MSU FACULTY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES March 6, 2002 PRESENT: Sherwood, McDermott for Engel, White, Kommers, Mast for Peed, Linker, Leech, Howard, Stewart, Jones, Ross, Nehrir, Mooney, McClure, Ashley for Locke, Lansverk, Bandyopadhyay for Levy, Bogar, Jelinski, McKinsey for Pratt, Lynch, Prawdzienski for Lynes-Hayes, Kempcke, Griffith. ABSENT: Young, Hatfield, Morrill, Anderson, Benham, Chem Engr, Lefcort, Weaver, Henson, Idzerda, Fisher, Butterfield, Carlstrom. The meeting was called to order by the Chair, John Sherwood, at 4:10 PM. A quorum was present. The minutes of the February 27, 2002, meeting were approved as distributed. Chair's report - John Sherwood. - UPBAC met yesterday. - This semester, MSU met student enrollment numbers, but there were less out-of-state students and more in-state students than anticipated. The result was less-than-anticipated tuition received.. - The uncollectible student accounts receivable balance will be paid off over three years. The amount paid toward the balance this year is $500,000. - Because of these unanticipated shortfalls, MSU will use budget reserves to balance the FY 02 budget. University Governance Council Nominating Committee report. - Mike Giroux, Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology, has been nominated for the Equipment Fee Allocation Committee. As there were no further nominations, Jack Jelinski moved approval of the nomination. The motion was seconded and carried. - Six faculty have been nominated for three positions on the Faculty Development Opportunities Committee. They are Kirk Astroth (4-H Youth Development Specialist), Jim Doyle (Education), Todd Kaiser (Electrical Engineering), Jay Schmidt (Art), Richard Wojtowicz (Libraries), and Mike Myers (Modern Languages and Literatures). By written ballot, the three faculty elected are: Jim Doyle, Jay Schmidt, and Mike Myers. A Preliminary Proposal for a Teaching-Learning Center (Attached for members absent) - Jim Robison-Cox. - The rationale for the Center and a proposed budget were presented, followed by discussion, - It was suggested a needs assessment be done. - Is some of the proposed work of the Center already happening? There might still be value in having teaching and learning activities coordinated in one place. - Is the quality of teaching at MSU deficient? MSU faculty give regional and national workshops on teaching and learning. - It was suggested that there be some indication in the proposal that TLC members have national visibility in teaching and learning areas. - The relationship between the Teaching Learning Center and the Teaching Learning Committee has not yet been defined. - The spirit behind the proposal is good, because instruction can always be improved. Getting prescriptive feed back from a master teacher is a great idea, but can it be done without adding a center? Graduate Faculty Proposal - Bruce McLeod, Dean of the College of Graduate Studies. - According to Dean McLeod, advantages of a graduate faculty include: - MSU needs to understand the asset it has in its graduate faculty. - The graduate faculty at MSU is largely unrecognized, and it could do a better job of raising its recognition level if graduate faculty acted as a group instead of as individuals. - A graduate faculty can build a better program. - The number of graduate student enrolled at MSU, particularly in the PhD program, is decreasing. - For a university of this size, graduate students normally are about 20% of the student body. At MSU, it is closer to 10%. - Most recruiting is done at the undergraduate level. In comparison, little money is being spent to recruit graduate students - Advising and mentoring of graduate students can be improved, and a graduate faculty can support each other. - A graduate faculty can discuss and address graduate program needs. - Points of difficulty include: - The possibility of dividing the faculty. - Faculty could be part of both undergraduate and graduate faculty. - Creating another level of reviews. - Appointment process and removal process from the graduate faculty needs to be considered. - The department head and faculty would most likely appoint the graduate faculty. - During discussion, it was pointed out that issues affecting graduate recruitment and retention include lack of fee waivers and two-year grants which don't give enough time for a doctoral candidate to complete the degree and lack of assistantships to bridge grants. Post docs are being used to do much of the research, not doctoral students. Additional money is needed, for both faculty and students, to build a graduate program in many departments. - How would the graduate faculty fit into the university's governance structure? - The number of graduate students appears to be declining nationwide, especially in certain disciplines. - A straw poll indicated that the largest number of Faculty Council members is at this time neutral to the graduate faculty proposal, the next largest number is against it, and the smallest number is in favor of the proposal. - There seemed to be agreement that the proposal needs to be more specific. How will faculty be appointed and removed from the graduate faculty? Where will resources to improve the graduate program come from? As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:10. Joann Amend, Secretary John Sherwood, Chair