February 12, 2020 Minutes

A printable PDF of this information can be found here. 

Faculty Senate Minutes

February 12^th, 2020

SUB Ballroom C

3:10-4:30pm

I.            Call to Order

a.       The meeting was called to order at 3:10pm

II.            Approval of the January 29th meeting minutes

a.       Franke Wilmer moves to approve. Julie Ruff seconds. None opposed. Minutes are approved.

III.            Informational Items

a.       President Cruzado-Semester Update and Comments

i.         Apologize for not being here for first meeting to welcome you. Now serving on the board for the Northwest Commission of Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). 159 institutions compose the NWCCU.

ii.       We’ve had a little dip in enrollment. Slightly ahead in FTEs for Spring. Keep thinking about how do we ensure that students get what they need to stay in school and graduate on time?

iii.     Thank you to Craig Ogilvie and Jason Carters for their efforts with graduate education and graduate students.

iv.     Provost Mokwa, Jason Carter and President Cruzado are meeting with each department and learning about the great things happening in your departments.

v.       Great things are happening in research: Sharon Neufeldt won the Cottrell Scholars award for physics, one of 25 recipients in the US. Eric Boyd received a large grant for $100,000.

vi.     NCUR is coming up next month. 4,000 students and their mentors will be here. Thank you to all of you for your efforts with NCUR.

vii.    Question: We are a land grant university. Don’t have flexibility like private universities do who take less students and cost more. We are growing responsibly because we have remained true to the land grand mission. We are making substantive investments in faculty and other areas because of our past growth. Need to make sure that is sustainable.

viii.  NWCCU: Sonny Ramaswamy, the president of NWCCU is her at MSU today. Here to visit accredited universities to get to know institutions better and communicate some upcoming changes at NWCCU.

ix.      Thank you for all you do! You are awesome. Please come out to support the girl’s bobcat team.

b.       Graduate Dean, Craig Ogilvie-Introduction and Vision-Increasing graduate student success at MSU

i.            Thank you for the warm welcome. Have been here about six months. Would like to show you some data and talk about some things he’d like your feedback and input on.

ii.            Landscape of MSU graduate education

A.      Fall Graduate Enrollment-Fall 2013-Fall 2019

1.       Masters have declined- In part to the cyclical system of graduations, etc. Encouraged to see what we can do to bring that back up.

2.       Doctorates have increased-

3.       None-Degrees have decreased

4.       Certificates have increased

B.      Doctoral Outcomes

1.       Lose about 10% of doctoral students their first year

2.       Graduate 56% of our doctoral students by the start of their ninth year. Feel that is low and that there is room to work to increase that.

3.       20% doctoral students leave without a degree

C.      8-year Doctorate Graduation Rates

1.       Asian American 75%

2.       Hispanic 60%

3.       International ~58%

4.       White ~56%

5.       African American 50%

6.       AI/AN 20%-need to think hard about what is affecting this group

D.      Masters Outcomes

1.       Lose 10% the second year

2.       76% graduate with Masters by 6th year

E.       6-year Master Graduation Rates

1.       Asian American ~78%

2.       Hispanic ~77%

3.       International ~84%

4.   White ~84%

5.   African American ~66%

6.   AI/AN ~74%

iii.            Partnership areas

A.      Retention & recruiting

1.       How does a graduate education at MSU, a Land Grant University, change our graduate students? Common theme in retention efforts.

2.       Students want to make a difference while they are a graduate student.

3.       Connecting graduate students to the Land Grant mission is key to retention and recruiting.

B.      Graduate Student Retention: Choosing Promise

1.       Make students feel welcome, important, and valued

Ø  Build community, support systems, and focus on well-being

Ø  Professional development for roles; teaching, research, service

Ø  Reduce financial stress

2.       Strengthen faculty mentoring of graduate students

Ø  Train-the-trainer on Aug 18-19, 2020, CIMER cimerproject.org Partnership with CFE

·         ~25 MSU faculty who commit to running ~ four, hour-long workshops in departments, co-sponsored by Department Heads

Ø  Training dates August 18 – 19

Ø  Topics discussed

·         Aligning Expectations

·         Maintaining Effective Communication

·         Cultivating Ethical Behavior

·         Fostering Independence

·         Inclusion

3.       Support students’ broad career goals

Ø  Competencies: communication, leadership, inclusion,…

4.       Reduce time-to-degree

Ø  Students: project management

Ø  Departments: strengthen role of committee, annual reviews

5.       Partnership across campus; Departments, Student Success, CFE,….

C.      Professional development for graduate students “Gradcat 360” (tentative name)-Holistic approach to graduate education.

1.       Leadership & Teamwork

2.       Well-being

3.       Professionalism & Ethics

4.       Teaching & Learning

5.       Communication

6.       Career Development & Exploration

7.       Community Engagement

8.       Scholarship & Innovation

9.       Equity & Inclusion

10.   Pilot Fall 2020: Partnership with departments, CFE, Student Success, Library

Ø  Departments choose which workshops/projects to host

D.      Relationships

1.       CRM email and text campaigns to prospects

Ø  GRE, Dean’s lists, NCUR (free coupon), LinkedIn…

2.       Faculty at other universities; letter writers-use the faculty who have already written support letters for students.

3.       Fast responses to applications etc.

4.       Diversity emphasis to reach country’s talent –push to increase diversity in graduate education.

Ø  30% US undergrads African American, Hispanic, American Indian

E.       Web

1.       Dept. pages created by university communications

2.       Program list; optimized for students, search engines

F.       Applications

1.       Fall 19 applications = 824

2.       Fall 20 applications = 928

3.       % change = +13%

G.      Other Projects for Masters Growth

1.       Education-in-place; early-career changers, career accelerant

Ø  RFP for online courses, stackable certificates, masters.

Ø  Marketing, instructional design, & student support. 

2.       Accelerated masters (aka 4+1, seamless)

3.       Strategic use of tuition waivers as incentive for professional masters to enroll

4.       Boost out-of-state enrollment via WICHE/WRGP programs

H.      Other Projects for Doctorate Growth

1.       Proposed reinvestment of grad F&A to encourage PI to fund graduate students (Jason Carter)

2.       Completion grants via Graduate School

3.       New PhD programs

Ø  Exercise & Nutrition Science, Indigenous & Rural Health,

4.       Training Grants from NIH, NSF, USDA, etc. (Jayne Morrow)

5.       Fellowships, GRFP, Foundations, etc.  (Ilse-Mari Lee)

I.         Thanks

1.       Faculty who teach and mentor graduate students

2.       Graduate Council

3.       Staff in the Graduate School

J.        Questions:

1.       Simplified the application process for student graduate committees. If three faculty will vouch for the student, the Grad Dean will trust those people.

2.       Stipends: We’ve lost people because stipends at other universities are so much higher. Just negotiated with grad students. Fee is going up 2% increase across the board. Will work with departments to figure out what stipends could/should be.

3.       UGC: University Graduate Council-Meet every other week, looking at new grad courses and programs. Craig has brought interesting ideas to the council. Training about 25 faculty who would go back to departments and help faculty with mentoring graduate students. Senators might be interested in this. Curriculum is adaptable to each department. Faculty will then hold meetings/trainings to talk about the issues they’ve learned about.

4.       Surprised how many people are going for 8, 9 years to get a doctoral degree. Is that normal? No. In talking with graduate students, it seems there are things we can do in the ‘mid-phase’ of those 8 years that could help shorten the time to degree. More intentional planning by the student and the advisor will help to reduce time to degree. Increase involvement and engagement.

5.       Doctoral students should be used to graduate level work. So, is it the research, the dissertation? It’s more about not making a connection and not feeling a part of something. Life gets in the way. Reducing the time to degree could help with some of that.

IV.            Old Business

a.       Center Review Guidelines Discussion

Faculty Senate Interim Guidelines for Approval of Center [“Entity”] Proposals and Periodic Review of Activities

These Interim Guidelines are intended to guide Faculty Senate in approving a proposed Center.  They are not criteria, but instead are guidelines to help inform and frame Senate’s consideration of center proposals pending the adoption of a formal process by MSU.

In this document, “entity” means a center, institute, bureau, station or similar entity requiring approval by the Board of Regents pursuant to Policy 218, 220 and/or other applicable Regents policy.

i.            Designation

A.      The entity should be appropriately designated (i.e. as a center, institute, etc.) in accordance with MSU policy. to meet the definitions and functions described in the MSU Policy on Forming and Reviewing entities and Institutes [which does not yet exist]

ii.            Contribution to the Mission of the University

A.      The entity should have the potential to make significant contributions to the teaching, research/creative activity, and/or engagement missions of the University

B.      The entity should have the potential to enhance the reputation of the University by providing state-wide, regional, national, or international leadership in teaching, research/creative activity, and/or engagement

C.      The entity demonstrates a commitment to a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion

D.      The entity has a systematic plan for regular assessment of its contributions to the mission of the University

iii.            Governance

A.      The entity has policies that ensure research, academic, and curricular independence, including an explicit commitment to compliance with all MSU policies

B.      The entity has systematic and credible mechanisms for regular independent review of its activities, that include an external advisory council and/or an external review board 

C.      If the entity hires faculty and/or staff, the entity has hiring processes that ensure independence from the entity’s external funding source(s)

D.      The entity will issue a public annual report of funding sources, expenditures, and measurable outcomes

iv.            Financial Sustainability

A.      The entity should have a plan for, and the potential to be  becoming self-supporting through external funding and other revenue sources after a reasonable initial period (approximately 3-5 years)

B.      The entity should have a contingency plan for how it will manage potential major funding shortfalls that could threaten the entity’s continuity (e.g. unexpected withdrawal of funds by the primary funding source)

v.            Standards and Criteria for Approval of Continuation of entity (5-year review)

A.      Entities will be reviewed every 5-years for adherence to MSU policy, the guidelines described herein, and the review criteria outlined in its initiating proposal. This review process will follow procedures established in the University’s Operating Policy on entity Review.

x.       Propose we leave the last section on review until the policy is in place. Susan Dana moves to delete Standards and Criteria for Approval of Continuation of entity (5-year review)

xi.      Is the Standards and Criteria for Approval of Continuation of entity (5-year review) a new piece? We just proposed to remove that section all together.

Kevin Amende seconds the motion.

xii.    Why is this an issue? We don’t yet have a review procedure at the university. It is premature, but is still a good idea. Similar policies are in place for other reviews.

xiii.  None opposed. No abstentions. Motion passes.

xiv.  Section three: meaning of the word independence might need to be clarified. Intent was that the outside funding source could not tell us who to hire. Remember that this is a review of a proposal. Could I add language to strengthen that language? Yes. How would one do that? Could motion to make an amendment to the language. If the group isn’t ready to move forward, we cannot that.

xv.    Today we are acting on the language as you see it today, without the last section.

Clemente Izurieta moves to vote. Susan Dana seconds. None opposed. No abstentions. Guidelines are passed.

b.       Second reading - Center for Science, Technology, Ethics and Society

i.            Heard description two weeks ago.

ii.            Kristen Intemann is here to answer questions.

iii.            James Meyer moves to approve. Ryan Anderson seconds.

Happy to see this. It’s something we really need.

None opposed. No abstentions. Center passes.

V.            New Business

a.       Courses

i.            PSYX 382: Forensic Psychology-taught as a special topics course. Was very popular. Commonly numbered course.

ii.            HSTR 325: France Revolution: 1789-1848-Also offered at U of M.

iii.            LRES 505: Concepts of GIS in Environmental Science

iv.            NUTR 525: Advanced Medical Nutrition Therapy-Nutrition courses are part of a new program. Well put together.

v.            NUTR 528: Advanced Food Systems Management in Dietetics

vi.            NUTR 530: Food Innovation & Entrepreneurship

vii.            NUTR 527: Critical Thinking, Research & Evidence Informed Practice-Current Issues in Obesity

viii.            NUTR 560: Food Systems Leadership for Nutrition Professionals

b.       Course Changes

i.            HDFS 419: STEAM: Clothing & Textiles Instruction in FCS-Education course. Integrated course. 

ii.            HDCO 521: Counseling Skills Lab-adding a credit

iii.            MSSE 502: Emerging Technology and the Science Classroom-MSSE courses are getting hard numbers.

iv.            MSSE 536: Construction of Curriculum in Science Education

v.            NRSG 604: Evidence Based Practice I-Need these NRSG to support the research of the nursing students in program.

vi.            NRSG 605: Evidence Based Practice II

c.       Program Changes

i.            ME-PHD: Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering-name change only

VI.            Announcements and Updates

a.       2020-2021 Chair-Elect Nominations and Elections – March 11th: Think about people who you think might be good for this, talk to them and have them reach out to Eric/Michael with those names. Hope to bring candidates for potential election on March 11th. In the past we have provided an opportunity to talk about their background and what they could bring to Faculty Senate. Will get an opportunity to ask them questions. Want to vote on March 11th.

b.       University Council

i.            Proposed Personal Mobility Device Policy introduced February 5th Likely up for a vote and adoption March 4th. Aim of the approach is to build culture and practice on campus. Use of sandwich boards to change practices around these devices, and other wheeled devices, like bicycles, etc. Will be going to University Counsel. Can give feedback to the University Counsel’s website. The comments go to the Legal Counsel.

c.       Sonny Ramaswamy-NWCCU President, 4:30-5:30 Today (2/12/20) in Inspiration Hall

d.       Instructional Innovation Proposals Due February 18th – See CFE call for details

VII.            Public Comment

a.       None

VIII.            Adjournment

a.       Clemente Izurieta moves to adjourn. Julie Ruff seconds. Meeting is adjourned at 4:20pm

Reminder: Next Faculty Senate Meeting

February 26, 2020

3:10-4:30 PM

ABB 138