MSU FACULTY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES February 28, 2001 PRESENT: Young, D. Weaver for Morrill, Sherwood, McDermott, Kommers, Peed, Leech, Benham, Howard, Stewart, Larsen, Jost, Harkin, Nehrir, Mooney, T. Weaver, McClure, Locke, Lansverk, Levy, Bogar, Bond, Jelinski, Francis, McKinsey, Lynch, Butterfield, Griffith. ABSENT: Hatfield, White, Anderson, Linker, Lefcort, Fisher, Prawdzienski, Scott, Carlstrom. The meeting was called to order by Chair Ron Larsen at 4:10 PM. A quorum was present. Chair's report - Ron Larsen. - To save time, the Chair distributed a written Chair's report (attached for members absent). Discussion with President Gamble. - In response to the written Chair's report and other questions, President Gamble stated that: - His principles for MSU include: building a plan to do what we want to do, not spending money we don't have, and not expecting miracles where funding is concerned. - The plan for the University should include goals, a time frame and a budget for meeting them, and assessment. - Regarding incentives that might be considered (from Chair's report), some of them make sense and some would be difficult to reach. - The University has important assets which must be maintained, including the physical plant and personnel. - An immediate goal is to increase the credibility of the institution. - The President and Assistant Vice President Roloff outlined the proposed Annual Planning and Budgeting Cycle (http://www.montana.edu/president/ - "Annual Planning and Budget Cycle" at bottom right of page). - Although many planning documents have been developed for MSU, they do not appear to be linked, so there is a perception of a failed planning process. - The new process will link all areas of university planning and link it to budgeting. Planning will include assessment. It will stay active throughout the year. - The planning process will be open and will occur from "bottom up". - Although the change to this kind of planning may be somewhat noisy in the beginning, the process will mature over time and give everyone a stake in the process and outcomes. Everyone involved in the planning process will be responsible for decisions made. - The planning process will have four stages: planning, developing strategies with budget and assessment issues included, budgeting, and assessment. The cycle will be continuous, beginning and ending with assessment. - Existing campus-wide committees appear to fit well into the proposed process. - The Long Range Planning Committee will maintain an up-to-date Long Range Plan and consider institutional priorities. There is not time to review the LRP for FY02, but the committee will begin the process for FY03. The LRPC is to refine the LRP, make it more focused, holding campus forums for input during the process. - Priorities from the LRPC will go to the Strategic Planning and Budgeting Committee, which will develop very specific strategic plans for the priorities, including time lines, budget information, and assessment measures. There may be a number of strategic initiative action plan teams working on various strategic plans at any given time. - A new University Planning, Budget and Analysis Committee (UPBAC) will consider all budget proposals based on agreed-upon principles. It will be responsible for creating a balanced budget (revenue/expenditures and across the university). Members of the committee will keep the welfare of the entire university in mind. - The final stage, and beginning stage of the next cycle, will be assessment at three levels: - Public accountability - how well does MSU fulfill it's public role? - Internally, with a broad brush - fiscal health, balance. - Specific budget proposals. - This year, there is a 90-day window to create a balanced budget, so the work of the committees will be intense. - Because of the short time frame, the planning, budget and analysis committee will have to jump into the middle of the cycle, using the information that is currently available. - The first step of the planning, budget and analysis committee will be to agree upon a set of principles, values and priorities to guide the process. Historical data will be considered, and all units will develop budgets based on various budget scenarios. - The budget process will proceed with integrity and accountability. It will be done openly with input from the bottom-up. Communication will be an important part of the process. As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:10 PM. Joann Amend, Secretary Ron Larsen, Chair