MSU FACULTY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
                          February 19, 2003
                                   
Members Present: Marlow for Gipp, McDermott, White, Kommers,
Schlotzhauer, Metz for Linker, Leech, Taylor, Howard, Stewart, Jones,
Yoo, Conant, Weaver, Amend, Levy, Bogar, Jelinski, Idzerda, Pratt,
Fisher, Prawdzienski, Kempcke, Knight.

Members Absent: Young, Morrill, Giroux, Anderson, Chem Engr, Nehrir,
Lefcort, Locke, Engl, Bond, Lynch, Lynes-Hayes, Hoffman.

Others Present: Bandyopadhyay, Dooley, Fedock.

The meeting was called to order by Chair Rich Howard at 4:10 PM.  A
quorum was present.  The minutes of the February 5, 2003, meeting were
approved as distributed.

Report from ASMSU - Trevor Blyth.
     - The Montana Association of Students (MAS) is concerned that the
     student regent, Christian Hur, has been appointed to a third year
     on the Board of Regents.  The concern arises from the fact that
     students do not feel he represents the students and their
     opinions and that his reappointment by the Governor prevents
     another qualified student within the system from gaining the
     experience provided as student regent.
     - Trevor outlined the process provided in the state constitution
     for appointment of the student regent.  Students feel that the
     process was not followed.
     - MAS is pursuing avenues for remedying the situation or for at
     least having a rightful voice in the selection of student regents
     in the future.
     - During discussion, Trevor was invited to contact Faculty
     Council if support of the Council could be of value in this
     matter.

Chair's report  - Rich Howard.
     - The February 5 presentation by Doug Young on Montana's economy
     and taxation issues was well received and a much
     larger-than-expected number of people attended.
     - February 20, Faculty Council and Faculty Senate leaders from
     the university system will meet with Elaine Hairston of Academic
     Search Consultants, the company hired to facilitate the search
     for a new Commissioner of Higher Education.
     - Topics to be addressed during the meeting include:
          - Identifying challenges to higher education in Montana
          during the next years, and
          - Identifying the characteristics desirable in candidates.
     - Input regarding the two topics may be e-mailed to Rich by
     tomorrow a.m.
     - Some characteristics that should be considered include:
          - Ability to interface with the legislature,
          - Awareness of the role of the smaller schools within the
          system,
          - Ability to develop consensus on the Board of Regents, and
          - Ability to develop a method for providing funding
          flexibility on individual campuses.
     - During discussion, it was asked if Montana's regents attend
     national conferences designed for members of boards of regents.
     According to the Provost, several Montana regents have attended
     these conferences in the past.  Discussion by the entire Board
     about information gained at the conferences is valuable, but time
     for such discussion has recently been very limited because of the
     structure of the board meetings.
     - There will be a special Board of Regents meeting March 3 to
     write the advertisement for the position.
          - An issue that will likely come up again, even though it
          has already been discussed by the Regents and voted on, is
          the role of the Commissioner.  The issue is whether the
          Commissioner should be a CEO or a Secretary to the Board
          with the two presidents sharing leadership and the Board
          managing the system.
          - The first option (CEO) has been approved by a vote of the
          Board.
          - According to Chair Howard, states using a CEO model appear
          to manage better resource-wise with their university
          systems.
     - On February 13, UGC Steering Committee met with the President.
          - Issues he addressed were the legislative session and
          budgets.
          - Current enrollment at MSU was also addressed.  Enrollment
          appears to be ahead of last year but down some from
          projections.
     - Chair Howard and Chair Elect Jones met with Provost Dooley and
     Vice Provost Fedock today.  Topics discussed include the status
     of two university-wide searches and the next catalog.
          - The searches for the Vice Provost for Undergraduate
          Education and for the Assistant Vice Provost for
          Undergraduate Education (Summer Session) have attracted some
          strong candidates.
               - No new money is needed for the positions because of
               occurrences and reorganization within the Provost's
               Office.
               - Although there is broad support for filling the
               positions, before the Provost offers the position to a
               candidate, he invites input from faculty about whether
               they think it is of higher benefit to MSU to fill the
               positions or to leave the positions vacant and use the
               financial resources elsewhere.
          - The academic calendar for '04 and '05 has been determined
          for the next catalog.  Because Labor Day falls on a later
          date during the two years (September 6 and September 5),
          classes will begin August 30 and August 29, respectively.
          - During comments by Faculty Council, it was requested that
          there be discussion of ways to manage problems caused to the
          teaching schedule by several one-day holidays in each
          semester, especially during Spring Semester when many of the
          holidays fall on a Monday.
     - As follow-up on the Council discussion with Dean of Graduate
     Studies McLeod regarding a liaison between Graduate Council and
     Faculty Council, Chair Howard announced that:
          - Craig Stewart will be the liaison between the two Councils
          for the remainder of the year.
          - Dean McLeod has invited Faculty Council to join a Graduate
          Council meeting on Friday, April 4, at 10:00 a.m.

Faculty Affairs Committee report - Walter Metz.
     - Chair Howard and Legal Counsel Leslie Taylor are working out
     some issues on the two proposed Faculty Handbook changes approved
     by Faculty Council and forwarded to the administration.  There
     will be further discussion at Faculty Council regarding the
     issues.
     - John Amend moved approval of amendments to Faculty Handbook
     Section 802.00 (Definitions for Formal Review of Faculty).  The
     motion was seconded and carried.  The amendment will be forwarded
     to the President for approval.
     - Jack Jelinski moved approval of amendments to Faculty Handbook
     Sections 463, 610, 618 and 730 (Post-Tenure Review).  The motion
     was seconded.
          - During the ten-day faculty comment period, some issues
          with Sections 461 and 462 were brought up.  Because they
          concern existing parts of the Handbook, the issues will be
          considered separately from this proposal, at a later date.
          - During discussion, it was suggested a counterbalance of
          faculty rewards (sabbaticals or other professional
          development) be provided along with this policy.  This will
          be discussed in greater detail at another meeting.
          - The motion was approved.  The amendment will be forwarded
          to the President for approval.
     - Because of the lateness of the hour, the amendment to Section
     810.00 (Responsibility of the Candidate to Submit Dossier) will
     be discussed at the February 26 meeting.

As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:05 PM.


Joann Amend, Secretary     Richard Howard, Chair