MSU FACULTY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES September 5, 2001 PRESENT: Doug Young, John Sherwood, Rick Engel, Peter Kommers, Michael Peed, Alan Leech, Harry Benham, Rich Howard, Craig Stewart, Ron Larsen, Hashem Nehrir, Prasanta Bandyophadhyay, Gary Bogar, Yves Idzerda, Lauren McKinsey, Pat Lynes-Hayes, Pat Butterfield, Kim Scott, Ken Kempcke, Duane Griffith. The meeting was called to order by 2000-01 Chair Ron Larsen. A quorum was present. The minutes of the May 2, 2001, meeting were approved as distributed. UGC Nominating Committee report. - Bill Martindale, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, has been nominated for a position on the University Facilities Planning Board. His nomination was approved and will be forwarded to President Gamble for appointment to the vacant faculty position on the Board. Grievance and Conciliation Committees report. - There were no grievances during the past year. - One conciliation was attempted last summer. It was successful to the extent that the parties met and shared their concerns, but it appears there was no action taken after the meeting. Faculty Council report - Ron Larsen, 2000-01 Faculty Council Chair. - Faculty Executive Committee met during finals week Spring Semester to discuss and rank the three candidates for Provost. Two votes were taken on each candidate: "Is the candidate acceptable?" and, "Is the candidate desirable?" - No candidate was found unacceptable and no candidate received a majority of the votes cast as "desirable".. - In addition to the results of the discussion and vote, a letter was sent to President Gamble stating that he could be assured faculty leadership would work constructively with whomever was selected as Provost. - The Board of Regents increased tuition by 13% per year, both for this year and next year, at the July meeting. - An effort is being made to make a positive difference in students' educations. - One positive change was the volunteering of about 300 faculty and staff to help students move into the dorms during Move-In Day (August 29). - The first year of the Faculty Improvement Plan was funded at 1/2% above the 4% salary increase. This year it was used to address salary inequities, although the on-going purpose is to bring faculty salaries more in line with peer institutions. Even though the first year of the six-year Pay Improvement Plan was implemented, UPBAC did not adopt the entire plan. This will require a significant effort on the part of faculty this year to ensure that the Plan is adopted. - The faculty line reversion policy is no longer in effect. It is to be replaced by long-term planning that includes shifting of faculty lines both within and among colleges. - There has been discussion of MSU's mission and vision statement by the UGC Steering Committee, and this discussion is continuing. Faculty can have input by contacting Ron Larsen, John Sherwood or Rich Howard. - The faculty workload policy was approved for inclusion in the Faculty Handbook. The administration has asked for clarification of the word "fairness" in the policy. - $250,000 has been set aside to improve large classroom experiences for students. The work is underway. Last year's achievements - Ron Larsen. - Faculty Council and its standing committees were defined to complete Section 200 of the Faculty Handbook, and the scope and authority of the Council were broadened. The section was approved by the administration. - A review of administrators took place, using the web for the first time. Greater participation by faculty would make the results more useful. - Some quality of professional life issues were addressed. Sabbatical funding was approved without modification, even in a tough budget year. A discussion was also initiated in Montana Hall to get the word out on the various professional development opportunities that exist beyond the traditional "sabbatical pool". - A program to buy out courses for faculty for a short term so faculty are able to devote time to finishing particular aspects of their research or other scholarly work has been instituted by the Provost and Vice President for Research. Initial funding comes from the Vice President for Research. - According to John Sherwood, the Provost will discuss current professional development opportunities at a Faculty Council meeting in the near future. - A new MSU President was hired. Now we need to work closely with the President to move MSU forward. - Last November, Faculty Council asked the deans to work with the budget director to develop budget scenarios to avoid last-minute decisions being made without planning. This did not happen, but the need for such planning became very obvious in the spring semester. It is hoped that any future requests will not fall on deaf ears. - Council has long sought a larger role for faculty in the budgeting process. This year the University Planning and Budget Committee (UPBAC) was created. Now we need to work hard to ensure that our participation on UPBAC is real, and working to advance this institution. - This appears to be the first year budget decisions were made on a common set of data. However, there was little time for meaningful analysis of the data, or development of a better set of data. - It was requested that all university budgets be put on the table for discussion. This did not happened last year. We've been told that in the future all university budgets will be on the table. - UPBAC funded raises first, instead of waiting until final budget discussions and using raises to offset shortfalls. Raises need to continue to be a priority to build salaries to reasonable levels. - The university is beginning to address effective planning. Introduction of new Faculty Council leadership and members. - Ron Larsen introduced John Sherwood, 2001-2002 Faculty Council Chair. Ron was thanked for all of his work on behalf of faculty during the past year. Rich Howard, Chair Elect for 2001-02 was introduced, as were all Faculty Council members and alternates present. Report from 2001-02 Faculty Council Chair John Sherwood. - University Governance Council Steering Committee will meet tomorrow with the President's Executive Council to discuss MSU's mission statement and planning structure. - Tomorrow's meeting is in preparation for a strategic planning structure retreat September 10-11. - Attendance at the retreat will include representatives from the Long Range Planning Committee, Strategic Planning Committee, University Planning and Budget Committee, the colleges and the administration. - If you have feelings about how the planning process should proceed, give your input to John, Rich, Ron, or your college representative. - October 10 is the inauguration of President Gamble. Faculty are encouraged to show their support for the President by taking part in the faculty processional. - University Governance Council will meet at 4:10 PM on September 12 in Wilson 1114. There will a report of legislative issues by Cathy Conover, Director of University Relations; an explanation of an initiative regarding the SUB renovation by Andy Parker, ASMSU President; and an overview of the work of the large classroom task force by John Amend, Chair of the task force. As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:45 PM. Joann Amend, Secretary John Sherwood, Chair