September 2, 2020 Minutes

A printable PDF of this information can be found here.

Faculty Senate

Minutes

September 2, 2020

3:10-4:30pm

Webex

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

II.            Approval of FS Minutes from August 19, 2020

a.      Julia Haggerty moves to approve. Tomas Gedeon seconds. No further discussion. None opposed. No abstentions. Approved.

III.            Information Update:

a.      All in Democracy Initiative (Taylor Blossom/Jenelle Booth)

i.            Awards Program

ii.            Commitment

A.      Increase

B.      Convene

C.      Develop and Implement

D.     NSLVE-National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement

E.      Recognition-Nationally, Institutionally

iii.            Short and Long Term

iv.            51.8% Voting Rate in 2016

v.            47.6% voting rate in 2018

A.      22.5% Asian

B.      44.2% American Indian/Alaska Native

C.      26.7% Black

D.     39.8% Hispanic

E.      47.4% White

F.       43.2% Two or more races

vi.            By Undergraduate Class Year

A.      First Year

1.      18.2% in 2014; 37.1% in 2018

B.      Sophomore

1.      20.3% in 2014; 43.5% in 2018

C.      Upper-Level

1.      24.8% in 2014; 47.8% in 2018

vii.            Would like to get over that 50% mark this year

viii.            COVID has made our efforts more difficult. Pursuing different voter registration strategies.

ix.            Communications

A.      Week of August 31st, https://allintovote.org/

B.      Sept 14-Voter remigration follow up and POD publication

C.      Voter Reg Day, Sept 22nd

D.     Week of Sept 28th & Oct 5th- Satellite Reg Location/POD open

1.      Voter Education Week

E.      Week of Oct 19 & Oct 26-satellite reg location

x.            Committee Make up-so far

A.      ASMSU

B.      ResLife/RHA

C.      BSU

D.     AIC

E.      FSL

F.       Athletics

G.     Political Science

H.     Faculty Senate

I.        Staff Senate

J.        County Elections

K.      Facilities

L.       University Communications

M.   Community Organizations

xi.            Weekly meetings beginning Sept 10th

A.      Review Draft Plan for Submission

B.      Due Nov 3rd

xii.            Quarterly Meetings

xiii.            All Mail Election

A.      County Opted In

B.      Satellite Reg Offices

1.      Oct 7 and 8

2.      Oct 27 through 30

C.      No Polling Location (POD) Oct 2nd through Nov 3rd

D.     Planning for Online

1.      Contacting Registered Students before Mail Date

xiv.            Questions

A.      Jenelle Booth-It’s very important for this group to help us get the word out there that these resources are available. It’s important everyone gets out and vote.

B.      Susan Dana: We have been advised not to talk about politics in the classroom. What do we do? Outside groups are not allowed, but Taylor is a student. This is a university sanctioned effort, so this is okay.

C.      John Thompson-We can talk politics in our class, but we must hear both sides and let them both have their point of view heard. This is not the time to take a neutral stance.

b.      Symptomatic Student Testing Center

i.            Open by the football stadium-for students who are symptomatic

ii.            It would be better to refer students here instead of health center.

iii.            This is not for faculty or staff. We are to work with our own health providers.

c.       Gallatin County Health Department

i.      Reporting Cases Campus and Schools

A.      We’ve been working with MUS faculty. We knew U of M was submitting a request for info about COVID cases on their campus.

B.      We were able to ensure with the health dept that they would be making those numbers available once a week.

C.      We can make better decisions about level of risk, etc.

D.     Gallatin County will be releasing this information to the public.

E.      Important to realize that there is a delay in testing information hitting and numbers being updated.

d.      Senators’ Hours in Webex:

i.      Tuesday 1PM

ii.      Thursday 11AM

iii.      Will send Webex invite to all senators

e.      Tenure Delay and Spring 2020 Student Evaluations (FS Webpages)

i.            Passed last spring due to COVID

ii.            Available to you so you can share it with your faculty

iii.            Important for the benefit of all our faculty

IV.            Councils and Committee Update: (Open Meeting Policy)

a.      Bradford

i.      Budget Council (Bradford)

A.      Is an open and public meeting

B.      Carried over business from Spring-related to Fiscal Shared Services allocation (supports Fiscal shared services)

ii.      Planning Council (Bradford)

A.      Works hand in hand with Budget Council.

B.      Chaired by Chris Fastnow

C.      Members

D.     Due to COVID, some of planning and how we work to meet our Strategic Plan. Going forward the council will be discussing how to do this going forward.

iii.      ADA Advisory (Bradford)

A.      As of last meeting (last Friday) there have been 5 students who have been given the accommodation to not wear masks, due to ADA issues. Working with them to get them clear face masks.

B.      Math Center is completely remote. Writing Center is working blended, part in person and part online. Want faculty to know they like it when students use their facilities, but if you require a student to attend, please let them know so they can work to accommodate them. There to help with online  discussion as well.

C.      Working on evaluating labs and their limits and working to make them more accessible.

iv.      Research Council (Michael)

A.      New plan in research for shared expenditures and credits

B.      We have been under reporting our research dollars. Working on changing how we report research dollars. Related to Carnegie rating.

v.      Presidents Executive Council (Michael)

A.      Planning Fall commencement

B.      Plan, so far: Sunday, November 22nd in the Stadium

C.      Depending on the numbers, it could be two ceremonies

vi.      University Council (Michael)

A.      Voted on procurement

B.      Title IX policies and procedures will be updated.

C.      Chris Fastnow spoke to the Strategic Plan

vii.      If you want to be more involved, or need

V.        Accreditation Visit is coming up Oct 15 and 16
VI.       Policy Initiatives for 2020 (Provost Mokwa)
         a.      Post Tenure Review and

i.      JAGS is working on this updating this policy

         b.       Spring Planning Task Force

i.            Already scheduling classes, but this this group will work on the best way to deliver certain types of classes, like large classes, labs, freshmen seminar, etc.

ii.            How do we move MSU forward post-COVID, moving forward from that point? How do we push MSU ahead and improve teaching and learning?

iii.            Should be very beneficial to the faculty.

VII.            Old Business:

a.      Course and Program Approvals-Second Reading. If there are no objections, they will be moved forward at Steering next week.

i.            Undergraduate Courses-Spring 2021

A.      GH 327: Translating Global Cinema in the 21st Century

ii.            Undergraduate Programs 2020-2021

A.      BMED-BS: Biomedical Engineering

B.      PHLB-CTS: Phlebotomy

iii.            Graduate Courses-Fall 2021

A.      CHMY 517: Synthetic Chemistry -Technical class. Will extend our instruction and learning.

B.      EDLD 504: Adult Teaching and Learning -Straight forward course.

C.      LRES 593: Grand Challenges in Ecology & Environmental Sciences  -Taught by Head of Ecology

iv.            Graduate Programs 2020-2021-On the website. Senators, please look these over. MS will go to BOR.

A.      ELED-CERT: Teacher Leadership Certificate

B.      MVS-MS: Master’s in Veterinary Science

v.            Graduate Programs 2021-2022-Being developed with the help of Mechanical Engineering.

A.      EXNS-PHD: Doctor of Philosophy in Exercise & Nutrition Sciences

vi.            No further discussion. These will move forward at steering next week.

b.      For new courses, please see the Faculty Senate website: https://www.montana.edu/facultysenate/upcoming_meeting.html

c.       Mac Burgess elected Chair of CPC     

VIII.            New Business:

a.      Delphi Survey Spring 2020 (Brody)

i.      What is the intent?

A.      To help senators

ii.      How it works?

A.      Rate how important a set of statements are.

B.      They get whittled down to the most important statements.

iii.      Usefulness

A.      Michael Brody: As Chair-Elect, wanted to hear the voice of the Senators. Wanted them to be thinking about how others on Senate are thinking as well.

B.      To help guide us in the future to set priorities.

C.      All info is available in the Faculty Senate D2L Brightspace.

iv.      Senate D2L: Announcement, content and discussion; Download executive summary of survey results

A.      Knowledge: Faculty Senate Ranking of Importance

 Question: What are the essential concepts, principles, theories and philosophy that influence your   experience as a faculty member at MSU?

 Ranking Very Important (4.1 to 5.0)

1.      The ability to do research on topics that are of interest and have value to society is important in my work.=5.0

2.      Sharing knowledge is important in my work.=4.8

3.      Assisting students to gain knowledge is important in my work.=4.7

4.      Education is a special human activity. It is essential to the progress of civilization - we are here only because generations before us learned how to share knowledge from generation to generation.=4.5

5.      Grant support and assistance guides my work at MSU.=4.3

6.      Most/many of society’s problems are so complex and "wicked" so that any one intellectual silo typically cannot effectively engage and need trans-disciplinary approaches, as much as can be mounted.=4.3

B.      Skills: Faculty Senate Ranking of Importance

 Question: What are the important activities or things that you do that influence your experience as a   faculty member at MSU?

 Ranking Very Important (4.1 to 5.0)

1.      I do research. The ability to explore new ideas, new avenues and concepts is a great privilege of working at the University.=4.8

2.      I can honestly say that my experience as a faculty member is, more than any other item, positively influenced by my research autonomy and ability to move forward research and discovery to better understand and ultimately provide solutions to significant real-world issues.=4.6

3.      Transdisciplinary research involving faculty from different departments and colleges at MSU.=4.4

4.      Lead and participate in grant funding activities.=4.4

C.      Dispositions: Faculty Senate Ranking of Importance

 Question: What are the critical feelings, attitudes and values that influence your experience as a   faculty member at MSU?

 Ranking Very Important (4.1 to 5.0)

1.      I value transparency and insight. This means that when important decisions are made, I want to see the data that supports the stated rationale. Data needs to be transparent and available and anyone who wants to weigh in on how the university should be run should be literate in how the campuses finances operate.=5.0

2.      I value comradery, teamwork, sharing, honesty, transparency and trust.=4.8

3.      I value achievement, professionalism and excellence, which motivate me to publish research and secure grants from leading journals/institutions and to hold myself accountable to high standards of teaching in the classroom.=4.8

4.      I thrive in collegial, collaborative, and mutually supportive environments, and I strive to contribute to and maintain values that support such an environment.=4.6

a.      Senators’ Open Discussion

i.            Balancing the complexities of family and work responsibilities

A.      Susan Dana-Moral is low among those with children, compromised family members, elderly family members, etc. Coming from a variety of factors. Some feel that MSU has not acknowledged the significant of the challenges that faculty are facing. Students are getting good support, but the support for faculty is lacking. MSU, at best, has been passive in faculty needs. Seems legalistic, instead of supported. Not being given accommodations to take care of a family member seems legalistic. We need to seek to find out what MSU can do to really listen to the stories. Would like Administration to really listen, understand the challenges and be creative in how we can accommodate these faculty. What can we do to help our own colleagues?

B.      Tomas Gedeon-Completely agree with Susan. Wonderful point that you’ve made. Some are on needles worrying about their family members.

C.      Catherine Dale: Agree. Also seems to be a breakdown of communication from students to faculty. Students are escalating their grievances around faculty members.

D.     Clem Izurieta: Everyone is doing it differently. Schedules are a mess. Students go to school in person, then they must find a place to sit, because they don’t have time to go home before their next in person class. We want to avoid this same issue in the Spring.

E.      Julia Haggerty: Feel like we are doing a good job. Spending a lot of time making sure students have what they need. Teach a large lecture class, blended in SUB Ballroom A. Pushed me to do good things, pedagogically. Having everything online does not push students to show up in person. Then the classrooms are basically empty.

F.       Tomas Gedeon: 15-person class is ending up at 8 or 10. Math had its biggest registration over the summer, and they were all online.

G.     Susan Dana: Heard plea from faculty to let them decide the best way to offer their class in the Spring.

H.     Julie Haggerty: Want to focus on the stress that faculty are under. We are a community of educators and many of us are facing doing our jobs and teaching our children at home at the same time. It is extremely difficulty and stressful. If we could come together and put some resources in place for those faculty that really need our help.

I.        Michael and Bradford will send you an invite to “Senators Hours” which is a meeting in Webex for senators to talk to each other and to them about how we can make this better going forward. Also have the Faculty Senate Brightspace. This is our way to try and develop a more robust dialogue between senators. Will send an invite in the morning.

ii.            COVID Implications for Promotion and Tenure, Workload and Annual Review

IX.            Public Comment

a.            No public comment

X.            Adjourn

b.            Meeting was adjourned at 4:26

Reminder:       Next meeting

                           September 16, 2020

                           3:10-4:30pm

                           Webex