MSU-BOZEMAN FACULTY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
                          September 20, 2000

PRESENT:  Sherwood, Linker, Leech, Benham, Stewart, Harkin, Nehrir,
          Mooney, Lefcort, McMahon, McClure, Lansverk, Levy, Bogar,
          Bond, Jelinski, Kirkpatrick, McKinsey, Fisher, Prawdzienski.

ABSENT:   Young, Hatfield, Morrill, Miller, White, Anderson, Kommers,
          Peed, Howard, Larsen, Jost, Locke, Lynch, Butterfield,
          Scott, Griffith, Carlstrom.

The regularly scheduled meeting was called to order by Chair Elect
John Sherwood at 4:10 PM.  It was determined a quorum was present.
The minutes of the September 6, 2000, meeting were approved as
distributed.

Chair's report - John Sherwood.
     - Chair Ron Larsen is attending a Board of Regents budget meeting
     in Butte today.  The Chair and Chair Elect will attend the Board
     of Regents meeting which follows tomorrow and Friday.
     - A two-page Executive Summary for MSU-Bozeman, "FY 2001 Budget
     Priorities and Status" was distributed (attached for members
     absent).
     - Student Activities Director Patti Inskeep has requested that as
     many faculty as possible participate in Homecoming and that
     faculty wear blue and gold on the Friday of Homecoming (Oct. 6).
     - A report from the Provost can be found on the MSU homepage.
          - The Faculty Council Chair indicated to the President and
          Provost that communication between central administration
          and faculty needs to be improved, and the best way to get
          information out to faculty is to mail it on the
          faculty/staff listserve.  We are pleased that it appears we
          were heard.
          - The report can be discussed at Faculty Council if anyone
          has questions about any of the items.
     - The Strategic Planning and Budget Review Committee resolution
     approved at the September 13 University Governance Council
     meeting was delivered to the President September 15.  There are
     indications that the recommendations will be accepted.
     - David Scheerer, College of Arts and Architecture, has agreed to
     be nominated as Chair of the Faculty Affairs Committee.  The
     floor was opened to further nominations.  As there were none,
     nominations were closed, and Jack Jelinski moved approval of
     David Scheerer as Chair of the Faculty Affairs Committee.  The
     motion was seconded and it carried unanimously.

Common Questions for President Candidate Reference Checks.
     - A proposed list of questions to be asked during MSU president
     candidate reference checks and a list of institutions at which
     the three candidates have worked were distributed.
     - If there are no further suggestions for revision, the forms
     will be e-mailed to Faculty Council representatives.  Faculty
     Council representatives should distribute the information to
     faculty in their respective departments.
     - When asked how strong of voice faculty will have in the
     selection of a new president, it was pointed out that
     Commissioner of Higher Education Richard Crofts is the hiring
     authority for the position.  Faculty, through Faculty Council and
     other avenues, need to make their thoughts known.
     - Evaluation forms from candidate forums are sent to the search
     committee.  The recommendations made by Faculty Council based on
     return of reference check information would be sent directly to
     Commissioner Crofts and the Regents.
     - Volunteers were requested to compile the responses from
     faculty, present them to Faculty Council, and to draft a letter
     summarizing that discussion to Commissioner Crofts and the
     Regents before October 9.
          - Jack Fisher agreed to be part of the working group.
          - Other faculty involved with the task must not necessarily
          be Faculty Council members.

Working Groups.
     - In addition to a group which will receive input and summarize
     the faculty viewpoint concerning the president candidates, three
     other working groups are proposed:
          - Legislature:
               - Should Faculty Council get involved with candidates
               before the election?  This might include soliciting
               responses to questions about their stand on various
               issues or forums.  (Questions could educate legislative
               candidates at the same time information about their
               stand on issues is gathered.)
               - Should faculty be involved during the legislative
               session?
               - During discussion, it was suggested consideration be
               given to including a faculty member in lobbying efforts
               by the university.  This would provide advocacy for
               faculty.  A formal arrangement for this would be
               appropriate so faculty would be included during future
               legislative sessions.
          - Budget:
               - Define what needs to be done, perhaps starting with a
               plan for presenting the budget in an understandable
               format.
               - Monitoring the budget could then follow.
          - Strategic Planning:
               - At first, the working group might consider different
               ways strategic planning can be done and propose a model
               that would be most effective for MSU.
     - During further discussion, the following points were made.
          - Ways to interface these working groups with SPBC will be
          needed.
          - The groups will have members from Faculty Council but will
          call upon other members of the faculty and the campus at
          large for expertise, so the groups are not necessarily
          limited to faculty.
          - The groups will represent the faculty viewpoint.

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


Joann Amend, Secretary              John Sherwood, Chair Elect