Strategic Planning Committee Minutes, September 5, 2002

Strategic Planning Committee Minutes
September 5, 2002

Members Present: Bruce Morton, Jon Wraith, Bill Brown, Betsy Centa, Mary Noll. Members Absent: Jaynee Groseth, Mark Sheehan, Greg Johnson, Kay Chafey, ASMSU Represenative.

Others Present: Kathy Attebury.

The meeting convened at 1:30 PM.

Faculty Council is gathering nominations for a successor to John Carlsten on the committee. ASMSU is finding a successor for Michelle McLendon.

By September 23, a statement regarding capacity for growth and the SWOT will be ready to forward to the Provost. Four committee members are refining the SWOTs and will have the latest draft on the listserv by September 10.

The topic of today's meeting is to discuss and refine the statement of growth, shared with the committee on the listserv.

At its most recent meeting, Assistant Deans' Council reviewed "beginning of school" procedures and the registration process. Many of the concerns about growth and retention expressed by SPC were independently echoed by the assistant deans at this meeting.

During discussion by SPC, it was asked if MSU is creating its own retention problems. Growth in enrollment tends to take place in the areas that have potential for only limited growth. If an area has growth capacity, is it an area that is necessarily "strategic" to the university, or should resources be moved to areas that have been defined as "strategic"? Each department or college has a terminal capacity. Over the last ten years, tenure-track faculty lines have stayed constant; this is consistent with national trends.

It was pointed out that MSU may be close to capacity for students only if prime time is considered. How can facilities be more completely utilized? Evenings, Saturdays, and increased use during the summer, are all possibilities for utilizing facilities to greater advantage. "Distance delivered" style courses would be another way of alleviating stress on classroom space as well as providing students with more flexibility. An outside evaluator may help MSU think outside its current use patterns. There appeared to be agreement that, physically, there is some capacity for growth, but it varies across the campus, and another model for use of classroom space must be used to increase capacity. However, additional students will not alleviate financial problems over the long term.

Support was expressed for attempting to keep a higher number of Montana's best students in-state.

It should be kept in mind that a goal for MSU is to become "the institution of choice in the Northern Rockies".

What will distinguish MSU from other universities? Above other distinguishing factors, MSU has the potential to stand out as an excellent undergraduate institution. Research plays a role, as complimentary to and supportive of undergraduate education. It was suggested that as a general principle, the hallmark of any of MSU's strategies should be to support excellent undergraduate education.

If MSU can get around the disincentives to graduate education, the number of graduate students would likely increase.

A list of strategic issues and ways to achieve them is the desired outcome of SPC's deliberations. UPBAC will allocate resources according to it sense of strategic issues and priorities.

The meeting adjourned at 2:50 PM.