III Periodic
Review of Centers (Academic Policy 100.o)
Center for
the Rocky Mountain West
A.
Written Report Summary:
(1)
Purpose
The O’Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West is an applied,
cross-disciplinary regional studies, public education, and community outreach
program of The University of Montana.
The Center’s mission is to serve as a resource for people in the state
and region to better understand the region’s past and present and to explore
and share aspirations for its future.
(2)
Objectives and Goals
·
To carry-on and participate in an array of programs
and activities, such as conferences, forums, and speaker sponsorships, that
provide public education value and, in some cases, leadership development and
learning, on important issues and affairs in the region’s growth and
development
·
To produce a variety of informational material such
as books, articles, news pieces, web-based materials, and other publications
that advance understanding of the region’s history and culture and challenges
and opportunities for the region’s future.
·
To conduct unique forms of inquiry and study into
the region’s rich history and current transformation and to convey insights and
analyses gained from this study to others in the region, including key decision
makers.
·
To produce and maintain innovative databases and
information systems that can be used by Center personnel and others to better
understand important changes occurring in the region’s society and economy.
·
To establish within The University of Montana unique
and important educational and academic focuses on regional history, culture,
and contemporary society to share with other UM departments and students to
enhance understanding of the Rocky Mountain West and Montana’s place in this
larger region, including an annual course offering on Regionalism in the Rocky Mountain West (currently cross-listed by
UM’s History and Geography departments).
·
To provide an academic home for senior staff members
who bring considerable experience and expertise to the Center’s mission and
multiple areas of focus and who can take this work both into the classroom and
into the community and larger region.
·
To serve as a readily-accessible, university-based
resource for decision makers and communities throughout the region as they
attempt to better understand and address community and regional needs and
opportunities.
(3)
The Humanities and Culture program
produces public programs on a regular basis as well as conferences.
The Regional Economy program is an applied research and education effort
focused on building a better understanding of the large forces shaping economic
change in the region and how this change is translating into the lives of
people in communities. With consolidation
or decline in many of the region’s traditional industries, like mining,
ranching, and logging, a new economy is emerging in the region and the Center
has become a leading resource for community and regional leaders coming to
terms with these changes.
A major achievement of this program is the design and development of a
comprehensive database system for the analysis of sub-regional and local area
economic change. The Regional Economic Assessment Database (READ) is used by
the community and regional planners throughout the region. This program has completed a wide range of
studies and reports for federal and state agencies, foundations, non-profit
organizations, and local community development organizations.
In the coming year, the Center will be doing numerous studies of regional economic
importance, including a study of the Montana-Canada business and trade
relationship under contract with the Canadian Consulate General, a study of the
changing economy of the greater Yellowstone region spanning three states under
contract with the Yellowstone Business Partnership, and a study of economic
development potentials for Jefferson County, Montana, under contract with the
Jefferson Development Corporation.
Center personnel also are producing materials for an upcoming insert in
the Billings Gazette and other Lee Enterprise newspapers telling the story of
economic change in the area and region.
The Center also is participating in
numerous meetings and conferences throughout the state and region examining
aspects of larger economic growth and change.
Examples of this are the keynote address entitled ‘Shaping Economic
Change in the West” at the recent annual meeting of the western Planners
Association in Boise, Idaho; an upcoming presentation on North America’s
cross-boarder regional economy in the Rockies at the meeting of the Can-Am
Boarder Trade Alliance in Bellingham, WA in November; and an upcoming address
at a meeting of the Celebrate Billings organization on Investing for a Better
Billings.”
The Regional Policy program helped organize a major conference on “Restoration
Economies” in coordination with the Montana Governor’s Office. The Center’s Tribal Leaders Institute, now in
its third year, was held. Center
personnel participated in the 2006 State of the Rockies conference in
Center policy studies personnel also are heavily involved in the daily
production of Headwater News, a
web-based service that assembles news daily from newspapers across the
region. Perspective pieces and other
types of more in-dept articles are regularly added to these news items to
provide interested people throughout the
For the current year, Center policy studies personnel are planning and
organizing a major conference in November on federal forest land management,
which is receiving foundation funding support.
Activities and events continue under the Tribal Leaders Institute. A major conference also is being planned in
cooperation with the Sopris Foundation of
Dr. Larry Swanson‘s work at the O’Connor Center involves conducting funded
research and writing research reports on the region’s economy and in doing
community and regional economic assessments. He also frequently guest lectures
at UM at the invitation of professors in several departments, including
Geography, Education, Forestry, Sociology, and Environmental Studies. He is widely recognized as one of the leading
authorities on the changing economy of the Rocky Mountain West and is a
frequent speaker at conferences and meetings throughout the state and region,
making more that 50 speeches and major presentations last year alone.
Professor William Farr, Center Associate Director and head of Center
programming in history and humanities has regular teaching responsibilities in
the History department and devotes about 23 percent of his annual FTE to Center
work and activities. He organizes and coordinates several forums and visiting
speaker events each year on topics in the region’s history and culture. Among these are the A.B. Hammond Lecture
series and Native American lecture series.
He also frequently works with other departments and organization sin
organizing and holding humanities-oriented events and conferences such as the Piegan Institute in Browning). In addition to his other teaching, he is
involved with the annual offering of the course Regionalism in the Rocky Mountain West. Professor Farr is
considered a leading scholar on many tribes in the region and tribal history
and affairs more generally and is currently writing a book titled Painting Piegans
in Paradise on the work of Julius Seyler that
will be published next year.
Daniel Kemmis, Center Senior Fellow in Public Policy writes numerous articles,
book chapters, and newspaper commentaries, as well as speak and lecture
throughout the region.
Pat Williams, Center Senior Fellow
in Public Policy regularly teaches courses in wilderness and civilization,
current affairs, and the U.S. Congress, in addition to frequent guest
lecturing. He writes regular
commentaries that are published in area newspapers and works on a regular
program aired by UM public radio called Speaking
of That, which employs a “humanities magazine of the air’ format. He
devised and found funding for a new Center program, The Tribal leaders
Institute, now in its third year, holds conferences and forums for existing and
emerging Indian leaders in
Bob Brown, Center Senior Fellow in Public
Policy teaches a course in education policy within the Education School aimed
at educational administrators and will begin teaching a course in Montana
politics and political affairs, past and present, in UM’s
Political Science department. He is also
active in planning and organizing major conferences and forums on key issues in
state and regional political affairs, such as the recent series of forums on
the history of the Montana Constitutional Convention. He also is a frequent speaker in the state
and region.
(4) Other organizations involved
The Center is currently reconstituting an advisory board primarily to assist
iit in areas of fund-raising. This board is currently chaired by James
Scott from
(5) Reporting Line
The O’Conner Center
is administratively headed by a director, who reports directly to the University’s
Vice President for Research and Development Daniel Dwyer. Center senior staff submits annual activity
reports to the Center Director and these are then submitted to the VP for
Research and Development along with an overall activities report.
(6) Relationship to the institutional mission
The O’Conner Center contributes in
a variety of ways to each of the University’s core purposes. Its personnel regularly teach and instruct at
the University in many different departments, adding regional content to
undergraduate and graduate course offerings of the University. The Center engages in a wide range of
research and study projects and takes information and analysis gained from
these projects into the state and region through a variety of venues. And Center personnel both provide and
participate in new and unique public outreach and community service programming
on subject matter of importance to the state and region’s development and
change
(7) Similar programs
Many other universities in the
region and nation have similar programs to that of the O’Connor Center. Within the state,
Within the larger Rocky Mountain West region, The University of Colorado
has a Center of the American West with programming and personnel in history,
geography, economics, and public policy, focused on the larger Interior West
region of the
(8) Budget: Faculty and staff: see budget form
The offices of the O’Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West are housed
in the second floor of the old Milwaukee Railroad Depot across from downtown
Looking toward the future, as several of the Center’s more senior personnel
retire, some of their positions will simply discontinue and not be filled (such
as the case of Pat Williams). The single
biggest area of emphasis by the Center in meeting future funding needs will be
through expanding external sources, including both endowment funds and grant
and contract funds. The Center is
currently attempting to raise $1 million in the UM capital campaign to partially
endow one of its senior positions. And
if this proves successful, will seek endowment support for other
positions. The primary expense of the
Center is the cost of key personnel. To
continue to retain and attract high quality individuals, including in some
cases those with full academic credentials, the Center will need to make its
endowment funding both large and more stable.
B. Review and Approval Process
2. The Faculty Senate through its Chair,
Review
in terms of Scope as stated in academic policy 100.0
To provide instruction, scholarship, or service to the
University, state or world by: (1)
focusing attention on an area of strength and/or addressing a critical issue,
or (2) facilitating collaborative, multi-disciplinary endeavors to combine
resources from several programs or institutions to address issues of common
interest.
Review
in terms of the University’s mission.
§
Comments: This Center was reviewed in 2005,
and it was recommended that it be reviewed again in two years in order for
Faculty Senate to monitor the Center’s efforts to remedy problems. In light of this,
we would like to compare this year’s Center report with that of 2005. Comments
at that time were: 1) “By what criteria are the me
§
Does
§
Is the relationship with academic
units beneficial? To
a certain extent. Some of the Center’s staff is either affiliated with UM
departments or actively involved in making presentations and pursuing the goals
and objectives set out by the Center. However, there is a problem when a Center
Fellow charges a department for teaching a course when, as understood by ECOS,
teaching and being a part of a department is part of the expectation of Fellows
as well as being included in their salary.
§
Is the program revenue neutral or
does it consume more resources than it generates? If so, is the use of
University resources justified? The program revenue is not neutral. As stated in the 2005
report: “The initial understanding that most faculty have, is that this Center
would be self-sufficient and depend on few state (university) funds. This is
not the case. They are working on expanding their endowment base by expanding
grant and contract support for the operating budget – which is a necessity for
continuing operation as a center.” Now,
two years later, the situation has worsened. Although some support by UM might
be justified because of the projects, presentations, and courses pursued and
offered by the Center’s Fellows, ECOS questions whether the large amount of UM
funding that supports the Center is justifiable. The Center also rea
§
Is the entity making progress toward
objectives? Some,
however, ECOS would like to see quicker progression towards self-sufficiency.
§
Recommendation: Two-year review of the Center with
approval of the Center contingent on significant movement towards
self-sufficiency.
§
Justification: The Center took the Faculty
Senate’s recommendations from two years ago into consideration. It has provided
thorough documentation of its activities and broad-based program/s –all
compelling and valuable. The Center provides important services to the region,
as well as participating in educational programs at UM. Part of the reason this
Center is controversial, however, and as pointed out in the 2005 report, “is
because its budget is heavily weighted towards personnel.” This continues to be
the case – this past year, $800,000 of the $863,000 budget went to personnel.
We reiterate: the Center must become more self-sufficient.