MSU FACULTY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
                            April 25, 2001
                                   
PRESENT:  Young, Sherwood, McDermott, Kommers, Peed, Benham, Howard,
          Stewart, Larsen, Harkin, Nehrir, Mooney, Weaver, Locke,
          Lansverk, Levy, Bogar, Bond, Jelinski, McKinsey, Lynch,
          Fisher, Prawdzienski, Butterfield, Scott.

ABSENT:   Hatfield, Morrill, White, Anderson, Linker, Leech, Jost,
          Lefcort, McClure, Francis, Griffith, Carlstrom.

The meeting was called to order by Chair Ron Larsen at 4:10 PM.  It
was determined a quorum was present.  The minutes of the April 18,
2001, Faculty Council meeting were approved as distributed.

Chair's report - Ron Larsen.
     - Faculty Forums for candidates for Provost and Vice President
     for Academic Affairs were announced.  All faculty are encouraged
     to attend.
          - Dr. Joane McKay - April 30, 4:00 PM, 275 SUB
          - Dr. Joseph Fedock - May 7, 4:00 PM, 275 SUB
          - Dr. David Dooley - May 9, 4:00 PM, 275 SUB
     - UPBAC met April 24.
          - It was unanimously agreed that staff salary increases of
          4% should be included in the FY02 budget.
          - Departmental budget worksheets are available for UPBAC.
          However, it will be difficult for members to know what might
          be cut in many of the budgets without familiarity with
          specific departments.  Faculty Council members are
          encouraged to look at budgets (http://www.montana.edu/upba/)
          in areas where they have specific knowledge and send
          recommendations for budget cuts to Chair Larsen or Chair-
          Elect Sherwood.  Please include the line number assigned to
          the department, the amount of the recommended reduction, and
          the rationale for the reduction.
          - One million dollars for new programs has been included in
          next year's budget, but no new programs have been approved
          by UPBAC.  Those dollars could be used to restore cuts as
          well as to fund new programs.
          - Before the budgeting process is completed, the committee
          will again consider all proposed reductions in light of
          whether the cuts will affect the university's ability to
          raise revenue or adversely impact the quality of our
          academic programs.
     - The faculty line reversion report was mentioned at today's
     meeting with the president and provost, because it does not
     contain all of the information desired by members of Faculty
     Council.  At its meeting tomorrow, UGC Steering Committee will
     discuss what will be useful to include in the report.
     - The faculty pay improvement plan proposal was distributed for
     discussion.  It will be sent to UPBAC in a standard form used for
     new initiatives.  This proposal addresses salary only, not
     benefits.  Benefits could be submitted in a different initiative.
     Many university benefits are controlled at the state level, so
     they cannot be addressed at the university level.
     - Four graphs of MSU faculty salaries, compared to a regional
     peer group, were discussed briefly.  Using any of the four
     graphs, salaries for associate and full professors at MSU have
     fallen behind the peer group because of delays and pay freezes in
     recent years.
UGC Nominating Committee report
     - A draft ballot was distributed.  Nominees are still needed for
     Chair Elect, Chair of Faculty Affairs Committee, and Chair of
     Grievance Committee.  A Faculty Council liaison with the New Core
     Task Force is also needed.

Faculty Affairs Committee report - Marvin Lansverk.
     - May 4 is the deadline for submitting proposals for next year's
     Montana Campus Compact fellowships.  The grants are to promote
     "service learning", which means professor's students go into the
     community to do service, using what they are learning in class.
     Marvin received one of the fellowships last year and found that
     service learning is a worthwhile experience for his students.

Questions for Candidates for Provost.
     - Questions to be asked of the three candidates at the faculty
     forums were discussed.
     - Any comments about the candidates should be sent to Bruce
     McLeod, Chair of the Provost search committee, with copies to
     President Gamble.

Definitions of Research, Teaching and Service (in regard to proposed
Faculty Handbook Section 480)
     - Faculty Handbook promotion and tenure definitions, the workload
     definitions, and proposed combinations of the two were
     distributed.  They will be discussed at tomorrow's Steering
     Committee meeting.

Resolution Regarding Faculty Sabbaticals.
     - A draft resolution to next year's Faculty Council regarding
     development of an initiative to substantially improve funding for
     sabbaticals was distributed.  There was consensus that although
     the issue should be on next year's Faculty Council agenda, a
     resolution is not needed.

Proposed Amendment to Faculty Handbook Section 1312 (Conciliation and
Grievance Complaints - Deadlines for Filing)
     - It is proposed that the following wording be added to Section
     1312:  If notification by the Provost and Vice President is made
     less than thirty (30) days before the end of a faculty member's
     contract period, the faculty member's right to file a complaint
     will be extended to October 1 of the following contract period.
     - After discussion, Jack Jelinski moved approval of the policy as
     an interim policy.  The motion was seconded and carried.
     - The amendment will be forwarded to the administration for
approval.

As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:00 PM.



Joann Amend, Secretary             Ron Larsen, Chair