BOR Minutes: Jan. 20-21, 2000

Regents Present: Pat Davison (Chairman), Ed Jasmin (Vice-Chairman), Jeremy Fritz, Lynn Morrison-Hamilton, Richard Roehm, Margie Thompson, Deborah Wetsit and Richard Crofts (Commissioner).

Regents Absent: None

Associate Commissioner, Rod Sundsted presented the Allocation Model to MAS students Wednesday evening, before the Regents’ meeting. The students feel they have a better understanding of the funding principles due to this presentation, and thanked Commissioner Crofts for arranging it.

At the same meeting, they discussed the Student Regent Selection process and set a deadline of February 22 to receive applications in the MAS office. They will then vote on the applicants at their March meeting and forward recommendations to Governor Racicot at the end of March.

MAS students also attended the Discussion on Tenure Wednesday afternoon.

Ms. Kobos also reported that all of the MAS officers had a chance to work with President Michael Malone and held him in the highest regard. They therefore voted unanimously to donate $1000 from the MAS funds to the scholarship fund set up in his honor.

Ms. Kobos reported that proficiency exams in math and English had been implemented on the Missoula campus. (Students must now take these exams at the end of their sophomore year before they can take any upper level courses in these subjects.) The students do have a seat on the Proficiency Committee.

The Center for Leadership Conference which teaches students strategies on dealing with members of their groups will bring Debbie Wooten from Washington to speak to the students. She is a highly motivational speaker and they are looking forward to hearing her.

Chairman Davison expressed his appreciation to MAS for their donation to the Michael Malone Scholarship Fund.

The student government has just completed a mass mailing of voter registration cards to the student body, emphasizing the importance of each of their votes.

The students had a special ceremony on campus in celebration of Martin Luther King day.

The ASMSU is facing a very difficult budgetary shortfall associated with the student newspaper.

Ms. Moody reported that a Capital Campaign was held on campus which was so successful that the theater program is no longer charging an entrance fee to their programs, and all income now goes into scholarships. They now have five scholarships.

She also reported that the cross country teams did very well this year, with the men coming in seventh in the nationals and the women tenth.

February 4th will be Student Legislative Day on the Bozeman campus. They will be sending letters to legislators inviting them to visit campus for a tour. The students want to show them the areas they hope to receive help with in the future, such as laboratories, etc. They would like to see the legislators sit in on a class or two to experience the quality of classes at the Bozeman campus. They have also invited Chairman Davison to address the legislators at that time.

Additionally, the students are planning a tribute to President Michael Malone. The Student Senate intended to pass a resolution honoring Michael Malone at their meeting that evening.

The weight room has encountered some difficulties due to budgeting problems. The students are working with the administration to get sufficient funding.

The Multi-cultural Resource Center on campus reaches the end of its agreed upon two year funding at the end of this year. It was agreed that ASMSU would sponsor it in the future to keep it active. An office will be provided in the Strand Union Building. The Multi-cultural Resource Center has benefited all of campus.

He discussed the proposed funding source for datawarehousing and thanked Commissioner Crofts, Regent Roehm and Executive Assistant Rolf Groseth for having lunch with the students in Great Falls.

Mr. Williams indicated the student government organized and participated in a food drive for the hungry, as well as getting the names of students unable to purchase a Christmas tree. The students cut trees for them and helped to decorate them.

The students have discussed the issue of Course Fees all semester. Their conclusion is that course fees are probably the most equitable way to handle those costs.

It was reported that the accrediting agency wanted the campus to show improvement in the humanities. The Administration decided that if they reduced the number of classes and restructured them, perhaps giving a test after a couple of years, that it might prove to make a difference. However, the student government disagreed with cutting courses. Mr. Williams indicated that a required course in Native American Studies has been added, but there is no one to teach it.

He reported that there is only one field available for all the different sports on campus. They will therefore be completing the recreation fields that were started in the early 1980s and left unfinished for budget reasons. There remains the question of how much it will cost to complete the project, and to maintain it. There is the suggestion to initiate a fee of about $7 per semester to cover the costs.

A survey was run on campus among graduating students, inquiring as to where they are going to work. Seven student senators are graduating and all are going out of state. The students feel that with salaries so low in Montana, that the investment made by the State in their education is a poor investment if they lose the students to other states.

Mr. Tooker reported that their radio station was approved in a record making 9 months. They believe they will be on the air in approximately two months.

Additionally, they are creating a book exchange this year to help alleviate "buy-back shock" for students.

Mr. Kelley graduates in May, and thanked the Board of Regents for the opportunity to work with them, and for being open to student input.

Microcomputing Technology (CIP #11.0301) to Computer Technology and under this major to retitle two options:

Legal Secretarial Technology (CIP #52.0403) to Legal Support Services

Deputy Commissioner for Academic/Student Affairs Joyce Scott, explained the report. One of the objectives of restructuring was to increase the opportunities for non-traditional learning such as use of the Credit by Examination.

Director of Montana Guaranteed Student Loans, Arlene Hannawalt reported that they have $240,000 available in scholarships and have already awarded $150,000. They have 80 applications and are looking forward to the awards for next year.

Dr. Scott indicated that the GearUp Program has partnered with a wide variety of high schools, and is also working with at-risk students in grades 6 through 8.

Dr. Scott explained the report on awards/degrees and indicated that the two year degrees are increasing at the community colleges, and decreasing at the 4 year campuses. The degrees awarded at the Law School of The University of Montana-Missoula, were inadvertently omitted from the report. The report will be updated and available at the meeting in March.

Associate Degrees Awarded have increased in the last year.

Commissioner Crofts has met twice with Presidents Quinn and Gilliard to reach a resolution on this matter. At the request of the presidents, Commissioner Crofts would not elaborate on the details of their discussions, and will have one more meeting with the Presidents before the March meeting in an attempt to finalize a solution. There was comment from Cindy Blanton of Helena and Dawn Trebovich of the Montana National Guard, both non-traditional students. There was further discussion among the Regents.

Bob Carr reported on the State plan for Perkins dollars. The task force has had a number of meetings and accepted a great deal of public input. He indicated that the Tech Prep Initiative will bring more students from high schools into higher education. They have allowed Perkins dollars for middle school participants also. Mr. Carr indicated that there are three components to the Task Force: The Office of Public Instruction (OPI), Community Based Organizations (CBO) and the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education.

Arlene Parisot indicated that the task force has had a huge responsibility under very difficult circumstances. They are now ready to compile their document, print and disseminate it to the public. There will be a public hearing on March 3, and those comments will be integrated into the State Plan. The report will be sent to the Regents with the Agenda for the March meeting, and to the Department of Education by April 1.

After discussion at the January meeting, various areas of the budgets were identified that appeared to have been cut back excessively. Several of these items were mentioned by Commissioner Crofts, such as libraries and staff development among others. However, it was noted that State dollars are not the only dollars spent on the items mentioned, but they are the only dollars included in the report. Commissioner Crofts requested a meeting with the Presidents and Chancellors in order to prepare a recommendation on how to improve these various issues.

Chairman Davison acknowledged the tremendous challenge faced by the Montana University System with the sudden loss of President Michael Malone, and thanked David Dooley and the others for the good work they have done to keep things together and operating smoothly.

The Regents charged Commissioner Crofts with the task of getting input and pulling together a strong list of candidates to elicit the best person for this position. He was very fair and did a lot of listening. He spent a day on the Bozeman campus, listening to all parties, including the surrounding community. The Regents had two executive sessions on this matter, and have been very fair and energetic in pursuit of this responsibility.

Commissioner Crofts thanked the Executive Group at MSU-Bozeman, the Chancellors and Dean Weaver who helped so much during this process. After extensive listening and discussion, from a long list of strong candidates, one came clearly to the forefront, whom he recommended to the Board of Regents. That is Terry Roark who served as the President of the University of Wyoming for 10 years, and is currently a Professor of Astronomy and Physics there. Dr. Roark has a wonderful reputation and is well regarded nationally. He has the experience, skills and knowledge to do the job.

Associate Commissioner Rod Sundsted gave an update on the DataWarehouse project, particularly on the UM-Missoula campus. Since the Banner system was implemented in three stages, it is difficult to use from one part of the system to another. It will be necessary to standardize the codes between the three areas, or create a crosswalk between the systems. When completed, the system will have great potential. All of the data will be accessible by each campus as well as the Office of the Commissioner.

Laurie Neils handed out a report from the Taxation Committee.

President Dennison reported on their ongoing marketing effort. They have prepared a full color document called The Discovery Continues which is the President's report for 1999, as well as another item called The Core.

He spoke of the software of Steve Running that was launched on the satellite by NASA. It will be able to study global warming and many other aspects of the earth. Campus was also able to find C. M. Russell's painting of the Lewis and Clark expedition in Tulsa. They have borrowed it for one year to put on display as one of the representations of the ongoing exploration being done by UM.

Provost Dooley expressed the appreciation of all the MSU-Bozeman campus for the support they have received from their colleagues across the system, the Board of Regents and the Commissioner's office since December 21. They appreciate being consulted on the Interim President, and the time the Commissioner spent on campus with them. They all miss President Malone a great deal, but are optimistic about the future. They look forward to working with Dr. Roark to move forward in the direction that President Malone had clearly set for them.

Chancellor Sexton echoed Provost Dooley's comments and thanked the Commissioner for his time and energy in involving the campuses.

Chancellor Rao indicated that they are well represented by the comments of Provost Dooley and Chancellor Sexton. They are looking forward with optimism also, and he wished to report a good thing on the Havre campus. They have received the largest gift ever at MSU-Northern, and are expecting even more. They are seeing a snowball effect in their fundraising efforts.

Chancellor Hulbert reported that when he first met with the Board of Regents last July, their campus was undergoing a transition of the governance structure, and they now have Faculty Senate set up with by-laws and election of officers. They will be meeting in the next week or ten days. The full transition will take another year or two. The new Faculty Senate replaces the College Council, and staff and student representatives will be included. Decision making will be through the Senate.

Montana Youth Challenge Group completed its first class and over 40 young men and women 16-19 will receive their GED. Twenty of these students also took three credits at Western Montana College of UM , and five have started as freshmen there, with others at other campuses across the state. They were an extraordinary group of youngsters. Chancellor Hulbert indicated that the Dillon community embraced those young people and they volunteered in the community during the past semester. Most of these students never saw a dentist or doctor, were from broken homes and dropped out of school. The program was quite successful for them. Their graduation will be on January 28, and Commissioner Crofts will be in attendance. There will be a change in the program, with the boot camp portion taking place at Fort Harrison rather than on campus.

Jane Karas reported that the C.M. Russell top award was presented to one of their students at FVCC.

Dr. Elman gave an overview of the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges, indicating they cover an area of approximately 4000 miles. Some new thrusts driving the accreditation process are: 1) institutional outcome assessment (effectiveness); 2) general education; and 3) scholarship. She emphasized that accreditation is by peer review.