Minutes
ACADEMIC STAFF ASSEMBLY
Monday, March 11, 2002
272 Bascom Hall (3:30 - 4:40)
A. ASEC Chair Linda Newman CALLED THE MEETING TO ORDER AT 3:35 P.M.
B. AUTOMATIC CONSENT BUSINESS
The minutes of the 2/11/2002 Academic Staff Assembly meeting were approved
as presented.
C. PROVOST ACTIVITY REPORT: PETER SPEAR
Peter Spear (arriving late due to a teleconference with System chancellors
on the state budget) reported that the budget situation remains fluid.
The GOP-controlled state Assembly is now up to a budget cut for System
of $123 million, but that will likely be reduced in the final outcome.
In the meantime, System President Lyall is suspending all campus admissions.
Vacant positions will not be filled unless they are deemed "critical"
to the mission.
The uncertainty of the budget makes things difficult. With campus planning for courses and curriculum done years in advance, we cannot easily adjust to cuts that come this quickly. So far, there is no discussion of layoffs.
D. COMMITTEES AND REPORTS
1. Academic Staff Executive Committee (ASEC) ANNOUNCEMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
- Linda Newman, Chair)
Nancy Westphal-Johnson resigned from ASEC due to the demands of her job.
ASEC appointed Frank Kooistra to take her place until the spring election
of 2003. He will also fill in for her on the University Academic Planning
Council's budget subcommittee.
Jim Anderson and Matt Sanders will participate in the review of applications for the Chancellor's Award for Departmental Excellence in Teaching.
Applications for the Dean of Students positions are due by April 1. Contact Linda Newman or Kathy Poi if you have suggestions for candidates to recruit.
System representatives had dinner at President Lyall's house with chancellors and Regents in attendance.
Focus groups of researchers and instructors are meeting to help provide information about the integration of these staff into the institution.
ASEC and PPPC have been working on revisions to ASPP Chapters 13 and 14 involving academic staff governance committees. Drafts will go the Assembly in April for discussion.
ASEC passed a motion to recommend that all governance groups communication with broad audiences define any acronyms used and reference the academic staff web site for further information.
ASEC met with Jeff Hamm and Patti Brennan from the Committee on Women in the University (see report below). Bill Steffenhagen and Steve Lund reported to ASEC about a meeting with Chuck McConnell from UW System about the issue of salary caps and number of staff at the maxima in Category A.
Greg Iaccarino announced that the invitations for the Academic Staff Institute had been mailed to all reps, alternates, and others for the April 17 event. Please register by April 3.
Donna Cole addressed the Assembly to thank Char Tortorice and others on the Academic Staff Endowment Committee for providing the goodies today. Last month's cookie sale brought in $100 for the Endowment Fund. The Endowment Committee decided on three avenues for donations in the coming fundraising campaign:
1. A need-based, non-matching professional development grant (juried
by the Professional Development and Recognition Committee)
2. Need-based grants to any of the campus-connected child care facilities
(in consultation with the Campus Childcare Committee)
3. A gift of permanence to provide a campus hiking trail or other natural
area (in consultation with the Campus Natural Areas Committee)
The Endowment Committee would like all Assembly members to provide something for the "white elephant" sale in May at the Assembly meeting. Please bring your item/s to the Assembly in April - with a suggested donation price.
2. Compensation and Economic Benefits Committee (CEBC) - Jim Pavelko
for Ron Carda, Chair
http://cebc.engr.wisc.edu/
Two brown bags were held in conjunction with PPPC and PDRC, both well-attended,
Time to move up the ladder? Academic Staff Promotions - presenter, Ann
Wallace
Building a Portfolio - presenter, Don Schutt
3. Districting and Representation Committee (DRC) - Mary Ray, Chair
http://drc.academic-staff.wisc.edu
4. Nominating Committee (NC) - Char Tortorice for Karen Carlson, Chair
http://wiscinfo.doit.wisc.edu/acstaff/comopp/nc.html
(see agenda item below for slates)
5. Personnel Policies and Procedures Committee (PPPC) - Ann Wallace,
Chair
http://wiscinfo.doit.wisc.edu/acstaff/comopp/pppc/
The committee worked on language for ASPP Chapters 13 and 14, coming to
the Assembly in April. They also reviewed a report of the past year's
grievances and appeals.
6. Professional Development and Recognition Committee (PDRC) - Belinda
Velazquez, Co-chair
http://wiscinfo.doit.wisc.edu/acstaff/pdrc/index.html
Thanks to Read Gilgen, Bruno Browning, and Cathy Middlecamp for presenting
the brown bag on
Professional Development through Involvement in Professional Organizations.
The next one on
4/18 is Who's Who in Administration, at noon in 220 Ingraham.
The committee has selected this year's Excellence Award winners, and they will be announced later this week. Professional Development grants were due to departments on March 8. They must be turned in to the Academic Personnel Office by March 29.
7. Legislative Update - Esther Olson
Thanks to Char Tortorice for giving a presentation at UW-Parkside in place
of Esther.
The Assembly is planning more cuts for UW System and state agencies as part of the budget repair bill. ASPRO will continue to monitor the situation closely, concentrating on state senators, if needed.
GUESTS: COMMITTEE ON WOMEN IN THE UNIVERSITY, CO-CHAIRS ASSISTANT DEAN JEFFREY HAMM AND PROFESSOR PATRICIA BRENNAN
In conjunction with the committee's annual report, provided in the packet, Jeff and Patti spoke about the current goals and initiatives. A major focus continues to be campus climate. Members of the committee met with the deans last year and gained support for the sexual harassment workshops that are still taking place.
The committee prepared a gender equity survey of faculty women, and as a result of that exercise, 42 women received salary adjustments of the 111 who were recommended or self-selected for review.
What about academic staff? The number of academic staff titles - 900+ as opposed to 3 for faculty - make any study of equity very complex. The committee instead will investigate job security issues for academic staff before tackling compensation questions. However, if there are suggestions about particular titles or areas where there seem to be equity issues, the committee would like to know about them.
In response, Assembly members suggested Lecturer, Faculty Associate, and Instructional Specialist titles, as well as Clinical Nurse Specialist.
GUESTS: CAMPUS DIVERSITY OVERSIGHT 2008 COMMITTEE, CO-CHAIRS VICE-CHANCELLOR FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS PAUL BARROWS AND PROFESSOR DEBORAH BRANDT
Paul Barrows reported that the campus is planning to do more standardized exit interviews for minority students who leave campus before graduating. The committee has a working group on campus climate. The second annual Campus Forum on climate and diversity will be May 7 at Memorial Union. All are encouraged to participate.
Deborah Brandt said that we can all do our part to encourage diversity on campus by improving the candidate pool for hires to include minorities and providing a comfortable climate for students of color. She emphasized that if we are involved as individuals, little things we do can make a difference.
OTHER BUSINESS
A. OLD BUSINESS
B. NEW BUSINESS
1. Introduction of Stand Committee slates - Char Tortorice
Slates of candidates, provided by the Nominating Committee and ASEC, were
included in the Assembly packets. Additional nominations were made from
the floor. For PPPC, add Jeanne Hendricks. For PDRC, add Dana Alder. For
Nominating Committee, add Mary Ray. Slates were approved. Ballots will
be collected at the May Assembly meeting.
2. Proposal: contingency fund support for academic staff
Representative Jessica Lindner presented the proposal, which would provide
support for academic staff who are nonrenewed as a result of the current
budget shortfall.
Steve Limbaugh spoke of his personal experience as an instrumentation innovator in Engineering. He is a long-term academic member who has worked for six faculty members on various grants. While grant requests are being decided, he is in danger of being unemployed for a number of months between projects. The current bridge funding support only covers principal investigators, so he is not eligible under that program and would like to see the program extended to cover others in his situation.
Jessica Lindner made a motion to approve the proposal as stated. Discussion followed about process. Another motion was made to send the proposal to the Compensation and Economic Benefits Committee for a review before coming back to the full Assembly. That motion superseded the first motion and passed.
Meeting adjourned at 4:40 p.m.
Submitted by Colleen McCabe
Secretary of the Academic Staff