MSU FACULTY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
                          February 20, 2002
                                   
PRESENT:  Young, Morrill, Sherwood, Engel, Kommers, Peed, Linker,
          Leech, Benham, Howard, Stewart, Lewandowski for Jones, Ross,
          Nehrir, McClure/Amend, Locke, Levy/Bandyopadhyay, Bogar,
          Jelinski, Idzerda, McKinsey for Pratt, Fisher, Lynes-Hayes,
          Butterfield, Kempcke,

ABSENT:   Hatfield, White, Anderson, Chem Engr, Mooney, Lefcort,
          Weaver, Lansverk, Henson, Lynch, Griffith, Carlstrom.

The meeting was called to order at 4:10 PM by Chair John Sherwood.  A
quorum was present.  The minutes of the February 6, 2002, meeting were
approved as distributed.

Chair's report - John Sherwood.
     - The ombudsman survey is being distributed this week.  Please
     encourage faculty to fill it out and return it.
     - UPBAC met yesterday to receive a report regarding the budget
     deficit in the Athletics Department.  UPBAC will vote on this
     proposal after discussing it.
          - The current deficit is to be paid from contingency funds
          left from renovating the stadium.  The three-year period
          that these funds had to be kept in reserve has now passed.
               - Of the $1.5 million in contingencies, it is proposed
               $1 million be used to cover the existing deficit.
               - $344,000 would pay off bonds for the sound system and
               score board.
          - It is proposed the larger issue, how to keep the deficit
          from recurring, will be managed in the following way:
               - There will be a $170,000 reduction in the Athletics
               Department budget.
               - Student athletic fees will increase to about the
               average of Big Sky Conference student fees.
               - There will be a $1.00 surcharge on tickets for events
               in the Stadium and Fieldhouse.
               - A greater effort will be made to increase donations.
               - $100,000 will be spent to build four additional sky
               boxes, which will rent for $24,000  per year.  Rent
               will increase on existing sky boxes.
          - After brief discussion of the budget proposal, Michael
          Peed moved money not be allocated to build the sky boxes.
          The motion was seconded.  The motion was tabled.
     - Student enrollment for Spring Semester has been determined.
     There are a few more students enrolled than projected, but there
     are fewer non-resident students than last year, so tuition and
     fees collected is about the same.

Update from the Strategic Planning Committee - Bruce Morton, Chair.
     - The charge to the committee is attached to today's Faculty
     Council agenda.
     - The committee has met three times.  For now, it meets Mondays
     and Fridays at 3:00 pm.  Monday meetings are work/discussion, and
     Friday meetings are educational.  Individuals are invited to
     discuss topics in their area of expertise (student demographics,
     physical plant, etc.).
     - Representatives from Institutional Research and the Budget
     Office attend every meeting, to provide information, and Joann
     Amend provides secretarial support.
     - The Strategic Planning Committee replaces the Long Range
     Planning Committee and the Strategic Planning and Budgeting
     Committee.  It is to be a link between strategic planning and
     resource allocation and as such, reports to UPBAC.
     - UPBAC and Deans' Council are already working on the FY03
     budget, so input into the budget process by SPC will be somewhat
     limited until the FY04 budget cycle.
     - SPC will discuss MSU's strengths, weakness, opportunities and
     threats (SWOTs).  The first two are internal, the last two are
     external.  Using discussions held during Fall Semester by UPBAC
     and others as background, SPC will distill three key items from
     each of the four categories for UPBAC to consider.
     - Acknowledging the difference between strategies and tactics,
     how will the division of labor between SPC and UPBAC occur?
     Bruce responded that "strategic planning" is not the same as
     "planning".  The university must develop a frame of thinking that
     asks, "What must MSU do to leverage its assets?"  Unique
     opportunities and problems need to be recognized.  Biases and
     preferences are not helpful to the process.
     - Faculty are able to have input into SPC discussion by reading
     the minutes, which will be posted at the President's Office
     (Annual Planning & Budget Cycle) web site, and attending Friday
     meetings, in particular.  All meetings are open and the community
     is welcome to join the discussions.
     - Regarding the time frame, the committee hopes to identify the
     SWOTs within the next month.

Academics Subcommittee of the NCAA Certification Self Study - Chris
Lamb, Chair, and other members of the subcommittee.
     - Four areas are being considered during the self study:
     governance, academic integrity (academic standards and
     predictors, academic advising, how student athletes handle missed
     classes and tests), fiscal, and equity/sportsmanship/student
     athlete welfare.
     - MSU's student athletes come into the university with high
     academic predictors and have a high graduation rate.
     - The subcommittee has met with each head coach and is currently
     gathering information from faculty: Are student athletes able to
     pursue majors of their choice and reach their academic goals?  Is
     there erosion of the class day and class week?  If so, how does
     that affect student athletes?
     - During discussion with Faculty Council, it appeared that for
     the most part, faculty interaction with student athletes and
     coaches has been good.  Students and coaches keep faculty posted
     about missed classes, and an effort is made to make sure athletes
     take missed tests in a way that is fair, although there are
     occasional problems with this (taking a test under poor
     conditions on the trip or taking it after returning to MSU with
     test results already posted).  Student athletes appear to be
     well-disciplined and motivated in their class work, although labs
     and studios can present a problem for them.  Some curricula, such
     as nursing, architecture and art require time periods in clinical
     settings or studios that make it almost impossible for the
     student athletes to attend.  Some concern was expressed for the
     erosion of the class day and class week.
     - Grade checks do not appear to be annoying to the faculty
     present.
     - There was agreement that generally, having student athletes in
     class is a good experience.  There does not appear to be pressure
     from coaches to give better grades to student athletes.  Instead,
     coaches seem to be proud they can recruit high quality students.
     Is a few cases, student athletes seem to feel a certain degree of
     entitlement, but this does not seem to be a significant problem
     for most faculty.

As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:10 PM.



Joann Amend, Secretary              John Sherwood, Chair