Inauguration, regents meeting headline busy week at MSU Billings

MSU BILLINGS NEWS SERVICES —  Officials from the Montana University System will be in Billings this week for a variety of events that deal with transition at MSU Billings and the future of the system.

The busy week begins on Tuesday, with the official inauguration of Dr. Rolf Groseth as Chancellor of Montana State University Billings. The inauguration will be officiated by Dr. Waded Cruzado, president of Montana State University in Bozeman. It is set for 10:10 a.m. on Sept. 20 at Petro Theatre. The event is free and open to the public.

Groseth was appointed last November as the second chancellor of the Billings-based university. He succeeds Dr. Ron Sexton, who had served as chancellor of MSU Billings since 1995. Sexton retired in August, 2010. 

Before arriving in Billings, Groseth was serving as vice president for inter-campus affairs at MSU in Bozeman and was interim chancellor at MSU Northern in Havre from January 2008 to August 2009. 

As the inter-campus affairs vice president, Groseth worked to provide coordination among executive officers on the Bozeman, Billings, Great Falls and Northern campuses of the MSU system, the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education and the Montana Board of Regents. He has worked as executive assistant to the MSU President from 1994 to 2004 and had extensive student affairs experience at MSU in Bozeman from 1977 to 1994 and before that at the University of Florida and Georgetown University. Groseth also served two years in the U.S. Army, including a 12-month tour of duty in Vietnam.

He is married to Jaynee Drange Groseth, executive director of the MSU Alumni Association. They have two grown sons.

On Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 21-22, the Montana Board of Regents meet at the MSU Billings Student Union Building. The meetings will focus on budgets, finances and planning for the coming year.  Among other things:

• Regents will review system data and enrollment reports. Board members will also discuss data that relates to completion productivity, which relates to the Board of Regents’ strategic plan. The completion and productivity data show that the Montana University System educates students at a lower overall cost than regional peers.
• Regents will consider system operational budgets for the upcoming fiscal year.
• MSU Billings will seek approval to use $568,000 in student computer fee funds for computer replacements in the university’s Information Commons, computer classrooms, and for open access student lab computers in public areas.
• Dr. John Cech, deputy commissioner for Two-Year and Community College Education, will report on the results of an assessment on the current status of the five colleges of technology in the system. The report is part of the broader “College!Now” project, which emphasizes the need for comprehensive two-year education within the state of Montana.
• MSU Billings will propose a continuation of its Associate of Applied Science in Welding and Metal Fabrication Technology program and Certificate of Applied Science in Welding for Energy Technology that have been offered since 2009.
• Regents will consider proposals and labor agreements with more than 20 unions across the Montana University System.

For more information, go to the agenda at http://mus.edu/board/meetings/2011/Sept2011/Sept2011.asp