Academic Staff Assembly (ASA)
Minutes
MINUTES
ACADEMIC STAFF ASSEMBLY
Monday, 8 March 2004
272 Bascom Hall (3:30-4:40 pm)
Provost Peter Spear called the meeting to order at 3:30 pm.
AUTOMATIC CONSENT BUSINESS
The minutes of the 2/9/2004 Academic Staff Assembly meeting were approved.
Committee Reports
Academic Staff Executive Committee (ASEC) - Bruce Beck, chair
http://wiscinfo.doit.wisc.edu/acstaff/asec.html
1. Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Paul Barrows has created a Taskforce
to Examine Costs of Textbooks and Other Course Materials. ASEC has appointed
two academic staff representatives to this taskforce. They are Robin Kurtz
and Tim Paustian.
2. Esther Olson and Bruce Beck were invited by the chancellor's office
to help interview three finalists for the position of Assistant Director
of State Relations.
3. Last month the Assembly voted to expand the Academic Staff Appeals
Committee from 9 members to 12 members. That change has gone to the Board
of Regents and is now in effect. According to ASPP, vacancies on the Appeals
Committee are filled through appointment by the chancellor upon the recommendations
of ASEC. ASEC is still in the process of preparing its list of recommended
candidates.
4. The UW System Compensation Advisory Committee is meeting on March 15
to discuss some issues of parity between unclassified employees and employees
represented in collective bargaining. The UW-Madison academic staff representative
on that committee is Larry Davis.
5. The University Committee is reviewing the frequency of academic staff
holding both a teaching appointment and a high-level research appointment
within the same academic department. Members of the UC think appointments
combining instruction and research should be reserved for faculty appointments.
Read Gilgen and Bruce attended a recent meeting of the University Committee
to participate in this discussion. Bruce asked the UC to avoid drawing
any distinctions that could result in unequal treatment of academic staff.
6. ASEC is reviewing academic staff participation on graduate degree committees.
Presently, qualified academic staff may serve as an additional (or "extra")
degree committee member. The issue under discussion is whether there are
circumstances when academic staff could be qualified to serve as regular
degree committee members. To pursue this matter, ASEC is working to identify
some case examples where academic staff membership on degree committees
would have been helpful to the degree candidate and/or the department.
7. Each year, ASEC is responsible for creating a slate of candidates to
fill vacancies on the Nominating Committee. Later this spring, the Assembly
will be voting to fill two (or possibly three) vacancies on the Nominating
Committee. If you know of individuals in the academic staff who know lots
of people across the campus and would be interested in serving on this
committee, please send names to Colleen McCabe, Secretary of the Academic
Staff.
8. The Academic Staff Institute is scheduled for April 13, 8:00am -1:30pm
at the Pyle Center. Registration will begin at 8:00 with a continental
breakfast. The keynote speaker will be Nancy Cantor, President of the
University of Illinois. Registration is $15. You should be receiving more
information soon.
Compensation and Economic Benefits Committee (CEBC) - Bill Steffenhagen
reporting
http://wiscinfo.doit.wisc.edu/acstaff/cebc/index2.htm
The CEBC met with Steve Lund to discuss issues of parity with classified
staff benefits. Of particular interest was the classified staff opportunity
for restoration of sick leave credits after a five-year gap in service
as opposed to only three years for unclassified staff.
On March 4, Bill Steffenhagen attended the System Fringe Benefits Advisory Committee meeting. Unless or until all the state union contracts have been settled, the health care premium for unclassified staff will be $18/$45 the first year and $22/$55 the next year. Amounts currently being deducted will be adjusted once the final figures are determined. All members of the committee were in favor of the additional floating holiday other state employees will have (for Veteran's Day). Bill brought up the issue of the gap in service related to sick leave credits. While it will require a change to UWS, System legal service will do some research to see if it can be presented as a minor technical change.
March 1-19 will be the open enrollment period for the supplemental dental plan. The information will be disseminated by email only.
Districting and Representation Committee (DRC) - Anne Gunther, chair
http://wiscinfo.doit.wisc.edu/acstaff/comopp/drc.html
Nominating Committee - Laurie Mayberry, chair
http://wiscinfo.doit.wisc.edu/acstaff/comopp/nc.html
Laurie presented the ASEC slate for 2004-05. Members of the Assembly have
ten (10) days from this date to petition for additional candidates to
be added to the slate. The ballot will be mailed to all academic staff
prior to the April Assembly meeting.
Personnel Policies and Procedures Committee (PPPC) - Ann Wallace, chair
http://wiscinfo.doit.wisc.edu/acstaff/pppc/index.htm
The most recent set of changes to ASPP went to the Regents on February
23, 2004. They will be deemed effective from that date until there is
action taken by the Regents. The updated file is on the web. More changes
will be voted on today by the Assembly.
Professional Development and Recognition Committee (PDRC) - Daña
Alder, co-chair
http://wiscinfo.doit.wisc.edu/acstaff/pdrc/index.html
The deadline for the next set of professional development grants is March
12. This round covers the period from July 1-December 31, 2004.
Excellence Award winners have been selected. The chancellor's reception to honor them is set for April 15. They will also be presented to the Assembly at the April meeting.
School of Nursing Committee on Academic Staff Issues - Gale Barber
The SoN CASI consists of four members (2 instructors, 2 researchers, and
1 administrator). The three new members met with the previous committee
for an orientation. They are working on an online explanation of the merit
review process and professional development procedures.
The CASI prepared a survey for the academic staff in which they were given
seven areas of concern (some borrowed from other CASI surveys) and asked
to rank them. The top two vote-getters were job security and percentage
of appointment/workload. Based on the survey results, they invited the
associate dean of the School to attend brown bag sessions on these topics.
Also, the CASI has recommended to the dean that the annual review process
become more visible.
The CASI coordinated a program for HeadStart moms over the holiday. They identified 27 families to "adopt" and took them vanloads of blankets, books, toys, and other useful items. They will continue to provide them with necessities throughout the year.
Letters and Science Committee on Academic Staff Issues - Bruno Browning
The L&S CASI, in its 5th year of existence, represents 600-700 academic
staff. The most recent issues of concern are professorial titles, job
security, salary caps for Category A staff, governance and committee roles
at the departmental and college level, workload (especially in foreign
language departments), academic awards, and training for chairs and directors.
Retirement Issues Committee - Char Tortorice
The committee interviewed 60 departments to see how they prepared their
staff for transition into retirement. It was clear there was a significant
amount of variation as to how this was done, if it was done, and how well.
The committee is collecting some of the best practices and hoping to incorporate
these ideas in future training for chairs and department heads.
New Business
1. ASPP changes - for vote
Approved unanimously.
2. ASPRO by-law changes - for vote
Approved unanimously.
Old Business
None
Provost Report: Peter Spear
The administration is not anticipating any major budget adjustments at
this juncture. However, the campus is not out of the woods for the next
biennium since the state continues to have a large deficit.
The Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) is a proposed constitutional amendment that would cap state spending by the rate of inflation. This would be detrimental to campuses, since GPR funds would be limited. The burden would then be on student tuition to prevent cutbacks in services. Pressures of higher education fluctuate with greater demands, so reduced funding can have dire consequences for continued quality and accessibility.
ASEC asked the provost about taking out the instructor category codes from the printed Timetable. The provost was willing, but needed to take the issue to the faculty and the students. It has cleared all hurdles, so the codes will be removed.
The provost is on the search and screen committee for the new UW System President. The committee will have its first meeting tomorrow.
Meeting adjourned at 4:40 p.m.
Submitted by Colleen McCabe
Secretary of the Academic Staff