MSU FACULTY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES October 31, 2001 PRESENT: Young, Morrill, Sherwood, Engel, Harney for Leech, Benham, Howard, Jones, Ross, Nehrir, McClure, Lansverk, Levy/Bandyopadhyay, Bogar, Jelinski, Idzerda, McKinsey for Pratt, Lynch, Lynes-Hayes, Butterfield, Kempcke. ABSENT: Hatfield, White, Anderson, Kommers, Peed, Linker, Stewart, Larsen, Mooney, Lefcort, McMahon, Locke, Henson, Fisher, Griffith, Carlstrom. The meeting was called to order at 4:10 PM by Chair John Sherwood. A quorum was present. The minutes of the October 24 Faculty Council meeting were approved with a correction to the meeting date. Chair's report - John Sherwood. - Agenda item 4 (Discussion of university priorities developed by the university planning committee) is still not ready for discussion. The item will be on the agenda soon. - At last week's meeting, there was discussion of providing regents an opportunity to visit classes when they are on campus for the November 14-16 Board of Regents meeting. - The Commissioner of Higher Education and regents are agreeable to the idea. - Regents would be invited to drop by classes either Wednesday or Friday afternoon. They would attend only those classes for which the instructor has volunteered to have a regent visit. - Faculty who are willing to participate are asked to contact Joann at the Faculty Council Office (jna@montana.edu) with Instructor's Name, Course Number and Name, Location of Class, Time of Class, and a one sentence description of the class content for either the semester or the week. This list will be distributed to regents. Committee Nominations and Election. - Two faculty have been nominated for a Faculty Council position on the Space Management Committee: Cynthia McClure (Chemistry/Biochemistry) and Yves Idzerda (Physics). - As there were no further nominations, the two candidates stated why they are willing to be a member of the committee, and secret ballots were cast. - Yves Idzerda was elected to serve the two-year term. - Three faculty have been nominated for the Computer Fee Allocation Committee: Janis Bruwelheide (Education), Shawna Lockhart (Mechanical Engineering), and Richard Wojtowicz (Libraries). Gary Bogar (Mathematics) was nominated from the floor. - Further nominations will be accepted until next week's Faculty Council meeting. - The names of at least three faculty will be forwarded to the Provost, who will appoint two individuals to the committee. - During discussion by Faculty Council, it was suggested consideration be given to making the terms on the Computer Fee Allocation Committee more than one-year in length. Other. - The Board of Regents has asked faculty representatives to provide them perspective on regents' policies that act as a barrier to recruitment and retention of students. - The 6-credit limit residency policy for graduate students is a concern that has come up and will be discussed at the November Regents' meeting. - The credit cap appears to be a detriment to retention and will also be discussed by regents. - Is MSU comparable with other states in out-of-state and in-state tuition? It appears Montana is competitive, but neighboring states provide special tuition provisions (tuition waivers, WUE) to Montana students to make their schools attractive. As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:55 PM. Joann Amend, Secretary John Sherwood, Chair