Approved 05-27-21

 

ASEC Minutes

2:00 – 4:30 p.m. Thursday, May 20, 2021

https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/93936751067

Members Present: Donna Cole; Jenny Dahlberg; Tim Dalby, chair; Stephanie Elkins; Mallory Musolf; Leslie Petty; Deb Shapiro; Lindsey Stoddard Cameron; Bill Tishler

Guests: Lotus Buckner, Lesley Fisher, Jessica Karls-Ruplinger, Darren Martin, Karen Massetti-Moran, Karl Scholz, Mark Walters

The meeting was called to order at 2:01 p.m.

The minutes of May 6 and May 18 were approved.

General Reports

Tim Dalby, ASEC Chair, reported that protocols for summer were discussed at the latest meeting of the chiefs of staff, governance chairs, and secretaries. The Badger Badge is no longer a requirement for building admittance, with the exception of some units on campus. Tim attended the last PPPC meeting in his capacity as liaison. The discussion was on remote work and areas of interest for the committee in the coming year. The ASEC Listening Hours continue to have steady attendance; topics raised include job security and issues regarding the Title and Total Compensation Project. UW System held a town hall on May 13 regarding the single payroll conversion. The session was specifically held for 12-month employees. Tim, Mallory, Jenny, Lesley, and Jake met with Mark Walters for their monthly meeting. Topics included remote work policy updates and single payroll implications.

Jake Smith, Secretary of the Academic Staff, reported that the Chancellor and the Provost are charging a caregiving task force to look at impacts from COVID on caregiving. ASEC decided to put out a call to all academic staff for possible participants. Jake reported on the status of the finalist sessions for the Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs, Employee Assistance Office Director, and Chief Diversity Officer positions. The Spring CASI Session was held last week; topics included the remote work policy, single payroll impacts, and the TTC Project. The Ad Hoc Committee on Academic and University Staff Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion requested an extension to the deadline for the work of their committee to late summer/early fall. ASEC agreed that the committee should take the time it needs to complete the report. Jake reported that the letter to UW System on single payroll was sent yesterday. The Joint Committee on Finance will be taking up the UW System budget next week.

Liaison Reports

Bill Tishler reported on the last University Committee meeting. Chancellor Blank discussed potential campus health protocols that may result from the new CDC guidance.

Stephanie Elkins reported that the Communications Committee reviewed the latest iteration of the academic staff website. They also discussed the frequency and content of an academic staff newsletter.

Mallory Musolf reported on the UW System Reps meeting on May 7. At the joint governance session, Jeff Buhrandt addressed the budget, an update on System initiatives, and discussed communication on the importance of governance System-wide. For the academic staff meeting, the distance education project was a main topic of discussion. There is a System committee looking at this, and Provost Scholz is representing UW-Madison.

Leslie Petty reported that the Ad Hoc Committee on Academic and University Staff Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion met this week. A substantial amount of work remains on the report, and the committee will be working through it over the summer, with the idea of presenting the report to ASEC in late summer/early fall and the Assembly thereafter.

Donna Cole reported on the SMPH CASI’s meeting. There were continued discussions on the implementation of the research professor title within the School, as well as discussions on issues related to hostile and intimidating behavior.

Deb Shapiro reported that the L&S CASI met on Tuesday. There remain a number of questions on return to onsite work. Questions were also raised about the appeal process for TTC. The committee also passed its new bylaws.

Guest: Karl Scholz, Provost

Provost Scholz commented on commencement and how successful an event it was. He expressed his appreciation for the wonderful job that employees have done in every dimension of the university, from proposals for funding, feedback from parents, instruction, Wisconsin Idea activities, and more. Following up on conversations from the last meeting and a shift in perspective to living with COVID on an ongoing basis, Provost Scholz reiterated the need to ensure that employees have vaccination information uploaded to University Health Services. At present, it appears that approximately 75% of employees have been vaccinated, and it’s possible that that number is underreported. We also need to allow time for people’s mindset to change, and starting to see people in-person in a variety of venues will help with this. It was good to find out what individuals are feeling, and the OHR pulse survey helped with this. The transition back to onsite work will be phased, and we need to be patient as well as address anxieties as they arise. We don’t yet definitively know what the health protocols for instruction will look like in the fall. We are likely to exceed the goal for enrollment, and Enrollment Management has done excellent work to bring students in at a difficult time.

Motion to Convene in Closed Session Pursuant to Wis. Stats. 19.85(1)(c), and (f) to Discuss Appointments to Academic Staff Assembly Districts and Election for ASEC Chair and ASEC Vice Chair (Cole). Seconded. Approved.

Motion to Reconvene in Open Session (Dahlberg). Seconded. Approved.

Business

·       Appointments – for vote

Motion to reappoint continuing representatives and alternates in odd-numbered districts to the Academic Staff Assembly (Stoddard Cameron). Seconded. Approved.

·       ASEC Chair and Vice Chair – for vote

Tim Dalby was elected as ASEC Chair for 2021-22. Mallory Musolf was elected as ASEC Vice Chair for 2021-22.

Guests: Mark Walters, Chief Human Resources Officer, Office of Human Resources; Karen Massetti-Moran, Director of Total Rewards, Office of Human Resources; Lotus Buckner, Director of Talent Management, Office of Human Resources; Jessica Karls-Ruplinger, Chief of Staff, Office of Human Resources

OHR has had an active engagement with campus community, receiving hundreds of comments about the remote work policy. OHR has made adjustments to the policy based on that feedback. The primary concern was with the tone regarding the importance of onsite work. Adjustments have been made to emphasize the importance of remote and hybrid models in the future. This is the first iteration of this policy, and adjustments will continue to be made as things evolve. A response to the Assembly’s resolution on remote work will also be coming. A key change in the policy also includes a definition of workplace flexibilities. Faculty and graduate assistants have been added to the policy for out-of-state and international remote work only; sabbaticals are excluded from the policy. The effective date for re-execution of existing remote work agreements is August 31. Two new factors for considering whether a position could include remote work include the effective function of the unit and adverse impacts on similar positions. There is also a provision for schools/colleges/divisions to look at additional factors. Reimbursable expenditures can also be identified within remote work agreements. The policy outlines more of what the process looks like regarding modification or revocation of agreements, including a “reasonable notice” period instead of a hard “30-day notice” period. An appeal process is also laid out within the policy, which goes up to the dean/director level. ASEC recommended that the explicit link to the policy on workplace flexibilities be put back in. The former telecommuting policy will continue to show in the policy library until August 1, when the remote work policy goes into effect. ASEC also asked OHR to think about ways to address feedback from survey respondents who said that they did not have flexibilities for remote work pre-pandemic, even though those flexibilities existed in policy.

ASEC thanked OHR for incorporating its feedback on the single payroll checklist and other resources. There will also be a pay calculator put in place for the July and August checks, so that employees can see what the gap looks like for their pay. OHR is planning to post more information as well. UW-Madison will also be doing a short-term interest-free loan program and a communication plan for that program for employees who may need assistance in covering the July gap. The application period is expected to launch in June and go through August 15. Repayment of the loan would start in October.

Business

·       Topics for Guests

Provost: Center for Teaching, Learning, and Mentoring (with John Zumbrunnen), questions about instructor workload and enrollment; role on UWS committee on distance education

Interim VCFA: DoIT-AIMS Merger, issues with order status in ShopUW+ and workload on under $300 purchases, future of ATP (pushback of timeline to 2025 implementation), process improvement on virtual/CRM platforms (Salesforce as example)

Meeting adjourned at 4:44 p.m.

Minutes submitted by Jake Smith, Secretary of the Academic Staff