Meeting, November 11, 2011
Gallagher Business Building, Room 123
Members
Present:
L. Ametsbichler, L. Barnes, D. Beck, D. Bedunah S. Bradford, J.
Carter, W. Chung, J. Crepeau, W. Davies, A. Delaney, P. Dietrich, J.
Edwards, J. Eglin, D. Erickson, R. Fanning, C. Galipeau, A. Glaspey,
L. Gray, K. Griggs, K. Harris, J. Hirstein, D. Jackson, R. Judd, B.
Layton, C. Leonard, S. Lodmell, D. MacDonald, M. McHugh, S. Mills,
H. Naughton, N. Moisey, P. Muench, J. Munro, C. Palmer, E. Plant R.
Premuroso, E. Putnam, M. Raymond, B. Reider, J. Renz, E.
Rosenburg, M. Rosulek, W. Shields, D. Shively, M. Shogren, P.
Silverman, A. Sondag, M. Stark, S. Stan, D. Stolle, A. Szalda-Petree,
L. Tangedahl, E. Uchimoto, N. Vonessen, A. Ware, A. Wilcox
Members
Excused
M. Bowman, J. DeBoer, L. Gillison, E. Hines, D. Hollist, M. Schneider,
H. Wandler
Members
Absent
B. Allen, C. Hahn, N. Levtow, J. Montauban, P. Sharma, G. Smith, G.
Swaney,
Ex-Officio
Present:
Registrar Johnson, Associate Provost Walker-Andrews, ASUM Vice
President Edmunds, VP Duringer, AVP Muse
Guests:
UFA President Coffin
Chair Beck called the meeting to order at 3:10 p.m.
The minutes from 10/10/11 were approved.
Communications:
Royce Engtrom, President
Weekend Events
This weekend there were several events recognizing individuals associated with the
military. The first Veteran Student Alumni Reunion was held on Thursday. Attendees
ranged from students recently returned from Iraq to World War II veterans. Everyone
was appreciative of the recognition. Approximately 600 people attended the Grateful
Nation Memorial dedication on Friday. Alumni David Bell donated the funds and
contracted with a Montana artist. Vice Presidents Duringer and Foley, and Alumni
Director Johnston were involved with the project. The walk from the University Theater
to the memorial was very moving and respectful with the only sound the music of the
bag pipes. The names of Montana’s fallen soldiers are embedded in stone along the
base of the memorial. The new Veterans’ Center (1000 Beckwith- formerly the Center
for Ethics) also had an open house this weekend. Veterans Coordinator, Justin Raap
was instrumental in the creation of the Center. The veteran students (currently over 600
and increasing) appreciate having a dedicated space. There was an American Flag
ceremony at Saturday’s football game. The oversized flag was approximately the size of
football field. The President was very proud of the University’s demonstration of respect
at the events throughout the weekend and thanked those involved.
Board of Regents
The Board of Regents will review the official enrollments for the Montana University
System at the November meeting (agenda item was projected on the screen). The
enrollment for the system is 39,240 FTE (the conversion for actual bodies is 115%).
Montana State University’s side of the system had an enrollment increase of 3.1% (563
additional students). The University of Montana system’s side had a decrease. This will
not impact the money transfer based on passed enrollment inequity. The total
enrollments of both sides of the system are fairly close. The administration has been
working on recruiting strategies. Senators were asked whether they had any thoughts
on enrollment trends or things that the university may want to do differently in terms of
recruiting.
There is a detailed analysis of where (in which category) UM lost students. Nonresidents went up and residents went down. VP Duringer commented that MSU is
recruiting more Montana students with bigger awards (sometimes by a factor of 3).
Montana States’ tuition is approximately $800 higher than UM. Both the main campuses
had a 5% tuition increase. The two-year campuses had no tuition increase. The revised
admissions standards do not go into effect until fall 2014, so are not a contributing factor.
The cohort of traditional age freshmen in Montana continues to shrink. The failure to
secure funds for a new College of Technology building could be a factor. The College of
Technology’s enrollment increased dramatically over the last couple of years in part due
to layoffs. Perhaps this year the enrollment has returned to normal.
Senator Putnam’s daughter was a senior last year and MSU put a whole lot more effort
into recruiting her. This involved more contact, mailings, email, and opportunity to get
into online chat rooms with current students. There was a lot of personal contact, not
just mailings.
Efforts to grow graduate program enrollment could be factor in that more faculty effort is
focused on mentoring graduate students. However, the data does not show any change
from last year with regard to graduate enrollment. UM does have more graduate
students by a factor of approximately 1.8 than MSU
The MSU Gallatin College Program looks to be an outlier in the enrollment figures. Up
Until last year two year education for Bozeman was offered by Great Falls College of
Technology. Last year President Cruzado transferred the two-year mission in Bozeman
to the Gallatin College Program, a new organizational unit (off-site program to Great
Falls- similar to UM’s Bitterroot College Program).
Other items on the Board of Regent’s agenda:
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Curry Health Center renovation. This will provide better health care for UM
students and will be paid for through the fee process.
MonTec Facility reorganization. MonTec was a joint venture between UM and the
Missoula Area Economic Development Council. The Missoula Area Economic
Development Council has gone out of business. UM now has sole responsibility
for MonTec.
Authorization to rename the University Theater to the George and Jane Dennison
Theater. This is the University’s way of recognizing the Dennison’s contributions
over the years.
Naming of a new Regents Professor- Rich Bridges, from College of Health
Professions and Biomedical Sciences. There will likely be a future recognition
event.
Perry Brown, Provost
The revised graduation list from summer and the proposed list for autumn were
approved. The list was available on Moodle for senators to review.
Updates:
 Academic Affairs is appointing a small committee to begin work on degree audit.
This will be a component of the academic planner.
 A prerequisite pilot is currently underway. The pilot for spring registration seems
to be working well. This will likely be expanded for fall registration.
 A Crosslisting Pilot is planned as well. There are several technical details that
require testing prior to full implementation. The technological solution has a
relatively low cost, but does require personnel hours and long term maintenance.
At some point down the road it is likely the University will need a new Banner.
When that happens, the fixes will have to be reassessed.
Questions:
Senator Judd: Is there any way for Banner to keep a wait list for full sections?
Registrar Johnson: There is a wait listing function in Banner. It just needs to get
in the project queue. There are other priorities at this point, but the option is on
the radar.
Senator Rosenberg: Is there a way to enforce placement exams? Students that don’t
pass the Chemistry placement exam with the minimum grade are still registering for the
first-year course. These students end up dropping the course, but have prevented other
students from registering.
Registrar Johnson: This is an academic policy question. There is now a much more
proactive approach to assigning incoming students to specific sections based upon
multiple factors including placement exams.
Senator Vonessen: The mathematics placement exam is part of the Prerequisite Pilot
project. The Chemistry placement exam will be enforced when prerequisite enforcement
is implemented university-wide.
Provost Brown: Professor Thompson is on the Prerequisite Checking Working group to
assure Chemistry’s concerns are heard.
Professor Richter: Health and Human Performance students that change options are
having to take a lower level math course than the course they already passed.
Senator Crepeau: There are two math tracks, one leading to statistics, and one leading
to algebra and then calculus. The developmental course for the statistic track is 090 and
095 for the algebra track. There is critical information for the algebra track in 095 that is
missing from 090. The students should be advised that they have the option to retake
the ALECS test after self study.
Jim O’Day, Athletic Director and Jim Lopach, Faculty Athletic Representative –
Intercollegiate Athletics Report
Associate Athletic Director Jean Gee is with the Women’s Soccer Team at Stanford.
This is a good opportunity to learn what UM needs for a successful Soccer program.
Athletic Director O’Day highlighted the report. It was an interesting year for Athletics. A
self-study was conducted to identify strengths and weaknesses. This was very
informative for assessing the pros and cons of transitioning to the Western Athletic
Conference. In a peer academic scenario UM fits much closer with those schools than
with the Big Sky Conference. UM and MSU are the only two research institutions in the
Big Sky Conference.
The federal graduation rates of the student athletes went up by 2% to 65%. This is over
20% higher than the general student body. Soon there will be a new Academic Center to
foster the University’s commitment to student athletes’ academic success and
graduation. The men’s’ basketball progress rate is in the top 5% in the country. The
NCAA is legislating changes to increase the eligibility requirements. The Big Sky
conference is expanding. This will allow UM to play more teams but will be costly with
regard to travel and loss of class time. A new television contract will provide regional
exposure and help to attract more students across the country.
Questions:
UM won the President’s cup this year and came in second last year. Three fifths of the
criteria are academics and the other two fifths are athletic accomplishments.
Senator Jackson: Is there a way to encourage student athletes to contact professors
with questions when required to take an exam on the road?
Faculty Athletic Representative Lopach will raise this issue with the Academic Services
Coordinator and Advisor.
UFA President Coffin - Collective Bargaining update
The union bargained for three hours last Friday. The session focused on inversions and
compressions and a long term solution. The problem was dissected to facilitate a
common understanding in hopes of reaching a solution. Shared governance requires
participation in the management process. The UFA is proposing the creation of a
committee composed of faculty and administrators to make recommendations for a long
term solution. Bargaining went well but there was not a final resolution on either item.
The offer to fund inversions and compressions remains at $85,000/yr. Four years ago
the Task Force estimated the cost of the problem at $1 to 1.5 million. The current offer
would take 10-15 years to resolve the problem. The UFA is asking for $600.000 per
year. Since both sides agree on the problem, the negotiations will progress to
mediation. The process may take eight weeks or possibly longer. Hopefully there will be
a contract to ratify at the beginning of spring semester. Ratification will not take place
during winter session. The other compensation items are still open.
Questions:
The Unfair Labor Practice hearing is scheduled for December 15th. The UFA is open to
negotiating a solution. The complaint was based on the Commissioner’s Office failure
to bargain in good faith. A compensation proposal was passed across on December
23rd without an official answer until May. The contract stipulates negotiations will begin
in December and take place on a regular basis in good faith until an agreement is
reached. In addition OCHE did not send someone to the negotiation table that had the
authority to bargain compensation. The remedy is for the Board of Personnel Appeals to
require good faith bargaining. If there is not a favorable ruling, the UFA has the option
to appeal to the district court, which could lead to a stronger remedy. The contract could
be reopened for example. Such action would have to be decided by the Executive
Board after the December 15th result.
MSU has ratified their contract. MSU received $100,000 per year for inversions and
compressions, as well as $100,000/yr for the merit pool. The figures are difficult to
compare because MSU did not have a merit pool in the past. UFA President Coffin is
not familiar with the data in terms of MSU’s inversion/ compression problem.
Approximately 150 faculty responded to the survey identifying inversion and
compressions as a priority. The College and University Personal Association (CUPA)
data support the assertion that faculty salaries in Montana are among the last in the
nation.
Chair’s Report:
Budget meeting
The Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate met with Bill Muse, Associate Vice
President of Budget Planning and Analysis to get a better understanding of the budget.
ECOS was provided with the Taskforce report on Inversion and Compression referenced
by UFA President Coffin. The report clearly shows that the University hires at a fairly
competitive rate at the Assistant Professor level and very quickly salaries decline as
faculty move up the ranks. Faculty at UM are not only compressed and inverted related
to our own campus, but in comparison to faculty across the country.
The Senate Leadership is taking the information to the University Planning Committee in
an effort to get the issue included in long term Planning. The administration agrees that
it is a problem for faculty, administrators and staff.
Next Senate meeting
The Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate asked the Global Leadership Initiative
Planning Committee to provide an update to the Senate and stand for questions, but the
Senate meeting conflicted with Carol Schneider from the Association of American
Colleges and Universities. Associate Provost Walker-Andrews sent handouts for
senators who may be interested in the information presented. This will be on the
agenda for the December Faculty Senate meeting.
Committees
The Provost is putting together several committees and requests nominations from the
Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate. Requests were sent to senators. Please
inform the Faculty Senate Office if you are interested in serving.
Evaluation of the Administration
The Faculty Evaluation of the Administration will be sent next week. The process has
been improved. Completing the survey will take less time and will provide more usable
information. The President and Provost have agreed to treat the results similar to the
way student committee evaluation reports are considered in faculty assessment. To
help encourage faculty to participate there will be a random drawing for participants.
Prizes include a $100 gift certificate to the Pearl and Basketball tickets.
Committee Reports
ASCRC Chair Tangedahl
Curriculum consent agenda
ASCRC Chair Tangedahl briefly summarized the curriculum review procedure.
Curricular forms are sent to subcommittees, comprised of 3-5 faculty in the disciplines.
The subcommittees study the proposals in detail and request follow-up. Then the items
are brought to the full committee for consideration. Four of the subcommittees have
presented to ASCRC and several items are pending follow-up responses. The level I
and Level II proposals were highlighted – Minor in Forensic Studies, Fire Science
Management minor, and the deletion of Range Resources Management and
Conservation options.
Senator Uchimoto asked whether co-convening is being encouraged. The College of
Arts and Science expects upper-division courses to have a minimum of 10 students
enrolled and a minimum of five students for graduate courses. Therefore, it would seem
that a total of 15 students would be require for the co-convened courses when only 10
were required for the UG course.
Chair Beck: This would likely be a question for the CAS Dean.
Senator Naughton: How does the Registrar’s Office administer the courses?
Registrar Johnston: The department decides whether or not a course with low
enrollment is offered.
The curriculum consent agenda was approved.
Special Topics / Experimental Courses (Procedure 201.90)
The procedure was sent back to committee at the last Faculty Senate meeting. It has
now been revised to include rationale and allow for exceptions to the rule that
experimental courses may not be a major requirement. The procedure was approved.
Communication Continued:
ASUM President Gursky
There are a few exiting things happening. ASUM is funding ($9,000) a pilot
Neighborhood Ambassador Program. Five students that live in the area (University
district to Lewis and Clark) will be hired to discuss neighborliness in Town Hall meetings
and other venues. There will also be a newsletter. The ambassadors will have sticker
decals in their windows, so that when a problem occurs the ambassador can be
contacted to facilitate a resolution. Mayor Engen offered support of the program at last
night’s meeting. If the program is proven successful the city may offer financial support
next year. Missoula is a unique town due to the number of students (15,000 out of a
population of 60,000). Students want to be active participants in the community.
Housing continues to be a priority issue. At any given time there is a 1-2% vacancy rate.
This landlord market contributes to students living in unsafe rentals. ASUM is working
on advocacy to inform student renters of their rights. ASUM is talking with the Missoula
Housing Authority, considering cooperative housing and looking into rental advocacy
grants. ASUM also spoke to Bob Oaks about the North Side and the possibility of a
Tenant Union. ASUM is also talking to the administration regarding placing the issue on
the master plan. Housing affects student success rate.
On Wednesday, November 16th at noon there will be a panel discussion on local poverty
at noon. Twenty-nine percent of UM students live at or below the poverty line and have
significant barriers to getting access to resources (food stamps or rental assistance).
The factors that impede students’ success need to be included in University planning
discussions. A better partnership should be developed with community services that can
help students.
ASUM is talking about what an off-year legislative year means. It should actually be the
on-year. So that plans are in place during the legislative session. President Gursky is
also the President of Montana Associate Students (MAS). MAS is talking about hiring a
state-wide organizer for students (45,000 in the state). It is discussing unified goals and
how representatives can be held accountable before and after they are elected.
Committee Reports Continued:
Graduate Council Chair Palmer
Curriculum Consent Agenda
Graduate Council follows a similar procedure to ASCRC. The level II proposal in Athletic
Training is a little different in that it is a 3-2 program. Students obtain a masters degree
in five years. It was proposed late last year, but the Council had concerns. It was
clarified that the Council only reviews the graduate increment on the 400 UG courses.
The Council is also making sure that co-convened courses have a more rigorous
graduate increment than the 400 UG courses. Departments must determine whether
they prefer to offer co-convened courses or 400 UG courses. A course cannot be both
UG and co-convened.
Procedures
The Bertha Morton Fellowships/ Scholarships (procedure 303.10) was revised to make
sure the number of nominations is allocated fairly among programs and departments.
The value of the scholarship and fellowship was increased as well.
Graduate Certificate Program Guidelines were presented. It was questioned whether
the Senate should vote on the procedure. The guidelines add mores specificity to the
Board of Regents policy.
New Business
Professor Rick Hauer introduced the proposal for the Montana Institute of the
Environment. It comes as a seconded motion from ECOS. The Institute is a Montana
University System initiative. It is intended to be a state-wide administrative and
leadership institute for research and outreach in the environmental and ecosystem
sciences. The Institute will be broadly based and interdisciplinary. It will function with
two hubs, one at UM and one at MSU. It is designed to foster relationships between the
two campuses and throughout the University System. It is funded by the NSF EPSCoR
program ($24 million award). Approximately half the funds will be used for research and
research initiatives aimed to enhance the capacity of faculty and graduate students to
broaden their capacity to get additional research funding.
Questions:
Senator Jackson: Is the grant renewable?
There are five focus areas. The decision to determine which focus area will be the
central proposal will be decided by a state-wide committee. The hope is that the institute
will be sustainable.
Senator Rosenberg: The report described several committees. Have the individuals
been selected or how will they be selected?
Some of the members are selected by title rather than individual. Efforts are currently
taking place to get faculty involved.
Senator Renz: ECOS expressed concern that although the program is described as
interdisciplinary the committees fail to have academic dean representation from Law,
Journalism, or Education.
Department chairs automatically serve on committees that govern their faculty
participation. The committees will be expanded to include the missing deans.
Senator Putnam: Are there any plans to facilitate undergraduate research?
There is a component similar to the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REUs)
through NSF. Between 20-30 REUs will be distributed throughout the year, but primarily
during the summer. The experiences are partly driven by the faculty mentors.
Senator Stark: It would be a nice idea to have a student liaison between UM and MSU
on each of the committees.
Senator Bradford: The Missoula College of Technology and the School of Business are
not included in the agencies involved.
The Missoula College of Technology was considered as part of UM when the proposal
was created.
Senator Shively: It looks like the major focus of the Institute is on Ecosystem and
Climate Change. Do you envision opportunities will be broadened to include social
sciences? It is important that faculty understand there will be other opportunities.
There will be block grants that are incubation in nature to pull together interdisciplinary
teams. In order for the team to be competitive it needs to have broader impacts.
Senator Dietrich: Has there been any suggestions that the title have more specificity?
Yes, The Governor is proposing a title change to the Institute for Ecosystem Research.
[The official name approved by the Board of Regents is Montana Institute on Ecosystems.]
The Institute was unanimously approved.
Good and Welfare
The University Faculty Association requests Faculty make sure their off-campus contact
information is current. Please see your Department Representative to make changes.
Senators were thanked for their participation in the Day of Dialogue. The dialogue on
racism is still active and is very interesting. Senators were encouraged to take a look at
the information. It demonstrates the use of technology to address big questions that we
face as a community
The meeting was adjourned at 4:55 pm.