Meeting Minutes, April 11, 2013
Law, Room 201
Members
Present:
L. Ametsbichler, D. Beck, A. Borgmann, B. Borrie, M. Bowman, W.
Chung, A. Delaney, H. Eggert, J. Gannon, C. Galipeau, A. Glaspey, J.
Glendening, L. Gillison, S. Gordon, L. Gray, C. Hahn, K. Harris, J.
Hirstein, D. Hollist, M. Kavanaugh, J. Laskin, S. Lodmell, M. Mayer, N.
McCrady, D. MacDonald, C. Merriman, M. Monsos, J. Montauban, J.
Munro, H. Naughton, P. Ngai, C. Palmer, E. Plant, E. Putnam, R.
Premuroso, M. Raymond, J. Renz, E. Rosenburg, M. Rosulek, J.
Sears, D. Sloan, G. Smith, A. Sondag, M. Stark, A. Szalda-Petree, N.
Vonessen, A. Ware, K. Wu, K. Zoellner
Members
Excused
J. Carter, D. Jackson, M. Horejsi, B. Layton, M. McHugh, M. Neilson,
Members
Absent
B. Allen, J. Cavanaugh, J. Crepeau, T. Crawford, W. Davies, J. Eglin,
N. Greymorning, R. Fanning, W. Holben, S. Mills, P. Muench, P.
Silverman, D. Shively, D. Stolle, S. Tillerman
Ex-Officio
Present:
Registrar Johnson
Guest:
Jon Aliri, CEO & Eamon Fahey, COO, The Bookstore
Chair Renz called the meeting to order at 3:10 p.m. Registrar Johnson called roll.
The minutes from 3/14/13 were approved.
Communication:

The Degree Candidate List presented by Assistant to the Provost Claudine
Cellier was approved. The list was available on Moodle for Senators to review.

Jon Aliri, Chief Executive Officer & Eamon Fahey, Chief Operations
Officer of The Bookstore hope to reinforce its partnership with the faculty and to
build an open communication channel to serve the campus community better. Brain
Thorton, the past CEO stepped down after 35 years.
The Bookstore is a not- for- profit, 501 (C) 3 with 5 faculty and 5 students on the
Board of Directors. Current members include Dean Gianchetta, Professors
Greg Johnson, and Sandra Williams. Harry Fritz recently resigned after 25
years. So there is at least one opening. Recommendations for student
members are always welcomed.
The Bookstore is comprised of four business units: the Market, the Bookstore
at the University Center, the Bookstore at Missoula College, and Fact and
Fiction downtown. The Bookstore’s current ability to pay its debt is very
healthy. However, adjustments are needed to make sure the daily income
statement is sustainable. At the end of this fiscal year, the Bookstore will be
down approximately $1 million in sales compared to last year. It is in the
process of evaluating operations to figure out how to make cuts and still
maintain the same or higher level of service.
The course materials industry is highly disrupted. The disruption creates the
need for experimentation and innovation. It is not a matter of print verses
digital. Traditional text books are not going away. Technology allows for
more accessibility and innovation it terms of how students interact with digital
content. Now even used books cost over $100. The higher price of new books
drives the higher price of used books. Last semester 52% of students did not
purchase course materials for one course. This is an issue that directly
impacts student success. Some students are coming to the Bookstore just
prior finals week looking for their course book. It’s necessary for the
Bookstore to partner with the faculty to work on accessibility and affordability
and plans to conduct multiple experiments.
A Compare and Compete Tool is now available for students to compare
prices of the textbook. It encourages students to be informed buyers. The
Bookstore is also evaluating its adoption tools for faculty. Books can be
ordered at a lower price when the adoption is provided early and materials
are available before the course begins. The Bookstore is re-evaluating
buying processes and systems to be more aggressive in the market place.
The secondary market of used and rented books is part of the problem. But
none the less the Bookstore plans to increase its rental books from 20 to
70%. Faculty members have done a great job of negotiating with their reps to
customize course materials to be more affordable for students.
The Bookstore has been working on a digital initiative in collaboration with
faculty. A request to conduct a pilot program charging a course material fee
(similar to the current art fee) for Developmental Math, M121, M122, and
Calculus courses will be on the May 23rd Board of Regent meeting agenda.
Details of the pilot were provided to ECOS. If interested please request the
information. If the pilot is not approved, the Bookstore will look for another
experiment. The Bookstore is moving away from exclusive contracts with
wholesalers and other vendors to analyze the best possible access.
The Bookstore will work to aggregate information by providing faculty with a
platform that shows what information is being used by other universities and
what pedagogy material is free or accessible at a reasonable price.
The Bookstore has some challenges. The requisitions and market cycles do
not correspond with the academic cycle. Faculty members are not thinking
about ordering course materials in April. The Bookstore is thinking about how
to bridge the cycles. The Bookstore does not have excess funds to spend on
inventory. It carefully manages inventory by looking at historical course
enrollment data. A dialog is needed with faculty about this issue. It would be
irresponsible to fulfill 100% of the course capacity when 52% of students don’t
purchase the book. The Bookstore plans to provide tools to make it easier for
the faculty to communicate their needs. Please feel free to come into the
store anytime and engage in discussion about your needs or the possibility for
innovation. Any constructive criticism is extremely helpful.
Questions:
The Bookstore does keep statistics on departments meeting deadlines.
Anthropology is always on time. The Bookstore does not want to come
across as adversarial. It simply wants to know what books are needed for
your courses. Some private universities will penalize faculty for not getting
their orders in on time.
The layout of the store changed to try to leverage the items with the biggest
margins- apparel. This was the result of changes in the market place. Trade
books were not selling, so the space had to be reduced. Barbara Theroux,
who manages Fact in Fiction, will be on campus half-time to work on this
section. The Bookstore plans to completely remodel and expand the store in
two years. Once this is completed, it will engage with students in terms of
what should be in the store and where. There will be more items aimed at
student success.
Chair’s Report
The Election results were approved. The Chair reminded senators that the Chairelect and 3 members of ECOS will be elected at the May meeting. He urges senators
to consider the leadership opportunity. Serving on ECOS is a good way to learn
more about the structure of the University, to consult with the administration, and to
work with colleagues from other disciplines.
In order to come into compliance with some of the Title 9 requirements, the
University has established a Taskforce to create a program similar to PETSA, a short
course that informs employees about discrimination and harassment with a short
exam. The goals are to meet the federal and state training requirements effectively,
to exemplify the model of compliance, to improve the level of understanding of
employees, and to shorten employee orientation.
The Taskforce will be conducting focus groups to see how well the materials being
developed are received and whether any modifications are needed. A request will
be going out next week requesting participation. Please encourage your colleagues
to participate.
The Evaluation of Administration report is complete. Senators may view the results
by appointment in the Faculty Senate Office. ECOS met with President Engstrom,
Provost Brown, and Dean MacLean to discuss the results. The report and data for
President Engstrom and Provost Brown will be delivered to the Commissioner of
Higher Education and the Chair of the Board of Regents on May 1st.
Committee Reports
 ASCRC Chair Borrie
Two changes to policy items were introduced with some background information for
consideration and vote in May. The first relates to establishing curriculum and
granting degrees- the application of technical course credits counting towards
Baccalaureate degrees. The current policy dates back to 1975 or earlier. There was
lengthy investigation and discussion by ad hoc committees of ASCRC and the
Faculty Senate in both 1998 and 2003. These clearly established that our campus
has the authority to limit the number of technical course credits that count toward UM
degrees and to determine what is a college-level course compared to vocational /
technical credits (vt credits according to the catalogs in the 90’s). Vocational /
technical credits are frequently used to complete an AA degree, which is not typically
considered a transfer degree, but is a terminal degree aimed at immediate
employment as part of the Workforce Development and Credentialing mission of
Missoula College. Some examples of these courses include: MPR 114T Related
Metal Processes (use of drills, lathes and band saws), HEO 164T, Safety and Basic
Controls (operation of tractors, front-end loaders, back hoes and other heavy), MED
115T Medical Software Applications, and BUS 140 T Customer Service.
The University of Montana has over 100 T courses. Technical courses can also
originate on other two-year programs in the Montana University System as well as
out-of-state community and vocational colleges.
Current Procedure 203.20 Credit Maximums limits the number of credits allowed in
several categories such as Performance and Ensemble, Physical Education and
Activity Courses, Skills, ROTC, Study Skills, Internship, and Correspondence
Courses.
ASCRC formed a working group to study the issue of Technical Courses counting
towards degrees. There was representation from the Provost’s Office, Missoula
College, College of Arts and Science, and the College of Visual and Performing Arts.
The recommendation includes five components:
1) Consideration of whether a technical course designation may be removed
would be determined through the ASCRC curriculum review process.
2) Technical Course designations are automatically removed if a four-year
college also offers the course for college-level credit.
3) Increase the number of technical course credits that apply to AA, AS, and
baccalaureate degrees.
4) Courses transitioned to a common course number are not necessarily
college-level. Courses that lost the t-suffix through the transition will have the
t-suffix restored but may apply for the removal through the curriculum review
process.
5) Technical credits will be easy to identify with a t-suffix and a Banner course
attribute.
Questions
Only the courses that have not been approved by ASCRC to remove the t-suffix will
have the t-suffix reinstated to the common course number. The department can
submit a course form to remove the t-suffix with appropriate justification of meeting
the college-level credit definition included in BOR policy 301.5.
The number of technical course credits accepted to baccalaureate degree was
increased to encourage transfer from the 2-year campuses to the 4-year campuses.
These students would still be required to meet the degree requirements of the major.
MSU does not limit the number of technical courses accepted. The Workgroup
evaluated transfer students’ transcripts and found that they are required to take over
100 credits to meet degree, upper-division, and general education requirements.
Stating a transfer limit is more direct. Whether it is appropriate for technical credits
to comprise 1/5th of a baccalaureate degree may still be a concern. This approach is
a compromise to provide an incentive for AA students to transfer to UM rather than to
other institutions that accept the credits. Graduates from the MC Radiology Program
go elsewhere to complete a BA because their credits are not accepted at UM.
The second item updates the catalog language to reflect current practice.
Specifically the timelines for adding and dropping courses, for changing course
grading options (letter grade to credit/no credit option) and under what circumstances
and mechanisms, and approvals required for the changes are addressed. Tables
that clearly identify this information have been added. Winter and Summer Sessions
follow the same proportionality as the autumn and spring semesters. The policy
summary document identifies the 9 policy changes included in the revised catalog
language.
 Graduate Council Chair Albert Borgmann
Revision to the Bertha Morton Procedures include 1) a deadline for departments to
submit letters of support to the Graduate School (first Friday in March), 2) the
standard date for the deadline notice (last week of fall semester and the first week of
spring semester) 3) the notice for candidates to informed of status (April 15th), and 4)
a limit of 500 words for the personal statement.
Unfinished Business

Registrar Johnson provided a demonstration of Banner course descriptions in the 2013-2014
catalog staging area. Senator Vonessen helped with some of the testing so the Math
department was used as an example. In the section for course descriptions rather than the
list of descriptions there is a link to the Banner database, which is the source for approved
course descriptions that feeds multiple points of access whether it is from the course search,
academic planner, course schedule, or the catalog. The search is done by semester term.
You can select an individual rubric, multiple rubrics, or all rubrics. You can also search by a
word in the course title. The search will find all courses in the catalog, not just those in the
semester. If the course is offered there will be a live link under the schedule type – lecture
(for example) will have a live link if the course is offered for the semester. You can also
search by course attribute such as a general education group.
Questions:
It still appears that there is a problem searching for all courses in a department. Take for
example Physics and Astronomy. Students would need to know all the rubrics of courses in
the department (PHYS and ASTR). The search screen has instructions for searching
multiple subjects. Simply changing the subject category to department would not work
because the table is used for other screens /functions connected to courses in Banner such
as students transcripts. Course descriptions are archived in Banner by term.
There will continue to be confusion for students enrolling in Psychology courses because the
courses offered at Missoula College are interspersed with courses offered at the Mountain
Campus. The Banner module may have the capacity to add a search by campus. Cyberbear
currently has this functionality.
Would it be possible to pass entering the parameters and simply have the link go directly to
the subject listings in the department? Registrar Johnson was unable to address the
technical aspects of the Banner system and suggests a follow-up meeting with John
Thunstrom, Associate Chief Information Officer, Enterprise Information Systems (EIS). EIS
will make accommodations as long as the functionality is available within Banner and does
not require modifications. Senators did not understand why a hyperlink to a url wouldn’t
work.
UM was a beta test site for Banner and made many modifications (over 800) to the software
for specific functionality that now comes with the base-line product. So every time there is a
Banner upgrade, every modification has to be tested to make sure it still works. There is a
new version coming that will be more intuitive, similar to academic planner. Any additional
modifications have to be maintained forever and require a careful cost benefit analysis.
It was also asked whether it was possible to search by year rather than term. Banner is not
set up that way. It was suggested that Disability Services for Students be consulted on the
search page to make sure it is in compliance with ADA requirements.
Would it be possible to have some sort of differentiation between the campus locations? In
the current version this is not available. Hopefully this will be available with the next version.
There really is value added to having one source for course descriptions. The search
mechanism isn’t pretty, but it is likely the interface issues will be resolved in the future. The
way Banner is set up there is only one field for the course department.
New Business

Center Reviews listed below were approved.
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Bureau of Business and Economic Research
Center for Riverine Sciences and Stream
Montana Biotechnology Center
Montana Center for Work Physiology and Exercise Metabolism
Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit
Montana Forest and Conservation Experimental Station
Montana Geriatric Education Center

The Interim Assessment of Climate Change Studies was also approved. It was
recommended that the program not be considered for a major until enrollment
increases.

The Registrar met with ECOS regarding the possibility of changing the
scheduling policy based on studies in efficiencies. The policy hasn’t been looked
at for 20 years and is not followed in some areas. UM needs to examine
enrollment, available space, timing of courses, and faculty research needs to be
more efficient.
The resolution (below) in Support of Scheduling Policy Review and Revision was
amended to be from the Faculty Senate not the Executive Committee of the
Faculty Senate.
The Faculty Senate fully supports any efforts to re-examine the current room
scheduling policy. During this time of strained resources it is important to
maximize efficiencies and work together to fulfill the University’s mission.
Good and Welfare

Tomorrow is UMCUR, the University of Montana’s Conference on Undergraduate
Research and Saturday is the Conference on Graduate and Faculty Research.
Please encourage your colleagues to support students’ research efforts on campus.

There is a Supreme Court hearing on the case of moving the Yellowstone Bison to
the Fort Belknap and Fort Peck Reservations from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in the
University Theatre. There will be a meeting outside the UC in support of the tribes at
8:00 a.m. Next week is the Kyi-Yo Pow Wow.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:40 pm.