November 17, 2021Faculty Assembly Minutes, November 3, 2021

Faculty Assembly Minutes 

November 3, 2021

Guests:  President Cindy Jebb, Provost Susan Gaulden, Angela Cristini (Interim Vice President Institutional Advancement and Executive Director Ramapo College Foundation), Elizabeth Brand: Jack Richardson Award

Presenters: Naseem Choudhury (President, SSHS), Katie Cohen (Library), Mihaela Serban (SSHS), Ed Shannon (HGS), Christina Connor (Library)

Meeting began at 1:05pm

Assembly Minutes: October minutes will be approved via Qualtrics. 

Faculty Assembly President’s Report.
Moment of Silence in Memory of Bernard Roy, our recently deceased colleague.
Food Services: Dining hall services are being explored; an email will come regarding decisions made.
Course Delivery Working Group:  This is being coordinated and charged by Provost Gaulden; this will be a fast-working committee.
Dean Searches: Two dean searchers are in process. Thanks to Dean Peter Campbell for his service to CA. The Library/Learning Commons Dean is being searched for as well.
FAEC: FAEC is working to establish better communication with SGA and RGA via regular meetings, etc.

College President’s Report

Student Appreciation: Dr. Jebb wanted to share students’ feedback of gratitude for what we do and our caring.
Moment of Silence: Dr. Jebb thanked this body for the moment of silence for Dr. Bernard Roy this week and also the great Mahwah and campus support of Asha Mehta and her family at the ceremony for her husband.   In those moments when we come together, we are stronger; these unhurried moments are important.
Remembrance Day: This is today.
Founders Day: Founders, pioneers, veterans, and alumni will be coming next week.
State Funding: In the 1990s funding was 75% and now we receive 25% from New Jersey. While Dr. Jebb continues to make the case with the State we need to take matters into our own hands to use all of our talents and passions for the Needs Statement Process to be presented by Angela Cristini.
NJASCU Report: The report shares how the 7 state schools, and Ramapo, specifically, contribute to the community. Look at the report. The 7 schools annually give back to the state $6.1 billion. Every billion invested by the state comes back as $16 billion. There are many important facts available about how the state colleges contribute, and, Ramapo, particularly. These details provide a strong case as to why the state should support us.

Provost’s Report

Thank you: Provost Gaulden wanted to thank us for all we do and much good news received this semester. The nursing graduation rates were the highest in the state despite working during a global pandemic. IS THIS THE correct award
COPLAC: Students attended this and also attended the NDAC (SP??) conference in Florida.
Founders Day: There will be another opening event at the Learning Commons. It will be a CRW Scavenger Hunt. In addition, faculty scholarship will be on display.
Thanksgiving for International Students: Many will remain on campus and they will receive meals while the cafeteria is closed.
Searches: Three searches are ongoing: the Dean of CA, the Dean of the Library/Learning Commons (a position that was re-elevated to the dean level), and the Director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. These positions are posted on the HR jobs website. Based on the Strategic Plan, there will be two dean searches for permanent deans for HGS and TAS next year.
Pre-Strategic Plan Process: There will be many opportunities next semester to participate in strategic plan meeting forums to provide input. Come prepared and bring your opinions and feedback. The first will be 11/15. This will be announced shortly.
Spring 2022: This will be taught as we did pre-pandemic.. Fewer than 10% of our courses will be online. Vaccines are required to attend in person. Students have to be compliant with our policy.. There is a Leave of Absence policy for one semester; they can come right back the following semester; if a longer leave is needed, students will need to reapply.
Course Delivery Task Force: This will be charged; recommendations will be received soon as we will be developing the Fall 2022 schedule soon so it can be visible by March and ready for registration in Fall 2022. Members of the task force will be responsible for bringing bi-directional information, sharing what is happening in the task force with us and bringing our questions back.

FAEC DISCUSSION
Faculty Assembly Elections: Nominate yourself or someone else. Send names by 11/17 and presentations will be at our last faculty assembly of the semester; voting will happen via Qualtrics after. We need an interim secretary for Spring 2022 as Kim Lorber is stepping down. This is a non-voting and non-tenure required position.
Faculty Assembly Bylaws: Ed Shannon (Vice President of FAEC, HGS) gave a slide presentation of a variety of general and minor changes to the Faculty Assembly bylaws.
For revisions please see the updated By laws document on the FA website: https://www.ramapo.edu/fa/

NEEDS STATEMENT PROCESS, Angela Cristini (Interim Vice President Institutional Advancement and Executive Director Ramapo College Foundation) and Claudia Esker (Assistant Director, Grants & Sponsored Programs)
Needs Statement Process: Fundraising has long been the responsibility of the College’s President and some others seek funding and donations. Dr. Jebb would like us to change the way we raise money at Ramapo so we can involve, faculty, deans, and staff. We can explain our projects better than anyone else.  We need to work across divisions, faculty with staff, for integrated proposals for centers or programs. That is what this is about. Funding can be sought for an existing center or program and to create proposals if there are needs. Priorities will need to be developed. Research, students, and course work might all be needed to be involved. Ex: Establish a center to address health care and wellness. How do we take this to donors?  These proposals will be evaluated and the final decisions will be made by President Jebb as to which to do first. This will not cost the College anything. Faculty asked about the additional time expected of them to participate in this process and remuneration.
Jack Richardson Memorial Award,  Elizabeth Brand: This is a faculty award; nominations can be made by someone else or oneselfThere will be a link in the Daily Digest.

 

Meeting Adjourned at 2:17pm.

 

 

 

 

 

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

FAEC MINUTES
11/3/21

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

Guests: President Cindy Jebb, Interim-Provost Susan Gaulden

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

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

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

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

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

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

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

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

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

FAEC DISCUSSION

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

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

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

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

Faculty Handbook: Faculty Assembly voting was reviewed.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

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

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

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

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

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

Founders Day: Founders and pioneers will be invited.

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

PROVOST’S REPORT

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

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

 

Meeting adjourned at 12:07pm.

 

 

 

Categories: FAEC meeting Minutes 2021, RAMAPO FAEC, Uncategorized

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November 1, 2021FAEC Meeting Minutes October 20 2021

FAEC MINUTES 10/20/21

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

Guest: Chris Romano (Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs)

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

 Minutes Approval: The 10/13/21 minutes will be approved next week. 

 FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

 SGA/RSA: Naseem and Ed are working to establish a regular meeting schedule with both groups.

 SGA: Naseem attended the SGA general meeting. Covid messaging was discussed. Students were surprised to hear that they were not automatically notified if/when a classmate tests positive. 

Percentage of Vaccine Exemptions: Naseem will ask Provost Gaulden for the percentage of unvaccinated individuals on campus who have exemptions.

 Class Notification of  COVID-19 Positive Cases: The Pandemic Assessment Team has so far declined to enact such a policy. Naseem will speak with President Jebb, as many comparable schools are doing this successfully in addition to their other contract tracing efforts.

 Faculty Dining: Faculty who teach evening classes have no way to purchase a meal between classes. Policy originated prior to the employee vaccine mandate.  FA is asked to provide data (#of Faculty, FT/PT etc). This is not FA responsibility and a quick survey of faculty does not include staff, nor is it reliable. Naseem will discuss this with President Jebb.

 FAEC DISCUSSION

 FA Minutes: It is most helpful if faculty respond and vote with the first Qualtrics invitation. This will be discussed in FA.

 Family Day: We need to reach out to different departments across the College to see how volunteers might be able to help with Family Day and other events on campus in the future. This was a very successful event and can become even better!

 By Laws: A revised document was reviewed. In order for the Bylaws to be passed, they must be presented to the FA at the Nov. 2021 FA meeting, to be voted on at the December meeting. 

 IT Meeting: Bonnie and Thierry met with Rob Doster. 

 Course Delivery Mode Working Group: In order to implement findings for the Fall 2022 schedule, a February report would be necessary. Given the transformational nature of a new course delivery mode policy, perhaps this would be a good opportunity to enact the Dynamic Protocol for shared decision-making from the report of the Task Force on Shared Governance. Naseem will discuss this with Provost Gaulden.

 

CHRIS ROMANO (Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs)

 Spring Student Housing: Every student living on campus has to commit now to their spring plan. The day registration opens on 11/8, students not living on campus will be invited to declare their intentions. 1,640 students are currently living on campus and it is expected the number of students will increase in the spring. It is possible to have 2,000 total residential students.

 Students and Vaccinations: Students must be fully vaccinated in order to register for spring in-person courses. Chris and Provost Gaulden sent a joint email reminder to all students, which was shared with deans. Text message reminders have also been sent out by EMSA. About 500 students still need to be vaccinated. Faculty can help by encouraging their students/advisees to start the process ASAP. Students who are not yet vaccine compliant do NOT have a hold on their account, but rather will receive an error message when they try to register for an in-person course. Health Services is responsible for evaluating exemption requests.

 Family Day: $5,000 is the usual sales amount at the BookStore . This year’s Family Day sold $25,000. There was a great deal of Ramapo pride and energy. How can we highlight student achievement during Family Day? We can start by meeting with SGA President Anjali Patel at FAEC and then expand the discussion. SGA is primarily responsible for organizing Family Day events.

 Faculty Scholarship: Can current projects and research be maintained in a central place?

 Alumni Achievements: How can we highlight more of the achievements of our graduates?

 Learning Commons: It opens today!

 

Meeting adjourned at 12:07pm.

 

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October 19, 2021FAEC Meeting Minutes Sept 29, 2021

FAEC MINUTES 9/29/21

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

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

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

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

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

 Provost’s Council:

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

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

 Used Name Policy: This is being encouraged and supported.

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

 Meeting With President Jebb:

 Discussion: Many topics were addressed.

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

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

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

EDIC Training: This was discussed.

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

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

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

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

Board of Trustees Meetings:

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

Financial State of The College: This was discussed.

 

FAEC DISCUSSION

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

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

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

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

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

 

Meeting adjourned at 11:48am.

Categories: FAEC meeting Minutes 2021, RAMAPO FAEC, Uncategorized

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September 30, 2021FAEC Meeting Minutes, Sept 15, 2021

FAEC MINUTES
9/15/21
ASB 135

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

Guests: Chris Romano (Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs)

Meeting began at 10:10 with a quorum of 7 out of ten members present (Lisa Lutter & Thierry Rakotobe-Joel arrived via webex at 10:13).

MINUTES:

• September 8 minutes will be passed at the next meeting.

Presidents report 

• OUTDOOR SPACES:
  -The administration has identified several outdoor spaces for teaching and meeting.
  -There were some questions as to whether these spaces will meet the needs of faculty.
• REFUSE COLLECTION:
  -The administration has clarified: suspension of refuse collection was not a result of staff shortages. Rather, staff is stretched thin to keep up with COVID cleaning protocols.
  -We noted that smoother communication of that fact would have been beneficial. FAEC will continue to request better and more complete communication of such matters in the future.
  -Some issues remain uncertain:
  • Unclear access to garbage bags and cleaning supplies
  • Some schools seem to have information on garbage bags and cleaning supplies; others do not.
  • Some offices are reporting that garbage is still being collected.

• SCHEDULE SPRING 2022:
  -Traditionally (pre-COVID) only M/W/R courses were supposed to be hybrid. However, it seems that in practice that in some schools M/ R & T/F courses have been offered as hybrid. 
  • We need some clarity on this.
  • As of now, faculty who wish to remain  off campus in Spring need Deans’ permission to do so.
  • We are not aware how difficult such permission will be to obtain. We are not aware of the criteria. 
  • Other questions regarding the schedule:
    • will summer courses be offered in all 6 modalities? Or will they be restricted to the current spring options? What are the economic consequences of limiting summer options? 
    • Also, regarding Spring schedule: there is confusion regarding communication from Deans. Some Deans have written to their faculty regarding the modalities. Some Deans have only communicated to conveners. 
      • Some schools are hearing different options than the 3 modalities identified by the Provost. 
    • Also, regarding Spring schedule: currently, Webex /synchronous is not an option for Spring. What does that imply for snow days? It would seem that if Webex /synchronous is not available for the regular schedule, would it also not be a snow day option?
• STATE OF THE COLLEGE:
  State of the College will be in person
• FA in-service will be hybrid. Or at least, we agreed to reserve a room to retain the option of a hybrid meeting to accommodate those attending State of the College in person.
  
• DIVERSITY EQUITY INCLUSION:
  Regarding the Diversity training 9/15, we encourage better communication to avoid dating conflicts with religious observances. For a mandatory event, if one date conflicts with a holiday, it could be helpful to communicate that. Perhaps highlighting the May event as being scheduled to avoid the date conflict would have made faculty feel more included. Or perhaps we need to alway schedule 3 sessions, the calendar being as difficult to manage as it is.

NEW BUSINESS

• PRINTERS IN OFFICES:
  Faculty have been told not to print in our offices. Toner & paper will no longer be provided.
  We suggested that we express to the Provost and the president that printers and printing represent a legitimate teaching supplies issue. Perhaps something other than an “all or nothing” printer policy can be considered.

ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT AND STUDENT AFFAIRS: 

• At 11 am, Chris Romano joined us via Webex for our first enrollment meeting of the year. Chris reported:
  • Tomorrow the files will be frozen
  • We are at 99% of our undergraduate enrollment goal and 98% of our graduate goal.
  • There are 400 more students living on campus than we aimed for.
  • Student conduct on campus has been good so far.
  • Planning for next year’s enrollment and on campus living has begun.
  • Chris reported that Pre-Covid, 2700-2900 was the absolute maximum number of students who could be housed on campus. 
  • Many beds are set aside for COVID safety and potential quarantine.
• We discussed Open House / Admitted Student events:
  • Open House attendance has dropped in COVID. The college has increased Saturday tours.
  • Currently Open Houses are being treated as a general introduction to the campus. 
  • Admitted students days are smaller in COVID, faculty are being asked to appear at Admitted Student day, as that is a better use of faculty as presenters. 
• We discussed program growth:
  • Currently 150 high school students are taking classes here at Ramapo
  • 4+ 1 applications are going up; programs that can offer 4+ 1 are growing
  • Some 4+ 1 programs have been created via agreement with another colleges (i.e., Ramapo undergraduates are “guaranteed” a “+1” Masters acceptance at the cooperating school.
  • There was discussion as to whether or not there will be new procedures to help humanities students and programs grow
• Deadline for housing in spring 11/1
  • Currently 33% of our students live on campus 66%Pre-COVID it was about 50-50.  We would like to get back to that.
  • We discussed the viability of increasing commuters and not increase the on-campus population, as that may be more cost effective.

EMeeting ended at 11:58

 

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

FAEC MINUTES 9/22/21

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

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

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

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

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

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

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

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

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

FAEC DISCUSSION

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

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

HR/ER GUESTS (Virginia Galdieri and Janet Faber)

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

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

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

NEW BUSINESS

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

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

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

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

 

Meeting adjourned at 11:58am.

 

 

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

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September 30, 2021Faculty Assembly Meeting Minutes, Sept 1, 2021

Faculty Assembly Minutes (draft)
September 1, 2021
1:00pm
ASB 135 and Webex

 

Presenters: Naseem Choudhury (President, SSHS)
Meeting began at 1:05pm

Assembly Minutes: April 28, 2021 minutes will be approved via Qualtrics.
Minutes Approved: Apr 7, 2021 meeting minutes were approved (105 yes, 6 abstentions)

Guests: President Cindy Jebb and Interim-Provost Susan Gaulden

Faculty Assembly President’s Report:

Welcome back to Faculty Assembly: Naseem welcomed us back to the new normal until we return to our pre-COVID-19 world. Approximately 160 faculty participated remotely. This is a new experience having both in-person and remote participants.
Guest Welcome: Naseem gave warm welcomes to our esteemed guests President Cindy Jebb, Board of Trustees President Susan Vallario and SGA President, Anjali Patel.

College President’s Report:

Dr. Jebb thanked the faculty for everyone’s work in getting ready for this semester.
Student Engagement: We have two classes of students who have spent limited if any time on our campus. We must be especially attuned to all of our students as we focus on learning challenges during the past 18 months and the new incoming students.
 – Difficult discussions happened in Convocation and these should be continued in the classroom.
Dr. Jebb’s Impressions of Key Concerns: Dr. Jebb’s first impressions are our commitments to each other and our focus on our students and their well being. She would like to address needs at the ground level. This involves everyone. We need to diversify and expand our revenue streams. We need everyone’s creative ideas, in writing, to pursue, with faculty advocacy.
Best Practices on Remote Learning and Teaching: President Jebb will share a report with us she has shared with Provost Gaulden.
Invitation to Share Ideas: President Jebb welcomes meeting with us, going for a walk, having lunch, etc.

Provost’s Report

New Faculty Welcome: We have 3 new faculty members this year. Another faculty member was hired last spring. Five faculty members were hired last year. We welcome all to our Ramapo community.
Thank You: Provost Gaulden thanked everyone for our hard work and for supporting and listening to our students. Many offices were thanked: the Registrar’s Office, the Provost’s Office, Facilities, and more.
International Education Office: 20+ international students successfully arrived at Ramapo College and will live on campus this year. It was a very challenging process and they all arrived vaccinated.
Student Used Names: Look for Provost Gaulden’s email. Make sure to confirm students’ used names are being used.
In-person Courses: We have approximately 80%, who will be having some form of in-person education. Approximately, 300+ students were deregistered from their in-person courses because they did not provide their COVID-19 vaccination information. We have a melt of approximately 30 students.
Mask Mandate Reminder: Remind students to wear their masks. If a student does not have their mask, they should go to the Public Safety Office. The bookstore also sells them.
Virtual Office Hours: These met our students’ needs well last year. Students might be a bit hesitant to meet in person. Virtual office hours will work well, again, but some students may wish to meet in-person with their in-person professors.
Course Modification App: Thank you to Dr. Scott Frees for creating a program that makes adding courses much simpler than the Banner’s 8 step method. Deans, unit secretaries and conveners are being trained.
Spring 2022: We will set up the schedule this month. Course delivery modes will be in-person, online, and the previous hybrid version.
In-class Eating: Students should not eat in the classroom; they can take a sip of water but should keep their masks on except for a brief moment.
Teaching Modalities: Might the remote synchronous/asynchronous courses become integrated as a permanent teaching models? Was the decision for course delivery data driven? The Provost said 53% of the courses are on campus and 80% were interested in coming back. We will return to our 3 modes for now and explore options for the future.
Course Schedule from Spring 2020: This last in-person course schedule will be the template schedule used for change to craft Spring 2022. If a convening group has a compelling reason and data demonstrating students prefer remote courses, discuss this with your Dean.
Study Abroad Programs: Faculty led study abroad programs will be happening this year but only to level one and level two countries. Everyone traveling will have to be vaccinated, including individuals who have exemptions now. Some students are attending existing international programs and they have signed a waiver.

Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs: Dr. C. Romano  

Enrollment: We enrolled 98% of expected undergraduates and 97% of the graduate student goal.
Housing:  We have exceeded our goal for residential students.. We have approximately 1,300 students who have not been on our campus before.
Student Athlete Advisor: An NCAA Faculty Athletic Representative, an athletics faculty advisor, is required to comply with athletics requirements. If interested, contact the Provost’s Office.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

GECCo (Dr. Sarah Carberry, Chair): The deadline is 10/15 (same as ARC). Questions can be sent to the Curriculum Assessment Teams (CATs). Email gecco@ramapo.edu.
We have 3 continuing GECCo coordinators. We will have a Qualtrix vote for the others.

 ARC (Dr. Stephen Rice, Chair): Meetings will begin next week at 11am. There will be new forms with fillable PDFs. One change to the submission procedure is to send all proposals for GECCo, WAC, and ARC to arc@ramapo.edu. ARC will review all submissions and organize them by committee; this will help ARC know the volume of work for the academic year. There will also be fillable forms for new programs and the ARC checklist. In a few weeks a new ARC manual will be posted.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Nicole Morgan Agard (Chief Equity and Diversity Officer)  

• Office of Equity, Inclusion and Compliance (EDIC): Faculty must take this training. It was offered in May  and will be again on September 15.
  
• State Grant for Multicultural Center: Ramapo received $250,000 from the State and many events are being planned.
  
• Multicultural Center: Feedback from all stakeholders will be sought.
  
• BIPOC Welcome back reception to be held on Sept 23, 2021 @ 4:00
  
• Latinx Heritage Month: September 20th at 1:15pm, Dr. Jebb will read the opening statement. There will be a movie screening of Coco from 8-10pm on the Laurel lawn.
  
• EDIC film: EDIC will be showing The Hate You Give. Nicole will lead the discussion. All other films will be made available for students to view independently in advance of the discussion.

Black Lives Matters’ College Colloquium on Race, Social Justice, and Representation. Dr. John Peffer discussed that this will be available to all students, remotely and in-person. See information here: https://www.ramapo.edu/ca/blmcolloquium/

Used Name Policy: Dr. Emily Leskinen and Dr. Leah Warner brought to the FA’s attention the confusion regarding the used name policy implementation. There seems to be a delay in the implementation of the policy due to Banner 9 update issues. Provost and CTO will work to resolve this as quickly as possible.

Faculty support is appreciated. If someone has a used name, do not use their old/dead name. Dr. Leskinen will send an email to be distributed to all faculty to inquire about names in advance of the class meeting. The form can be used for manual name changes, which can be shared with students: https://ramapo.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6WfGGEGxfLEXjeJ

New Business
TITLE IX Policy: Dr. Ann LePore discussed this evolving policy and suggested that the college consider expanding the resources offered to students in this statement. 

 Meeting Adjourned at 2:33pm.

 

 

 

 

 

Categories: Uncategorized

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September 26, 2021FAEC Meeting Minutes, Sept 8. 2021

FAEC MINUTES 9/8/21

 

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

Excused: Ed Shannon

Guests: Stephen Rice (ARC, Chair)

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

Minutes Approval: The last 3 sets of meeting minutes will be approved by Qualtrics 

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

FAEC Minutes: Ken McMurdy will receive these for first review.

Discussions with Provost:

 Faculty Assembly: We will continue using the hybrid mode for Fall 2022. We have 215 full-time faculty and 300+ adjuncts.

 Spring 2022 Calendar: The Spring 2020 calendar was rolled over without FAEC prior discussion.

 Spring 2022 Course Delivery Modes: Administration controls delivery modes. The 3 modes are: online, pre-pandemic hybrid, and in-person. Schedules must be done by September 16th. Faculty with concerns are directed to discuss concerns with deans. 

 SGA: Naseem will speak with Anjali Patel, SGA President.

 Shared Governance Meeting with RSA, SGA and admin: Date to be determined.

 Outside Meeting Spaces: Kirsten Loewrigkeit, Vice President for Administration and Finance,

asked to meet with Naseem about these.

 Graduate Council: We need to re-engage our members and ask for a report to FAEC.

 Space Committee: We would like reports from this group as well.

 Sustainability/Refuse Collection: FAEC will ask for clarifications regarding this matter.

 May 25th Meeting with Dr. Jebb: Naseem and Katie Cohen will work on archiving this.  

ITS FAEC Representatives: Two FAEC representatives, Bonnie Blake and Thierry Rakotbe-Joel, will meet with Rob Doster of ITS regularly.

  

FAEC DISCUSSION

Faculty In-service: This will be done virtually on Wednesday, September 29th. We will address the FAEC bylaws and Faculty Handbook.

FAEC Bylaws: There are two issues to address: the role of over/under 11 councilors, and adjunct inclusion. 

Faculty Handbook: Donna and Mia are on this committee. Progress has been slow.  Coordination has been limited. This is the second academic year faculty is working on this with Virginia Galdieri (Assistant Vice President, Human Resources and Benefits Administration).

Unemployment Help: Faculty were asked for names of individuals who needed help filing. We were told someone would be designated to assist. Some have reached out for help, which does not seem to be available. 

 Faculty Assembly President: Elections will be held this year at the last FA meeting of the semester. Naseem will send out information. We will vote by Qualtrics.

 Used Names Policy: Most students’ names have been corrected. We will continue to be attentive to this.

 Open Houses and Admitted Student Days:  Faculty participation at Open Houses will be left to the discretion of the dean. Faculty will be invited to Admitted Student Days. Small programs benefit from being able to present at Open Houses.

College Website: It would be beneficial if a faculty member or members could liaise on a regular basis with the web administrator (as we do with Rob Doster), in order to institute changes and display accurate, updated information on Major/minor program websites. 

Promoting the College: Questions about previous Marketing campaign were raised

Librarians: There was discussion regarding the librarians exclusion from the RamaPRO program.

Schedule: Questions about reinstating the Common Hours and the CEC were raised. This will be revisited in the Spring.

Clarify COVID-19 Can’t Come to Campus Process: With whom should faculty discuss their situation??

GUESTS

ARC (Stephen Rice, Chair):

•         The web page has been partially updated with new faculty and the fillable PDF forms, new programs, and program revisions.
•         ARC should receive all submissions first. The three committee chairs of ARC, WAC, and GECCo will meet and organize the submissions into Google Docs folders for the relevant group as needed.
•         FAEC is updating bylaws which will codify ARC, GECCo and WAC as FA committees and formalize their relationship.

 

 

Meeting adjourned at 11:55am.

 

 

 

 

Categories: Uncategorized

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September 9, 2021FAEC meeting Minutes, Sept 1, 2021

FAEC MINUTES 9/1/21
ASB 230 and Webex

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

 Guests: President Cindy Jebb, Interim-Provost Susan Gaulden

Vote to bring meeting to order at 10:02am.

Minutes Approval: The 2/24/21 minutes will be approved next week. 

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

-Today’s FA meeting had to be moved to ASB 135 due to the lack of appropriate technology in the Pavillion.
-Ed Shannon was asked to attend the AFT meeting and report to Naseem if FAEC needs to be aware of any issues.  

August Meeting with Dr. Jebb (with Naseem and Ed):

Vaccine Accommodation: Naseem and Ed discussed vaccine preparedness. 688 students were not vaccine compliant by 8/24-8/25 of August; this was whittled down by half. 340+ students were vaccine non-compliant. There is a registration melt of approximately 40 something students, which is not completely related to vaccines. 300+ students are in the vaccine process and need accommodations or to miss classes until they are vaccine compliant.

Communications between Faculty and Administration was discussed, we noted historical impediments to communication and expressed hope that Pres. Jebb would be willing to work with us toward better communication.

We noted concern that some COVID related communications had been sent to students before they were sent to Faculty. Faculty were not informed enough to help students who contacted faculty. Pres. Jebb seemed to understand the problem. 

Meeting with Provost (Naseem):

Student Class Accommodations: What does an accommodation mean? It can mean anything from keeping up and getting notes or joining a class via Webex. Faculty can deny accommodations. Deans are also supportive of this.

Deregistered Students: Some students who were deregistered from in-person classes due to vaccine non-compliance may not know. A code is used to prevent re-registration into in-person courses. Once vaccinated, the code is changed. Faculty need to be mindful of this code when doing advisement with students.  Provost Gaulden will be sending an email out to faculty later in the semester.

Creating Outside Spaces for Office Hours: Outside spaces would be helpful if faculty members are uncomfortable having office hours in their offices. Naseem and Ed spoke with Provost Gaulden about seating areas outside for office hours. President Jebb is very excited about this idea which is utilized in other colleges. Privacy must also be provided for private conversations with students.

Advisor Requests and How to Advise Students: If someone raises a flag or alerts a faculty member of an advisee’s challenges in a class, we are expected to consult with the student. We, as faculty advisors, see our role as ensuring our students successfully navigate their major. We do not have expertise in other disciplines; how should these students be helped? Faculty advisors can contact the student but cannot help with curriculum issues.

FAEC DISCUSSION

Social Distancing Policy for Small Classrooms: These have not been adjusted and normal seating will be utilized.

Next Semester: Courses will be offered in-person. Provost informed FAEC that S2020 course schedule with 3 modes of delivery was being rolled over for S2022.

Faculty/Staff Vaccine Mandate: In-person faculty this semester need to comply with the vaccine requirements. HR can implement progressive discipline for faculty who are not compliant; this (“progressive discipline”) is not defined anywhere.

Recycling/Garbage Pickup: 2 of 6 units received an email that says garbage and recycling will not be collected from offices. Individuals will have to use centrally located garbage and recycling bins. This is called a sustainability initiative. The unions were not consulted and this was not a PCCS initiative (President’s Committee on  Campus  Sustainability).

The FAEC is concerned that this was called a sustainability initiative when it is not. FAEC representatives in units in which faculty did not receive the information will confer with their deans. This will be indefinite.  The list of recycling areas  https://www.ramapo.edu/facilities/wp-content/uploads/sites/143/2021/08/Centralized-Refuse-Colllection-Locations-2021-08-27.pdf

President’s Advisory Council and Shared Government: FAEC discussed the role of PAC in the implementation of the recommendations from the Shared Governance Task force report.

Provost’s Council: This is one of the most important councils relevant to the faculty. Faculty should be in charge of curriculum and more experienced faculty members should be included. Other divisions are becoming more involved in academic issues; we must be able to ensure our expertise as faculty is respected and used whenever possible.

Master List of Councils: These are posted on the Provost’s web page.

PRESIDENT JEBB’S REPORT

Convocation: This was wonderful.

Helping Students Back on Campus: Dr. Jebb is encouraging students to meet their faculty from past virtual semesters. Many students have not been on campus yet. They may wish to discuss their transitions to in-person learning. They may need some help and someone to talk to about this transition. These may be difficult conversations but will provide enormous benefit for students.

9/11 Memorial: Some of our students weren’t born yet and others may have feelings they can discuss with their faculty.

President’s Vision: Naseem shared we are excited to engage in new ideas and are very eager to make shared governance work.

Refuse Collection: Naseem mentioned it would be nice to know why this has changed. It is beneficial to know why something is going into effect,.

Faculty Feedback: We are very forthcoming based on the culture built here over many years. We want the best for our students and for the survival of the College. Dr. Jebb noted being in a trusted environment allows us to build on honest communication because there are many strengths here to build upon. We have 240 faculty and 300+ adjuncts who can provide valuable feedback.

Communication: There are elements discussed in FAEC that are important; how is the information dispensed? We have our FAEC representatives share the information at their Unit Council where faculty can hold discussions. Naseem can send faculty blasts and includes all faculty and adjuncts. Deans also send out information to the faculty and adjuncts.

PROVOST GAULDEN’S REPORT

Welcome: Provost Gaulden welcomed us back. Much work was done this summer to ensure safety for everyone on campus. There will be glitches so let the appropriate department/person know if something needs to be fixed and it will be.  

Student Used Names: Due to a late software change, 12 students’ used names were lost. Provost Gaulden reminded faculty to ensure they check with ALL students to ensure we are using the correct names and pronouns for everyone.

Masks: Students who are not wearing masks properly should be reminded; most apologize. Some say they did not know they had to wear them indoors.

De-registration: 4,100 students are taking some form of in-person classes. Of these approximately 80% have provided vaccination cards. There were a few medical and more religious exemptions approved. Our religious exemptions were greatly fewer than at other colleges. 27 vaccine verification emails were sent to students. We may have lost a few students. The melt is very small. Deans are reaching out to students. Most students were able to rearrange their schedules once they were reregistered.

Spring 2022 Course Calendar: S2022 will be in pre-pandemic modes of delivery. Conveners will be invited to a training of the course modification app. It has been improved and will make things very efficient. This simplifies the Banner process of setting up a course via 8-10 screens. Scott Frees made a program that makes everything much simpler. Once a day the modifications will be uploaded and will appear the next day.

Masks for Students Who Do Not Have One: Students without a mask can get one from public safety. If they forgot it in their car, they should get it. If a student appears in an in-person class without a mask, they have to leave. Students who cannot wear masks should have an approval letter.

Social Distancing: We are not having distancing requirements. Provost Gaulden measured 3 feet between desks using the usual desk placement format.

Office Hours: Office hours can be held in the faculty member’s office. If uncomfortable, go for a walk or talk to the student outside. In-person and virtual office hours can also be used. Be mindful of privacy issues.

 Registration: Students can reregister. The ADD/DROP date has not been extended but all students were called if they had a course dropped. There are still about 30 students receiving outreach to pick remote courses if they were not vaccine compliant.

 Spring 2022: There will be no virtual options. The spring offerings will include pre-COVID-19 formats including in-person, online and hybrid (3rd) model for courses in the spring.

 Sustainability Assessment (needs clarification): We scored just below average regarding our sustainability actions. We need to improve across campus. 

 Independent Study: Naseem shared students have asked for independent studies for courses not available remotely. Susan did not know this. This is something Susan will look into to see if a negotiation with AFT can be made to provide a reasonable pay rate so some low enrolled courses can be offered as something between a “full” course and an independent study. .

 S2022 Course Schedule: Conveners may  input courses themselves or they can ask the trained unit secretaries to do it. But conveners will not be required to upload schedules themselves.

 Webex Kit for The Pavillion: Susan can arrange this.

  Meeting adjourned at 12:05pm.

 

Categories: Uncategorized

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April 17, 2021FAEC Meeting Minutes, April 7, 2021

FAEC MINUTES 4/7/21

 Present: Naseem Choudhury (President, SSHS), Katie Cohen (Library), Donna Flynn (Councilor-at-Large under 11, TAS), Scott Frees (Vice President, TAS), Kim Lorber (Secretary), Lisa Lutter, (CA), Thierry Rakot0be-Joel (ASB), Mihaela Serban (SSHS), Ed Shannon (HGS), Bonnie Blake (Councilor-at-Large over 11, CA)  

Guests: Peter Mercer (President) and Susan Gaulden (Provost),

Vote to bring meeting to order at 10:32am.

Minutes Approval: The 3/31/21 minutes were approved. 

 

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Transition Meeting: Naseem participated for a half hour. Survey to be distributed soon.

Communication Meeting: Bonnie attended on behalf of FAEC.

• Changes in the State’s Program Approval Process: There are changes proposed in the state’s program approval process. It may pass in the Legislature this August. We anticipate focus on duplication of programs.The impact on Ramapo is unknown. The state approval process already required us to show new programs are not “unduly expensive, duplicative, or exceeding the institution’s programmatic mission.” This may (or may not) impact the introduction of new majors and has been in the works for a year or longer. 
• Are they marketable? Can institutions collaborate?  This will impact the introduction of new majors and has been in the works for a year or longer. How much interference will there be from larger universities, like Rutgers and Rowan, when new majors will be introduced? ·     
• Student Enrollment is Dropping in NJ: President Mercer and VP Romano highlighted the drop. We have been aware of this and we do not know the future. NJ has long been the greatest exporter of students to other states. NJ state institutions have higher tuition than most state schools. Can a tuition incentive be made to creatively have graduate students live on campus?

 Meeting Calendar: Naseem will work to establish a central calendar, with Brittany A. Williams-Goldstein. A goal is to allow all to attend the Communication Meetings in the future.

 Meeting with Brittany: Naseem has submitted the schedule for FA and FAEC meetings, as well as the Bischoff’s and Thomases Awards and Scholar’s Day to be included in a central calendar. Dr. Jebb has made herself available to come to Ramapo on May 25th or 26th in the afternoon. Perhaps she can come on the earlier date to meet before the start of Summer Session 1.

 Transition Team Survey: There will be 3 surveys : Faculty/Staff, Students/Alumnae, and Friends of Ramapo. The purpose of the survey is to inform the central calendar being developed. The unions will also meet with the new President.

Presidential Advisory Council (PAC):  Still working on the recommendations for shared governance. 

 

PRESIDENT MERCER’S REPORT

Sister Institution Announcements: Some are announcing they  are “returning to normal” in Fall 2021. The President is skeptical.  5 states in the nation have the highest rates; NY and NJ are two of these. We are being more prudent about Ramapo’s plans. The CDC has provided different guidelines in an often confusing fashion. ; We need to know more about who will be eligible for vaccines as new categories of individuals are opened.

 Layoffs: Nothing is being planned or modeled but anything can happen. Peter very heartily believes the prospects of the College will be  challenging over the next 5 years. The State will not be able to continue subsidizing colleges.

PROVOST GAULDEN’S REPORT

Communications Meeting: There were approximately 90 people in attendance. The biggest question comes from staff asking why faculty can decide if they will be remote while staff does not have a choice.

Vaccination Site: Rowan is going to be a site and will take care of the on and off campus community members. While there is interest in Ramapo becoming a vaccination site, the process is opaque and complex. For instance, OSHE long ago received Provost Gaulden’s request to become a testing site. Were the college selected as a vaccination site, Ramapo would  have to build the infrastructure and staffing.  While some colleges are requiring vaccinations of students, faculty, and staff, the Department of Health informed Ramapo  that schools may not require anyone to take a vaccine approved “for emergency use only.” This made Rutgers’ announcement requiring vaccinations questionable. Ramapo awaits clarification from the State before making an announcement. Some schools have building swipe systems, which helps in contact tracing. Can we mandate students to use such an app?

Fall in-person practices: We do not know if CDC recommendations regarding  seat spacing and mask wearing will change.  Any such changes  will affect logistical planning.

“Hope is not a plan!”

Delivery Modes/Residence Halls: Students signing up for in-person courses are more likely to live in the residence halls. If there is a legitimate concern and request, delivery methods can be changed. Decisions would be better made earlier. OSHE’s currently encourages one student per bedroom. Some  institutions exceed this number ; our plans can change, too, if we become more comfortable. We can change the number of in-person students and beds per unit if we decide this is safe. We are operating within recommended practices. 

Sixty-two percent of FYS courses will have at least some on-campus course meetings. Most of our typical classrooms can safely accommodate  6, 12, or 15 students. If you have a large class and smaller classroom, you may need to use multiple groups to cycle through in-person meetings. In a Hyflex classroom, a professor could ask students to choose their preference. Enrollment and delivery methods will determine classroom assignments.  .

 Delivery Methods: OSHE Restart Guidelines require we  accomodate  students requesting  remote learning options. The college has wide latitude in how this is accomplished (for example, moving students from an on campus section of a course to a virtual one rather than demanding the on campus section change).

Students cannot be told there isn’t a remote option. 

In NJ, K-12 is supposedly going to be fully in-person without a virtual  option. OSHE has not updated higher education guidelines since last summer.  FAEC requested clarity on who must  be accommodated. For instance, under what circumstances may a student  who chose an on campus course request a mid-semester change? (For instance, must the student demonstrate a documented medical issue?).  

Substitute Teacher Credit Changes: The State is considering but has not  yet voted on reducing substitute teacher credits from 60 to 30 college credits. 

Graduation: Academic Achievement Ceremony: Wednesday, May 12th will start at 9am; Lisa Lutter will provide  the music. This should end at 11am. At 11:30am the nursing pinning ceremony begins . 2pm Rites of Passage event begins. The College is not ordering regalia; those who own regalia may choose to wear theirs . Graduates will wear regalia and may attend  in person with up to 2 guests (or they may attend virtually). The rain date is May 14th but if it rains for both, we will celebrate virtually. No hugging or shaking hands.

Furloughs:  Current planning suggests that announced retirements, anticipated retirements, and a lower  hiring  rate will forestall more furloughs. Some hiring continues. This fall we hope to include 3 new faculty lines. It will be a while before we have the level of confidence of hiring many tenure track faculty.  No faculty members have lost their jobs including temporary hires. Any imminent loss of temporary lines would have happened regardless of the pandemic. 

 

Meeting adjourned at 11:57am.

 

 

 

Categories: FAEC MEETING MINUTES 2020, RAMAPO FAEC, Uncategorized

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