MSU-BOZEMAN FACULTY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
September 6, 2000
PRESENT: 1999-2000 Members: Hatfield, Sherwood, Peed, Leech, Howard,
Larsen, Harkin, Nehrir, Mooney, Amend, Lansverk, Levy,
McKinsey, Lynch, Fisher, Prawdzienski, Butterfield, Scott,
Carlstrom.
New Members and Alternates: Mike Giroux, Perry Miller,
Michael White, Jim Linker, Craig Stewart, Bernadette
Tatarka, Frances Lefcort, Larry Kirkpatrick.
The meeting was called to order by 1999-2000 Chair John Amend at
4:10 PM. It was determined a quorum was present. The minutes of the
May 3, 2000, meeting were approved as distributed.
ASMSU President Kira Kuntz was introduced. Faculty are invited
to stop by the ASMSU office to talk with student leaders. Continuing
and new Faculty Council members and alternates were introduced.
Committee on Conciliation Report.
- A report from 1999-2000 Committee on Conciliation Chair, Bill
Neff, was read. There was one conciliation case this year, and
it was not possible to conciliate it.
- Discussion of ways to make the conciliation process more
effective began last fall, and this needs to continue.
Committee on Grievance Hearings Report.
- Marty Frick, 1999-2000 Committee on Grievance Hearings Chair,
presented the report.
- One grievance has been heard. It is now in the final stages of
the process. Another grievance was submitted, but it was
rescinded.
Chair's Report - John Amend.
- In recapping the past year, Chair Amend reported that during
Fall Semester, 1999, efforts were made to continue building a
good working relationship with the upper administration and
deans, and there was progress in this area.
- Two half-day retreats (central administration and UGC
Steering Committee) were held in the fall, followed by one
retreat Spring Semester.
- Co-operation between the MUS faculty leadership and the Board
of Regents improved by constructively working together on a
discussion of tenure and other issues.
- Late December, January and February were a time of transition
as the search for an interim MSU president took place, and a new
administrative team began to work together.
- During late spring, budget shortfalls became apparent, and
Faculty Council discussed and presented to the central
administration proposals for dealing with the shortfalls. The
need for MSU to develop strategic planning and for fiscal
responsibility in all areas of the university were discussed.
Renovation problems in Lewis and Culbertson Halls highlighted the
need to respect the rights of all individuals on campus.
- During the summer, MSU faculty leadership met with Governor
Racicot to discuss fiscal issues.
- Issues that still need to be resolved include:
- Discussion of Long Range Planning Committee priorities
needs to take place. President Roark asked the LRPC to
prioritize the Long Range Planning goals they viewed as most
important and to submit them to the Strategic Planning and
Budget Committee. The LRPC prioritized the goals spring
semester and submitted them to SPBC, but SPBC has not met
since then to discuss them.
- Faculty Council has asked for a position on the
President's Executive Committee, as part of the trade off
for the freeze on faculty raises, but the position has not
been approved.
- Faculty Council will need to learn to work with the new
president.
- Recommendations regarding the faculty workload task force were
sent to President Roark. He has appointed the task force, and it
will begin meeting soon. Members of the task force are:
- David Dooley, Interim Provost, Chair
- Jim McMillan, Dean of Letters and Science
- Lea Acord , Dean of Nursing
- John Hermanson, Department Head, Physics
- Greg Young, Department Head, Music
- John Amend, Chemistry and Biochemistry
- Jodi Carson, Civil Engineering
- Rich Howard, Education
- Mark Jutila, Vet Molecular Biology
- Bonita Peterson, Business
- There will be opportunities to meet with political candidates
and with legislators. Faculty Council members should encourage
their colleagues to take advantage of these opportunities and to
stay informed.
Ron Larsen, 2000-2001 Faculty Council Chair, thanked John for serving
as Chair during the past year.
Remarks by the 2000-2001 Chair - Ron Larsen.
- Four areas need to be addressed immediately:
- President search
- Strategic planning
- Legislative planning
- Budget
- Other areas that need to be addressed:
- There will be a 1 ? hour faculty forum for the first
candidate for president on Monday, September 11. UGC
Steering Committee will ask questions during the first half
hour. Volunteers were called for, and Wes Lynch, Alan
Leech, and John Sherwood agreed to help prepare questions
for the candidates. Questions faculty would like to have
presented may also be e-mailed to Ron Larsen
([email protected]).
- Faculty Council will be asked for an opinion of the three
candidates. Ask colleagues for input.
- UGC Steering Committee made recommendations to President
Roark for reconstituting the SPBC. Recommendations include
lessening the influence of the President's Executive Council
on SPBC, since SPBC reports to PEC; holding
regularly-scheduled meetings; establishing the LRPC
priorities as SPBC priorities; developing balanced budgets
using both favorable and unfavorable funding scenarios; and
establishing timelines for the budget process.
- President Roark has requested program review be put on
hold until a new president is selected.
- Faculty position vacancy reallocation and the criteria
used for reallocation need to be discussed.
- A database with faculty names, e-mail addresses, and
legislative districts is being prepared to allow University
Governance Council to keep faculty and staff informed of
events during the upcoming legislature.
- The status of the university budget will be monitored,
keeping in mind it was agreed that there would be no
additional baseline expenditures without reallocation.
- Overall goals for Faculty Council this year include:
increasing participation of members in Council efforts,
increasing openness in MSU decision-making, providing better
understanding of MSU finances and budget, improving
accountability at all levels, and fostering a sense of
ownership by faculty.
As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:45.
Joann Amend, Secretary Ron Larsen, Chair