MSU FACULTY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES October 24, 2001 PRESENT: Young, Sherwood, Engel, Linker, Howard, Stewart, Larsen, Jones, Ross, Nehrir, McMahon for Weaver, McClure, Lansverk, Levy/Bandyopadhyay, Bogar, Henson, Jelinski, McKinsey for Pratt, Lynch, Lynes-Hayes, Butterfield. ABSENT: Hatfield, Morrill, White, Anderson, Kommers, Peed, Leech, Benham, Mooney, Lefcort, Locke, Idzerda, Fisher, Kempcke, Griffith, Carlstrom. The regularly-scheduled meeting was called to order by Chair John Sherwood at 4:10 PM. A quorum was present. The minutes of the October 3, 2001, meeting were approved as distributed. Chair's report - John Sherwood. - Joan Henson, the new representative from Microbiology, was introduced. - Agenda item 5 (Discussion of university priorities developed by the university planning committee) will be postponed until next week, because the committee has not finished rewriting the paper. - Discussion of faculty professional development opportunities across campus is continuing. The President and Provost agreed a follow-up task force is a good idea for considering ways to make the opportunities more consistent from college to college. - The Board of Regents meets in Bozeman November 15-16. - It has been suggested the regents be given an opportunity to visit classes Friday afternoon. They would be provided a list of classes for which instructors have agreed to having regents visit for part of the class period. - There appeared to be consensus among Council members that this opportunity is a good idea and that many faculty would be willing to participate. University Governance Council Nominating Committee issues. - Elaine Peterson, Libraries, has been nominated as Chair of the Committee on Grievance Hearings. The individual elected to this position must have served a minimum of two years on the Committee. As there were no further nominations, Jack Jelinski moved approval of the nomination. The motion was seconded and carried. - A request has been received that a representative of Faculty Council be selected to serve on the Space Management Committee. - It is the understanding that the individual would not necessarily be a Faculty Council member but would bring information about the committee's deliberations to the Council. - The name of the person selected is to be submitted to Craig Roloff, Chair of the Committee, by November 1. - Nominations will be accepted by Chair Sherwood until the October 31 Faculty Council meeting, at which time the committee member will be elected. The UGC Nominating Committee is also accepting nominations. - Cyd McClure was nominated for the position. Faculty Affairs Committee report - Ron Larsen. - Amendments to Faculty Handbook Section 600 (distributed at the October 3 Faculty Council meeting) were discussed. - Faculty Handbook Section 602 (Review of Faculty - Definitions) is amended to include definitions approved as part of the Faculty Workload Policy last spring for teaching, research and outreach. The definitions will now be consistent from one university policy to another. - Amendments to Faculty Handbook Section 633 (Review of Faculty - Demonstration of Effectiveness and Excellence) were removed from Section 602 and placed in Section 633, because they are procedural rather than definitional. - As there was no further discussion, Jack Jelinski moved the amendments be approved as distributed. The motion was seconded and carried. - The Faculty Affairs Committee continues its discussion of the role of an ombudsman and how the position might be used at MSU. - Last week, the committee telephoned the ombudsman at Washington State University. - The position is one-half time, filled by a senior faculty member, and the individual usually remains in the position two to four years. - The ombudsman has an office with a one-half time professional person and a full time administrative assistant. The cost is about $92,000 per year, $82,000 of which is salaries. - The number of cases handled each year is 300-400. Two-thirds of them are student cases. - For MSU, the Faculty Affairs Committee would suggest that Student Affairs and Services continue to hear student concerns. If faculty cases only are heard, the cost of an ombudsman would be less than at WSU. - Next Monday, the committee will telephone the ombudsman at the University of Idaho. U of I has recently started using an ombudsman. The committee will ask why they made the change. - The use of an ombudsman is popular in Canada and Europe and on both coasts of the U.S. - The Faculty Affairs Committee proposes moving ahead with some kind of campus faculty demographic study, with the outcome being a reasonable retirement strategy for MSU. After discussion of the issue, there was agreement that such a study should be undertaken, and faculty should have a role in it. As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:45 PM Joann Amend, Secretary John Sherwood, Chair