September 30, 2021FAEC Meeting Minutes, Sept 22, 2021

FAEC MINUTES 9/22/21

 Present: Naseem Choudhury (President, SSHS), Bonnie Blake (Councilor-at-Large over 11, CA), Katie Cohen (Library), Donna Flynn (Councilor-at-Large under 11, TAS), Ken McMurdy (TAS), Kim Lorber (Secretary), Lisa Lutter (CA), Thierry Rakotobe-Joel (ASB), Mihaela Serban (SSHS), Ed Shannon (Vice-President, HGS)

Guests: Virginia Galdieri (Assistant Vice President, Human Resources and Benefits Administration); Janet Faber (Assistant Director, Employee Relations & Faculty Services (AFT) )

 Vote to bring meeting to order at 10:07am.

 Minutes Approval: The 9/8/21 and 9/15/21 meeting minutes were approved. 

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

 Spring 2022 Course Schedule: Provost was asked to reconsider not having the virtual option. Questions were asked about Winter and Summer courses, too. Spring 2022 will be hybrid, online, or in-person. There will be no Webex synchronous or asynchronous courses. There are specific guidelines for online courses; recorded asynchronous lectures cannot be used. Traditional online is without meetings or face-to-face.

 Printer Paper: Refuse collection has been clarified to the faculty via Provost’s email. Printers remain in offices; some units have a budget for printer cartridges, others do not. Paper will be provided.

 Faculty In-Service Next Week: The hybrid meeting will be run by the bylaws and handbook committees/taskforce. This will be for faculty only in ASB 136 and via Webex. The meeting will be at 1:15pm after the noon-1pm State of the College by Dr. Jebb.

 DEI Training 9/15/21: This was discussed.

FAEC DISCUSSION

COVID-19 Contact Tracing: Faculty have concerns about contact tracing when a student in their class tests positive for COVID-19. 

Does the faculty member have an obligation to disclose to the students that someone who attended the class tested positive? We need more clarification on these issues.

HR/ER GUESTS (Virginia Galdieri and Janet Faber)

Faculty Handbook Update: Committee  meetings have resumed.  Handbook revisions will be discussed at the Faculty In-Service. Janet will reach out to Rachel Budin to organize committee updates. There is nothing new to report since the last FAEC presentation. This was not worked on during the summer.

Promotion/Reappointment Software: This would be great instead of Google docs. This was discussed in the past and would be welcome if future submissions will be electronic.

Contact Tracing Concerns: Contact-tracing issues (see above) were brought to the attention of the guests. One consideration is whether students in the class are all masked; another is whether there was “close contact.” This could be difficult to assess and problematic for various reasons. Pandemic Assessment Team will discuss this further and provide clarity.

NEW BUSINESS

Faculty Assembly Meetings in the Spring: The meetings will be in-person or hybrid. We will follow Dr. Jebb’s guidelines. Staff is required to be in-person.

Unit Council: Will be fully face-to-face next semester.

Convening Groups: The meeting mode will be determined by each group.

Elections: ITS liaisons are Bonnie Blake (CA) and Thierry Rakotobe-Joel (ASB). Most FAEC representatives are finishing their terms so elections will be held.

 

Meeting adjourned at 11:58am.

 

 

Categories: FAEC MEETING MINUTES 2020, FAEC meeting Minutes 2021, RAMAPO FAEC, Uncategorized

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September 9, 2021FAEC Minutes, August 2, 2021

FAEC MINUTES 8/2/21
2:00 pm
ASB 431

Present: Naseem Choudhury (President, SSHS), Bonnie Blake ((Councilor-at-Large over 11, CA), Scott Frees (TAS, Vice President), Katie Cohen (Library), Donna Flynn (Councilor-at-Large under 11, TAS), Ken McMurdy (TAS Incoming Representative), Kim Lorber (Secretary), Lisa Lutter, (CA), Thierry Rakotobe-Joel (ASB), Mihaela Serban (SSHS), Ed Shannon (HGS)

 Guests: President Cindy Jebb, Interim-Provost Susan Gaulden

 Vote to bring meeting to order at 2pm

  INTRODUCTIONS

THOUGHTS FROM DR. JEBB
Thank you: for welcome to the College and the faculty’s efforts throughout the pandemic.

Thoughts: Fall plans, equity, what have we learned that we will wish to sustain. We need to be vocal and empathetic to trauma anyone may be experiencing. How can we soften this? We do not know what will come next from the State so we must remain adaptable. Student wellness is a great concern. There are two classes of students who will be experiencing their first courses on campus; we must make sure they know about resources available to them. Faculty should be accessible and approachable.

Resources: We will have a system to which we can provide our ideas of resources we would like to have. Are there wellness resources for faculty and staff as well as students? Can there be a centralized website that will be updated with all policies from OSS, The Counseling Center, etc. that can be highlighted on our Canvas pages that will always be up-to-date?

Compassion: Students may have had losses or other challenges they wish to discuss. The faculty will remain empathetic as always.

Anxiety: Many in the college community are experiencing anxiety. Everyone will have to submit vaccine information or be regularly tested. Many are concerned about family members.

Daily Digest: Can HR provide an updated vaccine webpage or something searchable as information in the Daily Digest cannot be searched.

Vaccines: The vaccine implementation team is working on vaccine verification. 1,400 of 4,000 students who will be on campus this fall have submitted documentation. We have a vaccination clinic and will extend the dates. We need to mitigate risk. There is a significant number of students who are waiting for final FDA vaccine approval. International students will be arriving on August 18th and will be able to get the vaccine on August 19th.

Dorms: 1,600 students have made deposits.

Choices: Ramapo has done a great job giving students and faculty choices regarding risk. Now that we have vaccines, some individuals will still be compromised or live with others who are, resulting in safety concerns and options about how we will deliver our courses.

What have we learned? Some schools and majors can go fully remote, some courses will use the hyflex model. Remote office hours worked well for many. Remote group discussions worked well. The hybrid models need to work for faculty and students (once a week in-person, for example). We need good hyflex trainers for future hyflex courses. We need class policies about not driving or having cameras off, wearing headphones for class privacy, etc. during class. This will be good to have on the Canvas website link with the Code of Conduct.

Laptop Upcycle Project: The contract is about to be signed and we should be ready to help students with laptops starting this fall. This will help those who did not have the electronics with which to best learn remotely.

New Satellite Programs Overseas: Dr. Rakotobe-Joel shared many live international experiences with his students; this could become a new type of course. Ben Levy can help.

Unified Policy for Medical Issues Like This: We have faced other medical issues besides COVID-19 in the past (accidents, illnesses, etc.). We adopted a medical withdrawal policy. Can there be a policy including more medical issues, so more students can exercise these options? Going forward, if someone cannot participate, students should get an OSS accommodation. We have a W (withdrawal policy) and a late withdrawal policy from all classes.

Remote Flexibility: If we continue to use hybrid and other remote course versions, we will need to assess learning across delivery formats.

Remote International Virtual Courses: Is it possible to have joint classes with another international university so students can study together? This will require Middle States approval.

Academic Integrity: Students need to be reminded to avoid plagiarism. While this is reviewed with freshmen, many other students are having issues. This reminder needs to be made more often (beyond classroom reviews).

Closing Remarks: Dr. Jebb said this is a good beginning and we need to be open to changes. We need to plan and then adapt. There is a lot involved and she is grateful for everyone’s efforts to be mindful of the various needs of all constituencies on campus. Dr. Gaulden noted more technology is being ordered to make sure we will be fully prepared for on campus teaching. Additional faculty surveys have resulted in more room kit requests.

Dr. Jebb’s Email: cjebb@ramapo.edu. Her door is always open.

 

Meeting adjourned at 3:00pm.

Categories: FAEC meeting Minutes 2021, RAMAPO FAEC

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August 26, 2021FAEC Meeting Minutes, May 18, 2021

FAEC MINUTES
5/18/21 (draft)

Present: Naseem Choudhury (President, SSHS), Bonnie Blake (Councilor-at-Large over 11, CA), Katie Cohen (Library), Scott Frees (Vice President, TAS), Kim Lorber (Secretary), Lisa Lutter, (CA), Thierry Rakotbe-Joel (ASB), Mihaela Serban (SSHS), Ed Shannon (HGS)

Guests: Sarah Carberry (GECCo, Chair); Stephen Rice (ARC, Chair); Jeff Elsworth (WAC, Chair); Ruma Sen, Kathy Zeno, Virginia Gonsalves_Domund (Diversity); Ken McMurdy (Shared Governance); Natalia Santamaria-Laorden  (Marketing); Michael Bitz (Director, Instructional Design Center)

Vote to bring meeting to order at 10:04am.

Minutes Approval: April 28th & May 4th minutes were approved. 

FAEC DISCUSSION

Faculty Assembly with Dr. Jebb: Agenda was identified based on faculty feedback.

Guests from Academic Affairs: Guests joined the discussion regarding how to best organize the hour we have with Dr. Jebb.

Planned Agenda:

• Introductions and brief discussion on the role of Faculty Assembly and faculty governing structures.
• Discussion: Shared Governance 
• Discussion: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
• Discussion: Liberal Arts at Ramapo & recommitment to the pillars
• Questions and Comments from Dr. Jebb.

Results of the last FA vote.
Agenda was passed (105 yes, 6 abstentions)
Rikki Abzug was voted in as BOT rep
Kathy Yeaton was also voted in a BOT rep
Both ARC proposals were approved 

BoT Meeting Report: This report was provided by Dr. Stephen Larson:

This is a summary about yesterday’s BoT meeting:
The cost of living adjustments and steps will remain intact!

Our reserves have increased during the year due to COVID government funding.  We expect to use these funds due to anticipated shortages for the coming academic year.  A key estimate the college is using is to expect our dorms to be only 47% occupied.  Of course, if the actual occupancy rate is higher, we will be better off. 

The fringe rate was brought up again.  It is 55%, and the college’s administration tends to bring this up.  The fringe rate is the costs (e.g. health insurance etc.) of employing us divided by our salaries.  One way to explain a high fringe rate is to say the costs of employment are too high.  However, a reason our fringe rate may be higher than average is that our salaries are lower than average; a smaller denominator makes a larger quotient (i.e. fringe rate).  I think this may be the case, but I never formally studied the relative salary levels of college professors.  I do know from  experience that our inflation salary bumps are not adequate, which means our step increases are necessary for us to keep up with the cost of living.  That is, when people are not promoted, they tend to get poorer in real terms.  I spent years at the same step before getting promoted, so this insight comes from experience.  

Our tuition rate is set to increase by quite a bit.  However, it is being offset by the reduction in student fees.  That is, we are collapsing some of the student fees into our tuition.  The concern I brought up at this meeting is how this will look to parents and students who examine the tuition cost per credit year to year.  According to Chris Romano, the college will make sure parents and students understand the tuition increase is being largely offset by the collapsing of fees into the tuition.  I was told it is typical for colleges/universities to report the cost per year and this includes fees.  When I google “Ramapo Tuition” I get in-state tuition of $14,678.  From what I understand, this includes fees, so a person monitoring this number year-to-year should not become alarmed. “

FA President Closing Remarks

Meeting adjourned at 12:10pm

Categories: FAEC meeting Minutes 2021, RAMAPO FAEC

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May 14, 2021FAEC Meeting Minutes, May 5, 2021

FAEC MINUTES (draft)
5/5/21

 Present: Naseem Choudhury (President, SSHS), Bonnie Blake (Councilor-at-Large over 11, CA), Katie Cohen (Library), Donna Flynn (Councilor-at-Large under 11, TAS), Scott Frees (Vice President, TAS), Kim Lorber (Secretary), Lisa Lutter, (CA), Thierry Rakotbe-Joel (ASB), Mihaela Serban (SSHS), Ed Shannon (HGS)

Vote to bring meeting to order at 10:01am.

Minutes Approval: The 4/28/21 minutes will be approved next week. 

 

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

FAEC DISCUSSION

Meeting with Provost: Naseem and Scott met with Provost Gaulden and shared concerns about switching course delivery models and other elements in need of clarification.

Meeting with President: Naseem and Scott met briefly with President Mercer. The Cabinet is discussing vaccinations; details were not shared.

Anonymous Letter:  FAEC did not know about the letter received by the BoT, administrators and some others. It is not representative of Faculty Assembly. A brief response clarifying this will be sent by FAEC.

Program Marketing: Can the College do more to promote the successes of faculty regarding grants received? Publications? Other special programs at the College?

Program Websites: We need to improve ours due to the absence of information included by other colleges and universities in theirs. Students’ success stories, videos, etc. would be beneficial in presenting dynamic majors. Conveners are doing their best but they are untrained.

May 25, 2021 @ 2 pm: Meeting With Dr. Jebb: FAEC will meet with Dr. Jebb for an hour. Topics to be addressed will come from the FA survey and will include governance, shared governance, and a brief discussion. We will summarize our goals in the last minutes of the meeting. In addition, faculty and student scholarship and successes will be invited from the faculty to share with our new President so she can see ours is a community of scholars. 

Committees: The BoT has strongly recommended having students on the hiring committees. It is possible the BoT does not understand why the faculty resists this suggestion. The search committees include members who do not share the candidates’ expertise, limiting the identification of the most qualified by the experts with whom they will work. Should students have knowledge of committee deliberations? They might study with the hired individual in the future. Students can attend candidates’ lectures and talks and complete feedback forms versus being on the confidential search committees..

Convening Groups: Is there a limit to the number of convening groups in which a faculty member can be a member? Nothing has yet been documented. I  thought some one (Mia?) found some kind of documentation.,

Diversity Council: It is not yet clear how FA wll interface with the EDIC council

Hiring committees: Are all approved by Nicole. Joanne Ehlermann is the new Talent Acquisition and Onboarding Coordinator.

 FA Leadership Survey: This will go out this week.

 Diversity Workshops: There will be one in May and another in September. These are mandatory.

 Students in Remote/In-Person Courses in Fall 2021: Where can students go for remote classes while on campus for in-person courses? How many students will this impact? Will headphones be provided? If 50% of students will be at least partially in-person, divided by T/F and M/R, where will all of them meet and be able to participate in their remote courses?

 

Meeting adjourned at 12:07pm.

 

Categories: FAEC meeting Minutes 2021, RAMAPO FAEC

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May 14, 2021FAEC Meeting Minutes, April 28th, 2021

FAEC MINUTES (draft)
4/28/21

Present: Naseem Choudhury (President, SSHS), Bonnie Blake ((Councilor-at-Large over 11, CA), Katie Cohen (Library), Donna Flynn (Councilor-at-Large under 11, TAS), Scott Frees (Vice President, TAS), Kim Lorber (Secretary), Lisa Lutter, (CA), Thierry Rakotbe-Joel (ASB), Mihaela Serban (SSHS), Ed Shannon (HGS)

Guests: President Peter Mercer, Interim-Provost Susan Gaulden, Chris Romano, Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs

Vote to bring meeting to order at 10:03am.

 

Minutes Approval: The 4/21/21 minutes were approved. 

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Transition Team Meeting: The campus survey has been distributed and is noted in the Daily Digest. Dr. Jebb will receive the schedule of regularly scheduled meetings this week for the next academic year.

Special Unit Councils with Dr. Jebb Fall 2021: This has been cancelled for 9/15/21 due to the holiday of Yom Kippur.

FAEC Meeting with Dr. Jebb: We will try to meet with Dr. Jebb in July.

SGA President: Naseem met with newly re-elected Anjali Patel who will join FA, today. She did not bring up concerns. Students would welcome more on-campus courses.

Provost Council: Naseem attended.

Bylaw Revisions Survey: 61 faculty have responded so far and this closes May 8th.

FAEC Surveys: We have several more to send. Some will be combined. One will address the May 25th Dr. Jebb FA meeting.

 

FAEC DISCUSSION

President’s Tribute: Today we will present the tribute crafted by Katie Cohen with music arranged and conducted by Lisa Lutter. This will be followed by a tribute from one representative from each school and the Library.

OSHE Restart Plan: https://www.state.nj.us/highereducation/documents/pdf/index/OSHErestart.pdf

Bylaws: Discussions continue about revisions to these and the amendments.

Committee Candidates: We have one candidate for each of these committees:

Audit Committee:  Kathryn Yeaton

Finance Committee:  Rikki Abzug

 

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

President Bident’s Speech Tonight: Concerns were shared about the plan for free community college here and from other constituencies. Will the government make up the financial deficits? The STARS program cost over $1 million per year and it was not supposed to have impacted the College’s budget.

Enrollment: This is looking good. Chris Romano will share more.

Last FAEC Meeting: This is the end of an era, as it is Pres. Mercer’s final Faculty Assembly Executive Council meeting. The FAEC wished him well.

PROVOST’S REPORT

Academic Achievement Ceremony on Campus: 5/12 at 9am; rain date is 5/14 at 9am. Lisa Lutter will be providing the music. Live streaming will be available.

Qualtrics Survey for Academic Achievement Ceremony: This was in the Provost’s email yesterday seeking help with the on campus guests for the in-person graduation festivities.

Seats Taken Across Delivery Modes: Fall 2021 Enrollment delivery modes were reviewed. More registrants are coming. Student preference for courses does not break down the number of students represented or if this is their preferred delivery mode.

Adjunct Faculty: Some adjunct faculty reported that they feel out of touch  regarding changes, course delivery information, etc. Can they be more efficiently informed?

Faculty Review of Registration Modes for Same Course: It seems in some majors, the virtual sections are filling while in-person is not.

July/August Delivery Mode Decisions: It is still too early to finalize these. Room assignments have not been assigned for lecture courses. Once the current courses are roomed, room stock will be known for additional courses. The CDC has changed its regulations and says common surfaces do not have to be cleaned between courses. Some limited shifts will be possible. Changes will likely not be accepted after the end of July as classroom assignments will have been made and Webex room kits purchased. 

Vaccination Mandate: Rutgers and Montclair are requiring vaccines. Our current understanding is that sState institutions cannot make this mandate as these are for emergency use at this time. Anecdotal evidence suggests that a  few students selected Ramapo because it is not requiring the vaccine. Any changes in   state regulations may affect  enrollment. Such changes  will help determine how many students can be in a classroom at one time. This is being discussed. 

Campus Surveillance Testing on Campus: There have been few cases. There was not a single case of in-class transmission. April 23rd testing of 179 students resulted in 1 positive case.

OSHE Clarification of Practicable Accommodations: The strategic plan submitted to OSHE was updated requiring any student who is unable/unwilling to participate in on-campus courses must be able to attend remotely. First choice: take a remote section. Second choice: Pick a different elective. Third choice: Convener can make a course substitution. Required course: You cannot come to campus; take next semester or after. If the student needs the course to graduate, they will have to be accommodated. OSHE said if we tell a student to delay a course, we must explain to them how this might delay their graduation.

The Provost reported that in a phone conversation with an OSHE representative she was told we have to provide an option for remote learners, regardless of the student’s stated reason for not coming to campus. Recording class sessions and posting them on Canvas is one way to accommodate their learning needs; some privacy issues may emerge.

CHRIS ROMANO (Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs)

FA Presentation Today: Chris will present the most up-to-date information about enrollment for Fall 2021.

Presidential Scholarship Applications: We have the most presidential deposits than ever before, possibly as a result of eliminating the SAT requirement.  

Undergraduate Deposits:  We are ahead of last year. The target is to have 800 deposits by May 1st.

Campus Housing: The deposit has been reduced from $500 to $100 and if decisions are made to not live on campus, the deposit will be applied to students’ accounts; in the past, refunds were not given.

Montclair as Vaccination Site: Montclair has partnered with Walmart. Montclair is a research university so they have different state vendor options than we do. The College has reached out to different potential partners. If vaccines become required at Ramapo, would international students vaccinated at home with different vaccines need to be revaccinated here?

 

Meeting adjourned at 12:00pm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Categories: FAEC meeting Minutes 2021, RAMAPO FAEC

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May 14, 2021FAEC Meeting Minutes April 21, 2021

FAEC Minutes
4/21/21

Present: Naseem Choudhury (President, SSHS), Bonnie Blake ((Councilor-at-Large over 11, CA), Katie Cohen (Library), Donna Flynn (Councilor-at-Large under 11, TAS), Scott Frees (Vice President, TAS), Kim Lorber (Secretary), Lisa Lutter, (CA), Thierry Rakotbe-Joel (ASB), Mihaela Serban (SSHS), Ed Shannon (HGS)

Guests: Timothy Judge (Adjunct Representative), Rachel Budin (Faculty Handbook Point Person), Martha Ecker (AFT, President AFT Local), Virginia Galdieri (Assistant Vice President, Human Resources and Benefits Administration), Janet Faber (Assistant Director, Employee Relations & Faculty Services (AFT)

Vote to bring meeting to order at 10:08am.

Minutes Approval: The 3/31/21 and 4/14/21 FAEC minutes were approved.

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Provost’s Service Award: Lisa Lutter and Ellen Kaiden will be honored. It will be held in the Alumni Lounges. 

Next Week’s Faculty Assembly Agenda: was discussed. 

Transition Team Update:

A meeting was held today. A survey will be distributed on 4/26 in an All College email from the Board of Trustees. This will provide a link for different campus constituencies; faculty should complete theirs regarding their concerns. There will be approximately nine open-ended questions and they are limited to 250 characters. Dr. Jebb will read all of the information we provide.

Dr. Jebb: Will be invited to attend a July or August FAEC meeting.

Connect Advisory Board:

Invitation: Naseem was invited by Joe Connell to attend the April meeting. He will be invited to meet with FAEC. Naseem shared faculty concerns about Connect with the Provost.  

Adjuncts: Tim Judge explained there is one Connect training for adjunct faculty, in the fall. Adjuncts are paid to teach; this would need to be done on their own time. Adjuncts also do not have advisees.

AFT: Martha Ecker discussed the need for union negotiations about Connect; faculty is not required to use it.

FAEC DISCUSSION

Adjuncts: Adjunct website visibility would be an important and validating enhancement and allow students to have easier to their contact details and more. This is standard practice at other higher education institutions. Tim Judge explained how this impacts adjuncts.

 

AFT LOCAL PRESIDENT’S REPORT (Martha Ecker)

NTTP: Martha Ecker discussed non-tenure track professionals is similar to a lecturer’s line. In the past, full-time faculty have been able to be hired under different conditions for a limit of 3 years. The union did not support this new “NTTP” position but eventually agreed to this in the master contract. AFT offered several models of MOAs from other institutions to administration, several months ago. Some faculty and adjuncts are very supportive of this. It is unclear how the positions will be filled; there is a cap in the number of openings in the master contract. Presently, we do not have NTTP hires. Who will fill these positions? In other institutions, these positions are often filled by very well-qualified individuals. Would adjuncts without terminal credentials be considered? There is much less protection for those hired for these positions. Elements related to advisement, service, evaluation, opportunities for promotion need to be discussed/negotiated. Some institutions offer 2 year, 2 year and then 3 year contract renewals. Others then would apply, again, as a new hire. These can be indefinite with renewals. The Faculty Handbook would also need to address this. Virginia Galdieri has recently reached out to Martha about interest on campus to hire individuals as NTTPs.

 

Hiring Managers: Different from other NJ state higher educational institutions, Deans are the only hiring managers at Ramapo College.

Summer Faculty Forum: Attendance is optional.

Faculty Assembly Bylaws Survey: Draft questions were reviewed.

Quorum: ER and the provost’s office  provides the number of faculty upon which the quorum number is based.  With electronic voting, quorum will be considered to be met when votes are received by at least 25% of the voting members, and will not be linked to attendance at a Faculty Assembly meeting.

FACULTY HANDBOOK REPORT (Rachel Budin)

NTTP: It was recommended that after AFT negotiations, NTTP criteria should be added to the Faculty Handbook for the purposes of clarity. Guidelines for advancement (absent a scholarship requirement) and other issues will need to be addressed.

 Faculty Handbook: The process is moving along. The Career Development Committee is doing well. Virginia has said she will come up with a new calendar. Individual units need to provide scholarship standards for each convening group. What does non-traditional scholarship look like in different disciplines?

 

EMPLOYEE RELATIONS (Janet Faber)
Faculty Handbook:

 Project Plan: Virginia would like to schedule a meeting for May 15th to check in with where committees are and to offer information for moving forward.

 Faculty: The original task force included approximately 10 faculty members. Virginia asked for sub-committee members and more representation from all units. Approximately 13 faculty members are currently involved.

 

Meeting adjourned at 12:36pm.

 

 

 

 

Categories: FAEC meeting Minutes 2021, RAMAPO FAEC

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May 14, 2021FAEC Meeting Minutes, April 14 2021

FAEC MINUTES
4/14/21

 Present: Naseem Choudhury (President, SSHS), Bonnie Blake ((Councilor-at-Large over 11, CA), Katie Cohen (Library), Donna Flynn (Councilor-at-Large under 11, TAS), Scott Frees (Vice President, TAS), Kim Lorber (Secretary), Lisa Lutter, (CA), Thierry Rakotbe-Joel (ASB), Mihaela Serban (SSHS), Ed Shannon (HGS)

Guests: Sarah Carberry (GECCo Chair)

Vote to bring meeting to order at 10:02am.

Minutes Approval: The 4/7/21 minutes were approved. 

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT AND DISCUSSION

 Course Delivery Change Dates: It is unclear how much flexibility there is in changing course delivery modes. 

Enrollment as of April 13th:  We have access to some information. Currently, SSHS conveners received data about course and delivery mode percentage preferences for seniors in the early days of registration for Fall 2021. We agreed FAEC should routinely receive the same enrollment updates given to Conveners and Deans.

Provost Meeting: Naseem will meet on Friday.

Transition Team/Planning:

• Finances: Stephen Larsen’s report shed new light on the financial health of the College; we did not lose money this year and there is a good chance for the same for the next academic year.
•  Faculty Assembly 5/24 at 2pm with Dr. Jebb:
  • FA with Dr. Jebb: The agenda is being organized.
  • Introduction to Faculty Assembly: We will discuss the governance structure, shared governance, the task force findings and recommendations.
  • Faculty Priorities: FA will provide Dr. Jebb with 2–3 priorities faculty feel the President might focus on when we meet. 
  • Solicit Dr. Jebb’s priorities and vision.
  • Types of Programs: Share how faculty feels about professional, graduate, and liberal arts programs at Ramapo College.
  • Google doc: A Google doc has been set up for suggestions provided to FAEC to identify faculty priorities to discuss with Dr. Jebb.
  • Liberal Arts College: We should highlight our commitment to the mission of our college. 
  • General Education: Discuss the strengths of this program.
    • Breakout Meetings with Dr. Jebb: Under 10 year faculty, senior faculty and other groups representing constituencies across the college might be beneficial as time permits. If not possible here then we will create these as separate special sessions.

o   Faculty Considerations: Where would we like to be in 5 years?

o   Collaboration between schools: We used to do this more.

Teaching: How do we better address learning the needs of students during these difficult times?

Forthcoming Surveys:

• Transition team
• Leadership: Beginning of May. (FAEC)
• ·Faculty Assembly for President’s visit. (FAEC)
• Faculty Assembly Bylaw Survey will be sent in April. (FAEC)

 

Year’s Goals:

• Approve FA Bylaws
• Meet with Dr. Jebb

Faculty Forum: The next and last Faculty Forum for the academic year will be held on 4/28/21.

Financial Information: This academic year we have been able to receive more financial information about the College. For example, Professor Stephen Larsen has provided information about the Budget Report and Professor Yongbum Kim has similarly shared important details from the BoT Audit Committee.

Faculty Service: There is some concern about a perceived hestiance of some Faculty to fulfill their sevice obligation by serving on committees and engaging in voting. is less inclined to volunteer. The Faculty Handbook can will help by specifying how service is measured and counted. Who serves? How is service acknowledged or recognized? What is the incentive for faculty?

Instructional Design Center: Lysandra Perez-Strumolo has offered words of appreciation to Dr. Michael Bitz and all those also involved in seeing us through the pandemic.

ARC Courses in The Approval Process: These are not being listed by the Registrar as they are new courses requiring ARC approval. In the past this was not the case.

 Peter Mercer Recognition: Katie Cohen will spearhead this.

 Faculty Survey Participation: Encourage faculty to participate in voting and other polls.

 SARAH CARBERRY (GECCo Chair): GECCo is running well.

 

Meeting adjourned at 11:16am.

 

 

Categories: FAEC meeting Minutes 2021, RAMAPO FAEC

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May 14, 2021FAEC Meeting Minutes, May 31, 2021

FAEC MINUTES
3/31/21

Present: Naseem Choudhury (President, SSHS), Bonnie Blake ((Councilor-at-Large over 11, CA), Katie Cohen (Library), Scott Frees (Vice President, TAS), Kim Lorber (Secretary), Lisa Lutter, (CA), Thierry Rakotobe-Joel (ASB), Mihaela Serban (SSHS), Ed Shannon (HGS)

Guests: Chris Romano (Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs)

Vote to bring meeting to order at 10:00am.

Minutes Approval: The 3/24/21 approved with one abstention. 

 FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

 CRW: Is returning to Academic Affairs. Discussions about how this will work without a director.

 Course Delivery/Budgets: Is Academic Affairs going to innovate or move forward? What is the vision? We do not have a strategic plan.

 Arching Day: This will be on May 12th. Activities will be: the Academic Achievement Ceremony, Nursing Pinning Ceremony, and Rites of Passage.  This will be held at the bandshell; family members will not be able to come. The rain date is that Friday. Regalia will not be available. 

 Leadership Survey: Naseem is preparing this for faculty completion in April.

 

 

FAEC DISCUSSION

 3’ or 6’ Distancing: Concerns were raised about distancing, which may influence student and faculty decisions about in-person classes. Are the distancing differences being considered?

 Student Delivery Mode Choices: Post pandemic, will students still be able to choose to remain remote for in-person courses indefinitely?

 Post-pandemic: Can we have fully in-person courses, without remote options, once the College is running normally. The legislation says we have to accommodate everyone.

 ARC & Hybrid Courses: ARC seems to be a key campus constituency to be involved with curriculum and delivery changes once we return to normal.

 Transition Team: AFT was not included so FAEC will represent AFT. This group is organizing events for President Jebb to attend. Should she be invited to attend Unit Councils? She should be told about the The Fred and Florence Thomases Faculty Award and Bischoff awards? Naseem will meet with the team on 4/7 and will submit her suggestions from faculty. A survey will be sent to everyone in April by a consulting firm.

  Marketing of Ramapo Faculty Accomplishments: Rowan is very successful in promoting publications, scholarships, achievements, grants, etc. Ramapo College is not doing this, or as effectively. It may be an effective tool with which to bring in students.

 Ramapo Social Media: A very small group makes decisions about what can be posted and it does not allow convening groups and others to promote what they are doing. Some had Facebook pages for their majors but were told to remove them.

 Course Delivery/Budgets: Is Academic Affairs going to innovate or move forward? What is the vision? We do not have a strategic plan.

 Incoming President Jebb: Dr. Jebb has agreed to have a meet and greet with Academic Affairs, including faculty, in May. 

 FA Bylaws: FAEC members should send feedback to Mia. The Governance Review Committee, comprised of Mia, Ed, and Christina O’Connor, will present information at the next Faculty Forum. This will allow faculty to give feedback throughout the month of April. There will be a survey. This can also be a Unit Council 4/21 item to remind their faculty.

 Distinguished Professor: This was awarded once to Anthony Padovano; Brittany Williams-Goldstein is researching this. 

 Faculty Distribution Lists: FA_ALL (includes adjuncts and full-time faculty). If FAEC members get it, let Naseem know

 

CHRIS ROMANO, (Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs)

Housing Portal: This was opened a week ago and continuing students have until 4/4 to commit to housing. The goal is to have 1,200 students living on campus; these would include 700 continuing and 500 new students. Sixty-one percent of the incoming class is committed to housing. Approximately, 300 deposits have been received so far.

Graduate Programs: Enrollment has been strong. Social Work’s MSW Program is driving graduate enrollment.

April Faculty Assembly: More will be known regarding housing commitments. College decision day has long been May 1st but, nationally, students are taking more time to make their selection.

Returning to Normal: Colleges are advertising as returning to normal in the fall. Chris will not say this as another NJ state college did this for the current semester and the week before had to return to the remote model.

Rutgers Plan for Vaccinated Students In-Person Courses: The vaccines are for emergency use so mandates may not be possible; their plan might change. We will follow guidance from Governor Murphy and the Department of Health.

Enrollment Growth: This will likely come from the graduate programs, especially those with distance options. There is marketability for Data Science and two other programs, which has international student interest.

Required Student Vaccines: Nursing and social work students in clinicals and internships may be required by the sponsoring hospital/agency. The College is working on figuring out how to assist students as needed.

In-person Classes: Students seem to enjoy in-person classes this semester but they do not necessarily come consistently. We will know more about which of the 6 models students prefer when enrollment begins. Many may be accustomed to coming to class virtually. Some may be open to changing the model of delivery to in-person, pending late decisions to become remote. Is this a 7th model?

Outdoor Activities: Two outdoor activities (movies, etc.) are being offered each week to provide more campus events to help bring back the feeling of normalcy.

Campus Offices: It is likely more offices will need to be open as there will be more students living on campus and studying in-person.

Wipes: The current version on campus dries out in the boxes once opened. Can a different type be used that can remain wet and more useful?

  

Meeting adjourned at 11:48am.

 

 

Categories: FAEC meeting Minutes 2021, RAMAPO FAEC

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April 17, 2021FAEC Meeting Minutes, April 7, 2021

FAEC MINUTES 4/7/21

 Present: Naseem Choudhury (President, SSHS), Katie Cohen (Library), Donna Flynn (Councilor-at-Large under 11, TAS), Scott Frees (Vice President, TAS), Kim Lorber (Secretary), Lisa Lutter, (CA), Thierry Rakot0be-Joel (ASB), Mihaela Serban (SSHS), Ed Shannon (HGS), Bonnie Blake (Councilor-at-Large over 11, CA)  

Guests: Peter Mercer (President) and Susan Gaulden (Provost),

Vote to bring meeting to order at 10:32am.

Minutes Approval: The 3/31/21 minutes were approved. 

 

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Transition Meeting: Naseem participated for a half hour. Survey to be distributed soon.

Communication Meeting: Bonnie attended on behalf of FAEC.

• Changes in the State’s Program Approval Process: There are changes proposed in the state’s program approval process. It may pass in the Legislature this August. We anticipate focus on duplication of programs.The impact on Ramapo is unknown. The state approval process already required us to show new programs are not “unduly expensive, duplicative, or exceeding the institution’s programmatic mission.” This may (or may not) impact the introduction of new majors and has been in the works for a year or longer. 
• Are they marketable? Can institutions collaborate?  This will impact the introduction of new majors and has been in the works for a year or longer. How much interference will there be from larger universities, like Rutgers and Rowan, when new majors will be introduced? ·     
• Student Enrollment is Dropping in NJ: President Mercer and VP Romano highlighted the drop. We have been aware of this and we do not know the future. NJ has long been the greatest exporter of students to other states. NJ state institutions have higher tuition than most state schools. Can a tuition incentive be made to creatively have graduate students live on campus?

 Meeting Calendar: Naseem will work to establish a central calendar, with Brittany A. Williams-Goldstein. A goal is to allow all to attend the Communication Meetings in the future.

 Meeting with Brittany: Naseem has submitted the schedule for FA and FAEC meetings, as well as the Bischoff’s and Thomases Awards and Scholar’s Day to be included in a central calendar. Dr. Jebb has made herself available to come to Ramapo on May 25th or 26th in the afternoon. Perhaps she can come on the earlier date to meet before the start of Summer Session 1.

 Transition Team Survey: There will be 3 surveys : Faculty/Staff, Students/Alumnae, and Friends of Ramapo. The purpose of the survey is to inform the central calendar being developed. The unions will also meet with the new President.

Presidential Advisory Council (PAC):  Still working on the recommendations for shared governance. 

 

PRESIDENT MERCER’S REPORT

Sister Institution Announcements: Some are announcing they  are “returning to normal” in Fall 2021. The President is skeptical.  5 states in the nation have the highest rates; NY and NJ are two of these. We are being more prudent about Ramapo’s plans. The CDC has provided different guidelines in an often confusing fashion. ; We need to know more about who will be eligible for vaccines as new categories of individuals are opened.

 Layoffs: Nothing is being planned or modeled but anything can happen. Peter very heartily believes the prospects of the College will be  challenging over the next 5 years. The State will not be able to continue subsidizing colleges.

PROVOST GAULDEN’S REPORT

Communications Meeting: There were approximately 90 people in attendance. The biggest question comes from staff asking why faculty can decide if they will be remote while staff does not have a choice.

Vaccination Site: Rowan is going to be a site and will take care of the on and off campus community members. While there is interest in Ramapo becoming a vaccination site, the process is opaque and complex. For instance, OSHE long ago received Provost Gaulden’s request to become a testing site. Were the college selected as a vaccination site, Ramapo would  have to build the infrastructure and staffing.  While some colleges are requiring vaccinations of students, faculty, and staff, the Department of Health informed Ramapo  that schools may not require anyone to take a vaccine approved “for emergency use only.” This made Rutgers’ announcement requiring vaccinations questionable. Ramapo awaits clarification from the State before making an announcement. Some schools have building swipe systems, which helps in contact tracing. Can we mandate students to use such an app?

Fall in-person practices: We do not know if CDC recommendations regarding  seat spacing and mask wearing will change.  Any such changes  will affect logistical planning.

“Hope is not a plan!”

Delivery Modes/Residence Halls: Students signing up for in-person courses are more likely to live in the residence halls. If there is a legitimate concern and request, delivery methods can be changed. Decisions would be better made earlier. OSHE’s currently encourages one student per bedroom. Some  institutions exceed this number ; our plans can change, too, if we become more comfortable. We can change the number of in-person students and beds per unit if we decide this is safe. We are operating within recommended practices. 

Sixty-two percent of FYS courses will have at least some on-campus course meetings. Most of our typical classrooms can safely accommodate  6, 12, or 15 students. If you have a large class and smaller classroom, you may need to use multiple groups to cycle through in-person meetings. In a Hyflex classroom, a professor could ask students to choose their preference. Enrollment and delivery methods will determine classroom assignments.  .

 Delivery Methods: OSHE Restart Guidelines require we  accomodate  students requesting  remote learning options. The college has wide latitude in how this is accomplished (for example, moving students from an on campus section of a course to a virtual one rather than demanding the on campus section change).

Students cannot be told there isn’t a remote option. 

In NJ, K-12 is supposedly going to be fully in-person without a virtual  option. OSHE has not updated higher education guidelines since last summer.  FAEC requested clarity on who must  be accommodated. For instance, under what circumstances may a student  who chose an on campus course request a mid-semester change? (For instance, must the student demonstrate a documented medical issue?).  

Substitute Teacher Credit Changes: The State is considering but has not  yet voted on reducing substitute teacher credits from 60 to 30 college credits. 

Graduation: Academic Achievement Ceremony: Wednesday, May 12th will start at 9am; Lisa Lutter will provide  the music. This should end at 11am. At 11:30am the nursing pinning ceremony begins . 2pm Rites of Passage event begins. The College is not ordering regalia; those who own regalia may choose to wear theirs . Graduates will wear regalia and may attend  in person with up to 2 guests (or they may attend virtually). The rain date is May 14th but if it rains for both, we will celebrate virtually. No hugging or shaking hands.

Furloughs:  Current planning suggests that announced retirements, anticipated retirements, and a lower  hiring  rate will forestall more furloughs. Some hiring continues. This fall we hope to include 3 new faculty lines. It will be a while before we have the level of confidence of hiring many tenure track faculty.  No faculty members have lost their jobs including temporary hires. Any imminent loss of temporary lines would have happened regardless of the pandemic. 

 

Meeting adjourned at 11:57am.

 

 

 

Categories: FAEC MEETING MINUTES 2020, RAMAPO FAEC, Uncategorized

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April 6, 2021FAEC Meeting Minutes, March 24th 2021

FAEC MINUTES 3/24/21

 

Present: Naseem Choudhury (President, SSHS), Bonnie Blake ((Councilor-at-Large over 11, CA), Katie Cohen (Library), Scott Frees (Vice President, TAS), Kim Lorber (Secretary), Lisa Lutter, (CA), Thierry Rakotobe-Joel (ASB), Mihaela Serban (SSHS), Roark Atkinson (HGS)

Vote to bring meeting to order at 10:32am.

Minutes Approval: The 3/17/21 approved with one abstention. 

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Presidential Transition Team: The team represents various groups across campus. Naseem is included in this as the representative of Faculty Assembly. The charge of this team is to plan a calendar of events for incoming President Jebb as well as anything we would like to do for Peter and Jackie Mercer as they depart from the Mansion and Ramapo College.

Draft Calendar: Naseem will send us an informational table, which will include our usual schedule, including the Bischoff and Thomas Awards. This will be submitted to the Presidential Transition Team.

Possible Meet & Greet with Dr. Jebb: Naseem will see if Dr. Jebb might be available for a meet and greet with faculty.

April Survey: BoT President Susan Vallario will distribute a survey. The College continues to work with the recruiting company, which is helping in facilitating the transition of our presidential change.

July Retreat: We will discuss specifics. This will be after President Jebb begins.  Retreat notes will be available for those who do not come. Last year’s retreat was audio recorded.

Faculty Forum: Naseem will discuss the Presidential Transition Team and Mia will discuss the Faculty Bylaws aiming for a vote in early May. If we distribute April 7, then have a live meeting on April 28th, there should be time for a review prior to a discussion or vote.

 

Chris Romano: will join us next week at 10am.

Bylaws: Mia discussed how ours compare with those of other institutions. This information was relevant to how we function. Mia is working on sorting out questions. Some changes are simple clarifications. The names of the schools, names and dates have been updated to represent what we do now. Considerations: maximum career service limits on FAEC, voting and quorums. Currently, we use a fraction (1/4) of the faculty to form a quorum, which can mean a limited number of faculty can vote about significant matters. Qualtrics removes the quorum issue. A new section was added explaining what the Faculty Forum is and that votes will not be held there. GECCo and WAC were added as standing committees; ARC’s section was shortened. A discussion is needed about the councilors and the need to retain the over and under 11 representatives and the importance of including adjunct representation. A short survey of the adjuncts would be helpful. FA cannot pay and the time commitment makes this not necessarily convenient for adjuncts.  Should a Councilor at Large represent adjuncts, for example?

Adjunct concerns: Most are not observed. There aren’t teaching awards. If new positions will be full-time non-tenure track requiring a terminal degree, this will impact adjuncts. We should have a Faculty Forum about this allowing a few weeks for discussion and possibly having a vote by the end of May. It would be best to complete the By Laws before the new academic year. A copy with highlighted changes of new provisions and big changes will be referenced for voting. This will be presented at our next Faculty Forum. We have approximately 210 full-time faculty and 250+ adjuncts. If we have adjunct representation, Naseem will ask for compensation for the 2 year term.

Councilors:  Should we keep the Councilors at large under 11, as there are few faculty who qualify for this position? We can add more or make them representative of different constituencies on campus.

Distribution Lists: One is only for voting: full-time faculty and adjuncts not on leave. The other comprises 510+ teaching faculty as F1, F2 and AF. Librarians are included. The professional staff who teach were not included. FAEC information will be distributed more efficiently with this new updated system..

Budget Meeting is on May 24th.

BoT meets on April 26th and June 28th.

 

Distinguished Professor: More research is needed.

SGA: They will be issuing a statement of support for the AAPI community against Anti-Asian violence and discrimination 

Meeting adjourned at 11:29am.

 

 

Categories: FAEC meeting Minutes 2021, RAMAPO FAEC, Uncategorized

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