APPROVED MINUTES FOR THE 5th REGULAR MEETING
OF THE FACULTY SENATE
FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES-CAMDEN
April 12, 2005
CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 12:27 p.m. in room 121
Armitage Hall, Dr. Allen Woll, President, presiding. Dr. Woll welcomed everyone to the
last Faculty Senate meeting for this academic year.
1. The March 1, 2005 Faculty Senate meeting minutes were reviewed, with one
change in title status from “Dr.” to “Ms.,” and with counting William Saidel as
having been absent during the March 1 meeting. APPROVED, VOICE VOTE .
2. Dean Nancy Gulick distributed copies of the Candidates for the Degree of
Bachelor of Arts and the Bachelor of Sciences for May 2005 graduation. She
noted that there are 410 candidates and that one student is graduating with
three majors (Computer Science, Economics, and Mathematics). After
correcting three name spellings, the Senate APPROVED, VOICE VOTE
candidates, pending approval by the Department Chairs and candidates
satisfactorily completing the necessary courses.
3. Associate Provost Mary Beth Daisey presented an update on the Academic
Integrity Committee, reporting that it is developing new university-wide
guidelines designed to boost faculty reporting of violations. The new policy
would reduce the number of levels of violation from four to two, reflecting
separable (for stealing work, selling papers, and other major breaches) and nonseparable
offenses. The separable cases will be addressed as they are now,
with an appeal process in place for students found guilty. Non-separable
offenses will be handled by the instructor, who would have a conversation with
the student, determine an appropriate sanction, and then report the offense to
the Office of Student Life so that a central record would be kept on file. The
Office of Student Life would still be available for guidance and assistance.
Several Senators indicated that they do not feel that a change in the policy is
necessary because the system has worked well for them in the past. Associate
Provost Daisey indicated that New Brunswick is not happy with the current policy
since there has been considerable underreporting of student offenses. Senators
were urged to e-mail Associate Provost Daisey at daisey@camden.rutgers.edu
with their views on these proposed changes.
Associate Provost Daisey also reported on the Degree Audit Program, which will
allow students to access their transcripts on line and see which courses they
have taken and which they still need to fulfill their majors. With this new system,
students will also have a chance to declare their major/minors earlier than they
do now. A draft will be posted by early summer, and the program will be
available for advisors by September 2005 and open to students in January 2006.
(Some, but not all, minor programs are currently in the system.) Students will
be able to submit hypothetical scenarios, e.g., “What if I change my major?” It
was noted that advisors will have a place to post and save notes on the
students’ on-line file, so there cannot be any chance of miscommunication
between student and advisor.
4. Changes to the Master Course List (Form 29) were next considered by the
Senate. The English Department wants to add the course, Writing Workshop
(W). This course, offered as a Freshman Seminar, will familiarize students with
the workshop method of learning to write, and carry the “W” designation. The
department has been using the course, Introduction to Creative Writing, as its
Freshman Seminar; but that course does not satisfy the “W” requirement
because it lacks a research component. It was suggested that the course
number be changed from 304 to 204 to prevent it from being mistaken for an
upper-level course. With the number change, Writing Workshop was
APPROVED, VOICE VOTE.
The Computer Science Department submitted the existing course in the
Mathematics Department’s M.S. Program, Signal Processing, to be cross-listed
with the Computer Science undergraduate program. The Computer Science
Department considers this course as appropriate for computer science majors in
their senior year. The Director of the Mathematics Department ’s M.S. Program
agrees with cross-listing this course. This cross-listing was APPROVED, VOICE
VOTE.
The History Department requested that the course, Tudor and Stuart England,
which was taken off the roster when James Muldoon left Rutgers, be brought
back for a newly hired department member who would like to teach it. The
course considers religions, political, and social developments from the
Protestant Reformation through the seventeenth century. The Tudor and Stuart
England course was APPROVED, VOICE VOTE.
A new course, “Evil,” was presented for Senate approval to be taught in
Philosophy (730:333) and Religion (840:333). This course examines the
phenomenon and meaning of evil, especially “moral” evil. Key questions include
how evil may be explained, why humanity is capable of it in the first place,
whether it belongs to some or all people, how to differentiate its perpetrators and
its victims, whether evil is compatible with the existence of a good God, and how
one may judge the difference between evil and good. These and other
fundamental questions are pursued through a range of historical and
contemporary texts and in relation to examples of evil in today ’s world. The
course “Evil” was APPROVED, VOICE VOTE.
5. Associate Provost Chris Dougherty discussed the proposal to extend admission
for a B.A. in Liberal Studies degree program at Western Monmouth Higher
Education Center in Freehold. Students must have at least 60 credits
(Associates Degree) to be admitted into Rutgers liberal arts program at
Freehold. The entrance requirements for this off-campus program are different,
and students cannot transfer to another Rutgers location. The Liberal Studies
Degree program at Western Monmouth Higher Education Center was
APPROVED, VOICE VOTE.
6. William Saidel discussed plans for the Planning and Budget Committee. He
indicated that there is a lack of Masters and Ph.D. programs in Camden Arts and
Sciences. This is because Rutgers does not want to duplicate programs within
the University. The Provost has said that there is no money for expansion;
money for Camden must come from other campuses. Dr. Saidel pointed out that
every member of the Board of Governors is from a county north of Princeton;
there are no proponents for Camden. The Committee has had a very difficult
time trying to set up a meeting with the Board of Governors. Anyone with
suggestions, please forward them to Dr. Saidel within the next year.
7. Richard Epstein, Chair of the Rules of Procedure Committee, requested that
faculty members volunteer for the two vacancies on the University Senate. He
explained that it is necessary for Camden to have representation at the meetings
which are held in New Brunswick. The question was asked: why can ’t these
meetings be video conferenced? Dr. Epstein also noted that there are currently
four openings on the A&P committee, two each in the Social Sciences and
Natural Sciences. He strongly urged everyone to talk to colleagues to get them
to volunteer for the open positions.
8. The Faculty Senate ran out of time. Ms. Julie Still will e-mail her report on the
workload balance proposal to those who request it from her at
still@camden.rutgers.edu.
The meeting adjourned at 1:26 p.m.
REPORT ON ATTENDANCE:
Members Present: A. Woll, R. Epstein, W. Saidel, S. Katz, R. Lopez, R. Ryan, M.
Dillon, L. Thomas, J. Rushing, A. Lees, J. Still, M. Nerurkar, M. Greipp, K. Shienbaum,
N. Marmorstein; I. Roseman, J. VanTil, J. Siegel, G. Caputo, W. Glasker, Jean-Louis
Hippolyte*, J. Schiavo, R. Tarbell
Members Excused: G. Kortsarz, R. Cowley, N. Sulik
Members Absent: J. Dighton, J. Ma, J.T. Barbarese, J. Baird, W. Lee, C. Brown,
Submitted by,
Laurie Bernstein, Secretary
Faculty Senate (AY 2005-2006)
*Please note that Jean-Louis Hippolyte was excused from meetings during his leave in
Fall 2004.