October 14, 2020 Minutes

A printable PDF of this information can be found here.

Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes

October 14, 2020

3:10pm-4:30pm

Webex

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

II.            Approval of FS Minutes from September 30, 2020

a.       Tomas Gedeon moves to approve. Susan Dana seconds. None opposed. No abstentions. Approved.

III.            Space Management Committee Faculty Senate Representative https://www.montana.edu/spm/space_management_committee/index.html

a.       The Space Management Committee reviews and updates the MSU Space Policies, Principles and Procedures, Research Guidelines and Space Standards every three years. The documents are intended to aid in the planning, allocation, and management of campus space in establishing equitable, consistent, efficient, and flexible planning parameters for making sound management decisions regarding space allocation for both new construction and building renewal and renovation.

b.       2 hr. meeting once a month. Since virtual it only takes about 20 minutes.

c.       Temporary or long-term approval of space on campus

d.       Kevin Amende is other FS rep if you have questions

IV.            Information Updates:

a.       Senate Representative for Space Management Committee https://www.montana.edu/spm/space_management_committee/ 

1.       The Space Management Committee reviews and updates the MSU Space Policies, Principles and Procedures, Research Guidelines and Space Standards every three years. The documents are intended to aid in the planning, allocation, and management of campus space in establishing equitable, consistent, efficient, and flexible planning parameters for making sound management decisions regarding space allocation for both new construction and building renewal and renovation.

2.       2 hr. meeting once a month. Since virtual it only takes about 20 minutes.

3.       Temporary or long-term approval of space on campus

4.       Kevin Amende is other FS rep if you have questions

b.       Fall Commencement (11/22/2020) Update

1.       There will be two ceremonies in the Stadium!

2.       You must RSVP  in order to get admission ticket!

3.       No lining up to greet or congratulate students, distance, stay in seat!

c.       Graduate Student Scholarships https://www.montana.edu/gradschool/announcements.html 

1.       Food Security

d.       Support for Sustainable Commuting: https://www.montana.edu/sustainability/sustainable_transportation/grh/index.html

1.       Guaranteed ride home for personal or family emergency; break down of a vehicle

e.       Resource for Counseling Services for Faculty included in our benefits. any questions regarding EAP, contact Amy at 406-449-9159 aberry@montana.edu.

f.        BIPOC Action Plan

1.       Four core challenges

2.       Virtual feedback session for all students, faculty, and staff

A.      Wednesday, October 21st 3:30 – 5:00 pm Learn more and register here

3.       If you are unable to attend the virtual session, you can still review the plan and provide feedback online!

A.      Review the draft action plan online here

B.      Provide feedback here

g.       Research Update (Jason Carter, VPREDGE)

1.       MSU Research: Expenditures and Portfolio

A.      In blue is the NSF HERD Survey-Source for Carnegie designation

i.            1992-present; major overhaul in 2010

ii.            Coin of the realm in University Research

iii.            Had been underreporting expenditures for research

iv.            U of M has been including some of their faculty salaries in this, and they shouldn’t have been

B.      In red is the OSP Managed Expenses

C.      Two larges portfolios come from Department of Defense and NIH

D.      Want to see balance in your portfolio

E.       Uptick in last couple of years. Not just one college, but many that are contributing to the balance.

F.       5 Year Trends of Benchmark Institutions

G.      Case Study: NDSU vs. MSU

H.      MSU Research Expenditure Breakdown

I.         Where does the $167 Million come from?

2.       What does website look like now? (insert link/slide info)

3.       You should all be extremely proud of your colleagues for joining the COVID efforts.

A.      Processing 1500 test a day

i.            Researchers are scrappy

B.      Received a grant from the Governors office to look into testing

C.      GOFlowChip: COVID and Gastrointestinal Mucosa-$1 Million HIH award

4.       Questions/Comment:

A.      Michael Reidy: Very interesting. Idea of using research salary makes sense. Makes more sense to hire TT faculty. Humanities teaches 40, 40, 20. Is there a reason why we keep those numbers?  Wouldn’t it make more sense at 20, 60, 20?

i.            At the college level

ii.            Endorsed by the Provost’s office

iii.            Would like to see stronger allocations to research

iv.            Teaching requirements are also important

v.            Not sure where the percentage split came from. Not everyone is so research active. Not every split is universal.

B.      Michael Brody: Thanks for this presentation. Need more national and international awards

i.            Need more national and international awards

C.      Andy Hansen: Think that this annual reporting to the community is high profile. Many are probably following it. In order to maintain credibility, it might be good to have one aspect of the reporting to Chronicle be in a way that is comparable over the years. Community only hears of expenditures that increase dramatically. Would be nice to report the total expenditure, and one key metric that is comparable to 10 years ago, 15 years ago, etc. Gives us more credibility.

i.            MAZE funding got into our numbers a while back so that has been fairly consistent for the last 4 years. When you look at what other universities are doing, we are not comparing apples to apples. However, we will be.

V.            Senate Discussion: Task Force: Spring 2021 and Beyond

a.       Large Lecture, Laboratory, Blended, Freshman Seminar and GTAs

1.       Reports are in D2L-Look at them, read them, share them

2.       What we should test

3.       What we should bring forward

4.       Faculty said we need to be more intentional in scheduling. Students and faculty need to know what they are signing up for.

5.       Had 8-10 people in each focus group, so please look at the notes and share them with your colleagues. We want to know if these recommendations are doable.

b.       Task Force members and Invited Faculty

c.       Draft Focus Group Notes posted in Faculty Senate D2L

1.       https://ecat.montana.edu/d2l/le/592224/discussions/List

2.       Can these notes help inform YOU as though think about how you are going to deliver your course in the spring?

3.       Many faculty said that for larger classes, asynchronous is difficulty with social distancing and communication. Why not put that online?

4.       Julie Ruff: In Nursing we were asked what our preferences were for modality in the spring through a Qualtrics survey. Our classrooms are small. Two rooms, one face to face, one remote. Go back and forth.

5.       David Singel: A number of thoughts based on what we were hearing from faculty. Want to convey that this letter is asking for descriptions of what you are going to be doing in Blended classes. This was new to everyone and there was some confusion around “blended”. There are many ways to do blended. If someone is teaching a face to face class, it’s okay to say that. We will communicate with the students. The Blended is what is tricky because there is such a wide range of ways and combinations of F2F and online that can make up a blended class. Instructors will give a short statement about their modality and that will be available to the students so that they have a clear view of what the course will be like.

6.       Michael Reidy: understand setting up expectations for students but we don’t want them to come to class if they’re not feeling well. We have to make it available to them if they have to stay home. So, how do you manage that?

i.            We’ve had to do this in the past for other reasons. This is far beyond that some just don’t want to come to class. Students were asking for accommodations to go fully online, telling that all their instructors have gone online. Then they ask for a refund. There is something special about in person instruction and we need students to understand that. Not everything is captured by an online presentation. Don’t want anyone to do anything other than what they feel is the best thing for their students.

7.       Please go to D2L and look at those documents. This is an ongoing discussion.

d.       Do the results reflect you experience and conversations with colleagues?

VI.            Old Business

a.       Undergraduate Courses (first reading) Spring 2021

1.       AHMA 220: Phlebotomy (10/6/2020)

2.       BIOB 441: Advanced Eukaryotic Genetics (10/6/2020)

3.       CULA 280: Senior Practicum (10/6/2020)

4.       HSTR 475: Public History Lab (10/6/2020)

VII.            New Business

a.       Undergraduate Courses (second reading) Spring 2021

1.       FILM 215: American Popular Television (9/22/2020)

2.       HEE 303: Methods of Lifetime Fitness Activities (9/22/2020)

3.       HEE 304: Methods of Team Sports  (9/22/2020)

4.       PSYX 429: Eating Disorders (9/22/2020)

b.       Graduate Council (Second Reading)

1.       Courses

A.      MEDS 542: Musculoskeletal-Created to cover the material removed from the course listed below, MEDS 540. (9/18/2020)

2.       Course Changes

A.      MEDS 540: Blood and Cancer-Removal of "Musculoskeletal" from title. Change to learning outcomes, credits, and description. (9/18/2020)

3.       Program 

A.      MHS-CERT: Mental Health Support Graduate Certificate (9/25/2020)-Seems very timely for the times. Proactive program out of EHHD.

c.       Faculty Senate Webpage: https://www.montana.edu/facultysenate/upcoming_meeting.html

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

1.       Senators’ Hours in Webex:

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

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

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

VIII.            Senators Open Discussion

a.       Susan Dana: Hear concerns about how pandemic is affecting our productivity. Long term consequences of this on faculty. Differential impact. Different by discipline. Families with responsibilities/care have less time. More responsibility on women than men. Are you hearing these concerns from your faculty too? Should FS play a roll in helping faculty mitigate these affects? If yes, what do we do?

1.       Tomas Gedeon: Hearing the same thing from (mostly) young jr. faculty. Have ideas but may be too premature at this time.

2.       Colter Ellis: Also hearing this in sociology. Faculty with young kids. Seems likely that this will have importance differences by gender. FS sho8uld take this seriously. Support a conversation.

3.       Amy Thomas: Majority of faculty have expressed similar concerns. Very interested in what FS can do. Seems there could be a number of things.

4.       Matt Herman: Faculty have been talking all semester. Almost everyone in my department is affected by these issues. Caring for elderly, kids. Research on the reservations or are members of tribes who commute. Profound.

5.       Cat Dale: Same thing. Take care of parents. Would be great if we could offer testing.

6.       Robert Carson: Much the same thing. In unusual times right now. Would be great if administration and FS and departmental leadership could enter a “pact” that we are going to take care of each other until we get out of this mess. In the past, as things happened one at a time, we helped our faculty through rough times. For all of us to communicate, we want to see flexibility at this time. Not about making things equal but making them equitable. This not a race to the finish, this is a fight to keep everyone upright, sane, and healthy.

7.       Susan Dana: Hearing that there is interest among us to come up with some ideas of what we can do. Know several who are interested in getting together to get some ideas together. Reach out to me or Julia Haggerty.

IX.            Public Comment

a.       None

X.            Adjourn

a.       Robert Carson moves to adjourn. Tomas Gedeon seconds. Meeting was adjourned at 4:32.

REMINDER: Next meeting

                      October 28th, 2020

                      3:10pm-4:30pm