October 30, 2019 Minutes

Faculty Senate Minutes

October 30^th, 2019

ABB 138

3:10pm-4:30pm

I.            Call to order

a.       The meeting was called to order at 3:10pm

II.            Approval of the October 16th minutes

b.       Susan Dana moves to approve. Ed Dratz seconds. None opposed. No abstentions. Approved.

III.            Informational Items

a.       University Health Partners-Medical Excuse Policy Update - Jim Mitchell and Sam Mitchell

i.         Trying to find a way to not give out notices for medical excuses

ii.       Many reasons why a student may miss class: broken down car, sick child, influenza

iii.     Don’t want to spread those germs around if someone is contagious

iv.     Encourage faculty to not require sick notes

v.       Encourage sick students to STAY HOME

vi.     Faculty can make those decisions on absence policies-exceptions are athletes and some others

vii.    No university policy about it, one way or another

viii.  Students are used to having to have notes from being in high school

ix.      Have met with the Center for Faculty Excellence-have a link on their website to other universities’ policies on sick notices, etc. Would like see some actually examples for syllabus language that faculty could use to adapt to their syllabi. They are going to try and do that over the next few weeks.

x.       Why do we care? If Health Partners are the only way for students to get a note to excuse their absence, students will come in and try to get one. Spending time, money, testing, trying to treat the student. Ties up scarce resources.

xi.      Starting in January, Health Partners will not be giving out notes.

xii.    Working with Center for Faculty Excellence to get the word out to faculty

xiii.  Will send an email out from the Provost to faculty on this

xiv.  This is not unusual: Washington State, Oregon State and others have a policy on not giving notes out.

xv.    Want both faculty and students to understand why we aren’t doing this anymore.

xvi.  We DO want students to go to Health Services when they are actually sick. Trying to eliminate them coming in and tying up resources in order to get a note because they missed a class and/or exam.

xvii.  If you have some good examples of syllabus language you could share, please send them to Dean Adams, Director of the Center for Faculty Excellence. Would like as many different examples as possible.

xviii.     Keely will post this information on the Faculty Senate website so that it’s easier for senators to find.

xix.  Any questions, you can email Jim Mitchel: jimm@montana.edu

b.       Chrome River Introduction, Travel and Expense Management - Jenna Buksch and Ben Kahlke, Director of Fiscal Shared Services

i.            Chrome River Overview

A.      Travel and Expense Management system-web based application

1.       Travel Pre-Approvals (Authorizations) & 
Expense Reports

2.       P-Card expense management

B.      Mobile access while on the go

1.       Web Browser from any device

2.       Chrome River Snap app for receipt capture

3.       Single Sign-On capability-net id and net id password

ii.            Why?

A.      We’ve outgrown the current system

1.       16k+ Travel Authorizations/Expense Reports 
in FY2019

2.       Cumbersome & paper-based

B.      Policy compliance risk

1.       International travel

2.       Compliance is built in to the system

C.      Lengthy approval & processing time

1.       Reimbursements can take a long time to process and come through

D.      Numerous errors on reports

1.       The system will catch the errors as you go

iii.            Expectations and Vision

A.      Culture change

1.       Puts more responsibility on the traveler

2.       In accordance with state policy

B.      University travel and P-Card usage are privileges

1.       Granted only to those who adhere to the related policies, procedures and processes

C.      Accountability and responsibility

D.      No personal transactions on P-Cards (exception)

iv.            Current Travel Authorization

A.      Cumbersome approval process

B.      Paper forms can get lost

C.      Not intuitive – no built-in error checks

D.      Index knowledge needed

v.            Chrome River Travel Pre-Approval

A.      Automatic approval routing

B.      Web-Based system

C.      Error detection & resolution prior to supervisor approval

D.      Index search and recall-you can search by number or by name. Once you use it one time, it will always be in your list.

E.       Pre-Approval Types-can choose options that you need with estimated amounts

1.       Air Travel

2.       Ground Transportation

3.       Hotel

4.       Meals

5.       Conference/Seminar/Training

6.       Airfare

7.       Baggage Fee

8.       Charter Airline

9.       Miscellaneous

vi.            Current Travel Expense Report

A.      Greater chance for receipts to get lost

B.      Errors can’t be caught up front

C.      Manual Entry into Banner

vii.            Chrome River Travel Expense Report

A.      Ability to upload receipts while away

B.      Built-in notes & rules-so you know you are doing it right

C.      Banner & Bank Integration-pcard charges are automatically pulled into Chrome River

D.      Added Expenses

1.       Air Travel

2.       Ground Transportation

3.       Hotel

4.       Meals

5.       Telecom

6.       Office Expenses

7.       Dues/Fees

8.       Conference/Seminar/Training

9.       Miscellaneous

10.   Cash Advance Return

11.   Itemization

E.       Can also track non-travel expenses-similar process as above

viii.            Snap App (Receipts Only)

A.      You can upload a photo of your receipt from your phone to Chrome River

ix.            Supervisor Approval

A.      Dashboard, or

B.      Email

x.            Outlook

A.      Testing

1.       Two rounds complete – design/accounting teams (4 campuses)

2.       User Acceptance Testing – faculty, staff

B.      Training

1.       Web-based - available 24/7

2.       WebEx interactive sessions – recorded-will be posted on website

3.       User Guides-quick reference

4.       Open Support Sessions

C.      Communication

1.       Website http://ou.montana.edu/chromeriver/

2.       Email chromeriver-help@montana.edu

xi.            Takeaways

A.      Making travel and expense management streamlined and more intuitive

B.      Not displacing jobs—software will allow staff to focus on accuracy & compliance

C.      Please begin discussing Chrome River with faculty and staff – what and why we are updating

D.      Go live early 2020

xii.            Questions

A.      How will this help you not lose receipts? You can scan them with the app and upload or upload from email. Can do the same with your boarding passes for proof of travel.

B.      Do you get immediate acknowledgment that it was readable? You get acknowledgement that it has been uploaded, but maybe not that it is readable. Probably should not toss your receipts right away.

C.      What about splitting out your restaurant receipt between food and alcohol? You can do that when you do the expense voucher.

D.      How are pcard charges routed? Who has to approve them? It is the same as it has always been, your supervisor approves them.

E.       Would be nice if you could save multiple indexes. You can. It will save all of the index numbers you put in and will be in your list the next time.

F.       So, is the pcard holder now going to be responsible for entering their charges into the system? Yes.

G.      The grad student issue of not being reimbursed is a huge issue. What is the roll out time for this? Question was not answered.

H.      How should we communicate this to our departments? Have done dept. head meetings. First mass email should be sent out next week as part of the campus wide communication efforts. Just looking for word of mouth right now.

I.         How much has been shared with administration? They have been in conversations. More than with faculty so far.

J.        Chrome River will be there to help.

K.       Index numbers are listed by number or descriptions.

IV.            Old Business

a.       Courses approved in FS Steering (10/22)

i.            ECIV 334: Heavy Civil Construction Planning and Estimating

ii.            ITS 272: Cyber Defense

iii.            ITS 274: Ethical Hacking and Network Defense

iv.            BIOH 535: Principles of Neuroscience

v.            BIOH 545: Current Neuroscience 

vi.            GEO 305: Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology

vii.            GRMN 303: German Through Cinema

viii.            NUTR 430: Food Processing-credits were entered wrong, has been fixed

b.       Programs approved in FS Steering (10/22)

i.            BLEN-BS: BS in Biological Engineering

c.       Program Proposals

i.            Earth Science Options

d.       Center Review Guidelines Discussion-TABLED due to time. If you have questions, please email them to Eric Austin and Michael Brody.

Faculty Senate

Guidelines for Approval of Center [“Entity”] Proposals and Periodic Review of Activities

In this document, “entity” means a center, institute, bureau, station or similar entity requiring approval by the Board of Regents pursuant to Policy 218.

i.            Designation

A.      The entity should be appropriately designated (i.e. as a center, institute, etc.) to meet the definitions and functions described in the MSU Policy on Forming and Reviewing entities and Institutes [which does not yet exist]

ii.            Contribution to the Mission of the University

A.      The entity should have the potential to make significant contributions to the teaching, research/creative activity, and/or engagement missions of the University

B.      The entity should have the potential to enhance the reputation of the University by providing state-wide, regional, national, or international leadership in teaching, research/creative activity, and/or engagement

C.      The entity demonstrates a commitment to a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion

D.      The entity has a systematic plan for regular assessment of its contributions to the mission of the University

iii.            Governance

A.      The entity has policies that ensure research, academic, and curricular independence, including an explicit commitment to compliance with all MSU policies

B.      The entity has systematic and credible mechanisms for regular independent review of its activities, that include an external advisory council and/or an external review board 

C.      If the entity hires faculty and/or staff, the entity has hiring processes that ensure independence from the entity’s external funding source(s)

D.      The entity will issue a public annual report of funding sources, expenditures, and measurable outcomes

iv.            Financial Stability

A.      The entity should have a plan for, and the potential to be self-supporting through external funding and other revenue sources after a reasonable initial period (approximately 3-5 years)

B.      In order to ensure academic independence and financial sustainability, the entity should have a plan for diversifying its funding beyond a single source within a reasonable period of time (approximately 5 years)

C.      The entity should have a contingency plan for how it will manage potential major funding shortfalls that could threaten the entity’s continuity (e.g. unexpected withdrawal of funds by the primary funding source)

v.            Standards and Criteria for Approval of Continuation of entity (5-year review)

A.      Entities will be reviewed every 5-years for adherence to MSU policy, the guidelines described herein, and the review criteria outlined in its initiating proposal. This review process will follow procedures established in the University’s Operating Policy on entity Review.

V.            New Business

a.       New Courses

i.            Undergraduate

A.      ARTZ 323: Cezanne’s Path: The Birth of Modernism

Ø  Being reinvented

Ø  Offered in Spring with a follow up for one month where they visit the sites where Cezanne painted

B.      CHMY 415: Structure and Bonding in Inorganic Chemistry

Ø  Building on CHEM 401/501 courses

Ø  Hot topics

Ø  Broader overview of organic chemistry

C.      EGEN 420: Ice and Snow Mechanics

Ø  Based on the mechanical and engineering of snow

Ø  Architecture of snow

Ø  Conversations have been had with the Earth Science department and they are all on board.

D.      PSYX 358: Drugs and Behavior

Ø  Background on psychoactive drugs

Ø  Research base of the treatment of addiction

ii.            Graduate-Grad Council Subcommittee review the graduate level courses-Targeted for students that are in these programs

A.      ERTH 523: Weather for Elementary Teachers

B.      ERTH 597: Vertebrate Paleontology for Teachers

C.      MEDS 501: Independent Investigative Inquiry(III)

D.      MEDS 504: Independent Investigative Inquiry Final Project

Ø  How common is it to have NTTs teach graduate level courses? Very popular in MSSE. Chair of all committees is a tenured track faculty. Worry about the message it sends about having NTTs teach high level courses. This is broader conversation that the senate will need to have.

b.       Course and Program Changes

i.            Course Changes

A.      MEDS 595: Research Methods

ii.            Program Changes

A.      Minor in Photography-Non-Teaching (Deactivation)

1.       Need to be serving their majors right now. That is where the funding is coming from.

B.      MUS-MINOR: Minor in Music-Non-Teaching

1.       Minor changes to program details

C.      EGIS-BS: BS in Earth Science-GIS/Planning Option

D.      ESGL-BS: BS in Earth Science-Geology Option

E.       ESPL-BS: BS in Earth Science-Paleontology Option

F.       ESGR-BS: BS in Earth Science-Geography Option

G.      ESSS-BS: BS in Earth Science-Snow Science Option

1.       These are changes to existing options, not new options

2.       They are cleaning up program details for upcoming catalog, learning outcomes, etc.

iii.            New Program Proposal-PPA-PhD: Public Policy & Administration-Talked about this last year. It was tabled. Want to get it to the Board of Regents in March, but that means it needs to be on its way there by January.

A.      Purpose

1.       Ph.D. in PPA would be the first in the state of Montana

Ø  Strategic plan talks about scholarship that improves lives

2.       Demand for positions in PPA exceed supply nationally

Ø  2015 research shows there is a need for this

Ø  Has been academic growth in PPA programs

Ø  This is not  PHD in Political Science-there is not a need for that

3.       Increase research and undergraduate teaching capacity

Ø  Need to have more options to fill these courses

Ø  More grad students will mean more grad research

Ø  Hopefully increase grant capacity

Ø  Increase multidisciplinary work

4.       Train the next generation of highly skilled social science policy analysts

B.      Need

1.       Institutional interest and support

Ø  Mark Jutila, Microbiology and Immunology

Ø  Jordy Hendrix and Michael Babcock, Earth Sciences

Ø  Diane Debinski, Ecology

Ø  Tracy Sterling, LRES

Ø  Nicholas Ward, Western Transportation Institute

Ø  Greg Gilpin, Agricultural Economics and Economics

Ø  Sara Shannon, Nursing

Ø  Tricia Seifert, Health and Human Development

2.       Employment demand (academia and private sector)

Ø  88% increase between 2016-2018 as per market study conducted by EAB

3.       Undergraduate student retention-VERY EXCITING!

Ø  Large intro PSCI courses

4.       MSU’s Strategic Plan

Ø  Must increase grad programs

Ø  Must increase grad student retention

5.       Carnegie I

Ø  We will not keep this if we don’t have grad programs and grad students

iv.            Structure & Curriculum

A.      60 post-bac credits

B.      May enter from a variety of master’s degrees, with up to 27 master’s credits transferring to Ph.D.

C.      PSCI Core courses

D.      Elective or policy content courses in other Departments (21 courses identified) –on policy content

E.       Ability to co-chair Ph.D. students across Departments – would like to see faculty get ‘credit’ for doing this

F.       Affiliate faculty from across campus who are willing to participate

v.            Example: Engineers would like to see policy makers who know about engineering

vi.            Methods courses they are proposing are in the proposal.

vii.            Have asked for additional faculty lines and GTAs

viii.            Go to Faculty Senate website, go to “Upcoming Meeting” there is a link to this proposal there. We will take action on this as early as two weeks from now. This is a long proposal and will take time to get through. Grad Council thought it was very well done.

ix.            Questions

A.      Is there a dissertation? Yes, 18 credits for those entering with a Master’s. 28 credits for those entering with a baccalaureate degree.

B.      Do we already have an MPA? Yes. Those students can come in to this program. Will be proposing a Masters of Public Policy as well.

C.      How many are in the MPA program and what is capacity for the PHD? 17 is capacity for PHD. Generally 25-30 in the MPA program.

D.      How long would this take post masters? 3, post-bac is 4.

VI.            Announcements

a.       November 13th – Athletic Committee Update & Campus Climate Survey Results

b.       MUS Regents Teaching Scholars Program – Applications due November 8th  https://mus.edu/che/arsa/regents-teaching-scholars/

c.       Board of Regents Meeting, November 21st and 22nd

VII.            Public Comment

a.       No public comment

VIII.            Adjournment

a.       Meeting was adjourned at 4:32pm

Reminder: Next Faculty Senate Meeting

                 November 13, 2019

3:10-4:30 PM

ABB 138

A downloadable PDF of this information can be found here.