Meeting of the Faculty Senate
Approved Minutes
April 26, 2017
The meeting was called to order at 12:25 p.m., with FASC Vice President Wayne Glasker presiding.
- A motion was made to approve the minutes of March 22, 2017. The motion was approved unanimously by voice vote. It was requested that future minutes record the number of votes on motions that come before the Senate.
- Student Success Initiative: Dean Kriste Lindenmeyer thanked the Senate for inviting her to talk about the upcoming initiative for the Fall 2017 semester, Course Initiative for Student Success (CISS), and explained how it will benefit both undergraduate and graduate students. Undergraduates will receive help through one-credit “gateway” courses designed to help them adjust to college, manage their time, become familiar with university resources, and succeed in the attached 3-credit course. Success in the one-credit course also has the potential to help boost student GPAs. Master’s level students (“CISS Scholars”) who teach these gateway courses will benefit by receiving a $1,700 stipend per course each semester, as well as a $10,000 scholarship. English, History, Criminal Justice, and Psychology will be participating in the program this coming fall.
Questions from the Senate floor, followed by Dean Lindenmeyer’s answers:
“Why not recitation sections?”
We don’t have the funding or room. Unlike recitation sections, the gateway courses are not mandatory.
“What if a department does not have a graduate program?”
Chairs can come up with a model that suits their programs, e.g., by bringing on a graduate student from another department.
“Who will supervise the CISS scholars?”
Supervision is the responsibility of the instructor of the related three-credit course who would,ideally, be a full-time faculty member or a long-standing part-time lecturer. Departments will be asked to keep records of their efforts, which should include crafting a separate syllabus for the gateway course.
“Will the CISS scholars receive training in pedagogy?”
The new CISS scholars will be invited to participate in part of a multi-day training workshop for English Composition instructors, after which they will work with the regular course’s instructor for department or discipline-specific departmental training.
“How will students be enrolled in these courses?”
Academic Advising, which creates schedules for all incoming first-year and transfer students, will determine which students should be automatically enrolled in the gateway courses. If a student withdraws from the one-credit course, Advising will be able to place another student in the course, with attention to the standard drop/add timelines.
Aaron Hostetter volunteered to report on the program to the FASC in the 2017-2018 academic year.
- Julie Still, on behalf of the Academic Policy Committee, made a motion to approve the following courses. Courses were approved by voice vote as recorded in the right-hand columns.
|
Courses presented for approval by APC to Faculty Senate
|
Voting Record
|
||||||
|
Dept |
Course # |
Course Title |
Credit Value |
New/ Revision |
Aye |
Nay |
Abstention |
|
Childhood Studies |
50:163:275 |
Children and War |
3 |
New |
20 |
1 |
4 |
|
Latin American Studies |
50:590:389 |
Latin American Studies Learning Abroad |
BA |
New |
21 |
1 |
3 |
|
English |
50:989:319 |
Web Design and Information Architecture |
3 |
New |
25 |
0 |
0 |
NOTE: Jennifer Thiel had previously agreed to contact the Registrar about loading onto Degree Navigator all newly approved courses for the Master Course List. Department chairs were encouraged to follow up with the Registrar and Advising to confirm that courses have been added, edited, or removed.
- Volunteering for committees: tabled because Rich Epstein could not attend.
- The following proposal on teaching evaluations was circulated to the FASC in response to efforts from New Brunswick to have all students complete course evaluations electronically:
1.Whereas the best information available to the Faculty Senate at this time suggests that only a fourth or a third of students complete the online course evaluations, despite the efforts of faculty members to encourage students to complete them;
- And whereas the results of an evaluation based on such low participation are not necessarily representative of student opinion, and the validity of these results are highly questionable;
- And whereas student participation is considerably higher when paper forms are distributed in class, under appropriate supervision;
- And whereas course evaluations are used to judge the teaching of faculty members for purposes of re-appointment, promotion and tenure;
The Faculty Senate strongly urges the Chancellor and Provost of the Camden campus, and responsible administrators in New Brunswick, to do everything in their power to preserve the use of paper course evaluations for departments that wish to use them,
And the Faculty Senate urges that no decision be made to discontinue the use of paper evaluation forms without prior consultation with the Chancellor and Provost at Camden, the Deans of the respective schools, department chairs, and the Faculty Senate.
Senators noted that less than 25% of enrolled students bother to complete evaluations, therefore the results are unreliable. (At this time, it is not feasible to tie the completion of evaluations to the release of grades.) Senators also pointed out that evaluations focus on likability and other factors, rather than on teaching and learning, and that not only do evaluations contain documented biases against women, minorities, and instructors perceived to be foreigners, but that when they are submitted electronically, evaluations are particularly biased. Senators will revisit these issues in the future, but at this time they voted on the above proposal. Voting recorded: 21 ayes, 3 opposed, one abstention.
- Gen Ed program: Bill Whitlow reported that there are 5,400 seats available for students in RUC’s Fall 2017 general education courses, handed out a chart listing the distribution of seats in each of the general education categories, and thanked the Registrar Terri Cristofaro for her assistance.
- New business: The Senate thanked Janet Golden and Laurie Bernstein, neither of whom will be returning to the FASC next year, for their service.
A motion was made and approved to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 1:15 p.m.
Present: Wayne Glasker, Laurie Bernstein, Angelica Gonzalez, Amy Savage, Kate Cairns, Guy Kortsarz, Osama Hamed, Joseph Barbarese, Aaron Hostetter, Margery Amdur, Paul Bernstein, James Boucher, Silvia Perez Cortes, Susan Mokhberi, Nawaf Bou-Rabee, Haisheng Li, Christopher Lim, Eric Chwang, Richard Jimenez, Tim Knievel, Shauna Shames, Bill Whitlow, Joseph Cutuli, Lauren Daniel, Melanie Bowers, Michael Hayes, Richard Stansfield. (25 voting members in total)
Absent (Senators): George Kumi, Janet Golden (excused), Keith Green, Katherine Anderson, Chinyere Osuji. (4 voting members in total)
Present (Campus Senators-at-Large): James Brown, Stacia Gilliard-Matthews, Jean-Louis Hippolyte, Joan Mazelis, William Saidel
Optional and noted (University Senators): Joseph Barbarese (present), Joseph Schiavo (absent), Daniel Bubb (absent), Elizabeth Demaray (absent), Howard Marchitello (absent), Yuchung Wang (absent), Babu Dasari (absent)
Present (Invited Guests): Julie Still, Kriste Lindenmeyer, Terri Cristofaro, Mary Beth Daisey
Drafted by Maria Buckley, 05/04/2017
Submitted by Laurie Bernstein, Faculty Senate Secretary