Regular Meeting of the Faculty Senate
Unapproved Minutes
April 22, 2014
The meeting was called to order at 12:25 p.m.
- A motion was made to approve the minutes from the special meeting of the Senate on March 27. Paper copies of the minutes were not available at meeting time, but the minutes will be sent by email to the Senators, with a copy of the minutes of this meeting, for approval.
- Bill FitzGerald, on behalf of the Academic Policy Committee, presented courses for approval. There were over 100 courses submitted to the APC this month. Many were changes of course title and numbering, which the APC recommended for approval. For the sake of time, Bill respectfully took the liberty of assuming approval for those types of submissions, and only presented to the Senate new and revised courses for approval. Some of these new courses had been offered as Special Topics courses previously and were ready to add to the master course list. Unless otherwise stated, the courses were to run in Spring 2015 and later.
The courses considered for approval were:
|
Department |
Course number |
Course Title |
New/Revision |
|
Fine Arts |
50:080:201 |
Queer Art and Film |
Revision |
|
Political Science |
50:790:412 |
Civil Society and Political Development |
New |
|
Political Science |
50:790:408 |
Bureaucracy and Democracy |
New |
|
Political Science |
50:790:380 |
Women and Politics in Developing Societies |
New |
|
Political Science |
50:790:365 |
Gender Race and Public Policy |
New |
|
Political Science |
50:790:359 |
Politics and Media |
New |
|
Political Science |
50:790:357 |
Global Development |
New |
|
Political Science |
50:790:355 |
Political Behavior |
New |
|
Political Science |
50:790:354 |
Public Opinion |
New |
|
Political Science |
50:790:353 |
Interest Groups and Social Movements |
New |
|
Political Science |
50:790:349 |
Money and Politics |
New |
|
Political Science |
50:790:339 |
Chinese Politics |
New |
|
Political Science |
50:790:324 |
International Political Economy |
New |
|
Political Science |
50:790:220 |
The Socially Responsible University |
New |
|
Philosophy and Religion |
50:840:267 |
Justice Forgiveness and Reparations |
Revision |
|
Philosophy and Religion |
50:840:208 |
The Historical Jesus |
Revision |
|
Philosophy and Religion |
50:840:210 |
Paul and the Founding of Christianity |
Revision |
|
Philosophy and Religion |
50:840:215 |
Gods, Sex and Violence in the Old Testament |
Revision |
|
Philosophy and Religion |
50:730:264 |
Philosophical Ideas in Film |
Revision |
|
Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice |
50:920:317 |
Race in Latin America |
Revision |
|
Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice |
50:202:315 |
Cyber Crime |
Revision |
|
Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice |
50:202:347 |
Families and the Criminal Justice System |
Revision |
|
Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice |
50:202:346 |
Children and Families of the Incarcerated |
Revision |
|
Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice |
50:202:354 |
Death Penalty |
Revision |
|
Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice |
50:202:329 |
Forensics Lab |
Revision |
|
Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice |
50:202:348 |
Practicum: Center for Children and Families of the Incarcerated |
Revision |
|
Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice |
50:202:316 |
Violence in Prison and Jails |
Revisions |
|
Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice |
50:202:317 |
Serial Killers |
Revisions |
|
Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice |
50:202:328 |
Forensics Methods and Techniques |
Revision |
|
Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice |
50:202:327 |
Forensics |
Revision |
Bill said that he would be exploring, with Jennifer Pope, a new, automated form for submitting proposals to the APC and Senate.
A Senator posed a question regarding opportunities to submit additional courses for Gen Ed approval. Bill reported that he believed the Gen Ed Committee would accept proposals in the summer for new and revised courses, and would have an “open enrollment” period each semester to submit courses for approval. By the end of Spring 2014, departments will be told which courses have been accepted for Gen Ed requirements.
A motion was made to accept the courses as proposed. The motion was approved unanimously by voice vote.
- Jane Siegel, on behalf of the Admissions and Retention Committee, presented a proposal to require all students to declare a major by the time they have accumulated 60 credits. Students would be permitted to declare a major before that time and change it after that time. She said that studies had shown that students who have declared majors are more likely to complete their degree, so this proposal was expected to improve student retention. Approval of this policy would also strengthen the focus of mandatory advising, help students to stay on track with requirements, and bring our campus in line with New Brunswick and Newark. If students have not declared a major by the time they have reached 60 credits, an automatic hold would be put on future course registration until they have declared a major. The Administration, she said, has been looking at new registration systems which would have automated processes for declaring a major, but for the immediate future, a work-around would need to be developed. Currently, and until the work-around is announced, students would need to visit the Registrar’s office to declare a major. Students would be encouraged by the professional advisors to meet with a department advisor as well, but it would not be mandatory to meet with the department for advising.
A motion was made to accept to adopt the policy proposed. The motion was approved unanimously by voice vote.
- Bill FitzGerald gave an update on the college-wide learning goals proposal that will be an umbrella to Gen Ed requirements and the majors. Julia Still, Alysa Belanger and Bill FitzGerald continue to meet and work on the proposal and will have something to present at the first Senate meeting of the Fall 2014 semester.
- Tyler Hoffman gave an update on the Ad Hoc Faculty Senate Bylaws Review Committee, which continues to meet, and is trying to streamline Senate committees and persuade faculty members to serve on them. The Committee is looking at faculty senate bylaws from other institutions and will continue to work on their proposal over the summer. Any changes to the bylaws must be presented and voted upon by the faculty of arts and sciences. The Dean usually calls a meeting of the faculty of arts and sciences in the Fall. The Committee hopes to have something to present at that meeting.
- Tyler talked about faculty senate elections and leadership and the importance of serving. It is often difficult to find people to serve on standing committees and leaderships positions in the Senate. It is important, he said, for the Senate to insist on representation on and transparency from its committees, and to expect reports from those committees; to expect those who are elected and appointed to actively participate. Ty brought up some possible changes, such as requiring at least one Senator to serve on each committee and act as a liaison between that committee and the Senate. He also suggested that the Vice President of the Senate be the President-elect for the following year, to provide continuity. But Laurie Bernstein, who had agreed to serve as Vice President next year, said that she would not be willing to serve as V.P. if she were required to serve as President the year after. Ty assured her that any such rule would not be retroactive. Ty encouraged the Senators to “talk up” the importance of involvement with their colleagues. He said that it is up to the faculty to insist on shared governance – lead or be led.
A motion was made, and welcomed by Tyler, that he write a letter to be sent to all CCAS faculty, as a “recruiting” tool. The motion was approved unanimously by voice vote, and accepted by Tyler.
- There was no new business to report.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:15p.m.
Present (Senators): Margery Amdur, Laurie Bernstein, Paul Bernstein, Kate Epstein, William FitzGerald, Siqi Fu, Joseph Gerver, Carla Giaudrone, Osama Hamed, Tyler Hoffman, Aaron Hostetter, Cyril Reade, Ira Roseman, Bill Saidel, Carol Singley, Robin Stevens, Julie Still, Lorrin Thomas, Louis Tuthill
Present (Faculty): Jane Siegel, (invited administrators) Julie Amon, MaryBeth Daisey
Absent: Alysa Belanger, Grace Brannigan, Courtney Cavanaugh, Kenneth Elliott, Michael Fortner, Rajiv Gandhi, James Gennone, Wayne Glasker, Katrina Hazzard-Donald, Jean-Louis Hippolyte, Kenneth Hohing, Simeon Kotchoni, Haisheng Li, Charlotte Markey, Beth Rabinowitz, Alexander Samokhvolov