FAEC Minutes 11/20/2019

FAEC Minutes 11/20/2019 

Faculty Assembly Executive Council [FAEC] Meeting Minutes

Date: Wednesday, November 20, 2019  | Location: A 226  | Time: 10:30 am to 12:00 pm

Attendees: Tae Kwak, Donna Flynn, Roark Atkinson, Hugh Sheehy, Eva Ogens, Scott Frees, David Oh, Kathy Zeno, Christina Connor 

Secretary: Nakia Matthias

I.  FAEC Minutes Approved 

II. Three Plus One Programs (TPO) Meeting 2:30-4:00pm, A-226

The Provost will attend the TPO Programs Convener’s Meeting, on Wed., Nov. 20th at 2:30 pm to 4pm in A-226.  Program Conveners and Representatives from convening groups are expected to be present during the meeting.  According to the provost, some of the rough details have not been resolved relative to RCNJ’s TPO agreement with Passaic Community College (PCC).  The institution has an operating transportation shuttle that can add an additional stop which could be Ramapo College. This way students would be able to commute to RCNJ’s campus. Chris Romano insisted that a shuttle link between PCC and RCNJ cannot be used as this has not been negotiated between the institutions in tentative TPO agreements.  Some faculty have expressed a preference for online TPO engagement as their campus-based classes are currently at capacity. 

TPO’s should follow the same policies and guidelines that all programs go through in the ARC process.  Hybrid courses could potentially be used means to introduce TPO’s. This can be one way to circumvent any ARC approval process as the body does not regulate course delivery.  Additionally, deans can submit programs when they are new and therefore can submit TPO’s for ARC review. Deans have devised and submitted model TPO programs to the Provost.

The registrar is considering a policy to grant credits to students that enter in RCNJ under a three-credit scheme so they can have enough credits to satisfy the TPO. Students in possession of associates degrees technically do not have enough credits to graduate in a TPO program.  Students would have to earn 38 credits in their 4th year which does not add up. 

The provost agreed to provide a TPO cost benefit analysis in FA and FAEC meetings since September but has not done this to date.  The provost confirmed that TPO’s would allow students to attend their third year at their respective community colleges which does not require the two-year institution to use RCNJ syllabi.  TPO’s would work with existing courses in the third year of the program at institutions that maintain such agreements with RCNJ.

Under prospective TPO’s community colleges requested Psychology and Communication program content but the conveners of these programs have the right to disapprove of TPO’s. Conveners’ involvement in discussions with the provost positions the administration to presume that the faculty have been involved in TPO discussions.  FAEC expressed that TPO’s are happening in the margins without faculty input

There is a need to delineate college-wide versus specific issues at the convening group level. It was proposed that concerns about TPO’s can be devised a the TPO Convener’s meeting and later presented to faculty during the December 4th FA meeting in the presence of President Mercer and Provost Becker. Those present at the TPO Convener’s meeting can assemble a working list of questions which can be circulated among faculty in advance of the FA meeting to garner input about concerns and priorities for addressing TPO’s.  Questions raised by faculty must be entered into the official record of the FA meeting. It was also proposed that a survey can be disseminated to determine which questions to ask the provost during the next FA.

FAEC will request that the administration refrain from hiring any new administrators to facilitate TPO’s

III. DCP Programs 

Faculty in DCP programs have not been engaged or involved in the process of their development and facilitation. It is now known that the Marketing DCP program was terminated by the Dean of Enrollment Management and Trish Laprey, Director of the Adult Degree Completion Program. This decision was made without faculty consultation.  Faculty was excluded in discussions about staffing for the program.  The Marketing DCP experiences pre-requisite and sequencing issues.  Graduate students are not included in any cost-benefit analysis for DCP’s. The provost suggested that DCP programs can function as a model for TPO’s. Some of the five-year review programs will also involve a review of the DCP’s 

IV. AFT Affairs

AFT is planning to line the corridor of the 5th floor in ASB at1:30 in wait for the BoT to attend their special meeting in the boardroom. Earlier in the day AFT membership stood in solidarity in AFT T-shirts at the President’s Committee on Campus Sustainability event, Confronting the Climate Crisis: Ramapo’s Reckoning with Reality.

 V. Miscellaneous

Shared GovernanceTask Force: The original Shared Governance TF (2016-17) had been jointly charged by FA and the Provost’s Office to define Shared Governance for Ramapo College and to make recommendations.  Plans to create a follow-up Shared Governance Implementation TF, also jointly charged by FA and the Provost’s Office, have been put on hold as PAC seems to be in the process of implementing the 2017 recommendations.  We will see how this goes.

The deadline for self-nomination for the office of FA president is next Wednesday

Meeting Adjourned at 12:00 pm

Categories: FAEC MEETING MINUTES 2020, RAMAPO FAEC