BOR Minutes: January 28, 1999

ADMINISTRATIVE/BUDGET COMMITTEE

REGENTS PRESENT: Pat Davison (Chair), Colleen Conroy, Kim Cunningham, Ed Jasmin, Lynn Morrison-Hamilton, Richard Roehm, and Margie Thompson; Commissioner of Higher Education Richard Crofts

REGENTS ABSENT:    None

The Board of Regents convened for a work session at 7:50 a.m. in Conference Room 102A of the Montana Higher Education Complex at 2500 Broadway in Helena. All Regents were present. The following items were discussed:

Classified Staff Contract Negotiations

Discussion: Regents cannot become involved in contract negotiations. Respond to correspondence, listen to concerns and make sure they're understood. Work on building relationship with classified staff as with students and faculty. Recommendation: A subcommittee of the Regents will begin looking at long-term solutions for the salary disparities. For informational purposes, the Commissioner’s Office will provide the Regents a list of all unions in the university system by campus.

Management Tracking

Discussion: Problems with data warehouse project — proposals received from SCT Banner, Oracle, and MSU-Bozeman. Discussions with Oracle and other universities to determine which avenue to pursue. Full implementation of Banner in July will produce much better management information very quickly in the financial area – the problem is tying that to human resources and student records. Recommendation: Will report specifics at the May 1999 Board meeting.

Tenure

Discussion: Regent Conroy’s copy to the Regents of "The Future of Academic Tenure" from AGB, plus a handout from Regent Thompson of a Chronicle of Higher Education document titled "Report Urges Post-Tenure Reviews for Professors and More Pay for Part-Timers." What are the policies on the campuses of the Montana University System? They need to focus the discussion less on tenure itself and more on the post-tenure and evaluation process. Faculty should be involved in discussions, and different categories should be reviewed. How does the tenure issue affect accountability and quality in the classroom? Recommendation: Regents Conroy and Roehm will work on holding an open discussion to better frame the specifics of the issue. Also, the issue will be raised at the Regents' meeting with faculty representatives following adjournment.

AGB Self-Study

Discussion: A document titled "Presidential and Board Assessment Service: An Investment in Leadership" from AGB. The Board needs to look at governance issues, the Board's function, the Board/CEO relationship, information flow to the Regents, Board decision-making, etc. Recommendation: Place on agenda for Board of Regents' retreat.

Policy Manual Review

Discussion: Review of the Board of Regents' policy manual is underway, and more time will be devoted to it following the legislative session. Recommendation: The Regents will hear a report from Chief Legal Counsel LeRoy Schramm at the Board's September 1999 meeting.

Evaluation of Board Orientation Process

Discussion: Reviewed comments received from participants. Recommendation: Give any additional suggestions to Commissioner Crofts. Place item back on work session agenda for review prior to appointment of a new Regent.

Accreditation Reports

Deputy Commissioner for Academic & Student Affairs Joyce Scott will report to Regents the results of accreditation visits as part of the agenda for the Academic & Student Affairs Committee. Dr. Sandra Elman, Executive Director of the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges, may attend the March 25-26, 1999 Board meeting to discuss accreditation issues.

WICHE Information Technology Meeting – December 2-3, 1998

Regent Roehm’s report was sent to the Regents – item off agenda.

Mason’s Rules

Questions were answered – item off agenda.

Capital Asset Review Process

Discussion: At Regent Jasmin’s request, the Board reviewed the "Final Report and Recommendations to the Arizona Board of Regents from the Committee for External Review of University Capital Assets," dated January 14, 1997. How much land did the Montana University System have? What about utilization of facilities? The Regents need information to respond to questions about deferred maintenance and construction of new buildings. Is all current space being used to the extent possible? Recommendation: Add item to the Administrative/Budget Committee’s agenda as "Facilities Utilization," an information item.

Legislative Involvement

Discussion: Presence of Regents at the Capitol has been well received; being in audience is helpful. It is important that someone be there during long-range building program presentations and when the budget goes to the full appropriations committee. Regents Thompson and Roehm are able to get to Helena more quickly than others.

Boyer Commission Report

Discussion: How are our universities responding to the 10 recommendations in the report ("Ten Ways to Change Undergraduate Education")? How will those be addressed? The report provides a good beginning for discussion. Regarding incentive compensation, they first need to identify their mission and goals, incorporating some of the report’s points into the Regents’ planning discussions. Recommendation: Place the Boyer Commission and Coopers & Lybrand under "Management Information," along with related items as they come forward.

Funding Model

Discussion: They need to find time to talk about topics such as how the state funds the university system and how money is allocated to the campuses. Using a previous meeting at Salmon Lake as an example, the Regents and presidents and chancellors would be involved in a discussion of how they may do things differently in the future. Recommendation: Defer item to next agenda.

Communications

Discussion: There's a lack of a system in place to encourage university system employees to become advocates for the system. At times, certain information sent to the Regents directly from system employees does not match the Regents' information. It is most important to make sure they gather all the information they can and have all the facts. They need to hear more than one viewpoint and would like to hear from the chancellors of the smaller campuses. Recommendation: Incorporate a communications strategy into the Regents’ planning document; continue discussions; ask for direction on the issue. Defer five issues on the November 1998 work session agenda requested by Regent Roehm to the Board's retreat agenda under the heading of "Information Flow to the Board."

Code of Expectations

Discussion: The Regents' Code of Expectations should be reviewed every year. Recommendation: Have the job description for the Regents placed into that type of format.

Work Sessions

Identify work session agenda items by Regent and date requested. The presenter of the agenda item should make information on that item available to the other Regents for information-sharing. Prioritize work session items as follows: #1 is high priority, #2 would be somewhere in the middle, and #3 would be low priority. Information items will be placed under the "FYI" category.

Credit caps

For full Board discussion – take off work session agenda.

Board of Regents’ Retreat

Decide on a date for one-day retreat. Ask for everyone’s input.

Joint Committee on Postsecondary Education Policy & Budget

Regent Jasmin reviewed the PEPB Committee’s recommendations regarding the community college issues. The committee has helped bridge the gap between Regents and legislators. Recommendation: Provide Regents with copy of upcoming legislation that addresses the committee’s membership.

Laptop Computers for Regents

Costs range anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000. Recommendation: Regents will shop around to obtain prices via the Web and other locations.

Montana University System Tax Issues

Discussion: December 8, 1998 memorandum to Commissioner Crofts from Regent Roehm referencing Montana University System tax issues. The questions to the Commissioner are a follow-up to the presentation the Board heard at the November 1998 meeting.

Athletic Reports

Laurie Neils will work with the campuses. Information currently shows all funding sources. Recommendation: Determine funding source by sport, since certain sports generate more revenue than others. They want to be careful of micromanagement — athletics is another department within the campus, and decisions are made by that campus. Departments other than athletics are not scrutinized that closely. Need to add sports to comply with new regulations. Where do funds come from? The Regents need to respond to questions from the public. They want to work toward being better informed without getting into micromanagement.

Unit Finance Reporting

Discussion: Do not believe any Board member can request an employee to change a reporting procedure – wouldn’t that go through the Commissioner? Laurie Neils was asked to look into it and get a sense of the Board's direction. They need to take a look at the format. Regent Roehm and Chairman Davison will work with Ms. Neils, Rod Sundsted, and Commissioner Crofts.

Regents' Fact Book

Laurie Neils distributed and reviewed the Fact Book.

The Board recessed at 11:15 a.m. for committee meetings, followed by its noon lunch/meeting with student government representatives.

The Board reconvened at 1:30 p.m. Roll call showed a quorum present.

MOTION:  Regent Jasmin moved that the minutes from the November 19-20, 1998 regular Board meeting be approved as mailed to Board members. The motion passed UNANIMOUSLY.

CONSENT AGENDA

Staff Items:

ITEM 102-1000-R0199 — Staff; The University of Montana-Missoula

ITEM 102-1500-R0199 — Staff; Montana Tech of The University of Montana

ITEM 102-1500A-R0199 — Staff; Montana Bureau of Mines & Geology

ITEM 102-2000-R0199 — Staff; Montana State University-Bozeman

ITEM 102-2001-R0199 — Retirement of Glenn Allinger, Department of Mathematical Sciences; Montana State University-Bozeman

ITEM 102-2002-R0199 — Retirement of Kenneth D. Hapner, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Montana State University-Bozeman

ITEM 102-2300-R0199 — Staff; Agricultural Experiment Station

ITEM 102-2400-R0199 — Staff; Extension Service

ITEM 102-2700-R0199 — Staff; Montana State University-Billings

ITEM 102-2800-R0199 — Staff; Montana State University-Northern

ITEM 102-2850-R0199 — Staff; Montana State University College of Technology-Great Falls

Other Items:

ITEM 102-101-R0199 — Rural Physician Incentive Program; Office of Commissioner of Higher Education

ITEM 102-102-R0199 — Appointment of Richard L. Franz and Mandi Strelow Birch to the Student Loan Advisory Council; Montana Guaranteed Student Loan Program

AMENDMENT TO ITEM 102-2000-R0199: On page 1, effective dates for salary increase for Cheryl Blank are changed from "8/16/98 to 6/30/98" to "8/16/98 to 6/30/99."

MOTION:  Regent Jasmin moved that the Board approve all items on the Consent Agenda (Staff and Other) with the amendment to ITEM 102-2000-R0199. The motion passed unanimously.

STUDENT REPORTS

Tim Sulser, MAS president and ASMT president, reported that MAS met prior to the Regents' meeting and agreed to oppose any legislation that would eliminate Native American fee waivers; MAS also agreed not to support any tuition increase beyond 4% for a single school.

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COMMITTEE REPORTS

The Academic & Student Affairs Committee met at 11:00 a.m. in Conference Room 102A of the Montana Higher Education Complex at 2500 Broadway in Helena. Members present were Regents Margie Thompson (Chair), Pat Davison, and Richard Roehm.

    Chairman Davison asked Regent Thompson to present the committee's report to the full Board.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The following Level I changes were approved by the Office of Commissioner of Higher Education (January 27, 1999 memorandum from Dr. Joyce Scott, Deputy Commissioner for Academic & Student Affairs, on file):

Montana State University-Bozeman

Request for program name change from Adult, Community and Higher Education to Adult and Higher Education.

Montana State University-Billings

Request to rename the Department of Business and Information Technology to the Department of Business and Information.

Request to eliminate three options (Applied, Computational, and Statistics) from the Bachelor of Science in Mathematics.

The University of Montana-Missoula

Request to add a minor in Computer Applications to the BS Program in Computer Science.

Request to eliminate the Behavioral Specialist option from the BA Program in Psychology.

Request to rename the option of Environmental Biology to Ecology in the BA Program in Biology.

Proposal of UM-Missoula's School of Education to offer an existing Master's degree in School Counseling in Kalispell.

The University of Montana College of Technology

Request to terminate the one-year certificate program in Bookkeeping.

Montana Tech of The University of Montana

Request to add a minor in Society and Technology: Professional and Technical Communication to the Program in Society and Technology. An option in Professional and Technical Communications currently exists in the Society and Technology Bachelor degree.

Defer action on two options until actions on renaming major and introduction of new options have been decided.

NOTICES OF INTENT

From The University of Montana-Missoula:

Approval of Proposal to Add an Option in Physical Geography to the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Geography

    Approval of Proposal to Add a Comprehensive Study (Non-Thesis) Option to the Master of Arts Degree in Political Science

    Approval of Proposal to Retitle the Native American Studies Program to Department of Native American Studies and Retitle the Unit Head from Director to Chair

    Approval of Proposal to Establish an Institute for Teaching Excellence

    Approval of Proposal to Add an Option in Photojournalism to the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism

    Approval of Proposal to Add an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Respiratory Care, College of Technology

    Approval of Proposal to Add Two New Options — Network Support and Human Resources — to the Associate of Applied Science Degree in Accounting Technology, College of Technology

The Board concurred with the Academic & Student Affairs Committee's recommendation to move Notices of Intent "a. through g." from The University of Montana-Missoula to the Submission Agenda at the March 25-26, 1999 meeting.

From Montana Tech of The University of Montana:

Approval of Proposal to Change the Name of the Engineering Science Major of Both the Bachelor of Science and Master of Science Degree to Engineering

    Approval of Proposal to Add an Option in Civil Engineering to the Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering and Master of Science Degree in Engineering

    Approval of Proposal to Add an Option in Mechanical Engineering to the Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering and Master of Science Degree in Engineering

    Regent Thompson said although the Academic & Student Affairs Committee recommended that Notices of Intent "a., b., and c." under Montana Tech-UM move to the Submission Agenda at the March 1999 meeting, the items had been held from any committee questions or discussion at the request of the institution. Discussions on the three items would continue prior to the March 1999 meeting.

The Board concurred with the Academic & Student Affairs Committee's recommendation to move Notices of Intent "a., b., and c." under Montana Tech-UM to the Submission Agenda at the March 25-26, 1999 meeting.

Approval of Proposal to Add a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biological Sciences

Approval of Proposal to Add a Bachelor of Science Degree in Software Engineering

The Board concurred with the Academic & Student Affairs Committee's recommendation to move Notices of Intent "d. and e." under Montana Tech-UM to the Submission Agenda at the March 25-26, 1999 meeting.

From Western Montana College of The University of Montana:

Approval of Proposal to Add a Minor in Special Education to the Bachelor of Science Degree in Elementary Education and the Bachelor of Science Degree in Secondary Education

    Regent Thompson said it was her understanding there was ongoing discussion of this item between MSU-Billings and Western-UM.

The Board concurred with the Academic & Student Affairs Committee's recommendation to move the Notice of Intent from Western-UM to the Submission Agenda at the March 25-26, 1999 meeting.

From Montana State University-Bozeman:

Authorization to Offer a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Hotel and Restaurant Administration jointly with Washington State University

    Regent Thompson said this proposal from MSU-Bozeman was the result of a model developed between MSU and UM.

The Board concurred with the Academic & Student Affairs Committee's recommendation to move the Notice of Intent from MSU-Bozeman to the Submission Agenda at the March 25-26, 1999 meeting.

From Montana State University-Billings:

Approval of Proposal to Convert the Certificate in Practical Nursing to the Associate of Applied Science Degree, College of Technology

The Board concurred with the Academic & Student Affairs Committee's recommendation to move the Notice of Intent from MSU-Billings to the Submission Agenda at the March 25-26, 1999 meeting.

From MSU College of Technology-Great Falls:

ITEM 102-2851-R0199—Authorization to Offer a Certificate Program in Network Architecture under the College's Approved Associate of Applied Science Degree in Computer Technology/Network Support Option [NOTE: Item number assigned after meeting.]

ITEM 102-2852-R0199—Authorization to Offer a Certificate Program to Prepare Individuals to Interpret Natural, Cultural, and Historical Resources [NOTE: Item number assigned after meeting.]

    Regent Thompson said ITEMS 102-2851-R0199 and 102-2852-R0199 should have been placed on the Submission Agenda rather than the Notice of Intent agenda, and the committee agreed to that change.

The Board concurred with the Academic & Student Affairs Committee's recommendation to place ITEMS 102-2851-R0199 and 102-2852-R0199 on the Submission Agenda and move them forward to the Action Agenda at the March 25-26, 1999 meeting.

SUBMISSION AGENDA

ITEM 102-1501-R0199 — Approval of Proposal to Add a Certified Nurse Assistant Program, Convert the Current Practical Nursing Program to an Associate of Applied Science Degree, and Implement an Associate of Science Degree Program for Registered Nursing Education, College of Technology; Montana Tech of The University of Montana

ITEM 102-2004-R0199 — Authorization to Establish the Center for the Discovery of Bioactive Compounds; Montana State University-Bozeman

    Regent Thompson said ITEMS 102-1501-R0199 and 102-2004-R0199 were being deferred to the March 1999 meeting and would be held on the Submission Agenda at that meeting.

The Board concurred with the Academic & Student Affairs Committee's recommendation to hold ITEMS 102-1501-R0199 and 102-2004-R0199 until the March 25-26, 1999 meeting, and that the items be held on the Submission Agenda for that meeting.

CONSENT AGENDA — ACTION

ITEM 18-002-R1077 — Admission Requirements: General Policies; Montana University System (REVISION of Board of Regents' Policy 301)

    Regent Thompson said ITEM 18-002-R1077 was on submission at the November 1998 meeting and would revise Board of Regents' Policy 301. As an amendment to Section 12 of the policy, Regent Thompson said the underlined words "under age 21" would be deleted and the overstruck language restored.

MOTION:  Following brief discussion, Regent Thompson moved that the Board concur with the Academic & Student Affairs Committee's recommendation to approve ITEM 18-002-R1077 with the amendment to Section 12 of the policy. The motion passed unanimously.

ACTION AGENDA

ITEM 60-004-R0788 — Delivery of Instruction via Telecommunications; Montana University System (REVISION of Board of Regents' Policy 303.7)

    Regent Thompson said ITEM 60-004-R0788 was a revision of Board of Regents' Policy 303.7. The committee recommended deferring any action on the item to the March 1999 meeting.

The Board concurred with the Academic & Student Affairs Committee's recommendation to hold ITEM 60-004-R0788 until the March 25-26, 1999 meeting, and that the item be placed on the Action Agenda for that meeting.

ITEM 101-2004-R1198 — Authorization to Establish the "Spectral Information Technologies Laboratory"; Montana State University-Bozeman

MOTION:  Regent Thompson moved that the Board concur with the Academic & Student Affairs Committee's recommendation to approve ITEM 101-2004-R1198. The motion passed UNANIMOUSLY.

ITEM 100-1006-R0998 — Approval of Proposal to Add an Option in Applied Geoscience to the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Geology; The University of Montana-Missoula

    Regent Thompson moved that the Board concur with the Academic and Student Affairs Committee's recommendation to approve ITEM 100-1006-R0998. The motion passed UNANIMOUSLY.

OTHER

Report on Utilization of Graduate Teaching Assistants

    Report on Collaborative Bargaining Achievements for the 1998-99 Biennium

    Chairman Davison thanked Deputy Commissioner Joyce Scott for the reports and said he was going to include them with the Board of Regents' Fact Book. Both documents (on file) would help the Regents respond to frequent questions on GTAs and collaborative bargaining.

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Administrative/Budget Committee

The Administrative/Budget Committee met at 11:00 a.m. in Conference Room 102B of the Montana Higher Education Complex at 2500 Broadway in Helena. Members present were Regents Ed Jasmin (Chair), Colleen Conroy, Kim Cunningham, and Lynn Morrison-Hamilton.

    Chairman Davison asked Regent Jasmin to present the committee's report to the full Board.

CONSENT AGENDA — ACTION

ITEM 102-1002-R0199 — Certificate of Completion, Chemistry Stores Building, Series B and C 1995 Facilities Improvement and Refunding Revenue Bonds; The University of Montana-Missoula

ITEM 102-1003-R0199 — Certificate of Completion, University Village Office Renovation and Addition, Series C 1995 Facilities Improvement and Refunding Revenue Bonds; The University of Montana-Missoula

ITEM 102-1004-R0199 — Certificate of Completion, Elliot Village Roof Replacement, Series C 1995 Facilities Improvement and Refunding Revenue Bonds; The University of Montana-Missoula

ITEM 102-1005-R0199 — Certificate of Completion, Family Housing Phase II, Series B and C 1995 Facilities Improvement and Refunding Revenue Bonds; The University of Montana-Missoula

ITEM 102-1006-R0199 — Certificate of Completion, University Theatre Renovation, Series C 1995 Facilities Improvement and Refunding Revenue Bonds; The University of Montana-Missoula

ITEM 102-2005-R0199 — Authorization to Extend Campus Primary Electrical Upgrade to Connect to Existing Auxiliary Facilities; Montana State University

ITEM 102-2701-R0199 — Acceptance of Gift of Improvements; Montana State University-Billings

Regent Jasmin moved approval of the Consent Agenda items.

    Regent Thompson asked about the differences in project costs and spending authority. She used the Elliott Village Roof Replacement project as an example. The total cost of the project was $130,040, but the spending authority was for $800,000.

    Scott Cole, Vice President for Administration at UM-Missoula, said the $130,000 project was one of several they had as part of the $800,000 authority. As the remaining projects were finished, the certificates of completion would be brought forward.

    Regent Thompson suggested the reasons for differences between the project cost and spending authority figures be noted on similar items in the future. Mr. Cole said they could do that.

MOTION:  Regent Jasmin's motion that the Board concur with the Administrative/Budget Committee's recommendation to approve Action ITEMS 102-1002-R0199, 102-1003-R0199, 102-1004-R0199, 102-1005-R0199, 102-1006-R0199, 102-2005-R0199, and 102-2701-R0199 on the Consent Agenda passed UNANIMOUSLY.

ACTION AGENDA

ITEM 102-103-R0199 — Proposal for the Montana Guaranteed Student Loan Program to Investigate Partnering and/or Reciprocal Agreements with Other Guarantors

ITEM 102-1001-R0199 — Renovations to Numerical Terradynamic Simulation Group (NTSG) Space, Science Complex; The University of Montana-Missoula

    UM President George Dennison noted a change in the next-to-last sentence of the first paragraph of ITEM 102-1001-R0199. He said it should read: "This project will utilize up to the $1.5 million authority for grant projects authorized during the 55th Legislative Session" rather than beyond the authority as originally stated.

ITEM 102-2003-R0199 — Authorization to Expend Equipment Fees; Montana State University-Bozeman

ITEM 102-2702-R0199 — Approval to Use Student Equipment Fee Funds and Computer Repair and Replacement Funds for Addition to the Special Education Building; Montana State University-Billings

    Regent Jasmin said the $175,000 in ITEM 102-2702-R0199 was a loan from the Computer Center Repair and Replacement account to fund the current overage in the construction bid for the addition to the Special Education Building. The loan would be repaid by a reallocation of resources in the general operation budget.

    MSU-Billings Chancellor Ronald Sexton said that was correct. They wanted to make sure the resources were available if needed during the course of the project.

ITEM 102-1007-R0199 — Construct Information Technology Resource Center, Davidson Honors College Basement; The University of Montana-Missoula [NOTE: Item number assigned after meeting.]

    Regent Jasmin said ITEM 102-1007-R0199 was an addition to the agenda from UM-Missoula. The additional $200,000 in the item would come from private donations and grant proceeds.

    President Dennison said the project was authorized by the Board in the Series E bond issue, and the best estimate from architects at that time was about $630,000. However, the low bid exceeded the amount available for the project. As a result, they were requesting approval of an additional $200,000 to make the contract award and purchase equipment for the facility.

    Chairman Davison noted the Board would be expanding the spending authority by $200,000 — from $630,000 to a total of $830,000. The additional $200,000 would come from private sources and involve no state money or student fees.

MOTION:  Regent Jasmin moved that the Board concur with the Administrative/Budget Committee's recommendation to approve ITEMS 102-103-R0199, 102-1001-R0199 (as amended), 102-2003-R0199, 102-2702-R0199, and 102-1007-R0199 on the Action Agenda. The motion passed unanimously.

Regent Jasmin said that during the Board's work session, the Administrative/Budget Committee was asked to take a look at facilities, plant, equipment, etc., to see what was available and how it was being used.

    Regent Morrison-Hamilton said "Facilities Utilization" was added to the committee's agenda as a discussion item. They asked Associate Commissioner for Fiscal Affairs Rod Sundsted to forward to the committee the long-range building presentation that would go before the legislature the following week. They also asked Mr. Sundsted to work with the fiscal officers and physical plant directors to identify the type of data that was currently available on the campuses; summarize some of that information, such as deferred maintenance, facilities planning, trust lands, and utilization reports; and bring that back to and work with the committee to identify additional information that might be needed. Regent Morrison-Hamilton said they had expanded the committee representation to include Rod Sundsted, Scott Cole from UM-Missoula, and Tom Stump from MSU-Bozeman. The committee's intention was to move toward a Regents' capital planning document.

    Regent Jasmin said the inventory would include raw land, real estate, and trust land.

    Chairman Davison thanked Regent Jasmin for the committee's report.

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OLD BUSINESS

Update on Family Education Savings Program

Commissioner Crofts introduced Peter Roberts, CEO of College Savings Trust, the company operating the Family Education Savings Program. Mr. Roberts introduced Tara Wallace, the office manager in Helena for the College Savings Trust.

    Mr. Roberts distributed a document titled "Montana Family Education Savings Program Implementation 1998" (on file) and provided a brief history of the program to that point. He also reviewed their marketing efforts, which included direct mail to 55,000 Montana residents, regardless of income, who had children 15 years of age or younger, which generated a 6% response rate; print advertising in all local papers and some magazines; radio advertising throughout the state; public service announcements; a mailing to 155,000 people nationwide with children 15 years of age and under, which generated a 3% response rate; and a web site at www.collegesavings.com, which was receiving between 800 and 1,000 hits per day. In addition, they did a lot of work with the Department of Revenue regarding the tax benefits.

    Mr. Roberts said Senator John Bohlinger was introducing a bill in the legislature, SB 308, that included not only technical corrections to the enabling act but also excluded earnings from Montana taxation. Currently, the earnings from the program were deferred until distribution, both for federal and state tax purposes. Senator Bohlinger's bill would exclude taxation on the earnings for state tax purposes.

    Mr. Roberts reviewed the breakdown of leads, accounts, and deposits by region (Page 9, Appendix B), and an analysis of dollars on deposit per maturity year within and outside of Montana (Page 10, Appendix C). He said the median age of a beneficiary for Montana was 12, while the median age of a beneficiary out of state was 8 because of deduction without recapture. Hopefully, the exclusion on earnings would be further incentive for people to hold their money in the program longer and try to get that median age of 12 lower and closer to the national average of 8. Mr. Roberts said the Bohlinger bill required that for the deposit to be a qualified distribution, it had to be held for three years to allow people who had freshmen in college to still take advantage, but it would stop the practice of putting a deposit in today and taking it out tomorrow.

    Regarding $6,450 in fees earned by the Board of Regents, Regent Jasmin asked whether that money went into MTAP. He thought that was the Board's intention.

    Regent Thompson said she remembered that coming up in discussion but did not know whether the Regents had made any decision.

    Commissioner Crofts said he did not believe anything had yet been done with the money.

    Chief Legal Counsel LeRoy Schramm said he believed some of the money would stay with the Board of Regents to recoup administrative costs.

    Regent Jasmin noted that was the initial fee, but he wondered about future fees generated by out-of-state enrollments and withdrawals within three years. He suggested that at some point the Regents should discuss the disposition of that money.

    Chairman Davison thanked Mr. Roberts for his presentation and complimented him on the program's web site. He said it was easy to understand, easy to navigate, and provided good follow-up.

    Commissioner Crofts said the program had worked well and thanked Mr. Roberts for his enthusiasm and optimism during the process.

    Mr. Roberts said he wanted to acknowledge Rod Sundsted's part in the program. He said Mr. Sundsted had contributed a lot of his time and effort toward the program's implementation.

b. Regents Information Technology Status Report

Commissioner Crofts referred the Regents to documents (on file) that addressed the Year 2000 readiness: (1) a January 15, 1999 memo to Commissioner Crofts from Mike Mospan, Assistant Executive Director of MHESAC, regarding the Commissioner's Office; (2) a January 14, 1999 document from The University of Montana; and (3) a January 15, 1999 letter to Commissioner Crofts regarding Montana State University from David Todd, Executive Director of Information Services at MSU-Bozeman.

    Dr. Todd provided a brief summary of the status of Banner implementation on the Montana State University campuses in areas such as payroll, recruiting and admissions, and the student class schedule. He said the next five months would be the most difficult. Most of their system conversions had to take place during that time to coincide with the state's conversions.

    John Cleaveland, Executive Director of Information Technology at UM-Missoula, updated the Regents on Banner activities at UM's campuses.

c. Tuition and Fees

Commissioner Crofts said the Board had received material on the tuition and fees item from Laurie Neils, Director of Accounting & Budget in the Commissioner's Office. What was being requested of the Regents at that stage was tentative approval of the tuition and fees proposed for Fiscal Years 2000/2001. If the legislature provided them the funding recommended by the Governor, they would proceed with the tuition and fees currently under consideration. Commissioner Crofts pointed out that even though they had not received the Governor's recommended amount of funding during the 1995 and 1997 sessions, they still held to the tuition proposals presented to the legislature.

    Commissioner Crofts reminded the Regents of their approval of a systemwide tuition increase of no more than 4%, which was included in the Governor's budget. He had asked the university presidents to work with their campuses on a similar cap of 3% for total fee increases. However, there were three instances (two at Western-UM and one at UM-Missoula) in which special circumstances required going beyond that 3%.

    Chancellor Stearns and Susan Briggs, Fiscal Director at Western-UM, reviewed two fee increase proposals at Western that exceeded the 3% cap. The first was the Student Union Building fee. They were requesting to increase the per-semester fee by $5.00 — from the current $13.00 fee to $18.00 in FY00 and $23.00 in FY01. Dr. Stearns said meeting the 3% cap would have resulted in an amount too low to meet student and building needs.

    Ms. Briggs reviewed Western’s second fee increase proposal, which was the campus building fee. Ms. Briggs said that while Western did not have a parking problem, the maintenance of their grounds, parking lot, and sidewalks was a concern shared by all students. To provide that maintenance, they were proposing that student parking decals no longer be required. Instead, they were asking for a fee increase, and all students would receive a decal as part of their registration. The fee increase would allow better use of Western's parking lots and neighborhood parks.

    Chancellor Ronald Sexton of MSU-Billings explained that Billings' request was an increase of 3% the first year and 3.6% the second year – for an average of 3.3% for both. Most of that increase resulted from policies he had implemented to comply with the competition with the private sector issue. In terminating contracts with outside groups that used the campus for non-academic reasons, they needed to look at other sources of revenue. The policies implemented to do that had affected student workers and others whose salaries were paid from those revenues. They were now looking at ways to make up that revenue.

Lengthy discussion followed on:

Making sure enough time was allowed for students to provide adequate input on fee increases.

Concern about the burden placed on students by new fees and fee increases — had all options been fully explored?

Clarification of the Board’s "tentative approval" of tuition and fees.

The effects of differential tuition if implemented.

Referring to a technology fee at The University of Montana, President George Dennison referred to a discussion draft of a "Technology Fee Proposal" (on file) at UM-Missoula. He said it should be clearly understood that this was a proposal only and had not received full discussion on any of the campuses. They were not seeking tentative approval but wanted the Board to be aware this was under serious discussions that would continue on all the campuses. While they did not have detailed proposals from all the UM campuses, they did have a discussion draft that presented all the areas of expenditure a technology fee would cover. President Dennison reviewed the proposal, which suggested an increase of $4.25 per credit hour up to the cap of 12. On all the UM campuses, the $51.00 per semester would generate approximately $1.7 million. Though they initially tried to get through all the technology implementation without a fee, they now believed some type of fee was in order. Starting with $4.25 would allow them to get a good deal of distance to where they needed to be to meet ongoing costs and enhance student opportunities.

Lengthy discussion followed on:

Beginning student and campus discussions on fee increases earlier in the year.

The significant percentage increase that would result from incorporating the proposed $51.00 per-semester fee at UM-Missoula.

Earlier discussions on Banner at UM and the reasons for now proposing a technology fee.

The university system's and the state's initial focus on capital costs rather than operating costs.

An MSU Banner fee approved last spring, which varied among its campuses.

The point at which the $25.00 per-semester fee at Bozeman would decrease or no longer be needed.

The focus on producing a high-quality management information system rather than saving significant amounts of money.

Thoroughly exploring all options prior to placing the burden of new fees and fee increases on students.

Avoiding the creation of a fee-increase history that would discourage future students.

In response to a question from Regent Jasmin regarding the Board’s tentative approval of tuition and fees exclusive of a UM technology fee, Commissioner Crofts said they would be very careful in conveying that notice of tentative approval to the legislature while still making them aware of the technology fee issue.

    Chairman Davison said he would like to see the Board closer to a final decision at the March rather than the May meeting, and he would like to hear more student input.

    Following further discussion, the Board reached a consensus to continue with tentative approval of the tuition and fees proposal, exclusive of the UM technology fee, recognizing that the technology fee issue would be explored further prior to the March 1999 meeting. Chairman Davison said to make sure there was full disclosure to the legislature of the Regents’ actions.

    Following a ten-minute break, Chairman Davison said the differential tuition and credit cap issues would be deferred to the March 1999 meeting because time would not allow a thorough discussion. However, since MAS had discussed the issue the previous night, they would hear from MAS President Tim Sulser.

    Mr. Sulser said the minutes from MAS’s January 27, 1999 meeting (on file) reflected most of the lengthy discussion on differential tuition. He said the students took a vote, and four campuses voted against the proposal while three voted in favor of it (MSU-Northern, UM-Western, and the Helena COT-UM.)

    In response to a question from Regent Morrison-Hamilton, Mr. Sulser said the resolution from MAS specifically opposed using higher tuition on some campuses to lower or freeze tuition on other campuses.

    Regarding the credit cap issue, Regent Thompson said she would be interested in knowing what effect the current credit cap has on students who are moving from the COTs into four-year units.

    Regent Morrison-Hamilton asked if that could be broadened a bit to reflect associate degree programs rather than strictly programs at the COTs, since several other campuses had two-year degree programs.

    Chairman Davison said if that information could be prepared, it would be helpful.

NEW BUSINESS

a. Distribution of Appropriated Millage Not Yet Allocated

Commissioner Crofts referred to the recommendations presented in his January 27, 1999 memo to the Regents (on file). The first part of the FY98 additional six-mill levy revenue, $337,000, would be allocated to the campuses (MSU-Northern $151,709; Western-UM $117,996; and Montana Tech-UM $67,426) upon approval by the Board. Once the final amount was determined for FY99, that would be distributed to the same three campuses in the same proportions.

MOTION:  Following brief discussion, Regent Morrison-Hamilton moved that the Board approve the allocation of $337,000 of FY98 appropriated millage revenue to MSU-Northern, Western-UM, and Montana Tech-UM as recommended in Commissioner Crofts' January 27, 1999 memo to the Regents; the FY99 amount, when determined, would be allocated to the same three campuses in the same proportions. The motion passed UNANIMOUSLY.

b. Board of Regents' Planning Document

Regent Jasmin presented some background information on the planning document, noting it came about during a discussion of an incentive compensation program for the presidents and commissioner. To do that, they felt needed to take a broader look at goals and strategies. A Board planning committee — Regent Jasmin, Regent Cunningham, Regent Morrison-Hamilton, and Regent Roehm — began a thorough look at a variety of existing documents such as strategic plans and the system's mission statement that was approved in November 1996. The committee met several times to discuss the variety of issues covered by the documents and put together a document that had undergone numerous revisions. The draft planning document was being presented at the Board meeting for discussion. Regent Jasmin said they would like to recommend that the Regents' "mission statement" brought forward from the Regents' planning committee supercede the system mission statement approved in November 1996.

    Commissioner Crofts noted that the item was being presented as a submission agenda item. The next step would be broad distribution of the document to various employee groups, student groups, faculty, local executive boards, etc. They anticipated bringing a document back for action at the March 25-26, 1999 meeting. Commissioner Crofts said they wanted to put the item on a fast track and try to have it approved quickly so it could become a driving document beginning with the next fiscal year.

    Michael Mayer, UTU President from UM-Missoula, expressed some concerns about the timeframe for approving the document, noting that faculty needed ample time to review the document.

    In response to a question from Regent Jasmin, Commissioner Crofts said the current mission statements for the campuses and the system were approved at the November 1996 Board meeting. Prior to that, the Board policy manual included role and scope statements for the campuses. Those had been taken out of the policy manual.

    Regent Jasmin said the Board was due to review all the mission statements by the November 1999 meeting.

    Richard Walton, Chair of the Faculty Senate at UM-Missoula, said the senate would welcome the opportunity to carefully review the Regents' draft mission statement and submit comments to the Regents. He said they strongly supported Commissioner Crofts' suggestion of broad distribution of the document. He noted there were a number of items in the document that needed clarification before they could present intelligent comments. He suggested postponing any action on the document to the May 1999 meeting rather then March.

    Commissioner Crofts said the Regents' planning committee suggested they proceed quickly because they envisioned the next step would be a more elaborate list of action plans. If those were to be meaningful, they must be developed with benchmarks and the like. If they were going to have much impact, they would have to be completed in time to drive the next fiscal year, which was the reason they were suggesting an aggressive timeframe. If the Regents could come back to the document in March, by May or July at the latest they could present a more extensive list of action plans with specific benchmarks, timeframes, etc.

    Peter Kommers, Chair of the Faculty Council at MSU-Bozeman, said there was a similar indication on the MSU campuses that faculty were concerned they would not have adequate time to provide input on the draft mission statement.

    In response to a question from Regent Jasmin, Richard Walton said they could probably provide something intermediate by March.

    Chairman Davison said that in March he would envision the document being characterized as a "working document" at that point, and they would continue working on it.

    Regent Jasmin asked that the Regents receive comments on the document prior to the March 1999 meeting.

COMMISSIONER'S REPORT

Regent Jasmin distributed copies of a report (on file) from the Montana Commission on Teaching, a group of which he was a member. The report had been developed over a two-year period by 24 individuals representing the Governor's Office, CSPAC, OPI, Board of Public Education, Board of Regents, MEA, School Administrators of Montana, Montana School Boards Association, Montana Council of Deans of Education, and the Commissioner’s Office. The report was presented to the Governor last month. Regent Jasmin said they made a commitment to the Governor that the Commission would meet again in April after members brought the document back to their respective groups and reviewed recommendations that affected them. They would report back sometime in the spring about action plans that would implement some of the recommendations.

Chairman Davison asked that any comments or feedback on the report be given to Commissioner Crofts, who would come back to the Board with some recommendations.

Following further discussion, Commissioner Crofts noted that MSU President Malone had distributed a copy of MSU’s strategic plan (on file). It would be discussed further at the March 25-26, 1999 meeting.

Commissioner Crofts reported that the three six-mill levy bills were up for third reading in the House, and all three had passed. He said the first two would go back to the Senate for some technical amendments that were added in the House; the third bill would go back to the Senate and on to the Governor for signature. He said he would communicate his and the Board’s appreciation to Senators Bea McCarthy and Chuck Swysgood for acting so quickly on the six-mill levy bills.

CAMPUS REPORTS

Montana State University

President Malone announced that Joseph Chapman, Provost at MSU-Bozeman, had been designated as the next president of North Dakota State University.

MSU-Northern Chancellor Michael Rao announced that Vice Chancellor Karen LaRoe had been appointed as the next president of West Virginia Institute of Technology.

MSU-Billings Chancellor Ronald Sexton noted that MSU-Billings had the reaffirmation of its Northwest accreditation, and that report would be forwarded to the Board for the March 25-26, 1999 meeting.

The University of Montana

President Dennison announced that Western-UM Chancellor Sheila Stearns had been designated as the next president of Wayne State College in Nebraska.

Chairman Davison announced that the Regents would begin their meeting with faculty representatives, followed by a meeting with classified staff representatives.

With no other business to come before the Board, the meeting adjourned at 4:55 p.m.

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