Meeting Minutes for November 22, 2002
University of Montana

Members attending:

Dan Geelan (Northern), Trevor Blyth (Bozeman), Sara Anderson (Great Falls), Nicole Alley (Billings), Shonda Shallenberger (MCC), Jared Robertson (Butte), Jon Swan (Missoula), Joe Clark (Helena), Jesse Mahugh (FVCC), Misty Keyes (Dawson Community College), Carrie Hayes (Western).

Welcome went out to FVCC Jesse Mahugh, HCOT Joe Clark, and DCC Misty Keyes. It was noted that this is the first meeting that 11 schools were being represented at the MAS meeting.

Student lobbyists were introduced -- Will Hammerquist (MSU), Evan Slagsvold (Northern/Billings) and not present was Sarah Cobler (UM).

Each Student Body President was encouraged to register as a lobbyist.

Unified student lobbying effort initiatives were discussed

  • programs that support graduate loan repayment
  • new tax structures that could potentially benefit higher education
  • $4.5 million financial aid package
  • changes to election laws that could benefit college students
  • maintain 02-03 level of funding

Legislative session

A MAS retreat was tentatively scheduled for January 4th and 5th in Helena.

Nicole volunteered Valerie Sperry from MSU-Billings to make arrangements.

Each campus was encouraged to contact local delegates by use of phone calls and letter writing.

The Governor's proposed budget was discussed briefly.

The option of a rally at the capital in conjunction with the MEA-MFT was discussed. MAS agreed to the possibility of the rally.  Dan will contact Eric Fever to coordinate.

Voter Guide

Jon Swan gave a brief synopsis of the voter guide activity in Missoula.  Jon further thanked his staff for their efforts in the success of this project. Dan also gave credit to Trevor Blyth and the MSU students for their efforts in making a difference in the makeup of the elected Bozeman delegation.

Student Regent Hur

Student Regent Hur gave a brief synopsis of his MUS Student Access to Course proposal stating he had spoken to faculty representative Rich Howard. Of the eleven schools represented, two expressed concerns. MAS consensus was that this is already being addressed on a campus level and there was no need for this broad Regent's policy.

MAS and Student Reporting

Dan stated that student reports will be at 8:3oFriday morning and with the 13 reports, each report will need to be limited to around 2 minutes. Further, next reports are due by noon on December 20thin order to meet the required suspense date for submission of material.

Board of Regents Agenda-Transferability

Some MAS students met with Dr. Joyce Scott regarding the transfer steering committee report. Dr. Scott submitted to the students the matrix relating to the MSU side and stated she anticipates the matrix being updated between Thanksgiving and the beginning of the year. Dr. Scott expressed the committee's goals -- completing the general ed. Transferability, tightening down an appeals process, getting feed back to community colleges and high schools, transfer reporting, and developing a standard mechanism for updating the matrix. Students expressed excitement with the possibility of a common course numbering system with regard to 100 and 200 level courses some time in the future.

Board of Regents Agenda

Dan solicited further input with regard to the Board of Regents agenda.

Dan stated that Arlene Hannawalt from MGSLP requested from MAS a student representative for the Student Loan Advisory Committee. Further, in accordance with MCA 2-15-1520 this matter was forwarded to Chairman Roehm for clarification. Dan reports that Chairman Roehm will take a nomination from MAS for this position and appoint the said person. Dan further solicited individual nominations from campuses.

Credit for Student Participation for Student Government

Initial discussion regarding this matter was made, and it was decided that the issue would be taken to individual student governments for discussion. Topic will be reopened this morning and input from each campus will be discussed.

Tuition Policy Committee

 Trevor, Sara, and Jon gave reports on the activities of the Tuition Policy Committee.