Present: James Bailey, Randy Bolton, Bob Chaney, Tom Cook, Joan Datsopoulos, Esther England, Susan Estep, Jackie Gran, Mickey Hawkins, Shirley Howell, Linda Lussy, Linda Lynn, Gilbert Millikan, Gus Miller, Christine Milodragovich, Margaret Mudd, Michael Murphy, John Shaffner, Bryan Spellman, Ray Steele, John Talbot, Bryan Thornton
Introductions and Welcome
The meeting began at 9:10 a.m., called to order by President Joan Datsopoulos. Council members introduced themselves.
Dean Shirley Howell thanked everyone for attending and for the warm welcome she has received since coming to Montana. She gave special thanks to the Steeles for the reception they hosted, and to Mickey and Joan for helping to guide her through her first weeks as new Dean. She is very impressed with the arts community in Missoula and the surrounding area, and the support given to the arts. She noted that she is also impressed with the quality of the programs, the faculty, the students, and the staff at UM.
Since she has been here, she has acquainted herself with the needs of the School and, with the School of Fine Arts department chairmen, has developed a list of funding priorities: scholarships, facility enhancement and expansion (museum, UT, Fine Arts Bldg.), marketing, recruitment, and outreach.
From the Chronicle of Higher Education, she shared a chart showing 2-year changes in state support for higher education. A University of Southern Illinois Survey says if you take into account all of the increases to personal income in the last 10 years, higher education has in reality taken a 30% decrease in the last decade. State support is going down nationwide for higher education. By population, Montana is ranked 44th, but is 47th in support for higher education. Only South Dakota, New Hampshire, and Vermont spend less than Montana, and of those states, South Dakota and Vermont are both smaller in population than Montana.
| Rank Order of States by Population | ||||||
| 1 | California | 32,666,550 | 26 | South Carolina | 3,835,962 | |
| 2 | Texas | 19,759,614 | 27 | Oklahoma | 3,346,713 | |
| 3 | New York | 18,175,301 | 28 | Oregon | 3,281,974 | |
| 4 | Florida | 14,915,980 | 29 | Connecticut | 3,274,069 | |
| 5 | Illinois | 12,045,326 | 30 | Iowa | 2,862,447 | |
| 6 | Pennsylvania | 12,001,451 | 31 | Mississippi | 2,752,092 | |
| 7 | Ohio | 11,209,493 | 32 | Kansas | 2,629,067 | |
| 8 | Michigan | 9,817,242 | 33 | Arkansas | 2,538,303 | |
| 9 | New Jersey | 8,115,011 | 34 | Utah | 2,099,758 | |
| 10 | Georgia | 7,642,207 | 35 | West Virginia | 1,811,156 | |
| 11 | North Carolina | 7,546,493 | 36 | Nevada | 1,746,898 | |
| 12 | Virginia | 6,791,345 | 37 | New Mexico | 1,736,931 | |
| 13 | Massachusetts | 6,147,132 | 38 | Nebraska | 1,662,719 | |
| 14 | Indiana | 5,899,195 | 39 | Maine | 1,244,250 | |
| 15 | Washington | 5,689,263 | 40 | Idaho | 1,228,684 | |
| 16 | Missouri | 5,438,559 | 41 | Hawaii | 1,193,001 | |
| 17 | Tennessee | 5,430,621 | 42 | New Hampshire | 1,185,048 | |
| 18 | Wisconsin | 5,223,500 | 43 | Rhode Island | 988,480 | |
| 19 | Maryland | 5,134,808 | 44 | Montana | 880,453 | |
| 20 | Minnesota | 4,725,419 | 45 | Delaware | 743,603 | |
| 21 | Arizona | 4,668,631 | 46 | South Dakota | 738,171 | |
| 22 | Louisiana | 4,368,967 | 47 | North Dakota | 638,244 | |
| 23 | Alabama | 4,351,999 | 48 | Alaska | 614,010 | |
| 24 | Colorado | 3,970,971 | 49 | Vermont | 590,883 | |
| 25 | Kentucky | 3,936,499 | 50 | Wyoming | 480,907 | |
| State Appropriations for Higher Education, 1998-99 | ||||||
| California | $ 7,309,388,000 | 1 | South Carolina | $ 761,931,000 | 26 | |
| Texas | $ 3,527,867,000 | 2 | Louisiana | $ 747,821,000 | 27 | |
| New York | $ 3,033,704,000 | 3 | Oklahoma | $ 723,051,000 | 28 | |
| Florida | $ 2,498,665,000 | 4 | Colorado | $ 682,210,000 | 29 | |
| Illinois | $ 2,410,044,000 | 5 | Connecticut | $ 626,878,000 | 30 | |
| North Carolina | $ 2,171,339,000 | 6 | Kansas | $ 600,413,000 | 31 | |
| Ohio | $ 1,939,437,000 | 7 | Oregon | $ 565,044,000 | 32 | |
| Michigan | $ 1,882,500,000 | 8 | Arkansas | $ 556,447,000 | 33 | |
| Pennsylvania | $ 1,775,308,000 | 9 | New Mexico | $ 517,247,000 | 34 | |
| Georgia | $ 1,483,818,000 | 10 | Utah | $ 492,035,000 | 35 | |
| New Jersey | $ 1,445,932,000 | 11 | Nebraska | $ 442,020,000 | 36 | |
| Virginia | $ 1,296,078,000 | 12 | West Virginia | $ 362,261,000 | 37 | |
| Minnesota | $ 1,239,394,000 | 13 | Hawaii | $ 319,421,000 | 38 | |
| Indiana | $ 1,147,816,000 | 14 | Nevada | $ 290,363,000 | 39 | |
| Washington | $ 1,144,908,000 | 15 | Idaho | $ 265,708,000 | 40 | |
| Wisconsin | $ 1,040,341,000 | 16 | Maine | $ 200,149,000 | 41 | |
| Alabama | $ 1,028,644,000 | 17 | North Dakota | $ 171,690,000 | 42 | |
| Massachusetts | $ 997,595,000 | 18 | Alaska | $ 170,403,000 | 43 | |
| Tennessee | $ 944,435,000 | 19 | Delaware | $ 168,601,000 | 44 | |
| Maryland | $ 940,073,000 | 20 | Rhode Island | $ 149,563,000 | 45 | |
| Missouri | $ 919,548,000 | 21 | Wyoming | $ 139,711,000 | 46 | |
| Kentucky | $ 888,700,000 | 22 | Montana | $ 129,929,000 | 47 | |
| Arizona | $ 836,438,000 | 23 | South Dakota | $ 125,882,000 | 48 | |
| Mississippi | $ 786,969,000 | 24 | New Hampshire | $ 91,837,000 | 49 | |
| Iowa | $ 785,230,000 | 25 | Vermont | $ 59,173,000 | 50 | |
| TOTAL U.S. | $ 52,833,959,000 | |||||
Because of Congressional attacks on the agency, NEA Funding for the arts is declining.
In the case of the Montana Arts Council, 61% of its funding comes from the NEA and other federal sources, 33% comes from the state legislature, and 6% comes from the Cultural Trust Fund.
At the University level, state funded fee waivers between 1996 and 1999 show athletics receiving $700,000-$800,000 while the fine arts are funded at the $30,000-$35,000 range.
Scholarship support at UM is also low in comparison to our peers. The School of Fine Arts has approximately $100,000 in total scholarship funds compared to a national average of over $500,000 for nationally accredited programs of similar size.
When compared to schools in the 95th percentile - the top schools in the nation, the ones that go after our state's best students – UM’s situation is even more compelling, i.e. $100,000 at UM compared to $1,600,000 at the nation's top schools – and we are still speaking of schools of comparable size.
The growth in student population at UM between 1969 and 1999 is significant. The faculty numbers have not increased in a commensurate fashion. Faculty levels peaked in the early 1970s, and are now approaching the 1970s' level for the first time in twenty-five years.