Meeting of the CCAS Faculty Senate
Approved Minutes
March 28, 2023
The meeting was called to order at approximately 12:45 p.m., with CCAS Faculty Senate President Beth Rabinowitz presiding. There are 37 Senators, including 3 officers and 3 senators-at-large. Of the 37 voting members, 26 were present. A quorum was met.
- A motion to approve the minutes of March 7, 2023, was made. The motion to approve the minutes was approved.
Voting record: 25 ayes, 0 opposed, 1 abstention.
- Courses and Programs presented by Alex Roche, Chair of the APC, for approval by the Faculty Senate:
|
Courses presented for approval by APC to Faculty Senate March 28, 2023 |
Voting Record |
||||||
|
Department |
Course # |
Course Title |
Credit Value |
New/ Revision |
Aye |
Nay |
Abstention |
|
English and Communication |
50:350:440 |
Research Methods |
3 |
New |
26 |
0 |
0 |
I. Active Shooter Preparations
Jason Ronca, Police Sergeant – RUPD, presented to the Senate some of the major points that are covered during Active Shooter presentations, which include: how to define active shooters; violence as a process (observing and acknowledging warning signs); how RUPD is trained for these situations and how the campus community can prepare for active shooter situations; “Run (if you can, and warn others of the situation), Hide (if there is no option to run; cover vs. concealment), Fight (RUPD will respond to threats)”. Presentations, which are open to faculty, staff and students alike, run for about an hour long, and are available in either an interactive setting or auditorium style. RUPD can be reached at 856-225-6111, 24/7, as well as by dialing 911.
II. Bylaws
The amendments to the Senate bylaws received a quorum and are thus passed. As part of next steps, the Senate President has written to Dean Griffin requesting a meeting of the full FASC faculty, where the amendments will be presented for a faculty vote. A quorum will be necessary for the amendments to fully pass and be incorporated into the current bylaws. The purpose for the amendments stems back to the Chancellor crisis and concern that there is very little faculty input and/or faculty voice. This is a starting point to rectify the concerns as well as make the faculty committees more efficient, responsive, interactive with Administration. If the dean calls a meeting of the full FASC faculty, he will preside over such a meeting.
III. Senate Resolution
The Senate President presented to the Senate for a vote, a resolution drafted and modeled after the resolution that the larger New Brunswick Senate passed, in response to President Holloway’s emails (one to students, one to faculty) suggesting that picket lines are criminal and that striking is illegal. President Holloway’s emails are viewed as a form of intimidation. A motion to pass the resolution was made and approved.
Voting record: 26 ayes, 0 opposed, 0 abstentions.
IV. Changed Syllabi Procedures
Joan Mazelis, Gender Studies director, has received some concerns about the syllabus policy about posting syllabi either publicly or at least available to students where they can access them at any time, regardless of their student status. This policy has been in place for approximately 10 years, but has not been followed, thus resulting in Assoc. Dean Siegel reaching out to departments requesting this be complied with. The concerns surrounded around courses being taught as critical race theory or gender issues, that could potentially become targets in this political climate. A compromise was that syllabi can be posted behind NetID login, so anyone with an active NetID can access the syllabi.
V. Concern about New Consultant for Advising
Concerns were brought to the attention of the Senate President about the consultant hired to oversee/redesign advising on campus. Central concerns:
- This was under the auspices of the Provost and Vice Chancellors, when they are in fact not guiding advising. Concern of misplaced power to someone who should not be doing this type of work.
- We actively have other consultants working on similar projects. How would this dovetail with them?
- Staff have been interviewed about goals, so that the consultant can advise on how to achieve goals. There was no clear mandate prior to what the general goals were.
- Concern that the consultant is moving toward technologically changing the way things are done. Will this create another Salesforce-like debacle, and how do we mitigate that?
Asst. Dean Thiel discussed her experience with the consultant as the first appointment on campus. The meeting was an individual interview and addressed advising practices on the Camden campus specifically as well as in general. Findings from meetings with previous consultants were not released for reasons unknown. This new consultant indicated that interview findings would be shared with the Provost’s Office, and it would be their prerogative on who else it would be shared with.
Dean Griffin discussed how the consulting process comes purely from the Provost’s Office. There is a need to look at advising across all the units at Camden to coordinate advising structures across units. It seems A&S is the marker for other colleges, due to how well it is being done. If there is an issue with A&S, it’s capacity and heavy loads. Hopefully this will come out as a finding in the consultant’s report. Dean Griffin would ask to see the consultant’s report once available and will share with faculty what is permissible.
VI. New Business
Not discussed in the interest of time.
The meeting adjourned at 1:50 p.m.
Present: Ross Allen, James Boucher, Iman Dehzangi, Sean Duffy, Jinglin Fu, Anthony Grasso, Julie Griepenburg, Rafey Habib, Osama Hamed, Holly B Humes, Nick Kapur, George Kumi, Ana Laguna Smith, Randy Mershon, Kayla Preito-Hodge, Xingyun Qi, Beth Rabinowitz, Jovanna Rosen, James Rushing, Stass Shpanin, Lorrin Thomas, Sarah Tosh, John Wall, Zara Wilkinson, Anthony Wright
Absent (Senators): Margery Amdur, Paul Bernstein, Jim Brown, I-Ming Chiu, Jamie Dunaev, Anthony Geneva, Aaron Hostetter, Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn, Nate Wright
Excused Absent (Senators):
Present Senators-at-Large: Bart Everts
Absent Senators-at-Large: Nathan Fried, Paul Jargowsky
Excused Senators-at-Large:
Present (Invited Guests): Dean Griffin, Joan Mazelis, Alex Roche, Srgt. Jason Ronca, Asst. Dean Jennifer Thiel
Drafted by Melinda Aviles, 4/6/23