Meeting of the Faculty Senate
Approved Minutes
May 7, 2018
The meeting was called to order at approximately 11:25 a.m., with FASC Senate President Julie Still presiding. There are 38 Senators, including three officers, five senators-at-large, five senators on sabbatical, and two vacant positions (senators-at-large). Of the 28 voting members, 15 were present. A quorum was met.
Bill Whitlow presented an annual report of the General Education Committee. Several Senators expressed an interest in getting a compilation of courses and their coded categories under GenEd; if there is/will there be a “cap” on the number of courses categorized as a general education course? Could the list of courses be publicized? Could directions on how to submit a course be more transparent? Bill explained the website is still under development and should answer these and many more questions. In the meantime, info is shared with the department chairs for dissemination to department faculty.
- A motion was made to approve the minutes of April 23, 2018. The motion was Voting record: 13 ayes, 0 opposed, 2 abstentions.
- Courses presented by John Wall, Chair of the APC for approval by the Senate:
|
Courses presented for approval by APC to Faculty Senate May 7, 2018 |
Voting Record |
||||||
|
Dept |
Course # |
Course Title |
Credit Value |
New/ Revision |
Aye |
Nay |
Abstention |
|
Honors College |
50:525:170 |
Monuments and Memorials |
3 |
New |
15 |
0 |
0 |
|
English |
50:350:234 |
Graphic Storytelling |
3 |
New |
15 |
0 |
0 |
|
Computer Science |
50:198:447 |
Network Security |
3 |
New |
15 |
0 |
0 |
|
Childhood Studies Philosophy & Religion |
50:163:284 50:730:284
50:840:284 |
Philosophical and Religious Perspectives on Childhood |
3 |
New |
15 |
0 |
0 |
- Much time was spent discussing the role and responsibilities of the Senate with regard to approving the courses presented by the APC. Is the Senate to just “rubber-stamp approve” or make comments and edits? For instance, there was a question about the discipline in which the proposed Honors course will be taught? Is the focus literature, art, sociology, and/or history, etc.? Senators expressed that with the materials presented on the form 29, it is very difficult to determine the focus (in this particular case) and (again) is it the role of the Senators to ask this or the role of the APC? If it is the role of APC and they are satisfied with what was presented/vetted and presented for approval, then the Senate should accept this recommendation and approve it? Previously, the role of the Senate was not so much to examine the course but to make sure there were no conflicts with other departments, but we have morphed into “policing” as we have a much larger audience for reviewing (more department experts) and providing feedback to the APC. Nevertheless, are we then scrutinizing departments’ credentials and their ability to teach courses? In the past, we would invite departments/instructors to come to a meeting or ask for feedback to the Senate President, then a vote would be taken either at that meeting or online. Julie to investigate the roles and responsibilities of the Senate and the APC over the summer.
- The Senators unanimously accepted, with grammatical corrections, the draft resolution proposed at the meeting in April 2018 in support of including staff in administrative searches. Julie Still learned from the Search Committee Co-Chairs that the committee could not be changed at this time to add additional members and that several town hall meetings were conducted and opened to all faculty and staff to learn about the search process. Once the “short-list” of candidates is identified, faculty and staff will have an opportunity to meet, listen to, and question the candidates. Statement of support adopted by the Senate will be posted on the FASC Faculty Senate web site: https://senate.camden.rutgers.edu/university-senate-reports-and-resolutions/.
- Update regarding Academic Advising. Advising is making incoming freshman student schedules and could not meet with the Senate at this time but will be invited to a future meeting in the fall. Julie learned that all first year students are required to meet with the Academic Advising Deans. There are5 advisors for CCAS; 3 advisors for the School of Business; 2 Advisors for the School of Nursing: 1 advisors for the Honor’s College, and a few advisors for the School of Social work. Do we need more advisors? Dean Schiavo wants to be present when we invite Advising to a future meeting, as Academic Advising reports to him. About 5 years ago (Spring 2013?), Joan Mazelis was part of an Advising Task force headed by Julie Amon; Mary Beth Daisey was also part of this Committee. There were some working recommendations made but Joan is not aware of what had happened to that report/committee. Julie to see if she can find any historical information on this committee or a report on file. There was also some concern about the number of credits needed before a student can declare a major (60 vs. 75 credits). Also, want to confirm the role of the Writing Center and the services it offers.
- Plans for Senate for Summer/Fall 2018. If anyone is interested in brainstorming/having discussions over the summer on issues and suggestions for the following, please send Julie an email and she will coordinate the workgroups. Julie will send a note to the Senators to ask about interest in working on any/some/all of these areas.
- Advising
- Writing Skills and writing within the disciplines.
- Resources for students
The meeting adjourned at 12:15 p.m.
Present: Andrew Abeyta, Craig Agule, Paul Bernstein, James Boucher, Melanie Bowers, Kate Cairns, Osama Hamed, Michael Hayes, George Kumi, Christopher Lim, Rufan, Luo ,Emily Marker, Joan Mazelis, Kirsten Nussbaumer, Beth Rabinowitz, Julie Still
Absent (Senators): Ross Allen, Margery Amdur (Sabbatical), Kate Anderson (excused), Joseph Barbarese, Nawaf Bou-Rabee, James Brown (Sabbatical), Vacant position, 2nd Vacant position, Wayne Glasker, Angelica Gonzalez, Julianne Griepenburg, Jean-Louis Hippolyte (Sabbatical), Aaron Hostetter, Guy Kortsarz, Susan Miller, Silvia Perez Cortes, William Saidel, Amy Savage, Jillian Sayre (Sabbatical), Shauna Shames (Sabbatical), Richard Stansfield
Optional and noted (University Senators): Joseph Barbarese (absent), Joseph Schiavo (absent), Daniel Bubb (absent), Elizabeth Demaray (absent), Howard Marchitello (absent), Yuchung Wang (absent), Babu Dasari (absent) Jean-Louis Hippolyte (sabbatical).
Present (Invited Guests): John Wall, APC Chair; Bill Whitlow, Chair, General Education Committee
Drafted by Maria Buckley, Staff
Submitted by Wayne Glasker, Faculty Senate Secretary