Academic Calendar and Commencement Committee Chair Gary Roth reported on his committee’s activities and plans. The ACC Committee plans to review a 14-year calendar which would serve the university community as a default calendar, against which changes to the calendar can be measured. If requested, the Committee would also be willing to review the WinterSession calendar. The Executive Committee will await the Educational Policy Committee’s report on Winter Session before charging review of its calendar.

Committee on Academic Freedom and Responsibility Chair Kenneth Carlson reported on his committee’s activities and plans. He said the committee may collect data on how the harassment compliance policy is being implemented, and may look at crafting a policy regarding the public’s right to know about faculty research and its potential for generating harassment on controversial research. Chairperson Scott asked for a written proposal on which to base a formal charge. Senator Carlson later provided the following draft charge, which was approved at the next Executive Committee meeting: "Examine the issue of the potential conflict between the public’s right to know about the activities of faculty and the right of faculty to be free of harassment and intimidation in their pursuit of inquiries that are controversial. Recommend which specific kinds of data/documents should be released to external organizations and under what circumstances, as covered broadly by NJ Right-to-Know statute and common law."

Academic Personnel Committee Chair Joseph Barone said that while his committee did not meet last year, and usually waits for charges from the Executive Committee, its standing charge is significant and can raise sensitive issues. He will poll the committee for suggestions on issues to examine. He also asked for an administrative liaison to replace Richard Norman, who has left Rutgers. Provost Norman Samuels has been designated administrative liaison to this committee. Chairperson Scott suggested that the Academic Personnel Committee could look at the issue of part-time faculty and part-time lecturers after Senator Seneca reports on that sometime this semester. The committee anticipates a charge from the Executive Committee on the use of part-time lecturers. Chair Barone has asked the committee members if there are any issues that they would like to bring to the table at this time.

Appeals Committee Senator Peter Simmons chairs the committee for the first time this year. Whether the committee could identify areas for potential appeal, or must instead wait for appeals to be filed was discussed. This is a question the Appeals Committee may want to explore and comment on. Chair Simmons will act after receiving more specific charges or instruction from the Executive Committee, and after polling the Appeals Committee members for their input.

Athletic Policy Committee Chair Barbara Shailor reported on her committee’s activities and plans. The committee has discussed Athletic Director Robert Mulcahy’s philosophy on academic support and student service for athletes, and worked jointly with the Educational Policy Committee on access and barriers to majors. The committee has already had one brief meeting this year, and plans to look at special athletes admits and academic support. The committee will consult with the Academic Oversight Committee (not a Senate committee).

Educational Policy Committee Chair Natalie Borisovets reported on some pending committee charges, those completed last year, and her plans to take from the table at the upcoming Senate meeting the joint Educational/Athletic Policy Committees’ resolution on access to majors. In the spring, the committee plans to focus on examining the Winter Session, as well as transfer-student and faculty-evaluations issues. In response to Senator Borisovets’ comment that the committee has a very heavy workload, Chairperson Scott suggested forming subcommittees to investigate single issues. Senator Crozier suggested that the Senate adopt an ad-hoc strategy which allows Senators from any committees to work on issues in which they are interested. The Executive Committee will await the Athletic Policy Committee’s further report on majors before acting on the issue.

Budget Committee Chair Joseph Naus said his committee’s primary focus continues to be on supporting the accessibility, affordability and quality of Rutgers’ programs. He reported on two pending charges (in/out-of-state tuition, and the proportion of TA/GA financial support being paid back to Rutgers as student fees), and said that the Budget Committee will likely be looking at the tuition and budgetary impacts of any changes which may be made or recommended on admission policies, as well as costs associated with Winter Session.

Equal Opportunity Committee Chair Joseph Pifer reported on the administration’s rapid response to his committee’s recommendation on establishing an Asian Cultural Center, and on the completion of the Report of the President’s Advisory Committee on the ROTC Resolution of the Rutgers University Senate. For the coming year, the EOC may work on strengthening its same-sex domestic-partner benefits report, Affirmative Action and admissions of minority students.

Investments Advisory Committee Co-Chair Robert Kaplan, who is new to the Senate, reported that he and Co-Chair Beverly Aisenbrey will be meeting with Rutgers’ Director of Treasury Operations William Haberman to identify issues for committee exploration. Co-Chair Aisenbrey reports that the committee will meet on October 22 to: review Rutgers’ investment policy, review the committee’s standing charge, and discuss potential charges for the year. The committee will discuss issues such investment in companies whose manufacturing facilities could be classified as "sweat shops," and invites members of the Senate to submit issues for Investment Advisory Committee review.

Planning Committee Chair Louie Crew said that a committee meeting has already been scheduled to discuss general issues and identify areas for further exploration. Last year’s suggestion by Senator Hyndman that the Planning and Educational Policy Committees be merged was discussed. Following suggestions that the committees could be merged and subcommittees formed from the pool of committee members, or that committee members could select those charges and issues on which they would like to work, Senator Crew offered to ask the committee members how they would like to proceed. The Planning Committee will hold its first meeting of the year on the morning of the October Senate meeting to plan its work for the academic year. It currently has no pending charges from the Executive Committee.

Committee on Research and Research Administration Chair Nuri Emanetoglu said the committee met regularly last year to discuss support for teaching and graduate assistants, and that that issue had been addressed in the new faculty contract. The committee continues to look at the status of post-docs in the Senate and at Rutgers, temporary housing accommodations for visiting researchers, and visa issues and problems for visiting foreign researchers. The committee has been looking into the following matters since last year, other than its main charge: the status of post-docs as members of the University community; availability of housing help for finding accommodations for temporary visiting researchers, lecturers, professors etc.; and the visa problems that post-docs and visiting researchers face, especially during renewal, and related University policies.

Committee on Rutgers University and the Public Senator Gus Friedrich has recently agreed to chair this committee, replacing Robert Kubey, who has left the Senate. The committee’s standing charge is: "To make recommendations to the Senate concerning advice to the University Administration about meetings, forums, and conferences on major issues in educational policy and public service; to study and make recommendations on relationships between the University and the public." In addition to pursuing the committee’s standing charge, this committee may explore the "truth in advertising" aspect of the pending joint Educational/Athletic Policy Committees’ "access to majors" resolution.

Student Affairs Committee Co-Chairs David Singer and Bhavik Bhandari reported on continuing issues from last year, including the alcohol policy, use of Social Security numbers as student identification numbers, in-state and out-of-state residency (jointly with the Budget Committee), and how to educate students on the dangers of credit-card debt.

Committee on University Governance and Role, Composition and Function of the Senate Co-Chair Kathleen Scott reported on continuing discussion of Senator Simmons’ suggestion that administrator Senators should have voice but no vote in the Senate, representation of part-time lecturers on the Senate (awaiting further information on numbers of part-time lecturers at Rutgers), and Senate revitalization and the Revitalization Committee.

Summary of Recent and Pending Charges to Senate Standing Committees:

S-9802: Investigate and report on the implications of the use of Social Security numbers as student identification numbers as the practice relates to privacy, confidentiality, and security, and to consult with University Counsel re legal aspects. Student Affairs Committee.

S-9803: Review use of the TZ grade and how it affects grading at the University, and whether its use should be discontinued. Educational Policy Committee.

S-9804: Explore ways that official curriculum information (e.g., catalog copy) can be made available in a more timely manner. Educational Policy Committee.

S-9902: Investigate and report on ways to educate students on financial management, including prudent use of credit and controlling credit-card debt. Student Affairs Committee.

S-9904: Investigate and report, by October 1999, on the following: Should students who are bona fide residents of New Jersey be charged out-of-state rates when they move out of state solely for accommodations while attending Rutgers University? Budget and Student Affairs Committees.

S-9905: Investigate and report, by September 1999, on the impact of increasing percentage of TA, GA and fellowship support which must be paid back to Rutgers in mandatory student fees. Budget Committee.

S-9906: Investigate and report, by January 2000, on the implications of the proposed expansion of winter session to offer three-credit courses over a 15-day instruction period. Educational Policy Committee.

S-9907: Review and discuss the March 1999 Report of the Committee to Change the Culture of College Drinking, prioritize all 43 of the report’s recommendations, and separately recommend priority sequence for implementing the report’s seven newly recommended policy statements (by November 1999). Notify the Senate Secretary of all progress on this charge as it occurs (ongoing, through completion). Student Affairs Committee.

S-9908: Discuss and report on Senator Simmons’ suggestion that administrator Senators should have voice but no vote in Senate proceedings (by November 1999). Committee on University Governance and Role, Composition and Function of the Senate.

S-9909: Examine the issue of the potential conflict between the public’s right to know about the activities of faculty and the right of faculty to be free of harassment and intimidation in their pursuit of inquiries that are controversial. Recommend which specific kinds of data/documents should be released to external organizations and under what circumstances, as covered broadly by NJ Right-to-Know Statute and common law (by January 2000). Committee on Academic Freedom and Responsibility.

S-9910: The Senate Revitalization Committee and Committee on University Governance and Role, Composition and Function of the Senate shall meet jointly to resolve additional issues related to both committees’ standing charges, and to review the Revitalization Committee’s charge with a view toward determining whether that charge has been satisfied. Committee on University Governance and Role, Composition and Function of the Senate.