University Senate Meeting
(Snow Day Cancellation) 

I. Standing Committee Reports

A. Academic Policies and Procedures – Martin Itzkowitz – Senators should gather feedback from their departments on two issues relating to the pass/no credit option: (1) Is there interest in raising the “P” to a standard of “C-” rather than “D”? Would this be feasible? (2) Do faculty members wish to know that students have enrolled on a pass/no credit basis, or would they prefer that only the Registrar have this information? Please pass any comments to Martin Itzkowitz before the February 16 meeting.

B. Campus Aesthetics and Environmental Concerns – Skeff Thomas –The committee coordinated, with the Campus Master Plan Committee, the following informational presentations on January 23, open to the entire campus community: NJHEPS (New Jersey Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability) by Peter Jansson, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) by Mary Acciani, and SmartGrowth by John Hasse. The committee will meet again on February 9.

C. Career Development – Sonia Spencer – Funding for Career Development has been approved. Candidates who prepared files for last year’s evaluation may update their material. Applications are due in the Senate Office by April 12.

D. Committee on Committees – Julie Peterson

E. Curriculum – Phil Lewis – Phil has agreed to co-chair a general education review committee currently being constituted by the University Senate. Volunteers for this committee should contact Phil as soon as possible.Curriculum proposals are due in the Senate Office by February 13.

F. Intercollegiate Athletics – Rob Sterner

G. Learning Outcomes Assessment – Anne Phillips - In accordance with the understanding of assessment promoted by the Pennsylvania State University Center for the Study of Higher Education; the National Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment; and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education; the LOAC has developed a draft of goals and proposals in order to specify how its charge from the Rowan University Senate is to be carried out. In addition, the committee has been instrumental in gathering data compiled in the draft of the Middle States Periodic Review Report for Standard 14, Assessment of Student Learning.

H. Professional Ethics and Welfare – Barbara Williams

I. Promotion – John Gallagher – All College-level promotion committees are in place. Due to adverse weather conditions, department promotion committees may request an extension of the College-level chair (with candidate files and department evaluations submitted no later than Friday, Feb. 6). Listed below are the chairs or conveners of the College promotion committees:
College of Business George Romeo
College of Communication Carl Hausman
College of Education Richard Fopeano
College of Engineering T.R. Chadrupatla
College of Fine and Performing Arts Robert Rawlins
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences David Clowney
Those College promotion committees with designated conveners should notify the Senate Office with the names of committee chairs as soon as possible.

J. Recruitment, Admissions, and Retention – Jay Chaskes – The committee will meet in February to discuss various issues of the admissions process for transfer students, including the availability of courses and transfer orientation.

K. Research and Technological Resources – Gabriela Hristescu – At its December meeting, the committee discussed some problems with the Rowan website and the web policy. The committee will meet again on Feb. 6 to discuss with Jay Kuder the feasibility of setting up a Research Advisory Committee.

L. Sabbatical Leave – Janet Lindman – The Sabbatical Leave Committee met three times during the fall semester of 2003. All members of the committee were present during the discussion of the candidate’s applications and the voting process. The committee chair and the AFT representative tabulated the results and ranked the candidates accordingly. Candidates were informed of their ranking by letter during the week of January 12, 2004, and the committee’s final report was submitted to Dr. Farish on Friday, January 16, 2004.
Nineteen candidates applied for sabbatical leave for the academic year of 2004-2005 and for the chronological year of 2005. There were 24 semesters of sabbatical leave available, and requests for twenty-five semesters of leave were submitted this year. One candidate withdrew his application at the last minute, which means there are an adequate number of semesters available for the eighteen candidates. This situation, however, is complicated by the deferral of sabbatical leave by last year’s candidates, which may reduce the number of semesters available this year. This year’s candidates have been informed about this complication and are aware it may affect their sabbatical leave.
One-semester sabbatical leaves will be funded at 75%, and full-year sabbatical leaves will be funded at 50%, in accord with the AFT contract. 

M. Student Relations – Lorin Arnold - The Student Relations committee met on January 28th. The committee discussed a proposed resolution regarding student participation in extra-campus activities; the interim free speech policy; and the current pass/no credit policy. At its next meeting, the committee will discuss possible changes to the withdrawal and leave of absence policy.

N. Tenure and Recontracting – Jim Newell

O. University Budget and Planning – Sandy Tweedie – The committee has met several times to prioritize FY 05 budget requests by division heads. This exercise has been completed and the information forwarded to President Farish.

II. Other Reports

A. Campus Master Plan Committee – Joe Orlins – A draft of the guiding principles of the various subcommittees has been completed and will be submitted to the entire campus community for review.

B. Senate Constitution Committee – Bruce Caswell, Karen Siefring – The committee has met twice, has reviewed constitutions from Senates of several other colleges and universities, and has set up the following subcommittees: Senate Membership, Committee Membership, Role of the Senate, Legal Issues, and the Senate’s 35th Anniversary Day. The subcommittees have been directed to begin their work and to be ready to report their progress at the next large group meeting, to be scheduled the third week in February.

III. Important Announcements

A. At the February 16 meeting we will discuss and vote on amending the Senate bylaws to include a Chairs Council as an all-University committee.

B. Those senators whose terms expire at the end of the 2003-04 academic year have been notified. Departments with senators whose terms expire should conduct elections and notify the Senate Office of election results by March 16.

C. Election of Department Chairs – All elections must be completed by secret ballot and reported to the appropriate Dean and the University Senate Office by April 30. The following are eligible to vote: 
All full-time permanent faculty, including those on leave.
All full-time professional staff assigned to a department, including those on leave.
All ongoing three-quarter time faculty and professional staff assigned to an academic department, including those on leave.
Ongoing three-quarter time faculty who fill one-year temporary positions are eligible to vote.
The following are NOT eligible to vote:
Faculty on full-time alternate out-of-unit assignments are not eligible to vote.
Temporary three-quarter time faculty who fill ongoing three-quarter time positions are not eligible to vote.More complete guidelines for department chair elections are available upon request from the Senate Office.