Minutes waiting to be approved by Faculty Senate

Printable PDF

Slide Presentation

Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes

Harrison 123

December 4, 2024

3:15pm-4:30pm

I.            Call to Order 

a.      Meeting called to order at 3:18pm

II.            Approval of FS Minutes from November 20, 2024

a.      Brian D’Urso moves to approve. Doug Downs seconds. None opposed. No abstentions. Approved. 

III.            FYI Items 

a.      Holiday Open House: SUB Ballrooms Dec 4, 3:30 – 5:30

b.      Commencement: Friday December 13, 2024 (processional 9:40, ceremony at 10)

c.       Reminder: send nominations for president search to one of the below emails:

i.      Jim Johnsen, Vice President of Executive Search at jimjohnsen@greenwoodsearch.com

ii.      Julie Holley, Associate Vice President of Executive Search at julieholley@greenwoodsearch.com

iii.      For more information: https://www.montana.edu/president/search/

d.      MSU Library invites faculty, staff, graduate students, and community members to celebrate 75 years of the Renne Library building during the 2025 Open House: Monday, January 13, 2025, 3-6pm at the MSU Library. (https://www.montana.edu/calendar/events/51659).

e.      Restart senate office hours in Spring

i.      Wednesdays 3:30 – 4:30 on senate “off weeks”

ii.      Alternately online 

IV.            Information Updates 

a.      Committee updates

i.      Graduate Council

b.      Joint Academic Governance (JAGs)

i.      Meeting November 26, 2024

ii.      Three policies being reviewed

c.       University Council

i.      Meeting December 4, 2024

ii.      Accessibility website: montana.edu/accessibility

iii.      HR policy revisions

d.      Tracy Ellig VP of University Communications: MUS priorities and the 2025 legislative session

i.      See slides

ii.      Questions

1.      Paying athletes: Is there anything in this budget for that?

a.      No. MSU does not paying our athletes. 

2.      Percentage of instate vs. out of state students?

a.      Head count is 51% out of state, 49% in state

3.      Do international students pay out of state tuition? Yes.

4.      Funding went down in 1995 and we have climbed our way out of it. We are almost at where we were in 1990, adjusted for inflation.

5.      What if a group reaches out to us regarding political research?

a.      Act impartially.

b.      Safer to go through Kurt Leubec in compliance to run any political questions by. 

V.            New Business

a.      Conferring Degrees – Registrar’s Office

i.      Doug Downs moves to confer. Chris Posbergh seconds. None opposed. No abstentions. Degrees are conferred.

b.      Graduate school policies – First Reading

i.      1 Credit Extension Policy

ii.      Doctoral Chair Deadline

iii.      Appeal Policy

1.      Physics is concerned about the final exam issue. Feel like this takes away even more control from the instructor.

2.      Four-week extension says, “about four weeks.” 

a.      If deadline falls on a weekend they want the leeway to move it to the next Monday. 

b.      Students will know the exact dates. They will be on the schedule. 

VI.            Undergraduate Courses and Programs 

a.      Courses – First Reading

i.      AGED 101: Agricultural and Technology Education Community Exploration

ii.      AVFT 160: Enhancing Human Performance in Aviation

iii.      BIOM 404: Medical Virology

iv.      COA 330: Coaching Theory

v.      CSCI 252: Introduction to Data Science

vi.      GPHY 471: Data Science for Climate and Sustainability Analysis

vii.      MUSI 108IA: Orchestra: MSU String Orchestra

viii.      NUTR 440: Nutrition Education and Counseling

b.      Courses – Second Reading

i.      HSTA 474: Fire in America

ii.       SOCI 433: Sociology of Homelessness

c.       Course Changes – First Reading

i.      The GDSN faculty are adjusting the junior block, 300-level courses from 5 credits to 4 credits. This will require students to take 4, 4 credit courses in their junior year, rather than 3, 5 credit courses, allowing for more diversity in topics and themes explored during their education. This will lead to a variety of professional options when entering the design field. This new 4-credit format will fit more effectively into the summer 4x4 sessions—helping with consistency in course meeting times.

1.      GDSN 367: Identity Systems

2.      GDSN 368: Art Direction

3.      GDSN 369: Publication Design

4.      GDSN 371: Motion Graphics

5.      GDSN 372: Interaction Design

6.      GDSN 373: Illustration

7.      GDSN 374: Digital Visualization

8.      GDSN 375: Letterpress

9.      GDSN 376: Screenprinting

10.  GDSN 377: Design for Society

11.  GDSN 378: Guerrilla Advertising

ii.      GPHY 426: Remote Sensing

1.      Credit change from 4 to 3

2.      One credit less of lecture 

d.      Course Changes – Second Reading

i.      BGEN 499: Senior Thesis/Capstone: Strategy Seminar

1.      Reducing the credits from 4 to 3 and thereby discontinuing the lecture component. Overtime the faculty have found this extra credit/lecture were not adding value. This change also brings the course into alignment with others in the CCN.

ii.      ECIV 308: Construction Practice

1.      Change from lecture and lab to just lecture course. Lab was for blueprints which is no longer required for this class.

iii.      EDEC 450: Language and Literacy in Early Childhood

1.      Title change from Literacy in the EC Classroom

2.      The name of the course was changed to better reflect the content and learning outcomes.

iv.      BIOM 499: Senior Capstone

1.      Change from Biotechnology Capstone

v.      ETCC 499R: Capstone: Construction Engineering Technology

1.      Change from 2 to 3 credits

2.      We are increasing the course credits from 2 to 3 credits as part of an effort to streamline the CET program. The additional credit will be used to primarily cover material on construction documentation that has previously been covered in a separate course. 

vi.      HTR 475: Integrative Hospitality Simulation

1.      Moving from face to face to online

vii.      LARC 331: Planting Design

1.      Change from 1-3 credits to 4 credits

e.      Course Inactivations – First Reading

i.      CSCI 482R : Interdisciplinary Project Instruction

1.      Changing the 2 semester Computer Science Interdisciplinary Option B.S. capstone from CSCI 482 (1 credit in the fall) / CSCI 483 (3 credits in the spring) to CSCI 483 (4 credits in the spring) will reduce curricular dependencies and help students graduate more easily.

f.        Course Inactivations – Second Reading

i.      AGSC 455: Molecular Plant-Microbe & Insect Interactions

1.      No longer offered. Has been replaced with BIOM 465 “Plant-Pathogen Interactions.

ii.      AGSC 465R: Health, Agriculture, Poverty

1.      No longer offered.

iii.      Lack of support/scheduling room for 1-2 credit courses in Coaching minor.

1.      COA 256: Coaching Track and Field

2.      COA 316: Football Coaching Theory

3.      COA 317: Basketball Coaching Theory

4.      COA 318: Soccer Coaching Theory

5.      COA 319: Volleyball Coaching Theory

iv.      CS 145RA: Web Design

1.      CS is not an OCHE approved rubric. Since CS 145RA is cross-listed with MART 145RA, we will delete CS 145RA and keep MART 145RA. The course will continue to be team-taught by an Art Instructor and a CS Instructor.

v.      ECNS 401: Microeconomic Theory

1.      This course was replaced with ECNS 503

vi.      Due to low enrollment for on-campus summer courses and the fact that MSSE is a graduate program and we have changed all rubrics to 500 level courses. The below courses will no longer be offered.

1.      PHSX 401: Physics by Inquiry I

2.      PHSX 402: Physics by Inquiry II

3.      PHSX 403: Physics by Inquiry III

vii.      PSCI 434: International Law

1.      No longer offered

viii.      PSCI 436: Politics of Food & Hunger

1.      No longer offered

g.     Programs – Second Reading

i.      -CAS: Hospitality

VII.            Graduate Courses and Programs 

a.      Courses – First Reading

i.      ERTH 586 : Geology of Earthquakes

ii.      MSSE 512 : NGSS Crosscutting Concepts

iii.      NUTR 540 : Nutrition Education and Counseling

VIII.            Senators’ Open Conversation 

a.      Department concerned about HR policy regarding retired professors. Seems that other universities have found work arounds for this. This seems like a solvable problem. Are we going to try and solve it?

i.      Meeting has been set with the head of HR. Will report back to senate. 

b.      Article on post-retirement: Most universities have a policy where professors can go down to a small FTE and do mentorship, etc. 

i.      Not using the knowledge of a seasoned professor isn’t in the best interest of the university.

c.       Jerry Coffey is the Faculty Senate representative for retired faculty. Is he breaking the rules?

i.      The hold on working for the university is for 6 months only.

1.      Impression was it is beyond that. 

a.      Looking to see that in writing, clarification from HR.

ii.      What is “retirement” according to HR?

iii.      Arizona State has an entire college of emeriti. 

IX.            Public Comment 

a.      Provost Mokwa: 

i.      Appreciate your service in senate and all you have accomplished this semester. Curriculum changes are happening, and we are streamlining curriculum to make it more efficient and help the students graduate on time. Thank you for your hard work on curriculum committees and your review of curriculum as a senate. 

ii.      Hope to see you at commencement Friday, December 13th. 

X.            Executive Session – Honorary Degrees and Conferring Degrees (Closed)

a.      Senate entered executive session at 4:22pm.

i.      Chris Posbergh moves to approve. Doug Downs seconds. 

1.      Mike Reynolds: None opposed. One abstention. Approved. 

2.      Meyerson: None opposed. Two abstentions. Approved.

3.      Red Star: None opposed. Two abstentions. Approved.

XI.            Adjourn 

a.      Suzanne Cowan moves to adjourn. Kelly Knight seconds. Meeting is adjourned at 4:30.