Wednesday, November 3, 2021

8:30 AM – 10:00 AM
SUB Room 235
Printable Minutes

Members:

Waded Cruzado, Kenning Arlitsch, Sreekala Bajwa, Camie Bechtold, Norris Blossom, Janelle Booth, Matt Caires, Jason Carter, Julie Clay, Leon Costello, Chris Dobbs, Ariel Donohue, Tracy Ellig, Stephanie Erdmann, Chris Fastnow, Stephanie Gray, Jeannette Grey-Gilbert, Stefani Hicswa, John How, Brett Gunnink, Alison Harmon, Deborah Haynes, Robert Hawks, Yves Idzerda, Chris Kearns, Greg Kegel, Ryan Knutson, Chere LeClair, Ilse-Mari Lee, Dan Miller, Terry Leist, Bob Mokwa, Chris Murray, Kim Obbink, Craig Ogilvie, Kellie Peterson, Sarah Shannon, Royce Smith, Cody Stone, Amber Vestal, Bradford Watson
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I. Call to Order
President Waded Cruzado

University Council called to order at 8:30am.

II. Approval of Minutes for October 6, 2021

Motion to approve minutes by Dean Royce Smith; seconded by Terry Leist. Minutes were approved unanimously.

III. University Wide Information/Announcements

The semester started with a $101 million investment to the MSU College of Nursing; September we held a groundbreaking for the Student Wellness Center.  In October we held the Bobcat Athletic Complex Grand  Opening and the Grand Opening of American Indian Hall.  Finally, on Nov. 12 at 2:00pm we will hold the grand reopening of Romney Hall.

   

IV. Public Comment

 

There was no public comment offered.

 

V.  Informational Items

A. University Health Partners Name Change: Student Health Partners
Chris Kearns, Jim Mitchell

President offered friendly amendment to include MSU in front of Student to read: MSU Student Health Partners.

President Cruzado expressed her gratitude to Jim Mitchell on his upcoming retirement and his spectacular dedication to MSU all these years. 

B. Choosing Promise: Goal 2.2: Expand Interdisciplinary Scholarship
Chris Fastnow, Director, Office of Planning and Analysis; Jason Carter, Vice President for Research, Economic Development and Graduate Education

Dr. Carter and Dr. Fastnow shared the good work MSU is doing through our research and creative activity throughout the university increasingly spans traditional disciplinary boundaries to solve the world’s pressing challenges. 

METRICS and ACTIONS

  1. Montana State University will secure at least one new interdisciplinary training grant or center grant for each Grand Challenge area by 2024.
  2. Montana State University will increase the grant expenditures associated with investigators in multiple academic units by 25% by 2022.
  3. Montana State University will increase the number of scholarly products that are authored or created by faculty from two or more academic units by 10% each year.
  4. Montana State University will review current policies, resources and facilities that affect interdisciplinary scholarship and develop sustainable models for shared interdisciplinary resources by 2022.

C. Fall Institutional Report
Chris Fastnow, Director, Office of Planning and Analysis

Dr. Fastnow provided comprehensive updates to University Council on Montana State University's fall instituional report findings on how many people work here, how many people study here, how students do, and how much we spend.  Detailed information may be found here: https://www.montana.edu/opa/fallinstreport.html.

VI. Public Comment

There was no public comment offered.

VII. Updates 

MSU Billings is working on retention and graduation for their Strategic goals for new enrollment processes.  They have a global Rhodes Scholar finalist. 

Dr. Beth Durodoye, Dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Education joined MSU Northern one week ago. They recently had their annual technical expo. They are working through their advisory meetings this fall.  They just completed their fall career fair with 50 companies that attended.

Dr. Stephanie Erdmann from Great Falls Collee MSU has been busy hosting many campus and community events, including art exhibits from K-12 and a Harvest Howl. 

Provost Mokwa shared the next Provosts Lecture Series is Nov. 16 at 7:00pm with Dr. Brian D’Urso, Dept. of Physics.

University Council adjourned at 10:00am.

NOTE:  The next University Council meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, December 1, 2021, from 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM.