University Council
University Council MINUTES
March 4, 2020
8:30 AM – 10:00 AM
SUB 233
Members:
Waded Cruzado, Daniel Adams, Kenning Arlitsch, Eric Austin, Sreekala Bajwa, Taylor Blossom, Janelle Booth, Matt Caires, Jason Carter, Leon Costello, Chris Dobbs, Ariel Donohue, Dan Edelman, Tracy Ellig, Chris Fastnow, Stephanie Gray, Jeannette Grey-Gilbert, Brett Gunnink, Alison Harmon, Debby Haynes, Robert Hawks, James Joyce, Chris Kearns, Greg Kegel, Ilse-Mari Lee, Terry Leist, Bob Mokwa, Chris Murray, Kim Obbink, Craig Ogilvie, Kellie Peterson, Mark Ranalli, Nicol Rae, Sarah Shannon, Royce Smith, Emily Stark, Glen Steinhoff, Dan Stevenson, Cody Stone, Michael Trotter, Amber Vestal, Susan Wolff
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- Call to Order
President Waded Cruzado
President Cruzado called the meeting to order at 8:30am. - Approval of Minutes for February 5, 2019
Printable Minutes
Ilse-Mari moved to approve the minutes; Terry Leist seconded and the minutes were approved unanimously. - University Wide Information/Announcements
Incident Response Management Team is meeting today for the first time. Dean of Students Matt Caires and family welcomed Avonlee Ryann Caires on February 29, 2020. - Public Comment
President Cruzado welcomed public comment. There was no public comment. - Old Items
A. Personal Transportation Devices Policy
Kellie Peterson, Legal Counsel
Kellie recommended adoption. They changed title from Personal Mobility
Device to personal transportation devices policy amended and
the policy passed unanimously.
VI. Informational Items
A. Know Your MSU: Virtual Reality at MSU and the Montana Reality Lab
Jonathan Hilmer and Coltran Hophan-Nichols, University Information
Technology
6 virtual reality workstations located in Cheever Hall. Film and
Architecture classes have utilized the space. Engineering classes
are also using the space for class projects. The utilization of the lab space is
completely full and very popular. Please visit www.montana.edu/vr for additional information. They are booking classes for this
coming fall semester. Open House will be held of March 11. There has been incredible
collaboration with UIT, College of Arts and Architecture, Research,
and the Renne Library. Trotter, Alison Harmon and Deborah
Haynes asked questions to the presenters and received great feedback.
B. Census 2020
Kayla May and Andrea Nault, University Communications
Kayla and Andrea shared an amazing personalized MSU student campaign
to let
them know every student who is at MSU on April 1 should complete
the census form so that all Cats Count! This is targeted to
students as well as faculty and staff so they know the importance of the census count
that occurs every ten years. Visit www.montana.edu/census2020 for additional information.
C. Scholarship Awarding Task Force
Chris Kearns, Vice President for Student Success
Dr. Kearns shared the committee is examining our philosophy and best practices so we have a balanced approach.
D. Romney Oval Update & Snow Load Monitoring
EJ Hook, Director, Facilities Services
EJ Hook shared the Romney Oval conceptual design. Trees and geofields will be in the oval, so they need to remove some trees and will add several more to replace what was taken down. For safety purposes, most of the tree removal will occur over Spring Break. The geothermal sustainability is great for the reduction of energy use on campus. MSU’s energy strategy: Reduce, Reclaim, Renewable (ex. solar, geothermal, storage, etc).
SnowCats Rooftop Snow Measurement and Monitoring. Two sensors are on top of the SUB roof to monitor snow load and depth. They use drones to fly over four buildings across campus. They use photos for viewpoint and precise position to calculate distance on buildings.
VII. Updates
Susan Wolff hosting region 2 science fair. Night out for Science
event on March 28. In April they are hosting College Research
Day.
MSU Northern is working on virtual reality technology across their
campus, as well. Northern’s groundbreaking
for new sports complex on March 16.
MSU Billings has increased head count for second semester in a row.
They are signing a MOU with the University of North
Texas next week with pathways to medical schools in Texas.
President Cruzado announced NCUR March 26-28 on campus. Women’s’
basketball team championship of
the Big Sky Conference. They are the #1 seed in the NCAA coming
up in Boise.
President Cruzado thanked everyone for participating in the MSU Giving
Day campaign.
VIII. Public Comment
There was no public comment.
NOTE: The next University Council meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, August 12, 2020, from 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM via Webex.