MSU-BOZEMAN FACULTY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES November 19, 2003 Members Present: Gipp, Stringam for Weaver, Johns for Kommers, Leech, Taylor, Howard, Christopher, Seymour, Jones, Becker, Wells for Conant, Ashley, Lansverk, Levy, Bogar, Kevane, Pratt, Neeley, Lynes-Hayes, Coon. Members Absent: Ag Econ, Giroux, McDermott, Schmidt, Jackson, Schlotzhauer, Monaco, Yoo, Cell Biol, Taper, Chem, Bond, Idzerda, Lynch, Prawdzienski, Knight, Hoffman. Others Present: Bandyopadhyay, Fedock, McLeod. The meeting was called to order at 4:10 by Chair Warren Jones. A quorum was present. The minutes of the November 5, 2003, meeting were approved as distributed. Chair's report - Warren Jones. - Two faculty nominations are being solicited for a position on the TIP Committee, part of the TIP (To Improve Productivity) Incentive Award Program. The program is designed to recognize and reward employees who come up with cost savings innovations. - The committee will make an initial determination regarding the worthiness of each proposal and decide if it should be forwarded for further review by the department it involves. - Please contact Chair Jones with names of individuals willing to be nominated. Two nominations will be submitted to the President, who makes the appointments to the committee. - Lowell Goetting, Office of the Vice President for Administration and Finance, may be contacted for further information about the committee (lgoetting@montana.edu, x2712). - The Board of Regents is meeting in Bozeman this week. Meetings are taking place in the SUB from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. tomorrow and from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Friday. - Negotiations with the MPEA bargaining unit resulted in a proposal of 50% tuition waivers for dependents of employees, if the employee has worked within the system for 5 years at .75 FTE or greater. The Board of Regents are considering the proposal that extends the benefit to all MSU employees. The cost of the proposal could reach $1.4 million per year. - Regent Roehm has presented an agenda item that states the regents will not sanction setting enrollment caps on any campus, especially for in-state students. However, students must meet the qualifications of the unit they wish to attend. - Regent Roehm is also proposing a salary review study for all employees in the university system. The study would compare salaries of comparable positions outside of the university with the Montana University Systems' salaries. - Further discussion of Regent Mercer's pursuit of quality indicators is on the agenda. - Tomorrow, the regents will discuss tourism as a mechanism for improving the state's economy - a role of the university system, according to the regents. - The Associated Students of MSU will support a resolution proposed by the Montana Associated Students opposing Regent Hur's proposal that organizations may collect money at student registration using a check-off. - After discussion of the issue, Shannon Taylor moved that he, as Faculty Council Chair Elect, and Chair Warren Jones be allowed to speak on behalf of Faculty Council in support of ASMSU's resolution. The motion was seconded and carried. Faculty Affairs Committee report - Marvin Lansverk. - The committee is editing Faculty Handbook language regarding grievance procedures to clarify the grievance process. Most revisions are not substantive. The proposed language will be brought to Faculty Council as an amendment. +/- grades. - ASMSU President Scott McCarthy is unable to meet with Faculty Council today due to an unexpected regent's budget meeting. Discussion of +/- grading will be deferred until he is able to attend a Council meeting. Lists of names of late-registering and at-risk freshmen. - Lists of names, by department, were distributed to Faculty Council members by department. - The purpose of the distribution is to improve retention of students by having the advisor or another faculty contact students registering late or with other factors making them at-risk for not enrolling Spring Semester. - Confidentiality is an important issue. Faculty are receiving this information for academic purposes and it is not to be distributed for any other reason. Students are to be contacted only because they are late in registering. - Faculty may choose to discuss the method in which to contact the students with the department head. - According to Chair Elect Taylor, this is the first time students have been contacted before the end of the semester. Faculty are asked to keep notes on conversations with students and to give feedback on the process. - An updated list of all late-registering students will be available November 25, and Chair Jones will share these with Faculty Council members. Other. - Faculty Council will not meet November 26. - According to Vice Provost Fedock, beginning Fall Semester 2004, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving will be a student holiday. As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:05 PM. Joann Amend, Secretary Warren Jones, Chair