Minutes of Faculty Meeting
January 18, 2012
I.
Convening of the Meeting
Professor Mill Jonakait
The meeting was convened at 2:40 p.m.
II.
Report of Faculty Council Chair
Professor Mill Jonakait
Professor Jonakait reported on a sourcebook of precedent and practice in the selection
of a university president as contrasted to the strategy and procedures of the recent NJIT
Presidential Search Committee.
1) The Middle States Commission of Higher Education expects a climate of shared collegial
governance in all missions of the process.
2) The AAUP states that the selection of a President should follow upon a cooperative
search by the governing board and the faculty.
3) The NJIT Faculty Handbook – The Search Committee invites promising candidates to
campus to meet and discuss issues with the Board of Trustees and the University
Community. At least one session is devoted to meeting with the Faculty, whose input is
solicited and considered.
4) Appointment by the Board of Trustees – The appointment of the President must be
made with tenure.
Announcement
The chair of the Board of Trustees has invited Professors Dale Gary, Richard Sher and Mill
Jonakait to meet after the Board meeting of February 2, 2012. At that time, we will ask why it
was necessary to wave the procedures that the AAUP recommends and that our own Faculty
Handbook requires.
III.
President Search Updates
Professor Amit Bose, representing the five faculty members on the search committee
(PSC-5 will be used to describe the five faculty members) presented the updates.
1) Chairman of the Search Committee did not permit minutes of the meetings. He
indicated that “we can wrap up process in 30 days and wanted an internal search
only”
2) There was a potential conflict of interest with Mr. Hank Ross, Chief of Staff, being
the liaison to the Search Committee.
3) Initially, nominations were not accepted.
4) Applications had to be e-mail. The NJIT Human resources Office was not
involved.
5) The newspaper ads were very small and not descriptive, as they have been in
the past.
6) Initially, the description of the ad for President was incorrect and was prejudicial.
7) There was an attempt to have all members of the Search Committee sign a nondisclosure form.
8) The Search Committee in its actions did not act in the best interests of NJIT.
9) The five faculty members in the Search Committee walked out of a meeting,
three of the five resigned in protest.
10) Of the 35 applicants, 5 were selected for an airport interview. When the five
faculty members left the meeting, the applicants were selected and contacted.
Shortly afterward the interview were cancelled, and a President was selected, Dr.
Joel Bloom, with no interviews, no meetings of the candidates with the members
of the University.
11) The candidate, Dr. Joel Bloom was selected without a tenure designation.
12) The faculty members on the Search Committee (PSC-5) were not permitted full
participation. When they walked out in protest, the Chair of the Board of
Trustees and a Search Committee Member said, “Let them go, we don’t need
them”.
IV.
Where Do We Go From Here
Two motions were made and passed by the faculty.
Motion 1 – That the Faculty Council send documentation about the search process to
the following agencies to seek their consideration and advice as to recommendations of
actions that should be pursued. Also, Professors Amit Bose, Andrew Sohn, and
Cheickna Sylla (faculty members of the Search Committee) should review and approve
the documentation.
Agencies – State Department of Higher Education, State Ethics Board, EEOC, AAUP,
and Middle States.
Motion 2 – Be it so moved that the Faculty authorize a letter to be written from the
Faculty Council to the NJIT Board of Trustees that communicates the following three
items:
1) The Faculty strongly protests the process utilized by the Board of Trustees in
arriving at its recent decision to appoint the new President of NJIT. The process
was not compliant with the process established in the Faculty Handbook which is
the primary policy document guiding governance for the Board, the
Administration, and the Faculty on this campus. The Faculty Handbook has
been duly approved by the Faculty, the Administration and the Board of Trustees,
and the Faculty urges its contents be honored and followed.
2) The Faculty strongly believes that the NJIT community and its governance
deserves to operate in an environment supportive of collegial communications
and interactions that are based on mutual trust and respect. To that end the
Faculty urges the opening of a continuing dialog that includes direct interactions
between the Board and the Faculty through its agent, the Faculty Council.
3) The Faculty strongly believes that NJIT deserves to have its next President
identified through a full national search conducted by the process detailed in the
Faculty Handbook. NJIT’s future potential can only be realized through such as
search that identifies the best candidates. The Faculty believes that a dialog
should be immediately started to establish with clarity the process and time
schedule for that search.
V.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 4:45 p.m.
________________________
Dr. Harold Deutschman