Academic Staff Assembly (ASA) Minutes
Approved 2-14-05
MINUTES
ACADEMIC STAFF ASSEMBLY
Monday, 13 December 2004
272 Bascom Hall (3:30-4:45 pm)
Provost Peter Spear called the meeting to order at 3:30 pm.
AUTOMATIC CONSENT BUSINESS
The minutes of the 11/8/2004 Academic Staff Assembly meeting were approved.
Committee Reports
Academic Staff Executive Committee (ASEC) - Bruce Beck, chair
http://wiscinfo.doit.wisc.edu/acstaff/asec.html
Bruce outlined the activities of ASEC over the past month, which include
meetings with Lynn Edlefson and Lindsey Stoddard Cameron on campus child
care facilities, Rosa Garner of the Medical School CASI, Dave Drummond
on campus safety issues, new dean of L&S Gary Sandefur, Walter Lane
of the PEOPLE program, and Ann Lamboley from the office of academic personnel.
ASEC appointed Kelly Burton to the Campus Diversity Oversight Committee and recommended Marcia Jezwinski to replace Larry Davis on the UW System Compensation Advisory Board.
The resolution on the pay plan approved by the Assembly in November was sent to the governor, key legislators, the UW System President, and the Board of Regents.
Compensation and Economic Benefits Committee (CEBC) - Bill Steffenhagen,
chair
http://wiscinfo.doit.wisc.edu/acstaff/cebc/index2.htm
CEBC is working with Ann Lamboley on the pilot program for mandatory promotion
reviews of academic staff. The committee will bring a resolution to the
next Assembly meeting for endorsement of this program as a permanent requirement.
Districting and Representation Committee (DRC) - Anne Gunther, chair
http://wiscinfo.doit.wisc.edu/acstaff/comopp/drc.html
Nominating Committee - Mary Ray, chair
http://wiscinfo.doit.wisc.edu/acstaff/comopp/nc.html
Mary was pleased with the response to the request through the Assembly
listserv for those interested in being considered for openings on campuswide
shared governance committees.
Standing Committee slates have been completed by the Nominating Committee and will be presented at the February Assembly. At that time, additional nominations may be taken from the floor. The ballot with candidate statements will go only to Assembly representatives to be returned at the Assembly meeting in April.
Personnel Policies and Procedures Committee (PPPC) - Ann Wallace, chair
http://wiscinfo.doit.wisc.edu/acstaff/pppc/index.htm
Professional Development and Recognition Committee (PDRC) http://wiscinfo.doit.wisc.edu/acstaff/pdrc/index.html
GUESTS: Peg Davey and Doris Slesinger, Ombuds program
Peg is replacing Ann Burgess as one of the four "ombuddies."
Peg and Doris came to talk about the first year's activities for their
office. The objective of the ombuds program is to provide an advocate
for fairness in the workplace and to help employees explore options where
there is a conflict or problem that hasn't found a solution through other
avenues. The ombuds can act as a resource and middle ground, occasionally
providing mediation. All interactions with them are confidential unless
the employee permits more openness.
Ombuds refer to persons who bring cases to them as "visitors" in keeping with the terminology customarily used by university and college ombuds programs. The office handled 69 cases: 27 from the ranks of academic staff, 20 from classified staff, 18 from faculty, and 4 others. Most have been employed at UW-Madison for more than 3 years. Forty-three were women and 26 men. Seven were members of ethnic minority groups. The largest number of complaints fell into the interpersonal workplace conflict (21) and hostile/uncivil environment (15) categories. Other issues concerned salary/promotion (10), termination (10), or organizational problems (7). Many cases involved more than one type of problem; others did not fall into any of these categories, e.g., exit interviews.
More information and a downloadable flyer describing their services can be found on the web site. http://www.ombuds.wisc.edu/ or you can call the Ombuds' Office: 608/265-9992. The annual report is on the web at http://ombuds.wisc.edu/annualReport200304.html.
Division of Information Technology Committee on Academic Staff Issues
- Maddy Covelli
DoIT has 120 academic staff. There are five CASI members; two of those
are members of the Assembly. The CASI has been reviewing the performance
evaluation process that is mandatory at DoIT. They are looking at ways
to make it more painless. The CASI invited Roy Dorman from Employee Compensation
and Economic Benefit Services to speak to the staff on three separate
occasions. Darrell Bazzell also spoke to the academic staff on budget
issues.
Retirement Issues Committee - Char Tortorice
This shared governance committee is distinct from the Retirement Association,
but they have many issues in common. The RIC surveyed campus units to
find out how each went about planning for the inevitable retirement of
academic staff and faculty. Responses ran the full gamut from no planning
to established processes. The committee will put together a brochure outlining
best practices that will be shared with deans and directors.
A national trend is to keep retirees involved and active in the university community. It would be ideal to have a gathering place on or near campus where retirees are welcome and can gather spontaneously.
New Business
1. Presentation of the Academic Staff Executive Committee Slate
Mary Ray, chair of the Nominating Committee, introduced the ASEC slate
with a handout at the meeting. There are five candidates for three open
slots. Candidates will submit statements to be sent with the ballot to
all academic staff. The winners will be announced at the March Assembly
meeting.
2. Assembly resolution regarding employee health care benefit contributions
Bruce Beck moved adoption of the ASEC resolution before the Assembly.
During the discussion, Darren Craig (Dist. 156) suggested a friendly amendment
to remove the word "additional" from the first paragraph. This
was accepted. He then moved to amend the resolution by the addition of
two sentences to the first paragraph. Read Gilgen (ASEC) suggested instead
to include the additional sentences in the last bullet. The amendment
passed. Another friendly amendment was made to replace the word "minimize"
with "avoid." This also passed.
Another concern was expressed that the resolution was not aimed at the right issue - that academic staff with lower salaries will have reduced take-home pay. A vote was taken on the resolution, which passed by a narrow margin. http://wiscinfo.doit.wisc.edu/acstaff/doc/341Ahealth.htm
3. January Assembly meeting
ASEC made a motion to cancel the proposed January 10 Assembly meeting
due to the timing and lack of an agenda. The motion carried.
PROVOST Report: Peter Spear
The provost and University Committee are assembling a search and screen
committee for a new dean of CALS. Two academic staff members will be chosen
for this committee based on recommendations of ASEC. Budget news includes
the governor's proposed $375 million Wisconsin Institute of Discovery,
which is a multi-disciplinary endeavor to be built in the 1200-1300 blocks
of University Avenue. It will house areas of science, such as nanotechnology,
tech transfer, and biotechnology, including stem cell research. It will
also include 100,000 sq. ft. of teaching space.
To help alleviate some of the $1.6 billion state deficit, the governor asked the UW System and other state agencies for ways to implement a 10% cut. For the exercise, UW System was to take the cut from institutional support funds only, with a concentration on administrative cuts. This would mean a $5.2 million reduction for UW-Madison alone. The deans and directors are working to identify how efficiencies can be used to make up for funding losses. An option for the campus is to create a reinvestment pool of money to use for programs that have unanticipated demands.
Meeting adjourned at 4:45 p.m.
Submitted by Colleen McCabe
Secretary of the Academic Staff