Minutes of October 25, 2004

University Senate Meetin

In Attendance: Jim Abbott, Pat Alexy-Stoll, Herb Appelson, Bryan Appleby-Wineberg, Lorin Arnold, Joe Bierman, Greg Biren, Lori Block, Larry Butler, William Carrigan, Bruce Caswell, Joe Coulombe, Joanne Damminger, Roberta DiHoff, Richard Earl, Robert Fleming, Tom Fusco, John Gallagher, Kathy Ganske, Dorie Gilchrist, Judy Holmes, Gabriela Hristescu, Karlton Hughes, Cristina Iftode, Martin Itzkowitz, Frances Johnson, David Klassen, Lee Kress, Kristyn Kuhlman, Denyse Lemaire, Phillip Lewis, Mary Marino, Mark Matalucci, Robin McBee, Eric Milou, Janet Moss, Bela Mukhoti, Esther Mummert, Joe Orlins, Julie Peterson, Anne Phillips, Robi Polikar, Kathrin Quigley, Hector Rios, Charles Schultz, Karen Siefring, Christopher Simons, Kathleen Small, Mickey Smith, Rob Sterner, Don Stoll, Eileen Stutzbach, Skeff Thomas, Sandy Tweedie, MaryBeth Walpole, Michael Weiss, Barbara Williams

Noted Absences: Jim Newell & Tricia Yurak

Not in attendance due to Tenure & Recontracting hearings. Jay Chaskes not in attendance due to illness. Not in Attendance/Represented by Alternate: Eric Constans represented by Hong Zhang, Not in Attendance: Ihsan Isik, Ellen Miller, Bela Mukhoti.

I.Motion to approve non-Senate members (WHIT reporter) to remain present for the meeting,                   seconded and carried.

II.Motion to approve Agenda. Request to begin meeting agenda with B.A. in Education curriculum               proposal, seconded and carried.

III. Motion to approve minutes, seconded and carried with following corrections:

Section IV. Committee Reports
-University Budget & Planning
-paragraph 1, sentence 1/corrected “At the meeting of the committee on August 25th, and it was              reported that part of the deficit from prior years has been covered.”
-paragraph 1, sentence 3/deleted Section V. Remarks to Dr. Donald Farish, University President
-paragraph 2, sentence 1/corrected “Anne Phillips reported inappropriate comments being made to       women students by construction site workers in and around the townhouse construction site. IV. Comments of Senate President: Bruce Caswell
Bruce reported an increase in the volume of work in the Senate office; committees have been added to the Senate, curriculum proposals have increased significantly, tenure and recontracting hearings have increased significantly (18 hearings this semester). There is a need for another part-time/permanent position for the Senate due to the increase in Senate responsibilities. Bruce has put in a request with the Provost and the President’s office. Bruce also thanked Esther and Susan for their good work under difficult circumstances.
V. Curriculum Committee: B.A. in Education reported favorably by Eric Milou, Chair, on behalf of the            Curriculum Committee. Announced that the B.A. in Education program revisions were reviewed at an      open hearing on October 18, 2004. Motion to approve the B.A. in Education on the Senate floor,              seconded. Presentation by C. Hasit and D. Cook followed by discussion. Hasit gave a brief back-              ground regarding code changes that resulted in the Education Program revision. Cook reported on          the revisions of the New Jersey Department of Education Certification changes which necessitated          changes in the B.A. in Education Program. The program has been in revision for the last year and            one-half. Students will benefit with the changes due to the scope of courses and more frequent student teaching opportunities throughout the program. Students will be required to prove their knowledge and skills from the beginning of their coursework until the end of the program, as numerous benchmarks will be required by students throughout the entire program. Motion carried unanimously.

VI. President’s Report: Bruce Caswell.A. Senate vacancies: Joanne Damminger will be leaving the Senate to accept her new position as Executive Assistant to the VP of Student Affairs. Julie Peterson will be leaving the Senate to accept her new position as Special Assistant to the VP of Student Affairs. An election will be conducted to replace Joanne and Julie as Professional Staff representatives to the Senate. Pat Mosto will be leaving the Senate as Senator at Large to accept her new position as Interim-Associate Provost. An election will be conducted to replace Pat as Senator at Large on the Senate. The Senate indicated its best wishes to Joanne, Julie and Pat.

B. Policy on taping Senate meetings: The issue of taping of Senate minutes has been raised, precipitated by an administration request for copies of the September 27 tape. It was discussed whether the minutes should continue to be taped, who should have access to prior and current tapes, and if all tapes should be destroyed. Motion to have the Professional Ethics & Welfare Committee review the matter, seconded and carried. Motion to continue taping minutes for this meeting, seconded and carried.

C. Background checks: After a review of discussions that have occurred on campus, it was moved and seconded to establish an ad hoc committee, to be announced and confirmed by email, to develop this issue, possibly to include an open forum with the university administration. Skeff Thomas wanted it clear that the Temco employees continue to be subjected to background checks. Motion to approve ad hoc committee carried by vote of 33 yeas, 22 nays.

VII. Committee Reports

A. Committee on Committees: Frances Johnson. A notice went out for replacements needed on the Campus Master Plan Committee. Those interested in serving were invited to attend a meeting on October 8th. This resulted in eleven applications, with the list as follows:
Jerry Spencer, Computer Science
Keith Brand, Radio/TV/Film
Gary Itzkowitz, Composition & Rhetoric
Melissa Cox, Center for Academic Success
Neil Toporski, Instructional Technology
John Imperatore, Director of Facilities Resource Management
Berhe Habte-Giorgis, Marketing
Kaye Passmore, Art
Stu McGee, FPA
Douglas Cleary, Engineering
Motion to remove an administrator involved in the video-taping of employees, John Imperatore, was defeated. Motion to accept the list was carried with 3 nays and and three abstentions.

B. Research Committee: Robi Polikar reported and moved the adoption of the following charge to the committee:
The research committee monitors research and research services on campus to identify and address issues of research interest. The committee Makes recommendations for (I) promoting research and research awareness on campus; (II) meeting resource needs for research; and (III) establishing policies to ensure that research related issues on campus are addressed appropriately. The committee solicits, compiles and disseminates input from the campus community to ensure that the faculty, staff, students, and administration are aware of current research efforts, resources and challenges. (Resolution #041025-2)
Motion to approve charge of committee, seconded and carried with one abstention.

C. Technological Resources Committee: Gabriela Hristescu reported and moved the adoption of the following charge to the committee:
Monitors technological resources to insure that the services and resources meet the needs of the campus community in research and academic pursuits. By soliciting and compiling input from the campus community, the committee attempts to insure that the faculty, staff and students are aware of the current services on campus that can/do support these efforts. Responses to a periodic faculty and staff survey will insure that a collaborative effort exists in developing recommendations to enhance the University Vision in the areas defined by the committee charge. (Resolution #041025-1)
Motion to approve charge to committee, seconded and carried with one abstention.

VIII. New Business

A. The General Education Task Force report was tabled until the next meeting on November 22, 2004.

B. The Ad Hoc Constitution Committee’s charge was extended to the end of this academic year by unanimous vote.

IX. Announcements

Skeff Thomas announced the Campus Clean-Up Day, sponsored by the Center for Volunteerism, Wednesday Nov. 10th, and encouraged participation.

• X. Motion to adjourn, moved, seconded and approved, 12:05 PM
  
  XI. Committee Reports Submitted in Writing
  
  Campus Aesthetics and Environmental Concerns: Skeffington Thomas
  Last year’s CAEC annual committee report was circulated to bring the new members of the committee up to speed on work the committee was doing. Specifically, the environmental resolution passed by the committee last year was incorporated in to the Guiding principles of the Rowan Master Plan. With a new campus planning/architectural firm soon to be contracted, the participation and involvement with members of the CAEC committee and the master planning process is important. With the impending discussion on renovating or replacing buildings, the NJHEPS, smart growth and LEED standards need to be incorporated into capitol projects wherever possible. It was also recommended to have Ms Bayard and representatives from Temco return to update the committee on campus recycling efforts.
  It was recommended to set up a campus tour with Russ Seagren, Director of Capitol Planning, Glenn Brewer, Director of Operations and Ed Thompson, Director of landscaping, to bring the committee up to speed with current and upcoming projects.
  Suggested places to visit:
• Chain link fence/ Intramural field
• PV placement sites
•  Fraternity ‘plot’ sites
• Rowan Hall landscaping

New townhousesArts Inclusion for the Science building has not been completed. The work has not yet been scheduled for installation.
David Wilson has been commissioned for the artwork in the new Education Building. This artwork will be installed upon completion of construction.To date no discussion has begun for Arts Inclusion in the Townhouse project. It is recommended the CAEC Committee have a representative on the planning committees for this project. It was suggested to consider using arts inclusion money allocated on a project that would bridge the townhouses to the parking garage.
Special Presentation-Peter Jansson, Julie Murphy-Engineering clinic -
PV installation on campus. A presentation was made by participants in an engineering clinic for placing a bank of Photo voltaic cells on campus, and wiring the bank of panels to a building. The CAEC committee supports the project and will aid in determining the sighting of the PV bank. It was recommended for the presentation to be made in front of the master Planning Committee meeting on October 8.A presentation was made in conjunction with a request from the National Pan Atlantic Council to establish a location on campus for member organizations such as fraternities and sororities so have a ‘plot’. This could take the form of a small monument or a bench with a plaque on it.
A discussion followed regarding design standards for exterior furniture, location, and landscaping. The use of naming benches on campus may be utilized for fundraising from alumni. This practice is used at other institutions.
It is anticipated the NPAC will return to the committee with a refined proposal. The CAEC committee is willing to participate in the process to find a solution to accommodate the various interests.

Academic Policies & Procedures: Lorin Arnold
The committee met on 10/20. Issues discussed included academic dismissal, transfer credit evaluation, undeclared majors, and the course repeat policy. For the academic dismissal issue, a policy previously proposed in 1999 was approved by the Senate in Spring 2004. The Provost is now working on its implementation and the ramifications thereof. The committee may need to come back to this issue once the decision is made about it. Transfer credits are an issue due to unevenness of policies across programs and the lack of a university guideline with relation to how age of credit may, or may not be relevant. With regard to undeclared majors, students are currently permitted to wait until the completion of 60 credit hours to declare. The new Gen Ed model may require adjustments to this number. In regard to the course repeat policy, it appears that some students are repeating a significant number of their courses. The university may wish to take a position on what percentage of courses can be repeated. Committee members are gathering information from their constituencies and with regard to other institutions about these issues.Career Development: Lee Kress
The committee has not met as yet. The Chair has been trying to get a revision of the due dates for action by the administration and the committee. This was recommended by last year’s committee and passed by the Senate in its May 2004 meeting. The Union was contacted repeatedly over the summer for a renegotiation of this issue. The Union responded that the administration has not responded to its request for a session to discuss the matter. However, it is on a negotiations meeting agenda, scheduled in the near future.Chairs Committee: Bob Newland
Do to the new position of Pat Mosto as Interim Associate provost, the Chair Council met on October 15th and a new Coordinator was nominated. The new Coordinator is Dr. Bob Newland, Chair of Chemistry and Biochemistry.Curriculum: Eric Milou
On October 18, 2004, the University Curriculum Committee met and reviewed SCC#04-05-319: B.A. in Education
The proposal passed the University committee unanimously with the following minor changes:
(1) Advising sheets to be completed for all dual majors
(2) Continue to address concerns in the letters of consultations
(3) Computer Science requests a meeting with respect to “Computing Environments”
(4) Math department wants assurances that elementary education and early childhood have at least 6 sh of math content in their programs
(5) All letters of consultations be placed on the Senate webpageRecruitment, Admissions, and Retention: Joanne Damminger
Following introductions, the members of the committee discussed the need to elect a new chair since Joanne will no longer be a member of the Senate after November 1, 2004 due to her new position on campus. The election will have to wait until new Senators are elected. Joanne will have someone convene the next RAR meeting and will inform the convener of election procedures.

The 2004 Annual Committee Report was reviewed as a starting point for discussion regarding relevant issues for the upcoming year. The topics of increasing diversity among staff and students and assisting in improving the University’s 6-year graduation rate were mentioned as possible areas of concentration. Issues related to not having enough available courses for transfer, undeclared, and change of major students for such students to experience various majors and apply in a timely fashion were concerns.

Joy Cypher discussed the current status of the Enrollment Management Committee (EMC). She informed RAR that EMC had not met yet this fall, and was unsure if it would be meeting monthly or only on an as-need basis. She said that undeclared students and the concern for transfer students were 2 issues that were discussed previously in EMC as well.

Regarding meeting the needs of current students to enter and graduate in majors of choice, Bill Carrigan brought up the increase in history majors partly due to the changes in the College of Education with dual major choices reduced to nine. He expressed concern about the lack of resources of teachers and courses for such high numbers and the resulting impact on graduation. Jeff Margolis and Joanne Damminger explained changes in the COE regarding elementary education’s dual majors, special education becoming an endorsement, and the change in subject matter teaching certification. Jeff also spoke about the need to increase diversity, which is also being addressed by the COE’s NCATE diversity committee of which Jeff is a member.

Chris Simons expressed the need to look at capped majors to learn how they became capped and if the cap is still necessary. John Clifford spoke about the possible need to look at job outlook as the University discusses capped majors and related issues.
Alisa Hogan informed the committee about recruitment and how recent recruits interested in the education major may have chosen other universities because of the competitiveness of Rowan’s education programs.

At the conclusion of the discussion, it was decided that the two issues originally mentioned at the onset of the meeting – increasing campus diversity and the effect of capped majors and lack of courses on 4-6 year graduation - should be considered for discussion by the RAR committee. These issues will be recommended for discussion to the new chair. (It is the objective of the committee to gather information by inviting various campus administrators to speak with the committee?) It is intended that the resulting additional information will lead to committee recommendations that may assist the University in resolving these issues.

Sabbatical Leave: John Gallagher announced that the Provost’s office supplied a list of faculty and librarians including data on those eligible for submitting applications for sabbatical leaves for AY 2006 and CY 2006. The Senate Web Page was updated to show the application deadline (November 12, 2004) and updated procedures from passed Senate resolutions this past spring.The application form on the Senate Web Page was updated to include the latest changes in the process.All-campus email was sent on October 20, 2004 announcing the process for application and the deadline and calling for applications. Campus mail announcements and call for applications will also be sent.A meeting with Mr. Zazzali, the Senate President, the AFT President, the AFT Negotiator, and the Sabbatical Leave Chair will be held shortly to discuss issues regarding holdover leave recipients and whether semester leaves (past and present) will be funded at 100% salary or will they remain at the contracted 75% level. An organizational meeting of the Sabbatical Leave Committee will be held before the first week of November.Technological Resources: Gabriella Hristescu
Neil Toporsky attended as an invited guest, and he passed out a report on the recent activities of the Instructional Technology department. It included many comparisons of Fall 2001 and Fall 2004. He briefly ran through the following:
a) The SAMS software application management software, plans to write a software policy (if needed, including for the purchasing of software) and his goal of reducing the amount of software licenses on campus to save money. He was concerned with reducing licenses for software that is under-utilized, not cutting necessary software.
b) IT wants to have more homogenous (‘ubiquitous’) images for Macs and PCs across campus, to make it easier for users to move from machine to machine, and for IT to use a Ghost (imaging) casting server to allow IT to ghost machines from a remote location.
c) The Rowan Virtual Meeting (RVM) application for synchronous communication and presentation between/at multiple sites.
d) Continuation of the Innovations in Teaching Using Technology Grant.
e) Upgrading of IR’s training rooms.
f) Faculty computer ‘tune-ups’ would continue.
g) Technology Enhanced classrooms (TECs, a.k.a. ‘smart’) have risen from less than 15 in 2001 to 45 today, and will reach 88 when the Education building is completed. New TECs will have wireless projectors, and he is looking into ‘semi-smart’ classrooms that will just have a wireless projector. Gabriela asked about customizing some TECs classrooms for particular departments or uses, and Neil acknowledged that as part of the plan. Steve asked about non-wireless connections for new ‘semi-smart’ rooms and Neil intimated that that was not likely to happen (IT could supply the appropriate wire-less cards).
h) Use of WebCT is on the increase.
i) Neil was looking to install Hitachi EM Starboard displays in some/all/new(?) TECs. These are computer monitors that are also touch screens, so an instructor can annotate the currently-projected image. Dex asked how document cameras were purchased. Eileen Stutzbach said that although the original 8 TECs all had Elmo’s, not all TECs would get them, and some are not being used (and Rob 324 got the document cam second hand from Engineering). She also said that TECs will not necessarily be uniform.At this point the session became more question-and-answer.
a) Dave Klassen asked about getting quick technical support for situations where the instructor is In the middle of class. Dex raised the issue that the Technological Support sub-committee of the last Provost’s task force had addressed this issue in its report to Tony Mordosky and the last Provost. As chair of this committee Jerry Spencer acknowledged that the report has been delivered, but he has heard not heard back. Jerry also distributed the Executive Summary of the Tech Support sub-committee.
b) Gabriela asked about the ‘Groupwise issue’ that, last spring, was said to be dealt with last summer. Neil said that about 800 people have been moved over to Exchange from Groupwise, with about 800 more to go. Outlook-with-Exchange is how most PC users will read e-mail.
c) Gabriela asked about the network. Neil. said that the real problems were two fold. Our internet connection to the outside world was not very good, but now we have a 40MB ‘pipe’. Mark Sedlock said that the other issue was that the 2000-plus students bringing their computers to campus meant that in the fall there was an influx of viruses.
d) Neil said that there was now enough money so that buying computers for new faculty and upgrading computers for ‘old’ faculty could likely follow a 4-year cycle.
e) Jim Haugh asked Neil about it staffing-how much did he think he needed? Neil did not answer this right away, but instead returned to his report showing that his staff count had actually dropped from 11 to 10, when other measures of services or work had risen dramatically. He eventually said that he did not think it likely that his staff count would increase much, if at all. Joe Bierman asked about the staffing again, relating his situation in Radio/TV/Film, and asking what should the ‘model’ be for getting technical staff in different buildings/departments. Neil and Mark pointed out that the two staff in the Engineering building, and the one to be in the Education building are indeed IT people who report to IT. NO model was given on how to procure staff, but the consensus was that having IT staff physically-dispersed, yet centrally-reporting, made sense.
f) Gina Tang asked about how the software inventory and SAMS might affect software purchases. Neil said that first he needed to know what was out there, but it sounded like there would be no real changes in who-is-responsible-for-purchasing-what. John Hasse asked Neil to keep in touch with what software departments want/need, because they may not be using what they want or have software in their labs that they don’t need.Change of Committee Charge: At this point Gabriela moved the following revised committee charge, which was passed unanimously:Monitors technological resources to insure that the services and resources meet the needs of the campus community in research and academic pursuits. By soliciting and compiling input from the campus community, the committee attempts to insure that the faculty, staff and students are aware of the current services on campus that can/do support these efforts. Responses to a periodic faculty and staff survey will insure that a collaborative effort exists in developing recommendations to enhance the University Vision in the areas defined by the committee charge.2) The Web policy that we worked on last year did not pass because of one paragraph. Gabriela pointed out the new paragraph and said that we had to vote on whether to approve it or not at the next meeting.3). We then had a very lively discussion on configurations for new computers in the labs. The current ‘plan’ seems to be that new computers in labs and for faculty will not have floppy drives or zip drives. Discussion covered various points, including the fact that some students do not have computers at home, some students and faculty still rely on floppy and zip disks for turning in projects, and that the technology wave of the future is leaving floppies and zip disks behind, whatever we think. Joe said the big issue was whether to have a deadline for quick and complete change-over, or whether to have a transition policy. There was a consensus that there would be one or two computers in each open lab with floppy drives and zip drives. For faculty, two possibilities were suggested. When faculty ‘order’ a new computer, they be given a check box option to ask for a zip and or floppy drive. Each department could have one or two external drives (at least one floppy and one zip) to ‘pass around’ to those who need it for file transfer.Scholarship Committee: Pat Alexy-Stoll

There will be a meeting on Monday, November 8 at 11 a.m. in Room 226 of the Library.