MSU-BOZEMAN FACULTY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
                          November 15, 2000
                                   
PRESENT:  Giroux for Sherwood, Miller, Kommers, Linker, Leech, Benham,
          Howard, Stewart, Larsen, Harkin, Nehrir, Mooney, Lefcort,
          McClure, Levy, Bogar, Jelinski, Lynch, Fisher, Scott,
          Griffith, Carlstrom.

ABSENT:   Young, Hatfield, Morrill, White, Anderson, Peed, Jost,
          McMahon, Locke, Lansverk, Bond, Kirkpatrick, McKinsey,
          Prawdzienski, Butterfield.

The reguarly scheduled Faculty Council meeting was called to order by
Chair Ron Larsen at 4:10 PM.  It was determined a quorum was present.
The minutes of the November 1, 2000, meeting were approved as
distributed.

Chair's report - Ron Larsen.
     - The Board of Regents meets in Missoula tomorrow and Friday.
          - All units are to report how they will replace course fees.
               - MSU plans to change to program fees (in programs such
               as Architecture, Media and Theatre Arts), and make
               small increases in equipment fees and tuition.
               - The changes will be cost neutral.
          - MSU will request an increase in spending authorization to
          renovate the Gardiner house.
          - An intellectual property policy addressing ownership of
          electronic course materials is on the submission agenda.
               - The policy is modeled after the patent policy.
                    - If university facilities are used to develop the
                    course materials and they are developed as part of
                    the faculty's workload, the university retains
                    ownership and any profits after costs are split
                    50/50 between the faculty member and the
                    university.
                    - If university facilities are not used and the
                    faculty member develops the materials on her/his
                    own time, the university does not claim ownership.
                    - According to current MSU interpretation, the use
                    of the faculty member's desk, computer, or the
                    library does not count as "university facilities".
               -  During discussion by Council members, it was asked
               how development of e-course materials differs from
               writing textbooks.  It seems this is a copyright issue
               rather than a patent issue.
               - All comments made by members present were opposed to
               the policy as currently proposed.
               - The policy probably will be discussed with the
               regents when they meet with faculty leaders Thursday
               afternoon.
     - When the Special Review Committee was active a couple of years
     ago, a proposal was made and accepted that the administrative fee
     on designated accounts be increased.  One-half of the increase
     was to go to the Office of Academic Affairs for academic
     enhancements.  Since the administrative fee was increased, all of
     the money has been used to help balance the budget.
          - The Faculty Council Chair has proposed the designated
          money be put in the Provost's budget, as originally
          intended.  Then, if necessary, it can be returned to the
          general operating budget.  This would at least establish the
          precedent for this money going to the Provost's Office.
     - The Provost has proposed all new MSU and MUS academic programs
     pass through Faculty Council for discussion as part of the review
     process.
          - During discussion, it was suggested this duplicates the
          work of the Undergraduate Studies Committee and of the
          Graduate Studies Committee.
          -  Faculty Council representatives on these two committees
          might bring information about proposed programs to Faculty
          Council as an informational item.
     - The resolution requesting the MSU pay date be changed to the
     first of the month following the work period has been sent to the
     President.
     - The memo requesting Deans' Council and the Provost immediately
     begin planning for a possible budget shortfall Spring Semester
     has been sent.
     - All Montana legislators have been invited to MSU December 15th,
     the last day of Fall Semester classes.  Faculty are asked to open
     their classes to the legislators.  Erin McGowan, ASMSU State
     Legislative Director, may be reached at erinmmc@yahoo.com or at
     582-4130.
     - The Chair requested input from Council members, and the
     question of workload equivalency for distance learning classes
     was raised.  Where is the issue being discussed?  According to
     Rich Howard, a member of the faculty workload task force, it has
     not yet been raised in discussions by that group.  It was pointed
     out that if faculty do not deal with the issue of time and effort
     needed to teach distance learning courses, it will not be raised.
     - The faculty workload task force is meeting every two weeks and
     is currently working on definitions.  The Provost chairs the
     committee.
          - The committee hopes to have a policy to present by the end
          of the semester.
          - The policy needs to come to Faculty Council for approval.

Faculty Affairs Committee report - David Scheerer.
     - The committee is temporarily setting aside its work on the
     Faculty Council By-Laws to discuss faculty review of
     administrators.

Proposed Amendments to Faculty Handbook Sections 200-272 (Faculty
Council and University Governance Council) - First Reading.
     - The definition of Faculty Council (220) has been rewritten to
     include a statement that Faculty Council has the authority to
     frame policy.
          - During discussion, it was recommended wording be added to
          make it clear faculty, through Faculty Council, make final
          determinations in matters of the substance of the
          curriculum, academic programs, and of degrees and the
          requirements to be met in awarding them.
     - Section 250 has not been written but is being left to the
     faculty affected by the description in the section (adjunct and
     research faculty).
     - It was suggested Section 232 be titled Faculty Council
     Executive Committee.  The responsibilities of the committee
     should be included in the narrative.  The committee's purpose is
     to act during summer or between-semester breaks on issues that
     pertain to faculty only.  Normally, the University Governance
     Council Steering Committee acts during these recesses, but it
     includes representatives from both Faculty Council and
     Professional Council, and so it is not an appropriate body to act
     on issues relating to faculty only.

Faculty review of administrators.
     - This year, the intent is to send each academic faculty member
     one form, which may be duplicated according to the number of
     administrators the faculty member chooses to review.
     - The review may be done on the web, but hard copies of the form
     will be available.
     - The evaluation instrument will be rewritten, with the help of
     someone involved in performance evaluation.
     - What results to disclose is still under discussion.  Summative
     results may be published, but not specific results.  During
     discussion, concern was expressed that summative results may not
     give information of any value.

As there was no further discussion, the meeting was adjourned at 5:05
PM.


Joann Amend, Secretary              Ron Larsen, Chair