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Faculty Assembly

FAEC Meeting Minutes, March 24th 2021

FAEC MINUTES 3/24/21

 

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

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

Minutes Approval: The 3/17/21 approved with one abstention. 

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Presidential Transition Team: The team represents various groups across campus. Naseem is included in this as the representative of Faculty Assembly. The charge of this team is to plan a calendar of events for incoming President Jebb as well as anything we would like to do for Peter and Jackie Mercer as they depart from the Mansion and Ramapo College.

Draft Calendar: Naseem will send us an informational table, which will include our usual schedule, including the Bischoff and Thomas Awards. This will be submitted to the Presidential Transition Team.

Possible Meet & Greet with Dr. Jebb: Naseem will see if Dr. Jebb might be available for a meet and greet with faculty.

April Survey: BoT President Susan Vallario will distribute a survey. The College continues to work with the recruiting company, which is helping in facilitating the transition of our presidential change.

July Retreat: We will discuss specifics. This will be after President Jebb begins.  Retreat notes will be available for those who do not come. Last year’s retreat was audio recorded.

Faculty Forum: Naseem will discuss the Presidential Transition Team and Mia will discuss the Faculty Bylaws aiming for a vote in early May. If we distribute April 7, then have a live meeting on April 28th, there should be time for a review prior to a discussion or vote.

 

Chris Romano: will join us next week at 10am.

Bylaws: Mia discussed how ours compare with those of other institutions. This information was relevant to how we function. Mia is working on sorting out questions. Some changes are simple clarifications. The names of the schools, names and dates have been updated to represent what we do now. Considerations: maximum career service limits on FAEC, voting and quorums. Currently, we use a fraction (1/4) of the faculty to form a quorum, which can mean a limited number of faculty can vote about significant matters. Qualtrics removes the quorum issue. A new section was added explaining what the Faculty Forum is and that votes will not be held there. GECCo and WAC were added as standing committees; ARC’s section was shortened. A discussion is needed about the councilors and the need to retain the over and under 11 representatives and the importance of including adjunct representation. A short survey of the adjuncts would be helpful. FA cannot pay and the time commitment makes this not necessarily convenient for adjuncts.  Should a Councilor at Large represent adjuncts, for example?

Adjunct concerns: Most are not observed. There aren’t teaching awards. If new positions will be full-time non-tenure track requiring a terminal degree, this will impact adjuncts. We should have a Faculty Forum about this allowing a few weeks for discussion and possibly having a vote by the end of May. It would be best to complete the By Laws before the new academic year. A copy with highlighted changes of new provisions and big changes will be referenced for voting. This will be presented at our next Faculty Forum. We have approximately 210 full-time faculty and 250+ adjuncts. If we have adjunct representation, Naseem will ask for compensation for the 2 year term.

Councilors:  Should we keep the Councilors at large under 11, as there are few faculty who qualify for this position? We can add more or make them representative of different constituencies on campus.

Distribution Lists: One is only for voting: full-time faculty and adjuncts not on leave. The other comprises 510+ teaching faculty as F1, F2 and AF. Librarians are included. The professional staff who teach were not included. FAEC information will be distributed more efficiently with this new updated system..

Budget Meeting is on May 24th.

BoT meets on April 26th and June 28th.

 

Distinguished Professor: More research is needed.

SGA: They will be issuing a statement of support for the AAPI community against Anti-Asian violence and discrimination 

Meeting adjourned at 11:29am.

 

 

Categories: FAEC meeting Minutes 2021, RAMAPO FAEC, Uncategorized


Faculty Assembly Meeting Minutes, March 3, 2021

Faculty Assembly Minutes March 3, 2021

 

Presenter: Naseem Choudhury (President, SSHS)

 Meeting began at 1:03pm.

 Minutes Approved: December minutes were approved via Qualtrics

 Guests: President Peter Mercer, Interim-Provost Susan Gaulden, Sarah Carberry (GECCo Chair), Chair Stephen Rice (ARC, Chair), Sarah Carberry (GECCo), Katie Cohen (Library), Virginia Galdieri (ER), Rob Doster (IT), Nicole Morgan Agard ( EDIC), Ben Levy (Ramapo International)

  

FACULTY ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Faculty Handbook Revision: FAEC has been in constant contact with ER and HR. The task force has been reconvened and had its first meeting.

Vaccination: ER has been asked if Ramapo can become a vaccination site.

Unemployment: There is now a dedicated email to use: HR2020@ramapo.edu.

State of the College: Conversations with CFO and President Mercer suggests that overall, we are not doing too badly, considering broader and current economic circumstances.

Faculty Only: After the business of the Faculty Assembly has been concluded, the faculty will meet in closed session.  

 

COLLEGE PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Free Tuition 2 Years: The NJ government is interested in making tuition free for the first 2 years of undergraduate college at 2 year and 4 year schools (Garden State Promise). Financial shortfalls may fall on the College. This would not happen for at least 2 years. The income threshold will be $65,000 and below with sliding deduction from $65,000 – $85,000. Still needs to make it through the legislature.

Next Year’s Budget: This will be more like that of two years ago. We hope to run a full program without the debt problems of last year. There are still budgetary issues to bridge the gap of what we propose and what we have. Increased graduate applications are making up for the slight drop in undergraduate enrollment. There is the hope to have 1,000 students in residence to bring us closer to our previous budget.

New President: President Mercer eagerly awaits the announcement.

 

PROVOST’S REPORT

Fall 2021 Course Schedule: Beth Foster of the Registrar’s Office has sent the current version to deans and conveners for review. A second draft will be sent by tomorrow. Additional changes will be done in real time. Respond promptly. Confusion remains about delivery modes.

Provost’s Council is Revising and Creating Policies: They are announced on the Provost’s web page and are announced in the Daily Digest.  She has asked the deans to solicit feedback from the faculty about policies under review.

Minimum Technology Policy: This is being discussed. The upcycle technology program at Montclair is available and Ramapo has asked to participate. Ideally, this would allow students to all have some sort of technology.

Covid-19 Positive Students: If a student tells you, make sure the student has told Debra Lukacsko. You can also inform her directly. Then the contact tracing team will inform anyone who needs to self-quarantine or isolate. The trained team will determine if classes will need to go remote. Remember to abide by HIPPA protections.

SGA Spring Break: Students are reporting a great need for a break. If it works with our courses, perhaps we can give lighter homework, if possible during that week (March 13 – 19, 2021).

 

 ACADEMIC REVIEW COMMITTEE (Stephen Rice, Chair)

Recommendations were made by ARC to approve the following:

Program Revision: Name Change, Liberal Studies contract major (HGS) to the Humanities and Global Studies contract major

Program Revision: Revise the Journalism concentration in the Communication Arts major, and Name Change of the concentration to Digital Journalism and Writing

 

GECCo COMMITTEE (Sarah Carberry, Chair)

Assessment: This semester or next year, you will likely receive an email from the coordinator with a syllabus request in order to audit all courses for easier assessment next year.

GECCo Questions: If you have Gen Ed-related questions please email GECCo: GECCo@ramapo.edu

 

LIBRARY (Katie Cohen, Interlibrary Loan, Reference & Instruction Librarian)

Information Literacy Sessions: It is not too late to request sessions as we approach mid-terms. If you have questions about information literacy sessions, please email infolit@ramapo.edu or contact Christina Connor, Information Literacy Coordinator.

 

ER REPORT (Virginia Galdieri, Assistant Vice President, Human Resources and Benefits Administration)

New Adjunct Executed Contract: As soon as this is available, it will be posted on the website and a notice will be emailed to alert everyone.

Furlough Time: Please reach out to AVP Galdieri or ER if you need help accounting for this time. The second 5 day week will the week of June 7th. If someone is teaching in the summer, please reach out to ER. Some have asked to take incremental days. These are ok with your dean’s approval. One week was taken by most during winter break as well as a 6th day on the day after Thanksgiving.

Applying for Unemployment: HR has designated Lori Zuccola the point person to help us through key issues. Email HR2020@ramapo.edu and note in the subject line: Unemployment Issues. She will reach out to those who are still facing challenges getting registered or receiving claim money. ER and AFT are limited as to what they can do but they will do what they can.

Faculty Handbook: This is being revised after years of requests. The task force was derailed this year and met for the first time in February. There are 6 unit members, 2 from AFT, 1 from Dean’s Council, 1 from EDIC, and 1 from MFSA. Subcommittees have been formed to address each of the questions; some require more attention than others. Chairs of each will be identified by Friday to then be able to reach out to others outside of the committee to help with their expertise. Hopefully, a rough draft will be done by the end of the academic year. The group plans to meet in the fall to have a draft ready to be reviewed before winter break.

 

IT (Robert Doster, Chief Information Officer)

Password Reset Process: Our cyber security upgrade is now about a decade more advanced. To avoid doing this in the future, Duo will be rolled out for 2 level log-ins. This will used for VPN and Banner Self Service.  A smartphone is strongly recommended. This means password changes will be phased out. The goal is to maintain cyber security.

 

EDIC (Nicole Morgan Agard, Chief Equity and Diversity Officer)

Diversity Convocation: This has been moved to March 31st to accommodate the Presidential Search. Reshma Saujani, Founder and CEO of Girls Who Code, will be the keynote speaker. Diversity Convocation information is available here: https://www.ramapo.edu/diversity-convocation/

EDIC Web Page: There will be information about the Women’s Center and information for Women’s History Month.

 

RAMAPO INTERNATIONAL (Ben Levy, Director of International Education)

Global Talks: We invite you and your students to join the Ramapo Global Talks series. Full schedule and details can be found here: https://www.ramapo.edu/international/globaltalks/

Annual Fulbright Day: The College will host an Annual Fulbright Day on 31 March, 2-4:30. Schedule and details online: https://www.ramapo.edu/international/fulbright/fulbright-day/

 

Meeting Adjourned at 1:46pm.

 

 

 

 

 

Categories: Uncategorized


FAEC Minutes, March 17th, 2021

FAEC MINUTES 3/17/21

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

Guests: Leah Warner, SSHS; Emily Leskinen, SSHS; 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 10:02am.

Minutes Approval: The 3/10/21 minutes will be approved next week. 

  

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Discussion with Provost: Naseem met with the Provost.

  • Connect: We are not obligated to complete these; however we are encouraged to do so where it benefits our students.
  • FA Endorsement for Provost Council Items: The Provost has approved this for some things. The first will be 300T: Online and Remote Policy. After the Provost Council discussion, the item will be discussed at Unit Council, and Ann LePore will present it for a final vote at FA.
  • IT Assistance with Web Page Updates: Provost Gaulden supports having assistance for faculty needing to post on the website. She does not have funds for this but will consider options.
  • Distinguished Professor: The Provost is considering this, a title above full professor. Dr. Anthony Padovano had this designation. Faculty have been discussing this. Naseem will speak with HR, ER, and AFT to see if this exists.
     
  • Deans/Student Complaints:
    •     Deans should always send students back to first meet with faculty regarding complaints/concerns. The Provost will remind all deans of this policy. They should not speak with students first. Students may report they spoke with their professors, but this may have been during class. They should meet outside of class with the faculty member to share their concerns before the dean becomes involved.
    •     There is a form to appeal grades.  The Student Complaint Form. Students can fill this out for academic grade appeals; these are reported to Middle States. https://web.ramapo.edu/provost/student-complaint-form/

Presidential Transition Team: Naseem has been asked by BoT Chair Susan Vallario to join this team.

FAEC DISCUSSION

Air Quality Concerns: Continuing concerns regarding HVAC system, and ventilation of classroom spaces was sent to the Health and Safety Committee. It was requested that a prevention maintenance schedule should be created and available for review by anyone. Response from Gina Costa-Mayer indicated that “all related HVAC records are maintained in the Office of Facilities.” Problems have continued.

Provost’s Email: There was a suggestion for faculty to not change teaching mode; we cannot be sure what things will be like in September. It will be more difficult to change a remote course to one using in-person delivery.

Campus Graduation: Can we have details soon? It would be nice if more faculty could be involved. What are the details regarding who can attend and participate? This may be an AFT issue.

 

USED NAME POLICY REPORT (Leah Warner, SSHS; Emily Leskinen, SSHS)

The BoT Cabinet has approved of a new Used Name Policy which allows students to select the name of their choosing to be used on a number of College documents – including their diploma.  This policy has been strongly supported by the faculty, Provost Gaulden, and VP Romano.

EMPLOYEE RELATIONS REPORT (Virginia Galdieri and Janet Faber)

All College Promotions Committee: Begins today.

Unemployment: HR is doing what it can but much is beyond its control. Reach out to Lori Zuccola (lzuccola@ramapo.edu) who has been helpful in this regard. Some issues required minor corrections. This is still a problem for many.

Vaccines: Saint Peters University has made vaccination appointments available to their staff and faculty. NJIT has made this a priority and is working with University Hospital to get their faculty and staff vaccinated. Is there any Ramapo news? State discussions have been started but there has not been a response.

Faculty Handbook: The task force had been reconvened. Is there a timeline ETA? The subcommittees are meeting. A strong draft will possibly be ready in October or November. The timeline will be constructed based on committee reports. Will sections be reviewed for faculty feedback or the completed manual? Key informants from each unit will be called upon to give feedback for completed sections. 

 

Meeting adjourned at 12:10pm.

 

 

 

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FAEC meeting minutes Feb 24, 2021

FAEC MINUTES 2/24/21

 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 Rakotobe-Joel (ASB), Mihaela Serban (SSHS), Ed Shannon (HGS)

 

Guests: Todd Barnes (CRW), Monika Giacoppe , Hugh Sheehy,

Christopher Romano (Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affair)

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

Minutes Approval: The 2/17/21 minutes were approved. 

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

EMSA: We await information about a report of fall 2021 101% enrollment.

 

Discussion with Todd Barnes, Monika Giacoppe and Hugh Sheehy

Center for Reading and Writing: FAEC invited Todd Barnes, Monika Giacoppe, and Hugh Sheehy to clarify current CRW concerns. Todd Barnes served as the CRW liaison. He helped to clarify questions about recent data. Faculty remains committed to CRW returning to Academic Affairs. Tom Kitchen created a structure and handbook 10 years ago, which is still the model used. 

 

 

HR Employment Question Dedicated Email Address:  hr2020@ramapo.edu.

New President: We await the final decision.

 FA President/VP Meeting with President Mercer: They discussed the state of the state appropriations.

FA President/VP Meeting with Provost Gaulden:

    Cleaning Schedule: High demand classrooms are not being cleaned in order to not lose teaching slots. The conversation is continuing. Naseem has written to the deans. ASB135 does not get cleaned, for example. Why are some classrooms required to be cleaned and others not?

    Covid Vaccines: Provost Gaulden has asked the state to make us a vaccination distribution center. There has not been a response. Is there consideration of whether or not all faculty will be able to be vaccinated in advance of teaching in-person?

    CARES Act Technology Reimbursement Funds for Faculty: Naseem has not heard anything about this. Are funds available for the faculty as at other colleges?

   Alert Me Now: Why are text messages directing us to emails? Can we please return to having the complete alert in the first text?

 

VICE PRESIDENT FOR EMSA REPORT (Chris Romano)

Enrollment Goals: EMSA froze Spring 2021 file on 2/13/21. We are having a strong semester. Grad enrollment was the strongest of all: 131% of its target. Many programs exceeded their projections. Undergraduate enrollment was 98% meaning Ramapo has met its 100%, overall. Program interest and enrollment information has been shared with deans. More student payment plans have been added. It has been a strong enrollment year, especially during a pandemic.

 

Total Number of Ramapo Students: We do not have a cap. There are first year and transfer goals, which contribute to the undergraduate total. Scott just enrolled 41 high school students taking a computer science class (dual high school/college enrollment). Graduate programs are done differently, as well. Elements reviewed: what is of interest in the market and how was enrollment last year? The 4+1 programs also contribute to increased enrollment. The budget does not drive enrollment numbers.

 

Comparison to Other NJ State Colleges and Private Schools: It is hard to get enrollment goals from other institutions. Nationally, the average school enrollment is down because of online learning fatigue, challenges in high school counseling, etc. Urban schools are suffering the most for enrollment. Nationally, colleges are down 40% in applications. New Jersey is 25-27% down, and Ramapo is 15% down. Applications to Ivy League schools remain the same while private schools’ enrollments are down the most. SUNY enrollment is down 20%. Applications have never been a primary indicator of enrollment. The common application allows students to easily apply to many schools. Ramapo does not have free applications. Most applicants choose to pay the $60 application fee; those who need assistance do not pay to apply. Two of 3 majors’ deadlines are done. Going test optional made a difference; students can be looked at more holistically. This helps CA and HGS as some students did not always do well in math. TAS enrollment has gone down, which has balanced programs a bit. Over than 200 deposits have been received which is equivalent to last year. We have accepted 50 more students than last year despite having fewer applications. The focus is on demonstrated interest. Ramapo is one of the few state schools offering tours during the week and on Saturday; these are booked through June. The important target is the total of May/June deposits. Early decision acceptances increased by one. Recruiting opportunities are reduced due to lack of in-person school and community events. Marketing is up.

 

Dorming: More students live on campus as compared with last semester?. We opted out of some sports related to COVID-19 risk so some athletes chose to not live on campus. There has been a fluctuation of 475-500 this year. We will target 1,200 residents for the fall, which allows one student per bedroom. 57% of first year students who have given deposits have expressed interest in dorming. 500 freshmen are planning and 700 higher classmen are anticipated. Priorities are freshman, EOF, foreign, geographically distant students, etc. Some dorming decisions will be based on which courses are offered in person.

 

CRW/EOF Decision: FAEC sent a letter to VP Romano and Provost Gaulden. We did not receive a reply and retain the same position that the move and eventual moving of these program was made without discussion by the previous Provost and CRW, at least, should be in Academic Affairs, where it was previously. Chris said there were assertions in the letter without data, which is untrue. Two assertions were based on who uses these and one argument was philosophical and how it was moved. There was no data used to move it to Student Affairs, a temporary move, thus why is there discussion of data to move it back? A request has been made to know which assertions are believed to be false.

 

There will be a meeting on Friday; Todd, the Provost and Dean Hangen will attend from Academic Affairs. This will be re-evaluated by the end of the year. The data behind the conversation is important. Who is using the CRW?  Friday’s meeting is about understanding the strategy of academic success at Ramapo and not about moving it back. A centralized resource for a variety of needs is not available at RCNJ. Students are sent to different places across campus to find out where to gain assistance other than CRW. FAEC does not disagree and feels this is an Academic Affairs discussion. A discussion was held about where this should lie and who would centralize these resources.

 

 

FAEC DISCUSSION 

Course Delivery Modes: Provost Gaulden distributed an email with very clear guidelines. There is much interest in in-person courses.

 

All of the above noted topics were discussed.

Meeting adjourned at 11:51am.

 

 

 

 

Categories: FAEC meeting Minutes 2021, RAMAPO FAEC, Uncategorized


Faculty Assembly Meeting, Feb 3, 2021

Faculty Assembly Minutes February 3, 2021

Presenters: 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 Rakotbe-Joel (ASB), Mihaela Serban (SSHS), Ed Shannon (HGS)

 

Meeting began at 2:17pm.

 

Assembly Minutes: December minutes will be approved via Qualtrics.

Guest: Provost Gaulden

Faculty Assembly President’s Report

New Meeting Format: Today’s meeting is being presented for open participation instead of an event to allow easier interaction. Please mute yourself upon joining the meeting. Please remain muted unless you are the speaker.

President Mercer: is unable to attend today. He is fine following an automobile accident.

SGA Rep: Angelina Farallo joined today.

BoT Chair Vallario: is attending. BoT members have been invited to attend Faculty Assembly meetings.

ARC Voting: will take place via Qualtrics.

January Faculty Assembly Retreat: A summary document has been distributed to the faculty and administration. The notes are also available on the FA website.

Faculty Handbook:  We discussed this at our last meeting. We are attempting to move this forward with the task force.

Presidential Search: This is ongoing. Naseem sends the faculty a link for the faculty presentation. The presidential website search has the links for the Town Halls.

 

 

PROVOST’S REPORT

Welcome:  Provost Gaulden welcomed us to the spring 2021 meeting.

Spring Operations Plan: This has been updated as of this morning with new language.

Cameras On: Students should meet with professors if they are unable to have a camera on. Be flexible and find ways to help students participate.

Recording Classes: This cannot be done with video unless the distributed release form has been completed and received from everyone.

Course Schedule:

  •     App: Thank you to Scott Frees for creating the course modifications app. Paper no longer needs to be filled out. It will allow instantaneous updating in Banner. It is very difficult to set up courses in banner requiring 5+ steps for each change.
  •     In-person courses: Labs and studio courses may need more in-person time. First year students would benefit from some on-campus in-person courses. Hybrids are encouraged with one day in-person/hybrid and the other synchronous allowing two courses to share a single class slot.
  •     Cleaning of classrooms: CDC guidelines require specific cleaning between meetings limiting the number of available hybrid classrooms.
  •     Fall 2021 Courses: While we do not know what is happening in September, we need to put a course schedule together. There are many unknowns. We will be able to make changes to course delivery methods as students will not commit to housing until August. Some forms of our course delivery methods will be retained after we return to normal.

Presently, many factors like CDC guidelines will inform how courses are delivered. Provost Gaulden has been receiving many suggestions from faculty. Once we are closer to normal, a task force may be involved. Students will be informed of the various course delivery formats.

In-person Room Priorities: Which courses will be prioritized? Enrollment was utilized to determine which classes needed the bigger rooms. Social distancing and wearing masks will be ongoing for the indefinite future. Unless one has a specific need for a larger room, speak with your dean.

Executive Order Requesting Remote Courses: How does this work with labs? K-12 parents can tell their district if their children will be fully remote. This executive order requires anyone who is immuno-compromised to be accommodated. What if a student does not want to come in? We cannot force a student to take an in-person course. Sometimes we can tell them to take another section or take it during another semester. We cannot tell them they cannot come to Ramapo College. We want all of our students to have their full academic experience.

Academic Integrity Concerns: There has been an increase in violations. Cheeg Study offers itself as a tutoring service; now they offer a premier option offering answers to questions within the hour. Unless a student uses a Ramapo email address, it is hard to know where those questions come from.

Hybrid Room Kits: These are working well.

 

Academic Review Committee Report (ARC): Chair Stephen Rice presented three proposals for faculty approval. 

ARC Voting Items

  1. Name Change: M.S. in Educational Technology (MSET) to an M.S. in Contemporary Instructional Design.
  2. New minor program in Graphic Communication
  3. New graduate program: M.S. in Applied Math and
  4. New graduate program: M.S. in Computer Science

 

Meeting Adjourned at 2:52pm.

 

 

 

 

 

Categories: Uncategorized


FAEC Meeting Minutes, Feb 10th, 2021

FAEC MINUTES 2/10/21

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 Rakotobe-Joel (ASB), Mihaela Serban (SSHS), Ed Shannon (HGS), Bonnie Blake, (Councilor-at-Large over 11, CA)

Guests: Sarah Carberry (GECCo Chair), Jeffrey Ellsworth (WAC Chair)

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

Minutes Approval: The 2/3/21 minutes will be approved next week.

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Meeting with President Mercer: Naseem and Scott met with President Mercer last week.

· Equal State Funding Per Student: President Mercer met with the NJ College Presidents about the formula for funding provided differently to each college. Ramapo has the 2nd lowest fund per student of all state schools.

· Review of Previous Week’s Meeting: Naseem and Scott shared with President Mercer what was reviewed with the Interim-President.

· Enrollment/Finances: We will know more over time. In-person courses will impact campus housing. The goal is 500-600 in-person courses.

· Vaccinations on Campus: President Mercer said with shortages, it is unlikely to happen until there are more vaccinations available. This would likely be a state site and it may not assure vaccinations of the entire Ramapo community.

Meeting with Interim-Provost Gaulden:

Spring Schedule Course Delivery Mode: A discussion was held about the email sent regarding the Rutgers plan. Faculty would appreciate a more structured plan of which courses/programs for which students the Provost determined would be best taught in-person. Which models would be best and how flexible are they? Ex: If someone commits to in-person and becomes ill, can the delivery model be changed? Much depends on vaccine availability. Provost Gaulden will send a detailed email on Monday to clarify some of the faculty’s questions.

Course Delivery: Registration may be pushed back a bit to allow clarification and delivery selections. We need more information provided to our deans at Deans Council. Faculty may be erring on the side of caution and selecting remote options. Deans are asking for more in-person offerings. If first year courses are prioritized, this means adjuncts and specific faculty will be more impacted than others. What happens if these professors need to remain remote for health reasons? Smaller convening groups have a harder time trying to meet the suggested percentages of in-person courses. There are many moving parts and we welcome clarification so faculty can understand and provide courses in needed models. Faculty would like the administration to prioritize Senior level course in the return to face-2-face or hybrid f2F delivery modes.

Faculty Assembly Committee Memberships: Faculty Assembly has a variety of committees, which will be reviewed to facilitate consistent reporting to each unit. FAEC will be asking FA representatives to committees to report out to FA on a regular basis.

FAEC DISCUSSION

Course Module Application: 1,800 more sections need to be added; 780 have been entered. The goal was to complete this by the end of the week. The Provost said Diane Couzens has made a presentation to show how this works; it will be shared.

In-person Course Limitations: We do not have the space to completely come back to campus and maintain CDC social distancing and cleaning guidelines. Some faculty are doing this already by splitting who comes to each in-person section.

Cleaning: Can classroom cleaning protocol be clarified? It is not happening consistently between classes. This constrains how many courses we can have in-person.

Remote course cap limits: Caps should not be increased as this would be problematic.

Facebook Vaccine Location Group: The New Jersey Covid-19 Vaccine Sites is a great resource.

Unit Council and Presidential Candidate Meeting: Next week promotions and reappointments are scheduled. This is at the same time as the faculty meeting with the candidate. Perhaps the deans can speak with the faculty about this. A shorter Unit Council meeting at noon would allow faculty attendance at 1pm and reconvening after. Reach out to your deans.

SARAH CARBERRY’S GECCo REPORT

GECCo will be meeting soon; the first was scheduled during the furlough week. This semester the plan is to do a syllabus audit of every course in the general education program. The syllabi will be solicited from faculty at the next Faculty Assembly. Feedback will be given to make sure there are appropriate assignments for assessment, etc. Changes can then be made for fall delivery.

JEFFREY ELSWORTH’S WAC REPORT

Jeffrey Elsworth is the new chair as of fall 2020. Bylaws are being reviewed to see if it is possible to follow-up syllabi updates to ensure they are being implemented.

Meeting adjourned at 11:34am.

 

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FAEC Meeting Minutes, Jan 27, 2021

FAEC MINUTES 1/27/21

 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 Rakotobe-Joel (ASB), Mihaela Serban (SSHS), Ed Shannon (HGS)

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

 Minutes Approval: The 12/2/20 minutes were approved.

 FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

 President Mercer:  President Choudhury and VP Frees will be meeting with President Mercer on Friday.

Provost Gaulden: President Choudhury met with the Provost.

Academic Integrity: Can we standardize this more across the college?

Fall 2021: What will be the delivery method(s) for fall 2021? In-person courses for the last few semesters were as follows: Fall: 100 courses, Spring 2021: 170-180 courses, Fall will likely be higher.

 Student evaluations: The email to remind faculty to encourage participation will be revised. Bullets that discuss incentivizing students and/or making evaluations part of assignments will be removed. 

AFT: Naseem will meet weekly with Martha Ecker, AFT Local President.

FAEC DISCUSSION

 Presidential Search: We discussed the candidates’ schedules and who would be attending from FAEC. A google document with possible questions will be solicited from faculty.

  •       President Maria Gallo: Monday, Feb. 1 and Tuesday, Feb. 2
  •       Dr. Lisa Vollendorf: Wednesday, Feb. 3 and Thursday, Feb.4
  •       Dr. Cindy Jebb: Monday, Feb. 8 and Tuesday, Feb. 9
  •       President Laurie Carter: Wednesday, Feb. 10 and Thursday, February 11

 https://www.ramapo.edu/presidential-search/finalists/

Faculty Handbook: We have waited a year and have not received anything. FAEC Task Force members are: Donna Flynn and Mia Serban. It seems unlikely we will have anything ready for a final vote this academic year.

 FA Bylaws: Members are Ed Shannon, Mia Serban, Christina Connor, and chairs of ARC, GECCo, and WAC, Steven Rice, Sarah Carberry, Jeff Elsworth, respectively. Revisions are needed. Discussions will be held in Unit Councils to start. Some sections are easier to revise and update.

 Covid-19 Testing & Missing Class: Naseem will follow up with Provost Gaulden regarding how this should be addressed; students have appointments with campus health services and need to miss classes. 

 College Archivist: FA may propose creating a position like this to keep records henceforth.

 Brown Bag Lunch Discussions: Perhaps we will introduce these to begin some discussions of topics between Faculty Forums.

 Student Academic Resources Support: Some students seem to not have been taught certain academic skills in high school. They would benefit from more campus resources.

 Academic Integrity Resources: The library has several resources to help students understand what is expected of them and why.

 https://www.ramapo.edu/library/citation-help/

https://ramapo.libwizard.com/f/FYSAITutorial

 Final Exam Schedule: The schedule is being revised.

 Graduation Applications: We have requested to have these streamlined.

 FA Funds: These will be donated to the student aid / relief, FAEC will contact Brittany Goldstein to begin this process.

Faculty Assembly: We will ask attendees to raise their hands, which will prioritize those individuals to the top of the participants’ screen so they can be called on.

 Faculty Retreat: A summary will be distributed.

Unit Council: Faculty should have Provost Council unit rep reports if they are not already being provided.

 Faculty Assembly: Chair of the Board of Trustees, Susan Vallario ,will be attending these meetings.

 

Meeting adjourned at 12:16pm.

 

Categories: Uncategorized


FAEC Dec 16, 2020

FAEC MINUTES 12/16/2020

 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 Rakotobe-Joel (ASB), Mihaela Serban (SSHS), Ed Shannon (HGS)

 Guests: Ashwani Vasishth (SSHS)

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

 Minutes Approval: The 12/2/20 minutes were approved. 

 FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

 Meeting with President Mercer: Scott and Naseem had a brief meeting with the President. They thanked the President for limiting layoffs this semester even though even one round was too many.

 Meeting with Provost Gaulden:

 Provost Council: Faculty would benefit from reading the minutes and policies. An example of an important policy is about remote teaching and course delivery guidelines. Some policies were voted on. Items included number of credits for Latin Honors, course caps, concentrations versus tracks, etc. Clarification is needed regarding concentrations and tracks for course and program design by faculty,

 Student Evaluations:

  •     This is not the same as the revised paper version; it is close but not the same. Hopefully, this will be fixed for next semester.
  •     Janet Faber was going to organize a folder for each promotion candidate but Fall 2019 is missing due to a scanning issue. Naseem will check.

 Sabbatical Announcements: These were due 12/3. FDF announcements were due 12/11 and have been moved to 12/18.

 Committee Decision Rationales: The Provost will ask committees to have rationales for recommendations.

 Personnel Decisions: The Provost wants to make sure there is enough time and to know more about applications, reviews, how often candidates have previously applied, as well as the rank of applicants. She will ask questions and not rubber stamp. 

 Personnel Handbook: The meeting has not been scheduled nor has an email been sent. Possible that ER plans to submit a completed draft without input from faculty. 

Connect/Advisement/CSS: Who does advisement? We need to discuss this.

GUEST ASHWANI VASISHTH:

Sustainable Development Goals: A two-fold program curricular co-curricular hub idea was proposed. One is a UN sustainability plan to be achieved by 203: Sustainable Development Goals (STGs) A number of colleges are using STGs linking courses to these goals. Ex: If a student wants to study poverty, they would have a master list of courses relevant to this topic. Clubs can also be mapped to STGS to create alliances. A second part would be to reach out to Bergen County to include STGs as well. This would include business management. ASB is working hard on this.  A faculty presentation is being considered. SGA involvement is very important.

FAEC DISCUSSION

Advisement: Faculty accountability seems to be part of the agenda. Students have more resources than ever with U.Achieve. There are competing opinions about documenting on Connect, for example. We need to discuss this with the Provost.

Mandatory Diversity Training: Nicole Morgan Agard made an announcement at FA. Faculty has questions. Timely announcements are needed and not 2 days before Unit Council, which likely has an agenda. Many instructors, adjuncts, etc. do not come to Unit Council; this is not the best way to reach all. Naseem will email Nicole about the weaknesses of using Unit Council and to find another way to make these announcements.

Susan Vallario: She asked if she could come to the Faculty Assembly’s open meetings. She will be invited. She attends SGA meetings and others on campus.

FA Morale Fund: If we donate the funds, will we lose our budget for future in-person meetings? Naseem will talk to Brittany.

January Retreat: planning in progress. 

Meeting adjourned at 12:32am.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Categories: Uncategorized


FA Minutes December 2, 2020

FACULTY ASSEMBLY
12/2/2020

Presenters: Ed Shannon (HGS, Moderator), Naseem Choudhury (President), Scott Frees (Vice President)

Guest Presenters: Susan Vallario (Board of Trustees Chair), Peter Mercer (President), Susan Gaulden (Provost), Eric Karlin (Presidential Search Committee), Nicole Morgan Agard (Chief Equity and Diversity Officer), Joel Weissman (Chair/Member of the Scholar’s Week Committee)

Kim Lorber (Secretary)

Meeting brought to order at 1:07pm.

Assembly Minutes: November minutes were approved via Qualtrics.

FACULTY ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Personnel Matters: Promotion, Reappointment, etc. has been something FAEC has been working on with the various constituencies on campus. Contact Janet Faber in ER if you have any questions. Tammi Redd is offering Faculty Development workshops. Send other questions to Jill Brown in HR.

PROVOST’S REPORT

Appreciation: The Provost reported on how well the faculty has worked to solve unanticipated problems. We seem to be on top of everything at this moment.

Student Evaluations: Will these be adjusted for remote teaching? Provost Gaulden has asked the faculty to review the current evaluation document.

Pass/Fail Fall 2020: Currently, we will not use this model. The date for withdrawal has been pushed back. The Provost Council is looking at the R/F grading policy (including repeating a non-failing grade). This is possibly going to be expanded to allow use for 4 courses or 16 credits. We are not looking at the Pass/Fail grading policy right now. Be flexible about Incompletes as requested. GPAs without data due to Pass/Fails can compromise financial aid, visas, and more. NJIT is allowing 2 courses to be pass/fail this semester. Last spring, Provost Gaulden found 1,000 students requested 2,000 grade changes; many were Bs or higher; some who earned As took a Pass grade, instead.

In-person courses Spring 2021: 185 courses will have some portion of meetings in-person of approximately 1,200 courses.

Incompletes: Extenuating circumstances can make students qualified, with justification, if needed; the usual requirement is completion of 2/3 of course work to qualify for an Incomplete. Faculty should use their best judgment.

Faculty Burnout: President Mercer acknowledged faculty burnout.

COVID-19 Positive Students: If they wish to have a medical incomplete, will they automatically qualify? What sort of documentation would be needed and to whom should it be sent?

Student Study Space: Why did 80% of students not know about the study spaces on campus? It is likely emails were not read; there will be more promotions of these spaces which will also be promoted via social media.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

COVID-19 Vaccines: These will not be available to the campus community unless someone is a first responder.

Budget: A cataclysmic event is not expected. We have 400 students in-residence and had hoped for twice that of 3,300 beds. Applications look good; these are down approximately 35% nationally, and ours are down by 18%. It is hoped this gap will be closed with incoming applicants.

New Board of Trustee Members: There are retirements coming up. Are there new trustees lined up?

BOT ADDRESS: Chair S. Vallario

Thank you: Chair Vallario has offered to the faculty the gratitude of the Board of Trustees for how we have managed during the pandemic.

New President: The Board of Trustees looks forward to working with the new president and to making a smooth transition.

ERIC KARLIN PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH REPORT

Search Update: Dr. Karlin provided an update about the search. More than 100 candidates were reviewed. Committee members voted for their top 5 candidates. The top 9 were interviewed remotely.  Finalists will be announced in December or early January.

NICOLE MORGAN AGARD REPORT, Chief Equity and Diversity Officer

Tamika Quick: Resigned. A Search Committee of 6, including Dr. Leah Warner as the faculty representative, is ongoing. A new hire is hoped to be announced soon.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: There is a task force of student, faculty and staff; more information will come.

Diversity Training: In Spring 2018, a training was held for faculty (not mandatory) and staff (mandatory). There was a lot going on in 2020 and it is hoped to be held in 2021.

Diversity Convocation: An announcement will be made in the Daily Digest. A strong keynote speaker is being sought. Updates will be provided soon.

FACULTY QUESTIONS

COVID-19 Cases on Campus: President Mercer said most cases are commuters. Provost Gaulden explained those who receive notification of a possible exposure does not mean those who are self-quarantining have tested positive; in fact they did not and are complying with CDC requirements.

 ANNOUNCEMENTS
Joel Weissman (Chair/Member of the Scholar’s Week Committee): The Scholar’s Week website has a few additional resources as compared to the past. This is to celebrate all types of scholarship by our students. It will be held for a week in April. Posters, recorded presentations, panel discussions, and other possible programming are forthcoming. Please let students in your classes know. See the Scholars Day FAQ General link. See the website: https://www.ramapo.edu/scholarsday/

Snow Days: This is being considered for mental health days. The Provost will get back to us. In-person courses would be snow days per the usual policy.

Dead Name Issue: Provost Gaulden is committed to finding a solution to this for students who wish to be called by their new/preferred name. Dr. Leah Warner is on this committee, which is working on a comprehensive policy to allow students to update their names. They are finalizing the draft, which will be presented to the Provost’s Council in December. There are a few places where the legal name is needed; otherwise the USED NAME would be implemented elsewhere throughout the College. Nicole Morgan Agard asked the faculty to respect and use the privately or publicly requested name.

 VOTING ITEMS

Academic Review Committee: Stephen Rice, ARC chair presented two voting items.
1.Name change: The Integrative Science Studies major has minor changes. Emma Rainforth is the convener. The proposal is to change the name to Business Studies concentration from Business Administration concentration.  2. A new minor in ASB is being created relevant to all academic studies. Entrepreneurship minor  includes Entrepreneurial Essentials, two other courses and a Capstone.

General Education Coordinator: A Qualtrics survey will be sent out including a third voting item. Emily Leskinen has volunteered to be the coordinator of the Systems, Sustainability, and Society category.

Meeting Adjourned at 1:56pm.

 

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


FAEC Minutes, November 11, 2020

FAEC MINUTES
11/11/2020

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

Excused: Thierry Rakotobe-Joel

Guests: Martha Ecker (AFT Local President)

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

Minutes Approval: The  10/21/20, 10/28/20, and 11/4/20 minutes were approved.

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Personnel Processes Deadlines and Details: These have not been provided and are needed in order for the FA President to set up the spring schedule. The new dates require MOAs. The process by which packages will be submitted also needs an MOA.

FAEC DISCUSSION

Snow Days: What will the College’s policy be this year? These could be good for morale, especially in light of cancelled Spring Break. Make up assignments would be required as usual.

CRW Letter: Multiple groups have contributed to a letter being sent to President Mercer about the needs of our students from the Center for Reading and Writing as relevant to specific courses, and students, overall, in light of diminished support for this important student service.

Help Desk:

·      A meeting will be held with Robert Doster about faculty needs. FAEC will send representatives.

·      Can students seek help with VPN and such issues from the Help Desk? Faculty have been told requests have not received responses.

Canvas: This is linked to Banner in keeping accurate student access to currently enrolled students, only. Also, will we be getting a more advanced version of Canvas with additional options available?

Faculty Retreat: Should we have this as well as a Faculty Forum? Perhaps we could have one and not both? Topic suggestions will be solicited at Unit Council next week.

Student Survey Responses: FAEC agreed to distribute to faculty.

U.Achieve: 4 year plan. Who should be developing these plans? They should be completed by faculty advisors.

AFT LOCAL PRESIDENT REPORT
Furlough Days:  We await final dates from HR.
HR/ER: Clarification is needed about who is responsible for what and timely guidelines and information are needed. The AFT President has sent a letter to President Mercer about specific concerns.
Promotion Guidelines: Information is needed regarding what should be submitted in an application and how. A new submission process requires an MOA. When will the number of promotion opportunities be known? Friday, 11/13/2020,  is currently the deadline and the faculty does not have information.

 

Meeting adjourned at 11:45am.

 

 

 

Categories: Uncategorized