Minutes waiting to be approved by Faculty Senate

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Faculty Senate Meeting

Harrison Hall 123

April 8, 2026

3:15pm-4:30pm

I.                   Call to Order 

1.                  Meeting called to order at 3:17pm.

II.                  Approval of FS Minutes from March 25, 2026

1.                  Hayes Goosey moves to approve. Chris Posbergh seconds. None opposed. No abstentions. Approved. 

III.                  FYI Items 

1.                  Strategic Plan Listening Session for faculty: special additional listening sessions Wed, April 15,                             11:00-12:00pm Ballroom D, AND 3:15pm -4:15pm Harrison 123

2.                  Dr. Julia Haggerty gives Provost Distinguished Lecture, April 21, MoR

3.                  Commencement, May 8, 2026

4.                  MUS increase in medical premiums (9.75%), deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums, and co-                                 payments. (Employer contribution increase 2.5%).

IV.                 Undergraduate Courses and Programs

1.                  New Courses-Second Read

a.                 ARTH 475 : Professional Paper

b.                 BIOH 497 : Educational Methods: Human Biology

c.                  EQUH 215 : Weanling Training and Development

d.                 EQUH 310 : Horsemanship 3

e.                 IDSN 193 : Interior Design Study Abroad

f.                  NUTR 420 : Food Innovation & Entrepreneurship

g.                 SFBS 452 : State of the Food Environment

2.                New Courses-First Read

a.                AGED 405 : Building Global Leaders in Agriculture

b.                ARCH 213 : Professional Practice I

c.                 HEE 361 : Youth Movement Science II

d.                HLD 401 : Intermediate Peer Mentorship

e.                HLD 403 : Advanced Peer Mentorship

f.                 LEG 498 : Internship

g.                HLD 403 : Advanced Peer Mentorship

h.                PSCI 442 : Environmental Policy and Politics

i.                 PSYX 483 : Psychology of Death and Dying

j.                 WRIT 495 : Writing Field Experience Practicum

3.                Course Changes-Second Read

a.                PSYX 100IS : Introduction to Psychology

i.                 Credit change from 4 to 3

4.                Course Changes-First Read

a.                FILM 112 :Film Production I

i.                 Title change from Aesthetics of Film Production I

b.                FILM 212 :Film Production II

i.                 Title change from Aesthetics of Film Production II

c.                GEO 402 : Cellular and Molecular Paleontology

i.                 Title change from Molecular Paleontology

d.               HLD 301 : Fundamentals of Peer Mentorship

i.                 Rubric and number change from US 460 (US is not an approved rubric)

ii.                Title change from Peer Leadership

iii.               New learning outcomes

5.                Course Inactivations-First Read

a.                M 065 : Pre-Algebra

i.                 M 065 and M 085 have been replaced with M063 and M 090.

b.                M 066 : Pre-Algebra Lab and Study

i.                 This course has been replaced by M063.

c.                M 108 : Business Mathematics

i.                 This course is no longer a requirement for Gallatin College students; it has been                               replaced with M105Q.

d.                PSYX 443 : Collective Memory

i.                 Retired Fall 2025

6.                Program Changes-Second Read

a.                BEHA-CTS : Certificate of Technical Studies in Behavioral Health

i.                 Reduction in credits from 29 to 18

b.                MEDI-CAS : Medical Assistant

i.                 Change in credits

ii.                Change in modality

7.                Program Changes-First Read

a.                HEEN-BS : Bachelor of Science in Physical Education

i.                 Title change from Bachelor of Science in Health Enhancement K-12 Broadfield-Health and Physical Education

b.                MBOA-BS : Bachelor of Science in Microbiology

i.                 Title change from Bachelor of Science in Microbiology-Microbiology Option, Microbiology Track

ii.                New learning outcomes

V.                Graduate Courses and Programs

1.                New Courses-Second Read

a.                BCH 527 : Introduction to Structural Biology: Transmission Electron Microscopy

b.                PHSX 564 : Current Topics in Space Physics

2.                New Courses-First Read

a.                EMAN 515 : Industrial Internet of Things

b.                LRES 556 : Earth's Critical Zone

3.                Course Changes-Second Read

a.                BIOE 526 : Symbiosis for Teachers: Eat, Prey, Love

i.                 New learning outcomes

b.                COUN 592 : Independent Study

i.                 Rubric change from HDCO

ii.                New learning outcomes

c.                M 518 : Statistics for Teaching

i.                 New learning outcomes

d.                M 581 : Numerical Solution of Partial Differential Equations I

i.                 New learning outcomes

e.                NUTR 598 : Internship

i.                 Addition of learning outcomes

ii.                Change in modality

f.                 STAT 501 : Intermediate Probability and Statistics

i.                 New learning outcomes

g.                STAT 509 : Stochastic Processes

i.                 New learning outcomes

h.                STAT 528 : Statistical Quality Control

i.                 New learning outcomes

i.                 STAT 578 : Response Surface Methodology

i.                 New learning outcomes

4.                Course Changes-First Read

a.                AGED 592 : Independent Study

i.                 New learning outcomes

b.                AGED 594 : Graduate Seminar

i.                 New learning outcomes

c.                 AGED 598 : Internship

i.                 Change in range of credits from 2-12 to 2-8

ii.                New learning outcomes

d.                BIOB 525 : Adv. Cell & Molecular Biology

i.                 New learning outcomes

e.                BIOE 585 : Exploring Biology for Teachers

i.                 New learning outcomes

f.                 ENTO 510 : Insect Ecology

i.                 New learning outcomes

g.                STAT 525 : Biostatistics

i.                 New learning outcomes

h.                STAT 537 : Multivariate Analysis I

i.                 New learning outcomes

i.                 STAT 598 : Internship

i.                 Number change from 576

ii.                New learning outcomes

5.                Program Changes-Second Read

a.                MSDS-MS : Master of Science in Statistics - Data Science Option

i.                 Degree name change from MS in Data Science

ii.                New outcomes

iii.               Changes to program details

VI.               Public Comment

1.                 Jeannette Gray-Gilbert: Here at the meeting if you have questions. There is a video available to                          watch. It appears to be an hour and a half long, but it is broken into chunks, and you can view it                        that way. 

a.                 Will come to next meeting and will have more time for questions. 

b.                Questions

i.                  Do we expect any more increases? 

A.                We didn’t have any increases for 8 years. Dealing with external issues that                             affect the plan. We have to fund the plan. 

B.                We are not alone in this increase. 

C.                We will spend 19 million in claims for FY26.

D.                Large claims impact our plan pricing. 

VII.               Information Updates

1.                 Student Learning Outcomes Assessment policy (second reading)

a.                 Marg Hammersla moves to approve. Chris Posbergh seconds. 

i.                  How will this extra assessment work be compensated?

A.                Committee work is service based. 

b.                None opposed. No abstentions. Approved. 

2.                Revised Faculty Senate By-Laws (second reading)

a.                Maggie Thorsen moves to approve. Cara Palmer seconds. None opposed. No abstentions. Approved. 

3.                 Proposed Ethics and Professionalism policy (second reading)

a.                 David McWethy moves to approve. Hayes Goosey seconds. 

i.                  Section on carrying out the policy has been expanded to include faculty members                            and administrators. Why is the Introduction and purpose section only mention                                faculty? 

A.                Using previous language.

B.                There is a handbook for administrators. 

C.                Can we amend the definition of who is included in “faculty”?

i.                 Administration will also have to agree to this language. 

ii.                We could motion for an amendment to add the language about                                     administrators. 

D.               2b. Interaction between faculty and other people on campus. We don’t specify                       administrators. Should we point out the imbalance?

E.               Can we ask administrators to create their own policy like this one?

i.                We are working on this policy for ourselves (faculty). We may not have                          authority to ask them to do that. 

1.               Adding “administrator” to the language in this policy seems “token.” 

F.               We could ask them to be consistent in the policy. 

G.              Maggie Thorsen moves to amend the language in Intro and Purpose to make it                      consistent. Hayes Goosey seconds. None opposed. No abstentions. 

ii.               3. Alleged violations section 

A.              This policy about the MANNER in which you do your job. The violations would depend                   on what happens. Feel this should be a “statement” and not a “policy.” 

i.               This is a collective sense of what it means to be a faculty member at this university. We                   need to think about the impact we have as faculty members. 

b.              None opposed. No abstentions. Approved. 

4.               Council Updates (University Council, Grad Council, Research Council, ...)

VIII.            Nominations and voting: Chair-Elect 

1.               None 

IX.                Senators’ Open Conversation

1.                 Accessibility on Canvas: How do we come into compliance? Will get advice or training?

a.                 Rob is on a committee that will be talking about this tomorrow. 

b.                 Should we be deleting non-accessible materials altogether?

c.                 There is an exemption for certain material but don’t know where the line is drawn. 

d.                Provost Mokwa: No one is going to get into trouble. Will be asked if we are making progress                     and moving in the right direction. Working on getting some software that will help with this                     process. Anything new going up should be accessible. 

e.                Is it necessary to have an AI program to do this? Can’t the students do that themselves?

i.                 Could be performative and may not actually be helpful if the subject matter doesn’t                         translate to alt text well. 

A.                Would like to know more about the software ahead of time. Would it be any                           better than Gemini, which is free? Can we trust the software will spit out                                 accurate information? How much time will we need to fix  it? If Alt text is                                 incorrect, the students will get things wrong. What is the point if a statement                         needs to be  added to syllabi that alt text cannot be trusted? Could put                                     students at a disadvantage instead of helping them. 

i.                 Would rather help them one on one than post notes on Canvas. 

ii.                It is legally the university’s responsibility that things are accessible. 

iii.               Two categories: One is a student with an ADA accommodation. Second is                     about meeting federal compliance for ADA general accessibility. 

B.               WCAG 2.1. Implemented this April, mid-month. For public institutions. 

C.                Is there a plan to have a team who could help faculty with this?

i.                 There is an attempt to identify who a good contact would be for each type of                                     document/posting. 

ii.                CFE website has information on the montana.edu website. 

iii.               Library has instructions on how to do this. 

D.                How does the AI tool affect academic freedom?

X.                 Executive Session

XI.                Adjourn

1.                 Maggie Thorsen moves to adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 4:32pm.