MSU-BOZEMAN FACULTY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
                          September 6, 2000

PRESENT:  1999-2000 Members: Hatfield, Sherwood, Peed, Leech, Howard,
          Larsen, Harkin, Nehrir, Mooney, Amend, Lansverk, Levy,
          McKinsey, Lynch, Fisher, Prawdzienski, Butterfield, Scott,
          Carlstrom.
          New Members and Alternates: Mike Giroux, Perry Miller,
          Michael White, Jim Linker, Craig Stewart, Bernadette
          Tatarka, Frances Lefcort, Larry Kirkpatrick.

     The meeting was called to order by 1999-2000 Chair John Amend at
4:10 PM.  It was determined a quorum was present.  The minutes of the
May 3, 2000, meeting were approved as distributed.

     ASMSU President Kira Kuntz was introduced.  Faculty are invited
to stop by the ASMSU office to talk with student leaders.  Continuing
and new Faculty Council members and alternates were introduced.

Committee on Conciliation Report.
     - A report from 1999-2000 Committee on Conciliation Chair, Bill
     Neff, was read.  There was one conciliation case this year, and
     it was not possible to conciliate it.
     - Discussion of ways to make the conciliation process more
     effective began last fall, and this needs to continue.

Committee on Grievance Hearings Report.
     - Marty Frick, 1999-2000 Committee on Grievance Hearings Chair,
presented the report.
     - One grievance has been heard.  It is now in the final stages of
     the process.  Another grievance was submitted, but it was
     rescinded.

Chair's Report - John Amend.
     - In recapping the past year, Chair Amend reported that during
     Fall Semester, 1999, efforts were made to continue building a
     good working relationship with the upper administration and
     deans, and there was progress in this area.
          - Two half-day retreats (central administration and UGC
          Steering Committee) were held in the fall, followed by one
          retreat Spring Semester.
     - Co-operation between the MUS faculty leadership and the Board
     of Regents improved by constructively working together on a
     discussion of tenure and other issues.
     - Late December, January and February were a time of transition
     as the search for an interim MSU president took place, and a new
     administrative team began to work together.
     - During late spring, budget shortfalls became apparent, and
     Faculty Council discussed and presented to the central
     administration proposals for dealing with the shortfalls.  The
     need for MSU to develop strategic planning and for fiscal
     responsibility in all areas of the university were discussed.
     Renovation problems in Lewis and Culbertson Halls highlighted the
     need to respect the rights of all individuals on campus.
     - During the summer, MSU faculty leadership met with Governor
     Racicot to discuss fiscal issues.
     - Issues that still need to be resolved include:
          - Discussion of Long Range Planning Committee priorities
          needs to take place.  President Roark asked the LRPC to
          prioritize the Long Range Planning goals they viewed as most
          important and to submit them to the Strategic Planning and
          Budget Committee.  The LRPC prioritized the goals spring
          semester and submitted them to SPBC, but SPBC has not met
          since then to discuss them.
          - Faculty Council has asked for a position on the
          President's Executive Committee, as part of the trade off
          for the freeze on faculty raises, but the position has not
          been approved.
     - Faculty Council will need to learn to work with the new
president.
     - Recommendations regarding the faculty workload task force were
     sent to President Roark.  He has appointed the task force, and it
     will begin meeting soon.  Members of the task force are:
          - David Dooley, Interim Provost, Chair
          - Jim McMillan, Dean of Letters and Science
          - Lea Acord , Dean of Nursing
          - John Hermanson, Department Head, Physics
          - Greg Young, Department Head, Music
          - John Amend, Chemistry and Biochemistry
          - Jodi Carson, Civil Engineering
          - Rich Howard, Education
          - Mark Jutila, Vet Molecular Biology
          - Bonita Peterson, Business
     - There will be opportunities to meet with political candidates
     and with legislators.  Faculty Council members should encourage
     their colleagues to take advantage of these opportunities and to
     stay informed.

Ron Larsen, 2000-2001 Faculty Council Chair, thanked John for serving
as Chair during the past year.

Remarks by the 2000-2001 Chair - Ron Larsen.
     - Four areas need to be addressed immediately:
          - President search
          - Strategic planning
          - Legislative planning
          - Budget
     - Other areas that need to be addressed:
          - There will be a 1 ? hour faculty forum for the first
          candidate for president on Monday, September 11.  UGC
          Steering Committee will ask questions during the first half
          hour.  Volunteers were called for, and Wes Lynch, Alan
          Leech, and John Sherwood agreed to help prepare questions
          for the candidates.  Questions faculty would like to have
          presented may also be e-mailed to Ron Larsen
          (ronl@coe.montana.edu).
          - Faculty Council will be asked for an opinion of the three
          candidates.  Ask colleagues for input.
          - UGC Steering Committee made recommendations to President
          Roark for reconstituting the SPBC.  Recommendations include
          lessening the influence of the President's Executive Council
          on SPBC, since SPBC reports to PEC; holding
          regularly-scheduled meetings; establishing the LRPC
          priorities as SPBC priorities; developing balanced budgets
          using both favorable and unfavorable funding scenarios; and
          establishing timelines for the budget process.
          - President Roark has requested program review be put on
          hold until a new president is selected.
          - Faculty position vacancy reallocation and the criteria
          used for reallocation need to be discussed.
          - A database with faculty names, e-mail addresses, and
          legislative districts is being prepared to allow University
          Governance Council to keep faculty and staff informed of
          events during the upcoming legislature.
          - The status of the university budget will be monitored,
          keeping in mind it was agreed that there would be no
          additional baseline expenditures without reallocation.
          - Overall goals for Faculty Council this year include:
          increasing participation of members in Council efforts,
          increasing openness in MSU decision-making, providing better
          understanding of MSU finances and budget, improving
          accountability at all levels, and fostering a sense of
          ownership by faculty.

As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:45.


Joann Amend, Secretary              Ron Larsen, Chair