January 24, 2024 Minutes

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Slide Presentation

Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes

January 24, 2024

3:15pm-4:30pm

SUB 235

I.            Call to Order 

a.      Meeting called to order at 3:15pm

II.            Approval of FS Minutes from December 6, 2023

a.      James Meyer moves to approve. Chris Posbergh seconds. Minutes are approved. 

III.            FYI Items 

a.      Welcome Back 

b.      Chief Data Officer Candidate Campus Visits

i.      Come and meet the candidates. 

c.       We granted 34 sabbaticals this semester. Thank you to Ryan Anderson, Chair of the Faculty Affairs committee, and the Provost for that work. 

d.      New senators, don’t forget your water bottle. Available in the Office of the Provost. Email Keely Holmes if you’d like her to bring on to the next meeting for you. 

IV.            Information Updates 

a.      Parking Taskforce Update from Randy A. Crandall, Lieutenant MSUPD

i.      Looking for a Director of Transportation

ii.      5 different construction projects going on

iii.      See slide presentation 

iv.      Parking cannot be state funded

v.      Questions

A.      2790 campus resident parking passes sold

1.      Want to get back to 1800

B.      What about cases where the student lives in Eastern Montana and won’t be able to fly home or have their parents come get them. Will there be an exception for them?

1.      Having been thinking about it and the answer may be long term parking.

C.      Is there off campus storage?

1.      We don’t own any off-campus storage. 

2.      Looking at a lot of options long term.

D.     Garage permitted spots are being taken by students.

E.      Research vehicles with state plates. Other universities don’t make them pay to park, why do we have to pay?

1.      Different places, different budgets. 

2.      We are self-funded. Costs of snow removal are high. 

F.       Once a research vehicle has been purchased, there aren’t necessarily funds to pay for parking. Used to be storage area.

1.      Storage area is full.

2.      Those fees are going up.

3.      Nothing says that that space is going to go away right now. 

G.     Is there a way to reserve parking in each lot for faculty so that they can get to their classes?

1.      No plans right now to do that, but that would be something we could review if it is brought forward by the senate. 

H.     Do parking garages offer more spaces? Are there more in the works?

1.      Not right now. Possible long-term view. 

V.            New Business

a.      Changes to the Graduate Catalog 

i.      Master’s Thesis Credits 

A.      You can take 9 thesis credits instead of 10 (divisible by 3)

1.      Option to take 9. You can still take 10. 

B.      21 remaining credits

C.      Questions/Comments: 

1.      Like seeing this fixed. It’s always been frustrating. 

ii.      Continuous Enrollment Policy

A.      Students weren’t able to take semesters off easily

B.      Provides extra flexibility

C.      Stay in program. Don’t have to do intent to register form. 

D.     New policy is cleaner

E.      If they take time off, they need to realize that things still need to be done and projects finished, so they may need to find someone to do them while they are gone. 

VI.            Undergraduate Courses and Programs 

a.      New Courses 

i.      First Read 1/24/24

A.      ECIV 360 : Estimating & Bidding Fundamentals

B.      ECIV 460 : Advanced Estimating & Bidding

b.      Course Changes 

i.      Second Read 1/24/24

A.      NRSG 498 : Professional Internship

1.      Credit change from 3 to 2

2.      Reducing lab hours by 1 credit to accommodate the creation of a separate 1 credit NCLEX Preparation course during the final nursing semester. No change in overall program credits.

c.       Program Inactivations 

i.      Second Read 1/24/24

A.      CLNA-BS : Cell Biology and Neuroscience: CBN Option

1.      Nearly duplicate of CBN BIOMED. Only difference is 1 math requirement and fewer electives. UG Curriculum Committee may revisit in the future.

B.      CSTM-MINOR : Computer Science Teaching Minor

1.      The CS teaching minor was created more than 5 years ago as a partnership between Education and Computer Science. Since its inception, not a single student has enrolled. We would be happy to resurrect this minor at some future date when perhaps there is more incentive for K-12 teachers in Montana to acquire more background in computing.

VII.            Graduate Courses and Programs 

a.      New Courses 

i.      First Read 1/24/24

A.      EDCI 515 : Strategies for Trauma-Responsive Classrooms and Schools

1.      Impact to international graduate students

2.      Masters program has no courses face to face

3.      International students cannot take ALL online courses.

4.      This new course is online as well.

b.      Course Changes 

i.      Second Read 1/24/24

A.      MB 528 : Advanced Microbial Genetics

1.      Change from Advanced Genetics

2.      Instructor request - to clarify course is Advanced Microbial genetics and not general or eukaryotic genetics

ii.      First Read 1/24/24

A.      MEDS 570: Reproduction & Development

1.      Title changed from Lifecycles & Reproduction

B.      NRSG 604 : Evidence Based Practice I

1.      Credit change from 4 to 3

2.      The one lecture credit change in this course along with minor changes to the course learning outcomes are made to support upcoming national certification requirements for both DNP Nurse Practitioner and Nurse Midwifery options.

C.      NRSG 614 : Vulnerability and Health Care in Diverse Communities

1.      Credit change from 4 to 3

2.      The one lab credit change in this course along with minor changes to the course learning outcomes are made to support upcoming national certification requirements for both DNP Nurse Practitioner and Nurse Midwifery options.

D.     PSPP 549 : Botany of Spices & Medicinal Plants for Teachers

1.      Title change from Plants, People, Health for Teachers

2.      The botany of spices and medicinal plants is a topic that is fast becoming popular among students and their families. This revised course will modernize and enhance the K-12 sciences. Botanical products sold in the cosmetic, food, and botanical supplement market can be applied to science curriculums to make these subjects more relevant.

c.       Program Inactivation 

i.      First Read 1/24/24

A.      IGERT-PHD : Doctor of Philosophy in Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training

1.      Inactive program that was connected to an NSF grant

B.      NEUA-PHD : Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience

1.      No Neuroscience faculty.

VIII.            Senators’ Open Conversation 

a.      Sarah Stoneback: 12 month pay. HR said it is not even close to being ready to implement. 

i.      Provost: Later this spring HR is going to reach out to faculty for a sign up for 9- or 12-month option. Committed for a certain number of years after opting. 

b.      Sharon Neufeldt: How does 12 month pay impact summer pay?

i.      The current limits on summer salary will not change. 

c.       Gilbert Kalonde: Want to ask the Provost about the EDCI course issue for international students. Please help these students. This will eliminate international students from our programs. 

i.      Provost: Graduate students shouldn’t be in an all-online program. We should involve the faculty in that department. 

ii.      Sarah Pennington and Laruen Davis will attend the next meeting to speak to this.

IX.            Public Comment 

a.      Steve Swinford, Vice President of Student Success. 

i.      Rail Jam-Students are excited

ii.      Hand Raise-navMSU-button added for student question responses. 

A.      What is Hand Raise? Hand Raise enables students to ask questions when they don’t know where to go or who to ask. Students pose a question through Hand Raise (via navMSU), then a staff member from the Office of the Registrar will either respond to the question or refer the question to the appropriate member or members of the response team.  If no one on the team is positioned to help the student, we will seek others on campus who are better suited to help and connect them with the individual student. Hand Raise is similar to a faculty issued Early Alert.  In this case, the student is opening the alert or case on themselves. 

B.      Additionally, faculty and staff with access to navMSU can view a student’s Hand Raise question when viewing a student record in navMSU.  If a student has an active Hand Raise it will appear under the overview tab in the right-hand column under current alerts.  Previous/resolved Hand Raise submissions can be viewed under the history tab within navMSU. 

C.      What is our ask of you?  We ask that you encourage students to   download navMSU for all that it has to offer and utilize Hand Raise when they are unsure of where to go with questions. Of course, a direct referral to the office or individual best suited to assist the student is preferred. Hand Raise is designed to “fill the gaps” not to become the default method for all inquiries.

D.     Should you have any questions or require additional information, please reach out to navsupport@montana.edu or, as always, feel free to contact me directly. We appreciate your ongoing commitment to the success and well-being of our students.

b.      Provost Mokwa: Thank you to Ryan Anderson and the Faculty Affairs committee on his work, and the committee’s work on the many applications. Terry Leist and Megan Lasso in the budget office have worked hard also. 

c.       Feb 16th, Founder’s Day Awards

i.      Please come and support your fellow faculty. 

X.            Honorary Degree Discussion (Closed Session) 

a.      Moved into closed session at 4:18pm

XI.            Adjourn

a.      Maggie Thorsen moves to adjourn. Sarah Stoneback seconds. Meeting adjourned at 4:25pm