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Faculty Senate Meeting
12:30-1:50
March 24, 2004
Biology 209
Opening :
The regular meeting of the Faculty Senate was called to order at 12:35.
Excused -Anita Allyn, Maureen Gorman, Adam Knobler, Jean Konzal, Ruane Miller, AnnMarie Nicolosi, Ruth Palmer, Simona Wright
Absent -Yiqiang Wu
A. Changes in the Senate Meetings
1) There will be no meeting held on Wednesday, April 28, due to a conflict with the Celebration of Student Achievement. The meeting will be rescheduled for Thursday, April 29, at 10 am in Biology room 209.
2) There will also be a reorganization meeting on Wednesday, May 12, at 10 am in Biology room 209.
B. Elections for available seats in the Faculty Senate & Committees and Advisory Councils
Elections will be held next month in the various schools. All of the materials regarding the elections
have been sent out electronically.
C. Revised Proposed Memorandum
Ralph Edelbach attended a meeting with the Provost regarding transformed classes and the issues regarding faculty and adjunct overload on Wednesday, March 24 th , at 10 am. According to him, nothing is set in stone as of yet. He will summarize notes from the meeting in a memo. Please send all thoughts and ideas to him.
D. TCNJ's 4 th Annual Spring Gala
Dan Crofts urged faculty to attend the Gala, in order to show contributors to the college that the faculty
stands with them and appreciates their efforts.
E. Revising "The Ten Big Issues Facing TCNJ" (continued)
1. Adjunct Faculty
a. Brief Description
The sub-committee, headed by Don Vandergrift, is attempting to figure out how much the
college relies on adjuncts and whether or not the pay rates are too low
b. Comments and Questions from the Faculty Senate
David Venturo commented that in the fall of 2003, the school of Culture and Society only
relied on the adjunct professors for about 26-27% of the courses.
Vandergrift then added that most of the adjuncts for the upcoming year will mostly be
teaching 100 and 200 level courses.
Rick Kamber noted that with the transformation of classes, there should be some
adjustment made for salaries of those teaching enhanced courses. Ralph Edelbach
confirmed that this issue is currently being reviewed by the Provost. Edelbach noted that
contracts for adjuncts specifies minimum salaries be paid to adjuncts. The reality is that
there is a wide range of pay rates in different schools on campus. John Karsnitz agreed
with this point and stated that the main problem with this varying of rates is that when an
adjunct professor switches from one department to another on campus, pay often becomes
an issue. He further suggested that there should be a uniform pay rate across campus. If
there is not a uniform rate, then every department should be made aware of the pay rates
of the others and a type of formula regarding the pay rates should be made.
2. Diversity in a Global Context
a . Brief Description
The discussion was led by Brenda Leake and Michael Robertson. According to Leake,
there should be an increasing number of minorities, immigrants, and international students
in the campus community. But, in fact, TCNJ admissions are based on class rank and the
SATs, which limits the pool of students and favors prosperous suburban families.
Robertson added that there is also a structural issue as far as faculty input on the
admissions policy is concerned. There used to be an old governance committee on
admissions. He suggested that either another committee, similar to the old one, be made
or make the campus community become more involved in the process
b. Comments and Questions from the Faculty Senate
Don Lovett suggested that a new advisory committee be made to handle this issue.
CSCC is currently overloaded with other issues and this would be a different type of issue
than they are used to handling. Cindy Curtis agreed with this statement. David Venturo
added that he ran a draft by Steve Briggs and that there should be an advisory committee
put into place and that it should report to the committee of strategic planning.
John Karsnitz does not feel the need to make a new committee. He feels that the task
should be handled by CPP.
Rick Kamber said that there are two different groups of issues that this main issue can be
broken down into: 1) admissions policy in a broader sense 2) enrollment management
issues. As applications come into the admissions office, there should be a vehicle for
faculty input. There is something currently missing from the process and maybe there
should be some monitoring on the actual applications coming in themselves.
Bill Behre added to the conversation by stating that the college is missing a specific venue in
the faculty's role in helping to shape the principles as far as the diversity population is
concerned.
Tom Hagedorn said that more faculty input on admissions is needed. Teresa San Pedro
agreed.
John Karsnitz added that there is an enrollment management committee.
3. Learning (Revised Draft)
a. Brief Description
The discussion was led by Cindy Curtis.
b. Comments and Questions from the Faculty Senate
Michael Robertson believes that there should be more instructional enhancement.
Ralph Edelbach feels that there should be an increased emphasis on writing
Tom Hagedorn and John Karsnitz think that the college should subscribe for better
software to be used for plagiarism.
Dan Crofts feels that there should be a more prompt resolution for plagiarism and
academic integrity issues.
Don Lovett feels that now there is greater parental involvement is these cases and that there
becomes an issue with following up on these cases because lawyers are introduced into the
scheme.
Joyce Vincelette said that there needs to be more support for students who have English as
their second language.
4. Student Growth & Development
a. Brief Description
The discussion was led by Dan Crofts.
b. Comments and Questions from the Faculty Senate
A number of Senators advised against attempting to define overly specific standards for
enhanced courses.
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 2:00. The next general meeting will be at 10:00 on April 29 th in Biology Building Room 209.
