BOR Minutes: May 21-22, 1998

Montana Board of Regents of Higher Education

Montana University System

May 21-22, 1998

MINUTES

Office-Classroom Complex 114A-B

Western Montana College of The University of Montana

Dillon, Montana

ACADEMIC/STUDENT AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

ADMINISTRATIVE/BUDGET COMMITTEE

REGENTS PRESENT: Jim Kaze (Chairman), Pat Davison, Colleen Conroy, Ed Jasmin, Richard Roehm, Jason Thielman, and Margie Thompson; Commissioner of Higher Education Richard Crofts; Governor Marc Racicot (Thursday p.m.)

REGENTS ABSENT: None

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, and THURSDAY, MAY 21, 1998

WORK SESSIONS

The Board of Regents convened at 1:25 p.m. Wednesday, May 20, 1998, and 9:00 a.m. Thursday, May 21, 1998, for work sessions in the Heritage Room of Matthews Hall on the Western Montana College campus. All Regents were present. Agenda topics included the following: University System biennial budget request; Montana Roundtable follow-up; University System goals and objectives; reports on AGB conference, legislative visits, Interim Committee, economic development, etc.; establishing date for June workshop; follow-up to report from Jack Mudd; update on Task Force on Foundations activities; agenda preparation process; orientation for new Regents; succession planning; use of executive boards; process for public input at meetings; use of executive summaries; inclusion of wrap-up session for the Board; and written criteria for assessing academic programs.

THURSDAY, MAY 21, 1998

The Board recessed at 10:00 a.m. for committee meetings and reconvened at 11:20 a.m. Roll call showed a quorum present.

Regent Thielman said he wanted to clarify a portion of the minutes from the March 26-27, 1998 meeting regarding the issue of non-mandatory fees. He said they needed to pull together some data on non-mandatory fees, i.e. course-specific fees, lab fees, etc., and identify those on the various campuses. How much had they increased in comparison with mandatory fees? Regent Thielman said students also needed to be part of the process when those types of fees were being set, much like the process for mandatory fees. He suggested the presidents and fiscal officers work with the student governments to make sure student concerns were addressed. Following brief discussion, Chairman Kaze suggested Student Regent-elect Kim Cunningham and Regent Pat Davison work with the campuses via Commissioner of Higher Education Richard Crofts to obtain information on non-mandatory fees. Chairman Kaze also asked that Regent Thielman receive a copy of whatever was presented to the Regents.

Chairman Kaze asked that Page 6 of the March minutes be revised to show that Regent Colleen Conroy was present during the Administrative/Budget Committee meeting.

-- Montana State University President Michael Malone's absence due to illness in immediate family.

-- Deputy Commissioner for Academic Affairs Stuart Knapp's retirement, effective July 1, 1998.

-- Kim Cunningham, Student Regent-elect, effective June 1, 1998.

-- Dr. Frank Gilmore, Chancellor-elect at Montana Tech of The University of Montana.

-- Officers for 1998-99 Associated Students MSU College of Technology-Great Falls: Don Bignell, President; Erica Herman, Vice President; and Matthew Raymond, Treasurer.

-- New Chair of Faculty Senate at UM-Missoula: Richard Walton, Professor in Philosophy.

-- New officers for ASMSU-Northern: Diego Hammet, President; and Carla Ellis, Vice President.

-- New Chair of Faculty Senate at MSU-Northern: Larry Strizich.

-- New officers for ASUM: Barrett Kaiser, President; and Patience Llewellyn, Vice President.

-- New officer for ASMT: Tim Sulser, President (also MAS President).

-- New Chair of Faculty Council at MSU-Bozeman: Peter Kommers.

-- New officers for ASMSU-Bozeman: Matt McKamey, President; and Jeremy Fritz, Vice President.

ITEM 99-100-R0598—Staff; Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education

ITEM 99-1000-R0598—Staff; The University of Montana-Missoula

ITEM 99-1001-R0598—Resolution Concerning the Retirement of Henry R. Harrington, Professor of Environmental Studies, College of Arts and Sciences; The University of Montana-Missoula

ITEM 99-1002-R0598—Resolution Concerning the Retirement of George W. Woodbury, Professor of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences; The University of Montana-Missoula

ITEM 99-1003-R0598—Resolution Concerning the Retirement of Kathleen Miller, Professor of Health and Human Performance, School of Education; The University of Montana-Missoula

ITEM 99-1500-R0598—Staff; Montana Tech of The University of Montana

ITEM 99-1500A-R0598—Staff; Montana Bureau of Mines & Geology

ITEM 99-1600-R0598—Staff; Western Montana College of The University of Montana

ITEM 99-2000-R0598—Staff; Montana State University-Bozeman

ITEM 99-2300-R0598—Staff; Agricultural Experiment Station

ITEM 99-2400-R0598—Staff; Extension Service

ITEM 99-2700-R0598—Staff; Montana State University-Billings

ITEM 99-2800-R0598—Staff; Montana State University-Northern

ITEM 99-001-R0598—Approval of Executive Board Appointments: Betty Iverson ((Western Montana College-UM); Tad Dale (Montana Tech-UM); Beatrice Taylor (MSU-Bozeman); Arlene Breum (The UM-Missoula); Carol Willis (MSU-Billings); and Doug Ross (MSU-Northern); Montana University System

ITEM 99-003-R0598—Approval of the Tentative Agreement with the Montana State University-Northern Federation of Teachers; Montana University System

ITEM 99-004-R0598—Approval of the Tentative Agreement with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Local 2235; Montana University System

ITEM 99-005-R0598—Approval of the Tentative Agreement with the Pacific Northwest Council of Carpenters; Montana University System

Amendment— Addition to ITEM 99-1600-R0598: Section (4), Pages 3, 4, and 5

In Brad Schlepp's absence, Student Regent-elect Kim Cunningham presented a report on MAS. She noted that Tim Sulser from Montana Tech was the new President, Matt McKamey from MSU-Bozeman was the new Vice President, and Carla Ellis from MSU-Northern was the new Chair of the MAS Legislative Committee.

Matt McKamey from MSU-Bozeman noted that a lot of work had gone into the Banner 2000 fee by both the administration and the students. He said they had reached an agreement they were comfortable with and hoped everything proceeded smoothly.

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ACADEMIC/STUDENT AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

The Academic and Student Affairs Committee met at 10:00 a.m. in Room 114A of the Office-Classroom Complex at Western Montana College-UM in Dillon. Members present were Regents Davison (Chair), Roehm, Thielman, and Thompson. Chairman Kaze asked Regent Davison to present the committee’s report to the full Board.

The following Level I changes were approved by the Commissioner’s Office (May 21, 1998 memo from Deputy Commissioner for Academic and Student Affairs Stuart Knapp on file):

Montana Tech of The University of Montana

Proposal to offer a minor in Mathematics to the B.S. degree in Mathematics already offered at Montana Tech. All courses required in the minor are currently being taught on a regular basis, and the minor will require no additional resources or cost. Since the program will serve only students who are already enrolled at Montana Tech, it will have no impact on other institutions within the system.

Proposal to offer a certificate program in "Management Information Systems, Computer Applications." FVCC currently offers an AAS degree in Management Information Systems. The certificate program has been developed at the request of local business and industry to meet the growing demand for employees with broad knowledge of the most utilized microcomputer application packages. The program will be submitted under the normal program approval process within two years.

ITEM 99-401-R0598—Approval of Proposal to Offer an Associate of Science Degree; Miles Community College

ITEM 98-1002-R0398—Approval of Proposal to Offer a Certificate in Barber Styling; College of Technology, The University of Montana-Missoula

Regent Davison said ITEM 98-1002-R0398 had been withdrawn by The University of Montana-Missoula, and action was being deferred to a future meeting.

ITEM 98-1003-R0398--Approval of Proposal to Add an Option in Terrestrial Sciences to the Bachelor of Science Degree in Resource Conservation; The University of Montana-Missoula

ITEM 98-1004-R0398--Approval of Proposal to Add an Option in Land and People to the Bachelor of Science Degree in Resource Conservation; The University of Montana-Missoula

ITEM 98-1005-R0398--Approval of Proposal to Add a New Integrated Option in Media Arts to the Master of Fine Arts Degree; The University of Montana-Missoula

ITEM 98-1006-R0398--Approval of Proposal to Add an Option in Dance to the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Fine Arts; The University of Montana-Missoula

ITEM 98-1007-R0398--Approval of Proposal to Add an Option in Human Biological Sciences to the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Biology; The University of Montana-Missoula

ITEM 98-1008-R0398--Approval of Proposal to Add an Option in Rural and Environmental Change to the Bachelor of Arts Degree and Master of Arts Degree in Sociology; The University of Montana-Missoula

ITEM 98-1009-R0398--Approval of Proposal to Add an Option in Biochemistry to the Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry; The University of Montana-Missoula

ITEM 98-1901-R0398--Approval of Proposal to Offer a Two-Year Associate of Applied Science Degree in Construction Technology; Helena College of Technology of The University of Montana

ITEM 98-2005-R0398--Authorization for the Department of Plant Science to Offer an Option in Turfgrass Science within the Horticulture Major; Montana State University-Bozeman

ITEM 98-2006-R0398--Authorization for the Department of Entomology to Offer an Undergraduate Minor in Entomology; Montana State University-Bozeman

ITEM 98-2801-R0398--Approval of Proposal to Offer the Health Promotion Major; Montana State University-Northern

ITEM 98-2802-R0398--Approval of Proposal to Offer the Agricultural Operations Technology Degree jointly with MSU-Bozeman; Montana State University-Northern

ITEM 98-2805-R0398--Authorization to Offer a Bachelor of Applied Science Degree; Montana State University-Northern

ITEM 98-201-R0398--Approval of Proposal to Offer a Two-Year Associate of Applied Science Degree in Early Childhood Education and a One-Year Early Childhood Certificate; Dawson Community College

ITEM 98-301-R0398--Approval of Proposal to Establish Level II Program Authorization of the Associate of Applied Science Degree and Certificate Program in Building Trades; Flathead Valley Community College

Regent Davison referred the Regents to the May 4, 1998 report from Deputy Commissioner Stuart Knapp on "Proficiency-Based Admissions in Mathematics" (on file). He said the Board was being asked to endorse the report.

Deputy Commissioner Knapp said the work being presented was the result of a combined effort of the Office of Public Instruction and the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education. It also involved the postsecondary people joining forces with OPI in developing the mathematics standards that were being set in the state. Deputy Commissioner Knapp highlighted the report's six components and asked the Regents to approve and support the plan of action presented in the report.

Regent Davison said they recognized there were still matters that needed to be resolved, and they were looking at an initial timeline of about three years. In March 1999, the Regents would receive a full report of the progress to that point. With the Board's endorsement, they would be asked to encourage and work with the universities to provide the necessary release time and resources for people to participate in the program. Regent Davison said they would convey the Board of Regents' endorsement to the Board of Education at its June meeting and ask for that Board's endorsement. They then hoped to have a statement of purpose indicating support for the seamless education posture and assigning it a high enough priority for people to allocate their time and resources to it.

Regent Davison said the committee heard a report from MSU-Northern on its associate degrees, and the college would proceed through the process with the system's Two-Year Education Committee.

Credit by Examination

As an addendum to the mathematics issue, Deputy Commissioner Knapp provided the committee a report on "Credit by Examination" (on file). Regent Davison said the issue was one that was gaining popularity and being pursued more diligently. He said discussions would continue with the system's academic officers on more disclosure to the populace about what students could take as far as credits by examination and where they were appropriate.

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The Board recessed at 11:55 a.m. for a lunch/meeting with student government representatives.

The Board reconvened at 1:25 p.m.

Referencing the review of academic programs that had begun about three years ago, Regent Davison said he would work with the Deputy Commissioner of Academic Affairs to present the Regents with a list of programs approved within the past two to three years, along with a report on how those programs were progressing and an update on the quantitative and qualitative reviews of the programs. These would be presented regularly at September Board meetings.

ADMINISTRATIVE/BUDGET COMMITTEE

The Administrative/Budget Committee met at 10:00 a.m. in Room 114B of the Office-Classroom Complex at Western Montana College-UM in Dillon. Members present were Regents Jasmin (Chair), Conroy, and Kaze. Chairman Kaze asked Regent Jasmin to present the committee’s report to the full Board.

ITEM 18-006-R1077--High School Honor Scholarships; Montana University System (501.1 REVISED), and ITEM 18-005-R1077--Fee Waivers; Montana University System (940.13 REVISED)

ITEM 98-004-R0398--Collaborative Programs; Montana University System (NEW)

ITEM 98-006-R0398--Montana Family Education Savings Program (NEW)

ITEM 99-1005-R0598--Student Computer Fee Allocation; The University of Montana-Missoula

ITEM 99-1006-R0598--REVISION: Lodge Renovation Project, Series D 1996 Revenue Bonds; The University of Montana-Missoula

ITEM 99-1601-R0598--Transfer of Bond Project Funds from Residence Hall/Dining Services Renovation to Family Housing Renovations; Series D 1996 Facilities Improvement and Refunding Revenue Bonds; Western Montana College of The University of Montana

ITEM 99-1004-R0598--Approval of Contract to Sell Approximately 100 Acres of Land Commonly Known as Fort Missoula; The University of Montana-Missoula

Regent Jasmin said ITEM 99-1004-R0598 had been moved from the Consent Agenda to the Action Agenda. Two revisions had been made since the Board's March 1998 meeting. The first concerned a mineral interest that might revert at some point to The University of Montana. Second, the deed requirement in the transfer was a warranty deed, which The University of Montana could not convey. They could convey a quit claim deed, however, and that was how they would proceed. Regent Jasmin also pointed out that the land sale had been approved by the Land Board.

In regard to the mineral interest issue, Chairman Kaze pointed out it was a royalty reservation rather than a mineral reservation. He said it was a royalty interest in the extraction of all minerals if that were to occur in the future.

ITEM 98-002-R0398--Montana Tuition Assistance Program (MTAP) Eligibility Requirements; Montana University System (NEW)

Regent Jasmin said ITEM 98-002-R0398 was a new Board policy that had been on the Submission Agenda at the March 1998 meeting. The current version on the Action Agenda was being amended to replace the words "restricted" with "specified" and "unrestricted" with "unspecified."

ITEM 98-001-R0398--Inventory and Validation of Fees; Montana University System

Regent Jasmin said the Board had reviewed ITEM 98-001-R0398 at the March 1998 meeting, and he moved approval of the item.

UM President Dennison asked whether Regent Jasmin's motion included two items from The University of Montana: ITEM 99-1008-R0598--Mandatory Fees and ITEM 99-1009-R0598--Non-Mandatory Fees. He noted that both items were included within the inventory and validation of fees document.

Regent Jasmin provided a brief review of the fees presented in ITEMS 99-1008-R0598 and 99-1009-R0598 and amended his motion to include both.

Regarding Montana State University's networking fees, Regent Thielman said he wanted to remind the Board and the presidents and chancellors about their commitment to make sure those fees were sunsetted.

Chairman Kaze said that point had been made during the Administrative/Budget Committee's meeting, and MSU-Bozeman Provost Joe Chapman (sitting in for President Malone) had been asked to confirm that, which he did.

Provost Chapman said that was correct.

ITEM 99-402-R0598--Authorization to Charge an Administrative Computer Fee; Miles Community College

Regent Jasmin said ITEM 99-402-R0598 would authorize Miles Community College to charge an additional fee of up to $7.00 per credit for the first 15 credits each semester, beginning in Fall 1998, to upgrade and maintain an administrative computer system.

In response to a question from Regent Thielman, Chairman Kaze said the students had voted on the fee, but the Board of Trustees had not.

ITEM 99-1007-R0598--Series E 1998 Refunding and Facilities Improvement Refunding Revenue Bonds; The University of Montana

Regent Jasmin said the project budget in ITEM 99-1007-R0598 had been revised since the March 1998 meeting and asked President Dennison to provide a brief review.

President Dennison reviewed the projects that remained on the list for funding. After the Board's March 1998 meeting and after the current agenda had gone out, UM completed some additional documents and mailed those to the Regents. President Dennison said UM was using the documents in interacting with the insurers. The Regents received a description of the Facilities Improvement Bonds and an analysis of long-term debt (all documents on file).

ITEM 99-2001-R0598—Authorization to Proceed with the Issuance and Sale of Series F 1998 Revenue Bonds; Montana State University-Bozeman

Regent Jasmin said ITEM 99-2001-R0598 would authorize MSU to proceed with the financing of management information systems with the proceeds of the bonds.

MSU-Bozeman Provost Joe Chapman said he believed MSU had addressed the issues discussed at the Board's March 1998 meeting, and he would be glad to answer any questions.

In response to a question from Regent Jasmin regarding the upper limit of the $8 million on the bonds, Rob Specter, MSU-Bozeman Vice President for Administration and Finance, said they believed the project monies would come right up to that limit but would not exceed it. There would be some additional costs for the financing, insurance, and other project costs.

Following discussion, Regent Jasmin moved that the Board concur with the committee's recommendation to approve ITEM 99-2001-R0598. The motion passed unanimously.

ITEM 99-1501-R0598--Revision: 100 Bed Residence Hall, Series D 1996b Facilities Improvement and Refunding Revenue Bonds; Montana Tech of The University of Montana [Item number assigned after meeting.]

Regent Jasmin said ITEM 99-1501-R0598 was an addition to the agenda that would authorize UM to increase the project budget for the 100-bed residence hall at Montana Tech from $4 million to $4.2 million, with the increase to be funded from unobligated interest earnings and unexpended balances from bond projects.

President Dennison said ITEM 99-1501-R0598 would have been submitted earlier, but the bids had just been opened. Since the interest earning unobligated was there, they were seeking the Board's approval to proceed and stay on track.

Commissioner Crofts said when the Regents made the decision at the November 1997 meeting to implement SCT Banner throughout the university system, a process was established to provide status reports at every Regents' meeting. He referred the Regents to his May 7, 1998 memo on the subject (on file). Attached to the memo was a document signed by Commissioner Crofts; Clayton Schenck, Legislative Fiscal Analyst; Lois Menzies, Director, Department of Administration; and Dave Lewis, Director, Office of Budget and Program Planning. Commissioner Crofts said they had reached an agreement among all parties on the level of detail that would be reported from SCT Banner into PeopleSoft, along with the frequency of those reports.

Commissioner Crofts referred to his March 18, 1998 letter to MT PRRIME Project Director Dave Ashley (on file) that raised some additional questions, and to Mr. Ashley's May 6, 1998 response (on file). Commissioner Crofts said those were decisions MT PRRIME had to make so the university system could make its own decisions about how it would deliver the information. Also, as the various data elements were defined, the two universities had established a process of communicating with each other. The Commissioner's Office would help in those instances where data elements needed to be defined from a systemwide perspective.

Commissioner Crofts said discussions had begun with the Budget Office and MT PRRIME about apportioning of the MT PRRIME costs and the appropriate share to be paid by the university system. A significant part of the cost would be determined by the level of detail fed into the system and its frequency.

Following discussion, Chairman Kaze praised the efforts of everyone on the campuses and in the Commissioner's Office who were involved in this important undertaking.

President Dennison briefly reviewed three documents the Board had received: "The Strategic Directions for The University of Montana, 1998-2003"; "Administrative Services Task Force, The University of Montana, Final Report, April 24, 1998"; and "Strategic Planning Initiative Facilities."

President Dennison referred to the second bullet on Page 11 of the Strategic Directions document, which focused on administrative affairs. He said they were required to provide annual estimates of administrative savings for reinvestment. Under the past collaborative planning agreements, each of the campuses had a mandate to move money from administration into other areas over the past few years, primarily the construction program, and UM had been doing that. On the other hand, the information provided may not be quite as specific as the Board would like to see. President Dennison said they were trying, however, to identify areas in which they could move in that direction while simultaneously respecting the identity, focus, and distinctiveness of the various campuses.

President Dennison also distributed and reviewed a document titled "Administrative Efficiencies and Savings Resulting from Restructuring" (on file).

Lengthy discussion followed on use of the terms "mid-sized Public Ivy university and Research II"; the absence of information on the costs to the people of Montana; strengthening graduate and research programs and maintaining a balance across the university without undermining the goal of expanding quality of the undergraduate program; and economic development and whether the necessary degree components were in place on the campuses to attract new businesses.

MSU-Bozeman Provost Joe Chapman presented a series of overheads to summarize the May 6, 1998 "Final Report of the Montana State University Business Procedures Redesign Task Force" (on file).

Commissioner Crofts said as they concluded initial deliberations on the two documents, it was likely the system's Policy Committee (presidents, vice presidents, and senior staff in the Commissioner's Office) could begin encouraging the universities to converse with each other about what they were finding in their benchmarking and what seemed to be working. While taking the position that restructured universities did not necessarily mean they behaved exactly alike, the notion was also adopted that the two universities and their campuses should learn from one another as much as possible. Commissioner Crofts said the current information technology process was a good example.

Following further discussion of both universities' reports, the Board recessed for a 15-minute break and reconvened at 3:15 p.m.

Referring to the documents presented by UM and MSU, Commissioner Crofts said his initial memo in August 1998 was written in response to comments from members of the Board concerning the issues raised in that memo. He followed up with a reminder notice to the presidents in April 1998 on presenting some actual savings of dollars through some type of administrative consolidation or reorganization. Those reports were not as responsive to that question as they needed to be to view the task as complete. Commissioner Crofts suggested they continue to work with the two presidents on a subsequent report to focus more specifically on dollar savings. He said he did not believe the system was over-administered, and he was not sure large sums of money could be saved with administrative reductions. However, it was important they be able to come forward and say they had done the best they could in that regard and would continue to do so.

Commissioner Crofts said perhaps the Commissioner's Office was the proper place to review both reports with a careful eye toward identifying areas where it may or may not be appropriate for the two universities to develop projects independently instead of on a systemwide basis. He said it would be wasteful to do something within one university and then either repeat it or not do it in the other. They needed to identify the proposals that could be approached more sensibly from a system perspective.

Regent Thompson said they also needed to keep quality in mind. While there may be areas in which they could cut back, they ultimately needed to decide whether those cuts would affect the quality, access, and price to the student.

Chairman Kaze suggested the Commissioner's Office review the reports and issues more thoroughly and come back to the Board with additional suggestions or a report or plan the Board could entertain.

Regent Roehm said that as Commissioner Crofts and his staff reviewed the two reports and attempted to integrate them into a university system strategic plan, they needed to keep in mind the uniqueness of the operating styles at each university and not destroy that to make one size fit all. Instead, they needed to get the good ideas in one and marry them with the other.

Chairman Kaze said they held a discussion at the Board's work sessions on the budget request issues the university system was facing related to new money that may or may not be available in the state's budget. The Board had asked Commissioner Crofts to make that recommendation to them in a simplified form.

Commissioner Crofts reviewed a handout titled "Montana University System, 2000-2001 Biennial Budget" (on file). Section 1 included the following categories under present law adjustments: (a) new students; (b) annualization of the pay plan; and (c) inflationary increases in the executive budget. Section 2 evolved from discussions during the Board's work sessions and stated the Regents' support for a state pay plan that would significantly benefit the system's classified employees. Section 3 presented an attempt to take $33 million and place some proposals in priority order as a recommendation for the Regents' consideration. New proposals were listed as follows: Quality improvements in Programs and Services in Educational Units; MTAP; Technology; Workforce Development: New Academic Programs; Quality Improvements in Programs and Services in Agencies; Research and Development Matches for Federal Grants; Colleges of Technology Tuition Reduction; Academic Excellence Scholarships; Economic Development; Partnerships in Education Initiative; Family Practice Residency; and Economic Development -- New Centers.

In response to a question from Regent Roehm, Chairman Kaze said the proposals listed would be the Montana University System's priorities if the money were available. If the legislature made its appropriations based on the representations made by the university system, the system would have a general obligation to say that was the way they anticipated spending the money and would do so unless there was a viable reason not to do that. Chairman Kaze said they were taking this step to present to the Governor the system's recommendations for new money. The Governor would then build that into the executive budget process.

Following lengthy discussion, Commissioner Crofts said he and his staff would take the two documents and try to put them into a single document that would be sent to the Governor's Office as the Board of Regents' presentation to the Board of Education.

In response to comments from President Dennison about legislative priorities, Commissioner Crofts said the operating budgets would be on the September agenda and by November they will have concluded the process of developing a legislative agenda that included the type of statutory changes they wanted to pursue outside the appropriations process.

In response to a question from Regent Davison, Chairman Kaze said they could begin some initial discussions about the legislative priorities in the July work session.

The Board recessed at 4:15 p.m. for its meeting with faculty representatives.

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FRIDAY, MAY 22, 1998

The Board reconvened at 9:25 a.m.

Chairman Kaze introduced William McBroom, a professor from The University of Montana-Missoula and outgoing president of the University Teachers Union, who presented some remarks to the Regents on the "Welfare of the Montana University System." Professor McBroom said he wanted to share his views of the welfare of the university system, which he would give a grade of D+. He focused his presentation on three areas that he believed needed improvement: (1) Board of Regents' access to information; (2) support of faculty; and (3) costs. (A copy of Professor McBroom's remarks is on file at the Commissioner's Office.)

In response to a request from Regent Roehm, Professor McBroom said he would be glad to provide the Regents with a copy of his remarks.

Chairman Kaze thanked Professor McBroom for his presentation.

President Dennison distributed a summary of the "Responses to Request for Information, Energy Management and Economic Development Services, The University of Montana." The provisions of Senate Bill 390 allows large users to go on the market to enter into contracts for their energy. Because the universities are large users, the RFI was issued to see what vendors were willing to say to them about supplying energy at a different price and in a different environment, and what related ways they could find assistance from any of the vendors. President Dennison said a second purpose of the RFI was to qualify any vendor who would want to bid when the RFP was issued. He said they received six legitimate responses to the RFI and were now ready to move to the next stage and issue the RFP. President Dennison said they could do that as The University of Montana, or they could collaborate with and include Montana State University.

Following discussion, Chairman Kaze said just because there may not be any economies of scale, that did not mean they should not try to find the ground-leveling areas. He said it behooved all of them to at least take a look at doing it together.

MSU-Bozeman Provost Joe Chapman said MSU would be glad to look at that option.

President Dennison also distributed a document titled "Education and General Budgets, FY 1997 Expenditures and Revenues, Comparison of 16 Western Public Universities with The University of Montana-Missoula" (on file).

President Dennison said the data collected from those institutions were used to arrive at cost of education calculations exactly the way it was done in Montana--so they were comparing apples and apples, not apples and oranges. He briefly reviewed the document's four sections.

Following discussion, Regent Davison thanked President Dennison for the information. He also asked that the "Fact Book" prepared by the Commissioner's Office be updated for the Regents. The current data would be helpful during the upcoming year to answer questions the Regents were asked.

MSU-Bozeman Provost Joe Chapman distributed two information items: (a) Montana State University's 1998 "Advising Plan"; and (b) a final report from "The Special Review Committee" at MSU-Bozeman dated May 1, 1998.

Chairman Kaze thanked Chancellor Sheila Stearns and her staff for hosting the Regents' meeting. He also thanked Jason Thielman on behalf of the Board for his service as Student Regent. Chairman Kaze said Regent Thielman had made a significant impact on the Board's decision-making process and had done an excellent job in representing the students of the university system.

Student Regent-elect Kim Cunningham also thanked Regent Thielman on behalf of the students.

Regent Thielman said he had enjoyed his service on the Board and wished everyone the best of luck.

With no other business to come before the Board, the meeting adjourned at 10:30 a.m.

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