MSU FACULTY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
                            March 28, 2001

PRESENT:  Sherwood, McDermott, Kommers, Linker, Leech, Benham, Howard,
          Stewart, Larsen, Harkin, Nehrir, Mooney, Weaver, Locke,
          Lansverk, Levy, Bogar, Jelinski, McKinsey, Fisher,
          Butterfield, Griffith.

ABSENT:   Young, Hatfield, Morrill, White, Anderson, Peed, Jost,
          Lefcort, McClure, Bond, Francis, Lynch, Prawdzienski, Scott,
          Carlstrom.

The meeting was called to order by Chair Ron Larsen at 4:10 PM.  A
quorum was present.  The minutes of the March 21, 2001, meeting were
approved as distributed.

Chair's report - Ron Larsen.
     - An update from UPBAC was distributed (attached for members
     absent).
          - The focus of the committee has turned from university
          priorities to FY02 budget priorities, which were narrowed to
          five.
          - According to the current UPBAC calendar, a budget plan is
          to be sent to President Gamble by May 24.
          - Assessment will be part of the cycle.  For this year, it
          will be the step after budgeting.
          - During discussion by Faculty Council, there was agreement
          that faculty should be involved in development of the
          department budget worksheets, and if they have not yet been
          involved, they should discuss it with their department head
          or director very soon.  The worksheets are to be returned to
          UPBAC by March 30.
     - A Recruitment and Retention Task Force cost/priority matrix was
     distributed (attached for members absent) and briefly discussed.
          - The complete RRTF report can be accessed through the MSU
          home page.
     - The Board of Regents met in Helena March 22-23.
          - The Montana University System budget was discussed.
          - Because of anticipated budget shortfalls during the coming
          biennium, a significant tuition increase is expected to be
          approved when the Board meets in May.

Results of the Administrative Review.
     - Results of the reviews submitted by tenurable faculty were
     distributed.
     - The summary results may be accessed at the Faculty Council web
     site (http://www.montana.edu/che/FacCouncil/ARtenFacResults.htm).
     - President Gamble will receive all 380 reviews.
     - The Faculty Affairs Committee was congratulated for taking the
     initiative to redesign the review, and Ron Larsen was thanked for
     taking the ideas and putting them into a workable format which
     collects useful information about administrators.
     - Faculty will now have the opportunity to comment on the review
     process and suggest ways to improve it.
     -  Memos with individual ID codes and directions for completing
     the review are being sent to adjunct and research faculty so they
     can complete the review.

Faculty Affairs Committee report.
     - Several issues are being discussed at Faculty Affairs and will
     come to Faculty Council before the end of the academic year.
     - After brief discussion, Jack Jelinski moved approval of the
     amendment to Faculty Handbook Section 812.04 (Opportunity for
     Candidate to Respond to a Negative Recommendation...).  The
     motion was seconded and carried.
          - Faculty Council's proposed amendment will be announced to
          all tenurable faculty through the April 6 STAFF BULLETIN.
          Comment on the amendment is invited.
     - The pending amendment to Faculty Handbook Section 472.00 (Right
     to Grieve/Time Limits) and the proposal to include the workload
     policy in the Faculty Handbook as Section 480 will also be
     announced in the STAFF BULLETIN.  Again, comment is invited.
     - A question was raised regarding timely notification from the
     Provost's Office to faculty members about promotion and tenure
     decisions.  During discussion, there was agreement that there
     should always be a confirmation letter sent when tenure is
     finally granted.

University Governance Council Nominating Committee report.
     - A list of university-wide committees for which nominees are
     being solicited was e-mailed to Faculty Council and Professional
     Council representatives yesterday.  It should be distributed
     within constituencies.

Other.
     - Chair Larsen shared a letter from Pete Mayfield, the first
     Faculty Council Chair at MSU, regarding the role the Council
     played at that time.

As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned out 5:00 PM.


Joann Amend, Secretary              Ron Larsen, Chair