Minutes waiting to be approved by Faculty Senate

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Slide Presentaion

Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes

Harrison Hall 123

March 25, 2026

3:15pm-4:30pm

I.                   Call to Order 

1.                  Meeting called to order at 3:17pm

II.                  Approval of FS Minutes from March 4, 2026

1.                  Scott Powell moves to approve. Brendan Mumey seconds. None opposed. No abstentions. Approved. 

III.                 FYI Items 

1.                  AI Faculty Symposium 8:30am-5:00pm SUB– 3/26/2026

2.                  President Tessman Investiture Ceremony 3:00pm-4:30pm—4/2/2026  RSVP

3.                  MSU Outreach and Engagement Council FY27 Outreach and Engagement Seed Grant   4/05/2026

4.                  Strategic Plan Listening Session for faculty: special additional listening session Wed, April 15, 3:15pm -4:15pm Harrison 123

5.                  Next semester room change: Leon Johnson 346. Meeting dates and locations can be found on the Faculty Senate webpage. 

IV.                 Undergraduate Courses and Programs

1.                  New courses-Second Read

a.                ARTH 350 : Celtic and Viking Art and Legacy

b.                ARTH 467 : Museums and the Ancient World: Pompeii as Museum

c.                NASX 460IH : Indigenous Environmental Humanities

2.                  New Courses-First Read

a.                ARTH 475 : Professional Paper

b.                BIOH 497 : Educational Methods: Human Biology

c.                EQUH 215 : Weanling Training and Development

d.                EQUH 310 : Horsemanship 3

e.                IDSN 193 : Interior Design Study Abroad

f.                 NUTR 420 : Food Innovation & Entrepreneurship

g.                SFBS 452 : State of the Food Environment

3.                  Course Changes-First read 

a.                PSYX 100IS : Introduction to Psychology

i.               Credit change from 4 to 3

4.                  New Programs-Second Read

a.                -BS : Bachelor of Science in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering

b.                -C : Food Security Certificate

5.                  Program Changes-First Read

a.                BEHA-CTS : Certificate of Technical Studies in Behavioral Health

i.               Reduction in credits from 29 to 18

b.                MEDI-CAS : Medical Assistant

i.               Change in credits

ii.               Change in modality

6.                  Program Inactivations-Second Read

a.                AMER-BA : Bachelor of Arts in American Studies

i.               Low enrollment in major

V.                        Graduate Courses and Programs

1.                  New Courses-First Read

a.                BCH 527 : Introduction to Structural Biology: Transmission Electron Microscopy

b.                PHSX 564 : Current Topics in Space Physics

2.                  Course Changes-First Read

a.                BIOE 526 : Symbiosis for Teachers: Eat, Prey, Love

i.               New learning outcomes

b.                COUN 592 : Independent Study

i.               Rubric change from HDCO

ii.               New learning outcomes

c.                M 518 : Statistics for Teaching

i.               New learning outcomes

d.                M 581 : Numerical Solution of Partial Differential Equations I

i.               New learning outcomes

e.                NUTR 598 : Internship

i.               Addition of learning outcomes

ii.               Change in modality

f.                 STAT 501 : Intermediate Probability and Statistics

i.               New learning outcomes

g.                STAT 509 : Stochastic Processes

i.               New learning outcomes

h.                STAT 528 : Statistical Quality Control

i.               New learning outcomes

i.                  STAT 578 : Response Surface Methodology

i.               New learning outcomes

3.                  Program Changes-First Read

a.                MSDS-MS : Master of Science in Statistics - Data Science Option

i.               Degree name change from MS in Data Science

ii.               New outcomes

iii.               Changes to program details

VI.                        Public Comment

1.                  Paul Lachapelle: Concerns about Ethics and Professional Standards Policy has been forwarded                           to Rob. 

a.               Regarding the terms in 2 e “Bias and Favoritism”: This language is inherently vague and ambiguous and can be used to punish acts as a private citizen (ex. social media posts) against professional duties in our academic capacity.  Also, how are the terms defined and who judges "perception" of bias?  Suggest removing any mention of the terms 'bias' and 'favoritism'.  Also, we already have detailed policies on conflicts of interest so no need to reiterate.  I suggest removing text completely.

b.               Regarding the text in 2 f “other sensitive information”: This is too vague - what constitutes 'sensitive'?  Also the term “approved procedures”: Specifically, which procedures?  Also, it’s not clear if faculty can waive their privacy rights and share information about themselves (i.e. annual reviews) in https://www.montana.edu/policy/hr_policies/personnel_records.html and also have others present during meetings (annual reviews).  This should be spelled out in this policy.

c.               Regarding 2 g on academic freedom: This line is ambiguous and counter to the fundamental premise of academic freedom spelled out in BOR https://www.mus.edu/borpol/bor300/302.pdf and MSU documents https://www.montana.edu/policy/faculty_handbook/academic_freedom.html.  Who decided what the term 'undermine' means?  I suggest removing completely.

d.               Regarding section 3 and text “applicable procedures: What are they specifically?  These should be referenced here.

2.                  Jack Jelinski’s position represents emeritus faculty.

VII.                        Information Updates

1.                  CARE referral process and information – Matt Caires, Amber King, Kate Emmerich

a.                See slide presentation

b.                Questions

i.               Counseling Center works with these groups. Also, the CARE people will refer to the Counselling Center

ii.               If you send in two early alerts for a student and they don’t respond to either, should you submit a CARE referral?

A.      Yes.

iii.               Don’t want to make a student feel self-conscious/embarrassed.

A.      95% of the time they are grateful someone cared enough to do a referral. 

B.      Don’t want them to feel like they ae being pawned off either. 

1.      Trust your own judgement. It’s always better to send the referral than to not.

2.      You could consult with the CARE folks before referring. 

iv.               If you feel a parent needs to be involved, call Dean of Students office. 

v.               Will the student know who referred them?

A.      Not necessarily. It depends on how you fill out the form. 

vi.               What happens when you submit an early alert?

A.      Someone in the program will reach out to the students by email, and phone. 

2.                  Information item: Student code of conduct revision

a.                Using AI when it is prohibited/inappropriate is getting worse each semester. 

3.                  Revised Faculty Senate By-Laws (first reading)

a.                Have been asked why wasn’t there FS representation on the search committee for the president? 

i.               Pointed out that there was faculty representation on that search committee. 

ii.               Suggest that when a search committee is being formed for an administrator, FS votes for one of their members to sit on it. 

iii.               FS felt they should be consulted on the interim graduate dean. Provost did not feel bound by statements in Faculty Senate bylaws.

iv.               By-laws currently say that FS will put forth a list of senators that are interested in serving on the search committee. 

v.               Tenured/Tenurable doesn’t include NTTs. 

4.                  Proposed Ethics and Professionalism policy (first reading)

a.                Instead of thinking about this like something being imposed on us, think about it as what we would want, collectively, to inform new faculty of.

b.                You can submit your comments to Doug/Rob after the meeting. 

c.                Section 2e. could anticipate anything and do nothing. Remove the part about “otherwise anticipate”. 

d.                Academic freedom

i.               Why don’t we use the policy we already have?

A.      New language makes it more subjective. Don’t feel we need new language. 

e.                Introduction and Purpose: Avoiding harm to reputation and well-being of colleagues and students

i.               This language could suppress someone who feels they need to report, but it could harm well-being of colleagues. 

f.                 2c. Feel that the majority of harassment, bullying and intimidation has come from deans, department heads, and assistant/associate deans.

i.               2d. Terms are so broad that they require specificity. Policies that effects faculty should not be created by HR, administration and lawyers. 

A.      Recommend this policy be sent to the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) to review. They will review and respond to you with suggestions, free of charge. 

1.      We have to go through Joint Academic Governance (JAGS). That is the way policy is created here at MSU.

g.                Could we propose to send it to AAUP? Do we need to vote? Don’t think we need to vote. We can just send it to them. 

h.                Propose for 2j. that we add professional regulations to that statement.  

i.               Be informed of and follow the letter and spirit of university policies as well as federal and state requirements, and standards of professional governing bodies applicable to their work.

5.                  Student Learning Outcomes Assessment policy (first reading)

a.                Setting expectations.

b.                Culmination of many years of what works best. 

c.                How does this work with existing external accreditation?

i.               This would apply to units that don’t have external accreditation.

6.                  Council Updates (University Council, Grad Council, Research Council, ...)

a.                Carry over

VIII.                        Call for expressions of interest/nominations: Chair-Elect (election at FS meeting on 4/8)

1.                  If interested, please let Rob or Doug know. You can refer a colleague as well. 

2.                  There is compensation for this position.

IX.                        Senators’ Open Conversation

1.                  None.

X.                        Adjourn

1.                  Chris Posbergh moves to adjourn. Susanne Cowan seconds. Meeting adjourned at 4:36pm.