Minutes
of the
CHAIRS/DEANS’ MEETING
On
April 9, 2002
IN ATTENDANCE: Will Rawn, Trish Goudie and
Roger Barber.
ABSENT: Darlene Sellers (in Dillon,
assisting with an NCATE accreditation
visit; and Greg Kegel, judging a
VICA contest on the MSU-Northern
campus.)
The meeting was called to order at 9:03
a.m. in the Cowan Hall Conference Room.
The minutes of the April 2, 2002, meeting were approved without any
corrections or additions.
Discussion of an Open Faculty Line in
Education.
Mickey Kolis has apparently accepted a teaching position in
Wisconsin. Mickey has not
formally resigned his post at Montana State University-Northern.
But he has told Darlene that he intends to leave Northern; and his
decision is public knowledge across the campus.
Since Darlene could not attend this
week’s meeting, she asked Roger to discuss the “open” line in
education with the chairs/deans. Although
the number of chairs/deans in attendance at the meeting was small, they
quickly agreed that Darlene should move forward immediately with a search
and attempt to fill the position. Roger
supported the chairs/deans’ recommendation.
Some More Discussion of New Faculty
Lines.
Roger met with Chuck Jensen, the vice chancellor for finance and
student affairs, about next year’s budget and the need for additional
faculty lines at MSU-Northern. He shared the results of that conversation with the group.
The budget for next year already contains
three (3) “new” or additional faculty positions, Roger said.
Although the word “new” is a matter of semantics, Roger noted,
the reality is that those three lines are not in this year’s budget, so
they become additional personnel costs next year.
The three additional positions are: a faculty line in civil
engineering technology; a faculty line in industrial technology; and a
faculty line in the Great Falls elementary education program.
Searches are either “in progress,” or “under
authorization,” Roger said, so they need to be included in the campus
budget for next year.
In his conversation with Chuck, Roger
described the chairs/dean’s efforts to identify new faculty lines, and
the process they went through to rank those new lines.
Roger told Chuck there was considerable consensus among the
chairs/deans that two (2) additional faculty lines would help the campus. I.E., a faculty position in the College of Education to
continue the elementary education collaboration with the tribal colleges;
and a master’s prepared faculty position in the College of Arts and
Sciences to teach composition and communication courses.
Chuck was reluctant to commit to both positions at this point,
Roger said, although he was very sympathetic and supportive of the
education line.
Roger concluded this portion of the meeting
by telling the group that he would continue to discuss the budget
situation with Chuck and Alex. Roger
said that he felt hopeful about the tribal college position, but he was
less optimistic about the arts and sciences line.
The Writing Proficiency Exit
Requirement at MSU-Northern.
Roger reminded the group that Joyce Scott, deputy commissioner for
academic and student affairs, is expecting a report on the writing
proficiency exit requirement by the end of the month.
Each campus of the Montana University System will be expected to
submit its “plan” for an exit proficiency program, so Joyce can
prepare a progress report for the May meeting of the Montana Board of
Regents in Dillon.
MSU-Northern’s plan was distributed to
the campus earlier this year, and the feedback was mixed.
Most of the faculty at MSU-Northern supported the proposal to
include a writing proficiency requirement in the capstone courses for each
four-year degree program. Some
faculty, especially in the College of Technical Sciences, preferred a
specific class to determine writing proficiency for baccalaureate
students; and they suggested the upper-level technical writing course that
already exists on the campus.
The discussion at this meeting focused
almost exclusively on Joyce Scott’s deadline, and the need for the
institution to prepare a preliminary progress report on its exit
proficiency plans. The
following important points were made during that discussion:
a)
Since most of the campus supported the “capstone course”
proposal,
MSU-Northern’s plan for the
Board of Regents should focus on that
process.
b)
Roger asked if a “two-track, option” approach would be
appropriate.
In other words, Roger said, could Northern’s plan include
two (2) possible methods to
satisfy the writing proficiency exit
requirement: the capstone course
or the technical writing course, with
each program deciding which
process it wanted to use. Will
suggested
that the better approach would
be a decision by program faculty to
designate the technical writing
course as the capstone course for their
degree program.
c)
Roger also told the group that Joyce Scott and her staff had
promised a format for the campus
reports. To date, that format
has not
been shared with the campus, so
it may be difficult to prepare the
necessary paperwork, Roger said.
(It should be noted for the minutes
that, when Roger returned to his
office after the chairs/deans’ meeting,
a format had been distributed to
the academic officers by Joyce. Roger
immediately passed it on to
Will.)
d)
Will and Trish reiterated the need to include significant faculty
training, as part of
MSU-Northern’s plan, so everyone feels comfortable
evaluating the writing
proficiency of Northern’s junior and senior-level
students.
Will said he would include a discussion of appropriate
training in any document he draws up on the institution’s plan.
e)
Will said he would add to the draft that was prepared earlier in
the year for the campus, and
bring it back to the chairs/deans, at their
next meeting, for another
review. Roger noted that that
revised document
will probably have to serve as
MSU-Northern’s plan for the May Board of
Regents’ meeting.
Preparation for the Next Round of
Level II Proposals.
Roger reminded the chairs/deans that the Board of Regents is
reworking its approval process for academic programs.
The details of that new process are still unclear, he said, but
almost certainly the old Level II procedures will be streamlined and
accelerated.
Despite that uncertainly, MSU-Northern
should go ahead with its new degree proposals, Roger said.
The first step in that process, Roger explained, is a short letter
to all of the academic officers in the Montana University System,
describing the new programs on Northern’s campus.
Roger has prepared a draft of that letter, and he asked Will to
read it over and give him some feedback, since two (2) of the new degree
programs are in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Roger said he would also ask Greg for his input,
because the College of Technical Sciences may also have a new program.
Roger said that he plans to distribute the
letter next week, so he asked Will to get back with suggestions in the
next day or two.
The Student Awards Convocation.
Roger reminded the chairs/deans about the Student Awards
Convocation on Wednesday, April 17, at 10 a.m.
The chairs/deans will assist Roger and Alex during the ceremony, by
announcing the scholarship recipients for each of their Colleges.
Both Will and Darlene will be gone on that
day. But they have found
worthy “replacements” to help with their part of the ceremony.
Jan Wiberg will announce the names of student recipients in the
College of Arts and Sciences; and Ted Spatkowski will help with the
scholarship recipients in the College of Education and Graduate Studies.
Roger said he would be happy to meet with both Jan and Ted to
explain the ceremony, and their part in it as “stand ins.”
Will said he would convey that offer to Jan.
The meeting adjourned at 9:55 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Roger Barber
