Meeting of the CCAS Faculty Senate
Approved Minutes
September 26, 2023
The meeting was called to order at approximately 12:45 p.m., with CCAS Faculty Senate President Robert Emmons presiding. There are 29 Senators, including 2 officers and 2 senators-at-large. Of the 29 voting members, 22 were present. A quorum was met.
- A motion to approve the minutes of April 25, 2023, was made. The motion to approve the minutes was approved.
Voting record: 22 ayes, 0 opposed, 0 abstention.
- Courses and Programs presented by Alex Roche, Chair of the APC, for approval by the Faculty Senate:
|
Courses presented for discussion and approval by APC to Faculty Senate |
Voting Record |
||||||
|
Department |
Course # |
Course Title |
Credit Value |
New/ Revision |
Aye |
Nay |
Abstention |
|
Education |
50:300:305 |
Special Education |
3 |
NEW |
22 |
0 |
0 |
|
Gender Studies |
50:443:329 |
Sport & Gender |
3 |
NEW |
22 |
0 |
0 |
|
Health Sciences |
50:499:490 |
Capstone in Health Sciences |
3 |
NEW |
22 |
0 |
0 |
|
History |
50:512:307 |
Black Camden: Urban History and the African American Experience |
3 |
NEW |
22 |
0 |
0 |
|
Philosophy & Religion |
50:730:230 |
Philosophy of Love |
3 |
NEW |
22 |
0 |
0 |
|
Programs presented for discussion and approval by APC Committee to Faculty Senate |
Voting Record |
||||||
|
Department |
Minor |
Date when program will begin |
Aye |
Nay |
Abstention |
||
|
Education |
Education |
January 2024 |
22 |
0 |
0 |
||
I. Announcement from MARCH – Dr. Jillian Sayre
Dr. Sayre, director of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities (MARCH), presented to the Senate regarding a shift in MARCH’s focus on the environmental humanities. This includes fields like nature writing, land art, environmental histories, considerations of climate justice, environmental racism, broader questions of our relationship to the non-human world, animal studies. MARCH would like to create opportunities for conversations and collaborations among the campus and community members, as well as develop campus and community resources within the field through programming and research awards and research support. Some upcoming programs include: a public book club centered on popular environmental writing; an interdisciplinary research cluster project which is about bringing scholars working or interested in environmental studies to discuss their work (open to faculty, staff and grad students in any field). Dr. Sayre is available to discuss the MARCH program and involvement with the program further with anyone who might have additional questions.
II. Update on Constitution of the Committee on Shared Governance – Dr. William Fitzgerald
Dr. Fitzgerald shared an update on the new committee called Committee on Shared Governance. A decision was made to postpone launching and staffing the Committee until the spring and give the Faculty Senate a role to play in the process. Unlike other faculty committees that report directly to the dean, the Shared Governance committee reports directly to the Senate. Up to now, the Committee has been defined as one that will consist of six elected faculty members (two from each division) serving three-year overlapping terms, with the dean serving as ex officio. An idea is that at three of the committee members could be currently serving Senators, and the other three could be people interested in the issue related to the Senate and shared governance but aren’t necessarily serving on the Senate. Self-nominations are welcome to either Bill Fitzgerald or Robert Emmons for serving on the Shared Governance committee. The committee should take on the responsibility of deciding what kind of language that has been drafted up to now, resonates, and what the committee will do for Arts and Sciences to support the effort to maintain productive relationships with the administration.
III. Status of By-Laws Update
The President shared an update with the Senate on where things are with respect to edits on the Senate by-laws. Some discussions were had over the summer between Senate leadership and Dean Griffin regarding a plan for working on the by-laws, however, the discussions did not go very far. So far, the dean has made recommendations on the first section. There are additional recommendations on bringing clarity and updates to the by-laws, but it may be best to incorporate the Senate as much as possible in this task in a manageable way. The idea would be to draft and make decisions on those changes, to then bring the changes for a vote of the full faculty. Volunteers are welcome to be involved in the updating and editing process of the by-laws. The bulk of the clarity that is needed is on the committees and their responsibilities.
IV. New Business
No new business.
V. Announcements
The next meeting of the full faculty will be on October 17, 2023, from 3 pm-6 pm, in the Campus Center (MMR).
The meeting adjourned at 1:45 p.m.
Present: Ross Allen, Paul Bernstein, Margaret Betz, Michelle Carlin, Iman Dehzangi, Jamie Dunaev, Robert Emmons, Anthony Grasso, Rafey Habib, Osama Hamed, Evan Jewell, Hunter King, Ana Laguna, Randy Mershon, Susan Mokhberi, Alex Roche, Stass Shpanin, Sarah Tosh, Zara Wilkinson, Anthony Wright
Absent (Senators): Craig Agule, Margery Amdur, Jim Brown, Sean Duffy
Excused Absent (Senators): Brian Corbett, Xingyun Qi, Amy Savage
Present Senators-at-Large: Bart Everts, Nathan Fried
Absent Senators-at-Large:
Excused Senators-at-Large:
Present (Invited Guests): Sara Becker, William Fitzgerald, Dean Griffin, Ann Heidelberg, Joan Mazelis, Jillian Sayre
Drafted by Melinda Aviles, 10/24/23