January 29, 2022FAEC December 8, 2021

FAEC MINUTES 12/8/21

Present: Naseem Choudhury (President, SSHS), Bonnie Blake (Councilor-at-Large over 11, CA), Katie Cohen (Library), Donna Flynn (Councilor-at-Large under 11, TAS), Ken McMurdy (TAS), Kim Lorber (Secretary), Lisa Lutter, (CA), Thierry Rakotobe-Joel (ASB), Mihaela Serban (SSHS), Ed Shannon (Vice President, HGS), Jeffrey Ellsworth (Incoming Secretary Spring 2022)

Vote to bring meeting to order at 10:01am.

Minutes Approval: The 11/24/21 minutes were approved. The 12/1/21 minutes will be approved in the Spring semester. 

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Future Series Online:  FAEC advocacy has helped to make this important series more accessible by expanding on the in-person model. Today’s noon meeting will be available remotely as well.

Faculty Assembly Elections: Ken McMurdy has been elected as FA President for Fall 2022; this will be finalized in the near future. 

Meeting with President Jebb: Needs statement work is being done with faculty collaborations across campus. 

Interim Positions: National searches are recommended.

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FAEC DISCUSSION

Chris Romano (Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs): At Provost’s Council, Chris reported that 295 students have not been vaccinated in preparation for in-person Spring 2022. Over 1,700 students are planning to live on campus so far. We are ahead of last year’s applications for priority and early action. Admission numbers should go up.

January 19, 2022: This date was deliberately left open (without meetings), so that there could be a faculty retreat as in past years. FAEC may organize a retreat this year centered around an important topic such as academic integrity. Our last two retreats were very helpful as we navigated our way through the pandemic. Perhaps this one could include wellness as one topic, in order to provide faculty with strategies for maximizing our own physical and mental well-being.  There is much concern that, while we have focused on understanding and meeting students’ needs, many faculty have reported suffering from increased stress, anxiety and a general feeling of being “burned out.”

Unit Council: Expectations for Unit Council meetings vary considerably from school to school. Concern about adequate discussion time for FAEC representatives was discussed.

FAEC Guests: President Jebb, Interim-Provost Gaulden, Virginia Galdieri and Janet Faber (ER), and Chris Romano, will continue to be invited to future meetings on a monthly basis. We hope to include new constituencies on campus including SGA representation and others beginning next semester.

Onboarding New Faculty: Faculty Assembly can work to help onboard new faculty members who had little time at Ramapo pre-pandemic or who have not yet taught in-person without remote options. This should not be a permanent responsibility of this body but is important and urgent for the coming semester during a pandemic.

Removal of Room Kits: Faculty are concerned about the availability of room kits. Will be discussed with the provost.

Release Time: It has been suggested that we maintain and periodically distribute to faculty a list of service opportunities that carry release time. This is a transparency issue.

Faculty Bylaw Votes: 134 faculty were available to vote, and so we need 89. They are slowly coming. Reminder emails will be sent. Please vote.

Password Security: FAEC will continue to investigate reports of password security issues.

Kim Lorber: This is her last meeting as FAEC Secretary; she has served 3 terms.

 

Meeting adjourned at 11:33am..

 

Categories: FAEC meeting Minutes 2021, RAMAPO FAEC

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January 11, 2022FAEC Meeting Minutes 11/10/2021

FAEC MINUTES 11/10/21

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

 Vote to bring meeting to order at 10:05am.

 Minutes Approval: The 11/3/21 minutes were approved with one abstention. 

 FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

 Task Force on Course Delivery Modes (TFCDM): The task force has been charged by the Provost, and the official charge has been made available. The timeline was expanded to allow a more careful, deliberate process. The goal is now to implement recommendations on a pilot basis in Winter 2023 and more broadly in Spring 2023. The Provost and task force members will need to keep in mind we do not have baseline data of how alternate course delivery modes worked during pre-pandemic times; thus the feedback sought about how different modes worked must be understood as unusual and difficult to separate from the life experiences of learning during a pandemic. All participants must be identified by next Wednesday (11/17). FAEC unit representatives should reach out to their deans to ensure that time is set aside at Unit Council and to ask for the TFCDM charge to be sent out to all unit faculty, in order to finalize the selection of each unit’s representative. The committee will meet in a hyflex mode. Tenure and tenure-track faculty are eligible to serve. Stephen Rice (HGS/ARC  chair) and Michael Bitz (SSHS/ IDC) have agreed to serve as the two FA designees.

 Meeting with President Jebb: Faculty involvement on campus was discussed.

 FAEC DISCUSSION

 Interim-Secretary Spring 2022: Jeffrey Ellsworth (SSHS) offered to serve as the FA Interim-Secretary in Spring 2022. He will step down as WAC Chair.

 Candidates for FA President and Secretary:  Candidates must be identified by next Wednesday (10/17). The bylaws do not address what happens if a sitting president does not seek reelection after one term and no other candidate has been identified. Elections of other FAEC members will happen in the spring.

 Qualtrics Minutes Vote: More faculty participation is necessary. Our recent vote on Faculty Assembly minutes resulted as follows: 61: 57 voted yes, 4 abstained. More faculty participation is needed.

 Job Description of FA President: This needs to be updated. The job has become increasingly more digital, which is very time consuming. Further, the current service requires working during extraordinary times resulting in many new responsibilities. Increased course release time and/or staff support would be beneficial to address this expanded role.

 Future Series: The first event, focusing on The Future of Thought: Strategy and Uncertainty, will take place on Monday, Nov. 15th, from 1:00-2:15 in the Pavilion. Naseem, Ken, and Ed will be there. Information for this and the remaining three events can be found on the Strategic Plan website:

https://www.ramapo.edu/president/stratplan/

 Unit Council: There should be at least 15 minutes allocated for FAEC unit representatives to report out and lead discussions as needed. The meeting time for Unit Council was expanded from 60 to 90 minutes in part to allow for this discussion time.

 Meeting adjourned at 11:27am.

 

 

 

 

Categories: FAEC meeting Minutes 2021, RAMAPO FAEC

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November 10, 2021FAEC Meetings Minutes, November 3, 2021

FAEC MINUTES
11/3/21

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

Guests: President Cindy Jebb, Interim-Provost Susan Gaulden

Vote to bring meeting to order at 10:04 am.

Minutes Approval: The 10/27/21 minutes were approved. 

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Role of Faculty Assembly President: Questions brought to FAEC are addressed with the relevant campus constituencies.

Dean Searches: This semester there are ongoing searches for the Dean of the Library and the Dean of CA. Next year there will be national searches for the TAS and HGS deans (as both are currently interim deans). The deans of SSHS and ASB are permanent deans.

Provost Council: Provost Gaulden announced the dean searches and one for the Director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies as Michael Riff is retiring.

Course Delivery Modes Working Group: Representatives of FAEC and SGA will meet with Provost Gaulden tomorrow to discuss composition of the working group as well as timeline and other issues.

Provost’s Council Policies: Revised version of Policy 300T dealing with online/virtual delivery will be available soon for review.  Provost’s Council is in the process of updating all of its policies to align with current practices.

All-College Meetings During FA: The All-College Sabbatical Committee is scheduled to meet during FA, and there are many such examples. This is a difficult problem to address, but it must be addressed so that faculty are not excluded from participating and voting at Faculty Assembly.

FAEC DISCUSSION

IT Report: 3 weeks ago Bonnie and Thierry met with Rob Doster.

DUO: We have been using DUO to allow remote VPN access. The use might be expanded for library access when off-campus.

Banner Upgrade: Banner’s current 2008 system is being upgraded to Oracle. There might be some disruption in the availability of Banner on 11/20-21. Rob will make the announcement. ITS might consider connecting Canvas to the Registrar’s system for final grades. There are ways to make this connection. This is in the works to avoid faculty manual grade entry.

Office Laptops Instead of Desktops: ITS is considering replacing each faculty office desktop with a laptop and docking station. This would lead to higher utilization by faculty who also work from home. This may require a phased in process.

Faculty Handbook: Faculty Assembly voting was reviewed.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Economic Impact of NJASCU: President Jebb shared positive data from Trenton about the impact of Ramapo College, as well as the other six NJASCU schools, on the State economy. Ramapo was recognized as the 2nd highest in lifetime return on investment (career-long earning gains vs tuition).

Needs Statement: We need to focus on this approach to raising capital, as we are unsure of the State’s future contributions to the College’s budget. The State provided 70% of our budget in the 1990’s, and now provides only 25%.

Evening Dining Facilities for Faculty: Provost Gaulden followed up with The Pandemic Assessment Team, which is reviewing the Birch Tree Inn policies. It is likely that $11 to-go meals will be made available for faculty this semester. The policy will change for next semester based upon the recommendations of the Pandemic Assessment Team.

Search Committees: It would be great to have broader participation on search committees. Provost Gaulden recalled Nicole Morgan Agard’s (Chief Equity & Diversity Officer) email from last year which sought anyone interested in serving on a search committee. Diversity in search committees is the goal. Provost Gaulden puts together a first proposed committee, which is then reviewed by Nicole with various considerations in mind (such as whether someone is serving on another search committee, balancing of ranks, etc.). 

Remembrance Day: This is being held today and is a very important tradition at our College.

Founders Day: Founders and pioneers will be invited.

Be Kind: It is important that we all take a moment to breathe.

PROVOST’S REPORT

Learning Commons: 7 of 9 tenants are under the purview of AA

Course Delivery Working Group: The present planned composition of the working group (subject to change) includes: 2 deans, 2 FAEC members or designees, and 1 faculty member from each unit (including  the Library). Tenure is not required of faculty but they must be tenure track and not temporary. In addition, the Chair of the Graduate Council, a designee from the Office of the Registrar, a CSS representative, a representative from International Education, another from EDIC, one from OSS, and a non-voting representative from SGA (who may not be included in every meeting if sensitive topics, such as personnel issues, arise) will be included. The goal is to finalize the membership by 11/10 or 11/17 at the latest. In order to implement changes in Fall 2022, a first draft from the working group would be needed by the end of January or early February. The process will be deliberative and comprehensive. There might not be enough time to implement it in the fall, in which case we will target Winter 2022/Spring 2023 implementation.

 

Meeting adjourned at 12:07pm.

 

 

 

Categories: FAEC meeting Minutes 2021, RAMAPO FAEC, Uncategorized

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November 10, 2021FAEC Meeting Minutes, October 27, 2021

FAEC MINUTES 10/27/21

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

Guests: Christina O’Connor (Library)

Vote to bring meeting to order at 10:01am.

Minutes Approval: The 10/13/21 were approved and 10/21/21 minutes were approved with one abstention. 

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

 Course Delivery Working Group: Naseem met with Provost Gaulden. Naseem advocated for inclusion of students in the working group; Susan has the ultimate decision. It may still be possible to have a meeting with stakeholders to discuss composition of the working group, process, timeline, etc. (as outlined in the report of the Shared Governance Task Force).

 One Year Schedule Request from Deans: If the Course Delivery Working Group were to recommend new course delivery modes, when would it be realistic to expect them to be implemented? Deans have asked for a 1-year schedule, which suggests that there would be a 3-semester delay. The Working Group’s timeline should be based on a realistic implementation date and not be unnecessarily rushed.

 Faculty/Dining Hall: It is still unclear how to resolve the issue of faculty having no on-campus dining option in the evenings. Naseem will speak again with Brittany A. Williams-Goldstein (Chief of Staff and Board Liaison) regarding the wish of faculty and staff to use the dining facilities. Currently, interested faculty are being asked to contact Kirsten Loewrigkeit (VP for Administration and Finance) to request individual dining privileges. On-campus dining for faculty is a reasonable expectation, and this situation needs to be resolved.

 Career Development Calendar: This has been rescheduled. Janet Faber sent the new information to faculty identified for this year.

 Career Development Committee: Who will serve on this from Units and for All-College Committee?

 Needs Statements: Dr. Angela Cristini (Interim VP for Institutional Advancement and Executive Director of the Ramapo College Foundation) will provide more details on how this will work at Faculty Assembly. President Jebb has said that deans will adjudicate proposals, but it is not clear if deans will confer to avoid duplicating request approvals.

 Future Series: The first event will be November 15th at 1pm and likely in-person. Dr. Jebb said that there will be more in this series, as well as fireside chats and reflections.

 Funds: If we need money for different programs, we might have to find it. Example: Honors Program.

  FAEC DISCUSSION

 Family Fun Day: Chris Romano (EMSA) reported back to Naseem and Ed about the idea of showcasing examples of student scholarship (Trillium, Scholars’ Day, Honors Program, symposia, etc.). The suggestion was enthusiastically received. We can invite alumni back, and current students’ work could be showcased the following year.

Alumni Awards/Successes: How can we utilize and promote stories of Ramapo alumni successes? We might benefit from annual or semester emails to faculty to see if anyone has learned of exciting accomplishments to be shared.

Dean of Library Ad: The job has been posted but the librarians did not all know about this search. Dean Susan Hangen is the Chair. It is unclear about the rationale of a required rank of the librarian committee representative.

 FA Bylaws: Christina O’Connor, Ed and Mia reviewed changes in advance of the upcoming Faculty Assembly review and vote. The issue of voting procedures was discussed.

 Meeting adjourned at 12:08pm.

 

 

 

Categories: FAEC meeting Minutes 2021, RAMAPO FAEC

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November 1, 2021FAEC Meeting Minutes October 13, 2021

FAEC MINUTES 10/13/21

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

Vote to bring meeting to order at 10:08am.

Minutes Approval: The 9/28/21 and 10/6/21 minutes were approved. 

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Meeting Reports: Naseem did not meet this week with either President Jebb or Provost Gaulden.

Course Delivery Mode Group:  A working group for future course delivery modes has been discussed with the Provost, which she can charge. Naseem emailed Provost Gaulden a proposed timeline. Recommended participants would include two faculty from every unit, 1 librarian, 1 dean, and 1 person from the Registrar’s Office. SGA would also be invited to bring one or two representatives.

RSA/SGA Outreach: Ed Shannon (FAEC VP) wrote to both groups to establish more regular meetings with FAEC.

FAEC DISCUSSION

Faculty Search Advertising: These listings need to be in more appropriate places where academic experts in the fields seeking teaching positions can find our job openings. This is a problem across units. Questions about international hires were raised. Application due dates have also been removed. Why? There are currently 8 lines in this process.

P-Cards: With the elimination of P-cards, Lab Coordinators are required to follow a more elaborate purchase ordering process; while ordering the same things as in past semesters, many more hours are being spent to achieve the same results.

International Scholars: They would be welcome and contribute so much to our College but we have no mechanism to facilitate or support this. 

COVID-19 Class Notifications: Naseem will ask HR again to advocate for a notification policy in which the entire class is informed if/when someone tests positive. This is not asking those present to quarantine but to be informed.

Spring Semester New FAEC Secretary: Kim Lorber will complete the fall 2021 semester but will step down from this position in the spring 2022 semester.

IT Meeting: Bonnie and Thierry were to meet with Rob Doster but the meeting was cancelled. Have laptops been available to faculty teaching remotely or if needed on campus? What is the official policy on providing/replacing  laptops for faculty?

Dr. Jebb’s Reflection Meeting: The meeting went very well and more will be welcome. Perhaps these can be done twice a semester. We hope she can come to Unit Councils in the spring.

Meeting adjourned at 11:19am.

 

 

 

Categories: FAEC meeting Minutes 2021, RAMAPO FAEC

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October 19, 2021FAEC Meeting Minutes Sept 29, 2021

FAEC MINUTES 9/29/21

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

Vote to bring meeting to order at 10:08am.

 Minutes Approval: The 9/22/21 minutes were approved. 

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

 Naseem attended Provost’s Council, Shared Governance, and Board of Trustees meetings.

 Provost’s Council:

 Revisions to By-laws: Provost’s Council will have representatives from the five schools and the Library, as well as SGA, EMSA, ITS, International Studies, EDIC. We should encourage Unit representatives to give updates.

 Course Delivery Modes: Virtual delivery (synchronous/asynchronous) may be available for winter and summer sessions. It will not be available in Spring 2022. The Provost may charge a Faculty Assembly task force to make recommendations about future course delivery modes.

 Used Name Policy: This is being encouraged and supported.

 Vaccinated Students: Faculty should not ask students if they are vaccinated. Students can be told that they cannot attend face-to-face classes unless they are vaccinated or have a Ramapo approved exemption. A standard statement for advisors and others can be crafted for faculty to include in their advisement email.

 Meeting With President Jebb:

 Discussion: Many topics were addressed.

 Faculty Not Wearing Masks: SGA expressed student concerns that some faculty members are not wearing masks and/or not enforcing mask rules.  Students should be advised to discuss such concerns with the faculty member, or bring them to their SGA representative, Convener or Dean if they desire anonymity. 

Meeting Frequency: Under the previous administration, the College President met more frequently with the FA President/Vice-President. President Jebb has been asked to resume this schedule.

Unit Council Visits: President Jebb may begin these in the Spring.

EDIC Training: This was discussed.

October 7: Reflections will be held in-person only.

Future Seminars: Conversations about core values will be introduced. These will inform future directions of the College. Naseem will work with the administration to include as many people as possible in these seminars.

November Faculty Assembly: This will be set up in the Pavilion with a Webex kit.

         In-Service: Today’s program will be presented with the Webex chat function disabled.

Board of Trustees Meetings:

Faculty Masks: The SGA President and a representative brought up faculty and staff  not wearing masks. (See above.)

Financial State of The College: This was discussed.

 

FAEC DISCUSSION

Common Misconceptions: Perhaps it would be useful to have an orientation for students about elements like mask wearing, the role of the deans, etc. Some students have shared their understanding that deans tell faculty what grades to give, etc. They are experiencing the same stresses we are and clarification for new students at Ramapo would be helpful.

Shared Government Meeting: This was a good opportunity to begin working on improving shared governance under the new administration. SGA and RSA representatives attended. President Jebb discussed her plan to hold a series of seminar style meetings, focused on core values and the future of the College, which will contribute to the new Strategic Plan in Fall ‘22. She will seek to engage as many people as possible.

Staff: We would like to see this body better represented across campus. They do not have a voice in many aspects discussed and implemented across campus.

Spring 2022: Faculty Assembly will be hybrid next semester. Venue requests will continue to include a Webex kit and a larger meeting space. The chat function will be off with a 90 second to 2 minutes time limit. Hands should be raised to pose questions.

COVID-19 Alerts: Who is informed if someone in a class has COVID-19?

 

Meeting adjourned at 11:48am.

Categories: FAEC meeting Minutes 2021, RAMAPO FAEC, Uncategorized

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September 30, 2021FAEC Meeting Minutes, Sept 22, 2021

FAEC MINUTES 9/22/21

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

Guests: Virginia Galdieri (Assistant Vice President, Human Resources and Benefits Administration); Janet Faber (Assistant Director, Employee Relations & Faculty Services (AFT) )

 Vote to bring meeting to order at 10:07am.

 Minutes Approval: The 9/8/21 and 9/15/21 meeting minutes were approved. 

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

 Spring 2022 Course Schedule: Provost was asked to reconsider not having the virtual option. Questions were asked about Winter and Summer courses, too. Spring 2022 will be hybrid, online, or in-person. There will be no Webex synchronous or asynchronous courses. There are specific guidelines for online courses; recorded asynchronous lectures cannot be used. Traditional online is without meetings or face-to-face.

 Printer Paper: Refuse collection has been clarified to the faculty via Provost’s email. Printers remain in offices; some units have a budget for printer cartridges, others do not. Paper will be provided.

 Faculty In-Service Next Week: The hybrid meeting will be run by the bylaws and handbook committees/taskforce. This will be for faculty only in ASB 136 and via Webex. The meeting will be at 1:15pm after the noon-1pm State of the College by Dr. Jebb.

 DEI Training 9/15/21: This was discussed.

FAEC DISCUSSION

COVID-19 Contact Tracing: Faculty have concerns about contact tracing when a student in their class tests positive for COVID-19. 

Does the faculty member have an obligation to disclose to the students that someone who attended the class tested positive? We need more clarification on these issues.

HR/ER GUESTS (Virginia Galdieri and Janet Faber)

Faculty Handbook Update: Committee  meetings have resumed.  Handbook revisions will be discussed at the Faculty In-Service. Janet will reach out to Rachel Budin to organize committee updates. There is nothing new to report since the last FAEC presentation. This was not worked on during the summer.

Promotion/Reappointment Software: This would be great instead of Google docs. This was discussed in the past and would be welcome if future submissions will be electronic.

Contact Tracing Concerns: Contact-tracing issues (see above) were brought to the attention of the guests. One consideration is whether students in the class are all masked; another is whether there was “close contact.” This could be difficult to assess and problematic for various reasons. Pandemic Assessment Team will discuss this further and provide clarity.

NEW BUSINESS

Faculty Assembly Meetings in the Spring: The meetings will be in-person or hybrid. We will follow Dr. Jebb’s guidelines. Staff is required to be in-person.

Unit Council: Will be fully face-to-face next semester.

Convening Groups: The meeting mode will be determined by each group.

Elections: ITS liaisons are Bonnie Blake (CA) and Thierry Rakotobe-Joel (ASB). Most FAEC representatives are finishing their terms so elections will be held.

 

Meeting adjourned at 11:58am.

 

 

Categories: FAEC MEETING MINUTES 2020, FAEC meeting Minutes 2021, RAMAPO FAEC, Uncategorized

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September 9, 2021FAEC Minutes, August 2, 2021

FAEC MINUTES 8/2/21
2:00 pm
ASB 431

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

 Guests: President Cindy Jebb, Interim-Provost Susan Gaulden

 Vote to bring meeting to order at 2pm

  INTRODUCTIONS

THOUGHTS FROM DR. JEBB
Thank you: for welcome to the College and the faculty’s efforts throughout the pandemic.

Thoughts: Fall plans, equity, what have we learned that we will wish to sustain. We need to be vocal and empathetic to trauma anyone may be experiencing. How can we soften this? We do not know what will come next from the State so we must remain adaptable. Student wellness is a great concern. There are two classes of students who will be experiencing their first courses on campus; we must make sure they know about resources available to them. Faculty should be accessible and approachable.

Resources: We will have a system to which we can provide our ideas of resources we would like to have. Are there wellness resources for faculty and staff as well as students? Can there be a centralized website that will be updated with all policies from OSS, The Counseling Center, etc. that can be highlighted on our Canvas pages that will always be up-to-date?

Compassion: Students may have had losses or other challenges they wish to discuss. The faculty will remain empathetic as always.

Anxiety: Many in the college community are experiencing anxiety. Everyone will have to submit vaccine information or be regularly tested. Many are concerned about family members.

Daily Digest: Can HR provide an updated vaccine webpage or something searchable as information in the Daily Digest cannot be searched.

Vaccines: The vaccine implementation team is working on vaccine verification. 1,400 of 4,000 students who will be on campus this fall have submitted documentation. We have a vaccination clinic and will extend the dates. We need to mitigate risk. There is a significant number of students who are waiting for final FDA vaccine approval. International students will be arriving on August 18th and will be able to get the vaccine on August 19th.

Dorms: 1,600 students have made deposits.

Choices: Ramapo has done a great job giving students and faculty choices regarding risk. Now that we have vaccines, some individuals will still be compromised or live with others who are, resulting in safety concerns and options about how we will deliver our courses.

What have we learned? Some schools and majors can go fully remote, some courses will use the hyflex model. Remote office hours worked well for many. Remote group discussions worked well. The hybrid models need to work for faculty and students (once a week in-person, for example). We need good hyflex trainers for future hyflex courses. We need class policies about not driving or having cameras off, wearing headphones for class privacy, etc. during class. This will be good to have on the Canvas website link with the Code of Conduct.

Laptop Upcycle Project: The contract is about to be signed and we should be ready to help students with laptops starting this fall. This will help those who did not have the electronics with which to best learn remotely.

New Satellite Programs Overseas: Dr. Rakotobe-Joel shared many live international experiences with his students; this could become a new type of course. Ben Levy can help.

Unified Policy for Medical Issues Like This: We have faced other medical issues besides COVID-19 in the past (accidents, illnesses, etc.). We adopted a medical withdrawal policy. Can there be a policy including more medical issues, so more students can exercise these options? Going forward, if someone cannot participate, students should get an OSS accommodation. We have a W (withdrawal policy) and a late withdrawal policy from all classes.

Remote Flexibility: If we continue to use hybrid and other remote course versions, we will need to assess learning across delivery formats.

Remote International Virtual Courses: Is it possible to have joint classes with another international university so students can study together? This will require Middle States approval.

Academic Integrity: Students need to be reminded to avoid plagiarism. While this is reviewed with freshmen, many other students are having issues. This reminder needs to be made more often (beyond classroom reviews).

Closing Remarks: Dr. Jebb said this is a good beginning and we need to be open to changes. We need to plan and then adapt. There is a lot involved and she is grateful for everyone’s efforts to be mindful of the various needs of all constituencies on campus. Dr. Gaulden noted more technology is being ordered to make sure we will be fully prepared for on campus teaching. Additional faculty surveys have resulted in more room kit requests.

Dr. Jebb’s Email: cjebb@ramapo.edu. Her door is always open.

 

Meeting adjourned at 3:00pm.

Categories: FAEC meeting Minutes 2021, RAMAPO FAEC

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August 26, 2021FAEC Meeting Minutes, May 18, 2021

FAEC MINUTES
5/18/21 (draft)

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

Guests: Sarah Carberry (GECCo, Chair); Stephen Rice (ARC, Chair); Jeff Elsworth (WAC, Chair); Ruma Sen, Kathy Zeno, Virginia Gonsalves_Domund (Diversity); Ken McMurdy (Shared Governance); Natalia Santamaria-Laorden  (Marketing); Michael Bitz (Director, Instructional Design Center)

Vote to bring meeting to order at 10:04am.

Minutes Approval: April 28th & May 4th minutes were approved. 

FAEC DISCUSSION

Faculty Assembly with Dr. Jebb: Agenda was identified based on faculty feedback.

Guests from Academic Affairs: Guests joined the discussion regarding how to best organize the hour we have with Dr. Jebb.

Planned Agenda:

• Introductions and brief discussion on the role of Faculty Assembly and faculty governing structures.
• Discussion: Shared Governance 
• Discussion: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
• Discussion: Liberal Arts at Ramapo & recommitment to the pillars
• Questions and Comments from Dr. Jebb.

Results of the last FA vote.
Agenda was passed (105 yes, 6 abstentions)
Rikki Abzug was voted in as BOT rep
Kathy Yeaton was also voted in a BOT rep
Both ARC proposals were approved 

BoT Meeting Report: This report was provided by Dr. Stephen Larson:

This is a summary about yesterday’s BoT meeting:
The cost of living adjustments and steps will remain intact!

Our reserves have increased during the year due to COVID government funding.  We expect to use these funds due to anticipated shortages for the coming academic year.  A key estimate the college is using is to expect our dorms to be only 47% occupied.  Of course, if the actual occupancy rate is higher, we will be better off. 

The fringe rate was brought up again.  It is 55%, and the college’s administration tends to bring this up.  The fringe rate is the costs (e.g. health insurance etc.) of employing us divided by our salaries.  One way to explain a high fringe rate is to say the costs of employment are too high.  However, a reason our fringe rate may be higher than average is that our salaries are lower than average; a smaller denominator makes a larger quotient (i.e. fringe rate).  I think this may be the case, but I never formally studied the relative salary levels of college professors.  I do know from  experience that our inflation salary bumps are not adequate, which means our step increases are necessary for us to keep up with the cost of living.  That is, when people are not promoted, they tend to get poorer in real terms.  I spent years at the same step before getting promoted, so this insight comes from experience.  

Our tuition rate is set to increase by quite a bit.  However, it is being offset by the reduction in student fees.  That is, we are collapsing some of the student fees into our tuition.  The concern I brought up at this meeting is how this will look to parents and students who examine the tuition cost per credit year to year.  According to Chris Romano, the college will make sure parents and students understand the tuition increase is being largely offset by the collapsing of fees into the tuition.  I was told it is typical for colleges/universities to report the cost per year and this includes fees.  When I google “Ramapo Tuition” I get in-state tuition of $14,678.  From what I understand, this includes fees, so a person monitoring this number year-to-year should not become alarmed. “

FA President Closing Remarks

Meeting adjourned at 12:10pm

Categories: FAEC meeting Minutes 2021, RAMAPO FAEC

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June 15, 2021Faculty Assembly Minutes, April 28th, 2021

Faculty Assembly Minutes
April 28, 2021

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

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

 

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

  

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

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

FA Bylaw Survey: Please complete it.

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

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

 

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

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

 

PROVOST’S REPORT

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 KIRSTEN LOEWRIGKEIT REPORT (Vice President for Administration and Finance)

 FY21 and FY22 Outlook:

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

Prof. SARAH CARBERRY (GECCo, Chair)

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

CIO REPORT (Robert Dossert)

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

 

Meeting Adjourned at 2:27pm.

 

 

 

 

 

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

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