A. PRESIDENT'S REPORT - This report was presented by Academic Council President Elect Mike Hilgers.

 

1. Mr. Hilgers attended the Missouri Association of Faculty senate Conference (MAFS) in Jefferson City held February 2 and 3. He met with Senator Sarah Steelman and the following concerns were raised:

a. There is a fundamental disconnect between the public's view and true financial health of the universities within the state. New construction projects and other salary issues make it difficult for the legislature to recognize the financial difficulties.
b. The name change for SMSU is a major distraction to the legislature.
c. Developing legislation is difficult because three different revenue models are used by various branches of state government.
d. The legislature is divided in two camps: those that believe financial difficulties arise on the nues side and those that believe it is on the expenditure side. There is hope in that some of the more conservative forces are beginning to acknowledge that changes may be needed in Medicaid or mandatory sentencing.

2. There was a discussion at the conference for the need for faculty to send personal notes to their legislators emphasizing the need for support for higher education.
3. Mr. Hilgers attended the Partners in Prevention for Environmental change meeting. There was a presentation on the impact of alcohol use among students. As faculty we were encouraged to do the following:

a. Schedule tests on Friday. b. Don't cancel class when you travel; someone from Student Health services would use the lecture time to talk about campus life and its relationship to substance abuse. c. Be good role models, don't use jokes or examples about the use of alcohol.

d. We were challenged to have class on the Thursday and Friday of St. Pat's.

4. Faculty Accomplishment System - Mr. Hilgers met with IT to discuss the requirement gathering process.
5. Academic Information Architecture - Mr. Hilgers met with the committee and discussed various information technology issues. Their goal is to prioritize system development activity to best address long range faculty goals.
6. Intercampus Faculty Council - Todd Hubing and Mike Hilgers met with IFC. The following items were discussed:

a. The Memorandum of Understanding between UM System and Northwest was reviewed. IFC questioned the benefit to the UM System. Quality of undergraduate education and innovations in distance learning were considered to be strengths that would benefit the UM System. It is hoped that UM System involvement will revitalize this portion of the state. b. The state of the consolidation between UM System Presidency and the UMC Chancellorship was discussed. President Floyd's final word on the matter is still pending. c. Chancellors' raises were discussed. The current gifts that enabled these raises are only for one year.d. VP Hutchinson was asked to supply a comparison of faculty salaries with other peer institutions.

e. IFC gave final approval of the revised faculty workload policy 310.080 document. It will go to the Board of curators for entry into the collected rules and regulations after review by legal.

B. CHANCELLOR'S REPORT - This report was presented by Gary Thomas.

 

1.Budget

a.The House and Senate have agreed with Governor Holden on the revenue of $6.4 billion, but the level of expenditures has not been agreed upon. There is still a deficit projection of about $500 million, though the actual amount will not be known until April tax collections. b.The Governor presented a proposed budget for the state that totals $7 billion. There is a $2.4 million increase proposed for the UMR budget.c. In terms of construction, there are two competitive bills in the legislature. One is the universities capital budget. UMR would receive about 10 percent of the $90 million for the Mechanical and Aerospace building. There is also a competitive bill called Jobs Now. At this point the funding of this bill is uncertain.

d. The average salary for UMR is 20 - 25% below that of private research institutions. Salaries need to be raised to be more in-line with other schools. Recruiting salaries will be addressed first. The House and Senate have agreed with Governor Holden on the forecast of the revenue for FY 2005, which is $6.4 billion. They have also agreed that expenses from last year were about $7 billion. This indicates a $600M shortfall and the possibility of additional withholdings.

C. PROVOST'S REPORT - This report was presented by Harvest Collier.

 

1. Information Technology

a. Power stability, heating, ventilation, and cooling in the data center are being studied. IT has launched a 6 to 9 month construction project to address shortcomings in these areas.b. Information Security is a critical issue for all of us; the IT department is currently addressing this issue.c. Another concern is the consolidation of the multiple web environments.d. E-mail stability is also being addressed due to the large number of computer viruses.e. Fundamental operating issues- the solutions desk has been very helpful in solving problems on a timely basis. f. The wireless network is being researched. There are some policies in progress to have test sites in the Civil Engineering and Physics buildings. g. Review of Inventory and registration of application software has begun.

h. Paper evaluations of teachers have been suspended due to progress with web-based evaluations.

2. Research

a.New Proposal awards through January: $17.1 M b. Proposal submissions through December: $ 70.9M.

c. A new FAA center on Cloud and Aerosol Science will be developed at UMR.

3.Education

a. We are still trying to support our international students in light of all the regulations that have changed. The International Student Office is prepared to answer questions in this area.

b. The renovation of space for the center for Educational Research and Teaching Innovations has begun. We are looking to employ a coordinator soon.

A.TENURE- This report was presented by Jerry Cohen.

1. There was a motion to approve the changes made to the Campus Promotion and Tenure review Committee Member Requirements. There was a motion to amend the wording on the document. After discussion the motion was retracted and the original motion was put back on the floor. The motion passed.

B. BUDGETARY AFFAIRS- This report was presented by Don Myers.

1. The committee has met several times to discuss mechanisms by which the faculty can have meaningful faculty input into the UMR budget process. A questionnaire was developed to solicit faculty recommendations for the fiscal year 2005 budget reduction considerations. The form will be posted on the web in the near future to solicit input from the faculty.
2. Due to timing issues regarding the budgetary process, the committee motioned that the questionnaire, which was completed by seven of the committee members, be endorsed by Academic Council as an interim report.
3. During discussion of this motion, it was suggested that there were insufficient faculty that had completed the survey to constitute a report that was representative of the recommendations of the faculty.
4. There was a motion to amend the report by removing recommendation # 7. It was seconded. The motion failed.
5. The original motion was placed back on the floor. There were a motion and second to postpone endorsement of the report until the next meeting. The motion passed.

C. CURRICULA - This report was presented by Charles Chusuei.
1. A written report was submitted.

1. A written report was submitted.

a. There was a request to change the name of "Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics" to "Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering." The motion passed.

b. The Curricula committee asked the Academic Council to accept the changes on the DC forms. The motion passed.

c. The curricula committee asked the Academic Council to accept the changes on the CC forms. The motion passed.

d. The EC forms will be distributed for review later.

e. The Name Change (NC) form has been modified. There was a motion to approve the modified NC form. The motion passed.

D. STUDENT AFFAIRS - This report was given by Hal Nystrom. There were two constitutions submitted for approval.
1. Miners in Space
2. Phi Sigma Rho
The motion passed to accept the Constitutions.

E. PARKING- This report was given by Diana Ahmed.

 

1. There was a call for quorum; it was denied because the call for quorum came from a non-voting member of the Academic Council. 2. Numbered lots are being grouped. 3. The parking committee explained how the parking lots were going to be reclassified alphabetically rather than numerically. 4. Diagrams presented to explain the new lot configuration. There will no longer restrictions to one lot associated with a specific parking permit. If there are no spaces in your designated lot, you will be able to park anywhere in your designated section with an honor. 5. The changes will go into affect in August 1, 2004. 6. Gold, Silver and Red lots will no longer exist. 7. You can still park at the Gym (Lot X) without being issued a ticket irrespective of your specific lot decal.

8. There will be a small increase in price of parking stickers.

3 UNFINISHED BUSINESS AND OLD BUSINESS

A. ACTION ITEMS
1. Written Policy for Distribution of Distance Learning Funds-Global The policy is still under discussion.

4 NEW BUSINESS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

A. ANNOUNCEMENT
This report was given by -Mike Hilgers
1. Nominees are still required to fill some Academic Council committees.
2. There is a motion and a second to accept the list of nominees in its present form. There was an amendment to the motion to accept a candidate from the school of Management and Information Systems at a later date. The motion passed.
3. All other announcements were bypassed due to time constraints.

B. STAFF COUNCIL -
No Report Given.
C. STUDENT COUNCIL
No Report Given.
D. COUNCIL OF GRADUATE STUDIES- No report submitted.
E. REFERRALS-None

Respectfully submitted,
(electronically submitted, 3/11/04 - 4:30 p.m.)
Robert Schwartz, Secretary