University Council Minutes

Wednesday, March 7th, 2018

8:30 AM - 10:00 AM

SUB 233

Printable Version (.docx)

• Call to Order
  President Waded Cruzado
  • President Cruzado called the meeting to order at 8:30 AM.
• Approval of Minutes for February 14th, 2018
  • Dean Royce Smith moved to approve the minutes; James Joyce seconded the motion and the minutes were approved unanimously.
• University Wide Information/ Announcements
  • President Cruzado introduced Blake Christianson, Associate Legal Counsel, to the Office of the President. Kellie Peterson shared that Blake came to the office from Extension. Blake thanked the group and indicated that he is looking forward to working in a new office on campus.
  • President Cruzado thanked everyone for their work on the Bobcat Birthday Bash. She was so proud of the efforts and how family-oriented the event was that weekend.
  • President Cruzado also welcome Dean Royce Smith's mother who is in attendance for the College's month of celebrating the 125th Anniversary.
• Old Items
  • University Retroactive Withdrawal Policy
    Erin Macdonald Peck, Assistant Dean
    • Matt Caires presented this policy, as Erin Macdonald Peck had a baby girl "Annie" last week. Matt presented a few amendments that the graduate school brought forth. The amendments were welcomed and adopted, and they did not change the substance of the policy. Chris Fastnow moved to approve the policy; Kylar Clifton seconded and the policy passed.
  • Academic Misconduct and Student Academic Grievance Procedures
    Erin Macdonald Peck, Assistant Dean
    • Matt Caires presented the Academic Misconduct Policy. There is support across the campus. President Cruzado called for a vote; there was no opposition and the policy passed unanimously.
  • Commemorative Tributes Policy
    Kellie Peterson, Legal Counsel
    • Kellie indicated that there was a comment that would have deviated from Board of Regents policy if we were to adopt it, thus it had to be left out. In addition, there was a comment about donor privacy. Montana State law protects the donor, thus there is no need to put a specific line regarding privacy in this policy. President Cruzado called for a vote and the motion passed unanimously. We adopted the revised policy.
• New Items
  • Medical Amnesty Policy
    Kylar Clifton, ASMSU President
    • Kylar presented the Medical Amnesty Policy. It allows for students to call for help, without fear of being cited, when someone is in need - typically in situations where drugs and alcohol are involved. Michael from ASMSU discussed what process he went through regarding the research on this policy. He considered other schools' policies regarding this issue. Some schools discipline the students for NOT calling for help. President Cruzado asked if there were any questions. Matt Caires reaffirmed this policy, as he has been doing this work on a case-by-case basis for years now.
    • President Cruzado indicated that this policy will be posted for a month for comments and edits. President Cruzado indicated how proud she was of the students for bringing this to the Administration's attention.
• Informational Items
  • Knowing Your MSU: Curitiba Biennial, Brazil
    Royce Smith, Dean, College of Arts & Architecture
    Dean Adams, Associate Dean, College of Arts & Architecture
    • Dean Smith started his presentation by acknowledging Frances Senska and Jessie Wilber, who were very influential in the College of Arts and Architecture. Frances did incredible ceramic work and brought a sense of community to her art. Jeremy Hatch and Dean Smith took a group of MSU students to Curitiba, Brazil in October to design and build a kiln.
    • Dean shared the experiences of the students in Curitiba as well as talked about an additional trip that a group of students and President Cruzado took to see the kiln in February 2018. The MSU team presented the "keys" to the kiln to the city of Curitiba at the end of the February trip so that they can continue to use the kiln in their community.
    • Dean Royce Smith discussed the robust relationship that our College of Arts and Architecture has with this community in Brazil. Dean Smith's artwork is on display there, among many other connections. Dean Smith talked about the access to artwork MSU has provided to this community.
  • Mountains & Minds: Learners and Leaders Strategic Plan Update: Stewardship and Engagement Goals
    Chris Fastnow, Director, Office of Planning & Analysis
    • Chris Fastnow presented metrics regarding MSU's Engagement goals. Sections E.1.2, E.1.3 are increasing. In addition, students actively participating in student organizations is increasing as well. E.3.1 and E.3.2 have both increased.
    • President Cruzado is concerned about our effectiveness in measuring these numbers. We need a mechanism for reporting. We are doing a much better job in reporting to faculty, but lack in communication to staff. President Cruzado is wondering if we involved Cathy Hasenpflug in Human Resources to create a structure or mechanism for staff to report out. Chris welcomed these comments and indicated that a few metrics are discussed during annual reviews, but more can be done.
    • Janelle Rasmussen presented what their office is working on regarding Engagement .
    • Chris Fastnow then presented metrics on Stewardship. Many targets have been reached within this category, including S.1.1 - both items.
    • Megan Lasso came up to present how the budget model is affecting these metrics. We are now able to externally benchmark items on campus via the budget model. We still have work to do regarding finding benchmarks for Honors, Library, and Gallatin College. The budget model is an informational tool - not an allocation tool, thus it will never be "perfect". MSU began using the model in FY17. Megan explained the process that we now use in order to allocate funds based upon their progression of the strategic plan. We tie needs and resources together. President Cruzado indicated how proud she is of Megan's work.
    • Tracy Ellig asked about clarification regarding the ADA metric. In addition, he pointed out that in metric S.3.3 we are at the bottom of the MUS system in terms of legislative dollars per MSU student.
• Public Comment
  • President Cruzado offered an opportunity for public comment. There were no public comments.
• Updates
  • Alison Harmon indicated that three finalists will be coming to campus this month for the JJCOB Dean position.
  • Dean Caires indicated that over 1100 students next week.
  • Dean Nic Rae talked about the honor of Regents Professor being bestowed on Dr. Neil Cornish at Board of Regents in Dillon on March 8th.
  • Dean Royce Smith wanted to highlight the events in March for the 125th Anniversary.
  • Renee Reijo Pera announced that we're having an outstanding year in Research. At the end of July, we will be hosting the Vice Presidents of Research, associated with APLU - the largest group thus far.
  • Jyl Shaffer announced that on March 29th we are holding the Diversity Symposium. The Powwow is taking place on March 30th and 31st, including the Powwow Basketball Tournament. She then thanked the group for working with OIE on their cases.
  • Alison Harmon announced that the College of EHHD is hosting a rural education conference on August 1-3, 2018.
  • President Cruzado indicated that the affiliated campuses are not in attendance today, as they are on their way to Dillon to Board of Regents. At Board of Regents, MSU is recognizing our third Regents Professor in three months. In addition, the Regents will approve the appointment of Dan Edelman as the MSU Billings Chancellor. We are very thankful for the incredible work Ron Larsen did as Interim Chancellor.

NOTE: The next University Council meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 11th, 2018 from 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM. Please NOTE that the meeting will run for just one hour and include New and Old Items and Public Comment. Thank You!