tested positive; in fact they did not and are complying with CDC requirements.

 ANNOUNCEMENTS
Joel Weissman (Chair/Member of the Scholar’s Week Committee): The Scholar’s Week website has a few additional resources as compared to the past. This is to celebrate all types of scholarship by our students. It will be held for a week in April. Posters, recorded presentations, panel discussions, and other possible programming are forthcoming. Please let students in your classes know. See the Scholars Day FAQ General link. See the website: https://www.ramapo.edu/scholarsday/

Snow Days: This is being considered for mental health days. The Provost will get back to us. In-person courses would be snow days per the usual policy.

Dead Name Issue: Provost Gaulden is committed to finding a solution to this for students who wish to be called by their new/preferred name. Dr. Leah Warner is on this committee, which is working on a comprehensive policy to allow students to update their names. They are finalizing the draft, which will be presented to the Provost’s Council in December. There are a few places where the legal name is needed; otherwise the USED NAME would be implemented elsewhere throughout the College. Nicole Morgan Agard asked the faculty to respect and use the privately or publicly requested name.

 VOTING ITEMS

Academic Review Committee: Stephen Rice, ARC chair presented two voting items.
1.Name change: The Integrative Science Studies major has minor changes. Emma Rainforth is the convener. The proposal is to change the name to Business Studies concentration from Business Administration concentration.  2. A new minor in ASB is being created relevant to all academic studies. Entrepreneurship minor  includes Entrepreneurial Essentials, two other courses and a Capstone.

General Education Coordinator: A Qualtrics survey will be sent out including a third voting item. Emily Leskinen has volunteered to be the coordinator of the Systems, Sustainability, and Society category.

Meeting Adjourned at 1:56pm.

 

Categories: FA RCNJ Minutes 2020, FACULTY ASSEMBLY MINUTES, Faculty Assembly Minutes 2020, Uncategorized

January 26, 2021FA Minutes, November 4, 2020

Faculty Assembly Meeting
November 4, 2020,
1:00-3:00 pm
(WebEx- link to be distributed via email)

Faculty Assembly
(The FA is open to a general College audience, including administrators, but only FA members may vote.  Faculty, including library faculty, and all full-time employees contractually obligated to teach are FA members as defined by our bylaws.)

 

Presenters: Naseem Choudhury (FA President), Scott Frees (Moderator), Ed Shannon (Moderator)

Guests: Peter P Mercer (College President), Susan Gaulden (Provost), Rob Doster (CIO), Sarah Carberry (Chair, GECCo)

Started 1.05 due to webex issues.

 

Approval of Minutes (via Qualtrics)— October 7, 2020

will be posted after meeting 

Faculty Assembly President’s Report

  • Faculty voted for Ashwani Vasishth as FA representative to Graduate Council: 
  • Presidential Search: progressing as expected
  • Spring Break announcement—we look forward to hearing from Pres. Mercer 

 

College President’s Report:

  • Spring Break canceled over concern for student/ faculty staff safety.  Value of eliminating break outweighs the value of having it. Other NJ colleges have eliminated the break.
  • Second wave of Covid predicted to peak around March: S. break time. 
  • SGA is not happy with the decision. Pres. Mercer will meet with them Thursday.
  • So far students are handling things well, but we are all concerned about tension, anxiety, and depression as well as their physical health.
  • Pres. Mercer thinks college has handled it well.

 

The Provost’s Report

  • COPLAC is being held on Sat. 8 students from Ramapo presenting their work. Student work is online; faculty can join Zoom session.
  • Fall 2020 student survey status: 1400 responses/ all demographics well represented

Results of the survey will be distributed to faculty.

 

Spring schedule: trying to make language clear and consistent (re: hybrid, asynchronous, etc.)

 

Provost Council: dealing with the appropriate vocabulary for curriculum: terms like concentration, track, etc. are applied inconsistently across campus. 

We need to develop guidelines and policies not just for “online” courses, but for “remote delivery.” We have reports of some students taking courses while driving and of non-students in the “classroom” during class.

 

Comments Period (Open to all)

 

Announcements


Robert Doster, CIO

  • Understands the frustration with the new “dynamics in the modalities.”
  • Help desk has been updated. will add url here
  • Faculty can see the list of your requests in the help page: will add url here 
  • After new year, faculty will all have to change passwords due to security issues. Afterward, every 180 days from now on we will need new passwords.
  • When filling out help desk tickets, please indicate how help desk can get in touch with you.
  • To create name change in g-mail: technically, g-mail is difficult for this.

 

Voting Items


GECCo: new representative needed for Systems & Sustainability. Ideally this representative should come from SSHS. It is not a requirement, but SSHS needs another person on the committee regardless. If no representative from SSHS, they will need to elect an at large member.

You should have heard back if you submitted a course. Faculty have until next Monday for revisions.

 

New Business

 

Q&A 

Promotions: Provost Gaulden working with ER to finalise calendar and process

EDIC Associate Director Position: there is a search.

Deadline for Housing applications for S2021 will be discussed at the town hall with students

Concerns about dead names were voiced.

Funding via CARES act for equipment such as webcams was discussed

 

Categories: FA RCNJ Minutes 2020, FACULTY ASSEMBLY MINUTES, Faculty Assembly Minutes 2020

November 30, 2020Faculty Assembly Minutes, November 4, 2020

Faculty Assembly Meeting
November 4, 2020,
1:00-3:00 pm

(WebEx- link to be distributed via email)

Faculty Assembly
(The FA is open to a general College audience, including administrators, but only FA members may vote.  Faculty, including library faculty, and all full-time employees contractually obligated to teach are FA members as defined by our bylaws.)

Presenters: Naseem Choudhury (FA President), Scott Frees (Moderator), Ed Shannon (Moderator)

Guests: Peter P Mercer (College President), Susan Gaulden (Provost), Rob Doster (CIO), Sarah Carberry (Chair, GECCo)

Started 1.05 due to webex issues.

Approval of Minutes (via Qualtrics)— October 7, 2020 were approved via Qualtrics
These minutes will be posted after meeting

Faculty Assembly President’s Report

  • Faculty voted for Ashwani Vasishth as FA representative to Graduate Council: (92% Approve, 8% abstained)
  • Presidential Search: progressing as expected
  • Spring Break announcement—we look forward to hearing from Pres. Mercer

College President’s Report:

  • Spring Break canceled over concern for student/ faculty staff safety.  Value of eliminating break outweighs the value of having it. Other NJ colleges have eliminated the break.
  • Second wave of Covid predicted to peak around March: S. break time.
  • SGA is not happy with the decision. Pres. Mercer will meet with them Thursday.
  • So far students are handling things well, but we are all concerned about tension, anxiety, and depression as well as their physical health.
  • Pres. Mercer thinks college has handled it well.

The Provost’s Report

  • COPLAC is being held on Sat. 8 students from Ramapo presenting their work. Student work is online; faculty can join Zoom session.
  • Fall 2020 student survey status: 1400 responses/ all demographics well represented

Results of the survey will be distributed to faculty.

Spring schedule: trying to make language clear and consistent (re: hybrid, asynchronous, etc.)

Provost Council: dealing with the appropriate vocabulary for curriculum: terms like concentration, track, etc. are applied inconsistently across campus.

We need to develop guidelines and policies not just for “online” courses, but for “remote delivery.” We have reports of some students taking courses while driving and of non-students in the “classroom” during class.

Comments Period (Open to all)

Announcements
Robert Doster, CIO

  • Understands the frustration with the new “dynamics in the modalities.”
  • Help desk has been updated. will add url here
  • Faculty can see the list of your requests in the help page: will add url here 
  • After new year, faculty will all have to change passwords due to security issues. Afterward, every 180 days from now on we will need new passwords.
  • When filling out help desk tickets, please indicate how help desk can get in touch with you.
  • To create name change in g-mail: technically, g-mail is difficult for this.

Voting Items
GECCo: new representative needed for Systems & Sustainability. Ideally this representative should come from SSHS. It is not a requirement, but SSHS needs another person on the committee regardless. If no representative from SSHS, they will need to elect an at large member.

You should have heard back if you submitted a course. Faculty have until next Monday for revisions.

New Business

Q&A 

Promotions: Provost Gaulden working with ER to finalise calendar and process
EDIC Associate Director Position: there is a search.
Deadline for Housing applications for S2021 will be discussed at the town hall with students
Concerns about dead names were voiced.
Funding via CARES act for equipment such as webcams was discussed

Categories: FA RCNJ Minutes 2020, FACULTY ASSEMBLY MINUTES, Faculty Assembly Minutes 2020

October 28, 2020FA Minutes, October 7, 2020

Faculty Assembly
Webex
10/7/2020 

Presenters:  Roark Atkinson (HGS, Moderator), Mia Serban (SSHS, Moderator), Ed Shannon (HGS, Moderator), Naseem Choudhury (FA President),

Guest Presenters: Peter Mercer (College President), Susan Gaulden (Provost)

Kim Lorber (Secretary)

Meeting brought to order at 1:04pm.

Assembly Minutes: September minutes were approved via Qualtrics.

FACULTY ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Faculty Assembly Agenda: This is available online.

Councilor-at-Large Over 11: Bonnie Blake was elected to serve in this position.

FA Representative to the Graduate Council: We are seeking faculty interested in serving.

CRW/EOF: A faculty liaison position was created. Todd Barnes has accepted and will serve in this role. FAEC has been in discussion with administration regarding the merger of EOF and CRW, and has made it  clear that faculty are nearly unanimous in opposition to the merger and resolute that CRW belongs in Academic Affairs. We are in contact with the Administration about this; our feedback has been well received.

Faculty Handbook: We have asked to reconvene the committee. We would like it worked on and revised by the end of the academic year with a revised draft version distributed in February to be reviewed by the various constituencies.

President Mercer’s Last Year: FAEC has asked the President to make few changes at the College and with committees as a new president will soon arrive which could result in reversing some and implementing other changes.

PROVOST’S REPORT

Thank you: Provost Gaulden thanked the faculty for their hard work. She has received a minimum number of complaints from parents.

Academic Integrity: If there are cases of academic integrity issues, inform the Provost.

Course Schedule: Behind the scenes the spring schedule is being reviewed; there will be five weeks for advisement and schedule tweaks.

Virtual Courses: Student survey results suggest students expect courses to be offered synchronously on Webex. All courses are asked to have a few synchronous sessions. Other courses, without any synchronous sessions, are categorized as online offerings.

Student Survey: Provost Gaulden has shared initial responses to the student survey, which the deans and Naseem have. Naseem will share this information with the faculty.

Spring Break: Concerns are students who may travel and might bring contagion risks to campus. The Administration is weighing the possibility of altering or cancelling Spring Break

Sabbaticals AY 21/22: There will be 6 sabbaticals offered for the next academic year.

Student Attendance and “No Shows”: Provost Gaulden thanked the faculty for reporting these.

Graduate Council: Scott Frees will chair this committee.

AACSB Accreditation/ASB: Site visitors found the ASB faculty created a very engaging environment, have excellent teaching relationships with students. Teacher Education and the Nursing Program have their accreditations happening soon.

Bischoff Award Winners: Michael Bitz and Daniela Buna. There will be a small in-person on October 28th at 3:00pm and it will be a live streamed Webex event.

Webex Room Kits:  One can see how this technology works on campus. There are 34 set-ups so far; more may be purchased if needed.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

AACSB: The ASB accreditation body met today with President Mercer and Provost Gaulden. There was universal approval of the College, students, and faculty. It was sincere. They highlighted the degree of cooperation in the faculty, as well as the amount of time being spent reviewing the curriculum and pandemic delivery models.

Next Round of Funds: It is hoped we will get something that will help towards our $5.4 million deficit. Most previous funding did not go to private higher education institutions.

Campus Buildings: We do not have a big mortgage on the dormitories; our biggest project is the Learning Commons.

Spring Break: Should students travel as normal during spring break? Should the winter break be made a week longer and not have Spring Break in order to reduce COVID-19 infection risks. Yesterday there were 700 new cases in New Jersey and 9 deaths. There is increasing evidence our students’ age,  allows them to often withstand the initial infection, however, symptoms can be impactful to them for coming years. Another possibility is to sprinkle out the 5 days of the break across the semester, one each week (a Monday, a Tuesday, etc.).

Q & A

ARC REPORT BY STEPHEN RICE

Documents and Dates: These are available on the website. These are PDFs. Download to your desktop, complete, and then forward. Set up a digital signature. The deadline for all GECCO and WAC submissions is 10/15/20. Other can be made to ARC until November 1st. Work with your rep to submit your document and after the review send it to: arc@ramapo.edu. Conveners need to provide digital signatures for new courses. There is a digital signature instruction on the same ARC page as the forms. It can be useful for conveners regarding other documents, as well. New General Education courses should go to GECCo first and only one form should be completed as it will be forwarded to ARC. You should not have to pay to complete a form; use Adobe Acrobat Reader and not Pro.

GECCo:  Send any submissions to: gecco@ramapo.edu and cc the person who is in charge of the category. Sarah will forward the document, otherwise.

Meeting Adjourned at 1:56pm.

 

Categories: FA RCNJ Minutes 2020, FACULTY ASSEMBLY MINUTES, Faculty Assembly Minutes 2020

September 26, 2020FA Minutes, Sept 9, 2020

Faculty Assembly
 9/9/2020

Presenters: Naseem Choudhury (FA President),  Peter Mercer (College President), Susan Gaulden (Provost), Roark Atkinson (HGS),Scott Frees (FA, Vice President)

Kim Lorber (Secretary)

Meeting began at 1:08pm.

Assembly Minutes: April and September minutes will be approved via Qualtrics.

Faculty Assembly President’s Report

Congratulations: to all for the hard work of the faculty to make this semester a success. Faculty twisted themselves to accomplish new course delivery without knowing they could do it. They did.

Colleagues Gone: It is with a heavy heart we learned about the terminations of some colleagues and being unable to celebrate them.

Courses: Classes are full, we seem to have retained our enrollment numbers.

New Faculty: Welcome to 9 new faculty members.

Fundamental Truth: We want to be a vibrant community, supporting our students, the hallmarks of a liberal arts education. We have a lot to be proud of, to recommit ourselves to, and to keep working hard.

Presidential Search Committee: Trustee Valerio said we are on track as expected and she will provide an update today or tomorrow.

Human Resources: We are working with HR in coming up with exact dates and times regarding a sabbaticals, tenure and promotions calendar for this year.

FAEC Opening: The Councilor-at-Large Over 11 is open. Ashwani Vasishth has served admirably all summer and now.

EOF/CRW Position: This will be discussed at the Faculty Forum.

GECCo Voting Item: Professor Sarah Carberry discussed a vote for the Global Awareness representative position. If you have a course to add to the Gen Ed program, the ARC submission deadline is 10/15. If you are considering submitting a course, please let her know (and Steve Rice for ARC) so they can plan. Member names were given. The first meeting will be held soon.

PROVOST’S REPORT

Welcome: This is a very exciting atypical academic year. It is amazing to have started this year after an incredible amount of work. She expressed her appreciation of the faculty.

Class Teaching Formats: We have approximately 100 lab/hands-on/studio type classes holding some face-to-face meetings enrolled with 1000 unique students.  The schedule includes time for cleaning between classes and the outfitting of 34 classrooms with kits to be able to have a live WEBEX session while conducting a live class. Instructions/videos for faculty will be provided. Assuming we will be remote this spring, she will make sure there are photos so all can see what Ramapo is doing to keep people safe. Returning face-to-face is not as it was. The number one goal right now is to do the course schedule to represent exactly how courses will be held in the spring in advance of registration; students will know how their course will be held in advance as opposed to format changes since the time of registration and the start of the fall semester. Letters from students and parents note some students are uncomfortable coming to campus to participate online. Parents are not happy with asynchronous courses. A balance is needed. A census will be conducted of how people prefer to teach for next semester. Some faculty are meeting face-to-face once a month and it is possible to give exams in-person. In the spring, we need to look at space availability for conducting classes and possible occupancies in order to know the space inventory before deciding which courses will be face-to-face.

Black Lives Matter: There are many campus events to support this. Everyone should come as these will benefit all of us as a community.

Tenure Binders: HR is scanning applications and will make them available digitally to committee members.

Promotion Binders: HR is scanning applications and will make them available digitally to committee members.

Promotions/Sabbaticals: The number of opportunities is being determined for each.

3/1: has begun and there are at least 10 students in each program.

Social Work Spring 2021 2/2 at PCCC: The BSW program had to be approved by the social work accrediting body and Middle States to offer a BSW program at Passaic County Community College. There is an enormous amount of interest in this program.

Student Health Insurance: Students can opt out of Aetna’s student coverage ($2,000 undergrads/$5,000 grads) by 9/18 or they will be billed).

Pass/Fail Emergency System: We are not planning this for this semester as we have had much time to prepare.

Class Delivery Model Vocabulary: We are not conducting online courses by majority; instead most are virtual via Webex, synchronously and asynchronously. Existing online classes remain as they were.

Spring Stage: Will we be moving to stage 3? The governor seemed to merge stages 2 and 3 procedures so we are at stage 2+. But there is more we can offer under Executive Order 175. Another executive order can be made. We need an inventory of campus space. We may not be able to accommodate a huge request for face-to-face courses while maintaining safety requirements. Requests to teach freshmen face-to-face will likely be a priority to provide them with the campus/college experience non-virtually.

Teaching Style/Student Learning Style: It is challenging to find what fits. Some parents are asking for more synchronous time versus part asynchronous (hybrid formats). Students had a half semester of experience. Right now students do not feel face-to-face classes are critical.

Requests for Faculty to Be on Campus: We haven’t had a survey yet this semester but we want to match what students want with what we deliver. The Provost will not require anyone to teach in person if they feel unsafe. This semester is different from last as we had known our students for 6 weeks; this semester we are meeting our students virtually. Be flexible.

Computer breakdowns/Webcams for Staff: There is some balance of the $2.3 million for student use still available (per Chris Romano). Students who need money now can seek help from the Finance Office. The second round of funding will be distributed once it is better known who is staying and who might drop classes. Let ITS, your dean, and the Provost know if students have technology issues. There is a big effort to help refurbish computers and work with an organization that helps upcyle repaired computers for students in need. Some students on campus are also participating in repairing and upcycling computers.

 

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Budget: President is hopeful we will get additional money from the state in base funding with designations for which we applied. The deadline was yesterday. We wait anxiously for information about the government appropriations for this year. We had many expenses and revenue losses due to the pandemic costs of the last 6 months and government funding cuts. These resulted in layoffs, the first time since President Mercer came to Ramapo College. The numbers are good regarding enrollment despite limited numbers of residential students.

VICE PRESIDENT OF ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT AND STUDENT AFFAIRS REPORT (CHRIS ROMANO)

Wait list: Enrollment is strong and the usual level of wait list applicants was accepted (as last year). Graduate enrollment is at 120%. First year class has seen similar melt as previous years, roughly 5%. We have about 52 students who have deferred enrollment to S21 or F21. We have 1,021 first year students this semester with another 50 starting in the spring.

Demographics of Entering Student Body: File freeze is September 17th, which finalizes the counts on enrollment for Fall 2020.  Chris can send a report to Naseem to distribute to us.

OSS Emails: OSS emails and communications should reflect challenges of remote learning for some students.  Chris will share feedback with OSS.

Enrollment: VP Romano offered thanks for everything everyone did.

Test Optional for The Next Semester: This is not a COVID-19 decision or because of enrollment concerns. This is a data driven decision. Jeremy Teigen (HGS) is the Faculty Fellow for Enrollment Data and has been crunching the data for several years. This is about student retention. High school GPA has almost an 8 fold predictive power compared to the SAT, which is a very poor predictor of student success for students who self-identified minority students.  Some joint programs in TAS, HGS, and SSHS have programs with other schools requiring standardized testing. This year a review will be conducted of nursing applicants about the merit of SAT scores. These scores can be submitted but will not have the weight of the high school GPA. Jersey City University remains the only NJ institution that requires SATs. Ramapo was one of the last two to move to this model (TCNJ). EOF is reviewing their programs to see if there are any implications on their processes.  When more information is available, it will be shared. The deadlines remain the same.

Scholarships: Scholarships awarded this year were more focused on need versus merit. This model will be continued. Many schools are moving in this direction.

Joint programs: We hope some of our partners will drop standardized test requirements. There have been logistical problems for some in taking the test this year. It is likely more schools will move to this model.

3+1 Numbers: Passaic is starting classes today so a final account should come in a few days.

Meeting Adjourned at 2:01pm.

Categories: FA RCNJ Minutes 2020, FACULTY ASSEMBLY MINUTES, Faculty Assembly Minutes 2020

September 1, 2020FA minutes April 29, 2020

Ramapo College of New Jersey
Wednesday, April 29, 2020
2 pm, Online/remote

FACULTY ASSEMBLY

FA Minutes Approved

Report: FA President

On May 19th from 10-2 there will be a Faculty Teaching Workshop featuring faculty that have excellent remote/online learning practices and experiences to share. It will focus on best practices and will be hosted by Lysandra Perez-Strumolo, Tammy Redd, and Michael Bitz,

Students Survey

Over 100 students responded and 106 faculty responded. Students prefer pre-recorded video and zoom video conferencing but did not want an increased workload.  The notion is that they valued faculty engagement but that not additional work. Was not helpful given the circumstances.

Attendance requirements are a concern as some students were unable to attend or not comfortable having the Webex/conferencing sessions.  Students are also concerned about taking exams and exam delivery. 

The Provost suggested that it would be helpful to have a debriefing session about these experiences.

Online Teaching Concerns

Class seat limits are capped at 25 due to the remote delivery process during the summer.  Each course is waitlisted for the summer.  Encourage students to take summer courses.

Webcams are on backorder.   The bookstore needs adjuncts and fulbrights to be informed about any possible. tech needs for remote teaching.

Moodle will not be offered after the Spring and everyone will need to transition to Canvas.

In case students have difficulty securing resources to facilitate online access please be informed that the Laptop Upcycle organization can donate laptops to students which they can keep.  It may be difficult to require students to secure certain technology for remote learning and this may not be coordinated easily even if students do obtain laptops and internet access.  The Provost mentioned that the Fall instruction could potentially take on a hybrid model.

Fall 2020

A working group has formed to strategize about returning to school in the fall.  They have identified 21 different scenarios to be considered as viable options for instruction for the faculty based on the specific needs and requirements of their courses.  There is a need to determine how to improve the online delivery of courses.   There must be an emphasis on low-cost or no-cot IT or technology if students will be required to use them for courses.  Faculty expressed concern that there is no AFT representation on the working group.  There is concern that this absence bears collective bargaining implications.

There will be course caps for online instruction in the Fall.

A hybrid model of in-person and remote teaching may need to be addressed. A decision will be made by mid-July.  The sooner the working group comes to a decision for the array of options that we will use this will be communicated to faculty. Some colleges have already agreed to opt for fully remote teaching in the Fall,  However their students have asked if they will be granted a discount in tuition if the institution adopts this model.

We need a contingency plan for the Fall in case we need to start on campus and then transition to remote teaching.  This can be included in  the language of syllabi if we do go this route.  All plans for the fall will be made within weeks and months ahead.

New Programs

DNP Doctor of Nursing Practice program and Data Science Management programs will be off to a start at the BS and MS levels this fall.

Reappointment and Tenure

There will be a new timeline for 4th and 5th year reappointment portfolios to be developed.  Promotion process timelines will need to be re-established but is on the agenda for AFT.

CARES ACT and Tuition Refund Issues

Be sure to inform students about the CARES act and especially eligibility requirements.  The act provides that half of the relief funds goes to students and the remaining half is allocated to the teaching institution.  Undocumented or international students are ineligible for this funding. The funds cannot be used to pay any balances at the school and it cannot be used to pay for summer or fall courses.  It can be used for rent, mortgage that is past due, or to purchase technology.  As soon as the structure and protocol for the CARES is availed this will be shared with students. Awards will be 1K to 2K and students but they need to provide proof of their need for the support.

If refunds can be offered as a credit this can be used in FAFSA reporting.

Faculty Development Fund

100K will be awarded for stipends or grants.  There can be discussion of rescheduling the awards and further decisions will be communicated with the FA President.

Budget and Enrollments

Chris Romano noted a 12% increase in enrollments for the summer.  Until the College has a handle on what actual enrollment will be in the Fall it is unclear as to how the budget can be used to fund certain programs or faculty funding support.  Residence halls and auxiliary income cannot be factored into the budget.

OER taskforce

Be mindful of creating assignments or course materials requirements that require students to spend.  Consider low or no-cost options for software.

Materials are being offered for free but will not be continued indefinitely so this is the time to consider what needs to be done for students for the Fall based on course requirement and certain needs.

The Mahwah Public Library can be used as a resource for students and further information about how they can access these resources will be made available soon.

Concerns about International Students

Any students with concerns about immigration or visas must meet with Rajesh Adhikari. The FA budget was donated to the WE Care program.Students will not be asked to leave campus but there is a low cost fee that students must pay for room and board.  Some students may need assistance and if so We Care donations can be used to support them. There is concern for Nepalese students’ ability to travel since the Nepal Border was closed and scheduled to open May 1 but moved to May 7.  Many students from Nepal worried that if they return home they will not be able to return.  Students that can get on campus jobs normally receive free housing for the summer. The dean of Students offered a 50% rate for summer for international students May 9th – July 1.  The Provost stated that she is trying to find ways to care for students in a balanced manner and that We Care donations will be honored when students request assistance.  Will be careful about decisions made.  

Faculty Questions and Concerns raised during the meeting:

Can the balance for room costs be collected later or can students have reduced room charges?

How can students access refunds for room and board and parking?

What about use of funds in reserve?  

What about bringing students on campus that require in-person instruction?

  

 

Categories: FA meeting agenda archive 2020, FA RCNJ Minutes 2020, FACULTY ASSEMBLY MINUTES, Faculty Assembly Minutes 2020

August 27, 2020FA Meeting July 22, 2020

Faculty Assembly Minutes
7/22/2020

Location: Online
Link:https://ramapo.webex.com/ramapo/lsr.php?RCID=1876dbe847664b8780edce28d98d01e9)

Begin: 1:00
Adjourned: 2:30pm

Presenters: Roark Atkinson (HGS), Naseem Choudhury (President), Christina Connor (Library), Donna Flynn (Councilor-at-Large under 11) Scott Frees (TAS), Lisa Lutter (CA), Thierry Rakotbe-Joel (ASB), Mihaela Serban (SSHS), Ashwani Vasishth (Councilor-at-Large over 11)

Secretary: Kim Lorber

Faculty Assembly Minutes for April 28th, 2020: These will be approved on September 9th.

Opening Remarks: This an “off calendar meeting” and while most faculty are off-contract we are pleased that a significant number chose to join (attendance: 180)

FAEC Reps and Secretary have been meeting every other week all summer. Again, our thanks to them as this is above and beyond for FAEC. Members are off during the summer on a typical year.

PROVOST’S REPORT (Susan Gaulden):

Black Lives Matter: Academic Affairs posted RCNJ’s Black Lives Matter statements from each school have been posted on this web page. There will be many Berry Center events relevant to this. Baltimore, a play about this on a college campus, will be offered remotely or performed in person. Dean Peter Campbell said to send questions to him about the BLM programming.

Outreach to New Students: 2 credit courses were developed for the summer to introduce students to the college through Ramapo Virtual. These courses are being offered in summer 2 as 1-hour seminars and are free to all students.

Reopening Concerns:

            NJ Pandemic Stages 2 and 3: In stage 2, we are only able to offer labs, clinical rotations, etc. If we are at stage 3 we are not restricted about classes but reduced occupancy will determine this. These percentages have not been determined by the state yet. It could be determined by the state or left to each institution to determine on its own.

Governor’s Extension of Executive order 103, July 2nd: Extended the decision to August 3rd. If the state has not moved to stage 3 by August 3rd, Ramapo will stick with stage 2 planning. We have 182 sections of labs, studios (mostly hands on and nursing clinical rotations). Based on the census faculty has responded to 87 of faculty assigned to teach these classes planned to have some F2F meetings. F2F this fall is not required twice weekly. Provost Gaulden suggested having students come in for the entire month of September, meet with them and then transition the class to virtual delivery. Maybe once a week, a half hour, or half the class on alternating weeks or some other classes opportunities to meet everyone before going fully remote is a possibility. If anyone else is planning to teach online, let her provost@ramapo.edu) and Diane Couzens (dcouzens@ramapo.edu) know so they can update the Census. People would be happy to meet outdoors. Can you come to campus to teach some of your sections as planned? Many students have been calling admissions about deferring for a year. If we can give some sessions in person, it may make an enrollment difference. If the Governor moves us to Stage 3 before our August 3 deadline, we will have more F2F classes by faculty who said they would at this stage. If the Governor’s decision to move to Stage 3 comes after 8/3, we will stick with current 8/3 plan.

Campus Protocol: Everyone will have to self-access every day for being safely on campus.  Adequate masks will be given but not N95 as only COVID19 hospital units are utilizing these; surgeons are not.

No testing to return to campus: You would only address testing if someone had symptoms.

            Adjuncts Offices: Space will be found including any labs and other empty spaces.

            Faculty Office Hours: These should all be held remotely unless you decide to have a socially distanced walk and talk.

Banner: We are moving to Stage 2. If the Governor moves to Stage 3, we will have more work to do. It seems unlikely we will move to Stage 3 before August 3.

Dates: Registration deadlines, etc. will be made as flexible as possible for students.

            Pass/Fail Grading: No P/F for the Fall; we return to the normal model. IF another crisis arises the model may change for the few classes that may be forced to go remote. This decision will be made as/if needed.

            Respondus/online proctoring: These do not work on tablets and require hard to acquire webcams even when money is available.

Webcams: Many students for numerous reasons may be uncomfortable with being seen on camera.

            Winter/Spring Reopening Decision: We will have to wait until approximately a month before each term.

            Thanksgiving Decisions: Faculty teaching F2F can give in person exams ensuring they have informed the classes of the format change.

            Remote Teaching Unit Experts: There will be one for each unit. These are: Nikhil Varma, Ruma Sen, Paramjeet Bagga, Jackie Braun and Karl Johnson (5 total) who will be unit remote teaching mentors for the Fall. They will connect questions from faculty with IT people who can help.

FRC/IDC Training: Will hopefully continue as these were excellent trainings including the 2-day event in the spring.

Concerns regarding requirements to be present on campus during the fall: Faculty will not be pressured to be on campus. For our surveys 50% of our students do not like online classes. Likely F2F courses: labs, nursing clinical rotations, hands on instructions, and trainings like welding in the community colleges.

Non-compliance with COVID prevention guidelines: The pandemic assessment team has a clear Code of Conduct for violations and HR is developing consequences for employees who are not in compliance. Videos will be provided explaining how to be compliant. This is in draft form but training will be rolled out in early August. Expectations in are in the Restart Plan.

Report of a Concern Website: Some committee members will monitor this and the well-being of others will be addressed. Reactions to first time offenses will inform penalty.

HVAC: There will be more fresh air from the outside; this is a CDC guideline and we will be in compliance.

Phase 3 Occupancy Library: Library patrons will work with appointments which is necessary for contact tracing. Phase 2 will allow curb side pick-up only; this is in process and being developed. THE LIBRARY BOOK DROP HAS BEEN RELOCATED AND IS NOW IN FRONT OF DUNKIN’ DONUTS.

            Computer labs: Those who need these for lack of their own technology and/or need guidance would have priority.

            International Students: They will be a priority for housing and there will be no issues if we pivot. Will there be work study options as others have documentation to work off campus? If they have no other place to live in the US, they will be given priority. Budget cuts will likely reduce the number of student jobs.

Personnel Issues

Faculty Handbook: This is a priority and is on hold due to furloughs, employee leaves, and the pandemic planning priority.

Sabbatical Deadlines and the Submission Process: Five promotion binders from 2019-202 have not been looked at and everything is being scanned.

The Sabbatical submissions will likely be made online. Time will be posted by ER for all other personnel decisions.

 

PRESIDENT’S REPORT (Peter Mercer)

Higher Education: Peter has noted 3 waves in his career. Higher education was important and

should be funded. The second iteration (the envelope phasing stage): Each year the institution would get increased funding to do what it needs with the enveloped funding. Now we are in the 3rd stage: Public higher education is valuable but funding is not equitable; we have 4 research universities in New Jersey. We are trying to identify the real criteria for the government’s dispersal of funds, which has become more complicated. There are a variety of possible revenue streams and grant funding will be tightened. Base appropriations will be reduced from what colleges are used to. In 2005 about 45% of the operating budget was from the government. This second half of the academic year is about 1/6 of what we were promised. They cut in half what is promised now and removed entirely the next round of funding. We do not know what will come back. The governor signed a $9.9 billion loan agreement. It has been difficult to think of what the college should look like.

We should not lose our roots as a liberal arts college; there is a real need for this. We have to be entrepreneurial: the 3/1 program has 70 students for the fall and is expected to expand. No dire prediction for the College beyond a few difficult years. We will work closely as a faculty, administration and BoT.

Budget Meeting Update: This morning’s presentation by the VP for Administration and Finance (Kirsten DaSilva) gave a many slide presentation. There are still so many variables like enrollment, number of students in the dorms, students deferring, etc. We have no way of knowing. President Mercer’s goal is we will have about 1,000 students in residence. Debt was reviewed and has been well controlled. We have to raise money for the Learning Commons; he is optimistic we will raise those funds. Kirsten said we do not know the COVID19 phase and projections are therefore difficult.

FA PRESIDENT (Naseem Choudhury)
FAEC has been engaged all summer and working with administration to ensure a smooth transition to the Fall and next AY. We will send chat questions that cannot be addressed in the remaining time. Restart Plan: It would be beneficial for all faculty to read this in detail.

QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERSHIP (please see document from Provost Gaulden).

 

CDO’s RERPORT (Nicole Morgan Agard)

Forum in June: was well attended with approximately 178 faculty members. Another will be offered to faculty and students in the fall. The student forum was co-hosted with the Office of Counseling Services. In particular, black students are very anxious, concerned about what the campus will be like in the fall.

Everfi: This is an outside consulting firm to administer online diversity, equity and inclusivity courses/modules for all first year and transfer students prior to the start of the year. If students cannot/do not, there will be a registration hold placed.

Diversity Strategic Plan: Late August/early September stakeholders are being identified for the Diversity Strategic Plan.

Title IX Changes: The office is working on the changed mandates for Title IX, which must be completed by mid-August. All officers have to attend weekly trainings and the new process will include a hearing panel.

Racist Incidents in May: Nicole will send out information regarding the completed investigation. This is now with Student Affairs. When it is concluded, she will update the campus.

OER Resources presentation by Hillary Westgate (Reference Outreach Librarian)

            A reminder and the Library subscription guide will be distributed to give all of the contact information for the fall. Librarians work during the summer and can help. They are also looking to create a forum/database of information of information faculty finds to be useful.

link to the recording of FA meeting 07/22/2020
https://ramapo.webex.com/ramapo/lsr.php?RCID=1876dbe847664b8780edce28d98d01e9

Password: ZxDT9nxE

 

 

 

 

 

Categories: FA RCNJ Minutes 2020, FACULTY ASSEMBLY MINUTES, Faculty Assembly Minutes 2020, RCNJ Faculty Assembly Minutes 2019

July 20, 2020FAEC minutes, July 1, 2020

FAEC 7/1/2020 DRAFT

 

FAEC 

Attendance: Roark Atkinson (HGS), Naseem Choudhury (President), Scott Frees (TAS), Kim Lorber (Secretary), Lisa Lutter (CA), Thierry Rakotobe-Joel (ASB), Mihaela Serban (SSHS), Ashwani Vasishth (Councilor-at-Large over 11)

Guests: none

Minutes approved for 6/17/2020 meeting.

FA President’s Report

  • President Mercer’s bi-weekly email: We hope this will include more new information.
  • Funding sources: The College is seeking funds from a variety of sources; it would be helpful to know how these different lines of revenue change the balance going into 2020-2021
  • Provost Gaulden has stated that she is trying to keep all lines, tenured and not (temporary, etc.).
    • If the budget process is not transparent, we will not know what is to be cut and why. We know faculty have been furloughed, as have CWA and IFPTE. Unsure about managerial and senior administrative furlough’s or give backs. Rutgers’ president is giving 10% back.
  • • Naseem will ask Peter, Kirstin, and Susan about this. Follow-up may be needed. AFT salary savings are ca. $2.5 million
  • .
  • Scott noted the totals are not identified as included or not in the deficit.
  • July 22 will be a morning budget meeting. Naseem encourages us all to be there. We are walking in blind.
  •  Presidential search is proceeding as planned and in a timely manner. Is there a contingency plan if the search fails? We should ask the faculty representatives on this committee. We would welcome an update as this process has been going on for 6 months; little will be available to be shared but some information would be appreciated.
  • Tentative Faculty Assembly Meeting: July 22, 1:00
    • we need an agenda but we need information about stage 3, the reopening plan, will there be layoffs, etc.?
  • FA President’s meeting with Provost Gaulden next week. Naseem will ask Provost about stage 3? Faculty needs to know now which classes might hypothetically be in-person. Cornell modeled online versus not-online and their point is they will open because the infection rate will be higher with online courses than not.
  • The College will likely have 1,800 dorming students; many will need structure as opposed to taking all of their courses online. The Governor has said housing insecure and students who cannot remain home should be able to live on campus. Who are the others? Freshmen? No seniors? SSHS Dean Lorenz is meeting with each convening group to determine the course priorities. How will we deliver the courses in-person (logistics) and who will want to teach them? The Task Force is being run by Virginia and Susan. Susan already works 7 days a week. It would be best not to have a train wreck. They should not be blamed. We need a hypothetical Stage 3 plan. Who will teach the face-to-face courses? We were told to swap. With whom? We will need ADA approval from HR to be remote and then the convening groups will have to scramble to fill courses at the last minute with full-time faculty. Naseem will email the Provost and copy FAEC reps.
  • Stage 2: ca. 96% of the courses will be remote. Who will be teaching face to face? Will we have a cluster of infections from 1,800 students? Students will share bathrooms at this point. If we must have 1 bathroom per student, opening the dorms becomes more expensive than keeping them closed.
  • Naseem will email Peter about the fiscal piece and Susan about academic concerns with Stage 3, copying FAEC. She will also ask when deadlines for ADA exemptions must be submitted.
  • Stipends and release time: some have more than they expected and others have less. How was everything calculated? The union negotiates $105/hr. Some faculty were disappointed as they were notified that they were not getting release time or stipends they had expected.
  • Diversity on campus: We do not have policies regarding this as seen by Nicole Morgan-Agard’s response to BOT comments. There may be a committee but nothing seems to be happening and faculty has not been included. What is the decency code to which Peter referred at BOT meeting? A speech code cannot be developed so the only approach is to use the rules we have. The Dean of Students used to send many students to a larger body; has it been reduced in numbers as more cases seem to be handled inside that office.
  • • Next meeting: THURSDAY, July 16th at 10am.

 

Categories: FA RCNJ Minutes 2020, FAEC MEETING MINUTES 2020, RAMAPO FAEC, Uncategorized

April 30, 2020FAEC MINUTES 04/22/2020

DRAFT FAEC Minutes 4/22/2020

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

Date: Wednesday, April  22, 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 Vasishth (Interim SSHS Representative), Pinar Kayaalp (interim HGS Representative), Lisa Lutter

Secretary: Nakia Matthias

Guests:  Stephen Rice, Jacqueline Braun

I.  FAEC Minutes Approved 

II.  ARC Updates

ARC has nearly completed its processes this semester for proposal review and approval.  ARC suggests that a document management system is developed and implemented to facilitate submissions and review should RCNJ continue to work remotely during the fall.. A simple system can be created using Canvas. The college catalog should be published by next Fall.  Stephen Rice will take over as ARC Chair.

GECCo and WAC have separate charges and need to clarify its relationship to FAEC for the future.

III.  Contingency Planning – Remote Fall Semester

The administration should plan for the event that we deliver courses online for the Fall 2020 semester.  In the event that RCNj will resume the Fall semester remotely FAEC suggests the development and implementation of guiding principles at the convening group and unit levels to manage a remote teaching and course delivery process. If we have to extend remote learning into the Fall these online teaching processes should be formalized for consistency.

 Resources that faculty need to continue remote instruction should  be identified.  There should also be informational clearinghouses devised to facilitate this process and address concerns that faculty may have .

It is important that convening groups and units inform faculty that they should prepare in the event that they may need to teach remotely in the Fall.  The process may need to involve ARC to ensure that syllabi include information that aligns with instructional measures implemented for remote learning and teaching.

It is important for faculty to revise syllabi to address obligations to students including office hours, methods of course delivery, grading etc.

The administration cannot structure the course but can inform faculty of the methods of delivery and the interface for instruction.  For remote course delivery faculty are not obligated to use college approved LMS.  For Summer classes, faculty must use Canvas.  

The faculty can develop proposals for remote instruction rather than react to proposals that the administration puts forth to ensure that there is some clarity on how we will proceed in the fall. 

IV.  Reappointment and Promotions

At present, binders are on hold and decisions are on hold for promotion and reappointment.  Reappointment and promotion decisions are on pause until September.  There is concern about the lack of an online document management  system  for reappointment applications.  A system should be developed to ensure that these processes can be implemented remotely.

V. RCNJ Library

The library is currently working with consortiums and vendors to facilitate free services for books and other resources but cannot be sure that companies will extend free services through December.  The library is using trial versions for some services but may not be able to do this through the summer.  The library is operating with an extremely limited budget and librarians will make decisions that support the curriculum holistically and equitably distribute resources between Units.   The library is operating on reduced funds from this year’s budget unit at least September 30.  FAEC is  concerned about the fundraising for the library and the possibility that it could be idle. Communication from Library Unit liaisons will be distributed to each unit to provide more information about resources going forward.

VI. State of RCNJ’s Finances 

There is currently a hiring freeze but it is unknown as to whether there is also a promotion freeze.  There are concerns about job loss on campus.   There is also concern about  how the College will manage financial losses due to potential reduced enrollments and a drop in fees that The College usually depends on as part of student attendance. 

RCNJ may  be bound by Sodexo contracts although students are not on campus and foodservice operations are abnormal due to the COVID19 emergency.  Filling classes may be an issue and if RCNJ transitions to online instruction in the Fall  there will be a loss in parking and dorm fees. There is the possibility that monetary gifts to the college may be rescinded as donors renege on their pledged contributions.  

FAEC would like to know when the debt will be retired for the dorms.  It would also be helpful for the administration to provide projections or an exact accounting of figures indicating RCNJ’s losses over the summer and otherwise.  

The Provost  is waiting for other units in the college to determine which areas must be scaled back before considering reductions to academic affairs.   In the provosts purview, Academic Affairs should be a last resort for cuts. Adjunct instructors may be reduced in an effort to manage losses going forward.  Currently 300+ adjuncts are teaching approximately 100 sections over the course of the year.

VII. Stipends  

Stipend in general will be on hold over the summer due to budget shortfalls.  Any negotiation of stipends with the Provost must involve AFT as per  the local contract.  Course releases and stipends are very inconsistent.  It is an extraordinary measure to cut salaries across the board but reducing the number of stipends granted will be a reasonable way for the administration to scale back.  

There needs to be a consistent and universal process for how faculty are being asked to relinquish or forego stipends.  The criteria by which faculty are being asked to give up stipends needs to be documented.  Some faculty have been asked to provide services without a stipend, while some have not.  Furthermore, there is irregularity in the distribution of  summer stipends. 

VIII. FA Transitioning and FA Bylaws 

On July 1, 2020 Tae Kwak will step down as FA President and Naseem Choudhury will resume this position.  However the FA bylaws indicate that the official start date is  September 1.  The FA  bylaws must  be revised to reflect the July 1st start date.  Naseem and Tae have worked together to ensure that the transition is seamless.  Some FA procedures have been inconsistent and out of sync with FA bylaws. Naseem will revisit the FA bylaws to ensure that codification and modification is implemented to support transparency within FA processes and structures.  The FA bylaws may have to change or eliminate the over and under 11 year requirement for some positions.

Meeting Adjourned 12 pm

Categories: FA RCNJ Minutes 2020, FAEC MEETING MINUTES 2020, RAMAPO FAEC

April 22, 2020FAEC MINUTES 04/15/2020

DRAFT FAEC Minutes 4/15/2020

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

Date: Wednesday, April  15, 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 Vasishth (Interim SSHS Representative), Pinar Kayaalp (interim HGS Representative), Lisa Lutter

Secretary: Nakia Matthias

Guest: President Mercer, Provost Gaulden

I.  FAEC Minutes Approved 

II.  Stefan Becker and Full Professorship Promotion Slots

Stefan Becker is returning to RCNJ as a full professor of Environmental Science.  He will be working in Environmental Studies with SSHS.  Becker may possibly be teaching Physical Geography, World Sustainability, and FYS. 

Not necessarily specific to this case, but concerning senior administrators (including Provosts, Vice Provosts, and Deans) who are are hired with faculty tenure and full professor rank, if they choose to formally join the faculty after they step down from their administrative positions, can create imbalances.  In particular, there is concern that (1) they contribute to the total number and proportion of full professors which is likely to negatively effect the calculation that goes into determining the number of full promotion opportunities available for traditionally hired faculty, and (2) they may adversely affect the student/faculty ratio and breadth of field, particularly for smaller Convening Groups, and negatively impact the possibility of hiring a necessary specialist needed for the curriculum in that Convening Group.

FAEC suggested that there should be clarification about how the College handles the transitions from an administrative to faculty positions.  There should be specification about whether such transitions will take up faculty promotion slots, as well as what the implications are to FTE. FAEC also suggested to the Provost that convening groups and search committees should be involved in any considerations regarding the transition of administrators to faculty positions to ensure that there is alignment and that the CG’s needs have been factored into any assessments.

III.  RCNJ Hiring Freeze and New Faculty Lines

The existing hiring freeze will be sustained until further notice.  Units that have conducted searches and received acceptance for offers made have already obtained approval.   Offers will not be rescinded but new offers will not be made.  All searches are presently on hold.  Searches for two part time lines for the library have been suspended. There was/is an active search for a Canvas Administrator, and a  search was completed for a new Nurse Practitioner but no offer has been made.

IV.  RCNJ Budgetary Concerns

Students received partial reimbursements for room and board. RCNJ will have to examine cost cutting as the state is withholding funding that it previously committed to grant the College.  The cuts to the RCNJ budget are greater than the federal stimulus would be. When courses are solely remote, and if the College cannot resume classes on campus RCNJ will be ”in the red” without revenues raised from room and board, including auxiliary revenue raised from summer rental of dorms and classrooms. The Provost stated that The College cannot promise that everyone will keep their jobs.  The provost stated that, “absent something unusual, there will be staffing considerations.”  Additionally, the Provost explained that reassign-time and stipends will have to be negotiated but will be considered on a case by case and reasonable basis.

FAEC expressed concern that some universities and colleges are using the COVID-19 crisis as an excuse for austerity.  In most other institutions the administration will see a dip in their salaries.  Additionally, in the past when Stefan Becker served as provost, the FAEC President asked him whether non-academic units would experience budgetary cuts.  Stefan asserted that it is not his business and that he did not know.  FAEC stated concerns about administrative bloat at The College and informed the Provost that it should be informed about what non-academic units are cutting and scaling back on. In discussion with the Provost,  FAEC noted that the core function of The College involves teaching and that administrators should be mindful of this. Furthermore,  FAEC reminded the Provost that it is necessary for the FAEC to be informed of the guiding principles and approaches to addressing budgetary cuts and administrative bloat.

There is a rumor circulating that a letter has been presented to faculty that informs them that they will receive an 11 percent pay cut.  This is not the case, there are no such  letters being distributed to faculty or staff.  However AFT has specified that during declared financial emergencies faculty can be subject to a 3 per cent pay cut.  Furthermore, the Provost explained that If the state declares a financial emergency tenured professors could be vulnerable to termination.  

FAEC recommends that other revenue generating ideas are explored.  Considerations should weigh how faculty can contribute and how people can take more classes remotely.  This issue involves the marketing of online classes, which should be taken up by the College.

Although Chris Romano has communicated that RCNJ enrollments for the summer 2020 and Fall 2020 are solid, there is still uncertainty regarding how The College will proceed in the Fall.  Boston University devised a contingency plan not to resume campus-based classes possibly until January 2021.  RCNJ must be prepared with contingency plans.  

According to AFT an RCNJ provost has never exercised the power to regulate or reassign the mode of course delivery, or where courses should be situated [if online or at other off-campus locations]  but could certainly make this determination.  

There has been no further discussion of Three Plus One programs that the FAEC has been privy to.

V.  RCNJ Commencement and Student Concerns

RCNJ is examining ways to develop features that can replace a graduation  and harken back to an actual commencement ceremony.  President Mercer indicated that graduation, “is not going to be as it was”

FEAC suggests that the administration send out an official announcement as soon as possible to proactively address concerns about commencement and other issues that seem to be uncertain.  Mercer explained that students can voice their concerns with the Dean of students, and that he would not deter them from reaching out to him directly.  

VI. RCNJ Student Survey

The Provost shared that the student survey reflects students complaints about faculty are using several kinds of online interfaces to facilitate classes and that faculty are assigning too much work.

Meeting Adjourned 12 pm

Categories: FA RCNJ Minutes 2020, FACULTY ASSEMBLY MINUTES, FAEC MEETING MINUTES 2020, RAMAPO FAEC, Uncategorized

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