January 13, 2021 Minutes

A printable PDF of this information can be found here.

Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes

January 13, 2021

3:10pm-4:30pm

Webex

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

II.       President Cruzado

a.       Hope all are well, happy, and safe

b.       Hope you had the opportunity to rest and take a break over the holidays

c.       Hope for a better year than the one we just endured

d.       Again, I am thankful to the faculty of the university

e.       We have overcome, because of you

i.         Advance knowledge

ii.       Create new art

f.        Wonderful examples of collaboration and support of each other

g.       New semester

i.         Website: Faculty being recognized for their awards. New person each day on the main page

h.       With everything going on in the nation

i.         Sadness

ii.       COVID has taken from us, the opportunities to come together as a community.

A.      No athletic events, that pull community together

B.      Cultural events, artistic events that elevate our souls

(a)    We don’t think about what political party we are a part of. We enjoy it together.

C.      Not everything is negative

(a)    Discovered or family and friends

(b)    We are blessed to do what we do and work where we work

(c)     New semester with the same rules in place to keep us safe

(i)      Will continue to enforce face masks and social distancing, avoid crowds

(ii)    Started vaccinating health workers and others

(iii)   Vaccinating hundreds of students who are working in health care

(iv)   Expanding testing for students.

1.       Symptomatic testing to asymptomatic testing

iii.     Hear there are concerns about next week and the threats of inauguration day. We will keep you safe. Need your trust and your good recommendations to keep flowing. Keep our sense of community.

iv.     Thank you for everything you do. I am one very proud president.

v.       Please reach out if you need anything.

vi.     Comments

A.      Miss live music, the most. If we could get those bands who have come out of MSU to come and play for us, that would make me happy.

III.     Approval of FS Minutes from November 25, 2020

a.       Tomas Gedeon moves to approve. Julie Ruff seconds. None opposed. No abstentions. Approved.

IV.    Information Updates:

a.       Academic Calendar 21-22

i.         Possible that calendars from different campuses may not be the same

ii.       Will keep you up to date on changes

b.       Spring Enrollment

i.         Could expect fewer students in any given spring

ii.       Have been assured that enrollment is strong, but won’t know about spring for a couple of weeks

c.       Legislature

i.         State legislature is in session

A.      Want to revise gun carrying laws

B.      Budget discussions

d.       Faculty /Student Expectations

i.         If you are teaching online, you are teaching online. If teaching in person, you ar3 teaching in person. Any changes in modality need to be approved by dept head and dean.

ii.       Faculty need to be clear with students about their expectations

A.      Accommodate those who are sick or in quarantine but cannot change modality for everyone.

e.       COVID-19 Care Unit: https://www.montana.edu/health/coronavirus/health-safety/testing/quarantine-and-isolation-guidelines.html

i.         A structure way to support students who have been exposed and/or have COVID

f.        Faculty Affairs (https://www.montana.edu/opa/coms/facaffrs.html)

i.         Relationship to Faculty Senate

A.      Operates at the discretion of the Faculty Senate

B.      Assess applications for sabbaticals and passes those evaluations on to the Provost

C.      Member from every college

D.      Chair appointed by faculty senate

ii.       Mission of Faculty Affairs

iii.     “Consider matters of policy relating to promotion, tenure, leave, standards of performance, professional ethics, faculty rights and responsibilities, academic freedom, affirmative action, faculty compensation and benefits.”

A.      Charge is not current. Needs to be reworked for the coming years.

iv.     Position of Chair

A.      Open since Steve Swinford stepped into Vice Provost role

B.      Steve Swinford: Great forum for Faculty Senate, one person from each college. Send things to them to discuss and work through. Was working on a change to the charge when COVID hit, so this isn’t out of the blue.

C.      The most recent Chair of Faculty Senate could become the Faculty Affairs Chair.  Would have good experience.

D.      Relation to JAGS

v.       University Retention, Promotion and Tenure Committee

vi.     Committee Membership

V.      New Business

a.       Course and Program Approvals-First Reading

i.         Undergraduate Courses

A.      ERTH 484: Climates of the Past, Present and Future (11/17/2020)

B.      HSTA 220IH: Shaping of America: History of American Religion (11/18/2020)

C.      HSTR 331: Archaeology, Exploration, and Religion (11/18/2020)

(a)    Michael Reidy: Stopped having a religious studies dept, so Susan Cohen is moving her courses to History. History is very much in support of this.

ii.       Graduate Courses

A.      AGSC 502: Enhancing Women's Roles in Agriculture and Natural Resources (12/1/2020)

B.      ENGL 563: Topics in Teaching English Language Arts and Literacy in the Middle/High School (12/2/2020)

iii.     Programs

A.      AAS: Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration (12/18/2020)

B.      CAS: Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration (12/18/2020)

(a)    Good example of interdisciplinary work within programs

b.       Policies from JAGS (Joint Academic Governance Steering Committee-important in the development of policies               

i.         Provost Mokwa is the Chair

ii.       (https://www.montana.edu/provost/committees/jags.html)

iii.     Academic Policy Review and Approval Process Flowchart      

A.      Explains where JAGS fits in the policy review process.

B.      Provost Mokwa: JAGS was initially formed a number of years ago when the MSU faculty became unionized-which was eventually decertified. Had to then create a new faculty handbook. Turned out to be a great opportunity. Handbook needed to be looked at closely and updated. Diagram shows what a shared governance looks like. Come up with policy that fits what we have in place or improves it. Policies get revisited every three years. Originally, the Provost and the Chair of Faculty Senate each choose two people to participate. Legal Counsel and HR give input and support.

C.      Michael Reidy: Good shared governance example. Caution: the more power JAGS has, the less power Faculty Affairs has. The faculty  handbook should be written by faculty, instead it is written by JAGS in conjunction with faculty. That’s great if you have a good Provost, but not so great if you do not.

iv.     Appendix A: Approving Policy Changes

v.       Policies up for Revision-We will vote on these revisions

A.      Consulting Revisions 12/11/2020

(a)    Look at this before the next meeting

(b)    Provost Mokwa: Brought to our attention by Extension. Wanted to know how they fit into this policy. That opens up the opportunity to make other changes.

(c)     Ed Dratz: Welcome the clarifications. Amount of consulting I do ebbs and flows. Have done more of it lately. This will be helpful.

(d)    Getting paid for it, not part of MSU service responsibility.

(e)    Julie Ruff: Nursing will have to look at this. For licensure, nursing students have to have off-site places to practice. One day a week of face-to-face practice, minimum.

(f)      Tomas Gedeon: 30 days max. changed from what? 20% of the faculty member’s time. Average of one day a week, over the year-which would be 20%. That could be interpreted in different ways. 20% a day? 20% a week? It was confusing. Conversion is the same, but the 30 days is clearer.

B.      Annual Review Revisions 12/30/2020

(a)    Performance improvement plan had major revisions

(i)       If it is judged that you did not meet expectation, you need to make an improvement plan with your supervisor. Typically lasts one year. Sets boundaries around what you can be asked to do.

(ii)    Relates to annual review, and NOT promotion and tenure.

(iii)   Applicable to those who have tenure.

(iv)   Want to be sure the faculty are supported and have the guidance they need. Want them to succeed.

C.      Post Tenure Review 12/30/2020

(a)    If you don’t meet the criteria, then a post tenure review goes into effect.

(b)    Serious process

(c)     There have been cases of post tenure review that appeared to be overly burdensome and punitive.

(d)    Boundaries have been put in place. Is not at the discretion of the supervisor. Faculty participates in the process. Faculty can get help, if needed.

(e)    Faculty have opportunities for clarification and feedback.

(i)      Ed Dratz: This policy is urgently needed.

VI.    Senators Discussion

a.       What would you like to see in Faculty Senate in Spring 2021?

b.       Julia Haggerty: Spoke to Women in STEM group yesterday. Feedback: Some faculty members seek clarity on if it’s appropriate to put give an impact statement. Best practices that impact productivity.

c.       Tomas Gedeon: Second what Julia said. Statements can sometimes come back to hurt you or bring attention.

d.       Activity Insight: Surprised that I had to manual enter data into a digital portal. Is there a productive way for faculty to give feedback on these tools?

i.         Dean Adams: Always looking for ways to approve faculty’s use of AI. Aware of the burden of having to hand enter data. Reason is that if auto imported, we would lose the historical records of the old KNAPP scores. We are working on figuring it out.

ii.       Rob Maher: If you could do that without wasting the faculty’s time, that would be great.

iii.     Michael Brody: Welcome Jarome Coffey, Emeritus representative.

iv.     Provost Mokwa: Excited about changes in the Provost Office. Thank you to Dr. Singel and Dr. Eitle for their contributions. Dr. Steve Swinford is taking over the role that Tami Eitle played. Dr. Durward Sobek has stepped into David Singel’s position. Martha Peters will fill the role that Rachel Anderson held as Assistant Provost for Curriculum and Assessment.

v.      Michael Reidy: When I was Chair, asked Steve to do a lot and he NEVER said no.

vi.     Michael Reidy: Guns don’t belong on campus, they just don’t. It’s probably going to happen. Has Senate thought about how we will respond?

A.      We will be discussing it. Faculty Senate leadership group will work on it.

VII.   How can we communicate and support each other in COVID time?

a.       Senators’ Hours in Webex:

i.         Tuesdays 1-2 PM and Thursdays 11 AM to 12PM

b.       Faculty Senate D2L Brightspace: discussion area for topics of interest

c.       Faculty Senate Email Group: msufacultysenate@montanaedu.onmicrosoft.com

d.       brody@montana.edu

e.       Bradfod.watson@montana.edu

VIII.  Public Comment

IX.      Adjourn

a.       Tomas Gedeon moves to approve. Michael Reidy seconds. None opposed. Meeting is adjourned at 4:30pm.

REMINDER: Next meeting is January 27th, 2021