MSU FACULTY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
                           October 31, 2001
                                   
PRESENT:  Young, Morrill, Sherwood, Engel, Harney for Leech, Benham,
          Howard, Jones, Ross, Nehrir, McClure, Lansverk,
          Levy/Bandyopadhyay, Bogar, Jelinski, Idzerda, McKinsey for
          Pratt, Lynch, Lynes-Hayes, Butterfield, Kempcke.

ABSENT:   Hatfield, White, Anderson, Kommers, Peed, Linker, Stewart,
          Larsen, Mooney, Lefcort, McMahon, Locke, Henson, Fisher,
          Griffith, Carlstrom.

The meeting was called to order at 4:10 PM by Chair John Sherwood.  A
quorum was present.  The minutes of the October 24 Faculty Council
meeting were approved with a correction to the meeting date.

Chair's report - John Sherwood.
     - Agenda item 4 (Discussion of university priorities developed by
     the university planning committee) is still not ready for
     discussion.  The item will be on the agenda soon.
     - At last week's meeting, there was discussion of providing
     regents an opportunity to visit classes when they are on campus
     for the November 14-16 Board of Regents meeting.
          - The Commissioner of Higher Education and regents are
          agreeable to the idea.
          - Regents would be invited to drop by classes either
          Wednesday or Friday afternoon.  They would attend only those
          classes for which the instructor has volunteered to have a
          regent visit.
          - Faculty who are willing to participate are asked to
          contact Joann at the Faculty Council Office
          ([email protected]) with Instructor's Name, Course Number and
          Name, Location of Class, Time of Class, and a one sentence
          description of the class content for either the semester or
          the week.  This list will be distributed to regents.

Committee Nominations and Election.
     - Two faculty have been nominated for a Faculty Council position
     on the Space Management Committee:  Cynthia McClure
     (Chemistry/Biochemistry) and Yves Idzerda (Physics).
          - As there were no further nominations, the two candidates
          stated why they are willing to be a member of the committee,
          and secret ballots were cast.
          - Yves Idzerda was elected to serve the two-year term.
     - Three faculty have been nominated for the Computer Fee
     Allocation Committee: Janis Bruwelheide (Education), Shawna
     Lockhart (Mechanical Engineering), and Richard Wojtowicz
     (Libraries).  Gary Bogar (Mathematics) was nominated from the
     floor.
          - Further nominations will be accepted until next week's
          Faculty Council meeting.  - The names of at least three
          faculty will be forwarded to the Provost, who will appoint
          two individuals to the committee.
          - During discussion by Faculty Council, it was suggested
          consideration be given to making the terms on the Computer
          Fee Allocation Committee more than one-year in length.

Other.
     - The Board of Regents has asked faculty representatives to
     provide them perspective on regents' policies that act as a
     barrier to recruitment and retention of students.
          - The 6-credit limit residency policy for graduate students
          is a concern that has come up and will be discussed at the
          November Regents' meeting.
          - The credit cap appears to be a detriment to retention and
          will also be discussed by regents.
          - Is MSU comparable with other states in out-of-state and
          in-state tuition?  It appears Montana is competitive, but
          neighboring states provide special tuition provisions
          (tuition waivers, WUE) to Montana students to make their
          schools attractive.

As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:55 PM.


Joann Amend, Secretary     John Sherwood, Chair