Faculty Assembly

April 15, 2020FAEC MINUTES 04/01/2020

DRAFT FAEC Minutes 4/1/2020

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

Date: Wednesday, April 1, 2020 | Location: ONLINE/REMOTE | Time: 10:30 am to 12:00 pm

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

Secretary: Nakia Matthias

Guests: President Mercer and Provost Gaulden

I. FAEC Minutes Approved

II. RCNJ Library

The library can no longer purchase online materials for remote learning but online books are available for free from publishers.

The National Emergency Library is available until June: https://archive.org/details/nationalemergencylibrary

Students and faculty can use the Library’s Remote Access Page Link: https://libguides.ramapo.edu/remote-access

III. Funding and Budgetary Issues

President Mercer explained that the State government may not grant RCNJ bailout funding and that it is possible that RCNJ must prepare for a much smaller enrollment in the fall semester.

FAEC noted some savings due to COVID cancellation but also identified revenue stream losses including the rental of dorm and classroom space during the summer term.

IV. Faculty Concerns with Online Instruction

The provost confirmed remote course delivery will resume through the summer, all in-person classes will be canceled for the Summer, and that Online /remote Instruction will be the sole method of course delivery during this period.

Adjunct instructors are concerned about class size and potential changes in student capacities for online courses. Normally, the maximum is twenty-four students and FAEC believes that this is the acceptable maximum number of students per class section. Provost Gaulden mentioned that online class capacity limits may be increased going forward as a way to compensate for lost revenue due to COVID-19 restructuring.

There are mixed reports regarding the $1000 incentive for creating online courses but it is confirmed that this is no longer being offered going forward.

The FAEC contends that there needs to be a serious conversation about online and hybrid pedagogy in the near future. It is assumed that at some point summer in-person class instruction will be completely canceled.

There are security concerns regarding online education, information privacy, the protection of intellectual property, as well as testing and exam proctoring, and determining who has access to the online course interface.

Online courses must be developed with faculty and students that have disabilities in mind.

V. AFT Executive Board Update

The tenure clock cannot be delayed due to the disruption in academic activities but specific tenure requirements can be addressed.
During a meeting with the Interim provost it has been decided that student evaluations will not be administered this semester.
The Faculty Handbook Revision Task Force has not met yet but a draft of the revised document was proposed on April 1st and the Task Force will meet on April 8th to discuss it.

VI. Pass/Fail Grade Policy

Clarification on the announcement of Pass/Fail option will be announced today. Provost announcement to faculty and students. Powerpoint for students www.ramapo.edu/policies

https://www.ramapo.edu/provost/policy/emergency-spring-2020-pass-fail-grading-option/

Students will have up to one week after final grades are posted to determine whether they wish to consider the pass/fail grade option. If students opt to receive Pass/Fail grading they should be informed of the implications for maintaining their student financial aid status, as well as how it may impact international students’ visa status, their acceptance into graduate programs, and its overall impact on their semester and cumulativeGPA.

Provost Gaulden informed the FAEC about the introduction of a GPA calculator for students that enabled the calculation of the semester and cumulative GPA.

VII. FA Meeting Concerns

FAEC is planning to conduct a virtual FA for April 29th which is the last scheduled FA meeting for the school year. Considerations for a Webex meeting and facilitation of faculty interaction during the meeting are being examined with the hopes that participation can be maximized.

VIII. Provost Gaulden

Timelines for tenure and reappointment can be modified accordingly.
Deans and faculty can authorize independent study virtually to ensure that students meet graduation requirements.
Some classes requiring intensive lab resources may be canceled as faculty will not be able to deliver content without certain instruments or access to spaces Ex. Black and White Photography.
The provost is searching for ways to address faculty concern about online exam proctoring.
Final grades are due on Monday, May18th by 9am sharp. The provost stressed that it is essential to submit grades by the deadline in order to give students reasonable time [1 day] to opt for a Pass/Fail grade.

IX. RCNJ Commencement and Arching Ceremonies

President Mercer has determined that the RCNJ commencement will be postponed and not canceled. An Arching Day in the Fall 2020 may be possible for graduates. FAEC proposed that changes could include the hosting of a campus commencement ceremony that closely resembles the arching ceremony. A decision on commencement will be furnished by President Mercer at a later date.

Meeting Adjourned 12 pm

Categories: FAEC MEETING MINUTES 2020, RAMAPO FAEC, RCNJ Faculty Assembly Minutes 2019

April 4, 2020FAEC MINUTES 03/25/2020

DRAFT FAEC Minutes 3/25/2020

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

Date: Wednesday, March 25, 2020 | Location: ONLINE/REMOTE | Time: 10:30 am to 12:00 pm

Secretary: Nakia Matthias

Guests: President Mercer and Provost Gaulden

I. FAEC Minutes Approved

II. FA President

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

III. April 29th FA meeting

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

IV. COVID-19 Communication and RCNJ Response

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

V. REMOTE INSTRUCTION, CAMPUS AFFAIRS, and INFORMATION DISSEMINATION

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

VI. REFUNDS on DORMS AND TUITION

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

VII. GRADING POLICY

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

VIII. TESTING and EXAM CONCERNS

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

IX. RCNJ LIBRARY

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

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

X. President Mercer

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

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

XI. Interim Provost Gaulden

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

Meeting Adjourned 12 pm

Categories: FAEC MEETING MINUTES 2020, RAMAPO FAEC

March 30, 2020FAEC MINUTES 03/11/2020

FAEC Minutes 3/11/2020

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

Date: Wednesday, March 11, 2020 | Location: B226 | Time: 10:30 am to 12:00 pm

Secretary: Nakia Matthias

Guests: President Mercer and Interim Provost Gaulden

—————————————————————————————————————————————————

I. FAEC Minutes Approved

II. Faculty Concerns Regarding COVID-19

FAEC is concerned with the ambiguity of the March 10th communication titled, Campus Communication on Coronavirus and the College’s plans for the handling of courses, remote instruction, midterm examinations, and the overall COVID-19 containment response.

Faculty have been informed to prepare to deliver their courses remotely but await detailed communication regarding this process and plans that the college has in place as a response to COVID-19.

FAEC will compose a response to the President’s communication to address issues of concern relative to remote course delivery and midterm scheduling,

FAEC suggests that faculty representation is included on the College’s Pandemic Assessment Team. If faculty will not be required to remain on campus, it is imperative that a designated faculty member is included in any deliberations about course delivery and faculty roles during this time.

FAEC will develop an official response that includes guidance for the handling of course delivery and faculty expectations.

FAEC will consult with AFT about teaching duties and course delivery so that faculty can have conversations with their respective deans about this developing matter.

FAEC will draft a letter to address the administration and seek more information about the College’s handling of the COVID-19 response, and specifically faculty concerns regarding the use of compensated time in the event of illness, faculty presence on campus, and online course development. The letter will cover the following:

A need for the RCNJ’s COVID-19 containment response to bear consistency with the plans set forth by Governor Murphy.
Ensuring that sick days cannot be used should faculty need to remain off campus due to COVID-19 related illness.
Faculty and staff are not required to remain on campus for remote course delivery.
The college will only use minimal staff and essential faculty on campus if there is a need to do so.
Faculty require time that does not overlap with their existing duties in order to design or re-design online coursework
Greater clarity and consistency about travel as sports teams are continuing to travel domestically.
Future communication to the campus community and specifically regarding changes that impact faculty and staff expectations require precise language regarding directives and the actions that The college will take.
There is a lack of clarity about whether midterms will maintain their regular schedule for the current week as this matter is addressed in conjunction with Spring Break without specificity

III. FAEC will communicate the following to faculty:

The State of New Jersey published guidelines indicating that faculty do not have to use sick pay/leave and there is a need for RCNJ to reconcile their policies with those of the state. The local AFT will be asked to attend to this concern and further coordinate any contractual issues.

Faculty needs to provide the minimum contact time whether inside or outside of class.

Meeting Adjourned 12 pm

Categories: FAEC MEETING MINUTES 2020, RAMAPO FAEC

March 15, 2020FAEC Minutes 2/26/2020

FAEC Minutes 2/26/2020

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

Date: Wednesday, Feb 26, 2020 | Location: B226 | Time: 10:30 am to 12:00 pm

Secretary: Nakia Matthias

I. FAEC Minutes Approved

II. Revision to FA By-Laws

The FAEC recommends a revision of the FA by-laws to address ambiguities and some inaccurate information. For instance, the bylaws indicate that the FA President should sit on the Provost’s “Cabinet” and the President’s “Cabinet” when they sit on the Provost’s Council and PAC. Additionally, FA by-laws define full voting members as full time employees that are contractually obligated to teach at least one course. However, the number of FA members is different from actual full time faculty.

Terms and election dates should be revisited with the goal of rules and practice being consistent.

III. Concerns to Share with Provost

Criteria for “new” (new or replacement) lines must be clear and transparent. Program closure criteria needs to be re-addressed. The Administration currently has the right to close programs based on programmatic need but arguments can be made by the FA about this due to the fact that faculty are tenured to the college, and not to the program or their respective unit. This would also create clarity for conveners enabling them to have clearer descriptions for tenure-track lines. It was also mentioned that having the process for tenure track line approval on paper could be problematic. The tenure-track faculty line strategy was tied to the strategic plan. To ask for these lines they need to be tied to strategic plans but the strategic plan is an evolving document.

IV. The George Potter Library

The Library has been granted approval to open a search for two part time staff lines. Leigh Keller, who currently serves in the role of Interim Library Director, will be asking for additional money to restore some of the lost resources that were cut due to the recent summer 2019 budget cuts.

V. Middle States Visit

Although Middle States feedback was positive it was suggested that RCNJ need to work on Diversity at The College. Middle States lauded the college’s Shared Governance efforts. The Middle States team was surprised that there is no mechanism for faculty to evaluate administration and suggested that the administration should be assessed. It was suggested that the RCNJ Board be involved in closing the loop and reviewing faculty assessments of Deans and other administrators.

VI. Presidential Search

The board will report to faculty about the Presidential Search. FA will request that Susan Vallario provide an update and Unit reps on the search committee should be asked to provide regular updates about the status of the search. At present the committee is waiting for feedback from the search firm. The Presidential search web page should also be updated regularly to reflect the progress of the search process.

Presidential Search Web Page: https://www.ramapo.edu/presidential-search/search-process/

VII. FA Concern Regarding Three Plus One Programs and Intellectual Property

The FA will provide a ranked list of concerns to the Interim Provost regarding Three Plus One programs [TPO’s]. Faculty will address concerns regarding off-site teaching. The FA maintains that faculty should not be compelled off site or to teach online courses for the sole purpose of satisfying TPO’s. The former provost held an assumption that the faculty could be assigned to teach anywhere. Unless it is firmly negotiated with local AFT involvement faculty should not commit to off site arrangements as this will establish a precedent that faculty can be expected to teach beyond the RCNJ campus. Any off-site teaching agreements must be thoroughly negotiated with AFT to include detailed compensatory expectations.

There are concerns about labeling any new TPO arrangements as “pilot programs” due to the fact that there is no existing data that can be used to determine whether these arrangements will be sustainable and work toward specified outcomes before going forward.

There is also objection among the faculty about the use of track development as a means to circumvent ARC review and the necessary oversight for the development of RCNJ programs. This is currently a problem with Sociology and Law and Society programs.

Under current TPO agreements with Passaic County community College [PCCC] the provost wants to ensure that students have the Plus-One year at RCNJ but this arrangement is not feasible with Hudson County or Raritan County community colleges primarily for logistical reasons.

There is also concern about intellectual property rights and course content. The Cabinet is in discussions for passing a policy regarding intellectual property rights but this has not been discussed with the faculty.

Any decision regarding the use and distribution of faculty intellectual property must be negotiated and entered into contract.

IX. Faculty Service, Course Releases and Stipends

Future FA presidents after Naseem Choudhury will no longer receive a one year leave. In order for this to be restored it must be negotiated in the faculty contract. Deans possess a list of faculty who receive course releases and stipends. This need to be reviewed to understand how decisions are made on course releases and stipends allocated for service positions

X. Revision of Language in the T&P Handbook

The language in the tenure and promotion handbook should clarify how units determine recommendations based on use of the language strongly recommend and recommend which are used inconsistently at The College. Tenure is recommended or not recommended while promotion uses the language “strongly recommended” or “highly recommended”. Furthermore the language, recommended and recommended with qualifications can be used and shortcoming evidenced in candidates’ applications should be specified by the committee in the candidates letter.

Tenure and Promotion are decoupled but it is unclear as to how the T&P committee can evaluate candidates when there is no separation in the criteria that are applied. Each unit does this differently.

Meeting Adjourned 12 pm

Categories: FAEC MEETING MINUTES 2020, RAMAPO FAEC

March 4, 2020FAEC MINUTES 02/12/2020

FAEC Minutes 2/12/2020

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

Date: Wednesday, Feb 12, 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: Interim Provost Gaulden

———————————————————————————————————————

FAEC Minutes Approved

1. FA Voting Items Survey Results

122 votes were registered in the recent FA survey that was administered by FAEC via qualtrics.

2. RCNJ’s Acting President

Provost Gaulden informed FAEC that Kirsten Loewrigkeit is serving as RCNJ’s acting president as President Mercer is “off campus” and the role will be filled on a rotating basis among President Mercer’s cabinet members.

3. Three Plus One Students and Programs at RCNJ [TPO]

The plus-one year amounts to a total of 38 credits. TPO students will enter RCNJ with 90 credits and would need a total of 38 credits. FAEC was informed that TPO students will enter RCNJ with, “advanced” Associates Degree rather than an Associates Degree. Eight credits are required for the completion of the plus-one term and will not be covered by the Pell Grant and will instead be covered by a provisional loan that students will need to take out.

4. Interim Provost Susan Gaulden: Middle States, Faculty Concerns at RCNJ

The Provost is primarily concerned with how can FAEC support a good Middle States visit although the Middle States agenda is not finalized. Provost Gaulden explained that “70% of colleges that are on warning,” from Middle States is due to the lack or absence of programmatic and curricular assessment.

She explained that the trend in online learning means that online contact hours are assessed, in addition to the workload, and the span of time that learners are engaged with coursework. Furthermore, she explained that the assessment of the quality of online education should meet the same standard as classroom-based contact.

The Provost assigned Michael Bitz to the Middle States interview group for online learning due to his work with the facilitation of an online learning taskforce at RCNJ.

Provost Gaulden advised that the Middle States team will question GeccO regarding curricular changes although she is aware that the GeccO membership has changed since new curricular changes were implemented. She also mentioned that a lot of thought went into which GeccO members would sit for interviews with the Middle States team and will be based on bottom-up recommendations and administrators’ inputs. The Provost informed FAEC that its members will be asked about shared governance.

FAEC shared their hope for a shift in the culture of shared governance and information sharing at RCNJ. The Provost assured FAEC that justification will be provided for decision-making relative to faculty and campus related issues.

FAEC also expressed concerns that faculty have with the administration relative to support and real action for ensuring diversity at RCNJ. FAEC mentioned that despite task forces, focus groups, and campus climate surveys it is unclear as to what is being done with the information that is generated, as well as how it is used toward growing and securing real diversity at RCNJ.

5. Presentation of FA Concerns to the Interim Provost

FAEC discussed and will further develop a “laundry list” of concerns to present to Provost Gaulden. FAEC Unit representatives will request input from their unit members regarding their concerns and questions for the Provost. The FA President was asked to reconsider things that the Provost changed or proposed to change and will provide Provost Gaulden with a list of the FA’s most pressing concerns related to tis matter.

The FA President was also asked to account for leadership at RCNJ for the Middle States study and report. Middle States’ interests transcend the results obtained about leadership via campus climate surveys, but rather they want to see that action has been taken to address matters evidenced by survey results. They want to see a pattern of attempts to address matters/concerns that have been recorded.

6. Other concerns raised for examination by the provost are outlined below:

7. Alcohol and Other Drug [AOD] Policy

The AOD policy and fines imposed on students as means to enforce policy compliance must be revisited. There have been requests for meetings regarding how this policy has changed. The enforcement of the disproportionately impacts students of color on campus. The policy is in need of revision and culturally competent considerations must be waged in this process, as well as in its enforcement.

A conversation must take place with the be The Chief Diversity Officer who does not make the policy but serves an advisory role in its enforcement.

Link to AOD policies: https://www.ramapo.edu/publicsafety/alcohol-and-drug-policies/

8. Diversity at RCNJ

President Mercer and the former Provost stated that TPO’s would support RCNJ’s diversity goals, as well as increase minority student enrollments but increased enrollment of minority students was never a factor in their financial projections for TPO’s at the College.

RCNJ is on its way to being a minority serving institution regardless of TPO’s and The College must make a commitment to diversity. One of the concerns is the reporting process for bias incidents. In effort to avert gatekeeping, bias incidents can also be reported to the New Jersey State Ethics Commission, in addition to the EDIC, ELO, and the Affirmative Action Director.

9. Course Evaluations

The average response rate for online course evaluations is around 25%. The FAEC will recommend that the College revert to paper based evaluation as the default and employ online evaluations only if faculty Opt-in relative to the mode of instruction.

The current incentive proposal for granting extra credit to students that complete course evaluations is problematic. This method of granting extra credit per student cannot occur unless information about the whom has completed evaluations is disclosed to faculty. FAEC maintains that the extra credit scheme is a non-policy and needs to be addressed by the current provost. The withholding of student grades for a defined period of time is proposed as a means to encourage participation in student course evaluations via electronic delivery. Faculty concerns regarding course evaluations are important for personnel considerations but can easily be addressed through immediate return to paper based evaluations.

10. Faculty Handbook Revision

Helen Higgenbotham, RCNJ’s former Director of Affirmative Action, is still listed as the current Affirmative Action Director in the faculty handbook

The Faculty Handbook revision task force is being assembled to address immediate concerns regarding the processes outlined in the handbook for tenure, promotion, and sabbatical considerations.

Meeting Adjourned at 12 pm

Categories: FAEC MEETING MINUTES 2020, RAMAPO FAEC

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

—————————————————————————————————————————-

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

February 4, 2020FAEC MINUTES 01/22/2020

[DRAFT] FAEC Minutes 1/22/2020

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

Date: Wednesday, January 22, 2020 | Location: B 226 | Time: 10:00 am to 12:00 pm

Attendees: Tae Kwak, Donna Flynn, Roark Atkinson, Eva Ogens, Scott Frees, Kathy Zeno, Christina Connor,

Guests: Faculty, President Mercer, Provost Becker, Vice Provost Gaulden, Edward Saiff, Aaron Lorenz, Naseem Choudhury, Maya Poran, Robert Becklen

Secretary: Nakia Matthias

—————————————————————————————————————————-

FAEC Minutes Approved

1. Process for Selecting Sabbatical Candidates

The Provost’s methods for examining applications for sabbatical, promotion, and tenure are alarming as the Provost goes beyond the faculty handbook to impose his own criteria which is unknown to faculty.

Last December, the Provost agreed to begin the process of revising the Faculty Handbook. Since no progress has been made, FAEC will be charging a Task Force with reps from AFT, ER, FA, and the Provost’s Office.

2. Faculty Concerns and TPO’s

Faculty are skeptical of TPO’s based on financial projections that were shared in a previous meeting as the

model excludes crucial information and does not account for minority enrollment. It does not include important details and demonstrates that unless there is robust enrollment and growth (45 students + net 20% growth each year) there may very well be a net loss for RCNJ as a result of taking on the “pilot program” with PCCC.

3. TPO’s and Faculty Concerns

The Provost is pursuing the opportunity to roll out RCNJ courses at Passaic County Community College [PCCC] as a pilot program. Faculty pointed out that assumptions made about passaic will be different as it is not representative of any other of the colleges that are sought for TPO’s. Faculty suggested that the procedures taken in pursuit of TPO’s illustrates a breakdown of shared governance.

Faculty maintained that assessment of the RCNJ courses offered at PCC is critical for understanding the efficacy of the course content delivery and the performance of students enrolled in the college since it is being used as a pilot program for TPO agreements with RCNJ. Intellectual integrity and academic rigor are concerns for faculty who suggested a blind assessment of any pilot courses in order to determine whether they satisfy RCNJ standards. The maintenance of academic integrity is also a concern and faculty suggested that online proctoring services would need to be employed to ensure the proper administration of tests and exams.

At present, 2 + 2 models exist in Psychology but these models differ from the proposed TPO structure where 300/400 level courses would be taught at two year institutions.Faculty asserted that currently 300/400 level RCNJ courses are not taught by adjuncts and not taught at community colleges which is what would make TPO courses distinct from courses currently taught at RCNJ and require extraordinary oversight.

Faculty also expressed concern that TPO’s technically require students to be enrolled for 1.5 years at RCNJ as the fourth and final term within any proposed TPO. Faculty suggested that this be stated and disclosed in the framing of the program in its presentation to potential students and faculty.

Furthermore, faculty sought understanding about whether students enrolled at RCNJ’s campus in a 4 year degree program could enroll in a two-year institution’s offering of 300/400 level courses. The provost and vice has not considered this possibility and will get back to FAEC regarding this matter.

The notion of the RCNJ course content for TPO’s as equal in rigor and integrity in support of learning outcomes denotes that the 300/400 level courses at two-year institutions are the same as those offered at RCNJ’s campus.

4. Provost Becker and AFT

The Provost confirmed that faculty would be reimbursed should faculty contributions toward carrying out any oversight and participation in TPO’s exceed “reasonable expectations”. He explained that reasonable expectations is vague and requires definition. He proposed the negotiation of this matter with AFT.

5. TPO’s and Potential Risk for RCNJ

It was presented that the TPO’s serve as model option courses taught at RCNJ and offsite. However, according to financial projections divulged at a previous closed meeting, RCNJ assumes the least risk when potential TPO students can be absorbed into existing sections on campus.

Some faculty proposed alternatives to alleviate financial concerns and potential risks that RCNJ would assume under TPO’s including the acceptance of more high school students and placing a cap on students ability to transfer out of RCNJ in order to obtain a degree in a TPO program.

6. ARC Review Processes

Vice Provost Gaulden and Provost Becker affirmed that pursuing the option to develop tracks rather than concentrations is permissible and viable for enlarging RCNJ’s offerings for contract major programs and for potential TPO’s.

Faculty suggested that if such practices become the norm or default method for delivering courses in new or extraneous programs it would constitute administrative abuse of the ARC review process as it sidelines the purview of ARC and functions to subvert the purpose of ARC review processes. It would be viewed as intentional circumventing of ARC as an effort to ‘push’ through course and curricular changes that would ordinarily be subject to extensive vetting.

Faculty suggested that boundaries need to be drawn whereby RCNJ’s campus should be characterized as ‘Ramapo Main’ and RCNJ TPO programs should be identified differently while indicating that the course content and offerings are the same. For instance, the proposed program with PCC could be called ‘RCNJ at Passaic’. There are ethical issues involved with discussing RCNJ as the same program as those offered via a TPO offsite or in conjunction with a community college.

Vice Provost Gaulden stated that this would pose complications for the Middle States Accreditation process as this structure reflects a main-satellite campus arrangement that requires new applications for programmatic accreditation.

Faculty want it to be known that administrators are pursuing a track development process in order to craft majors outside of faculty governance.

7. Miscellaneous Items

An FAEC CA Representative is sought to replace David Oh. CA will be briefed about this need, requested to ask for volunteers and nominate a representative during the Unit Council Meeting scheduled for 1/22/10.

Meeting Adjourned at 12 pm

Categories: FAEC MEETING MINUTES 2020, RAMAPO FAEC

December 15, 2019FAEC Minutes 11/13/2019

FAEC Minutes 11/13/2019

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

Date: Wednesday, November 13, 2019 | Location: A 226 | Time: 10:30 am to 12:00 pm

Attendees: Tae Kwak, Donna Flynn, Roark Atkinson, Hugh Sheehy, Eva Ogens, Lisa Lutter, Scott Frees

Guests: Provost Becker and President Mercer

Secretary: Nakia Matthias

I. FAEC Minutes Approved [last 2 meetings]

II. Degree Completion Programs (DCP)

Degree Completion Program courses are taught during evenings and are for non-traditional students such as adult learners. Students are not allowed to enroll in DCP courses as they are solely reserved for its program participants. Faculty members are not compensated for working on the program. These programs are not reviewed but should be reviewed. Enrollment and graduation rates for the DCP program are also unknown. The Provost stated that he will provide a cost benefit analysis for the TPO programs in response to a request for this information from the FAEC. Faculty do not want to teach a watered-down version of their existing programs and it is believed that DCP’s contain subpar versions of existing courses.

ASB’s Marketing DCP has been discontinued after only one year for unknown reasons. The provost was unaware that this program existed and was terminated during his tenure. SSHS’ Society & Culture DCP and CA’s Communication DCP are operational but have not undergone program reviews. President Mercer confirmed that two DCP’s are complete and other will be finalized in the next 2.5 years.

As a result of the 11/13/19 communications meeting it is imperative for FAEC to ask the Provost about is the Status of DCP’s

III. Three Plus One Programs (TPO’s)

FA President is conducting a meeting with program Conveners with the aim of engaging those whom have been tapped for TPO’s on Wed. Nov. 20, at 2:30pm, in A-226. However, TPO are not on the agenda for the conveners meeting.

In conversation with deans it is understood that some believe that faculty do not have purview over curricula. There is also an assumption that students are already enrolled in 3 credit transfer courses but we accept them as 4 credit courses. If students have an associates they are exempt from a Gen. Ed. coursework and some conveners waive this coursework for transfer students with 54 credits.

As a result of the 11/13/19 communications meeting it is imperative for FAEC to receive confirmation about whether Bergen Community College will become a TPO institution and what the official numbers are for institutions in agreement with RCNJ for TPO’s.

There is concern that Administrators can evade faculty concerns over TPO’s by insisting that DCP Programs already exist and that these programs will be converted to TPO’s. The Provost insists that TPO’s must begin with RCNJ for Fall 2020 without any observable justification for this move. The Provost insists that TPO’s will not be created for RCNJ’s more “popular” programs. He also confirmed that at the third year the TPO curriculum is the property of community colleges. FAEC raised concern over contradictions about whether it is a requirement for TPO students’ to enroll in their fourth year at RCNJ. President Mercer and the Provost asserted that the fourth year [at RCNJ] for TPO’s is critical to these programs. Although RCNJ would not have ownership over third year curriculum in TPO’s there would need to be oversight and control over the curriculum for the proposed fourth year.

FAEC affirmed that the RCNJ Curriculum for TPO’s would need to be developed and maintained as part of a formal ARC review process. Faculty also expressed consensus relative to requiring the ARC review process for course revisions and new programs. The provost believes that TPO’s do not require ARC review if they are modeled after existing courses and programs. It is up to the discretion of ARC as to whether a course or program should be exempt from any review process. A convening group can make this case to ARC. FAEC insisted that if TPO students are receiving an RCNJ degree then there must be some acceptable program which meet our standards as determined by ARC.

FAEC raised concern over the potential for the cannibalization of RCNJ programs. The provost stated that RCNJ has exclusive rights and right of first refusal with Passaic and other community colleges. FAEC contends that economic justification for TPO’s must be provided to make wise decisions about the potential for these programs.

Biology faculty are in the process of formalizing the reasons for their concern and discontent with the potential development of TPO’s which appear to be progressing regardless of their position.

President Mercer suggested that faculty should not “get ahead of” themselves with assumptions that since community colleges have jurisdiction over TPO curricula up to the 3rd year that this means they have sovereignty to teach whatever they wish.

The provost mentioned that there is a healthy skepticism about the viability of TPO’s but he wished that Faculty refrain from categorizing TPO’s as “a race to the bottom”.

FAEC noted that TPO’s are viewed as marketplace solution and a state mandate. Thus language that frames the discussion of TPO’s is based on this concern and the understanding that the law that was passed to generate TPO’s is ill conceived and facilitates an unintentional “race to the bottom”.

IV. Administrators and Academic Programs

Administrators are receiving Academic rank in units where they don’t need them. They are becoming faculty after they leave their administrative positions. This has been the case with the former provost regardless of any demonstrated need for another professor in any respective units?

V. Board of Trustees’ Meetings

A special Board of Trustees meeting will be held but it has not been announced. The BoT’s open meeting was called to order and then dismissed. The agenda for the open meeting was not provided but may be archived in the library.

Roughly half of the BoT are on the presidential search committee.

VI. Miscellaneous

There is no update on EOF funding.

The Krame family has withdrawn their pledge associated with the RCNJ library renovation project. Mr. Krame pledged 250K per year for 10 years to RCNJ. The Krame’s have discontinued support for funding that they pledged. The Krame’s will develop a center at a private institution. Students that worked in the Krame center were taken off of payroll. The Foundation now has to make up the 1 million to 1.5 million that was pledged to the learning commons.

Meeting Adjourned at 12:00 pm

Categories: FAEC MEETING MINUTES 2020, RAMAPO FAEC

December 10, 2019FAEC Minutes 11/20/2019

FAEC Minutes 11/20/2019

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

Date: Wednesday, November 20, 2019 | Location: A 226 | Time: 10:30 am to 12:00 pm

Attendees: Tae Kwak, Donna Flynn, Roark Atkinson, Hugh Sheehy, Eva Ogens, Scott Frees, David Oh, Kathy Zeno, Christina Connor

Secretary: Nakia Matthias

I. FAEC Minutes Approved

II. Three Plus One Programs (TPO) Meeting 2:30-4:00pm, A-226

The Provost will attend the TPO Programs Convener’s Meeting, on Wed., Nov. 20th at 2:30 pm to 4pm in A-226. Program Conveners and Representatives from convening groups are expected to be present during the meeting. According to the provost, some of the rough details have not been resolved relative to RCNJ’s TPO agreement with Passaic Community College (PCC). The institution has an operating transportation shuttle that can add an additional stop which could be Ramapo College. This way students would be able to commute to RCNJ’s campus. Chris Romano insisted that a shuttle link between PCC and RCNJ cannot be used as this has not been negotiated between the institutions in tentative TPO agreements. Some faculty have expressed a preference for online TPO engagement as their campus-based classes are currently at capacity.

TPO’s should follow the same policies and guidelines that all programs go through in the ARC process. Hybrid courses could potentially be used means to introduce TPO’s. This can be one way to circumvent any ARC approval process as the body does not regulate course delivery. Additionally, deans can submit programs when they are new and therefore can submit TPO’s for ARC review. Deans have devised and submitted model TPO programs to the Provost.

The registrar is considering a policy to grant credits to students that enter in RCNJ under a three-credit scheme so they can have enough credits to satisfy the TPO. Students in possession of associates degrees technically do not have enough credits to graduate in a TPO program. Students would have to earn 38 credits in their 4th year which does not add up.

The provost agreed to provide a TPO cost benefit analysis in FA and FAEC meetings since September but has not done this to date. The provost confirmed that TPO’s would allow students to attend their third year at their respective community colleges which does not require the two-year institution to use RCNJ syllabi. TPO’s would work with existing courses in the third year of the program at institutions that maintain such agreements with RCNJ.

Under prospective TPO’s community colleges requested Psychology and Communication program content but the conveners of these programs have the right to disapprove of TPO’s. Conveners’ involvement in discussions with the provost positions the administration to presume that the faculty have been involved in TPO discussions. FAEC expressed that TPO’s are happening in the margins without faculty input

There is a need to delineate college-wide versus specific issues at the convening group level. It was proposed that concerns about TPO’s can be devised a the TPO Convener’s meeting and later presented to faculty during the December 4th FA meeting in the presence of President Mercer and Provost Becker. Those present at the TPO Convener’s meeting can assemble a working list of questions which can be circulated among faculty in advance of the FA meeting to garner input about concerns and priorities for addressing TPO’s. Questions raised by faculty must be entered into the official record of the FA meeting. It was also proposed that a survey can be disseminated to determine which questions to ask the provost during the next FA.

FAEC will request that the administration refrain from hiring any new administrators to facilitate TPO’s

III. DCP Programs

Faculty in DCP programs have not been engaged or involved in the process of their development and facilitation. It is now known that the Marketing DCP program was terminated by the Dean of Enrollment Management and Trish Laprey, Director of the Adult Degree Completion Program. This decision was made without faculty consultation. Faculty was excluded in discussions about staffing for the program. The Marketing DCP experiences pre-requisite and sequencing issues. Graduate students are not included in any cost-benefit analysis for DCP’s. The provost suggested that DCP programs can function as a model for TPO’s. Some of the five-year review programs will also involve a review of the DCP’s

IV. AFT Affairs

AFT is planning to line the corridor of the 5th floor in ASB at1:30 in wait for the BoT to attend their special meeting in the boardroom. Earlier in the day AFT membership stood in solidarity in AFT T-shirts at the President’s Committee on Campus Sustainability event, Confronting the Climate Crisis: Ramapo’s Reckoning with Reality.

V. Miscellaneous

Shared GovernanceTask Force: The original Shared Governance TF (2016-17) had been jointly charged by FA and the Provost’s Office to define Shared Governance for Ramapo College and to make recommendations. Plans to create a follow-up Shared Governance Implementation TF, also jointly charged by FA and the Provost’s Office, have been put on hold as PAC seems to be in the process of implementing the 2017 recommendations. We will see how this goes.

The deadline for self-nomination for the office of FA president is next Wednesday

Meeting Adjourned at 12:00 pm

Categories: FAEC MEETING MINUTES 2020, RAMAPO FAEC

Faculty Assembly

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