EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

UNIVERSITY SENATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MINUTES - March 10, 2000 PRESENT: MEMBERS: Borisovets, Barone, Crew, Koehler, Rabinowitz (Vice Chair), Scott (Chair), Swalagin (Executive Secretary)
EXCUSED: Cohen, Crozier, Haidet, Leath
ALSO ATTENDING: Lawrence (Administrative Liaison), Seneca (Administrative Liaison), Singer (Student Affairs Committee Chair)

The regular meeting of the University Senate Executive Committee was held on Friday, March 10, 2000 at 1:10 p.m. in the President’s Dining Room, Brower Commons, College Avenue Campus, the Chair and Secretary being present.

1. Chairperson’s Report
Chairperson Scott called the meeting to order. She suggested revising the agenda to place the Student Affairs Committee report first among committee reports, and to place selection of the Nominating Committee after the committee reports.

2. Secretary's Report

Agenda: The agenda, revised per Chairperson Scott’s request, was approved.
Minutes: Minutes of the February 4, 2000 Executive Committee meeting were approved as distributed by the Secretary.
Communications: The following communications were presented and acted upon as noted:

February 24, 2000 Memorandum to Chairperson Kathleen Scott from Emmet Dennis, Acting Vice President for Student Affairs, transmitting a Progress Report on Implementation of the Alcohol Policy. This progress report was requested in the Senate’s recent resolution prioritizing the Alcohol Policy Provisions. Noted, and docketed as a communication to the March 24 Senate.
March 6, 2000 Memorandum to Secretary Swalagin from Melanie Griffin, Director of University Harassment Compliance, in response to Executive Committee request for information on definition of "harassment" relative to athletics. Noted, and docketed as a communication to the March 24 Senate.
March 8, 2000 Minutes of the Athletic Policy Committee from Barbara Shailor, Chair, in response to Executive Committee request for report on NCAA regulations. Noted.

3. Administrative Report
President Lawrence presented the administrative report, which included comments on:

Appointment of Barbara Lee as Dean of the School of Management and Labor Relations;
Progress on other deans searches;
Status of, plans for, and progress on the capital campaign.

At the Executive Committee’s request, University Counsel David Scott presented a summary of Rutgers policy and regulations on indemnification of Rutgers employees. Fundamentally, it is the policy of Rutgers to defend to the fullest extent of the law anyone sued for, and while, acting on behalf of Rutgers University, including legal counsel and judgments, except in cases of actual fraud, malice, willful misconduct, or intentional wrong. Those accused of sexual harassment are indemnified and defended if Rutgers’ initial investigation shows the person was wrongly accused of the sexual harassment. Mr. Scott also summarized the decision of the court in the recent lawsuit filed against Coach Kevin Bannon and others, which resulted in a finding of no harassment.

4. Committee Reports:

Student Affairs Committee Chair David Singer summarized his committee’s report on Charge S-9802, concerning use of Social Security numbers as student identification numbers. After discussion, the Executive Committee asked the Student Affairs Committee to develop a preliminary fact sheet to include, to the extent possible, information such as: when and why Social Security numbers came to be used as student identification numbers, what type of alternate numbers could be used, what other similarly sized institutions are doing to reduce nonessential use of Social Security numbers, current areas of nonessential use, who should participate in the feasibility study, etc. Senator Singer will discuss this with the Student Affairs Committee, and will then work with Chairperson Scott and Secretary Swalagin to draft questions to be answered in a feasibility study. The Student Affairs and Executive Committees will solicit the advice of University Registrar Kenneth Iuso and University Director of Telecommunications and Computing Services Michael McKay in preparing the fact sheet and when the Student Affairs Committee brings the revised report to the Executive Committee.

Committee on University Governance, and Role, Composition and Function of the Senate Co-Chair Kathleen Scott summarized her committee’s response to Charge S-9914: Proposed Revision of the University Senate Committee Structure. Noting that the proposed reduction in the number of standing committees would create much larger committees, Secretary Swalagin asked for and received Executive Committee approval to drop from the Senate Handbook the recommendation that committees consist of five to ten members (which has been impossible for many years due to the increased size of the Senate). Minor revisions to the report were discussed, and accepted by Chairperson Scott. The report was docketed for Senate action at the March 24, 2000 Senate meeting.

Educational Policy and Planning Committees Chair Natalie Borisovets presented three committee reports:

Response to Charge S-9803: The report on use of the TZ grade, which included the following resolution, was discussed and docketed for Senate action at the March 24, 2000 Senate meeting:

1. Be it resolved that the TZ grade be redefined, and all germane University publications/communications be changed to accurately reflect that:

The TZ grade should only be assigned when a student is unable to finish his/her course work due to a verifiable emergency situation. The student and faculty member should endeavor to reach an agreement as soon as possible as to how the course should be completed. The TZ will have no immediate effect on a student’s GPA, however, if the situation is not resolved within the following semester, the TZ will convert to an F, and the GPA will be recalculated accordingly.

2. Be it further resolved that:

Where no grade is assigned on the final grade roster by the faculty member, the Registrar shall assign a NG (No Grade Given). The NG will have no immediate effect on a student’s GPA, however, if the situation is not resolved within the following semester, the NG will convert to an F, and the GPA will be recalculated accordingly.

Resolution on School of Business: A report on the School of Business, which included the following resolution, was discussed and docketed for Senate action at the March 24, 2000 Senate meeting: Be it Resolved that the University Senate endorses the concept of direct admissions to the School of Business, with admissions being predicated on acceptance into one of the undergraduate collegial units. Resolution on Access to Majors: A report and resolution on Access to Majors was discussed and sent back to the Educational Policy and Planning Committee for clarification.

5. Old Business
Senator Barone said that the Academic Personnel Committee’s report on Charge S-9916, "Examine and comment on University Vice President Seneca's November 1999 Report on the Balance of Full-time and Part-time Faculty Teaching at Rutgers University," submitted as a draft, is ready for Executive Committee consideration at its April 7 meeting. He is also preparing a charge to be issued to the Academic Personnel Committee on disclosure of FASIP.

6. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 4:05 p.m. by Chairperson Scott.

Kenneth Swalagin
Executive Secretary of the Senate