November 12, 2008 Senate Meeting

Posted in Faculty Senate Minutes.

APPROVED MINUTES FOR THE SECOND REGULAR MEETING
OF THE FACULTY SENATE
FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES-CAMDEN
NOVEMBER 12, 2008

CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 12:20 p.m. in room 121 Armitage Hall, Dr. Andrew Lees, President, presiding.

  1. The December 10th meeting will begin with the approval of minutes from both the September 24th and November 12th Senate meetings.
  2. Daniel Bubb, Chair of the Academic Policy & Courses of Study Committee, presented Form 29s for Faculty Senate approval:
    1. Minor changes in Computer Science courses did not need Faculty Senate approval.
    2. Fine Arts proposed two new courses:
      1. Video I, a nexus of theory and studio-based work, addresses the emerging field of Video Art. This course considers the ways contemporary artists create time-based, non-narrative works of fine art and offers a history of this recent art form. Students create studio works that utilize two and three-dimensional art practices, found footage, common technology, and new media.
      2. Advanced Video and Film Production will explore the key components of independent video production. Each student will develop a project from pre-production to post-production. Students are required to attend the first class with a film treatment for a solo project. The final project will include a production book and a final cut of the project. Faculty Senate APPROVED, VOICE VOTE.
    3. Psychology proposed to include several courses that had been offered under the Special Topics category among their regular offerings. The Psychology Department indicated that the courses will be open to non-majors so long as students have prerequisites. Faculty Senate APPROVED, VOICE VOTE.
    4. English updated its offerings to reflect the reduced faculty workload, creating new offerings so that the areas of expertise of new faculty members can best be utilized. Faculty Senate APPROVED, VOICE VOTE all courses. The new course, “Ten Books I Should Have Read in High School,” was also approved, pending a new title. It was suggested that English clarify the course description for the catalogue.
    5. Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice requested approval for a student-proposed major, but it was determined that this was under the purview of the Academic Policy & Courses of Study Committee.
    6. It was suggested that the Academic Policy & Courses of Study Committee place Form 29s on the web in order to save paper and give Senators an opportunity to examine new course requests prior to Faculty Senate meetings. The Sakai site for the Senate was recommended for this purpose. Dr. Bubb indicated that the committee would indeed prefer to receive Form 29s electronically.
  3. Campus computer security issues: At the December 11th meeting, Senators were informed that all Rutgers computers bought on budget-related accounts are Rutgers property and under the control of Harold Winshel’s office. Because software cannot be uploaded without permission, professors often become frustrated when they await help with installation. Someone suggested that it might be best not to accept computers through the University. There was discussion about exchanging views electronically. It was suggested that the AAUP be contacted to see if it could be a holding site for blogs under Senate supervision. RAMS (Rutgers Automated Mailing System) on the Senate website would be a good forum for public information, however RAMS has no memory; information goes out and is gone.
  4. Paul Bernstein, Chair of the Committee on Student Life, reported about security issues in the wake of the robbery of a student at gunpoint in Parking Lot 7 and his meeting with the campus police (his report is on file). He described the student’s experience with campus police and detailed new measures for improving campus security, i.e., 215 security cameras, maintaining Cooper Street as a “safety corridor,” and increasing the numbers and visibility of security officers. The Senate stressed the importance of alerting students of their need to dial 6009 or 8 for a campus emergency. (When they dial 911, the message goes off campus and thus requires more response time.) They also noted that inattention from security guards, an issue that students have raised, is not acceptable behavior.
  5. Dr. Joseph Schiavo’s Academic Forgiveness Policy was APPROVED, VOICE VOTE with a small wording change.

Meeting ended at 1:20.

MEMBERS PRESENT:
Lees, Saidel, Bernstein, Evans, Burke, Kortsarz, Ledoux, Sill, Laguna, Cosentino-Dougherty, Shankman, Verbrugghe, Karel, Vardanyan, Kehl, Roseman, Cosminsky, Hippolyte, Copeland, Vogt

MEMBERS ABSENT:
Habib, Espiritu, Demaray, VanderVen, Still, Li, Thierry, Turner, Caputo, Goertzel

MEMBERS EXCUSED:
Vallone, Smith, Burrell, Dunn, Chao, Herrera

Submitted by:
Laurie Bernstein, Secretary
Faculty Senate (2008-2009)