December 8, 2021 Minutes

Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes (SUB Ballroom D)

12/08/21

3:10pm – 4:30pm

Please wear a mask.

I.            Call to Order

a.       Meeting called to order at 3:12pm

II.            Attendance Reminder

a.       Please remember to sign in or email Keely if you are calling in.

III.            Approval of FS Minutes from December 01, 2021

a.       Tomas Gedeon moves to approve. Roberta Amendola seconds. None opposed. No abstentions. Approved. 

IV.            New Business

a.       Conferring of Degrees-Tony Campeau

i.      Presentation for your consideration MSU’s Fall 2021 degree candidates in the knox folder. 

ii.      Upon completion and approval of the BOR candidates will be awarded the appropriate degrees.

iii.      William Taylor Brown, Honorary Doctorate

iv.      Tomas Gedeon moves to approve. Colter Ellis seconds. None opposed. No abstention. Approved. 

V.            FYI items

a.       Course Evaluations open through December 10th

b.       Final Week of the Semester Schedule

i.      https://www.montana.edu/registrar/Schedules.html 

c.       MyInfo Rolling Upgrades

i.      https://www.montana.edu/uit/pmo/currentprojects/myinfoupgrade/ 

d.       Winer Traction Aid Program – Free Pair every Three Years

i.      https://www.montana.edu/srm/programs/icegrippers.html 

e.       Box Migration, no longer available in March 2022

i.      https://www.montana.edu/uit/boxtransition/

ii.      Trainings available - https://www.montana.edu/uit/boxtransition/boxqasessions.html

f.        Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences internal grants

i.      Scholarship & Creativity Grants Program, due March 1, 2022, https://www.montana.edu/research/internal_awards/s_and_c_grants_fy2022.html 

ii.      Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (HASS) Grant Program, due March 1, 2022, https://www.montana.edu/research/internal_awards/hass_rfp2022.html

g.       Senator Hour, Monday 11-12, and Thursday 10:30-11:30 via WebEx

h.       Call for MSU Student Art Proposals                    

i.      https://coe.montana.edu/art/ 

ii.      Due in January

iii.      Open to any students on campus

iv.      Individual or collaborative 

VI.            Information Updates: 

a.       Sustainability in the Curriculum working group

i.      Looking for Senators who are interested

ii.      Let Bradford and Michael know if you are interested in serving. 

b.       Sustainability Summit - April 19th

i.      Looking for faculty to serve on committee

A.      Create programing around summit

ii.      Reporting on data around action on campus

iii.      Contact Kristin Blackler in the office of sustainability

VII.            Undergraduate Courses and Programs

a.       Courses – First Reading

i.      MART 122 : Introduction to Adobe (Spring 2022)

ii.      MUSI 225 : Jazz Improvisation and Concepts I (Fall 2022)

iii.      MUSI 351 : Collaborative Piano, title changing from Accompanying

b.       Courses – Second Reading

i.      ASTR 475 : Observational Astronomy Techniques (Spring 2022)

ii.      ASTR 476 : Theoretical Astrophysics (Spring 2022)

iii.      PHL 330 : Philosophy of Emotion (Spring 2022)

iv.      BIOE 435 : A Study of Local Ecosystems for Teachers, changing from 1 credit to 2

c.       Programs

i.      None at this time

VIII.            Graduate Courses and Programs 

a.       Courses – First Reading

i.      MUSE 531 : Contemporary Issues in Music Education (Summer 2022)

ii.      MUSI 501 : Analytical Techniques (Summer 2022)

iii.      MUSI 502 : Musicology (Spring 2023)

b.       Programs / Certificates –Second Reading

i.      CSAI-CERT : Artificial Intelligence Graduate Certificate

IX.              Note from Grad Council
            a.      Considering a policy that would allow research appointed faculty to be chairs of grad committees. 

i.      Was approved

ii.      Will come to senate for a vote

iii.      This would have an effect throughout the university in all departments. Has implication for advising and curriculum, etc. 

iv.      Will be first on our agenda in the Spring

A.      Will share the document with everyone

B.      Will have someone from grad council present it to senate. 

X.            Old Business

a.       Interdisciplinary Scholarship

i.      What would this body like to do about engagement on this issue?

ii.      Role and Scope discrepancies

iii.      Do we need a subcommittee to work on this?

iv.      Comments/Questions

A.      Otto Stein: Engineering has a grant to reimagine their curriculum.

a.       How do things get “counted” if you are group teaching? How does everyone involved get the credit they deserve for their work?

B.      Jennifer Thomson

a.       Faculty Affairs: Barriers for some departments for pursuing this, regarding their role and scope.

i.      Authorship has been an issue

ii.      Counting toward productivity?

iii.      EHHD’s role and scope does a good job of explaining how everyone gets credit in this type of work. 

iv.      Looking at post grant support for those engaging in this work

v.      More definition on what interdisciplinary fellows would look like

vi.      Needs to come from the departments. 

C.      Clem Izurieta: In computer science it is a mandate to work collaboratively

a.       Have been successful in getting grants based on their collaborative work.

b.       Cybersecurity is a good example of a program that spans multiple departments. 

D.      Jerry Johnson:

a.       Did some work on this years ago. Kathy Whitlock may have the data. 

E.       Tomas Gedeon: Barriers vs Incentives

a.       Incentives may help

b.       Jennifer Thomson: This group would be good for putting together the priorities and what is needed to do this work

F.       Susanne Cowan: Architecture is open to interdisciplinary work. Roles and Scope has openness for accepting a variety of work.

G.      We can work on some talking points over the break and pick it up next semester.

a.       Want to identify issues, areas that need work

b.       Find resources

c.       Figure out how to allocate “credit”

d.       Look at University role and scope

e.       Administrators may be afraid to support it

i.      Should be encouraged. 

H.      Peter Tillack: Bridget Kevane announces Sustainability Minor: 

Overview

The Sustainability & Environmental Stewardship Minor is designed to encourage undergraduate students from any discipline to explore the three pillars of sustainability (economic, environmental, and social) beyond course work in their major. The Sustainability Minor will be administered by the Liberal Studies Program at MSU. Liberal Studies works across departments and across the university. The Liberal Studies degree values a broad, integrated, and interdisciplinary approach to higher education. Interdisciplinary studies foster connections among disciplines and draw upon multiple areas of knowledge. Students choose one of three program options: Environmental Studies (on campus or online option), Global and Multicultural, or Quaternity (on campus or online degree completion).

With support from Liberal Studies, MSU is uniquely positioned to prepare students to understand and address sustainability challenges. An interdisciplinary undergraduate Sustainability Minor will enhance the value of undergraduate degrees by identifying students who have taken initiative to learn and experience the integration of economic, social, and environmental sustainability within their disciplines. The Sustainability Minor is supported by the Institute on Ecosystems (loE), Campus Sustainability Advisory Council (CSAC) and the Office of Sustainability.

I.         Bradford and Michael are happy to collect role and scope info

J.        Provost Mokwa:

a.       Important work

b.       This summer’s retreat was centered around this topic

c.       Hurdles in place, and more work to do to remove those hurdles

i.      Departmental role and scopes 

b.       Resolution on Climate

i.      The Faculty Senate of Montana State University (MSU) recognizes climate change as one of the most significant challenges facing Montana and the world. As our state’s Land Grant institution, it is our obligation to be leaders in building a sustainable future. We support the efforts of MSU’s administration and the Campus Sustainability Advisory Council (CSAC) to reduce our carbon footprint and call on our entire university community to continue taking meaningful and measurable steps to mitigate the anthropogenic causes and impacts of climate change.

ii.      Therefore, be it resolved that, we, the Faculty Senate of MSU:

A.      Acknowledge the urgency of the climate crisis and strengthen our commitment to taking bold climate action by joining communities and other post-secondary institutions worldwide in declaring a Climate Emergency.

B.      Support the MSU Campus Sustainability Framework developed by CSAC, including development and annual reporting of an institutional Climate Action Plan.  

C.      Encourage faculty to support existing curricula and the development of new curricula focusing on the challenges of the climate change problem and equip all MSU students with the perspective and skillsets needed to confront the climate crisis.

iii.      Recognizing Montana State University (MSU) is Montana’s Land Grant institution with an obligation to serve the people and lands of Montana using the best available science to assure health, sustainability and economic stability, and that universities should operate in a manner that is in the best interests of their students, faculty, staff, administration and broader community, and the Montana State University Faculty Senate represents the interests and authority of the faculty in shared governance of the University and is charged with considering and making recommendations regarding opportunities and problems facing the University, we therefore further acknowledge the following:

A.      Acknowledges the urgency of the climate crisis and strengthens its commitment to taking bold climate action by joining communities and other post-secondary institutions around the world in declaring a Climate Emergency.

B.      Supports the Sustainability Framework proposed by MSU CSAC and strongly encourages that these efforts are developed into an actionable Sustainability Plan as required by 2019 MSU Choosing Promise Strategic Plan Goal 3.3.6.  Progress towards the framework goals and Sustainability Plan should be presented in an annual report to the MSU community.

C.      Requests that MSU commit the necessary resources to ensure an immediate, rapid, and sustained response to address the climate crisis and urges MSU to develop a comprehensive Climate Action Plan and submit annual evaluations of progress.

D.      Encourages each faculty member to consider what more they can do in their classes to communicate the scope, urgency, and challenges of the climate change problem, and equip our students with the perspective and skillsets needed to mitigate the climate crisis.

E.       Supports a structure for faculty to consider ways to reduce their own carbon footprint when possible and develop and implement a mechanism to account for the cost of greenhouse gas emissions. 

F.       Intends to work in concert with students and administration to make the strongest possible statement that MSU is committed to playing their role in equipping students with opportunities to learn about and manage future climate impacts.

iv.      Colter Ellis:

A.      Glad we are having this conversation

B.      Have distilled the language down to the key points

a.       First is same as always

b.       Second, mild revision

c.       Third, combines a couple of the other items

C.      Broad group of senators can get behind

D.      Susanne Cowan: Support the shorter language. Thank those who have been working on this for months. Appreciate all of that work. Shortening it makes a stronger, clearer statement. 

v.      Andy Hansen: 

A.      Ecology faculty saw both versions. Supportive of the Senate doing a resolution. They favored the more detailed version. Context was important. Six points would allow for a stronger impact. 

vi.      Andrew Hill:

A.      Pleased to have had faculty look at the science. End of day they could agree that they could support something that declared a climate emergency. 

B.      Like the succinct version. 

vii.      Sarah Stoneback: 

A.      Helpful discussion with colleagues. 

B.      Agreed both versions would have an  impact. 

C.      Thank you to those involved in bringing it to this point.

D.      Important topic.

E.       Overall Music is more included to support the shorter version

a.       Importance in keeping it brief

b.       May be more flexible as we change and grow

c.       Some did favor the longer version. More detail ma help educated people. 

F.       Gary Caton: 

a.       Business has issues with points 5 and 6 of the longer version. Glad to see the shorter version. They should all be able to get on board. 

G.      David McWethy: 

a.       Earth Science has overwhelming support of a resolution

b.       More support for first three points

c.       Less were supportive of 4, 5 and 6

d.       Important that faculty show leadership to students and community that this is an important issue. We want more faculty support. More concise resolution would garner more support. 

e.       Many teach courses on climate.

f.        Should have near unanimous support.

H.      Jerry Johnson: 

a.       Obvious that there is more support for the shorter version. 

b.       Glad to have something on record

c.       Symbolic statement by faculty

d.       Hard to make everyone happy

e.       Don’t want to go into 2022 talking about this.

f.        Paull Lachapelle wrote a rebuttal on why we should go with the longer version. 

i.      Will get that to senate if they want to read it

g.       Confused about where we are. What do we do now?

i.      No motion on the table

ii.      We could entertain a motion or continue open discussion. 

iii.      No active motion

I.         Tomas Gedeon

a.       Agree with Jerry

J.        Colter Ellis moves to pass the shorter resolution. Jerry Johnson seconds. 

a.       Otto Stein: Ran both versions by dept. faculty. All were in favor of one or the other. The shorter version focuses more on developing curricula and working with our students. Everyone seemed to like that. 

i.      Faculty don’t want to get bogged down in the details. 

b.       Jerry Johnson: Thank you to Paul Lachapelle for bringing this to Senate.

c.       None opposed. One abstention. Resolution is passed. 

XI.            New Business / Senators’ Open Conversation

a.       Susanne Cowan: Will there be a change to the mask mandate for next semester?

i.      No change from what is on the MSU website

ii.      Provost Mokwa: Per the September 17th email from the President on masks, no decisions will be made until things progress. 

A.      Started with “recommendation”

B.      Quickly moved to “required” 

C.      November, addition of more indoor spaces

a.       Fitness Center was purposefully left out. Their staff was left to make a decision on how to deal with masks there. They decided to mandate their employees. Have monitored that and masks by students have dropped about 50%. Fitness Center was 100% funded by students. Some have gone elsewhere to work out. Is now at “recommendation” stage. Unique set of circumstances. Have also lost many student employees as well. Not willing to get into constant confrontations with students. See how it goes for the rest of semester and we can re-evaluate then. 

D.      No further decisions have been made yet. We hope we can relax someday soon. 

E.       A lot of attention is being given to this issue. 

F.       Students have been patient, but ASMSU leadership brings it forward again and again. 

b.       Jerry Coffey: Do we have data on Campus cases? Health Department reports once a week. They do have to test on campus, or self-report. 

i.      Last week we had 16 infections out of 17,000 students. Morning Star School had 4. 

ii.      Tomas Gedeon: Students very quickly adapted to masks. Being flexible is not a bad idea, but don’t know how it will go. Was pleasantly surprised this semester when as well as it did. 

XII.            Public Comment

a.       Alex Muser, student in Political Science Department: Commend you for making a climate change stance. Some students may have disappointed in the lack of support of this. Will be glad it’s going forward. Challenge everyone to apply some kind of curriculum to their courses. For example, tracking your own carbon footprint. 

b.       Rob Maher, Engineering. Thank you for the vote on the resolution. Regarding masks in fitness center: concerned that administration has been making important decisions without any discussion with faculty. Faculty Senate was not consulted about the Fitness Center being able to make their own rules on masks. Faculty use the fitness center as well. 

i.      Alex Muser: Mask usage is very high during class periods and very low outside of class periods. Seeing a decline in mask usage out of class. 

A.      Ask people to wear masks as non-confrontational as possible 

B.      Decline in mask wearing is concerning. 

c.       Provost Mokwa:

i.      Thank you to all of you and your service

ii.      Attendance has been close to 100% this semester. 

iii.      Not just in classrooms and labs but thank you for the role you play in the University as a whole. 

iv.      Have a nice break. 

XIII.            Adjourn

a.       Otto Stein moves to adjourn. Tomas Gedeon seconds. Meeting adjourned at 4:13pm. 

REMINDER: Next meeting is January 26, 2022 from 3:10pm-4:30pm in Leon Johnson 346.