October 21, 2020FAEC Minutes Sept 30, 2020

FAEC MINUTES 9/30/2020

Present: Roark Atkinson (HGS), Naseem Choudhury (President), Katie Cohen (Library), Donna Flynn (Councilor-at-Large under 11), Scott Frees (TAS), Kim Lorber (Secretary), Lisa Lutter, (CA), Thierry Rakotbe-Joel (ASB), Mihaela Serban (SSHS), Ashwani Vasishth (Councilor-at-Large over 11)

Guests: Chris Romano (Vice President of Enrollment Management)

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

Minutes Approval: The 9/23/20 minutes were approved.

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Meeting with President Mercer: FA President and FA Vice-President met with President Mercer to ask him not to make drastic changes in his last year. He agreed in essence.

Presidential Committees: We need formal criteria for these committees. This is beneficial to the College and our accreditors and as an essential part of shared governance .

Funding: Governor Murphy has given more money than expected so we will need to take less from the reserves.

Provost’s Council: Meeting was held last Thursday.
Faculty would be well served to look at the Provost’s website for changed guidelines.
Virtual seat time: the policy to make up seat time due to snow days, etc., is being reviewed.
There is concern about the definition of tracks and concentrations in majors.
Latin Honors: Currently only “native” students (4-year Ramapo) can earn this. Transfer students are currently ineligible. The change would allow transfer students with a minimum number of credits to now receive latin honors. Minimum number of credits will be determined by the transfer agreement under which they are entering Ramapo.

3-1 programs and ARC: FAEC began a discussion about ARC’s central role in the 3-1 curriculum.

CHRISTOPHER ROMANO (Vice President of Enrollment Management)

FA Presentation: Due to lack of SAT/ACT testing availability, nursing faculty voted to make testing optional this fall. Now, all of our Ramapo College majors are testing optional except for a few in TAS, HGS, and SSHS with articulation agreements with other colleges.

CARES Act: Additional student funding is available. Every qualifying student received an email from Chris to apply for a second round of funds; this money cannot be used to offset tuition. Students need to demonstrate expenses due to Covid-19 like needing a laptop or a webcam, etc. The email will be shared with Naseem to share with the Faculty.

3/1: Passaic County Community College (PCCC) is doing well. Social work is set up to begin a 2/2 program with Sussex County Community College (SCCC) once the social work accrediting body (CSWE) and Middle States approve. Hudson County Community College (HCCC) will be the 3rd county college with which we will be developing such programs.
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Admissions: Is virtually remote. Students and their families can visit the college by appointment (2 tours/day and 3 tours every Saturday). These are sold out for the next 7 weeks.

Faculty Involvement in Recruitment: While we are virtual, faculty can still participate in break-out sessions. Chris will work with each dean as each school makes its own plan of who will participate.

Application Review Process: How are applications reviewed without SAT and other testing scores? First, there will be a higher emphasis on GPA (in lieu of the test result). The second priority is the rigor of coursework. EMSA will look at the college essays. There is a focus on community service and leadership as well as depth of experience and not breadth. Interviews will also be used, as necessary. EMSA or students can request an interview. Students can submit test scores; these will not be used in a negative way and they can have a positive benefit. Application deadlines will be used; until two years ago rolling admissions was the model with letters sent within two weeks. The Honors Program and EOF will be test optional.

Diversity in Student Body: 45% of the incoming class is comprised of non-white students, our most diverse class yet.

CRW/EOF: Faculty as well as the administrators of CRW look forward to this move being reversed. Chris Romano said this is part of a bigger centralized need for student services. FAEC stressed the importance of all academic support, remedial or otherwise, fall under the AA division. These are critical to the success of all our students, and to the delivery of our curriculum.

Enrollment Vision for Spring 2021: What are expectations for the number of students who will live on campus? What is the expected number of face-to-face courses? Athletes will be coming back. More information will be forthcoming about athletics, plans to live on campus, etc.

Contract Majors: The SSHS social science contract major seems to be the fastest growing convening group.

Provost’s 9/29/ and 9/30 Presentations: This coming semester, students should know their precise course format at the time of registration.

Faculty Course Delivery Presentation Preference: Provost Gaulden has been consistently supportive of faculty determining which mode of course delivery they prefer/feel safest using.

Undeclared Students: Some are undeclared within a school; others are matriculated as undeclared. CAAFYE is implementing a program to encourage students to settle on a school and major by the end of their first year. There are many liberal art schools which do not encourage commitment to a major until completion of the 2nd year. Naseem has asked for data; faculty input is needed.

FA Voting Items: A Qualtrics survey was sent for faculty to vote for candidates for the following positions: FAEC councilor-at-large over 11 and GECCo’s Coordinator of Global Awareness, Coordinator for Quantitative Reasoning, Coordinator for Scientific Reasoning, and the Coordinator for Values and Ethics, by October 5th at 11:59pm.

Counseling Syllabus Statement Request by SGA: SGA is in discussions with ARC about making a statement mandatory in all syllabi.
Syllabus Details: Is it possible for ARC to provide a link for inclusion in all syllabi for all required/relevant to be regularly updated? This would make the syllabi shorter, consistent and provide students with up-to-date information. Naseem will look into this.

Meeting adjourned at 12:12pm.

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

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August 27, 2020FA Meeting July 22, 2020

Faculty Assembly Minutes
7/22/2020

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

Begin: 1:00
Adjourned: 2:30pm

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

Secretary: Kim Lorber

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

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

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

PROVOST’S REPORT (Susan Gaulden):

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

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

Reopening Concerns:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Personnel Issues

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

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

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

 

PRESIDENT’S REPORT (Peter Mercer)

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

CDO’s RERPORT (Nicole Morgan Agard)

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

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

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

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

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

OER Resources presentation by Hillary Westgate (Reference Outreach Librarian)

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

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

Password: ZxDT9nxE

 

 

 

 

 

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

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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

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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

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

DRAFT

Ramapo College of New Jersey

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

1 pm, Friends Hall

Faculty Assembly

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1. Faculty Assembly Minutes Approved

2. FA President’s Report

Presidential Search Committee Faculty Nominations

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

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

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

FAEC Presidential Nominations

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

Three Plus One Agreements

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

3. President Mercer’s Report

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

4. Provost’s Report

Transitioning to the Canvas Learning Management Platform

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

Faculty- Student Research Collaborations

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

Archiving and Accessing Documentation via Strategic Planning Online (SPOL)

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

Faculty Development Funding

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

5. John Woods, The Office of the Ombuds 

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

Faculty Assembly ended 1:30 pm

Categories: FACULTY ASSEMBLY MINUTES, RCNJ Faculty Assembly Minutes 2019

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October 28, 2019FAEC Minute 9/11/2019

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

Date: Wednesday, September  11, 2019 | Location: A220  | Time: 10:30 am to 12:00 pm

Attendees: Kathryn Zeno, Tae Kwak, Donna Flynn, Renata Gangemi, Christina Connor, Eva Ogens, Scott Frees

Guest: Tamika Quick 

Secretary: Nakia Matthias

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1. FAEC Minutes Approved [needed]

2. Degree Completion Program and 3 + 1 Program

There is indication from the Provost that RCNJ will be entering into 3+1 program agreements with Raritan, Passaic, and Essex county Community Colleges.  FAEC contends that the 3+1 program should not include classes outside of the purview of the faculty. Faculty should not be hired without consulting RCNJ conveners and Deans.  Additionally, the program should not offer ARC approved courses without the vetting of the syllabus and proper assessment. Adjunct instructors must be assessed for their fit in the convening group, although currently this is currently only done via course evaluations. The community colleges have an interest in offering courses that will be on demand.   RCNJ faculty have expressed concern about the quality of the RCNJ courses taught at community colleges.

A cost benefit analysis of 3+1 programs must be considered as they would be operating in addition to more hybrid and online courses.  Any cost related burdens with the community college should be absorbed by the community colleges. The programs must benefit students in the institutions, as well as Community Colleges and RCNJ.  Concerns were raised regarding potential cannibalization and the logic of the 3+1 program should students determine it cheaper to remain at 3+1 community college for a third year rather than transfer to Ramapo through a 2-2 transfer arrangement.  Assumptions behind potential revenue enhancement for 3+1 programs must be thoroughly discussed and communicated among the faculty. Furthermore, if Bergen Community College signs onto a 3+1 agreement it will not be beneficial to RCNJ as it serves as a feeder school to RCNJ and would be a net loss to RCNJ.

Presently there is a generic job posting for adjunct faculty within the Anisfield School of Business although ASB faculty have not been informed about the call for adjuncts. It is unclear as to whether the call is for faculty to support a 3+1 program with Raritan Valley Community College. ASB’s program requires accreditation and therefore any adjunct hired for must be approved by the ASB’s faculty.  

Provost Becker commented, “we don’t have it all figured out” and that the details of any 3+1 program still need to be hashed out.  He assured that a 3+1 agreement would not pose additional strain on RCNJ’s infrastructure, that it could positively impact the picture of enrollment at Ramapo, and that he would like for RCNJ to be part of the process.  

President Mercer declared that he is “not worried” about financial dimension because should RCNJ split in the third year the 70% of the revenue would go to the community college while 30% would be seen by RCNJ for providing the curricula and vetting instructors. He explained that the 3+1 programs between community colleges and RCNJ would be exclusive since the graduation rate is high at RCNJ and this is viewed as a positive for the sending colleges.  He also mentioned that the 3 +1 program would support students of color in their educational pursuits citing that 36% of the students at Passaic Community College and 89% of the students at Hudson County Community College are students of color.

The NJ secretary of Higher Education prioritizes access to higher education and thus support for 3 + 1 initiatives.  

3. Degree Completion Program

The FAEC President raised the fact that RCNJ is trying to normalize the Degree Completion Program. However, there must be some course correcting as there are oversight issues.  The program is using ARC approved course numbers and there is no input from faculty or conveners regarding the courses taught in the program.  

4. Tamika Quick [ Multicultural Center Exploration Team]

Tamika Quick, requested that FAEC nominate at least two faculty members to serve on a multicultural center exploration team.  Under the purview of EDIC the team will gather faculty, staff and students to brainstorm about the development of a Multicultural Center at RCNJ.  There is currently no timeframe for when the Multicultural Center would launch, however the application for the project was submitted three years ago.

The team will be charged with: 

(1) Understanding what others are doing/have done in the development and operation of multicultural centers 

(2) Establishing the vision for a Multicultural center at RCNJ

(3) Establishing the guiding principles of the center

Tamika informed the FAEC that Marva Hawkins was hired as Director of Affirmative Action and that EDIC is place and fully staffed.  She also addressed the campus-wide perception that EDIC is supposed to do, “everything” regarding Equity and Diversity on Campus. He encouraged other campus programs, faculty, and students to develop and conduct initiative to enlarge diversity at RCNJ.   She explained that EDIC’s charge is in part to develop an action plan that to understand how to address the Strategic Plan goal #2.

5. Faculty Searches, Diversity, and Student Involvement with Search Committees

There may be some changes to the way that students engage in faculty searches as they may be permitted to sit on search committees bearing access to applications and the ability to read applications. This decision comes from the Provost’s office.  The FAEC upholds that students should not sit on faculty search committees, read applicant materials, or be involved in internal discussion while faculty are evaluating candidates. Presently, students sit on the committee for the vetting of honors students.

Diversity in Faculty searches must be revisited as faculty are concerned that some searches do not  include faculty with academic expertise with a particular departments and programs. The FAEC suggest that rather than replacing people with area specialization on search committees to achieve diversity, that search committees aim for diversity premised upon a mix of academic specialization and demographic diversity.

6. Program Budget Funding and Cuts

The Provost explained that he as allocated funding to Deans that reflects “more or less” what they received last year and that there was clear distribution amongst the schools for faculty travel funding.

Meeting Adjourned at 12 pm

 

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

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

Ramapo College of New Jersey

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

1 pm, Friends Hall

Faculty Assembly

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Faculty Assembly Minutes Approved

1. President’s Mercer’s Report

Three Plus One Programs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2. Provost Becker’s Report

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

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

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

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

3. FA President’s Report

Three Plus One Task Force

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

4. Presidential Search Committee

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

5. Multicultural Center and Bias Response Team (EDIC)

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

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

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

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

Roark Atkinson (HGS)  [64%]

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

Bonnie Blake (CA) [25%]

• Served a two-year term on FAEC  

Abstain:  11%

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

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

Password and Account safety:  

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

Software updates 

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

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

2:00pm Faculty Forum

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

Wednesday, October 2, 2019 (Pavilion) 

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

1:00 pm Faculty Assembly

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

 

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

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October 8, 2019FAEC Minutes 10/02/2019

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

Date: Wednesday, October  2, 2019 | Location: A 226  | Time: 10:30 am to 12:00 pm

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

Guests: Provost Becker, President Mercer

Secretary: Nakia Matthias

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1. FAEC Minutes Approved 

2. Public Safety Notice

FACE discussed the insensitivity and evocation of  stereotypes in the language contained in the public safety notice that was issued on September 26, 2019 to faculty, staff, and students.  The language in the notice described the two males as appearing to be of “Indian descent” as perpetrators of an act that caused safety concerns for a female students on TCNJ’s campus. Nicole Morgan Agard issued an apologetic statement on behalf of the Office of Equity Diversity and Inclusion to address the concerns of members of the RCNJ community regarding the language contained within the communication. 

3. Goal 2 Taskforce 

The Goal 2 Taskforce has not completed its charge as they have been slated for realization by 2021.  Due to Nicole Agard’s leave of absence, it’s unclear when the Goal 2 report will be submitted to Mercer, but it was due yesterday.  The task force was assembled to examine Goal 2 of RCNJ’s Strategic Plan [Cultivate and Support Equity, Diversity and Inclusion] and provide recommendations for crafting the plan’s objectives.  Presently, strategic goals are not being tracked by any office on campus. The plan’s definition of non-white students is formulated in a manner that is problematic.  For example, non resident students are counted as non-white even if they are white.

In New Jersey state African American and Hispanic enrollment, as well as graduation are important priorities.  The categories that quantify enrollment and graduation require disaggregation for the sake of tracking and clarifying objectives and goals.   RCNJ has exceeded their goal of enrollment numbers which appear to be arbitrary.  

4. Three Plus One Program

There is no new information about any potential Three Plus agreements or the status of their development between RCNJ and Community College institutions.   RCNJ maintains existing reciprocal agreements and a full time staff member from RCNJ at Bergen Community College for the purpose of soliciting and transitioning students into RCNJ.

5. Presidential Search

FAEC is composing a letter to submit to the Board of Trustees [BoT] to request that one faculty member per unit and the Library are included in the presidential search committee.  The FACE does not seek to ask to exclude or reduce the numbers of anyone that has been identified to sit on the committee.

The FA has been charged with the selection of criteria for choosing nominees for the committee.  At present the FACE intends to forward the names of three faculty members to the Hillary Goldstein in wait for a response to the letter for the inclusion of once faculty member per unit and the Library.

Some considerations for inclusion in the committee may include:

Faculty tenure status, length of service at RCNJ over ten years, and one’s classification and a member of a minority population.  FA members will be asked to determine the categories that they wish to be considered for. They will have to make their case for their nomination and an FA vote will be called for the nomination of a faculty member for each category.

The Minority Faculty and Staff Association (MFSA) request that a voting representative form the  group be seated on the search committee. The FACE supports the MFSA desire to include a voting member on the committee.

6. President Mercer [Full Professorship Promotions] 

The president confirmed that the faculty promotion slot numbers for Full Professorships will be made available by mid-October.   November 15, 2019 is the application deadline.  

7. Provost Becker and Three Plus One Agreements

Provost Becker affirmed that RCNJ is not entering a three plus one agreement with (BCC) and that any potential arrangement with the institution would cut RCNJ two-year transfers. He also pointed out that if another four-year institution enters a three plus one agreement with BCC this would harm RCNJ’s transfer enrollment.  The Provost stated that he would like to sign Three Plus One agreements “very quickly”. The provost indicated that per site where Three Plus One agreements would be formed, RCNJ we could attract 60 to 100 students. He also noted that the Budget Office is currently developing calculations to examine revenue and admission projections, as well as opportunity costs for Three Plus One programs.

Meeting Adjourned at 12 pm

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

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