MSU-BOZEMAN FACULTY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES September 17, 2003 Members Present: Stringam for Weaver, Giroux, McDermott, Kommers, Monaco, Leech, Taylor, Christopher, Seymour, Jones, Yoo, Becker, Conant, Taper, Ashley, Lansverk, Levy, Cherry, Bond, Kevane, Idzerda, Pratt, Neeley, Lynes-Hayes, Coon, Knight. Members Absent: Ag Econ, Gipp, Schmidt, Jackson, Schlotzhauer, Howard, Cell Biol, Chem, Lynch, Prawdzienski, Hoffman. Others Present: Bandyopadhyay, Fedock, Dooley, Young. The regularly-scheduled meeting was called to order by Chair Warren Jones at 4:10 PM. A quorum was present. The minutes of the September 3, 2003, meeting were approved as distributed. Faculty Affairs Committee Report - Marvin Lansverk. - After meeting today, Faculty Affairs recommends Faculty Council give preliminary approval to changing the sabbatical application requirement that three external letters of review be included to three letters of review. - Discussion by Faculty Council followed. - This is a small wording change but a substantial change in philosophy. What is the purpose of a sabbatical - an opportunity to continue work in the faculty's area, similar to a grant-type of activity; or is it an opportunity for renewal and to perhaps work in an area the faculty would not otherwise have an opportunity to explore? - Faculty Handbook language would have to be amended, if the external letters are required by the Handbook. - In rating sabbatical applications, three criteria are considered: - Potential for faculty's improvement in teaching, research and service; - Potential benefit to the individual; - And, potential benefit to the university. - Mark Taper moved that Faculty Council give preliminary approval to the concept of removing "external" from the sabbatical application language defining the required letters. The motion was seconded and carried, although not unanimously. University Governance Council Nominating Committee - No report. Discussion with Greg Young, Vice-Provost for Undergraduate Education. - Vice-Provost Young was the first Undergraduate Scholars Director at MSU. Since then, he has served in several administrative capacities at MSU. His responsibilities as Vice Provost include fiscal responsibility for the University Honors Program, General Studies, and the University Scholars Program. - Two programs in which he is currently involved are Core 2.0 and the proposed Liberal Studies Degree. - The Liberal Studies Degree was originally the General Studies Degree. All of MSU's peer institutions have Liberal Studies Degrees, and MSU will continue to move toward implementation of it. - Core 2.0 has been through a pilot program and will be implemented Fall Semester 2004. - A Request For Proposals for new courses was distributed today. The RFP's are to be returned by October 31. The URL where this and other information about Core 2.0 may be viewed is http://www.montana.edu/newcore . - Faculty should know by December 15 which courses have been accepted for Core 2.0 so work on the new course catalog can continue on schedule. - Inquiry and discovery-based learning will be elements throughout Core 2.0. - About 550 undergraduates already do undergraduate research each year. A one-on-one research experience for all undergraduates is desirable, but this probably won't be possible at this time. Research is still possible with larger numbers of students. The desire is to involve students in research early in their program, but in some cases, the research may not occur until the senior year. - Freshman seminars, which will be required of each student, will probably take some additional money. There may need to be some redistribution of money and staff to accommodate new core requirements. - One of the primary motivations for requiring freshman seminars for all students was a goal of improved retention. Chair-Elect Shannon Taylor will chair the September 24 Faculty Council meeting. Chair Jones will be attending budget meetings that precede the September 25-26 Board of Regents meeting in Billings. As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:00 PM. Joann Amend, Secretary Warren Jones, Chair