MSU FACULTY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES March 28, 2001 PRESENT: Sherwood, McDermott, Kommers, Linker, Leech, Benham, Howard, Stewart, Larsen, Harkin, Nehrir, Mooney, Weaver, Locke, Lansverk, Levy, Bogar, Jelinski, McKinsey, Fisher, Butterfield, Griffith. ABSENT: Young, Hatfield, Morrill, White, Anderson, Peed, Jost, Lefcort, McClure, Bond, Francis, Lynch, Prawdzienski, Scott, Carlstrom. The meeting was called to order by Chair Ron Larsen at 4:10 PM. A quorum was present. The minutes of the March 21, 2001, meeting were approved as distributed. Chair's report - Ron Larsen. - An update from UPBAC was distributed (attached for members absent). - The focus of the committee has turned from university priorities to FY02 budget priorities, which were narrowed to five. - According to the current UPBAC calendar, a budget plan is to be sent to President Gamble by May 24. - Assessment will be part of the cycle. For this year, it will be the step after budgeting. - During discussion by Faculty Council, there was agreement that faculty should be involved in development of the department budget worksheets, and if they have not yet been involved, they should discuss it with their department head or director very soon. The worksheets are to be returned to UPBAC by March 30. - A Recruitment and Retention Task Force cost/priority matrix was distributed (attached for members absent) and briefly discussed. - The complete RRTF report can be accessed through the MSU home page. - The Board of Regents met in Helena March 22-23. - The Montana University System budget was discussed. - Because of anticipated budget shortfalls during the coming biennium, a significant tuition increase is expected to be approved when the Board meets in May. Results of the Administrative Review. - Results of the reviews submitted by tenurable faculty were distributed. - The summary results may be accessed at the Faculty Council web site (http://www.montana.edu/che/FacCouncil/ARtenFacResults.htm). - President Gamble will receive all 380 reviews. - The Faculty Affairs Committee was congratulated for taking the initiative to redesign the review, and Ron Larsen was thanked for taking the ideas and putting them into a workable format which collects useful information about administrators. - Faculty will now have the opportunity to comment on the review process and suggest ways to improve it. - Memos with individual ID codes and directions for completing the review are being sent to adjunct and research faculty so they can complete the review. Faculty Affairs Committee report. - Several issues are being discussed at Faculty Affairs and will come to Faculty Council before the end of the academic year. - After brief discussion, Jack Jelinski moved approval of the amendment to Faculty Handbook Section 812.04 (Opportunity for Candidate to Respond to a Negative Recommendation...). The motion was seconded and carried. - Faculty Council's proposed amendment will be announced to all tenurable faculty through the April 6 STAFF BULLETIN. Comment on the amendment is invited. - The pending amendment to Faculty Handbook Section 472.00 (Right to Grieve/Time Limits) and the proposal to include the workload policy in the Faculty Handbook as Section 480 will also be announced in the STAFF BULLETIN. Again, comment is invited. - A question was raised regarding timely notification from the Provost's Office to faculty members about promotion and tenure decisions. During discussion, there was agreement that there should always be a confirmation letter sent when tenure is finally granted. University Governance Council Nominating Committee report. - A list of university-wide committees for which nominees are being solicited was e-mailed to Faculty Council and Professional Council representatives yesterday. It should be distributed within constituencies. Other. - Chair Larsen shared a letter from Pete Mayfield, the first Faculty Council Chair at MSU, regarding the role the Council played at that time. As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned out 5:00 PM. Joann Amend, Secretary Ron Larsen, Chair