MINUTES Approved October 19, 2006
ACADEMIC STAFF ASSEMBLY
Monday, 11 September 2006
272 Bascom Hall (3:30-4:50 pm)
Vice Chancellor Darrell Bazzell called the meeting to order at 3:35 pm.
AUTOMATIC CONSENT BUSINESS
The minutes of the 5/8/2006 Academic Staff Assembly meeting were approved.
ACADEMIC STAFF ASSEMBLY REPRESENTATIVES ORIENTATION – by Read Gilgen
Read introduced ASEC, Elaine Staley, Colleen McCabe, and new members of the Assembly. He referred to appropriate sections of the 2006-07 Assembly Handbook that will help representatives better understand their roles. Sections in the Appendix explain how to use email lists and the Assembly listserv. The academic staff website http://acstaff.wisc.edu is also a valuable resource.
For Assembly meetings, it is important to use the microphones when speaking to the group; pink cards are for voting, so only one vote per district is permitted.
STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS
Academic Staff Executive Committee (ASEC) – Read Gilgen, chair
http://acstaff.wisc.edu/asec.html; https://lists.wisc.edu/read/?forum=assembly
Read stressed that ASEC meetings are open and encouraged anyone interested to attend. Over the summer, ASEC appointed Bruce Beck to a one-year term, replacing Karen Schwarz who retired in July with an unexpired term. ASEC also gave feedback to System on the dismissal policy for felons and drew up a resolution in support of the campus LTE policy (on today’s agenda). A subcommittee met to consider acceptable criteria for collective bargaining (next month’s agenda). On August 11, ASEC held its annual planning meeting that included representatives from standing committees and the CASIs. ASEC will continue to work on setting priorities for the year. However, some planned action items may be preempted by unanticipated business that comes up throughout the year.
Compensation and Economic Benefits Committee – Karen Tusack, chair
Karen mentioned the four priorities for the committee this coming year:
- Increasing the time for sick leave reinstatement after a break in employment – from 3 up to 5 years.
- Establishing System-wide promotional series for the Program Manager title
- Expanding the Category A salary maxima
- Finding creative ways to fund domestic partner health care benefits if the legislature won’t
Districting and Representation Committee – Charlene Krembs, chair
For the coming year, the DRC plans to continually review districts, checking for appropriate sizes and readjusting as needed. They plan to put the districting policies on the web, review internal procedures, and begin a long-term study.
Nominating Committee – Jackie Hank, reporting
The NC presented its annual report for 05-06. During the last year, the committee gathered a good list of those interested in serving on the shared governance committees. They are still working from that list but will continue to solicit for openings in committees as they arise. They now have a database of those who have served in the past. Their standard procedure is to recommend reappointment for second terms of those who have been members in good standing as reported by the committee chairs. The majority of terms are for three years.
Currently, the NC is working on preparing slates for elections of ASEC and other standing committees in the spring. Slates will be presented to the Assembly in December. Anyone interested in a committee should contact Mary Ray, chair of the Nominating Committee. (mbray@wisc.edu).
Personnel Policies and Procedures Committee – Mo Bischof and Carla Love, co-chairs
The main task of this committee is to review Academic Policies and Procedures and recommend revisions where they may be needed. They want to be sure academic staff have good systems in place in regard to promotional opportunities, job security, rights of appeal, and others.
The PPPC annual report for 2005-06 stated that they are going through ASPP line by line, reviewing for clarity and consistency. Chapter 1-3 are completed so far. With the help of the Academic Personnel Office, the PPPC collected 2005 job security data by department and posted it to the web. http://acstaff.wisc.edu/pppc/JS%20reports%202005/index.htm.
Professional Development and Recognition Committee - Lisa Jansen, co-chair
http://acstaff.wisc.edu/pdrc/index.html
The announcement for the latest round of PD grants has been sent out by email. Representatives need to be sure they have forwarded this information to their district members by email, since hard copies are no longer sent. Details are also in Wisconsin Week and online at http://www.ohr.wisc.edu/grants/asprofdevgrtinfo.html. The grants cover the period from Jan. 1-June 30, 2007. The grant proposals are due to department chairs by October 13. A brown bag to help write successful grant proposals will be held at noon on September 26 at Union South.
PDRC commissioned a portrait of Barry Robinson (from the Academic Staff Endowment Fund) to hang in the Barry Robinson lounge in Vilas Hall. “Wienies” will be served at the unveiling.
This year the PDRC will select a new, less costly recognition item to present to winners of the Academic Staff Excellence Awards and will seek funding for whatever is chosen.
BUSINESS
Resolution regarding the campus initiative to address the LTE policies, August 25, 2006
http://acstaff.wisc.edu/doc/368%20LTE%20Resolution.pdf
Prior to the vote, Darrell Bazzell answered a number of questions from representatives related to the policy. Darrell stressed that the policy applied only to classified staff and would exempt seasonal and “irregular” groups of LTEs. The minimum hourly pay for LTEs will be at or above the Federal minimum wage that will go to about $10.60/hour as of December 2006.
ASEC presented the motion, which was passed after a friendly amendment to add some language. In paragraph three, the words “of the Federal poverty level” had been inadvertently omitted after “110%.”
VICE CHANCELLOR REPORT – Darrell Bazzell
The Regents voted on the 07-09 biennial budgets. Costs to continue were included, but without any new initiatives for the Madison campus. Student tuition costs will go up only 2% per year only if the state comes through with enough to compensate. There has been no action yet on the compensation plan. The governor is asking for a 10% reduction in administrative costs across all System campuses. These cuts are only from central administration with no specific other stipulations. There are still big structural deficits in the state budget, so there is lots of competition for tax dollars. If a new governor is elected, priorities for those funds could change.
System has drafted a policy on criminal background checks that will apply to all employees. A draft of the policy will circulate among the governance groups of all campuses with feedback due by November.
In response to a question about tuition remission, Darrell said that a flat fee will be assessed for each PA and RA of $4,000/semester. This is necessary, but some units are unable to afford the cost. Darrell would like to know if there are instances of unintended consequences from this new policy.
Meeting adjourned at 4:50 p.m.
Submitted by Colleen McCabe
Secretary of the Academic Staff
Submitted by Colleen McCabe
Secretary of the Academic Staff