IFO Board of Directors Meeting
April 26-27, 2007
Present: Nancy Black, Wayne Alexander, Cindy Phillips, Cathy Summa, Mary Kesler (Thursday only), Bruce Svingen, Elizabeth Dunn, Jauneth Skinner, Jan Loft, Annette Schoenberger, Steve Bohnenblust, Jayantha Herath, Andrew Larkin, David Bouchard, Fred Hill, Valerie Geaither, Jauneth Skinner, Roger Severns (Thursday and part of Friday), Georgia Holmes, George Seldat, Patricia Young (Friday only)
Also Present: Debra Japp, Cindy Finch, Donna Blake (Thursday only), Pat Arseneault (Part of Thursday and Friday), Russ Stanton (Friday only), Debra Leigh, IFO MIC Chair (part of Friday only), Rod Henry, IFO Chief Negotiator (Friday a.m.), Oscar Flores - Moorhead’s Negotiator (Friday a.m.), Brent Jeffers – Southwest’s Negotiator (Friday a.m.), Bill Langen – St. Cloud’s Negotiator (Friday a.m.), Donna Brauer – Mankato’s Negotiator (Friday a.m.), Tiffany Nelson (Friday a.m.)
Not Present: Cindy Killion, Mike Ruth, Derek Webb
Called to order 6:36 p.m.
Additional Agenda Items
Associate Deans with chair functions was added to the agenda.
Approval of the Minutes
The March 29-30 Board minutes were approved. Alexander/Bouchard Carried
Board of Trustees Update
Louise Mengelkoch, Chair of the Bemidji Mass Communications Department, attended the Board of Trustees meeting this month. Nancy brought her notes from the meeting and recited her presentation to the Board of Trustees. The Trustees wondered why the state university faculty didn’t participate in the BOT Teaching. Nancy stated that each individual campus looked at the process and it was so onerous that the faculty decided students were first priority. Our presence at the BOT meetings is very important.
Executive Committee Update/Herath Follow-up
April 12-13, 2007 minutes were reviewed by the Board. Jayantha Herath requested the distribution of a letter pertaining to an ongoing staff matter at the last Board meeting which was not released. He later requested that the Executive Committee be given his letter. Copies of the letter were distributed by email to the Executive Committee and handled in Executive Session.
Meet and Confer Update
Several MnSCU policies and procedures agenda items were not addressed at the April 13th meet and confer due to a lack of information. A special meet and confer was scheduled for this morning (April 26) to address these items. Available Executive Committee members met over breakfast at 7 a.m. and later met with MnSCU on proposed amendments to Policies and Procedures 3.36/3.36.1, 3.21/3.21.1, 3.37/3.37.1, and 3.5.1 as well as a fall survey from the Center for Teaching and Learning for fall distribution.
The unofficial notes from the April meet and confers will be posted on the IFO website for review.
Applied Doctorate and Tuition Waivers
In November 2006 at a Graduate Council meeting, Manuel Lopez, MnSCU’s Associate Vice Chancellor for Continuous Improvement, stated faculty would not be eligible for tuition waivers in doctoral programs and announced that a letter stating this information would be sent to the IFO. Shortly after he referred to this letter he recanted. We asked about doctoral program funding. According to one Board member, who had a discussion with their consortium’s nursing department chair, there would be no tuition waiver.
Nancy followed-up with Mary Leary who said there is a letter to us addressing this issue still being reviewed. MnSCU’s reasoning for not offering a tuition waiver is because the state legislature did not grant them the authority to offer applied doctorates during the 2005-2007 contract, and therefore you can’t receive a benefit for something you don’t have.
Grievance Update
Pat Arseneault reviewed the grievance logs with the names kept confidential. Wayne Alexander asked that the terms “resolved” and “settled” be used consistently on the grievance report as to not cause confusion.
Equity Advocate Report
The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Allies Issues Committee met on April 20, 2007. The committee desires to host a workshop-type conference for GLBT faculty to discuss issues GLBT faculty face in higher education. The committee will also explore sponsoring committee members to attend a national GLBT conference during the next academic year.
The committee is interested in having a GLBTA committee representative on the planning committee for the next MnSCU Diversity Conference, and also would like to have a representative from the IFO’s MIC and FIC committee as part of the next Diversity Conference planning committee.
The GLBTA has scheduled its fall meeting for Friday, September 21, 2007. The committee intends to invite Whitney Harris, MnSCU Director of Diversity and Multiculturalism, and Raúl Ramos to discuss Raúl’s new role as the Office of the Chancellor liaison to the campuses for GLBT issues.
The GLBTA committee has been tracking the domestic partner issues at the legislature.
The Multicultural Issues Committee met on April 20, 2007. Office of the Chancellor’s Director of Diversity Whitney Harris and IFO President Nancy Black met with the committee. During their visit, the committee discussed the IFO’s and MnSCU’s commitment to the anti-racism initiative and the need for collaboration on this issue.
The committee discussed the need to make diversity work a central part of excellence in education, and ensure that anti-oppression work is not marginalized. One area of concern is that deans often do not recognize diversity and anti-oppression work in each of the five criteria – deans tend to require faculty to categorize this work as “service.” The committee discussed the need for education on the anti-racism initiatives, including at the level of the Board of Trustees.
The committee requests that the IFO Board endorse a recommendation that the MnSCU BOT attend anti racism training.
The committee also requests that the IFO bring the recommendation to statewide Meet and Confer and request that the Office of the Chancellor also endorse the recommendation that the BOT attends anti racism training.
The MIC also recommends that the IFO Executive Committee, Negotiating Team, and campus Grievance Officers attend the 2 and ½ day anti-racism training.
On April 2, all of the SU presidents went through anti-racism training. Cathy Summa from the Winona campus wondered about “inclusive excellence” being integrated in the MIC goals of anti-racism. Pat said the MIC was aware Winona used this term and had this program but felt anti-racism was more the direction they wanted to go.
A Letter of Understanding on promotions (dated 12/06) concerning Article 29 was distributed and discussed. Many questions were asked including if faculty should delay their promotion until next year. If faculty get promoted this year they will not be included in the upcoming salary review. If they delay, the equity calculations are not yet determined. Affected faculty are between a rock and a hard place. There is no direct answer, which is the issue. Pat can look at 2002 data, run them through this year’s calculator, but even if they are low it does not guarantee they would get a review next year. The other problem, according to Steve Bohnenblust, is that we are unable to give them much advice. Most of the campuses were experiencing problems with this language. Phillips commented as difficult as this is, we cannot provide individual advice. We should let people know this situation exists; beyond that, as frustrating as it is, they need to make their own personal decision. While we are sympathetic to everyone’s plight, Board members were advised not to give advice.
The joint MnSCU IFO Salary Review Committee (SRC) issued a Memorandum to all faculty (dated April 17, 2007) announcing the beginning of the salary study. As previously communicated, the SRC selected the consulting firm of Segal/Sibson to conduct the study, based in part on their extensive work in higher education, particularly in faculty salary studies.
As stated in the announcement, the base year for the study is the 2005-2006 academic year. There are three phases to the study – an external market assessment, an internal equity study, and the campus communication. The consulting firm is working on the external market assessment, and they are in the beginning stages of the internal equity analysis. They expect to present the results of the study on each campus in fall 2007.
As a reminder, the IFO Salary Equity Committee has been added to the Operating Procedures as a Standing Committee, with three year terms for campus representatives. Two campus terms expire each year. This spring, the term for St. Cloud and MSU Moorhead will expire, so the SEC will need a campus representative from St. Cloud and a campus representative from Moorhead for a three-year term from fall 2007 through spring 2010.
Fall IFO Board Orientation
Nancy stated at the last Board meeting that a subcommittee (Dunn, Phillips, Black) would be appointed to discuss the topics of the fall Board orientation sessions. A Board member suggested that grievance report terminology would be a good item on the orientation agenda.
According to our Operating Procedures we need Board liaisons to serve on each of our standing committees. In the past the liaisons really did not assume a lot of leadership on the committees. We only have a limited number of staff who can spend time serving the needs of our committees. Part of the Board training will be explaining the importance of having a strong liaison serve our standing committees and hopefully take responsibility for communication. Important issues discussed at the committees could be conveyed by the Board liaison vs. having the staff reporting at Board meetings.
The orientation is scheduled for 10 a.m. on September 13. All Board members should attend.
Academic Affairs Report
Debra Japp and Cathy Summa gave a report. Debra reported the IFO Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) met on February 21. The AAC was supposed to meet today and tomorrow (April 26-27) but there was not enough participation to hold the meeting. They want to talk about the transfer of D grades. Hopefully that meeting will take place in the fall.
The Academic & Student Affairs Policy Council met on April 5th. Agenda items included discussion of proposed amendment to Policy 3.16 (International Baccalaureate Credit); proposed Policy 3.35 (Credit for Prior Learning) and proposed Procedure 3.35.1; proposed amendment to Procedure 3.5.1 (Post-secondary Enrollment Options—PSEO); proposed Policy 3.36 (Academic Programs) and 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).
Policy/Procedure 3.36/3.36.1 “collapses” a number of existing policies and procedures into one “omnibus” policy and procedure. Policies that will be repealed with the adoption of Policy 3.36 include: 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), 3.25 (Degree Granting Authority). Procedures that will be repealed with the adoption of 3.14.1 (Addressing Transfer in approval of New Programs) and 3.17.1 (Degrees, Diplomas and Certificates.
Debra reported that we have been successful in striping (for now) the language on the transfer of D grades out from the Procedure 3.37.1 (Minnesota Transfer Curriculum). However, a minimum grade point of 2.0 is set “for recognition of a student’s completion of the entire Minnesota Transfer Curriculum with or without completing an associate degree.”
Still under discussion in Procedure 3.36.1 is whether the procedure requires completion of the MnTC to earn a baccalaureate degree (language currently reads: “The degree requires completion of at least a 40 credit general education curriculum that fulfills all of the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum”).
Procedure 3.36.1 also allows associate in arts degrees to “have one or more emphases of at least 9 credits each in the liberal arts and science fields, provided there is an articulation agreement with a baccalaureate major offered by at least one system university.”
Drafts of the policies and procedures mentioned in this report can be accessed at http://asapolicy.project.mnscu.edu.
The Transfer Oversight Committee met on April 6th. The committee viewed a presentation by Gina Boeckermann on DARS and MnTC Transfer Out Audit (see www.dars.mntransfer.org). 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.
There was a discussion at the special meet and confer this morning. It sounds as if they are mandating the MN Transfer Curriculum (MN TC) as the only general education program a university can offer. They define a baccalaureate degree as having a 40 credit general education program that meets all ten goal areas of the MN TC. Other states don’t have the same general education as we do – does this mean out-of-state students wouldn’t have A.A. degrees transfer to baccalaureate degrees as fulfilling the MN TC?
Two other MnSCU Board policies we approved/passed were 3.37 on MN TC and 3.21 on transfer of credits. On the MN TC we convinced them to remove language on D grades. It does set a minimum grade point average of 2.0 for completion of the MN TC. We assume this would mean a student would have to have a 2.0 in their major and general education credits.
Before we merged with MnSCU, at least 60 credits in a baccalaureate degree had to be completed at baccalaureate granting institutions. That language somehow dropped out, and the registrars insisted this language come back. Students who transfer with 100 credits from a community college would not be able to graduate after 30 credits at a state university. With the state university president’s approval, that number can be lowered.
There has been some research in student deposits for professional programs (out of a request from Moorhead – speech therapy, etc.) – the Graduate Council will be discussing this. There will be very few programs requiring this deposit. Nancy mentioned Russ will discuss language limiting degrees to 60 credits per program at community colleges and 120 credits for all programs proposed at the legislature. Accreditation says 128 credits. This was seen as a way of saving students money by paying for fewer credits.
The Graduate Council met on March 30 in Moorhead. Debra attended via ITV with many of MnSCU’s staff. Lee Gray (Winona) was elected as chair for next year. The HLC focused visit to Mankato for the Ed.D. was summarized (“glowing” was the word used). SCSU’s HLC status change visit occurred April 15-18 as part of their accreditation visit. Manuel Lopez has submitted a change of status for the DNP consortium. As of this meeting, how the visit will occur has not been established. An HLC representative indicated that the site visit likely will be only to St. Paul with representatives present from all programs.
MnSCU is still looking at a Fall 07 start date for these 3 programs. The last procedural piece for Mankato is HLC Board vote (scheduled for June). Lopez indicated that given the nature of the report, it is not likely to be a concern. The timing of the HLC visit to SCSU makes it possible that SCSU will meet the June vote deadline.
Future Doctoral Programs: MnSCU has received intent statements from Mankato for Ed.D. Leadership and PsyD for future programs. Lopez: would like some kind of collaboration on the Ed.D. Leadership program with other institutions; OC is willing to facilitate a meeting about this.
Lopez reported that there had been a special meeting with OC, IT staff and representatives from each of the five institutions involved in 1 or more doctorates to deal with process (ISRS) issues. Some tentative agreements have been reached.
Proposed Procedure 3.36.1 (Academic Programs) was discussed and language changes were proposed to the Master’s degree, Education specialist degree and doctorate degree to accommodate the varying credits available at different institutions (some institutions have a 4 credit backbone, others have a 3 credit backbone).
Also discussed was the possibility of allowing deposits for certain programs. This would require a change to finance policy.
Summa reported the CTL Steering Committee met on Monday, March 26; no one from the IFO attended. Minutes were to be distributed within seven days of the meeting but have yet to be seen. They did plan to review the biennial survey from CTL. Lynda Milne brought that to meet and confer this morning (April 26) – she was seeking endorsement from the IFO for encouraging faculty participation. FA Presidents were given the option to encourage faculty to participate in the survey that will be coming out mid-August to early September.
Several institutions have banded tuition on the 120 credits so there would be no savings (they are talking about doing away with this too). COPE met on April 6, OOC staff whose job it is to work with corporate foundations to look for ideas to help support teacher education. At that meeting there was a long discussion giving ideas for support from an outside consultant who said the committee should do this and she would put us (COPE) in contact with the corporations/foundation. It seemed neither was willing or able to do the work.
Teacher Center update at the Metro campus was given by Summa. They were told the director search was winding down, and the 4th/last candidate would be interviewed/considered for the position. David Bouchard stated the same thing was reported yesterday and they are looking toward August for a final outcome.
Cyndy Crist, MnSCU staff member who chairs COPE, brought forward materials from the Board of Teaching on Science Sonar on a proposed licensure rule change. This change would enable a teacher holding a license in one science area, should s/he pass the test, to gain licensure in another science field. For many reasons, this is a bad idea. Faculty Association Presidents should have received information on this. At meet and confer we asked the Chancellor to write a letter to the Board of Teaching by April 25. Linda Baer prepared a good letter on behalf of the state universities expressing their dismay and opposition to this rule change. The Board of Teaching Standards and Rules Committee has met twice since the last Board meeting and discussed science licensure but didn’t say anything about this licensure change. It was difficult for us to get any information or materials.
IFO Office Report
Donna Blake gave an IFO office report. We still have 139 clocks to give away. We should ask TIAA-CREF for more giveaways.
Donna presented a report on the current insurance policies held by the IFO showing renewal dates. We’ll be requesting competitive bids on the policies up for renewal. On the ULICO policy (officers’ liability) we got the help of Connie Howard which resulted in a better, more affordable policy from the previous company.
We are currently using TIAA-CREF’s prototype plan and need to agree to changes they are making to stay in compliance with the IRS. The IFOSA was consulted and did not have any issues with the changes. A motion was made to approve the changes. Bouchard/Kesler Carried Donna gave a resolution to Elizabeth Dunn, IFO Board Secretary, to sign for submission to TIAA-CREF.
The Board approved using Larson Allen again for our FY07 audit and tax returns at its last meeting. Larson Allen has accepted our request and has begun work on the IFO Building Corporation tax return. It is expected the dissolution process will be completed by June 30, 2007.
A change is needed in the Operating Procedures. Donna’s title was changed to Controller from Executive Assistant and the OP does not reflect this change. A motion was made to change all references to Executive Assistant to Controller. Phillips/Schoenberger Carried
At the December 2006 IFO Board meeting, approval was given to replace the Investment Committee language in the Operating Procedures Chapter IX to the new Treasurer’s Advisory Committee. Since then it was discovered in CHXVIII, Section B: Financial Assets, Item 1b: Investment Committee is now obsolete. A request was made to replace this language with the Treasurer’s Advisory Committee language as follows:
b. Investment Committee (IC) [Anticipate Proposals For Substantial Revision]
b1. The Board shall appoint an IC, the membership of which shall include the Treasurer and two faculty members who are not otherwise members of the Board. However, in the event that the Treasurer is not a member of the Board, a member of the Board shall take the place of one of the faculty members specified above.
b2. The duties of the IC shall include overseeing general investment policies established by the Board.
b3. The terms of the IC members shall be concurrent with the
Treasurer’s term.
3. Treasurer’s Advisory Committee (TAC)
a. The Board shall appoint a Treasurer’s Advisory Committee, the membership of which shall include the Treasurer, the IFO Executive Assistant, and four members of the Board.
b. The Treasurer’s Advisory Committee shall meet a minimum of once/semester at a time to coincide with scheduled Board meetings. These meetings shall be scheduled and called by the Treasurer at least one month in advance.
c. The duties of the Treasurer’s Advisory Committee shall include establishing (and annually reviewing) an investment policy to present to the Board, to advise the Treasurer on budgetary issues, and to review the annual budget prior to consideration by the Board.
A motion was made to approve the changes to the OP. Severns/Kesler Carried
Per an earlier Board meeting, an Investment Policy was created by the Treasurer’s Advisory Committee on February 16, reviewed and approved by the Executive Committee on February 23 and now presented to the Board as outlined below. A motion was made to accept the plan as presented. Schoenberger/Severns Carried
Objectives
All funds of the Inter Faculty Organization shall be invested in short, medium, and long-term instruments with the goal of preserving capital while promoting asset growth and social responsibility. The IFO Treasury Committee shall review current investment performance annually, and propose investment changes to the IFO Board as needed.
Assets
a. Operating Cash. Short-term instruments, such as interest bearing checking accounts, shall provide working capital for the organization. The working capital accounts shall be kept at an amount equal to one month of operating expenses. Short-term funds in excess of short-term needs shall be moved to cash reserves.
b. Cash Reserves. Medium-term instruments, such as money market accounts and certificates of deposit, shall provide working capital during periods when cash disbursements exceed dues revenues. The cash reserves should be kept at an amount equal to finance the operations over the largest period without revenues, which is five months, as of February 2007. Funds not needed for medium-term needs shall be moved to long-term investments.
c. Long-term investments, such as index mutual funds, shall provide growth of assets at a higher risk than short-term and medium-term instruments but at a relatively low risk of loss. Long-term investments may be sold to fund needs approved by the IFO Board of Directors.
There is no fee to open a loan account through Merrill Lynch. Kesler moved to approve the loan agreement seconded by Severns. This kind of account is common. We don’t want to be in a situation to have to liquidate assets on short notice if we need money in a hurry. Wayne Alexander pointed out certificates of deposit are liquid. According to the IFO Treasurer, Cathy Summa, this loan account is a safety net, and we do not ever intend to use this. Motion was made to close debate Schoenberger/Bouchard Carried. If we don’t have this loan account set in place when and if we would ever need it, it would take approximately one month to enact with Board approval. But if it was during the summer (which is during the time we would most likely need this option), it might take longer. Main motion carried.
Cathy Summa, IFO Treasurer, reported on the March financials. We have taken in over 100% of our anticipated revenue. Our expenses are at 70% and we are in good shape for the summer.
Per the new Operating Procedures on faculty association equipment purchases, Nancy has authority to approve purchases up to $3,000. Donna Blom’s (Mankato FA) computer crashed and $1,218 will be spent on a replacement computer. We have enough money in the budget to cover this expense. The computer that failed was purchased in 2002.
Membership Report
Cindy Finch gave a report. Since the last Board meeting 26 new members have signed-up to join the organization. Three of those came from a special membership mailing sent to ten fair share faculty who benefited from the salary equity study. Several faculty associations are reporting that some fair share faculty believe (are confused) that they are members because of their paycheck deductions. All fair share fees and membership dues are listed as “union membership” on paychecks even for fair share deductions. Cindy Finch said she would be contacting the State department responsible for payroll as well as cleaning up the language used in our fair share letters.
Congratulations, Donna!
Donna Blake is getting her second bachelor’s degree from Metro State! Nancy presented Donna with a framed “open doors” print and a card signed by the Board and staff.
AAC Applicants
FA presidents will be meeting after this meeting on the AAC position applicants and will bring their recommendation forward to the Board at this meeting (see below).
Adjourned at 8:55 p.m.
Called to order at 8:30 a.m.
Campus Reports
Metro: Administrative changes are happening. Professor Barbara Keinath is now the new Vice Provost but will continue her work on MN Online and accreditation (continuous improvement). Also reported was AQUIP approval, curriculum development and approval by the faculty, partnership with Normandale in dental hygiene. Elections were completed this week. For the 07-08 academic year, David will continue as President, Craig Hanson will be VP.
Winona: Reorganization of the College of Education may be moving ahead before fall. Campus elections were held last meeting. Tamara Berg will be the Winona Board rep next year replacing Cindy Killion, Chris Butram is the VP and Bruce Svingen is the president.
Mankato: Election results - Don Larsson is the FA president. A campus referendum on campus recreation failed – would have created an increase in student fees. Approval for tier 4 funding is in place. For doctoral programs - VP for budget said MnSCU is moving forward on that – internal reallocations, changes in diversity curriculum, HLC accreditation on the doctoral program went well – June will be the time for official approval.
St. Cloud: HLC visit went well, recommend we have permission to do one of the doctoral programs which does not prohibit us from new doctoral programs but will have to go through the HLC. Judy Kilborn will be the FA President and John Palmer will be the President-elect, David Warne and Fred Hill will also be on the Board. 1.B.1 implementation harassing different/not following party line faculty. Associate deans whose job descriptions look like those in the contract for department chairs was discussed.
Southwest: The need for funding for athletic programs places a strain on institutions for a stronger conference. In the process of provost search - three finalists will be announced next week and brought to campus for interviews finalized by July. A dean in the College of Business and Education is not meeting the level of performance and a discussion in the consideration of a vote of “no confidence” is a major area of concern. Military service is an issue that may affect our sister institutions. Elections are complete, the new FA president is Jan Loft, Steven Davis will be VP. George Seldat was the FA President for the last seven years.
Bemidji: Issues taking place on the Bemidji campus are budget negotiations with administration, deciding to delay decision on majors and minors pending faculty input, a workgroup organized to look at restructuring colleges and departments consisting of half faculty/administration, dean search underway, election ballots are out, student senate supports domestic partners benefit, and a security plan reviewed on campus. A man was arrested last week for making threats against the faculty – this appeared in the newspaper.
Moorhead: Issues taking place at Moorhead - issue of vote of “no confidence” in the dean this is impacting membership in a positive way, they are conveying to the administration how serious they are, on the associate deans - unit determination implications.
Negotiations Update
Members and staff from the IFO Negotiating Team were present (Rod Henry, Oscar Flores, Brent Jeffers, Bill Langen, Donna Brauer, Tiffany Nelson, and Pat Arseneault). Rod reported they were scheduled to meet with the MnSCU Team today as part of the Interest Based Bargaining process, but Alan Olson, from the Bureau of Mediation Services, was hospitalized and will be out of commission for some time. This process requires shepherding. By mutual agreement they are not meeting with the MnSCU team this week. They have two scheduled meetings in June. Overall, faculty should be patient. The Team is trying to change the negotiations process to be less confrontational and more creative. Mid to late June is when faculty should expect to receive negotiations updates.
Our Action Chair, John Tesch, has resigned. Rod commended John for his service but due to a variety of obligations he is unable to continue. Now we will need an action chair. Maybe someone on the current Action Committee would be able to handle this?
The Negotiating Team requested that the Board authorize a discussion with the media consultant who works with another union to see what it would cost for some services the Team feels we’ve been lacking. A motion was made to authorize Nancy to start discussions to see what it would cost. Larkin/Holmes Carried. Bill says in past years when we’ve tried to run a media campaign the Twin Cities media are disinterested in our universities and we want to see how other unions manage to break into this market. This motion authorizes Nancy to talk to this person to see what is possible and to measure the current perceptions of our universities.
Health Coalition Bargaining is meeting again on May 7-8. The state believes there will be a 12% increase in health care each year. We should challenge this initial assumption – demographically we are an older group with increased needs for healthcare. They are discussing a 15% employee contribution.
For the MnSCU Board Policy on PSEO 3.5, the Negotiating Team had a number of concerns pertaining to contractual rights. The Team recommends the Board seek a legal opinion on workload, department rights, compensation and PELRA rights. Page 2 of this document sub part D section 1 was discussed. Debra and Cathy will discuss this with Rod.
Regarding the common start date memorandum from MnSCU, when they implement this common start date, and their computers crash, what will be the outcome? They are setting themselves up for disaster and this may play into their failed request for $70M from the legislature.
Associate Deans with Chair Functions
At some campuses they are seeking to hire associate deans with chair functions. This looks like they are working around the contract.
Retirement Legislative Deadline
In our contract people who are eligible for the Early Separation Incentive or phased retirement currently need to give notice by October 1. Russ wants to ask the Negotiations Team to negotiate a change to October 15 so he can move around the campuses with better ease. Annette feels the October 15 date may be problematic for rehiring and searches. Motion Dunn/Bohnenblust to move the date to October 15. Carried with opposition
Article 29 Letter of Understanding
The MIC discussed issues surrounding the implementation of the Letter of Understanding on prior consideration (dated 12/04) given to fixed term faculty under Article 29, Section D of the collective bargaining agreement. Mary Kesler asked for more investigation on the current way this LOU is playing out. We want data.
The Negotiating Team reviewed Article 29 last night (April 26) and this is a misinterpretation - (was not a Delegate Assembly resolution). Fixed term faculty are only required to be considered but doesn’t mean that you have to hire them. All language can be misinterpreted. Cindy Phillips gave the history of this language. Bohnenblust moved the Board authorize the Negotiating Team to discuss possible revisions with the prior consideration issues. Seconded by Bouchard Vote on the motion Carried without opposition
We’ve received word about this “invisible letter” concerning applied doctorate tuition waivers. We want to hear from the Negotiating Team. MnSCU states that language concerning tuition waivers for doctoral courses was not in the contract because there was no authorization from the legislature for the program before. The OOC is pushing so hard for doctoral programs, yet they aren’t putting any new money into this. We’ve asked for this letter and today still have nothing. Maybe we should write Mary Leary; it’s been five months and we’ve gotten conflicting verbal comments Phillips moved the Board authorize NB in conjunction with RH to determine the best strategy in responding to the implication from MnSCU that the contract does not cover tuition waivers for doctoral courses. Seconded by Severns. We don’t know what is going on and we need facts. Faculty need to be aware of this. We will inform them as the facts arrive. Carried without opposition
Associate Deans, the NT is aware of this issue in negotiations.
MIC Proposal
Debra Leigh presented to the Board a proposal from the MIC that this Board recommend that the Board of Trustees go through the anti racism training that many of the campuses are already involved in. Recently all the SU presidents went through a four hour orientation on anti racism - institutional and systemic. Second, the MIC asks that the IFO request at a statewide meet and confer that the Office of the Chancellor also ask the Board of Trustees to participate in the anti racism training. Moved by Schoenberger seconded by Skinner that the IFO make these two requests. Carried without opposition
Two years ago the IFO Board went through an anti racism training. For the new Board members it would be well worth their time to attend a workshop. Debra Leigh strongly recommended more than a four hour orientation - a three day workshop is the most effective. We are at the end of the school year now and this will be put on the IFO Board agenda at the next meeting/first meeting of the year. Severns/Schoenberger Carried
Nancy thanked Debra Leigh for chairing the MIC and attending this Board meeting.
Retirement Report
For the new FA Presidents, the fall campus visits that Nancy and Russ make, it’s important to know when you want them on the campus. FA Presidents were asked to give them your dates and copy Cindy Finch. Russ wants to get to the new faculty during their orientations. For retiring faculty, Russ will be suggesting to the FA Presidents when he would like to be on their campus.
Legislative Report
Russ was present to give a legislative update. Russ reported on the Higher Education Bill in the Conference Committee which includes total appropriation for MnSCU, allocation of the appropriation, tuition limits, line items in the Chancellor’s office, the 120 credit limit, textbook legislation, the DREAM Act, ACHIEVE II, and the GI Bill. The Bonding Bill passed out of Conference Committee. Pension bills should be heard next week.
Academic Affairs Coordinator Positions
The Personnel Committee/Executive Committee (present were George Seldat, Cindy Phillips, Dave Bouchard, Nancy Black, Annette Schoenberger, Mary Kesler, Steve Bohnenblust and Elizabeth Dunn) met last night and reported out the following motions:
Move that we recommend Summa for the 2 year position. Passed.
Move that we recommend Mengelkoch for the 1 year position. Passed.
There were four applicants in the pool and the Committee felt fortunate because all were qualified.
Executive Session with Staff Present
Motion to move into Executive Session. Alexander/Bouchard Carried with opposition 11:04 a.m.
Moved and seconded to accept the recommendation of the search committee. Carried with opposition
Moved and seconded we report out the offers to Louise Mengelkoch for a one year term and Cathy Summa a two year term as Academic Affairs Coordinators. Carried
Role of the AAC
The Executive Committee/Personnel Committee may want to look at the role of AAC to ensure that the representatives on the committees reflect the union’s views. The AAC should probably not be a Board member. There are no guidelines on participation limits in the union. This should be an EC discussion and an OP revision may be in order. A Board member is an elected official from the campus and if the board member is an AAC s/he may not adequately fulfill both roles at the same time.
Executive Session without Staff
The Board moved into executive session. Moved/Seconded Carried at 11:20 out at 11:33 a.m.
IMS Advisory Council
Dave Bouchard, Chair of the IMS Advisory Council and Metro FA President, reported on an implementation plan. There was difficulty getting one together but David worked with them to develop the plan. It was reported that as of now there will be a downtime of 100 hours of the D2L system predicted to happen right in the middle of the summer semester for Metro state and very likely to cross over into the summer session start-up of June 4 – this is unacceptable. Other factors that may affect system performance is that Wisconsin will do their system cross over right before ours. If there is any additional layover from the Wisconsin start up, it will delay our start up. They also discovered D2L did not assign their top team to our group - one of their top two clients. IMS asked how difficult this will be without their top team. As a result, we now have the “A Team”; and it was reported that the downtime will be under 70 hours at this time. They are looking at scheduling more of a cushion from the Wisconsin implementation. David is really working hard for the state university faculty who use D2L. On Monday, as a result of two rounds with the D2L folks, an amended plan was created which will be routed to everyone. MnSCU hadn’t gone through the analysis of risks. 48 hours is the down time goal for this type of conversion. If your D2L coordinators haven’t communicated this to faculty, it was suggested faculty members should consider the effectiveness of D2L over the summer if it goes down. George asked for a statement from David to distribute to faculty. David agreed to produce a statement. Test bank for the release is now being used. Academic benefits are David’s focus. Al Essa and Gary Langer are the two MnSCU staff heading this project. They have split up the academic and computer side and the IMS Advisory Council is the main point of coordination. David assisted them in hiring a project manager – previously no one was assigned – security is an issue. They see this as strictly technical but once we started getting recognition to the other academic areas they are starting to listen.
Second Life
MnSCU’s Al Essa was featured in an article in MnSCU’s latest newsletter titled Much ado about avatars which stirred up many questions. Members of the EC and Nancy put forth a series of questions for Gary Langer, MnSCU’s Associate Vice Chancellor Academic Innovations, to answer about why they are spending money on “Second Life” and the benefit to students. There is also emphasis on gaming and simulations.
MnSCU Teaching Award
We will have reps on the CTL Steering Committee, and with the new academic advisors we have closer communication with what is going on. We will want to make the process and other things about the teaching award more amenable to state university faculty and have them recognized.
MN Online Data Request
MSCF President Larry Oveson and Nancy sent a letter to Linda Baer on the advice of our attorneys for MN Online. They requested the following information under the Data Practices Act on March 22, 2007:
Associate Deans with Chair Responsibilities
Board members from St. Cloud questioned if we want to try to take this to the BMS for unit determination. If not, at what point do we deal with this? They are talking about one of the deans, asserting themselves in the PDP and PDR process when they still have a supervisory role. This is usurping the role of the. These job descriptions were sent to Pat Arseneault who can handle this with the help of outside legal counsel.
Operating Procedures
Cathy Summa proposed language on the IFO President’s Compensation distributed in a handout as follows under Chapter XVIII, Section C, Item 5.b.:
b1.3 Calculation of the IFO Minimum Presidential salary shall take place at the start of each presidential term. If a President serves two consecutive terms, her/his salary shall not be reduced as a result of this calculation.
Schoenberger move we amend the OP to include this language. Seconded by Phillips Carried
Cathy Summa presented a Board Resolution Request as follows: Pursuant to IFO Operating Procedures Chapter XVIII, Section C, Part 5, section b1.2, the IFO Presidential minimum salary for the FY06-08 term shall be set at $95,400 (reflects a 6% increase achieved in the FY05-07 contract). Moved by Phillips Seconded by Schoenberger Carried
CTL Steering Committee Volunteer Appointments
There is one term expiration on the CTL Steering Committee. Two volunteers came forward: Stewart Ross, who’s term has expired, from Mankato and Linda Fuselier from Moorhead. Steve Bohnenblust gave background on Stewart Ross. Linda Fuselier had prepared a one page bio at the Board’s request. Alexander called for a division/secret ballot. The votes were tallied and Linda Fuselier was appointed by a vote of 8 to 7.
Adjourned 12:10 p.m.