Academic Staff Assembly Minutes 02-08-21
Approved 03-08-21
ACADEMIC STAFF
ASSEMBLY MEETING MINUTES
https://us.bbcollab.com/guest/2cc0e9c6ec614dbb9393ddc60c68442d
Monday, February 8,
2021
3:30 to 5:00 p.m.
Provost
Karl Scholz called the meeting to order at 3:32 p.m.
Automatic Consent
Business
The
Academic Staff Assembly minutes of Monday, December 14, 2020, were approved.
Guests:
Mark Walters, Chief Human Resources Officer; and Karen Massetti-Moran,
Director of Total Rewards, Office of Human Resources
Mark
Walters introduced Karen Massetti-Moran as the new
Director of Total Rewards for the Office of Human Resources. She was previously
at the UW-Milwaukee and is stepping into the role previously held by Diane
Blaskowski. Mark and Karen provided updates on the single payroll initiative
and the Title and Total Compensation Project.
The
single payroll initiative is a UW System core initiative meant to simplify
processes. Effective July 2021, employees who are currently paid on a monthly basis will move to a biweekly pay schedule. UW
System will be hosting several town hall sessions, with the first session
coming up on March 3. UW Credit Union will be hosting spending and saving
workshops. UW-Madison also has its own resources, which are located on the HR
website. OHR will be partnering with Extension to
offer financial planning workshops as well as checklists for potential impacts
that employees may need to consider. There is also a new email address (2021payrollchanges@ohr.wisc.edu) and phone number
(608-265-2257) for employees to reach out and ask questions and voice concerns.
On
the topic of TTC, before the pandemic, we were in the
home stretch of the project. During the pause due to the pandemic, we saw that
remote work is possible and how we might adapt to certain changes. With
confidence that virtual engagement can be effective, we are now ready to
proceed with TTC again. The initial goals of TTC remain the same: a market-informed compensation and
benefits structure; the establishment of an underlying job framework, such as
identifying progression for employees; shorter, more efficient job
descriptions; the creation of a compensation resource to aid in good
decision-making with respect to hiring and salary increases; and to be
responsive to employees’ needs. The title structure and the standard job
descriptions were completed going into 2020. Supervisor discussions with
employees, creation of the salary structure, and implementation still need to
happen. The idea is to implement TTC on July 1, 2021,
but the decision has not yet been finalized. The supervisor/employee
conversations are the most substantial part of the work that still needs to
happen. Any issues that employees have with their titles or job descriptions
should be discussed and hopefully resolved in these conversations. The next
steps would be to resolve issues from employee feedback and notify employees of
their new titles. There will be an appeal process for employees who don’t believe they are in the right title. OHR will provide resources for supervisors and for
employees. Once the implementation date is finalized, OHR
will finalize the timelines for the other parts of the project, and then that
information will be communicated to campus.
Guest: Sherry Boeger, Director, Employee
Assistance Office
Sherry
presented the 2019-20 report on activity within the Employee Assistance Office.
The office transitioned to a remote environment but has been able to provide
the same level of confidential services. Over 50% of individuals using EAO’s services last year were academic staff. During the
pandemic, people are experiencing increased levels of stress, isolation, and
depression. Top concerns for academic staff included mental health, partner
relationships, work-life balance, and handling grief. EAO
continues to see workplace conflict issues and communication issues. They have
increased their services in the last five years. The partnership with LifeMatters has provided access to services on a 24/7
basis, and LifeMatters is generally able to provide
appointments for employees within 3-5 days. EAO gives
employees pre-test and post-test evaluations on its services, and the results
have shown improvements in productivity, workplace engagement, stress, and
satisfaction.
Reports
ASEC Chair Tim Dalby acknowledged Black
History Month and provided thanks to ASEC colleagues
for their continuing work. The Policy Library is now available, and Tim
provided thanks to the many academic staff who worked on this project. ASEC continues to keep an eye on issues related to single
payroll, TTC, and concerns about them being
implemented within the same month. He encouraged attendees to let ASEC know about any concerns they had in these areas. Tim
urged attendees to take vacation time not only to ensure that they don’t lose that time, but also because the time away from
work helps us have a better work-life balance.
Jenny
Dahlberg provided the ASPRO report. ASPRO is continuing to offer an opportunity
to join at a discounted rate. It is a critical time for support as we move into
a new biennial budget year.
Nathan
Schulfer provided the 2018-2020 report of the Budget
Committee. The committee is a FPP Chapter 6 shared
governance committee that was formed in 2016. The first year of the committee’s
work was spent learning about the campus budget process. In the last year, the
focus of the committee has been on COVID impacts to the budget. In the coming
year, the committee will be paying attention to issues related to the biennial
budget, TTC, and single payroll. The committee
frequently hears presentations from various deans, directors, and other campus
leaders, and members are open to ideas on who else should be presenting to the
committee.
Alissa
Oleck presented the 2021 Academic Staff Executive Committee slate (ASA Document
#747). Those running include Donna Cole, Miranda Hofmann, Stephanie Jones,
Lindsey Stoddard Cameron, and Diane Stojanovich. The petition process for
adding candidates to the slate will be sent out after the Assembly meeting.
ASPP Chapter 13 Change (ASA #748)
Caitlin
Cleary, District 443 Representative and PPPC
Co-Chair, moved approval of a change to ASPP Chapter
13.03, which removed January from the regular meeting schedule of the Assembly.
Seconded. Approved.
Resolution on Climate
Divestment and Procurement (ASA #749)
Tim
Dalby, ASEC Chair, moved that the Assembly consider
the resolution as a first reading with a vote to follow at the March meeting.
Seconded. Approved by unanimous consent. Discussion on the resolution took place.
The resolution: 1) urges the University of Wisconsin Foundation to engage in
carbon investment disclosure and divestment; 2) states that UW-Madison should
assess and publish the carbon footprint of its procurement process and develop
and implement a plan to make all procurement processes under University of
Wisconsin-Madison's discretionary control carbon neutral within five years; and
3) states that the University of Wisconsin Foundation should engage in other
climate-related disclosure mechanisms and procedures. Questions were raised
about the feasibility and cost of a 5-year timeline related to procurement
processes, as well as what transparency protocols are already in place. The
resolution will be brought back to the Assembly for a vote in March.
Provost
Report
Provost
Scholz reported on the progress of the Safer Badgers program. UW-Madison
conducted 100,000 tests throughout the fall semester, and we now have the
capacity to do 80,000 tests per week. Public health experts say that robust
testing is critical to mitigating the spread of the virus. Enforcement of the
program will begin on Wednesday, at which point students, staff, and faculty will
need a green badge on the Safer Badgers app to enter campus buildings. Both the
rejection rates for test samples and the turnaround time for test results have
decreased, and Provost Scholz emphasized the need for patience as we enter the
next round of the program.
On
the topic of vaccines, we are going to try to vaccinate the campus community as
quickly as possible. The issue right now is that of supply. The hope is to have
everyone in the university community vaccinated by the end of the semester, and
to have new students vaccinated—if they have not already been—when they arrive
for the start of the fall semester. UW-Madison has also received $10 million in
federal funds that will go to student aid, and where necessary, campus will add
funds to support students that may not meet the requirements for federal
funding, such as international students or DACA students.
Provost
Scholz recognized Black History Month and encouraged attendees to visit the
campus website for more information on events occurring throughout the month.
The Policy Library is now live and will be a great resource for campus. Provost
Scholz also reported that undergraduate applications have been up 16%
year-over-year, and UW-Madison has received more than 53,000 applications this
year.
Meeting
adjourned at 5:14 pm.
Minutes submitted
by Jake Smith, Secretary of the Academic Staff