November 17, 2020FAEC Minutes October 21, 2020

FAEC MINUTES 10/21/2020

Present: 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), Ed Shannon (HGS), Bonnie Blake (Councilor-at-Large over 11)

Guests: Sarah Carberry (GECCo Chair), Virginia Galdieri (HR), Janet Faber (ER)

Vote to bring meeting to order at 10:03am.

Minutes Approval: The 10/14/20 minutes were approved.

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Spring Schedule: Naseem met with the Provost. Corrections to the schedule are being made. Confusion around terminology, course descriptions and meeting dates persist.

Graduate Council Rep: Faculty voted and Ashwani Vasishth (SSHS) has been elected to this position.

Survey Voting Feedback: Anonymous feedback has been received asking why it seems the same faculty members serve in so many capacities while others do not. The concern here can be read as a worry that some have too much input. Efforts for equity should be made.

SARAH CARBERRY (GECCo)

A discussion regarding assessment and participation in the assessment process ensued. Questions regarding the role of GECCo, administration, and what is acceptable as part of the assessment process is being discussed. For instance, in the past, GECCo had been told syllabus audits were not acceptable for assessment. The current administration has reversed this policy. Different categories find more or less assessment information provided by adjuncts. It is hoped working remotely might make this more possible for them. The Provost has some funds to help adjuncts who wish to be on the assessment committee (not for submitting their requested course information).

Connect Integration with Canvas: Issues with Connect persist. Gradebook data has been open to staff outside the classroom. This leads to confusion and misinformation, as well as privacy issues

Canvas Notifications: If Canvas modifications are made, some students are receiving emails for each. They should be informed to modify their notifications to no longer receive them.

Tech Support: If the system involving urgent requests to the dean to contact Robert .

Access Program:  Proposed bookstore subscription system. Students would pay a set amount for a subscription and get their textbooks for that price. Current plans are for an “opt out” model. This could lead to inequity. Some courses have few if any textbooks. This also goes against the campus goal, with the State’s encouragement, to provide open access/free texts. This did not work well with healthcare; many paid because they did not know how to opt out. We strongly recommend an “opt in” model if this goes forward.

Financial Aid: Students have reported the requirement to buy their textbooks from the bookstore which is more expensive than many other online book distributors.

BoT Fiscal Responsibility: FAEC engaged in a conversation about the BoT and their fiscal responsibilities to the college.

COPLAC: Some of our courses will be open to other COPLAC schools.

Service:  How do new faculty members find suitable committees to serve on towards their tenure applications and after?

Convener Roles: This was originally about scheduling but now there are more and more expectations of free labor. ASB has a wonderful mentoring process.

Guests: Virginia Galdieri and Janet Faber

Faculty Handbook:  The taskforce needs to be re-energized. HR/ER committed to submitting a rough draft by  February.

-FAEC asked if there can be a road map. This is a collaborative process; faculty has a wealth of knowledge about this process going back decades.

-Virginia stated it is likely revisions can be ready for review by March and April. Naseem noted prioritizing and releasing sections across the semester would be helpful as it will take 2-3 Faculty Assembly meetings for everyone to vote.

Personnel Committees: How can faculty mirror their hard copy binders and submit everything digitally for promotions, etc. Promotions is coming up mid-November. Guidance is needed prior to submission.

Electronic Submissions: The sections did not break down when more recently tried. Many submissions did mirror a binder. The committee consensus said it was ok from the outside but it was not broken down. This was a problem with scanning.

-FAEC is requesting that the personnel procedures be announced, so faculty can prepare their digital application packages.  Concerns about who has access to digital applications was also relayed?  Typically, faculty may see their colleague’s applications, and typically changes can be applied while the applications are still within the Unit.  These access issues must be clarified quickly.

Several FAEC members listed software applications that are commonly used for similar document tracking activities:

• Sedona
• Interfolio
• Weave

Meeting adjourned at 12:19pm

Categories: Uncategorized

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October 7, 2020FAEC Minutes Sept 23, 2020

FAEC MINUTES 9/23/2020 

Present: Ed Shannon  (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: Virginia Galdieri (Assistant Vice President of Human Resources; HR), Janet Faber (Assistant Director, Employee Relations & Faculty Services (AFT; HR)

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

Minutes Approval: The 9/9/20 minutes were approved. One abstention. The 9/16/20 minutes were approved.

Councilor-at-Large Over 11: We have two candidates. The vote will go out on Monday. A quorum will require a minimum of 50 votes. The candidates are: Bonnie Blake and Alexandre Olbrecht.

As a future discussion:  The roles of the Councilors at large needs to be defined. Should these be tenured/untenured, other time breakdowns (less than 15 years and over), etc.

President’s Council: The President’s Committee On Campus Sustainability (PCCS)- Dr. Ashwani Vasishth has been the chair. Dr. Vasishth was notified by President Mercer he would no longer be chair. Faculty have a unique opportunity to push for more sustainability practices than Facilities or another campus group due to job security. Faculty on PCCS believe it is essential to have a faculty chair.  Dr. Vasishth asked that FA support having a faculty member as the chair of this and be in charge of the committee? FAEC feedback was invited. Some examples are below:

• An example was given about recycling bound journals from the library. Facilities said it was too expensive to remove the bindings for recycling. Dr. Vasishth asked for a few students to be hired and very inexpensively to prepare the volumes for recycling. This could have been a press opportunity showing student volunteers doing this to maintain our sustainability mission.
• Sustainable and beneficial trees should be planted as recommended by the committee; instead, others have been planted, which die, requiring reinvestment. Expertise about sustainability should be utilized.
• The FA President and Vice President will ask President Mercer to consider during his last year to not make these changes before a new president is installed in less than a year. What are the bylaws, how are decisions made for presidential committees?
• Can the PCCS be moved from under the President as sustainability issues have changed since it was established and perhaps another body on campus can do more? The committee can seek members with expertise from all campus bodies and address this under FA, for example.

Good News:

• Pre-requisites: The pre-requisite issue is being resolved by the Registrar regarding students being dropped from courses due to pre-requisite courses not having been completed or passed. This semester will be a trial period following the recommendations of TAS. The goal is to remove from faculty the need to find out who was missing the pre-req and should be in their class.
  
• ITS immediate issues: Contact your dean, who will contact Rob, who will dispatch immediate assistance. This means the dean would need to give their cell numbers to all faculty and adjuncts in their units.
  

SGA: Would like information on how to access help for mental health issues included in all syllabi. ARC is in discussion with SGA regarding this.

Spring Schedule:  The Provost is finalizing the spring schedule. There are 200 live classes and a variety of formats will be used for the others.

Spring Break: It is possible spring break may be cancelled this year to allow faculty to have more time to prep for the spring during a longer winter break while also minimizing the risk of students leaving campus for spring break and bringing COVID-19 back upon return.

ITS Issues: Assistant Dean Kathy Burke has been advocating with ITS for assistance in the Respondus exam process. For the moment, Jefferson Sampson will be available by phone for the indefinite future. A shortage of student assistants (due to student job budget cuts) has resulted in great delays and the needs for more immediate response opportunities. There is a proposal to divide help desk requests into urgent and non-urgent. Is there a hotline number we can call if something is happening in class and must be addressed immediately? Contact your dean for the immediate future regarding urgent ITS needs (such as in-class tech issues).

HR Report by Virginia Galdieri and Janet Faber:

Promotion Process: All of the binders have been scanned to make the process electronic. Candidates’ can give their final approval of their binders by the end of day tomorrow; at least 7 of 9 have approved.

Spring 2020 Promotion Schedule: 

• Candidates complete their electronic application by close of business tomorrow.
• Committee reviews 9 applications through 9/29 and will be asked to meet on 9/30.
• Then allow candidates to submit additional information.

Virginia will send an email to see if this schedule is viable. It is hard to fit another committee into the fall schedule: Sabbatical, Tenure, FDF are already taking up most Wednesday meeting slots. Since we are working remotely, it may be possible to have meetings on other days at other times.

Once the committee begins, candidates cannot add further information to their application packets.

10/14 or 10/15 might be the deadline for adding anything to the tenure packages.

Virginia will ask if the tenure committee can have an extension. The HR calendar is coordinated with others on campus. Perhaps working backwards from the final deadline will provide more time than the 9/29 deadline for the Promotions Committee from the last academic year. The committee will be solicited.

Faculty Handbook: Can this be revised this academic year? In our digital world, much is not addressed in the handbook. Units function differently.

• A timeline is needed. The last Faculty Assembly meeting will be in April, at which we would vote. A final draft received by February or March would be very helpful.
• The promotions section is almost ready for the committee to review.
• There should be guidelines about digital binders and remote committee meetings.
• It is planned to reconvene the faculty handbook task force by the middle of October.

Faculty Handbook Concerns: 

• Streamlining rules for how to conduct promotion and other votes; in some schools one can vote for oneself. In other units, the candidate leaves the room and cannot vote in support of their own application. If someone has a partner in a unit, should they stay in the room while their significant other is being discussed? The Faculty Handbook is silent regarding these and other matters.
• Guidelines for applications for promotions to different ranks are unclear or missing in the handbook. Some details are in the checklist but not in the handbook. If the checklist is not known to an applicant, their handbook may be missing peer observations or something else. This compromises their application due to the gaps in the handbook.

Meeting adjourned at 11:57am.

Categories: FAEC MEETING MINUTES 2020, RAMAPO FAEC, Uncategorized

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September 26, 2020FAEC Minutes Sept 16, 2020

FAEC MINUTES 9/16/2020 

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: Sarah Carberry (GECCo) and Stephen Rice (ARC)

Vote to begin meeting to order at 10:06am.

Minutes Approval: The 9/9/20 minutes will be approved at the next meeting.

Faculty Assembly Qualtrics Votes: GECCo and the Councilor-at-large over 11 positions will be voted on by the faculty via Qualtrics.

Targeted List for Faculty and Adjuncts: Naseem will be working with other campus constituencies to make sure we have a completely up-to-date list. There is a great need to have an easily accessible and up-to-date list at all times from administration.

Graduate Council: Scott Frees is the chair of the committee. We need clarification of the FA role and we should have an FA member who is involved with graduate programs. Ashwani Vasishth has volunteered.

SGA: We will invite the president of the student government to come to Faculty Assembly. Our Unit Council meetings are at the same time as those of SGA. FAEC members will rotate attending SGA meetings.

Student Insurance: The opt out option was confusing to students as there was also mention of revisiting this in the spring; it should be once each year except for new students who come to Ramapo College in the spring. There were conflicting explanations and information given to students regarding the health insurance billing and opt-out procedures, which must be addressed. 

Spring 2021: We do not yet know what the spring will be like regarding the number of face-to-face courses. Naseem will seek clarification.

Committees on campus: Naseem will see who is serving in the following committees each of which should have a 2-year term: Mission Fulfillment Committee, Human Capital and Financial Resources Committee, and the Audit Committee. Clarification is needed of whether tenured faculty should serve on these. 

Committees: The campus has many committees at many levels, charged by different bodies on campus and it would be helpful to have a central location with an up-to-date master list with the members identified.

EOF/CRW: Provost Gaulden and Vice President of Enrollment Management Chris Romano notified Faculty Assembly President Naseem Choudhury of a faculty liaison position that will be created for the CRW; the person hired for this combined position would handle the management part of CRW. This means we will not have a director of the CRW; it is no longer part of the budget. 

ARC: 

• ● Stephen Rice, ARC Chair will work closely with FAEC. Two of the unit representatives are new to the committee. Meetings will be on Wednesdays at 11am. Stephen is working with Sarah Carberry to streamline the online submission of materials. Signature management is needed. Hyland is a document management system, not yet operational. The committee will use Google Drive folders until it is. The ARC manual will be reviewed for revisions with a particular focus on procedures. Stephen will work with Naseem. ARC’s presence in the bylaws does include functions not currently being performed. Perhaps WAC and GECCo should also be included in the ARC bylaws. Another goal is to make the submission process easier.
• ● 3/1 Programs: Under Provost Becker, these were called ongoing programs and not new. 

3/1 Programs: Naseem is part of the Psychology 3/1 committee, which worked with our partner institution to ensure the curriculum they cover is comparable to the courses we have here. Some courses are easy substitutions. There are other courses like Research Methods they are not set up to teach.

New Gen Ed: Part of the goal was to make GECCo a standing committee per the GECCo bylaws. It is not in the FA bylaws. In some ways GECCo is an FA committee running parallel to ARC doing pre-reviews. There is a bit of overlap. The ARC bylaws say GECCo reports to ARC. The ARC bylaws need to be revised. 

Bylaws: The various bylaws of major committees need to be reviewed, updated, and synchronized. This will be a big project. In particular, these will concern the relationship of WAC, ARC and GECCo. This will involve a conversation with the Provost. Ed Shannon (FAEC), WAC Chair (TBA), Stephen Rice (ARC), and Sarah Carberry (GECCo) will work with Mia Serban (FAEC) on coordination.

Mission Fulfillment:  This is a BoT subcommittee attending specifically to the activities of: Academic Affairs, Enrollment Management, Institutional Advancement, and Student Affairs. There is one faculty member, Stephen Rice, who has had his first orientation and was invited because he is the ARC Chair. The following document describes the three BoT subcommittees faculty participate in:  https://www.ramapo.edu/board/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/2018/05/Committee-Charter-ao-April-30-2018.pdf

Strategic Resources Allocation Budget (SRAB) Committee: Sarah Carberry is the only faculty representative. This committee makes budget recommendations to Cabinet. At least one more budgeting expert faculty member might be a beneficial addition joining Sarah. The following document contains information about this committee:  https://www.ramapo.edu/iec/srab/

Personnel Issues: These seem to be resolving and dates are appearing for the different committees.

Meeting adjourned at 11:57am.

Categories: FAEC MEETING MINUTES 2020, RAMAPO FAEC, Uncategorized

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September 16, 2020FAEC Minute Aug 5, 2020

FAEC 8/5/2020

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

Guests: Provost Susan Gaulden, Jeremy Teigen (Faculty Fellow, Enrollment Management ), Martha Ecker (AFT President)

Kim Lorber (Secretary)

April Faculty Assembly Minutes: These will be approved in September. 

Minutes were approved: 7/22/2020; one abstention.

FA President Report

Stage 2: Labs and clinicals will be F2F. We will be teaching/working virtually otherwise.

Administrative Responses to FA and SGA Questions: Provost Gaulden 

Meeting with President Mercer: engaged in frank discussions about furloughs and layoffs. Further information regarding layoffs will be forthcoming. This will happen as there are few alternatives at this point. Uncertainty around residence hall occupancy is a significant factor in how the financial situation will unfold. 

Making SAT tests optional for future admissions: Jeremy Teigen will discuss the data from EM from the last 10 years that show the association between SAT and college success, and the support for making SATs optional at Ramapo. 

Provost Gaulden said this is a practical matter for next year as so many students have not had the chance to take the tests. Many schools are dropping this requirement. The data to be presented will be about Ramapo students and not from a national study. Some majors/outside accrediting bodies will still require SAT scores. It is her suggestion to assess the effectiveness of SAT optional at regular intervals to make certain that the policy is successfully achieving it’s goals.

Faculty Assembly 9/9: Naseem will invite VP Romano to speak to the faculty. This is an informational item as FA has no substantial role in determining this criteria for admission.  

PROVOST’S REPORT: 

Stage 2/Virtual: There will be 90+ courses that will have some in-person elements: labs and clinicals. Some are LEC courses (Banner label): if a faculty member is interested in teaching in-person and has a compelling reason for hands on work. There are approximately 900 students who will have one of more F2F courses.

Next General Communication Message from the Provost to Faculty will discuss the waves. The academic affairs and library will open on 9/2. Units in Academic Affairs, like International Education and the Registrar’s Office, will open sooner. We can only run at 25% capacity. Some units will continue to work from home (ex: Institutional Research). Office hours with students can be done remotely. If there is a need to meet with a student in-person, go for a walk with the student outside with masks. There is no expectation for faculty to come to campus. Club advisors should try to do virtual activities. Aim is to keep campus population density low while planning remote activities. 

Stage 2 Labs: No external visitors on campus; if Ramapo students/faculty volunteer, they can be part of studies. Appropriate social distancing and masks will be required.

First Year Students: will only come for labs. They can live on campus. We will offer 1,600 bedrooms (one student per). Some of these will be dedicated for quarantine purposes.

Faculty to Campus: Send an email to the Provost or Diane Couzens if you want to go to your office (Tuesdays or Fridays) before August 15th.

HR ADA process: official beyond Academic Affairs and approval by Provost. Susan continues to explore the HR side; if we are teaching remotely, that is all we need to do; stay home. 

Employee Training: This will be a brief online training. Mandatory if the employee is to return to campus. Employees will also self-check and self report on a daily COVID questionnaire. The CDC does not recommend testing as this is expensive.

Cleaning: Surface contamination concerns are reduced per the CDC.

Enrollment: We do not have news yet. There will be a town hall with new and another for returning students. 

Housing: We are open to having as many as 1600 students.

Jeremy Tiegen: Reported about the efficacy of the SAT score versus GPA on retention and first year GPA. This has been a consideration for a few years and is not simply COVID19 related. How can we best use the admission strategy in a competitive climate to get students who will come? How can we identify students without results who might become academically at risk? 10 years of Ramapo student data has been used to review predictors of student success. Bottom line: High school GPAs are much better predictors. Questions about out of state and international students in the analysis were raised and discussed.  Questions about transfer students were raised.  This data focuses on first time first years so transfers were not included here.

  Naseem asked: what is FA’s role in this? Who will make the decisions and what are next moves? Naseem will reach out to Susan to see what the next steps are. This needs to come from Academic Affairs with involvement from the deans.

AFT Concerns for Professional Staff: Many are unhappy with the current proposal for returning to campus 

FAEC Meeting: Beginning 9/2/2020 10:30am-12:30pm.

Adjourned at… 

Categories: Uncategorized

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July 20, 2020FAEC minutes, July 1, 2020

FAEC 7/1/2020 DRAFT

 

FAEC 

Attendance: Roark Atkinson (HGS), Naseem Choudhury (President), Scott Frees (TAS), Kim Lorber (Secretary), Lisa Lutter (CA), Thierry Rakotobe-Joel (ASB), Mihaela Serban (SSHS), Ashwani Vasishth (Councilor-at-Large over 11)

Guests: none

Minutes approved for 6/17/2020 meeting.

FA President’s Report

• President Mercer’s bi-weekly email: We hope this will include more new information.
• Funding sources: The College is seeking funds from a variety of sources; it would be helpful to know how these different lines of revenue change the balance going into 2020-2021
• Provost Gaulden has stated that she is trying to keep all lines, tenured and not (temporary, etc.).
  • If the budget process is not transparent, we will not know what is to be cut and why. We know faculty have been furloughed, as have CWA and IFPTE. Unsure about managerial and senior administrative furlough’s or give backs. Rutgers’ president is giving 10% back.

• • Naseem will ask Peter, Kirstin, and Susan about this. Follow-up may be needed. AFT salary savings are ca. $2.5 million
• .

• Scott noted the totals are not identified as included or not in the deficit.
• July 22 will be a morning budget meeting. Naseem encourages us all to be there. We are walking in blind.

•  Presidential search is proceeding as planned and in a timely manner. Is there a contingency plan if the search fails? We should ask the faculty representatives on this committee. We would welcome an update as this process has been going on for 6 months; little will be available to be shared but some information would be appreciated.
• Tentative Faculty Assembly Meeting: July 22, 1:00
  • we need an agenda but we need information about stage 3, the reopening plan, will there be layoffs, etc.?
• FA President’s meeting with Provost Gaulden next week. Naseem will ask Provost about stage 3? Faculty needs to know now which classes might hypothetically be in-person. Cornell modeled online versus not-online and their point is they will open because the infection rate will be higher with online courses than not.
• The College will likely have 1,800 dorming students; many will need structure as opposed to taking all of their courses online. The Governor has said housing insecure and students who cannot remain home should be able to live on campus. Who are the others? Freshmen? No seniors? SSHS Dean Lorenz is meeting with each convening group to determine the course priorities. How will we deliver the courses in-person (logistics) and who will want to teach them? The Task Force is being run by Virginia and Susan. Susan already works 7 days a week. It would be best not to have a train wreck. They should not be blamed. We need a hypothetical Stage 3 plan. Who will teach the face-to-face courses? We were told to swap. With whom? We will need ADA approval from HR to be remote and then the convening groups will have to scramble to fill courses at the last minute with full-time faculty. Naseem will email the Provost and copy FAEC reps.
• Stage 2: ca. 96% of the courses will be remote. Who will be teaching face to face? Will we have a cluster of infections from 1,800 students? Students will share bathrooms at this point. If we must have 1 bathroom per student, opening the dorms becomes more expensive than keeping them closed.
• Naseem will email Peter about the fiscal piece and Susan about academic concerns with Stage 3, copying FAEC. She will also ask when deadlines for ADA exemptions must be submitted.
• Stipends and release time: some have more than they expected and others have less. How was everything calculated? The union negotiates $105/hr. Some faculty were disappointed as they were notified that they were not getting release time or stipends they had expected.
• Diversity on campus: We do not have policies regarding this as seen by Nicole Morgan-Agard’s response to BOT comments. There may be a committee but nothing seems to be happening and faculty has not been included. What is the decency code to which Peter referred at BOT meeting? A speech code cannot be developed so the only approach is to use the rules we have. The Dean of Students used to send many students to a larger body; has it been reduced in numbers as more cases seem to be handled inside that office.
• • Next meeting: THURSDAY, July 16^th at 10am.

 

Categories: FA RCNJ Minutes 2020, FAEC MEETING MINUTES 2020, RAMAPO FAEC, Uncategorized

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April 22, 2020FAEC MINUTES 04/15/2020

DRAFT FAEC Minutes 4/15/2020

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

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Date: Wednesday, April  15, 2020  | Location: ONLINE/REMOTE  | Time: 10:30 am to 12:00 pm

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

Secretary: Nakia Matthias

Guest: President Mercer, Provost Gaulden

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I.  FAEC Minutes Approved 

II.  Stefan Becker and Full Professorship Promotion Slots

Stefan Becker is returning to RCNJ as a full professor of Environmental Science.  He will be working in Environmental Studies with SSHS.  Becker may possibly be teaching Physical Geography, World Sustainability, and FYS. 

Not necessarily specific to this case, but concerning senior administrators (including Provosts, Vice Provosts, and Deans) who are are hired with faculty tenure and full professor rank, if they choose to formally join the faculty after they step down from their administrative positions, can create imbalances.  In particular, there is concern that (1) they contribute to the total number and proportion of full professors which is likely to negatively effect the calculation that goes into determining the number of full promotion opportunities available for traditionally hired faculty, and (2) they may adversely affect the student/faculty ratio and breadth of field, particularly for smaller Convening Groups, and negatively impact the possibility of hiring a necessary specialist needed for the curriculum in that Convening Group.

FAEC suggested that there should be clarification about how the College handles the transitions from an administrative to faculty positions.  There should be specification about whether such transitions will take up faculty promotion slots, as well as what the implications are to FTE. FAEC also suggested to the Provost that convening groups and search committees should be involved in any considerations regarding the transition of administrators to faculty positions to ensure that there is alignment and that the CG’s needs have been factored into any assessments.

III.  RCNJ Hiring Freeze and New Faculty Lines

The existing hiring freeze will be sustained until further notice.  Units that have conducted searches and received acceptance for offers made have already obtained approval.   Offers will not be rescinded but new offers will not be made.  All searches are presently on hold.  Searches for two part time lines for the library have been suspended. There was/is an active search for a Canvas Administrator, and a  search was completed for a new Nurse Practitioner but no offer has been made.

IV.  RCNJ Budgetary Concerns

Students received partial reimbursements for room and board. RCNJ will have to examine cost cutting as the state is withholding funding that it previously committed to grant the College.  The cuts to the RCNJ budget are greater than the federal stimulus would be. When courses are solely remote, and if the College cannot resume classes on campus RCNJ will be ”in the red” without revenues raised from room and board, including auxiliary revenue raised from summer rental of dorms and classrooms. The Provost stated that The College cannot promise that everyone will keep their jobs.  The provost stated that, “absent something unusual, there will be staffing considerations.”  Additionally, the Provost explained that reassign-time and stipends will have to be negotiated but will be considered on a case by case and reasonable basis.

FAEC expressed concern that some universities and colleges are using the COVID-19 crisis as an excuse for austerity.  In most other institutions the administration will see a dip in their salaries.  Additionally, in the past when Stefan Becker served as provost, the FAEC President asked him whether non-academic units would experience budgetary cuts.  Stefan asserted that it is not his business and that he did not know.  FAEC stated concerns about administrative bloat at The College and informed the Provost that it should be informed about what non-academic units are cutting and scaling back on. In discussion with the Provost,  FAEC noted that the core function of The College involves teaching and that administrators should be mindful of this. Furthermore,  FAEC reminded the Provost that it is necessary for the FAEC to be informed of the guiding principles and approaches to addressing budgetary cuts and administrative bloat.

There is a rumor circulating that a letter has been presented to faculty that informs them that they will receive an 11 percent pay cut.  This is not the case, there are no such  letters being distributed to faculty or staff.  However AFT has specified that during declared financial emergencies faculty can be subject to a 3 per cent pay cut.  Furthermore, the Provost explained that If the state declares a financial emergency tenured professors could be vulnerable to termination.  

FAEC recommends that other revenue generating ideas are explored.  Considerations should weigh how faculty can contribute and how people can take more classes remotely.  This issue involves the marketing of online classes, which should be taken up by the College.

Although Chris Romano has communicated that RCNJ enrollments for the summer 2020 and Fall 2020 are solid, there is still uncertainty regarding how The College will proceed in the Fall.  Boston University devised a contingency plan not to resume campus-based classes possibly until January 2021.  RCNJ must be prepared with contingency plans.  

According to AFT an RCNJ provost has never exercised the power to regulate or reassign the mode of course delivery, or where courses should be situated [if online or at other off-campus locations]  but could certainly make this determination.  

There has been no further discussion of Three Plus One programs that the FAEC has been privy to.

V.  RCNJ Commencement and Student Concerns

RCNJ is examining ways to develop features that can replace a graduation  and harken back to an actual commencement ceremony.  President Mercer indicated that graduation, “is not going to be as it was”

FEAC suggests that the administration send out an official announcement as soon as possible to proactively address concerns about commencement and other issues that seem to be uncertain.  Mercer explained that students can voice their concerns with the Dean of students, and that he would not deter them from reaching out to him directly.  

VI. RCNJ Student Survey

The Provost shared that the student survey reflects students complaints about faculty are using several kinds of online interfaces to facilitate classes and that faculty are assigning too much work.

Meeting Adjourned 12 pm

Categories: FA RCNJ Minutes 2020, FACULTY ASSEMBLY MINUTES, FAEC MEETING MINUTES 2020, RAMAPO FAEC, Uncategorized

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April 15, 2020FAEC MINUTES 03/04/2020

FAEC Minutes 3/04/2020

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

Date: Wednesday, March  04, 2020 | Location: B226  | 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 COVID Response

President Mercer informed FAEC that a COVID-19 Preparedness Plan in place  that has been devised by RCNJ’s Pandemic Assessment Team which is chaired by Melissa Van Der Wall.  All international travel for students and faculty will be banned for the rest of the semester..

The Provost met with Michael Bitz to examine options for a shift to online course delivery in the event of an emergency that prevents campus based interaction.  This option will only require In instances of There is no expectations that a classroom based course should fully transition to an online interface overnight. Also it is understood that there will be challenges in the delivery of labs, art classes, theater classes, and the like  online.   

It is important to ensure that content delivery can be achieved remotely.  Faculty will be asked to work with Michael Bitz, IT, and their deans to determine any technological needs, capabilities and compatibility for online course delivery.  Assistance will be provided to secure software other requirements. This will also serve to allay concerns regarding returned study abroad students and potential exposure to COVID-19.

Students have been informed that they should return from study abroad programs and they have agreed to do so. RCNJ is assisting and monitoring students that are traveling back to the US from study abroad to ensure that they have access to what they need.  A self-quarantining requirement is in place for all study abroad students. President Mercer was in a conference call with the governor about this issue and the Pandemic Team has reached out to the Bergen County Health Department.

III. Contract Majors and Programs

It is imperative that students that are contract majors receive a degree that reflects their experiences.  Contract Major will earn a bachelors that will be called liberal studies or social science. The Contract Major programs were intended to assist students that have specific needs and interests that may lie outside of RCNJ programmatic offerings. For instance, the social science contract major can be used to help students pursue a criminal justice degree although there is no Criminal Justice Program at RCNJ.  Currently there are Psychology Social Science and Liberal Studies contract majors. There are currently no regular faculty teaching contract majors. Contract major faculty may not be part of any convening group but serve an advisory role to students in contract majors. RCNJ should view trends in contract major programs that show a strong interest in a particular area of coursework and study as an indication that the school should develop programs in the respective areas for inclusion in the school’s curriculum.  

IV. Degree Completion Programs 

The Communication and Social Science Degree Completion Programs are run in an inconsistent manner.  Some students have been able to take courses in the degree completion program with permission although they are completely different courses. Students have been enrolling in these courses as a ‘backdoor’ when they fail to complete science-based program/major  requirement. 

Meeting Adjourned 12 pm

 

Categories: Uncategorized

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December 4, 201912/4 Faculty Assembly Minutes DRAFT

Wednesday, December 4, 2019 Faculty Assembly

Minutes

Secretary: Hugh Sheehy

 

Approve Minutes

 

• Report: College President

 

In the event of snow cancellations and delays, instructors should develop plans to address the need to make up missed contact hours with students. The next Executive Board meeting of the New Jersey Presidents’ Council is scheduled for December 9 and should yield information about next year’s college and university budgets.

 

• Report: Provost

 

Moodle/Campus provide useful tools for making up contact hours missed due to weather-related cancellations. Master of Science and Accounting will be the first fully online program offered by the College. Faculty are encouraged to attend Year of Asia Brown Bag (12/5, 1 PM, York Room) and Data Science and ESPN Brown Bag (12/5 4 PM, York Room).

 

Discussion: A faculty member asked whether a 3+1 diploma would be distinguished from any other Ramapo degrees. The Provost confirmed that there would be no distinction. The Provost invites faculty to collaborate with the administration on making the 3+1 programs effective.

 

• Report: FA President

 

The signing of the first Memorandum of Understanding is described as “imminent.” Faculty have many questions which have not been answered, on subjects ranging from admissions to the language on the degrees (i.e. concentrations, tracks).Faculty teaching long classes on days when there are weather-related delays should prepare for delays both on the syllabus and decide whether to exercise their authority to begin class meetings late; faculty and deans may need to discuss how the latter affects courses within each School. [A faculty member requested that the language of the Alert Me Now announcements be changed to reflect that some classes might begin later than usual; the President acknowledged this request.] FA is grateful to Helen Grey and Christina Connor for their help with clickers in the past; FA votes will now be held using secure Qualtrics surveys. Faculty aware of any FA members who do not receive the surveys going out tonight are encouraged to contact their FAEC reps. [A faculty member asked whether this technology change means voting results will not be immediate; the FA president confirmed that it does, though he noted that the president reserves the right to use both paper ballots and hand votes, should immediate results be needed.] [A faculty member noted that the Provost’s website should include language that could be used to clarify the meaningful differences between concentrations and tracks.]

 

• Candidates for FA President (2020-22)

Nassem Choudhury and Ken McMurdy delivered their candidacy speeches. Qualtrics surveys go out to all FA members tonight.

• Information Item: Community-based Learning Task Force (Kristin Kenneavy)

 

The Community-based Learning Task Force seeks to define “community-based learning” in a manner aligned with the directives of the College’s Strategic Plan. The TF will proceed by studying models and definitions at similar institutions and the prerogatives of various academic institutions. The TF aims to produce a “Community-based Learning” designation for courses that qualify.

 

• Information Item: Middle States Update (Stephanie Sarabia)

 

The Middle States Self-Study is nearly complete. The feedback received so far has been salutary; the reviewed draft is available for interested reader. Faculty should prepare for the 2020 Middle States visit by knowing the College mission and the goals of the General Education program: The College will offer information sessions and resources for faculty to facilitate this process.

 

• ARC Programs (Jackie Braun)
  • Sports Management Minor Curriculum Phase (FA vote)
  • Human Resources Management Minor Curriculum Phase (FA vote)
  • Higher Education Leadership concentration in MAEL (FA vote)
  • MFA Creative Music Technology Curriculum Phase (FA vote)

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

 

Categories: Uncategorized

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November 13, 2019FAEC MINUTES 11/06/2019

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

Date: Wednesday, November 06, 2019  | Location: A 226  | Time: 10:00 am to 11:00 am

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

Guests: Ruma Sen, Renata Gangemi (Communication Arts Covener) , Jackie (ARC Chair), Maya Poran (Psychology Convener),

Secretary: Nakia Matthias

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1. FAEC Minutes Approved  

2. Three Plus One Program [TPO’s]

In relation to TPO’s it appears that  FA President is not informed with reliable information from the Office of the Provost.  Some faculty have the impression that Provost and Deans are circumventing convening groups to develop TPO’s.  If the Provost wants TPO’s to go online ASAP he must not work with individual convening groups but rather than ask conveners to work with each other to examine them.  FAEC suggests that a Vote of No Confidence will be conducted for any dean that attempts to create curriculum as deans are not faculty members. FA must halt further developments until there is agreement among administrators regarding the processes involved in formulating TPO’s.  FAEC will also vote on a resolution that cost benefit analyses must be developed and shared with faculty to illustrate reasons and need for TPO’s. Currently Chris Romano has some preliminary cost-benefit numbers on the prospective tPO’s but has not shared this information. Furthermore, TPO’s are sanctioned by the law which supports their materialization and they have the support of RCNJ’s BoT..  

The benefit of TPO’s is obvious for Community Colleges as they would want to use the TPO’s as  some students would remain enrolled with their institution for longer and TPO’s will attract new students that desire to earn Bachelors degrees.

The provost has stated that courses that are reduced from 4 to 3 credits do not have to be reviewed via ARC.  All courses that are making changes to the number of credits that they bear must go through ARC review. Additionally, all academic programs that are developed at RCNJ are subject to ARC review.  Administrators and adjuncts cannot submit courses for ARC vetting as this is the purview of the faculty. This undermines the purpose of ARC and jeopardizes shared governance.

RCNJ Programs or courses that are taught at external colleges or institutions are not assessed by ARC or faculty members. Their course content is not assessed.

The Psychology convening group [CG] was tapped for TPO’s with Sussex Community College whereby the faculty devised a list of concerns and resources needed for the endeavor.  However, this was never addressed. The CG was asked to provide a curriculum and told that if they did not furnish one, then their dean would create and submit one.  

FAEC suggests that FA produce a list of issues and concerns about TPO’s before moving forward with any aspect of TPO’s and that faculty should take note of any specific changes that are being made to the curricula. FA will address the broader structural/macro level Issues that impact each school in relation to TPO’s.  Processes involving ARC and procedures that ensure shared governance must be examined. There is concern that TPO’s also bear potential negative impact on non-tenured faculty and that some programs will be siloed.

3. ARC Review and TPO’s

The FA will put forth a vote to declare that TPO’s must be ARC approved before moving forward.  As a statement of principle FA can determine that faculty will not teach or contribute to programs that are not ARC approved.  ARC can only enforce this rule if programs come to ARC for review and it appears that the administration could avoid this process.  Part of this can involve outlining the ways that programs will be harmed should the review processes continue to be dismissed in the creation of TPO’s or other programs. A potential ARC sub-committee could serve to examine proposed TPO’s and related programs. FA could vote on an audit process but this would result in the loss of autonomy for convening groups if an external auditing body becomes responsible for vetting courses. There should be a way to empower ARC and convening group to have an audit process.  Every unit has a faculty controlled school curriculum committee that precedes the ARC process

Concerns were raised that administrators could develop versions of the Degree Completion Program which currently have no oversight from convening groups.  Additionally, if RCNJ faculty determine that they will not teach TPO courses then administration can hire adjuncts or temporary faculty to take on this role.  

Meeting Adjourned at 11:30 am

Categories: FAEC MEETING MINUTES 2019, RAMAPO FAEC, Uncategorized

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November 13, 2019FAEC Minutes 10/30/19

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

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

Attendees: Tae Kwak, Donna Flynn, Roark Atkinson, Hugh Sheehy, Eva Ogens, Kathy Zeno, Lisa Lutter, Christina Connor, 

Guests:  Nassem Choudhury (MFSA), Martha Ecker (AFT), Provost Becker, President Mercer

Secretary: Nakia Matthias

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 1. FAEC Minutes Approved 

 2. Presidential Search Committee

The FAEC expressed the Importance of the need to register faculty concerns and positions with the BoT regarding the selection of the presidential search committee.  Several people withdrew their nominations but five nominees remain. Faculty have expressed reluctance to participate in the nomination as they are not aware of the details of the selection process.  There is cynicism about the effort involved in serving on the committee as it is perceived that it may not be fruitful. FA needs to clarify the process to the faculty and there is a need to formalize this process.  SSHS has not had a conversation about the presidential committee search selection process. A request will be made during FA for additional nominations.  Nominees must be forwarded to the BoT by November 8th but the FAEC may ask for a “meaningful”  extension to determine a more robust process for nominating candidates. If an extension is not granted the FA will request a town hall meeting with the BoT to ensure that faculty can wage their concerns and gather information from the BoT.

Thus far the BoT is responding to FA input and this may be an invitation to engage them for additional FA concerns.  Although it has been cited that using search firms to select administrative leadership can be a liability rather than an asset to institutions the BoT will select a search firm in January and the presidential search committee will meet in February.  

MFSA was allowed to have a representative on the presidential search committee and the FAEC hopes this is the beginning of a precedent where MFSA has a permanent seat at the table.

The search committee will not be composed of a representative from each school.

The BoT declined a request to include AFT union representatives on the search committee but a formal request has not come from the faculty.  The absence of union representation is a significant issue. FAEC needs to demand that the committee should not proceed without AFT union representative.  Should the BoT decide to move forward without an AFT representative, then the request and their denial of union representation will be entered into the record. The FA will be presented with the AFT’s letter regarding the search committee for endorsement.

The Presidential Search committee candidates include:

1. Ira Spar [HGS]
2. Rikki Abzug [ASB]
3. Eric Karlin [TAS]
4. Paramjeet Bagg [TAS]
5. Ashwani Vasishth [HGS]

Faculty will be able to cast an up or down vote via Qualtrics survey.  The deadline for submitting self-nominations will be extended to Friday, November 1 at  11:59 pm. Each nominee will answer to the original questions put forth by the BoT and an additional question that the FA devises. The top three will advance as nominees for the committee and the fourth will be held as an alternate.

Currently there are no under 10 or under 15 candidates.  The FA President has been approached with concerns that service on the presidential search committee could bear implications for non-tenured and promotion-seeking candidates. The AFT ensured that if faculty are harmed by participation in the presidential search committee process that the union will take measures to address and correct any injury incurred as a result of activities during service to the committee 

Presently, RCNJ staff are not represented on the presidential search committee.  Staff would have the least autonomy and are the most vulnerable members to serve on the presidential search committee.

The FAEC also raises  concern that the total number of presidential search  committee members can can lead to a deadlock.

The FAEC concurs that the nominees to serve on the presidential search committee must be consensus builders that represent a multitude of faculty perspectives and are willing to use their voices in the process.

The FAEC would like to address the following relative to the presidential search committee:

1. The need to conduct a formal town hall meeting among the BoT, faculty, staff, and administrators
2. Faculty representatives serving on the presidential search committee are expected to communicate to FAEC about the committees’ processes, developments, and decisions.  
3. A formal request for a course release and summer stipend due to the work involved in the process
4. Clarification about how staff members are compensated and granted time to serve on the committee  

3. Naseem Choudhury (MFSA)

The BoT has agreed to install a seat for an MFSA member on the presidential search committee.  This is the first time that MFSA will have a voting member on a search committee. This is important to the process as MFSA members ensure a broad representation of search committee members.

MFSA will not appoint the representative but membership has been invited to self- nominate.

The process involves the initial self-nomination accompanied by the submission of a summary of qualifications and experience.  The summary and candidates’ names will be distributed to the membership, the MFSA membership will cast a vote and up to a total of three nominees will be endorsed based on the outcome.  The names of the nominees will be forwarded to FAEC. The MFSA will ensure that the nominees that are not selected for inclusion on the committee will serve as MFSA alternate representatives.  The MFSA president will deliver the names of the search committee nominee to FAEC by theThursday or Friday following their selection. The MFSA would like to understand how the search firms for the process of forwarding presidential candidates will be considered.

4. Martha Ecker (AFT) 

The AFT recommends that the process for selecting representation on the presidential search committee should be reconsidered and that the process established by the BoT should not be accepted without a review and implementation of feedback from the FA.   The AFT suggests that there should be discussion about the process for assembling the search committee and what the committee desires in a presidential candidate.  

The AFT asserts that  the coordination of the search should not be conducted by members within the President’s cabinet.

The AFT contends that faculty’s relationship with the BoT  is mediated by Brittany Goldstein and that the BoT has a misconception of the faculty as a result of not having interaction with the faculty.   

5. Provost Becker

The status of the Three Plus One {TPO’s] programs is “pretty close” to an agreement with Passaic Community College. There has been no contractual agreement signed by the provost but MOU’s between the institutions have been signed.  Exclusivity has been built into the TPO agreements.

The provost mentioned that If RCNJ runs TPO’s there would be a projected goal that meets existing graduation rates or higher.  He also insisted that the programs must have outstanding adjunct and that net revenues will be allocated to the programs that facilitate the TPO’s

The number of promotions slots will be known by Friday.  Applications are due by November 15th. The Provost will coordinate with HR to ensure that  the announcement happens sooner in the future.  

Moodle will be migrated to Canvas upon request and the Canvas sandbox feature is available for faculty to begin designing their course pages. 

6. President Mercer

A portion of the $1 million in funding from the Governor’s office that was sequestered over the past summer has been released to RCNJ.  The construction of the Learning Commons is proceeding on schedule.  

7. Three Plus One Programs (TPO’s)

President Mercer suggested that both the initial curricular development and delivery of TPO’s will involve significant work from respective convening groups and ARC in order to establish a precedent for other convening groups.  

FAEC affirmed that ARC would naturally be involved in the course structure of TPO’s due to the fact that any credit hours changes to RCNJ courses must be approved by the committee. TPO’s that choose to offer 4 credit RCNJ courses as 3 credit courses will be subject to this process. 

Direct assessment of anything that is produced in courses that are taught by adjuncts will continue to undergo a review.  Programs with directors will deal with adjuncts and in convener programs the conveners will facilitate with it.  

8. Faculty Assembly Agenda Notes

Will open up for Q+A after Provost and President’s report and conclude earlier to commence the Faculty Forum.

Meeting Adjourned at 12:00 pm

 

 

 

Categories: Uncategorized

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