March 10, 2022Task Force for Course Delivery Modes

Charge
Course Delivery Modes Task Force Charge FINAL 11-09-2021

Task Force Composition
Stephanie Sarabia (SSHS) Co-Chair
Tae Kwak (HGS)
Matthew Jobrack (TAS)
Nikhil Varma (ASB)
Benjamin Neill (CA)
Elizabeth Siecke (Library)
Michael Bitz (SSHS, IDC & FA representative) Co-Chair
Stephen Rice (HGS, ARC & FA representative)
Jakub Zak (SGA)

Rajesh Adhikari (Roukema Center)
Missy Long (OSS)
Fernanda Papalia (Registrar)
Beth Foster (Registrar)
Ed Petkus (Dean ASB)
Peter Campbell (Dean CA)
Jessica Steinheimer (CSS)
Nicole Morgan-Agard (CDO, EDIC)

Categories: FA taskforce, RAMAPO FAEC, Uncategorized

---

February 15, 2022FAEC Meeting Minutes, Jan 26, 2022

FAEC MINUTES 01/26/22

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), Lisa Lutter, (CA), Thierry Rakotobe-Joel (ASB), Mihaela Serban (SSHS), Ed Shannon (Vice President, HGS), Jeffrey Ellsworth (Secretary)

Vote to bring meeting to order at 10:14am.

Minutes Approval: The 1/12/22 minutes and 1/19/22 were approved. 

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Meeting with Provost: Discussed the matters brought up at faculty forum of the ongoing pandemic. Discussed dissemination of information on buildings status such as building’s HVACs. Importance of stressing to students that they have to wear an actual well-fitted mask, preferably N95 or KN95 masks. 

FAEC DISCUSSION

IT can provide webcams for classrooms if faculty request them. 

Discussion of changing times for the private shuttle from the college to NYC; it will impact some faculty who commute from NYC. Discussion of the college’s physical accessibility regarding public transportation. 

Discussion of OSS policy that faculty must submit their exams/quizzes in a digital form for alternative testing accommodations. Faculty are not allowed to provide paper copies of exams/quizzes. 

New Business: 

Discussion of adjunct faculty sick leave and how it is calculated. Discussion of sick leave for full time faculty and how it is calculated. How do earned sick days under the New Jersey Earned Sick Leave Law work? How many hours of earned sick time is used/deducted for each traditional one hundred minute class missed due to illness.  

Discussion of confusing messages regarding whether faculty is supposed to stay home or come in when they are ill. Discussion of lack of hybrid meetings for faculty required to quarantine to be able to participate.

Discussion of restrictions of hybrid or virtual summer courses, only online or in-person courses are currently allowed for this summer.

Rikki Abzug provided the report of the Faculty Assembly Representative to the Board of Trustees Human, Capital, and Financial Resources Committee. (see below)

FAEC Guests: None

Meeting adjourned at 12:13 am.

 

Categories: FA Meeting Minutes 2022, RAMAPO FAEC, Uncategorized

---

January 29, 2022FAEC Meeting Minutes, Jan 19, 2022

FAEC MINUTES 01/19/22

 

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), Lisa Lutter, (CA), Thierry Rakotobe-Joel (ASB), Mihaela Serban (SSHS), Ed Shannon (Vice President, HGS), Jeffrey Ellsworth (Secretary)

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

Minutes Approval: The 12/08/21 minutes were approved. 

 

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Meeting with President Jebb: Discussed the challenges of the ongoing pandemic.. 

FAEC DISCUSSION

Teaching Faculty responses: Discussion of importance and challenges of occasionally having class sessions be remote due to changes in pandemic circumstances. Discussion of college’s COVID safety precautions. 

Covid response (incongruent messaging): HR advises based on individual circumstances. Messaging has not been incongruent. 

Boosters for AFT and students (Feb 28): Faculty and students have to get their booster and submit the documentation by February 28. 

Final Exam Schedule and Arching/Graduation: The shift at the beginning of the semester will cause Arching/Graduation to take place while there will still be exams taking place.  

ByLaws: ByLaws Passed! Three topic areas did not pass.  The 11 to 12 change did not pass. Quorum change did not pass. Adding ARC, WAC, and GECCo did not pass. 

White board for PNP: Advised that the white board is no longer being used for this purpose.

Garden State Guarantee & Meeting with Admin re: fiscal health: The college has its first students under the Garden State Guarantee. FA President will be meeting with the administration regarding the budget.  

Faculty Forum: Provide faculty an hour to share their concerns regarding COVID and the semester ahead. 

New Business: None

FAEC Guests: None

Meeting adjourned at 11:13 am..

 

Categories: FA Meeting Minutes 2022, RAMAPO FAEC

---

January 29, 2022FAEC Meeting Minutes, Jan 12, 2022

FAEC MINUTES 01/12/22

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), Lisa Lutter, (CA), Thierry Rakotobe-Joel (ASB), Mihaela Serban (SSHS), Ed Shannon (Vice President, HGS), Jeffrey Ellsworth (Secretary)

 

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

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Meeting with Provost: FA President met with Provost.

 

FAEC DISCUSSION

Discussion – Spring 2022 concerns: 

In response to the President’s email of 12/16, many faculty members have expressed concerns over potential reorganization of academic structures due .

Faculty concerns regarding safety measures and COVID: what technology will be available if a class has a significant number of students out with covid? 

It was noted that as Librarians are faculty, they should have the same discretion as faculty to make accommodations based on possible COVID-caused scenarios.

Boosters will be required for students to be considered fully vaccinated. 

Concerns raised that students are raising classroom complaints immediately to the provost and president rather than following college procedures and raising concerns first to faculty, then convenor, then to dean.

Bylaws Vote: still ongoing. A reminder will be sent for faculty to vote by 1/15/22. If a quorum is not met, then possible time extension. 

There will not be a faculty retreat on 1/19/22. FAEC is sponsoring an informal “Q and (no) A” session regarding concerns with returning to campus and COVID safety. 

New Business: Concern was raised that PSYCH 101 was accepted as a substitute for Social Science Inquiry by the administration without faculty knowledge or agreement. PSYCH 101 is not an appropriate substitute course for Social Science Inquiry. 

FAEC Guests: None

Meeting adjourned at 12:07 pm

 

Categories: FAEC Meeting Minutes 2022, RAMAPO FAEC

---

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.

.

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

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

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

---