Faculty Assembly

September 23, 2022FA Meeting 08/31/22

Faculty Assembly Meeting

August 31, 2022

1:00 pm

Trustees Pavilion

Faculty Assembly is open to a general college audience, including administrators, but only FA members may vote. Faculty, including library faculty and all full-time employees contractually obligated to teach are FA members as defined by our bylaws.

Agenda

Reports

Faculty Assembly President’s Report:

FAEC has been meeting and working hard over the summer.
Top Topics on FAEC’s Agenda
- Provost Search:
- Registrar’s Search:
- Strategic Planning Writing Team:
- Academic Master Plan Task Force
- Faculty Handbook – October 31
- Byte-Sized Lecture Series – Faculty Research Lecture Series
- Convenor compensation
- Centers going through changes
- ARC, GECCo, and WAC – focus on providing support to them

College President’s Report:

– Expressed her enthusiasm for Convocation and what a success it was. College is not going any testing, but is generally mask-friendly and masks are required for the time being in classrooms.

– Successful debt restructure

– Improved financial circumstances from the state, however only for this year. Needs to be included in the governor’s budget rather than done as legislative adds that need to be annually repeated.

– 9 PNPs, one has a six figure donation to it.

– Number 1 in state for the masters in data science

– Amazon Prime is going to have a thing about Ramapo College

– Reviewed financial circumstances of college and future expectations

– Emphasized the importance of adhering to and living Ramapo’s values.

– Emphasized the importance of modeling civil discourse.

Provost’s Report:

Emphasized new hires to the college, both faculty and graduate assistants
Faculty Research and Scholarship:
- Faculty Research Room for interdisciplinary engagement
- External Agency for assisting with grant proposals and submissions
- Byte-Sized Faculty Research Lecture Series
- Master Calendar for TLC (Teaching/Learning Core)
Academic Master Plan Task Force: Will be coming soon

Faculty Engagement with President and Provost:

– Enthusiasm expressed for inviting Chief Perry to Convocation and the ongoing ties and connection to the Ramapough People.

Announcements

GECCo: Prof. Sarah Carberry – Course submissions are due October 15, firm deadline. Need Historical Perspectives person and someone from ASB. Plea that people will cooperate with assessment and provide materials when materials are requested.

WAC: Prof. Paula Straile-Costa – Course submissions are due October 15, firm deadline.

ARC: Prof. David Oh – Course submissions are due October 15, firm deadline. November 1 is the deadline for program proposals. ARC needs an SSHS representative.

Enrollment Update: VP Chris Romano – not able to attend, update will be posted

Public Safety Update: VP Nicole Morgan Agard – found a new director of public safety.

New Business

Academic Master Plan: Ken, Susan, Cindy – spoke on the upcoming task force.

Registrar Search Committee: Search firm will be facilitating the committee’s work. Firm will be meeting with various constituencies on campus in coming weeks.

Adjourn at 2:18

Categories: Uncategorized

September 15, 2022FAEC MINUTES 09/07/22

FAEC MINUTES 09/07/22

Present: Ken McMurdy (President, TAS), Katie Cohen (Library), Marc Gidal (CA), Malakiva Sundararajan (ASB), John McTighe (SSHS), Dean Chen (Vice President, HGS), Jeffrey Ellsworth (Secretary)

* Both Councilor-at-Large positions are currently open.

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

FA President’s Report:

Meeting with Tim Judge: Discussion of adjunct participation and representation in Faculty Assembly.
Paolo Miyashiro Bedoya: SGA President – topics they are focusing on diversity and inclusion, multi-cultural center, thoughts on masking.
Roukema Center: Ed Petkus – Ben Levy recommended faculty for the search committee for his replacement and Dean Petkus is going to reach out to these individuals to see if they would be willing to serve on the search committee.
Associate Director of Employee Relations: Lysandra Perez-Strumolo is the only volunteer to represent FA on the search committee. AFT will have two representatives on the search committee, one faculty member and one staff member.
Provost Search: firm meeting with leadership of the committee this coming Friday. Full committee next Wednesday with the search firm, and AA training for any committee members who need it. Following Wednesday at Unit Council – hopefully have search firm members circulate to the different unit councils for listening sessions to learn about Ramapo.
Provost’s Bite-Sized Faculty Research Presentation Series – website is now live.
- https://www.ramapo.edu/provost/provosts-bite-sized-faculty-research-presentations/
John McTighe is the new parliamentarian for FAEC! Congratulations John!
Academic Master Plan: Reviewed potential proposals for a charging instrument for the task force.
Discussion of a potential faculty social event for the fall semester.

FAEC Guests: N/A

Meeting adjourned at 12:01 pm.

Categories: Uncategorized

September 15, 2022FAEC MINUTES 08/31/22

FAEC MINUTES 08/31/22

Present: Ken McMurdy (President, TAS), Katie Cohen (Library), Amruth Kumar (TAS), Marc Gidal (CA), Malakiva Sundararajan (ASB), John McTighe (SSHS), Dean Chen (Vice President, HGS), Jeffrey Ellsworth (Secretary)

* Both Councilor-at-Large positions are currently open.

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

FA President’s Report:

Padovano Commons: MOA reaffirming that the Padovano Commons is for faculty/staff and that the space can be reserved for faculty/staff purposes.
Campus Facilities Master Plan Task Force: Eric Weiner and Lisa Lutter are on this task force. Update from Eric Weiner via email: organization and analysis is progressing.

FAEC Discussion:

Provost Search Committee:
- Discussion of how to coordinate the election of faculty members for the search committee. Ranked choice voting from units for potential representatives.
- FAEC sends out email within the next 24 hours. Nominations by Saturday at noon, and voting to open by Saturday at 5pm and close by Tuesday 11:59pm.
- The Provost Search Committee must be finalized by September 9.

Registrar Search Committee:
- Steve Rice and Christina Connor have volunteered to be representatives. FAEC will request additional nominations and then proceed to vote.

Priority Focus Items for FAEC:
- Strategic Plan Writing Team
- Academic Master Plan
- Facilities Master Plan
- Transparency on service and convenor compensation
- Centers that are in flux, leadership roles

WAC: new chair is Paula Straile-Costa
Fall ’22 Social Event Planning:
Discussion of how often and when to have guests come to FAEC and liaison.

President Jebb: Reflection on Convocation and how positive an experience it was for everyone.
- Emphasized the importance of everyone focusing on the values of the college.
- Emphasized the importance of everyone modeling civil discourse.

Provost Gaulden: Discussion of mask requirement.
- Numbers are back to pre-pandemic course modes, 92% of courses have some in-person component.
- Ramapo is welcoming a number of new faculty and staff.
- New initiatives to support faculty research
  - A space for faculty research
  - An external company will assist with grant applications
  - Byte-sized Faculty Research Series
  - Master Calendar for TLC (Teaching/Learning Core)
- Academic Master Plan
- Roukema Center: a search committee will be coming to replace Ben Levy
- Strategic Plan Writing Team: Strategic Posture Statement

FAEC Guests: President Cindy Jebb; Interim Provost Susan Gaulden

Meeting adjourned at 11:57 am.

Categories: Uncategorized

September 6, 2022FAEC MINUTES 08/17/22

FAEC MINUTES 08/17/22

Present: Ken McMurdy (President, TAS), Katie Cohen (Library), Amruth Kumar (TAS), Marc Gidal (CA), Malakiva Sundararajan (ASB), Dean Chen (Vice President, HGS), John McTighe (SSHS), Jeffrey Ellsworth (Secretary)*

*Both Councilor-at-Large positions are currently open.

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

FA President’s Report:

Enrollment Update: 873 first time students registered for the fall semester
Family Day/Student Scholarship: suggestion to request at Unit Councils for faculty to contribute student posters that faculty already have to Family Day
Strategic Plan Writing Team: SPWT is being formed. Prof. Naseem Choudhury will chair.
Registrar Search: Fernanda has stepped down. Currently no faculty asked to serve on the search committee, as faculty are off contract in the summer. FAEC maintains that the committee should have FA representation and will pursue adding FA rep members.

FAEC Discussion:

Convenor Compensation: discussion of Interim Provost Gaulden’s plan to fund convenor compensation using recovered funds from adjusting graduate teaching +1 credit policy. Concerns raised over:
- faculty compelled to teach in graduate programs
- staffing problems in grad programs if compensation is lessened
- how sliding-scale compensation for convenors would be calculated
Transparency in Service Compensation: suggested that once a semester the Provost should publish a list of all service-related positions and their compensation (money, course-release, etc.)
Provost Search Committee: MFSA should select their own representative. Tenure should be required for FA unit representatives.
Academic Master Plan: Discussion of FAEC’s vision for the process for developing an Academic Master Plan.

FAEC Guests: President Jebb, Interim Provost Gaulden

President Jebb:
Received equity from the state regarding dollars per student (floor rate) and getting half uncovered lines covered for benefits (one time add on in state budget, need to work to keep this).
Reorg of college structure progressing well, benefits of flattening structures.
Must address budget realities: ongoing structural deficit.
COVID reverberations are still ongoing and we need more resources to address them.
Last year’s debt restructure allowed capital to be available for limited investments in college.
Complimented faculty on the quality of the work they did on faculty handbook revisions.
Building a relationship with the state is going well, additional focus on building the relationship with the county.

Interim Provost Gaulden:
Emphasized the importance of getting the academic master plan task force rolling.
Last year we offered a significant number of courses with very few students even though they were duplicate sections of the same course.

Meeting adjourned at 12:41 pm.

Categories: Uncategorized

August 21, 2022FAEC MINUTES 07/20/22

FAEC MINUTES 07/20/22

*Both Councilor-at-Large positions are currently open.

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

FA President’s Report:

Enrollment Update
FAEC reviewed current enrollment numbers as provided by VP Romano. First year deposits are below pre-pandemic numbers, but close to projections. Bills are due on August 1st, and so updated numbers after that date will be more informative. FAEC will also ask how Ramapo’s enrollment trends compare with those of other comparable NJ institutions.
Curation of Outstanding Student Work/Family Day
Discussions are ongoing with VP Romano about how best to collect and organize samples of undergraduate research and other outstanding student work for display at Family Day. The goal is to tell the story to prospective students/parents that there are many outlets for such work at Ramapo. It was suggested that video interviews with students about their research could be even more impactful.
Councilor-at-Large Open Positions
Both positions remain open. Ken will continue to solicit volunteers.
FA Meeting Calendar/Dynamic Google Calendar
The Google Calendar version of the FA Meeting Calendar is faec.ramapo@gmail.com. This version will be updated more frequently and will include a few more all College events. FAEC will remind faculty of this option at an upcoming Unit Council.
FA Representatives on Board of Trustees Committees
The following faculty have agreed to serve as FA representatives for AY 2022-23.
- Rikki Abzug – Resources Committee
- Kathy Yeaton – Audit Committee
- David Oh – Mission Fulfillment Committee

FAEC Discussion:

President’s Inauguration
Katie reported as liaison to the Presidential Inauguration Committee. The event will take place at 2pm on Friday, October 14, 2022. Faculty are encouraged to participate and will receive a form by email for RSVP and request for regalia. Concerns were raised about faculty who may wish to attend but cannot due to their teaching schedule.
Provost’s Faculty Research Lecture Series
Provost Gaulden is following up on an idea that arose in part from last semester’s Faculty Forum on Community Building, which is to establish and curate a lecture series in which Ramapo faculty give short presentations on their research. FAEC discussed ideas for making the program as successful as possible and will continue to collaborate with the Provost’s Office on this project.
Academic Master Plan
Provost Gaulden has proposed a jointly charged, faculty-driven task force that would work to develop an Academic Master Plan. For context, FAEC reviewed the final reports from the Task Force on Shared Governance (TFSG, F’17) and the Task Force on Academic Excellence and Engagement (TFAEE, S’15). General discussion surrounding possible charge, membership, timeline, etc. followed. Concerns were raised regarding the timeline and whether the task force should be delayed until after the new provost search is completed.

FAEC Guests: None

Meeting adjourned at 12:06 pm.

Categories: Uncategorized

July 20, 2022FAEC MINUTES 06/22/22

FAEC MINUTES 06/22/22

Absent: John McTighe (SSHS)*

* Both Councilor-at-Large positions are currently open.

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

FA President’s Report:

Enrollment Update
Enrollment numbers for the fall were reviewed and benchmarked against the previous year.
Meeting Calendar for AY 2022-23
Ken presented the proposed meeting calendar for AY 2022-23 and shared some of the challenges and parameters that must be met in constructing the calendar. Out of necessity, a small number of slots will be listed as Minor/Interdisciplinary Convening Group, so that faculty in these groups can individually decide how best to use or divide up the time.
Bias Prevention, Response and Education Team (BPRET)
Paul Reck has agreed to serve as the FA representative on BPRET.
Deans’ New Oversight Roles
As part of the re-organization of College leadership, deans have been given additional oversight responsibilities as “Executive Agents of the College.” The complete list of new oversight roles can be found here:

https://www.ramapo.edu/college-leadership/wp-content/uploads/sites/59/2022/07/Org-Chart-6.20.22-with-Detail_Acronyms.pdf
Anticipated Searches/Task Forces:
Provost Gaulden is considering initiating multiple task forces in the fall. Two possible ideas are Library/Learning Commons (LLC) and Academic Integrity. She has formally proposed a faculty-driven task force that would work to develop an Academic Master Plan. FAEC will meet to discuss this idea with Provost Gaulden in accordance with the principles and guidelines laid out in the Task Force on Shared Governance report from Fall ’17.
PNP’s
At this time, the College is moving forward with twelve PNP proposals, eight of which have originated in Academic Affairs.
Grad Council Request
FAEC has been asked to encourage faculty creating new grad programs to reach out directly to the Grad Council for guidance. Grad Council Chair, Scott Frees (sfrees@ramapo.edu) is the contact person.

FAEC Discussion:

FAEC Elections and Open Positions
Dean Chen (HGS) was elected to serve as FAEC Vice President for the 2022-23 academic year. Both Councilor-at-Large positions remain unfilled at this time.
Enhanced Faculty Engagement at Unit Council
Strategies for facilitating more effective two-way communication between FAEC and faculty in their units at Unit Council were discussed. FAEC representatives will report out as usual but also solicit feedback on specific issues and welcome input on areas of concern.
Curation of Outstanding Student Work/Family Day
The Family Day Team, under VP Chris Romano, is interested in collecting outstanding student work for display in the LLC on Family Day. This work could come from a variety of sources, such as Scholar’s Day, Honors Program, various research symposia on campus, etc. It has also been suggested that such work could be archived, curated and presented on a forward-facing Ramapo webpage to attract prospective students.
Provost’s Faculty Research Lecture Series (tabled for time)
Management of the Writing Center (tabled for time)
President’s Inauguration (tabled for time)

FAEC Guests: None

Meeting adjourned at 12:00 pm.

Categories: Uncategorized

May 6, 2022FA Minutes 4/27/2022

Faculty Assembly Meeting Minutes

04/27/2022

Motion and seconded to bring the meeting to order at 1:06 pm.

No objections to April 6th FA minutes.

Reports

Faculty Assembly President’s Report: Summarized and updated state of matters. This is Naseem’s last FA as President, Ken is assuming the Presidency. FAEC has been working with the College President and Provost’s Offices on a variety of matters.

College President’s Report: Summarized and updated state of matters. Discussed a variety of positive recent events at the college. Discussion of New Jersey governance and state support of higher education. President asserted her support for international education.

Provost’s Report: Summarized and updated state of matters. Discussed more recent events at the college highlighting student research.

Provost’s Service Award: Tammy Redd honored for her many, many contributions to the college and more broadly.

Open forum: Questions/Comments

Concerns raised over lack of transportation to the local train station and lack of transportation to New York City. Importance of matters of equity for such transportation for students, as well as accessibility of having guest artists and scholars visiting campus.
Concerns raised over understanding of the restructuring of the upper administration at the college that was announced earlier this semester and will take effect over the summer. – President addressed as a flattening of structure and a redistribution of portfolios to allow for more adaptability moving forward.

New Business

Faculty Handbook Taskforce: Prof. Perez-Strumolo: Presented detailed explanation of changes to proposed changes based on faculty feedback since the proposed handbook changes were presented at the last FA.

Announcements

GECCo, Prof. S. Carberry: FA needs to vote in three new members for GECCo.
Director of Fellowships, Scholarships and Graduate Advisement, Prof. Chen: Resources for students wanting to pursue the many opportunities that exist.
Bischoff’s Award Nomination Announcement, Prof. Santamaria-Laorden & Prof. Norflus-Good: Everyone should be thinking ahead to nominations for next year’s Bischoff’s Award.
Jack Richardson Award: Presented by Eddie Saif and Martha Eckard – Jack Richardson was a founding member of the college and president of the equivalent faculty assembly at that time. And the award goes to: Roark Atkinson & Naseem Choudhury.

Special Order

International Education at Ramapo College: SGA-FA Joint Resolution (distributed, 4/25/2022): The Joint Resolution asserts the college’s foundational support to international education as one of Ramapo’s four pillars.

Motion and seconded to adjourn at 2:46 pm.

Categories: Uncategorized

May 6, 2022FAEC MINUTES 04/27/22

FAEC MINUTES 04/27/22

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

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

Minutes Approval: The 04/20/22 minutes were approved.

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT:

Joint proposed resolution has been drafted by FA and SGA regarding support of international education at Ramapo.

Meeting with President: Report on the meeting with the College President.

Meeting with Provost: Report on the meeting with Provost.

No volunteers for the FA Representative to the Bias Response Team.

Discussion of fall scheduling, NTTP MOA, and wrap-up of the academic year.

FAEC DISCUSSION:

New Business:

College President Jebb: Reflection on the experience of the past year and aspirations for next year. Discussion of the future series and the P&Ps. Discussion of New Jersey higher education matters and state government. Discussion of the posture statement. P&Ps included a First Gen Center and a Digital Humanities Center.

Interim Provost Gaulden: Reflection on recent events such Scholars’ Day and discussion of the many upcoming events that are wrapping up the academic year. Discussion of state legislative bills currently being considered. Discussion of FTTP MOA and upcoming position postings. Asserted that lecturers, due to the fact that they are not required to engage in scholarship, are going to be used to bolster support for students due to the pandemic. Discussion of international education and additional matters.

Universal agreement on Ramapo’s commitment to international education.

FAEC Guests: College President Cindy Jebb; Interim Provost Susan Gaulden

Meeting adjourned at 12:12 pm.

Categories: Uncategorized

May 6, 2022FAEC MINUTES 04/20/22

FAEC MINUTES 04/20/22

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

Minutes Approval: The 04/13/22 minutes were approved.

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT:

The FA President presented a brief report.

FAEC DISCUSSION:

New Business:

Anjali Patel and Paolo Miyashiro Bedoya: Spoke on proposed changes to the Roukema Center and concerns that SGA has regarding how these changes will impact international education, international students, study abroad, and Fulbrights. Discussion of support of international education as one of Ramapo’s pillars.

Rikki Abzug: Report on the last Board of Trustees meeting. Discussion of the financial health of the college.

Chris Romano: Report on admitted student deposits for incoming year. Deposits are up over last year on this date. Last Admitted Students Day is upcoming Sunday.

FAEC Guests: Anjali Patel (SGA President) and Paolo Miyashiro Bedoya (SGA Vice President); Rikki Abzug (BOT FA Rep.); Chris Romano (EMSA).

Meeting adjourned at 12:21 pm.

Categories: Uncategorized

May 6, 2022FAEC MINUTES 04/13/22

FAEC MINUTES 04/13/22

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

Minutes Approval: The 04/06/22 minutes were approved.

FA PRESIDENT’S REPORT:

The FA President presented a short report.

FAEC DISCUSSION:

International Education: Discussion of changing policies or potentially changing policies in International Education. Strongly felt that International Education must be maintained as central to the college and integrated across the college as a whole. Equity must be emphasized in students’ access to study abroad.

Padavano Commons: Discussion of administrative resistance to Padavano Commons being returned as the only faculty lounge on campus. Due to the pandemic it was temporarily converted to general space.

Pilot courses [TFCDM]:

ITS – Discussion of administrative access to faculty email.

New Business:

EDIC concerns: Nicole Morgan-Agard and Rachel Sawyer – Discussion of the bias complaint response team, function and roles of faculty on the team. Discussion of what constitutes bias and what constitutes a complaint. There is an online complaint form, individuals can also send an email and that constitutes a complaint as well. The complaint does not need to be formally labeled as a complaint or request any action, but need only raise concerns that bias has occurred. Bias is constituted by works; discrimination is viewed more as actions. College response to bias can be limited due to freedom of speech; however, college offers a restorative justice option to all individuals involved who can voluntarily choose to participate.

HR concerns: Discussion of HR matters.

FAEC Guests: CDO Morgan-Agard & Rachel Sawyer (Associate Dir.)

Meeting adjourned at 12:15 pm.

Categories: Uncategorized

Faculty Assembly

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May 6, 2022FA Minutes 4/27/2022

Reports

May 6, 2022FAEC MINUTES 04/27/22

May 6, 2022FAEC MINUTES 04/20/22

May 6, 2022FAEC MINUTES 04/13/22