April 22, 2020FAEC MINUTES 04/15/2020

DRAFT FAEC Minutes 4/15/2020

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

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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

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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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March 4, 20202/4/2020 Faculty Assembly Minutes

DRAFT

Ramapo College of New Jersey

Wednesday, February 5, 2020
2 pm, Alumni Lounges

FACULTY ASSEMBLY

FA Minutes Approved

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FA President’s Report

1. Three Plus One Agreements [TPO’s]

A ‘pilot’ program with PCCC is starting Fall 2020.  Students will start their 2rd year at PCCC. RCNJ is unsure of where the plus-one courses will be taught.

FAEC was given an overview of financial projections in a general sense but the specifics of the  financial models were kept confidential. Assumptions are that TPO’s in 1st year would only be with PCCC.  Not other colleges.

It is unclear as to where the plus-one courses will be located.   Some at RCNJ have been asked if there is interest to teach them but it is uncertain as to where they will be taught.

Financial projections demonstrate risk and loss unless there is a 20% surge in enrollments.  

FA has been informed that the plus one plan will improve minority enrollment.  State funding would result in an increase in minority enrollments. However, these considerations were not baked into financial projections provided by Chris Romano.

Students were expected to pay two full semesters of tuition plus enroll during a summer or winter with 8 credits.  This is no longer the case. State legislation mandates that students that graduate with an AA must be awarded 64 rather than 60 credits if entering the fourth year of a  four-credit granting institution.

FA is concerned that concentrations are not being created but rather tracks are being created in the name of created TPO content  in order to circumvent ARC review. Tracks created to avoid ARC review. Ethics of Marketing a Global studies or business program although this will not be indicated on their diplomas b/c these are tracks.  An ethical issue.

Passaic County Community College is closer to RCNJ than other county colleges. Therefore, if programs are developed within the TPO structure it is unlikely that they will be taught at RCNJ.  They will have to be taught at the county/local college due to their distance from the RCNJ campus.

2. President Mercer’s Report

The new RCNJ shuttle will link  RCNJ with students commuting to and from  Garden State Plaza The shuttle is free and has attracted attention.  

Preparations for Middle states arrival will happen in the coming weeks and faculty should review the RCNJ Dashboard 2020 site that has been created for Middle States evaluation.

Faculty have raised some concern regarding sabbatical review and how sabbatical determinations are made by the Provost.

Sabbatical decisions have already been made there is elasticity in the determination of sabbatical assignment.  This is something that can be determined by the President and Provosts office based on their review of the candidates.  

President Mercer stated  that Provost maintains residual authority in the decision-making process regarding sabbatical determinations.  

Faculty mentioned that any decisions taken should be based on criteria pre-established within the faculty handbook and that \elevating research on this campus at high percentages should not be the norm.  Custom is as much law as any legal framework. The work of the committees is therefore the customary practice for designating candidates for sabbatical considerations. Customs should be followed as part of the process.

Faculty asserted that the list of candidates was reassigned without any written criteria and that this should not have happened and should not be repeated in the future. Furthermore they  mentioned that bottlenecks will grow and not shrink in the situation where criteria are applied without merit based criteria. Process is not fair on its face .

3. Provost Becker’s Report

Provost Becker mentioned that the Sabbatical Committee is invited to communicate with the Provost and the President about the process and that the criteria were followed as laid out in the handbook but he would not not like to discuss further personnel actions during the FA meeting.

There is a renewed focus on student success.   Retention rates at RCNJ as compared to national averages are good but The College can do better.  

A push for TPO programs is based on the fact that students can be poached by other institutions posing retention challenges.

The program review process will be changed from a one to a five-year process and has been implemented for two  programs already. 

The faculty were instructed to conserve paper usage on campus as the equivalent of 6 million pages per year are being exhausted costing RCNJ more than 140k per year.  

In response to Provost Becker’s comment on Sabbatical Considerations faculty mentioned that they are not only referring to particular case study with sabbatical but rather a pattern that has occurred over time during Provosts tenure.  Faculty asked the provost about why faculty input and expertise is being disregarded in the process. Faculty expressed that they have, “nothing to lose” in stating their case for the disapproval of the Provosts handling of sabbatical considerations.  Faculty mentioned that they have no confidence in the process or in the provost.

4. Information Items

• Diversity Convocation (Tamika Quick)  not in attendance
• OSS Online (David Nast)   

Be sure to respond to online testing forms even if no exam is given or if faculty plan to proctor their exams.

• Middle States Update (Stephanie Sarabia)

Information about Dashboard 2021 can be obtained via the dedicated website.  Please review the site to prepare faculty and student engagement during the Middle states visit.

5. Voting Items Follow:

If the Provost and President make decisions that contradict the recommendation of the relevant Personnel Committee, a formal meeting must be convened with the Committee to explain the differences, to ensure that the same criteria was applied as outlined in the Faculty Handbook and guided by past Practice and Precedent.

The current Faculty Handbook should be followed in all personnel matters until a revised Faculty Handbook is adopted.

Charge a Faculty Handbook Revision Task Force

Note: Voting will be conducted online through a secure Qualtrics survey.

 

 

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

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February 22, 2020FAEC MINUTES 02/05/2020

FAEC Minutes 2/05/2020

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

Date: Wednesday, Feb  05, 2020 | Location: B226  | Time: 10:30 am to 12:00 pm

Attendees: Tae Kwak, Donna Flynn, Kathy Zeno, Christina Connor, Scott Frees, Roarke, Naseem Choudhury, Ashwani Vashihth (Interim SSHS Representative), Pinar Kayaalp (interim HGS Representative), 

Secretary: Nakia Matthias

Guests:  President Mercer, Provost Becker, Virginia Galdieri

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FAEC Minutes Approved

1.  Tenure and Promotion Assessment Procedures

By practice and precedent tenure and promotion [T&P] is not arbitrarily rejected and faculty  recommendations are normally followed. At some institutions the provost can exercise arbitrary decisions in tenure recommendation and approval but this has not been the case at RCNJ.

Candidates cannot be assessed on criteria that they were not aware of at the outset.  The process needs to include an internal rater and requires clarification of who should establish criteria for tenure and promotion T&P, as well as how they are implemented. The overdue revision of the process is essential for  future T&P considerations.

2. Faculty Handbook Revision Taskforce 

The Charge drafted by FAEC will indicate the following for the revision of the faculty handbook:

It is important for revisions to identify the roles of the convening group, unit, and concentration for each school. Furthermore, deans should be informed that the process is bottom up.  The unit should be responsible for determining these criteria. Also, convening groups are deemed most fit to wage evaluations of candidates’ scholarship and what it must constitute.  There should be six representatives from the faculty assembly, one from the library, one from EDIC, and at least one from Dean’s Council.  Committee members should not be appointed by Deans.

Some concerns raised relative to the criteria for consideration of T&P include: The assessment of faculty of color, service commitments at the all-college level, 

The FAEC will recommend that a representative committee secure a consultant from Stockton to form this committee and Perhaps the AFT president from Stockton can be involved.

If FAEC expects gatekeeping or advocacy this should be specified although the words “gatekeeper” and “advocate” should not be used if a fair process is sought.   

3. 3+1 PCCC Visit last Thursday

Faculty and administrators met from the Psychology, Liberal Studies, and  Social Science contract majors. The plans developed from these contract majors were presented.

A few issues require clarification including, which institutions maintain curricular oversight for the  3rd and 4th years, namely which institution is in charge of the 4th year.  

John Yao will need to clarify issues related to the following:

The RCNJ four year plans are constructed to grant 4 credits.  The Center for Students Success should not be manipulating the curriculum to allow for 4 credit courses to be taught as 3 credit courses. 

Why a couple of classes were added by PCCC, which differed from the original plan.  This was something that was done by advisors. The courses were not recommended by RCNJ faculty.

There is a problem with 4 credit RCNJ courses being taught as 3 credit courses at PCCC. The ARC committees at PCCC pushed the courses through as 3 credit courses.

RCNJ faculty syllabi could be used by PCCC faculty to teach the exact course or a version of it at the PCCC campus. 

It is unclear as to which campus some of the classes will be conducted.

PCCC students are not allowed to take summer or winter classes for the 3rd year since this is not built into their financial aid award structure.  Due to a recent law at the state level students will be granted 4 credits for free in 3+1 programs. [[[Can we add a link to the relevant law?]]] Students carrying 60 credits would automatically receive 4 free credits from RCNJ.  Clarification is warranted for how students will earn the required credits given the fact that summer/winter courses would not be covered by financial aid.  

The psychology program RCNJ would not be able to conduct courses at PCCC due to the fact that there are no faculty at PCCC that can do this.  There is also no supervision or lab facilities. supervise labs. RCNJ faculty would expect the students to come to RCNJ in the 4th year for this program.

FAEC maintains that any course that is an RCNJ course that will be taught at PCC, it needs to be cleared by RCNJ, needs to be assessed by RCNJ and needs to be a 4 credit course.  If it is not the case then this is not a RCNJ course.

4. President Mercer

A copy of the 3+1 exclusivity agreement and MOU between Passaic County Community College and RCNJ will be provided to FAEC.

5. Provost Becker – TPO with Passaic [PCC]

There are opportunities for shuttling students to RCNJ’s campus during the 4th year of 3+1’s.  At present there is no way 3+1 students to enroll in summer courses at RCNJ since financial aid resources will not be available to them.  

Variations of the financial model for 3+1’s demonstrated that students would need 38 credits in the plus one year and if this has changed then this needs to be clarified since summer credits will not be allowed.

Provost Becker asserted that it is an assumption that the Passaic model may not work for other community colleges and RCNJ for potential 3+1’s.  

If students transfer with 60 credits/ and AA degree state law stipulates that 64 credits must be earned upon transfer and 4 credits are given for free.  

Revenue will be generated for students taking 38 credits but that revenue would be less if we are granting 4 free credits.  It would be one summer or winter term less for revenue.

Meeting Adjourned

Categories: FACULTY ASSEMBLY MINUTES, FAEC MEETING MINUTES 2020, RAMAPO FAEC

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October 30, 2019Faculty Assembly Minutes 10/30/19

DRAFT

Ramapo College of New Jersey

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

1 pm, Friends Hall

Faculty Assembly

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1. Faculty Assembly Minutes Approved

2. FA President’s Report

Presidential Search Committee Faculty Nominations

The Presidential search has five nominees [listed in alphabetical order according to last names]:

• • Rikki Abzug [ASB]
  • Paramjeet Bagga [TAS]
  • Eric Karlin [TAS]
  • Ira Spar [HGS]
  • Ashwani Vasishth [SSHS]

Submit additional nominations to the FA President, Tae Kwak or  the FAEC Secretary, Nakia Matthias by Friday, November 1 at 11:59 pm.

FAEC Presidential Nominations

FAEC Presidential nominees will deliver speeches at the next FA.  Voting will take place online. A link or site will be available to faculty to cast their votes.  There will be a one week voting window to secure votes. Submit nominations to the FA President, Tae Kwak or  the FAEC Secretary, Nakia Matthias.

Three Plus One Agreements

The Provost has informed FA that TPO’s bear guarantees of exclusivity.  There are also rough preliminary numbers relative to the financial benefits of TPO’s which can be provided by the Provost’s Office.  There had not been any determination as to whether TPO’s will feature three or four credit courses.

3. President Mercer’s Report

• This month the College has received an initial disbursement of the funding that was sequestered by the Governor’s office
• President Mercer has been invited to meet with the New Jersey Secretary of Higher Education next month.
• The Learning Commons is on pace toward its completion

4. Provost’s Report

Transitioning to the Canvas Learning Management Platform

Canvas is available for the Spring semester and faculty can begin setting up their courses using the interface’s sandbox feature.   The instructional design center can be contacted for any support needed to setting up course content on Canvas. Material uploaded to canvas will be protected intellectual property.  The provost suggests using Canvas to alleviate costs associated with copying and printing through the use of ink and paper. https://www.ramapo.edu/idc/canvas/

Faculty- Student Research Collaborations

Provost Becker encourages faculty to consider student-faculty collaborative research and cites this engagement as one of the best predictors of student success.  A faculty member suggested a streamlined and more efficient way to apply for campus-based andRCNJ related funding in support of research with students. Currently this time consuming and laborious process calls for completion of multiple applications through various offices and programs.  It was mentioned that perhaps a universal application can serve to streamline such application processes in the future.  

Archiving and Accessing Documentation via Strategic Planning Online (SPOL)

The Provost recommends that each unit work to store and assess faculty credentials/records using SPOL.  faculty can update their CV and programs can upload records relative to reappointment, promotion, and tenure processes. Additionally the platform can be used to house student/faculty work.  https://www.ramapo.edu/iep/spol/

Faculty Development Funding

The level of support for the Faculty Development Fund will remain the same as last year’s appropriations.

5. John Woods, The Office of the Ombuds 

The mission of the RCNJ Ombuds is “ To serve as an accessible, independent, impartial and confidential resource for the expeditious resolution of issues and disputes within Ramapo College.”  The Ombuds office does not represent management, staff, faculty, administrators or parents. Communication with the ombudsman is confidential. Most communication will be conducted in person and e-mail communication is limited relative to any concerns brought to the attention of the Office of the Ombuds.  The Ombudsman is on campus two days per week but is available via telephone any day of the week. The Office of the Ombuds is in the Lodge, Room 122. Web page: https://www.ramapo.edu/ombuds/

Faculty Assembly ended 1:30 pm

Categories: FACULTY ASSEMBLY MINUTES, RCNJ Faculty Assembly Minutes 2019

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October 28, 2019Faculty Assembly Minutes 10/2/2019

Ramapo College of New Jersey

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

1 pm, Friends Hall

Faculty Assembly

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Faculty Assembly Minutes Approved

1. President’s Mercer’s Report

Three Plus One Programs

President Mercer indicated that Three Plus One (TPO) commitments between RCNJ and four New Jersey community colleges have been secured to include the community colleges of Sussex County, Hudson County, Passaic County, and Raritan County.  An agreement with Morris County Community College is in development. The president cited RCNJ’s high graduation rate and increased possibilities for student success as factors that are attractive to two-year institutions’.

It is expected that community college students in TPO programs will enroll in courses for their third year at the two-year institution where they began their associates degree.  According to President Mercer, TPO students may also enroll in online RCNJ courses during their final year in the program. It was also stated that in the third year of TPO programs it is possible that three credit RCNJ courses may need to be developed to be taught at students’ respective community college.

It was confirmed that RCNJ will provide faculty, curricula, and establish the terms for designating and including them in TPO programs.   

President Mercer intends to meet with representatives for Passaic County Community College to further discuss TPO programs.  He contends that three plus one programs have not been finalized or “decided” unless faculty buy-in is evident.

TPO programs are currently sought in Communication Arts, Social Work, Biology, and Business, and  Global Studies [track in BA in liberal studies in HGS].

The President offers that the advantage is fiscal if TPO’s  increase the number of enrolled students at RCNJ for even one year it will make a substantial difference to the budget and bottom line.  He asserts that it is a miscalculation to wait and see how things pan out as appropriations from Governor’s office will not guarantee the economic future of RCNJ. He also contends that TOP’s will enhance the quality of the College, enhance its representation of minority students, and ultimately ensure that more students will graduate with better degrees if they attend or enroll in RCNJ’s courses in their fourth year.

The president suggested that potential TPO students will experience the same challenge of commuting to RCNJ that existing students face and that more marketing and promotion of the virtue of spending time at RCNJ is required.

Several faculty members expressed concerns about the prospect of TPO agreements with community colleges.  The following lists the faculty concerns waged during FA in response to the proposed TPO program:

• The level of academic preparedness and overall quality of TPO students 
• Students’ ability to assimilate to RCNJ’s academic culture during their fourth year
• There is no guarantee that the TPO students’ graduate rate will be sustained  
• Building a relationship with students in one year is not feasible toward supporting their success.  
• The one year relationship is not about educating but about  granting credits.
• The RCNJ degree will be devalued should the administration prioritize bottom-line decision-making 
• TPO seems like an unsustainable stop-gap to financial problems experienced at RCNJ rather than a long term solution
• RCNJ TPO agreements will not provide an economic advantage to students for their fourth if they can obtain a cheaper degree elsewhere
• RCNJ’s degree is being outsourced but will not result in real financial gains for the College
• The Community colleges are reaping the bulk of the financial benefit in the TPO structure
• RCNJ faculty will be positioned to assume additional course supervision and assessment responsibilities that are not outlined in their contracts or negotiated via AFT 
• The concept of the RCNJ education is vague within the context of taking on TPO programs.  The integrity of RCNJ’s liberal arts framework will be compromised
• RCNJ will be outsourcing diversity based on student populations that may never be present on campus
• The vetting of the faculty responsible for upper level courses at off-site campuses cannot be ensured or guaranteed
• Faculty may not possess the appropriate qualifications or credentials to teach 300 level coursework at the community college
• TOP’s appear to constitute a licensing agreement which carries the RCNJ “brand” but will lack the heft of the “real thing”
• The administration has not provided evidence of estimations of the impact of the TOP program’s impact on labor and the faculty at RCNJ.
• Agreements will be signed in 30 days before procedural elements of the TOP program are addressed
• Real geographic limitations may exist for some students and there is no evidence that RCNJ will mitigate such challenges for students to be present on campus for a fourth year
• RCNJ can only benefit from such TOP programs if the two-year institutions have exclusive agreements with them or the right of first refusal
• The marketability of a TPO program at RCNJ in not known or supported by representative evidence
• TPO agreements may potentially “put RCNJ out of business”

Some faculty suggested a positive path forward in consideration of opportunities that TOP programs may afford RCNJ relative to getting ahead of community colleges as they are start granting Baccalaureate degrees.

2. Provost Becker’s Report

The Provost outlined the RCNJ mission, TPO legislation and revenue generation needs as the rationale for the pursuit of TPO programs.

Revenue generation would be characterized by the negotiation of a revenue-sharing model with community colleges for students to enroll in a third and fourth year of coursework toward an RCNJ Baccalaureate degree.

Provost Becker suggests that TPO’s can be used to allocate a share of the profits to academic units to pay for faculty, symposium, and other programmatic needs.  He also maintained that the academic rigor of TPO’s can be ensured as RCNJ will control curricula in students’ third year at their community colleges.

The provost would like to conduct discussions about how will faculty be involved.  Furthermore, he would like conveners sand faculty to meet with community college faculty to develop TPO programs.

3. FA President’s Report

Three Plus One Task Force

FAEC supports the formation of a college-wide 3 + 1 task force or committee to liaise between the faculty and administration.  The body would serve to report 3 +1 planning to the faculty, as well as to represent faculty concerns to the administration. The charge for a prospective taskforce should be decided by the faculty.  

4. Presidential Search Committee

The FAEC will ask for one faculty member from each unit to serve on the RCNJ presidential search committee.  A total of six faculty representatives are requested. 

5. Multicultural Center and Bias Response Team (EDIC)

Two faculty volunteers are needed and three are being sought. One would serve as an alternate.  The volunteers would serve the Exploratory Committee for the proposed RCNJ Multicultural Center and also the EDIC Bias Response Team

The Multicultural Center would serve our students on campus. The Exploratory Committee will assist with conducting research about the mission, processes, training, marketing, entailed in the development of a Multicultural center.

The Bias Response Team will address any bias complaint is and EDIC will conduct investigations related to the complaint.

6. FAEC Election: Over-10 Councilor-at-Large for FAEC 

Roark Atkinson (HGS)  [64%]

• Two terms on FAEC
• Over 11
• Secretary of AFT 

Bonnie Blake (CA) [25%]

• Served a two-year term on FAEC  

Abstain:  11%

7. Cybersecurity and National Cyber Security Month (Robert Doster, CIO)

Don’t let potential hackers in!  Beware of phishing and spear-phishing by verifying the sources of electronic communication including file attachments and links.  Scammers and hackers can employ “key loggers” that record all keystrokes related to online activity exposing faculty to password breaches

Password and Account safety:  

• RCNJ will implement forced password reset every 180 days.
• Don’t reuse or share passwords
• Log off of computers in classrooms

Software updates 

Perform/initiate do software updates on personal computers and school computers to ensure the latest security updates

Cybersecurity workshops will be conducted in the Instructional Design center on the following dates at 1 pm:  Oct 10, 17, 21, 29 

2:00pm Faculty Forum

The FF is an informal, closed discussion session for FA members and adjunct instructors interested in participating

Wednesday, October 2, 2019 (Pavilion) 

12:00 pm AFT Meeting Canceled (see email from AFT)

1:00 pm 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.

 

Categories: FACULTY ASSEMBLY MINUTES, FAEC MEETING MINUTES 2019, RCNJ Faculty Assembly Minutes 2019

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September 28, 2019Faculty Assembly Minutes 9/4/2019

Ramapo College of New Jersey
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
Faculty Assembly

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Faculty Assembly Minutes Approved

FA President’s Report

Introduction of New Faculty

• Beth Barnett, Psychology, SSHS
• Timmesha Butler, Social Work, SSHS
• Tufan Ekici, Economics, ASB
• Jeffrey Ellsworth, LAWS, SSHS
• David Gurney, LAWS, SSHS
• William Jones, Marketing, ASB
• Lillian (Sharon) Leathers, Literacy, SSHS
• Emily Leskinen, Social Science, SSHS
• Fariba Nosrati, Information Tech Management, ASB
• Kaneez Odgers, NURS, TAS
• Aaron van Klyton, International Business, ASB

FA President Elections 
Online ballots will be distributed after December FA.  Nominations are due at least one week prior to Dec. 4 FA.  

Faculty Meetings and Committees

• AFT will meet before rather than after Faculty Assembly
• Faculty Forum will happen after Faculty assembly
• All College over 10 volunteers needed

African American Literature Line
FA President urges the faculty to support new faculty assuming the African American literature line, as well as the discipline and any related activities.

President Mercer’s Report
Governor Phil Murphy sequestered the additional $1million that his office appropriated for RCNJ and there is no indication of when RCNJ will receive the funds that the governor has allocated.  There is a need to ensure that the state revenues would cover the Colleges forthcoming years.  RCNJ undergraduate enrollment is at 99% and graduate enrollment is at 12%.  RCNJ is currently in talks with with New Jersey two-year colleges to embark on three-plus-one programs which result in students earning a four-year degree at RCNJ. Students hailing from two-year institutions will complete a third year via hybrid enrollment between their home institution and RCNJ.  It is intended that they will complete their fourth year of enrollment with RCNJ to earn their Bachelor’s degree.

Faculty raised concerns that any attempt to build RCNJ revenues from tuition garnered from potential three-plus-one programs are not a sustainable model. President Mercer affirmed that such programs are not the only model under consideration and that the College needs to explore ways to increase revenues.  It was explained that RCNJ tuition will not increase by more than two percent, although the rate of inflation is two percent.  Since RCNJ does not provide or connect to public transportation from the various areas where potential three-plus-one agreements are being developed faculty expressed skepticism about the efficacy of establishing the program with institutions where students rely on public transportation for their commute to and from the respective two-year institutions.

Provost Becker’s Report
The College is heading toward a $3 million, rather than $6 million dollar deficit.  However, RCNJ expenditures are $128 million and $63 million is allocated to Academic Affairs.  The other divisions exhaust the remaining funds. Academic affairs saved $1.2 million and made no employee cuts.  There is currently a hiring freeze for all non-faculty positions and there will be seven new faculty lines. Faculty travel funds are available but travel funding for staff has  ceased until further notice.

The Provost expressed excitement about preparations for Middle States as Middle States year has arrived, as well as the prospect of developing three-plus-one programs with New Jersey community colleges.  RCNJ has seen a decrease in transfer enrollment which is reflective of trends around us. An enrollment decrease was expected.  

Karl Johnson has been named the Faculty Fellow for Instructional Design.

The Canvas Learning Management System is being developed for RCNJ and will be up and available by Spring 2020 and faculty CV’s have been entered into the Spol platform 

The College budget is balanced for this year.  Provost Becker formally introduced Vice Provost, Susan Gaulden to the faculty and announced the following administrative changes:

• Fernanda Papalia has assumed the role of Registrar
• Leigh Keller has been appointed the Director of the Learning Commons
• Tammi Redd is the new Faculty Resource Director 

David Nast, OSS Testing and online interface
OSS Online has been launched via an accessible information management interface.  The benefits include:

• Less deception from students
• Automated reminders, the system will remind you/inform you of students’ needs and testing accommodations.  
• There is no need to forward multiple exams for the same course
• Students can indicate their accommodations and alternative Testing
• Secure exam/test uploading 
• The process is simplified as instructors will be asked three questions: date, time, and specific accommodations.
• A testing agreement is immediately initiated.

Middle States Update, Stephanie Sarabia
Middle States feedback has been included in the ARC report and reviewed by the Cabinet The document is Document is 126 pages and needs to be minimized to 100 pages.  The final self-study will be prepared over winter break and ready for the Middle States team visit from February 23 to February 26.

Tammi Redd, Faculty Resource Director

Faculty Development Day
– This year six different sessions will be offered during the afternoon in B wing 227-228  from 1pm to 4 pm 
– Forward teaching circle ideas, as well as any suggestions for mid-career faculty and full professors to Tammi Redd.

ARC Deadlines

Monday, Oct 1st. 
Submission of syllabi to Unit ARC Representative 

Tuesday, Oct 15  
– ARC Submission Deadline 
– WAC and GeCCO submission deadline

Mid-November Deadline
– Anything that faculty seeks to include in the college catalog for Fall 2020 must be completed by mid-November
– See Jacqueline immediately if you seek to develop a new program 

Announcements:

• 2:00pm Faculty Forum
• 3:00pm 50th Anniversary Launch (Arch)
• 4:00pm Learning Commons Groundbreaking (A-Wing)

Meeting Adjourned at 3 pm

Categories: FACULTY ASSEMBLY MINUTES, RAMAPO FAEC

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March 27, 2019Faculty Assembly Executive Council | Minutes 3/13/19

DRAFT

Ramapo College of New Jersey

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

1 p.m. Pavillion

FACULTY ASSEMBLY

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Faculty Assembly Minutes Approved

1. Faculty Assembly President’s Report

Snow Days

In the event of delayed openings, too few faculty and students are aware of the 60 minute rule whereby if a class has more than 60 minutes of time remaining, then it should continue to meet.  President Mercer clarified this by removing the policy from emergency preparedness site. Those classes that meet once per week and/or engage in clinicals or labs are impacted the most by delayed openings and early closings.  It becomes difficult if not impossible to make up the missed time. Although not mandatory, instructors should clarify in their classes that they may be meeting of that they can meet on or after the stated opening time. It is imperative that instructors understand that they should not start class before the official opening time.  

Provost’s discussion paper

The provost’s discussion document is not a timeline or agenda but rather an indication of matters that the Provost’s would like to discuss concerning RCNJ.  The document’s contents are open to faculty feedback and it can be discussed among the faculty on Wednesday, April 3 during the next faculty assembly.  

MFSA – Discussion of RCNJ’s Interim Suspension policy

Concerns were raised over the use of suspension as a means for corrective action upon students’ first offense.  Additionally, suspension from academic activity at RCNJ bears a significant detrimental unintended impact to RCNJ students that have less socio-economic means. It was discussed that students of color are disproportionately affected by the suspension policies related to campus residential housing and hosting events that serve alcohol.  A task force will be assembled to reevaluate the College’s interim suspension policy

Faculty Promotion Process

The bottleneck for associate professor promotions has now turned out to be a bottleneck at the full professor level.  Currently there are more Associate Professor slots than actual applicants. This will be examined and by the Dean’s Council (Provost and Deans).

Forthcoming Surveys

Surveys for the assessment of the Faculty Assembly Executive Council and the Provost will be distributed among the faculty shortly.

 

2.  President Mercer’s Report

The NJ Secretary of Higher Education will roll out the Strategic Plan at the end of March.  It was expected that it would initially be presented in February. Therefore, the plan will no longer precede the budget and thus inhibit a preview to budgetary priorities.  It is expected that the budget will increase by 675K.   The budget is scheduled to be publicized by the end of the week and is said to be allocated according to an equity system constituted by the following:

• The number of graduates that a school has
• The number of minority graduates that a school has
• The number of enrolled students that present financial aid eligibility per institution

Name Change for the School of Humanities and Global Studies [SHGS]

Ramapo College of New Jersey is officially dropping Salameno from the School of Humanities and Global Studies.  It was formerly the School of Humanities and Global Studies  The immediate action was determined as the Salameno’s have confirmed that they are unable to fulfill their pledged financial obligation of three million dollars to RCNJ.

 

3.  The Provost’s Report

Faculty are invited to have lunch with the provost on  Friday 3/29 at the Padovano Commons. The lunch is an informal time for faculty to  discuss anything that they have in mind.

Communication from Provost’s Office will transpire via the Provost’s Vlog.  This serves to enable the Provost and faculty to share ideas.

Student Opinion Surveys

Student opinion surveys will all be online and no longer on paper starting Spring 2019.  The Faculty Resource Center and IDC can share best practices for making sure that student response rates are significant or can be improved.  A panel discussion was conducted in reference to how to obtain better student response rates for online course evaluations.

The AFT noted that the content of the evaluations is not subject to negotiations and that the union has not been contacted about the procedure through which the evaluations will be implemented going forward.

The FA president indicated that if a change to a default delivery methods occurs there will need to be some assurance that there will be a statistically significant response rate.  

RCNJ Budget

The Provost pointed out that, while RCNJ is currently financially stable, due to the fact that the colleges expenses are increasing while the state appropriations and tuition revenue are not, the operational deficit is expected to be $6 million in the next fiscal year.  The provost does not desire to increase student tuition and suggests things need to be done to increase revenue and identify areas of growth to attract new students.  The Provost notes per Chris Romano’s suggestion that in order to maintain the traditional undergrad enrollment numbers RCNJ must increasingly recruit graduate, non-traditional, and minority students.  

The Provost pointed out that all divisions at Ramapo are charged with identifying measures that would result in 5% cost savings next year which translates to approximately $3 million for Academic Affairs.
He has begun speaking with deans about this and he also proposes to offer programs that are interesting to potential students including Ramapo online courses, a data science graduate program, and satellite campus engagement.  The Provost has identified these as strategic areas of growth to make RCNJ more attractive. Through satellite campus programs, RCNJ will be positioned to work with select community colleges so that RCNJ programs are offered via their campuses as a means to generate additional revenue.  

The Provost stated that if RCNJ functions from the sole premise of reaffirming its character through institutional identity then it risks closing its doors in the future.  

 

4.  Middle State Report, Stephanie Sarabia

The second draft of the Middle States self-study will be provided to the report’s lead writer John Mc Tye.  The content and supporting evidence has come together toward this process. On April 17th from 2:30 to 4:00 pm the  third draft will be presented by members of the middle states committee to the faculty. It will also be available via RCNJ’s self-study website:

RCNJ Self-Study 2020,  Middle States Commission on Higher Education Website:  https://www.ramapo.edu/self-study/

By Fall 2019 the document should be complete and by Spring 2020 the Middle States accrediting team will conduct their RCNJ campus visit. Faculty should anticipate that the team will pose questions such as: How do you live the RCNJ’s mission?  

 

5.  GECCo Report, Sarah Carberry

GECCo has openings for two positions: Coordinator and At-Large positions are available.  If interested, and for further information, contact Sarah Carberry by April 1, 2019: sbolton@rampo.edu

6.  ARC VOTING ITEMS, Jacquelyn Braun

ARC approval of the following new ASB minors:

The minors are open to all majors beyond students enrolled in ASB.  Student learning outcomes are assessable as they are tied to the major .

Finance minor:

The minor includes 6 courses that are 4 credits. each for a total of 24 credits.  The minor includes three electives.

Vote by estimated hand count: Overwhelming majority voted in favor of the finance minor.  Each vote was not calculated however, the vote outcome was determined by sight and the appearance of great support for the minor.

Marketing minor:

Student learning outcomes are assessable as they are tied to the major.  The minor includes 5 courses that are 4 credits each for a total of 20 credits. Three of the courses are required.

Vote by estimated hand count: Overwhelming majority voted in favor of the marketing minor.  Each vote was not calculated however, the vote outcome was determined by sight and the appearance of great support for the minor.

Business Analytics minor:

This is a free-standing minor with its own learning outcomes and assessment plan.  The minor includes 2 prerequisite courses at 4 credits each; two required courses at 4 credits each; and  2 electives [some of which have prerequisites] for a total of 24 credits.

Vote by estimated hand count: Overwhelming majority voted in favor of the business analytics minor.  Each vote was not calculated however, the vote outcome was determined by sight and the appearance of great support for the minor.

ARC approval of the following new minor:

Civic and Community Leadership minor

This is a stand alone minor with it’s own student learning outcomes and assessment plan.  It includes 5 courses that total 16 credits. The minor comprises 3 required courses at 10 credits; 1 elective at  4 credits and 1 upper level required course at 2 credits.

VOTE:  93 = yes  6 = no 8 =  abstain [107 votes]

 

ARC approval of the following new minor:

Contemporary Arts:  Music Education Concentration

• 32 credits in addition to required 20 credits of the music major
• Basic required courses total  20 credits
• 1 Techniques course totals 4 credits
• Group Performance courses total 8 credits
• Applied Music Lessons total 4 credits

VOTE:  98 =  yes; = no;  0 = abstain [109 votes]

 

ARC approval of the following convening group name change:

Literature convening group name change from Literature to English and Literary Studies

FA Approved the literature CG name change to English and Literary Studies

VOTE: 94 = yes; 5 = no; 5 =  abstain [104 votes]

 

ARC recommends approval of a Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP):

TAS Program: Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP)

The program has a three-year curriculum which focuses on clinical leadership, informatics, management, organization, and clinical nursing practice specializations. Incoming students will have obtained an advanced practice certifications and an MSN. They must have a 3.3 GPA and Nursing Practitioner Certification.  The program will employ hybrid courses and residencies at clinical institutions. 540 hours must be obtained through the DNP program.

The college’s Carnegie classification will remain the same and no new physical resources are required.  The program will require two new lines over two years. These lines have already been approved.

VOTE:  97 =  yes; 5 =  no; 4 = abstain [110 votes]

 

3:00pm – AFT meeting in the (Pavilion) – started at 2:42

3:00 pm – Memorial Service for Professor Joe Johnson (York Room)

 

Meeting Adjourned at 3 pm

Categories: FACULTY ASSEMBLY MINUTES

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March 27, 2019Faculty Assembly Executive Council | Minutes | 3/13/19

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

Date: Wednesday, March  13, 2019 | Location: A220  | Time: 10:30 am to 12:00 pm

Attendees: Kathryn Zeno, Tae Kwak, Donna Flynn, Sam Mustafa, Kathy Zeno, Renata Gangemi, Christina Connor, Hugh Sheehy, Kim Lorber, Catalin Martin

Secretary: Nakia Matthias

Guests:  President Mercer

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FAEC Minutes Approved

1.  African American Literature Line and Changes to the name of the Literature Convening Group

Indication of the intention to renew the African American Line should have been made known much earlier in the AY.   It Deans have to ask for lines to be renewed or created.

The impact factor African American Literature at RCNJ needs to be established.   The Student Government Association can make a claim to demand that African American literature courses, and a professor  are in place.

2.  Tenure, Promotion and Scholarship

The FAEC discussed the complexity of determining adequate scholarship at the all college level for tenure and promotion considerations.  Provost Becker requests that all conveners devise explicit criteria for evaluating scholarship. Concern was raised about the acceptance of  faculty definitions of scholarship as the process for determining adequate scholarship becomes more complex.

RCNJ is currently over the threshold for associate professorship.  There are several associate professorship openings and are now at a bottleneck for full professorship.  There are currently eight candidates and two slots for full professorship. The FAEC would like clarification about how the administration plans to respond to the changing bottleneck.

There are currently fewer applicants for Associate Professor and more applicants for Full Professor than there are slots.  President Mercer is reviewing this procedure to ensure that tenure and promotion considerations are awarded separately. He explained that the tenure decision is the more important decision and tenure may be granted but not promotion.  President Mercer insists that financial reasons should not dictate faculty ability to advance from associate professorship to full professorship. For several years, the College has not been observing the 37.5% cap on associate (for which we are over) and we are under 37.5% of full professors .  Financial considerations inform this determinations in addition to union negotiations.

3.  Provost’s Discussion Paper

The proposals made in the Provost’s discussion paper are  unclear to some faculty and some are not in favor of the proposals made in the document. The Provost mentioned it is simply  a plan for discussion.  The 4/4 and 4/3 course load that the discussion paper mentions is likened to the initiative of the taskforce of the former Provost Edward Cody. Some faculty believe that this would move them backward to a situations that were not favorable to all faculty members’ ability to be productive.  For students, taking on a three-credit system a single failed course means students will have to overload their courses in order to graduate on time. With the current proposal outlined in the discussion paper, even if teaching load changes are off of the table converting to a three-credit system  will change how tuition is charged and how credits are allocated. Additionally, the assumption is that if classes are three credits there will also be a reduction in the content that is covered.

4.  President Mercer:

President Mercer explained that he would like to continue to disseminate alert messaging about delayed openings and early closings in their existing form.  He does to want to include additional information or revise the wording to avoid confusion. President Mercer explained that the exact opening time is determined via considerations about how much time the physical plant needs to make the campus habitable and traversable, as well as limiting any harm to scheduled classes.  He advised that faculty should never inform students to travel to campus before published delayed opening times. In the event of delayed openings, too few faculty and students are aware of the 60 minute rule whereby if a class has more than 60 minutes of time remaining, then it should continue to meet.  In the past, the alert messages have been inconsistent as they sometimes contained specific details regarding cancelled classes, while other times they have not included this information. Clinical classes meeting eight to twelve hours, as well as labs, or classes that meet once per week a are impacted the most by delayed openings and early closings as it becomes difficult if not impossible to make up the missed time.  Faculty encouraged to include their specific instructions for delayed openings and early closings in their course syllabi.  

Meeting Adjourned at 12:00 pm

 

Categories: FACULTY ASSEMBLY MINUTES

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March 27, 2019Faculty Assembly Executive Council | Minutes | 3/06/19

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

Date: Wednesday, March  6, 2019 | Location: A220  | Time: 10:30 am to 12:00 pm

Attendees: Kathryn Zeno, Tae Kwak, Donna Flynn, Sam Mustafa, Kathy Zeno, Renata Gangemi, Christina Connor, Hugh Sheehy, Eva Ogens, Catalin Martin

Secretary: Nakia Matthias

Guests:  Provost Becker

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FAEC Minutes Approved

1. Delayed Opening and Early Closing Policies

The delayed opening and early closing policies should be clarified.  For some faculty and students several hours are missed for class time that cannot be made up.  This especially the case with labs and clinics, as lab time and clinical hours cannot be recovered.  

In the past specific classes that would be impacted by the late opening have been indicated in the late opening alert messaging. This has not been done consistently. President Mercer has been informed regarding the concerns over the early closure messaging but has not yet responded.  

Additionally, as RCNJ is a state college, on January 30, 2019 the College had an early closing in keeping with the closing of state institutions as ordered by the governor.  However, on Wednesday February 20, 2019 RCNJ opened despite the governor’s declaration of a State of Emergency.

FAEC suggests revision of the language contained in the alert messages to indicate that classes with half of their meeting time remaining should continue to meet despite the delayed opening.

FAEC also notes the possibility that late opening procedures can be specified within course syllabi and that an enforcement mechanism can be implemented by faculty to encourage attendance.

2.  RCNJ Interim Suspension Policy

A taskforce will convene to review the interim suspension policy and make recommendations accordingly.  FAEC notes that it is unclear as to how the taskforce will be populated but assumes that it will incorporate various stakeholders. At present the policy does not permit for RCNJ’s Public Safety Officers to make distinctions between the nature acts which have resulted in students’ suspension.  Therefore, incidents whereby students are found on campus during a period of interim suspension are potentially handled in a similar manner despite the reason for the suspension.

3.  African American Literature and Native American History Lines

RCNJ should be supporting and pushing curricular diversity. Faculty lines are curricular issues and the FA is duty bound to ensure that the best academic offerings are made despite constraints.  Presently there has been no renewal or removal of the temporary line. However, if the African American Literature line opens it is important that that diversity is preserved in the hiring of the candidate. It could be converted to a tenure-track line, although the school dId not want to advertise the position as a tenure-track line due to stagnant enrollment numbers.  There has been no push to continue this line by the Provost. Temporary full time positions are renewable up to three years. Someone cannot remain in a temporary line for more than six years. Beyond this point they must be offered tenure.

The existing two African American literature classes are under-enrolled. However the African American history class is popular and the college should be to push to support it. It should not be incumbent on a first-year contingent faculty member to redirect students across campus into courses or programs the College has not devoted energy to developing.

Similarly, the Native American History line has not been renewed nor removed.

Conversations should be had with deans about the availability and need for new lines.

4.  120 Credit-hour cap and 3 Credit courses

Although RCNJ received an extension making the legislation to convert to a 120 hour credit system moot .  The provost would like to consider the options of adopting 3 credit courses. The benefits of the 4 credit system are questioned by existing faculty. The vast majority of faculty do not want to move to a 4/4 teaching load as the 4 credit model is more difficult and would detract from original research time. Perhaps this option could be determined on the basis of curricular need.  Due to the accreditation requirements of the programs in the business school, there must be time for faculty to publish. There is an apparent correlation between course load uptake and scholarship production.

5.  Provost’s Discussion Memo About 4/4 Course Load Adoption

Although the document circulated by the Provost among the faculty is framed as a basis for discussion rather than as a plan it lacks detail. The document’s ambiguity makes for uncertainty in terms of how faculty should view its proposals.

The Provost mentioned that Fall 2020 is simply a date to push the discussion and to determine  whether the move to a 4/4 credit system is desirable as well as feasible. He affirmed that there is no definite plan in place but rather discussion about the possibility of a 4/4 credit hour system is desired. In graduate programs 3 credit courses exist but faculty are compensated for 4 credits.  He affirmed that scholarship, mentoring, and service productivity are the foremost important aspects of the experience, and if they decline then the 4/4 credit hour system should not happen.

The provost mentioned that If a change should occur, decisions should be made at the departmental level as to which should be 3 and 4 credit courses.  

The FAEC maintains that a 3/3 teaching load has helped a change in the character of the faculty in terms of attracting a diverse range of candidates as applicants attracted to this.

FAEC voiced concern over the creation and allocation of release time among the faculty. Some faculty would have to do a 3/3 course load while others would have to do a 4/3 or 4/4 course load.  The Provost mentioned that course size would also impact this as the number of students equated with the number of credits assigned to the courses that faculty are compensated for has to make financial sense.

The Provost stated that before any movement on the issue is to be made there would need to be an examination of the College’s existing resources and where they stem from. He also stated that he is concerned about decreasing enrollment and seeks to avoid creating a downward spiral for RCNJ.

Meeting Adjourned at 12:00 pm

Categories: FACULTY ASSEMBLY MINUTES

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February 27, 2019Faculty Assembly Executive Council | Minutes | 2/20/19

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

Date: Wednesday, Feb  20, 2019 | Location: A220  | Time: 10:30 am to 12:00 pm

Attendees: Kathryn Zeno, Tae Kwak, Donna Flynn, Sam Mustafa, Kathy Zeno, Renata Gangemi, Christina Connor, Hugh Sheehy, Eva Ogens, Maxim Goldberg-Rugalev

Secretary: Nakia Matthias

Guests:  Provost Becker and Naseem Choudhury, MFSA

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FAEC Minutes Approved

1.  Scheduled Teaching Days for Summer Courses

The Provost’s office proposed that summer classes adopt a Monday-Tuesday-Thursday schedule rather.  The rationale for the proposed change is premised upon (1) reverting to a former schedule for summer courses at Ramapo College of New Jersey (RCNJ) and (2) allowing more time for students to absorb courses and prepare for exams.  The FAEC asserts that this decision should be at the discretion of instructors and deans. Additionally, a Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday schedule was discussed.

2.  Promoting  the Ramapo College We Care Program’s Food Insecurity Resources

Stephan Lally the Student Government Association president has enters a request to have faculty consider the inclusion of information about the We Care Program’s food pantry on their syllabi.  The FAEC will support the publicity needs of the We Care Food Pantry.

3.  Emergency Meeting in the School of Humanities and Global Studies [Formerly the School of Humanities and Global Studies]

The Salameno name has been removed from the school’s Humanities and Global Studies’ programs.  Graduates from the school will receive a degree from the School of Humanities and Global Studies.   The immediate action was determined as the Salameno’s have confirmed that they are unable to fulfill their pledged financial obligation of three million dollars to RCNJ. To date the Salameno’s have furnished approximately over seven hundred thousand dollars to RCNJ.  The school has seen its fourth name change in a span of four years.

4.  Minority Faculty and Staff Association [MFSA]

Naseem Choudhury addressed the need to re-examine the “interim suspension policy” related to students and their hosting of gatherings where alcohol is used. Presently, if a student is found to be the host of an on-campus residential hall party s/he will be suspended from residence halls upon the first offense with a $500.00 fine.  The policy was implemented after former New Jersey Attorney General, Ann Milgram recommended that RCNJ revise the campus host/alcohol use policy.

A number of unintended consequences can occur when such a punitive blanket policy is in place.  For example, suspension from housing is for one semester. Suspension at the beginning of the year, during January may impede students’ ability to successfully complete their courses. However, suspension toward the end of the academic year during the month of May could allow them to serve their suspension and potentially pass their courses. Furthermore, at other campuses students’ first alcohol-related hosting offense is met with a warning.  Another issue may be that the actual alcohol consumption policy is different from the hosting policy. The policy is inconsistent since in one section it states that all parties present will be presumed to have consumed alcohol but in the section that proceeds it a distinction is made between presence and consumption.

Link to the current policy: https://www.ramapo.edu/student-conduct/wp-content/uploads/sites/162/2018/08/ALCOHOL-AND-OTHER-DRUG-POLICY-18-19.pdf

Concerns were raised over the use of suspension as a means for corrective action upon students’ first offense.  Additionally, suspension from academic activity at RCNJ bears a significant detrimental impact to RCNJ students that have less socio-economic means. It was discussed that students of color are disproportionately affected by the suspension policies related to campus residential housing and hosting events that serve alcohol.  

Two recent but separate incidents involving female students of color who had been deemed hosts of residential housing parties where alcohol was present culminated in their suspension from campus.  The students were first-time offenders of RCNJ policies on hosting and alcohol. In one incident the student was immediately removed from campus by a Ramapo College public safety officer and transported to the Ramsey Train station at 2 a.m. where she was instructed to go home via train.

In another incident RCNJ public safety officers detained a student that was suspended and barred from the residential halls after they had been called by a Residential Assistant who identified the student as she waited outside of the residential hall while classes were in session. The student had not entered the residential hall at any time. Public safety then turned the student over to Mahwah Police and the student spent the night in the Mahwah police station.

The policy to immediately remove students from campus for hosting/alcohol-related offenses has since been revised to permit that students can be suspended without having to be immediately removed from campus. Students are cited and need to meet with the Student Conduct Board.  The board does not include faculty, as these are not considered academic offenses.

The MFSA recommends that the policy and handling of offenses related to alcohol and hosting on campus, as well as in the residential halls be taken up by the Alcohol and Other Drug Committee. The FAEC and Dr. Choudhury also recommended that community service be considered a viable and constructive option in lieu of suspension for first offenses. The Provost agreed that the measures taken to address and guide behavior involve constructive means that support RCNJ’s goals for preparing students to be lifelong learners.

5.  Provost Becker’s Announcements

Provost Becker announced that RCNJ is moving to replace the Moodle learning Management System with the Canvas Learning Management System. This is in part due to the Student Government Association’s feedback which presented students’ concerns over their inability to access information regarding their standing and grades in their courses.

Meeting Adjourned at 12:00 pm

Categories: FACULTY ASSEMBLY MINUTES

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