APPROVED MINUTES FOR THE 6TH REGULAR MEETING
OF THE FACULTY SENATE
FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES-CAMDEN
APRIL 1, 2009
CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 12:20 p.m. in room 121 Armitage Hall, Dr. Andrew Lees, President, presiding.
- Dr. Lees indicated that in light of a conversation he had had with Dean Palis, Dean Palis’s intentions would best be conveyed by two changes in the minutes: (1) Line 5 under #2A should read that enrolments of first-year Arts and Sciences students were up by 19% in fall 2008; (2) On line 4 under #2C, the following phrase should be inserted after “2/2 load”: “as a result of their scholarship, their administrative responsibilities, or their status as assistant professors.” The Faculty Senate APPROVED, VOICE VOTE.
- Dr. Daniel Bubb, Chair of the Academic Policy Committee, having consulted with and received the consent of the Mathematics Department, recommended that Part B of the Quantitative Skills section of the General Education requirements in the catalog be modified to include course 50:202:301 “Statistics for Criminal Justice.” This course covers levels of measurement, measures of central tendency, and measures of variability, and acquaints students with inferential statistics, including correlation, chi-square, the normal curve, and hypothesis testing. Credit for adding the Statistics for Criminal Justice course to those that fulfill the General Education requirement of Quantitative Skills was APPROVED, VOICE VOTE.
- As Chair of the Academic Policy Committee, Dr. Bubb recommended faculty approval of Associate Dean Christopher Dougherty’s proposal for the designation of University College as a Servicemember Opportunity College (SOC). As one among some 1,700 campuses that already assist veterans and their spouses over the age of 25 through this program, University would be poised to accept new students from among the thousands of New Jersey National Guard who are returning to the state in June and July 2009. Servicemembers would receive college credit through the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) and/or the American Council on Education (ACE) Military Programs. It was recommended that policies regarding transfer of ACE and CLEP credits be adopted immediately and included in the next iteration of the Undergraduate Catalog. The AP Committee recommended that senators approve Dean Dougherty’s proposal due to the especially deserving nature of the veteran/students who will benefit from the SOC designation. By accommodating veterans, Rutgers will provide our campus with motivated, talented students; financial support (through the GI Bill); and doing the right thing. At the same time, committee members and senators expressed concerns that CLEP and ACE transfer credits would exacerbate troubling trends on our campus. First, transfer credits from CLEP and ACE could further inhibit an individual department’s ability to ensure student preparedness. Second, augmentation of off-campus programs results in greater access for some New Jersey residents, but also increases our reliance on parttime lecturers, ultimately dilutes our core educational mission, and contributes to a further loss of tenure-track. Finally, there were questions as to whether the proposal did enough to address the needs of our reservist and active military students. For example, what about students who are compelled to withdraw from classes because of being activated or deployed in the field in the middle of the semester? A motion was made to join the SOC consortium and accept CLEP and ACE transfer credits. The Faculty Senate APPROVED WITH 1 VOTE ABSTAINING.
- Dr. Joe Schiavo, Chair of the Scholastic Standing Committee, presented the Repeat Course Proposal with final recommendations previously suggested by the Faculty Senate. The proposal now reads: “Students receiving a grade of D or F in a course may use the repeat course option UP TO FOUR TIMES at any time during the course of their degree program. Exercise of this repeat course option is subject to the follow restrictions:
- This applies only to courses taken at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
- The option may be exercised only once for each course.
- Students opting to repeat must indicate their intent by prefixing the symbol R to the credit value of the course at the time of registration.
- Curriculum requirements in some departments and programs may exclude students from using this option. Students should consult their department chair or program director for eligibility.
Both the original and the repeated course grade appear on the student’s permanent academic record, but only the better of the two grades of the repeated course is computed in the cumulative grade point average. Degree credit allowed only once, when the course is passed the first time.” The Repeat Option Proposal was APPROVED, VOICE VOTE.
- Dr. William Saidel, Vice President of the Faculty Senate, announced that he is resigning as Vice President and he has declined the offer to be next year’s Faculty Senate President. He did so in order to protest President McCormick’s decision to appoint Wendell Pritchett as the Camden chancellor, regarding Dr. Pritchett as unqualified for the position.
The meeting adjourned at 1:20 p.m.
REPORT ON ATTENDANCE:
Members Present: A. Lees, W. Saidel, L. Bernstein, R. Evans, G. Kortsarz, J. Smith, R. Habib, A. Laguna, J. Rushing, A. Shankman, G. Verbrugghe, J. Still, M. Karel, S. Burrell, S. Chao, I. Roseman, S. Cosminsky, J-L Hippolyte, S. Rabinowitz
Members Excused: K. Vardanyan, E. VanderVen (on leave)
Members Absent: L. Burke, L. Vallone, E. Ledoux, G. Sill, A. Espiritu, E. DeMaray, H. Li, J. Dunn, J. Kehl, S. Duffy, R. Turner, G. Caputo, T. Goertzel, H. Herrera
Submitted by,
Laurie Bernstein, Secretary
Faculty Senate (AY 2008-2009)