IFO Board of Directors Meeting Report
February 8-9, 2007
Present: Wayne Alexander, Nancy Black, Cathy Summa, Annette Schoenberger, Jayantha Herath, Roger Severns, Andrew Larkin, Corey Butler (replacing George Seldat), Patricia Young, David Bouchard, Elizabeth Dunn, Derek Webb, Jauneth Skinner, Fred Hill, Cindy Phillips, Bruce Svingen, Valerie Geaither, Cindy Killion, Mike Ruth, Jan Loft, Georgia Holmes, Mary Kesler
Not Present: Stephen Bohnenblust, George Seldat
Also Present: Cindy Finch (taking minutes), Donna Blake, Russ Stanton, Patrice Arseneault, Rod Henry (portion of Thursday p.m.), Debra Japp, and Connie Howard (Friday a.m. only)
Approval of November 30-December 1 Minutes:
Moved/Seconded Carried
New Board Member:
A new member from Southwest on the Board, Vicky Brockman has resigned and Jan Loft is serving out her term. Jan has served on the Board in previous years.
Grievance Log:
Patrice Arseneault gave a grievance report. The information was confidential. The LOU was discussed that takes the place of the MOA dealing with Article 16, Section D, Subd. 3b, that is no longer valid. The Negotiating Team and the Executive Committee recommended approval of this LOU. Moved/Seconded Carried
Equity Report:
Pat Arseneault gave a report. The Multicultural Issues Committee met on December 4, 2006. Whitney Harris, Executive Director of Diversity, Office of the Chancellor, was a guest at the meeting. The committee discussed with Dr. Harris the status of the MnSCU Diversity Conference and the membership of the Planning Committee, including a desire to postpone the spring 2007 conference and to have a more representational planning committee. The MIC will meet next on April 20, 2007. The committee will invite Whitney Harris to meet with them again to discuss future diversity conferences and the status of the Office of the Chancellor’s support for anti racism training.
The Feminist Issues Committee will meet on February 9, 2007.
The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Allies Issues Committee is in the process of scheduling its next meeting.
The Benefits Equity Committee is in the process of scheduling its first meeting in March.
The IFO Salary Equity Committee (SEC) met on December 18, 2006. The SEC discussed the recently executed LOU on changes to Article 11 Section I, current DA resolutions that relate to salary equity, and our strategy for the 2006 salary study. We requested that SEC members who are not members of the joint SRC attend as many meetings of the SRC as possible and serve as alternates to the SRC. The Article 11 LOU is posted on our website under negotiations and annual salary reviews.
Pat presented proposed Operating Procedure language to the Board Draft for Operating Procedures, making the Salary Equity Committee an official standing committee (as shown below). Moved/Seconded we adopt as distributed minus the word “members” in the second line of h2 and the words “be comprised” to “shall comprise” (as shown in strikethrough mode below). Carried
Chapter IX, C. Standing Committees
7. The Standing Committees are
Academic Affairs, Budgetary Review, Feminist Issues, Government Relations,
and Multi-Cultural Issues., GLBTA Issues Committee, Benefits
Equity Committee and Salary Equity Committee.
h. Salary Equity Committee (SEC)
h1. The SEC shall address matters relating to salary equity and shall be responsible for overseeing the annual review process and salary studies to be conducted every 5 years. The SEC shall ensure that it provides sufficient continuity in its leadership.
h2. The SEC shall be comprised of one member
elected or selected from each local FA, and shall operate in the same manner as
other IFO Standing Committees except that the term of membership for the 7
campus representatives shall be for three years and no more than 3 members’
terms shall expire in any one academic year. In addition, the SEC shall select a
chairperson and shall designate the chair’s term so as not to disrupt any
ongoing salary study. The chair shall not be limited in the number of
consecutive terms of service as chair.
h3. In addition to the 7 campus representatives, the membership of SEC shall include one representative each from the MIC and the FIC. The MIC and FIC representatives to the SEC shall serve one-year terms, and shall not be limited in the number of consecutive terms of service on the SEC.
h4. The Equity Advocate shall serve as staff liaison to the SEC, and shall serve as an IFO representative to the joint MnSCU IFO Salary Review Committee (SRC).
h5. The 7 campus representatives to the SEC shall also serve as IFO representatives to the joint MnSCU IFO SRC, and the FIC and MIC representatives may serve as alternates to the SRC.
The joint MnSCU IFO Salary Review Committee (SRC) met on January 19, 2007.
The SRC had its first meeting with the consulting firm Sibson Segal hired to conduct the 2006 study of the salaries of all (non-adjunct) faculty. They discussed the timetable and process for the external market assessment and the timetable for conducting the internal analysis. The consultants asked the SRC to discuss the positive and negative aspects of the 2002 study, and they discussed several areas of concern, including the issue of transparency of the review and remedy reaching a greater range of faculty.
The SRC discussed that CUPA data will be used to conduct the external market assessment, and that the consultants will likely be getting back to the committee in March with an initial analysis. The final external analysis will be completed in late spring. The internal analysis of salaries will be conducted during the summer, and will be ready for a presentation of the results in fall 2007.
MnSCU has adopted the new MnSCU Board Procedure 1B.1.1, effective February 1, 2007. The final version was given to the Board and Pat outlined the main changes. Board members thanked Pat for sending out her report prior to the meeting.
Negotiations Report:
Rod Henry, IFO Chief Negotiator, gave a report to the Board. At the last Negotiations meeting, salary equity was discussed as well as inflation and the LOU recommendation. The team had their first joint meeting with MnSCU. They presented a formal set of ground rules and some things were agreed upon and some were not. The IFO asked for MnSCU’s economic package as part of their initial proposal. MnSCU was not certain they could do this. They are also exploring negotiating styles including interest-based bargaining. Meetings with MnSCU are scheduled for the end of March and the middle and end of April. The IFO Negotiations Team is meeting again on February 15-16.
Action Report:
A letter will be going out to the IFO membership at their home address and posters will be created and distributed. Moved/Seconded we spend up to $1,500 on action related expenses at this time. Carried
Budget Committee Report:
Tom Fauchald, Budget Committee chair, gave a report. On February 2, the Budget Committee met with MnSCU’s Judy Borgen and Ken Niemi. Borgen reviewed the details of MnSCU’s appropriations request and answered questions regarding the initiatives such as Management Innovations. Niemi gave a lengthy explanation of MnSCU’s $70 million technology request. Dave Bouchard, Metro’s FA President, attended the meeting because he chairs the IMS Council.
PSEO funding for 2008 will be changing in the MnSCU allocation formula, this has many implications. We are essentially competing with the high schools - the Governor’s program is to turn high school seniors into college freshmen. With PSEO and Concurrent Enrollment (which is just a variation of PSEO) students are now counted just like any other student for the purpose of allocating state appropriations to the campuses. During the last biennium, growth in PSEO and Concurrent Enrollment student enrollment was only recognized by MnSCU at 50%, but now it is back up to being recognized by MnSCU at 100% of normal student enrollment for purposes of allocating state appropriations to campuses.
The Committee also met with Jayne Rankin, Budget Manager for Higher Education in the Minnesota Department of Finance. She prepares the higher education budget requests for the governor. She reviewed the budgets for MnSCU and the Office of Higher Education. She also explained the governor’s new proposals for a $25 million performance bonus for MnSCU and Achieve II.
2007 Legislative Goals:
The committee adopted recommendations to the IFO Board for positions on: 1) inflation; 2) the Governor’s $25 million performance bonus; 3) the Achieve II proposal; and, 4) the MnSCU technology request. The recommendations were presented to the Board as follows:
1. Support a $140 $130 million appropriation
increase for a 3.5% 3.25% inflation adjustment each year of the
biennium. Support a tuition freeze if the inflation request is fully funded.
5. Assuming inflation at 3.25% per year is met, support Governor Pawlenty’s proposal for a $25 million performance bonus for MnSCU.
6. Support Governor Pawlenty’s Achieve II proposal.
7. Support the MnSCU technology infrastructure request, but with the conversion of the recordkeeping system (ISRS) done through contracting or outsourcing, not with the addition of permanent MIS staff.
The MnSCU Operating Budget Request goal to support a $140 million appropriation increase for a 3.5% inflation adjustment each year of the biennium was adjusted to $130 million and 3.25% -- this is in line with the Governor’s projection for inflation. For the Achieve II Grants rewarding students for every course they pass in high school they will be given $325 in an account for scholarship money or PSEO tuition. This makes college more affordable to students. Board action is needed to lobby for these legislative goals.
Moved/Seconded to approve Legislative Goals 1, 5, 6 as listed. Carried
Motion regarding 7, adjustments as noted below. Moved/Seconded Carried with one opposition
Legislative Report:
Russ gave a legislative report. Overall the Governor recommended $123 million in new money for MnSCU, a 10.4% overall increase over the biennium – however, the $55 million of the $123 million is one-time money.
For members invited to Lobby Days, if you can’t make it please assign a substitute.
S.F. No. 513, pertains to a $3 million appropriation for nursing activities at 2-year institutions to increase the number of nurses graduating at the baccalaureate and graduate level. Linda Baer said it was a clerical error that the 4-year institutions were omitted, and this would be amended.
Russ encouraged the Board to write to their legislators over the next couple of weeks. Russ will be sending out frequent reminders between now and March 6.
MSUAASF changed their name to ASF.
Adjourned at 9:20 p.m., Thursday, February 8.
Called to order at 8:30 a.m., Friday, February 9.
Campus Reports:
Moorhead: Voted not to spend any money on alcohol at the local level. They are contemplating looking into a tobacco-free campus. They are having difficulty trying to get faculty data from the Academic VP and Human Resources as per the contract. 1.B.1 is impacting Moorhead from having their own children in their classrooms. Nepotism is the correct policy that impacts faculty member’s children but 1.B.1 impacts a spouse.
Winona: Apparently the fire marshal told the facilities staff that they had to remove their wood door stops and faculty need to have their doors closed at all times if they have a particular door stopper. They are in the process of hiring a Dean in the Colleges of Business and Education.
St. Cloud: Wangari Maathai was on campus two weeks ago. She is a Nobel Peace Prize winner who started the green belt movement. They are working on the President search. They are having difficulty on their campus finding people who will serve on committees. Construction is happening on the campus. This is the first of about 4 or 5 buildings they are remodeling over the next 5-6 years. St. Cloud Administration feels the campus will be growing.
Mankato: Beginning to evaluate deans in a rotating evaluation process. A former VP for IT left a year ago and it appears that he would like to return – do they then have to do a full scale search? The faculty are being surveyed and this will be discussed at the next Executive Committee local meeting. Not too many issues on the campus except for one department. There is a problem in the affirmative action office.
Southwest: A sociologist faculty member Eric Markuson passed away last week. The local senate decided not to participate in the BOT Teaching Excellence Award. They now have Action Officers. They are working hard toward finding people who want to be involved in the faculty association. They are searching for a provost. Their administration feels they can continue their fix term appointments without limit in their interpretation of the contract.
Metro: Hired a new VP for University Advancement - Robert Huerman from Wisconsin. They are working on improving fund raising. They are meeting with all of the other unions on a regular basis and communicating a unified message to administration along with the students. There’s a new CIO search. Congress has changed the daylight savings time and there is a “Y2K” possibility.
Bemidji: Elizabeth Minic was on their campus. Budget cuts are happening from instruction costs ($1 million). The budget announcements will come out next week.
Executive Session:
Connie Howard was present to discuss staff issues with the Board. Moved/Seconded into executive session at 8:54 a.m. Carried. They moved out at 10:30 a.m.
IFO Testifies Before a House Committee:
It’s good that we are in solidarity with the students and we are being well received by the legislature and feel we have their attention. Nancy and Russ spoke about the testimonies of Monte Bute (Metro State), Rod Henry (Bemidji State), and Sonja Meiers (Mankato State). All of the information is posted on the IFO website.
Board of Trustees Update:
There is some discussion by the EC who received a request from Russ on the
legislative process of selecting the Trustees through an Advisory Committee.
This will be taken up by the legislature. There are four new appointees this
year. Nancy has encouraged the FA Presidents to attend the BOT
meetings. If two people want to attend or a non-EC member, we suggest that the
local associations pick up the cost of one of the attendees and the St. Paul
office will pay for the other. The BOT is very keen on the Centers of
Excellence. A budget proposal is being reviewed for a Biosciences Center of
Excellence. Nancy heard this would be going up in Moorhead but according to
Linda Baer there has been no decision. The Governor overruled the Center for
Teaching. The OOC usually showcases one campus to the BOT out of the 32 each
meeting. ISRS doesn’t have the codes for the doctoral courses as of yet. There
are a lot of ISRS issues and we are not confident they know the full issue. A
PR video was created by the OOC to show the BOT. The next trustee meeting is
scheduled for Tuesday February 20th.
07-08 IFO Meetings:
The EC voted to have seven Board meetings next year. They want more communication with the Board. A schedule of meetings as recommended by the Executive Committee was presented to the Board as follows: August 15-17, 2007 (Executive Committee Orientation); September 13-14 (Board); September 27-28 (Executive Committee/Statewide Meet & Confer); October 11-12 (Board); October 25-26 (EC/M&C); November 8-9 (Board); November 29-20 (EC/M&C); December 6-7 (Board); January 24-25, 2008 (EC/M&C); February 7-8 (Board); February 21-22 (EC/M&C); March 20 (EC/Delegate Assembly Resolutions Committee); April 10-11 (EC/M&C); April 24-25 (Board); May 22-23 (EC); and, June 12-13 (EC). The Delegate Assembly dates have already been approved by the Board and a contract has been signed with the Roseville Radisson for March 27 (Board meeting) through March 28-29, 2008.
A motion was made to approve the schedule. Moved/Seconded Carried
Nellie Stone Johnson Scholarship Dinner:
The IFO supports the Nellie Stone Johnson Scholarship fund by participating in their steering committee and dinners. These scholarships are awarded to children of union employees who are attending MnSCU institutions. We purchased 8 tickets for their next event on March 29 starting at 5:30 p.m. but this date conflicts with our next Board meeting. If people would like to attend, please let Cindy Finch know. They will be having a silent auction and they have requested auction items from us. If you would like to donate an item, please let us know.
Donna Blake’s Report:
Donna reported that we’ve added a new Benefits Equity Committee expense item to the budget for the new standing committee as well as a new item called “IFO Committee Expenses” to the income statement summary. This year the Board approved a higher allocation amount to the campuses than was budgeted. Under the advice of our CPA, we used our “contingency and miscellaneous account # 7300” funds to cover these expenses.
Phone System:
The phone system in the IFO office has had many problems and it was purchased on July 12, 1995 for $16,400. We pay quarterly maintenance fees of $475 and we anticipate this fee to increase as our system is now obsolete. Donna made a recommendation that was approved by the EC for recommendation to the Board to purchase a new phone system. The purchase price for the new system is priced at $7,524 (which includes installation) and the annual support/maintenance fee is $828. The phone system can be used for VOIP and will meet the needs of the IFO office. Moved/Seconded made a motion to take the money out of the contingency fund and purchase the recommended system. Carried
Campus Reports by Donna:
Four motions as recommended by the auditors pertaining to the local campuses accounting were approved by the EC at their last meeting for recommendation to the Board of Directors as follows:
1. Local Associations shall maintain all accounting records for a period of at least seven years.
2. Recommend that we continue to report the Local FA expenses under account # 7206, Local Association Support, instead of combining them with the St. Paul office expenses.
3. Change to four quarterly local FA budget reports and discontinue the one annual report? [Per Donna Blake, the local treasurers have been consulted.]
4. Are the remaining suggested changes to the IFO Operating Procedures ok? Operating Procedure recommendations are listed as underlined below (amendments are italicized):
CHAPTER X: LOCAL FACULTY ASSOCIATIONS
C. Officers
1. Each local FA shall specify the officers of the local Association in its local Constitution.
a. The IFO office shall bond the Local Association Presidents, Treasurers, and all other authorized signers.
E. Financial Support for Local Associations
1. Local Operating Budget
f. Local Associations shall have their bank send a duplicate bank statement each month to the IFO office. If the bank is unable to do this, then the Local Association Treasurer shall forward a copy of the bank statement each month to the IFO office. The President, Treasurer, and one other designated faculty or FA employee may be an authorized signer on bank accounts and all checks must be cosigned by two signers.
g. Local Associations shall submit a quarterly financial report to the IFO office per the schedule noted below:
1st Quarter Report (July – September) Due October 31st
2nd Quarter Report (October - December) Due January 31st
3rd Quarter Report (January - March) Due April 30th
4th Quarter Report (April - June) Due July 15th
The quarterly report should include a beginning/ending cash balance reconciliation and copies of all expense receipts and bank statements.
h. Local Associations shall maintain all accounting records for a period of at least seven years.
2. Local Equipment Expenditures
c. In the case of emergencies, the IFO President may approve Local Association equipment purchases up to $3,000. At its next regularly scheduled meeting, the Board shall be notified of any emergency equipment purchases that were made.
Chapter XVIII Fiscal Policies
Section C Annual Budget
Section 5 Expenditure Policies
Section c Financial Support For Local Associations
Item c.2 Local Equipment Expenditures
C2.3 In the case of emergencies, the IFO President may approve Local Association equipment purchases out of central IFO funds up to $3,000 per occurrence. At its next regularly scheduled meeting, the Board shall be notified of any emergency equipment purchases that were made.
Moved/Seconded to approve the OP changes.
Amendments were proposed to add language to C2.3 “out of central IFO funds” should be added to the language and add $3,000 “per occurrence.” Moved/Seconded Carried
A vote was taken on the main motion as amended. Carried
Treasurer’s Report:
Cathy Summa reported on the January financials. We expect to be bringing to the next Board meeting a budget proposal for the next fiscal year. The Treasury committee will be meeting later this afternoon and hopes to bring an investment policy proposal to the next Board meeting.
Academic Affairs Report:
Debra Japp gave a report. The IFO Academic Affairs Committee met on November 29-30 with the GRC to develop legislative goals. The Committee met again on January 26. The agenda included careful analysis of a draft of proposed Policy 3.36 and Procedure 3.36.1 (Academic Programs). This policy and procedure integrate a number of existing policies: 3.2 (Academic Program Inventory), 3.10 (Academic Program Review), 3.12 (Academic Program Suspension and Reinstatement and Closure), 3.14 (Academic Program approval), 3.17 (Degrees, Diplomas and Certificates), 3.19 (Academic Program Redesign), 3.20 (Academic Program Replication or Relocation), and 3.25 (Degree Granting Authority). The AAC’s next meeting is February 21. Tentative agenda items include: guest Ron Dryer (MnSCU) to continue the discussion of proposed Policy 3.36 and possible meeting with MSCF Academic Affairs Committee.
The MnSCU Academic & Student Affairs Policy Council met on February 7. Agenda items included discussion of proposed Policy 3.36, Procedure 3.36.1, proposed amendment to Policy 3.21 (Undergraduate Credit Transfer) and proposed Procedure 3.21.1, proposed Policy 3.37 (Minnesota Transfer Curriculum), Procedure 3.37.1. MnSCU would like these policies and procedures to be in place by fall 2007.
The MnSCU Transfer Oversight Committee met on February 2nd. Time was spent discussing proposed Policy 3.37 and Procedure 3.37.1 (Minnesota Transfer Curriculum) and Policy 3.21 and Procedure 3.21.1 (Undergraduate Credit Transfer. Still under discussion is the transfer of D grades. Next Meeting: April 6.
The MnSCU IMS Advisory Council met on January 29. The Charge of the Council was established, an executive committee was elected. D2L Version 8 Upgrade is scheduled for June 2007. The upgrade incorporates system improvements, bug fixes, security patches, and new modules. Most of the upgrade features are behind the scenes. In February a “sandbox” will be available to test new features; video tutorials should be available March-May. New modules (blogs, rubrics) will be made available after June and only upon recommendation of the Release Workgroup. There is some discussion about using D2L for non-academic (non-credit/Customized Training) purposes. The cost of this license is under negotiation. (For FY07 the cost for the Enterprise License is $384,000 and the Learning Object Repository is $53,327.) Next meeting is tentatively set for February 26.
The MnSCU Graduate Council met on January 26. Agenda items include: observations regarding applications for doctoral program and feedback on processes for continuous improvement. ISRS people are now in the picture and want information on how to code certain processes (e.g., Will it be a major with a specific degree code attached?) Admissions data must also be coded on application type (right now we have Undergraduate Application, Graduate Application and PSEO). Other data issues include: Do doctoral candidates have to complete their Master’s Degree program when admitted, or can they still be completing their MA? Is there such a thing as Doctoral Unclassified, like Graduate Unclassified?
Observations were also made regarding the timeline. On target for fall are the Ed.D in Counseling and Student Personnel (MSU Mankato), Higher Education Leadership (SCSU), and the DNP (consortium of four universities: MSU Moorhead, MSU Mankato, Metro, and WSU). The next meeting is scheduled for March 30 in Moorhead. Debra cannot attend [phone conference set-up].
Academic Affairs Report Part 2:
The following reports were submitted by Cathy Summa who has been attending MnSCU committee meetings.
COPE (Council on Professional Education) met last on Friday, Feb. 2nd. A revised charge was reviewed. Other issues covered at this meeting were: Legislative/budget concerns: COPE reviewed legislative and budget issues of concern to Professional Education; tops on the agenda are issues around alternative licensure, teacher induction programs, Mandarin Chinese immersion instruction, early childhood education, STEM and Math/Science Academies, and diversity/underserved. COPE also heard a report from the director of the Urban Teacher Education Partnership (UTEP), Diane Driscoll. UTEP is a long-standing collaboration between the state universities and the St. Paul district that seeks to provide urban teaching experiences for our students, and to connect urban students with state universities by visiting campuses. This program is so well respected in St. Paul that many principals won’t accept student teachers from institutions not connected with UTEP. Teacher Support Partnership: Faculty from several campuses are collaborating with MnSCU and Education Minnesota in the “Teacher Support Partnership.” This partnership seeks to help school districts design sustainable induction programs for new teachers, in an effort to increase retention and mentoring among beginning teachers. The Teacher Center: Dean Coballes-Vega (Metro) reported that the search for the Executive Director is on-track. We heard again that the revision of the NOV spearheaded by IFO resulted in a much better process. Members of the search committee indicated that the applicant pool was strong. Phone interviews have been completed, and the committee expects to bring candidates to campus for interviews at Metro and MnSCU by early March. The committee plans to have an “open” session during the local interviews that would enable other interested parties to meet the candidates. Details have not been finalized about this information will be broadcast. Following the completion of the search process, will be the start of a “planning” phase and the creation of an “external advisory team” (membership TBD), although COPE will be consulted on the development of the Teacher Center workplan. The Teacher Center Steering Committee consists of the Deans of Education from each of the seven state university campuses and Senior Vice Chancellor Linda Baer.
The Board of Teaching (BOT) Standards & Rules (S&R) committee meets monthly throughout the academic year. The IFO is invited to send a representative, although prior to November communication has been irregular. Those issues seem to be resolved now. The S&R committee membership includes representatives from higher education (MACTE), Education Minnesota, Charter Schools, urban and rural districts, the BOT, and staff from the MN Dept. of Education. The committee serves to advise and recommend changes or modifications to the standards and rules under the jurisdiction of the Board. Karen Balmer is the new Executive Director of the Board of Teaching and has thus far been very willing to engage the IFO and higher education (via MACTE) in board issues. Most significant issues from the BOT S&R are: PEPER; 5-8 Specialty Licenses; 33% Issue: The full Board recommended the continuance of the 33% practice (it will be reviewed again perhaps as early as next year). This allows teachers in K-6 to teach up to 33% of their day outside of their self-contained classroom, without a variance. This is an important decision, particularly for rural districts, but there concern remains about teachers teaching out-of-license area. And, Reading: There is growing concern about standards and preparation of teachers of reading. The BOT is considering this issue and has recommended that a taskforce explore current practice and data from AYP results (annual yearly progress on standardized tests). The BOT is in the process of forming the taskforce. Details to come.
The CTL (Center for Teaching and Learning) Steering Committee met last on Jan. 24, 2007. The committee will have an extended meeting in late March to focus on the CTL workplan. If campuses have ideas, please forward them to our IFO representatives. The IFO Board will need to appoint one new representative to this committee to begin after May 2007 (Stuart Ross’s term is ending). Most of the items discussed at CTL were reviewed at statewide Meet & Confer on Jan. 26th. These include: IPESL, BOT Award for Excellence in Teaching; Core Outcomes Study; CTL Grants; and, CTL Operations. One of our five reps is not attending the CTL meetings for health reasons; Russ Lee from Bemidji has volunteered to assume the temporary appointment. We will need new reps next year. Next year the Board will need to appoint a new person. Moved/Seconded to appoint Russ Lee as the interim representative to fulfill the CTL responsibilities this year. Carried
Break for lunch 11:45 a.m.
Executive Session:
The Board moved into Executive Session at 12:38 p.m. Moved/Seconded Carried
The Board moved out of Executive Session at 12:51 p.m. Moved/Seconded Carried
Motion that Donna Blake be given the title Controller. Moved/Seconded Carried
A motion was made to report out the motion. Moved/Seconded Carried
MnSCU BOT Update:
Nancy gave an update to the Board.
Statewide Meet and Confer Update:
The last meet and confer was on January 26, 2007. A detailed report was distributed to the Board.
Membership Report:
March membership drive will soon be ramping up. Moved/Seconded we conduct a spring membership drive and people who sign up from March on will not have to pay the 15% membership of the dues for the remainder of this year. Carried
BSU Senate Motion:
The BSUFA passed a resolution and requested that Elizabeth Dunn take it to the Board for consideration.
“The Bemidji State University Faculty Association reprehends the use of deadly force by government forces against unarmed student protesters at the University of Buea in Cameroon on the 29th of November, 2006, the suppression of funeral observances for the slain, and the near-total silence of international media regarding these events.”
The BSUFA President was asked to issue a press release to local media noting the passage of this resolution and also to urge its adoption by, and dissemination from, the IFO Board of Directors.
This issue came to the IFO Board of Directors from the BSUFA for their endorsement and requested that the IFO issue a press release. Moved/Seconded
This got very little play in the national press. This was only mentioned a few times on the internet, which illustrates the oppression of the international media. One of the two student protestors who were killed was a cousin to a student at BSU. In the last several years we have only issued press releases on union matters.
Moved/Seconded to table the motion until Elizabeth can discuss this with the BSU senate. Carried
IFO Faculty Teaching Upper Division Courses at Community Colleges:
Discussion of collaborative programs between two-year campuses and four-year universities, particularly focusing on teaching upper-level courses on two-year campuses. We want to ensure that these courses are delivered by faculty within the IFO.
Executive Committee Update:
The Executive Committee has met since the last Board meeting. Minutes were provided to the Board.
MnSCU’s Code of Conduct:
At the last statewide meet and confer we had a long discussion on the Code of Conduct. A copy of the draft was provided to the Board. We were told by Gail Olson’s office that we would have a revision today. Our major objection was MnSCU’s interpretation written as if it was the statutory language. Sub part 3b, on prohibited gifts and exceptions does not mention book or manuscript reviews – that should be clearly ok because faculty do this frequently. Please send comments to Dorothy Zenner (MnSCU), your FA president and Nancy Black so next time we go back to meet and confer, the Executive Committee can talk about your input.
Adjournment:
Moved/Seconded Carried 2:15 p.m.