Academic Staff Assembly (ASA) Minutes
MINUTES approved 10-13-08
ACADEMIC STAFF ASSEMBLY
Monday, 8 September 2008
272 Bascom Hall (3:30-4:30 pm)
ASEC Chair Susan Crowley called the meeting to order at 3:30 pm.
AUTOMATIC CONSENT BUSINESS
The minutes of the 5/12/2008 Academic Staff Assembly meeting were approved.
Introductions: Chair Crowley introduced the ASEC members and asked new Assembly members to stand and be recognized. Crowley asked the Assembly whether they would prefer that ASEC members not be at the front of the room facing the group. No one objected to that arrangement.
STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS
Academic Staff Executive Committee (ASEC) – Susan Crowley, chair
2008-10 priorities from the ASEC annual planning meeting are as follows:
- Identify academic staff contributions to internal and external audiences (communications)
- Engage academic staff in governance (participation at all levels)
- Equity issues (pay, benefits, instructional leave)
- Go green (environmental project to be determined)
In response to a concern about collective bargaining, Bill Steffenhagen said that ASPRO will be closely monitoring any resurgence of that legislation.
Assembly members should save the date of October 23 to attend the chancellor’s inaugural address beginning at 3:30.
Compensation and Economic Benefits Committee: Miriam Simmons, chair
According to its annual report, the committee prepared a “white paper” on allowing instruction leave for teaching academic staff, similar to sabbaticals for faculty. The proposal has been turned over to ASEC for next steps. The committee also updated the FAQ document that is now on the web. They will continue to look at the issue of Category A maxima and pay equity.
Communication Committee: Brian Rust, chair
The new academic staff web site is under construction and progressing more slowly than had been anticipated. Representatives from the standing committees were given a demonstration to help them get started.
Districting and Representation Committee: Anne Gunther, chair
Gunther explained the work the committee does each month, assigning new academic staff and those with changed titles to districts by a combination of title/academic discipline/location.
Nominating Committee – Luanne von Schneidemesser, chair
The committee is finishing up recruitment for the Area Review Committees and the Distinguished Prefix Review Committee. Shared governance committees with openings are Rec Sports, Retirement Issues, Fraternities and Sororities, ADA, and Accommodation in Instruction. Anyone interested in any of the governance committees should contact her.
Personnel Policies and Procedures Committee: Mo Bischof and Bruno Browning, co-chairs
The annual report to the Assembly showed the work of the committee over the past year. Job security data for 2006-07 was reviewed. You can see the results on the web. Follow-up was needed to look at potentially questionable practices in a few units. The committee is going through ASPP for a line-by-line review and will make recommendations for changes once completed. The PPPC reviewed annual reports from the Area Review Committee, Appeals Committee, and Distinguished Prefix Review Committee. There were very few indefinite appointments. The PPPC completed a review of the policy to grant new limited appointees concurrent, coterminous appointments. They recommended to ASEC that this policy be discontinued and ASEC concurred.
Professional Development and Recognition Committee: Kevin Niemi, co-chair
The PDRC is responsible for the professional development grant program, academic staff excellence awards, and executive education grants. All require an application process and are juried from among the many qualified staff who apply. The call for the fall round of professional development grants has gone out this week with a deadline of October 10. Two brown bags will be given by the PDRC to help candidates prepare their grant applications. The call for excellence award nominations will go out later this fall. The call for Executive Education grants is in the spring.
Assembly member orientation: Jo Ann Carr
Jo Ann Carr used a PowerPoint presentation to explain the governance structure at UW-Madison, and responsibilities of an Assembly representation. Assembly members received a Handbook with their materials for this month. This should remain a valuable resource for representatives.
The some of the main points of the presentation are as follows:
- Attend the Assembly meeting and participate.
- Communicate with your districts.
- Encourage involvement in governance of others in your district.
- Sign in when you get here and vote with a pink card.
- Sit close to the front.
- Know your ASEC members and presiding officers.
- Let your district members know who you are.
- Tell ASEC about any “good works” that you know about involving academic staff.
- Volunteer for a governance committee.
GUEST: Carla Raatz, Human Resources Director
The new Human Resource System is being developed for handing payroll System-wide. All the campuses are involved in the planning and implementation. It’s a fit-gap project with PeopleSoft to meet the needs of the various campuses, UW-Madison with its unique requirements and business processes.
Complexities of this project come from having to integrate student help (time and labor), benefits administration (to include state requirements), recruitments (talent acquisition), academic calendar (six different calendars System-wide). Three teams are looking into decentralization to handle Madison’s needs.
GUEST: Chancellor Biddy Martin
Chair Susan Crowley introduced the new chancellor Biddy Martin. Martin explained her priorities and where she plans to invest time and energy:
- Recruitment and retention. Associated issues are environment, intellectual community, unit and department culture can be improved with additional funding. Salaries are also important.
- Student accessibility. Student financial aid to stem the debt burden for families making $75K or below. Need-based aid needs to be a priority; not just merit-based.
- Research advancement with curricular innovations for graduate and undergraduate education.
- Accountability. For what students come away with from their university experience that are not necessarily quantifiable. Use Wisconsin Experience feedback.
- Diversity. Diversity of ideas as well as people and backgrounds.
Chancellor Martin is reading the reports of the reaccreditation teams and thinking about ways to build on these ideas. She is also listening to what is important to individuals. In summing up, Martin stressed academic excellence, freedom of inquiry and exchange of ideas, relative autonomy from the political arena, and relying on peer review for assessment.
ADJOURNMENT
Meeting adjourned at 4:30 p.m. (Reception followed in room 270 until 5:00.)
Submitted by Colleen McCabe
Secretary of the Academic Staff