April 8, 2020 Minutes

A printable PDF of this information can be found here.

Faculty Senate Minutes

April 8, 2020

WebEx Meeting

3:10pm-4:30pm

I.            Call to Order

a.       Meeting was called to order at 3:10pm

II.            Approval of March 23rd meeting minutes

a.       Minutes are approved

III.            Interim Senate Process-Reminder

a.       Only Senators or alternates may participate unless recognized by the Chair or Chair Elect

b.       Mute your microphone

c.       Discussions – synchronous and asynchronous

d.       Voting

i.            Voting through D2L

IV.            Informational Items

a.       Campus Financial Updates-Aims and Actions-President Cruzado, Provost Mokwa

i.            President Cruzado: First and foremost, I hope that everyone is safe and healthy.

Your response to the current situation has been amazing. Am so grateful for your investment in time, on top of everything else you do on a regular basis.

Applaud your ingenuity. Trying to adapt to a number of things. This situation has been a challenge to our imaginations. Compare it to writing a book in chapters. Now that the decisions on how to do this are behind us, we have another chapter to go. It’s hard to talk about things that we still don’t understand completely.

A.      Budgets for this year: Room and board reimbursements will be in excess of 7 million dollars. Just to start.

B.      NCUR was a big event for us that we had to cancel. There will be losses there.

C.      Cancellation of big events will also be losses for us.

D.      Changes in expenditures going forward:

1.       Cancelling the Bus Tour

2.       Cancelling the next edition of Mountains and Minds

ii.            What happens next year?

A.      In 2016 we had huge growth. What happens when all those students leave? They are graduating this year. Two falls ago, we rolled out efforts in student retention to keep them connected to MSU. Then the pandemic hit.

1.       Wish we knew what was going to happen with student enrollment, but there is no way to tell. Other universities are having a drop in enrollment. Don’t know how it will affect MSU.

2.       What does the new normal look like?

B.      Want to apologize for having to cancel sabbaticals. That was not an easy decision to make.

C.      Presidential faculty fellow program is on hold.

D.      Cancel TV commercial that was planned for the fall

E.       Cancelled off-site retreat, both summer and winter

F.       Conference travel is being handled with care as well

G.      We need to be cautious for the time being. We need to keep the core academic mission of the university. That means we need to keep our current employees.

H.      Hiring moratorium:

1.       For all types of positions. Not a hiring freeze. There is a difference. Some things can be postponed under a moratorium.

2.       Our hope is that we recover quickly, and we can get better and stronger going forward.

b.       Provost Mokwa:

i.            Thank you for all you’ve been doing

ii.            Student satisfaction survey has gone out

iii.            Hearing fantastic reports that faculty and students are working through this together

iv.            Students have some stability in the midst of such big changes.

v.            Comments/Questions:

A.      Will we have a six -foot rule when we return in the Fall? We don’t have that kind of room.

1.       Working in different task forces. Incident Command Team and others working on a plan to return to work. Do we do it in waves? Do not want to relapse into another epidemic. How do we plan for the Fall semester? What happens if we are still online? We are still working toward those answers.

·         Provost Mokwa: We assembled a task force to look at worst-case what ifs and we ended up having to implement all of those. This task force is still working toward answers to different scenarios for the future. It may involve some online teaching. It might be smaller class sizes in bigger rooms. How do we do that? We are working toward those answers.

·         Glad someone is working on it because it is going to be complicated.

B.      Haven’t heard of other universities that have rescinded sabbaticals that have already been granted. Why not suspend them?

1.       President Cruzado: It’s all about the funding. As recently as March BOR meeting, have brought forward concern about how the general fund allocation has been distributed the last six years and how there’s no change on the horizon. Our allocation from the state has eroded over the last six years. This places us in a vulnerable position. Last year’s freshmen class was 51% out of state. Would not have envisioned that this pandemic would happen. If our number in out of state students drop, imagine how that will affect us. We are highly dependent on out of state tuition.

80% of the general fund goes to faculty salaries. With reductions, where does that put us? In order to preserve our academic mission, without cutting programs, etc., we need to make cuts somewhere else. If there are other things that we can do, we will do those. This is just one piece. We need all hands-on deck Fall semester, due to moratorium on hiring. When this is over, we need to be in a position to recover.

C.      Get the idea that faculty would have an easier time with some of the changes that have been made if they knew that administration was sacrificing also.

1.       Changes mentioned apply to everyone

D.      How will these changes affect cost of living raises and compensation raises?

1.       Comes from general fund. If there are cuts in the future, that may affect those raises. It’s too soon to really tell, but as of today, we haven’t heard anything.

E.       Just starting to do antibody testing. Many may be immune and that can be tested now. In some places, if you are tested to have this antibody, you can go back to work. Maybe we can put these students together in dorms, etc. Hasn’t taken off yet, because the tests have just become available.

F.       Bozeman and MSU is a relatively safe place in comparison to bigger cities. Maybe that will be attractive to out of state students.

1.       What are the new students and their parents looking for? Admissions is working on it.

2.       We don’t have to put all our hopes in an incoming freshmen class. If we are able to retain the students we have now, that will help us get through this safely. If we can retain these students, we’ll be okay.

G.      What about new programs in the pipeline and in development?

1.       We are evaluating each new program very carefully. Our economy won’t be as strong as it was six months ago. Some students may decide to stay in school and go for their master’s degrees. Some programs might want to be accelerated due to this. We need to be cautious about new course development that take additional resources. We are going to get through this, and we want these programs ready to go. OCHE hasn’t said that they will stop the program approval process.

2.       What about a fifth-year master’s program? It wouldn’t’ take any new faculty or courses.  

H.      How does the current financial portrait account for the 10.7 million dollars that is coming from the state? ½ will go to student emergency grants. The other ½ will go to faculty instruction. There is still confusion in how we can allocate funds to students. Just in room and board we have reimbursed 7 million dollars to students. We pay 17 million a year on financing the buildings we have on campus. Right off the bat, we’ve taken 7 million form auxiliaries funds. Still looking for guidance on how we can use these funds.

I.         If you have more questions, please send them to Eric and Michael and they will take them to the President and Provost and will get the info back to you.

J.        President Cruzado: Thank you again and stay well. Take good care of your families. This too shall pass. GO CATS!!!!

c.       Distance Learning Survey Results – Chris Fastnow

i.            Looking at compiling this information in a different way than in the past. Will get the results posted to the website for senator review. We will talk about that more in two weeks.

V.            New Business

a.       Administration and Use of Course and Peer Teaching Evaluations

i.            DRAFT Interim Policy on Course and Peer Teaching Evaluations

A.      The purpose of this interim policy is to:

1.       Provide clarity to faculty regarding the administration and use of student and peer teaching evaluations from the Spring 2020 term for RTP and annual reviews,

2.       Ensure that faculty are not inappropriately held responsible for teaching evaluations that reflect factors outside their control,

3.       Maintain the process of continuous improvement in teaching practices, and

4.       Provide a mechanism for students to evaluate faculty instruction.

ii.            Proposal Components

A.      Course Evaluations by students will be conducted as usual, using the existing systems and questions

1.       Faculty will be given the opportunity to opt-in to use any or all Spring 2020 course evaluation data for both RTP and annual reviews,

2.       Faculty, unit administrators and review committees will be provided with guidance on how to best utilize Spring 2020 course evaluation data for annual review and RPT processes.

B.      RTP and Annual Reviews

1.       Unless the candidate chooses to use one or more Spring 2020 course evaluations for annual review or RPT, those course evaluations will not be used in faculty performance review.
2.       Written guidance will be provided at annual trainings for candidates and reviewers at all levels, concerning the fair and consistent interpretation of the presence or absence of teaching evaluation from the Spring 2020 term in candidate’s materials. This will include guidance for annual reviews. This information will be provided as a part of the training in subsequent years to ensure consistency among new reviewers and new committee members.

C.      Peer Evaluations of Teaching

1.       If in-class observations of teaching by peers were not completed prior to the cessation of face-to-face classroom instruction in Spring 2020, and a unit’s Role and Scope documents require peer evaluations as part of the teaching portfolio, this requirement will be met with a peer-evaluation that utilizes other available indicators and evidence of teaching that demonstrate how a candidate meets the unit’s standards.

2.       Where necessary, units will be encouraged to use existing practices of assessing teaching that do not require in-class observations.

3.       Chairs/Heads will be encouraged to work with their faculty to ensure peer evaluations (processes as well as indicators and measures) that are valid, and not reliant on in-class observations.

iii.            Discussion and Questions

A.      Is there anything missing?

B.      Are there any things you “cannot live with” or that are fatal flaws?

C.      Other comments/questions

1.       People need to opt-in if they DO want to use this semester’s evaluations? Yes.

2.       Can they wait until they see them to decide? Eric will confirm that as quickly as possible. There is a deadline for those who decide to postpone their RPT.

3.       Should I tell my faculty members that they can see the evaluations before deciding to opt in or not? David Singel: I don’t see an objection to that. I think everyone will be cautious on interpreting these evaluations. Some may decide to use them and write about it in their narrative. What did they learn, etc.? Provost Mokwa: The feedback should be helpful to the faculty member. We don’t want to eliminate the option for faculty to use this feedback. Would love to see emphasis on how faculty may take this experience and use it in a positive way moving forward. Do not want to do anything to inhibit faculty from using these.

4.       How will this apply to adjuncts at instructor level, how does this affect their performance reviews. Provost Mokwa: Take the same kind of approach as with faculty. Looking to the next year, we are going to be leaning on these NTT faculty. We do not want to hamper their professional evaluations.

iv.            Consider and Discuss with Colleagues

A.      Let this marinate. Let Eric or Michael know if you have questions or feedback.

B.      Feedback by 5:00 pm Friday:

eric.austin@montana.edu

brody@montana.edu

b.       Osher Lifelong Learning Institute-Kim Obbink-PLEASE SEE THE PRESENATION LINKED ON THE FACULTY SENATE WEBSITE. We will revisit this in two weeks.

i.            Program is currently called MSU Wonderlust  http://www.montana.edu/wonderlust

ii.            Non-credit programs for people 50+ years of age

iii.            Started as Gallatin Valley citizens grass-roots program in 2002

iv.            Transitioned fully to MSU program in 2017 – housed in MSU Academic Technology and Outreach

v.            Why this request?

A.      Required by BOR for using the name “Institute” which is a requirement of the Osher Foundation – all 123 current OLLI programs carry this name

B.      It is not a research institute or an academic credit program

C.      OLLI approved at University of Montana by BOR in 2009 – UM supported our grant to the Osher Foundation

D.      MSU Wonderlust name would be retired upon approval by BOR

vi.            The Bernard Osher Foundation

A.      Invited by the Bernard Osher Foundation to submit a proposal in 2019

B.      Network of 123 lifelong learning institutes affiliated with colleges and universities across the country – MSU will be number 124

C.      MSU received Osher Foundation grant award in June 2019

D.      Osher Requirements for future funding:

1.       Name must be “Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Montana State University”

2.       Programs must be directed to ages 50+

3.       Institute must be part of a higher education institution

4.       All decisions such as org structure, types/content of programs, and financial management  are at the discretion of the university

vii.            Osher Foundation Grant

A.      $100K awarded to MSU ATO in July 2019

B.      http://www.osherfoundation.org

C.      Funds primarily spent on hiring a director for 18 months

D.      Metrics defined for receiving $1M endowment at the end of 18 months (Dec 31, 2020)

1.       Increase membership by 6%  to reach 537 members; we are currently at 611 members

2.       Increase the number and variety of courses/programs offered

3.       Increase opportunities for integration with MSU – i.e. faculty involvement, participation in Advisory Council, access to resources as appropriate

4.       Increase member involvement such as participation in planning committees, promotion, course topics, and managing growth

viii.            Organizational Structure

A.      Advisory Council: ATO Director, MSU Director of Extension and VP of Alumni Engagement; community leaders and volunteers; various MSU members

B.      Volunteer Committees: curriculum, promotion, social events, membership, and finance

C.      Reports through ATO to the Office of the Provost

D.      Self-supporting budget since 2002; instructors, staff and program expenses all paid from Osher grant, program membership dues, course registration fees and private contributions.

ix.            OLLI at MSU: Supports the engagement goals of the MSU Choosing Promise Strategic Plan

c.       Courses

i.            See Faculty Senate Website for the full list: http://www.montana.edu/facultysenate/upcoming_meeting.html

A.      Courses are posted by semester they are to be offered – Summer and Fall are separate (~two dozen!)

B.      Feedback by Friday at 5:00 pm

C.      Please encourage your colleagues to initiate the proposal process earlier

VI.            Old Business

a.       Senate Delphi Survey Update

VII.            Announcements and Updates

VIII.            Public Comment

a.       None

IX.            Honorary Degree Candidate (Executive Session)-Quiz in D2L, Faculty Senate course shell. Click on Quizzes tab at the top of the page. You have three options: approve, oppose, abstain. Open until 5pm today.

a.       Candidate Introduction and Overview – Andreas Thorsen

i.            Documents and instructions are in D2L

ii.            Three criteria

A.      An association with MSU or Montana in some way

B.      Distinguished at some level

C.      Must reflect favorably on MSU, MUS and the state of Montana.

iii.            Questions/Comments

A.      None

X.            Adjournment

a.       Meeting was adjourned at 4:43pm