PROFESSIONAL COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
                          November 15, 2000
                                   
PRESENT:  Jim Manning, Jim Mitchell, Clyde Carroll, Guest Bob Lashaway
ABSENT:   Chuck Lindemenn, Vicki Orazem, Carol Schmidt

Chair's report - Jim Manning.
     - At the November 8 meeting, University Governance Council
     approved a memo requesting the Provost and Deans' Council start
     planning for a possible shortfall in budget resources Spring
     Semester 2001.
     - A resolution was also approved at the November 8 meeting that
     the MSU pay date for each month be moved to the first day of the
     month following the pay period.
     - A UGC working group on budget will work with SPBC and the Vice
     President for Administration and Finance.  A representative from
     SPBC and one from the VPAF Office have been asked to be part of
     the group to make it easier to communicate.

Update from the Strategic Planning and Budget Committee - Bob
Lashaway.
     - Bob Lashaway was appointed to the SPBC by President Roark as
     the second professional representative on the committee.
     - Ralph Brigham is chairing a working group which is looking at
     strategic plans from other universities and which will then work
     on a process for developing a strategic plan for MSU.
     - Sara Jayne Steen chairs an enrollment management working group.
     - Bruce McCleod chair a group which is looking at college and
     departmental strategic plans to see if there are commonalities
     among the plans.  The report from this group is to be given at
     SPBC on November 20.
     - There was agreement among Council members that SPBC should set
     general guidelines for dealing with the budget and help develop
     longer-term strategies for dealing with shortfalls.  Other topics
     SPBC should discuss include developing criteria for adding new
     programs and centers and determining if the current policies used
     to distribute IDC's are appropriate or if some other formula
     should be developed.
     - Information about the budget is available, and there was
     warning four years ago that salary increases would become a
     budget problem for the university.
     - In response to a request from President Roark, during Spring
     Semester the Long Range Planning Committee prepared a list of
     priorities for MSU.  All of the priorities, except the first one,
     require additional money.
     - All university employees need to realize that MSU has a
     budgetary problem and can't continue to expect more funding.
     Reallocation of resources is an issue.
     - During discussion, Professional Council members asked how the
     university gets from the Long Range Plan to budgeting.
     - SPBC should try to bring  what the university wants to do
     together with the resources available.