Approved 01-27-22

ASEC Minutes

2:00 – 4:30 p.m. Thursday, January 20, 2022

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

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

Guests: Lesley Fisher, Karen Massetti-Moran, Karl Scholz, Patrick Sheehan

The meeting was called to order at 1:57 p.m.

The minutes of January 6 were approved.

Guest: Karl Scholz, Provost

Provost Scholz reported that campus would be starting in-person instruction on Tuesday. SOAR advising is taking place in person as well, comprised mostly of transfer students but also some freshmen. The percent positivity rates for COVID are down from where they were last week, and there have been declines in the city positivity rates over the weekend as well. The hope is that there will be sharp declines in the next 2-3 weeks. Communication went out to campus regarding plans for the semester, and Vice Provost John Zumbrunnen sent an additional communication to instructors. Antigen test kits have been distributed to students this week, and next week staff and faculty will be able to get tests as well. Students have been strongly encouraged to test before coming back to Madison and again after they arrive. Campus is also working hard to distribute more N95, KN95, and surgical masks. For isolation/quarantine issues, there are discussions occurring with departments to implement temporary modality shifts if needed. We are not expecting instructors to teach in dual modalities simultaneously. The number of requests for modality changes so far is about half of what were requested in the fall semester. About half of those have been fully met, and others have been met with some modifications.

ASEC also shared concerns with the Provost about ShopUW+ and impacts to research administration, particularly with respect to purchases made on grants. ASEC will discuss this further with Interim Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Rob Cramer at its next meeting.

Guests: Patrick Sheehan, Interim Chief Human Resources Officer, and Karen Massetti-Moran, Director of Total Rewards, Office of Human Resources

OHR is sending a communication to academic staff, university staff, and limited employees with additional information on the TTC appeals process. It will include more information about titles that are currently under review and what processes are if new SJDs are created that didn’t exist before the February 4 deadline for filing appeals.

Currently, there have been 244 informal resolutions processed, with 167 of those from academic staff. For formal appeals, there are 210 records drafted or submitted, with 165 of these for academic staff or limited appointees.

If a new standard job description (SJD) is created, then that will be added to the review page on the website. HR representatives will be the first to know when those changes are implemented, and OHR is looking at how to communicate those changes more broadly, including news stories.

Regarding SJD library updates, there are over 200 issues currently logged. After getting through this list, OHR will establish a cadence of regular review of titles by HR reps for possible additions/changes to the library. As new/redesigned jobs come about, there may need to be some off-cycle iterations of this title review process as well. In the long term, there will be job group reviews and reviews of the overall structure. There need to be further discussions on how employees can advocate for their own title changes long-term as well.

The next phases of TTC involve: 1) career development, which will be an iterative process looking at the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) related to positions; 2) compensation strategy, looking at issues around equity and compression and building a strategy to look across divisions at job titles to ensure that people are compensated adequately; and 3) benefits, which entails looking at what improvements we are able to make as a campus. There are many key indicators that OHR can look at to analyze equity and compression issues, including years of experience.

On the topic of remote work agreements for academic staff, about 35% of active paid appointments have some remote work hours. There are 3,999 executed remote work agreements for academic staff out of 5,777 total. The weekly average of remote hours for academic staff is 23.25 hours. Outside of the larger schools/colleges generally having the highest numbers of executed agreements, with exceptions for some smaller divisions based on positions, there are no other discernable trends at this point. Workplace flexibilities aren’t tracked and would be difficult to track due to their temporary and sporadic nature.

General Reports

Tim Dalby, ASEC Chair, reported that ASEC would be planning to meet virtually until February 10. He attended the listening session for the Chancellor search and screen, at which there were many good questions and comments posed to the search committee representatives. The PPPC discussed suggested changes to ASPP Chapter 2 at its most recent meeting. Tim, Mallory, Lesley, and Jake had their first monthly OHR meeting with Patrick Sheehan in his new role as the Interim Chief Human Resources Officer. The discussion revolved largely around TTC and next steps.

Jake Smith, Secretary of the Academic Staff, discussed the call for TTC appeals panelists. ASEC will review the prospective candidates and make appointments at its meeting on February 3. Jake reported that the search website for the Chancellor position is live. The recent academic staff chat went well with good discussion on onsite and remote work. Chats on communication with supervisors are scheduled for February 4 and February 8.

Liaison Reports

Stephanie Jones reported on the recent meetings of the Mentoring Committee. The committee has been discussing challenges associated with matching mentors and mentees in terms of both numbers as well as affinities. The committee invited Dadao Hao from DDEEA to discuss the latter topic further.

Stephanie Elkins reported on the Communications Committee’s progress with the academic staff newsletter. The committee will be meeting virtually through April and is working with one of the ASEC subcommittees on the content of the newsletter. The Wisconsin Public Media CASI has someone on the search and screen committee for the new WPM Director. At the CASI’s recent meeting, the HR Director provided a summary of what her office is working on, including looking at pay gap issues within the public broadcasting job group, as well as supervisor training on equity and compression issues.

Donna Cole reported that the Engineering CASI met. The committee is working on filling a number of vacancies. The SMPH CASI met to discuss how to increase diversity in committee membership and topics raised at the last SMPH staff town hall.

Lindsey Stoddard Cameron reported that the Division of Continuing Studies CASI has been focusing on processes around large-scale awards nominations for staff both for this year and for next year.

Tim Dalby reported that he is serving on the search and screen committee for the Director of Youth Protection.

Business

·       Planning Subcommittee Updates

The DEI subcommittee met and discussed who from ASEC might join to fill the vacancy left by Leslie Petty. Lindsey Stoddard Cameron also had discussions with the Nominating Committee regarding diversity efforts in recruiting individuals to serve in governance. The CASI subcommittee will convene with Jake and Lesley to discuss efforts in that space. The communications subcommittee met to discuss topics related to the academic staff newsletter in development and have come up with a potential schedule.

·       Climate Survey Discussion

ASEC discussed and provided feedback on a campus-wide climate survey from the Provost and VCFA offices that is in the development stages.

·       February Assembly Meeting Agenda

ASEC continued to discuss the February agenda. A resolution from an Assembly rep has been put forward, and ASEC will look at a draft of the document at the next meeting.

·       Topics for Guests

Interim VCFA – ShopUW+, long-term planning on amelioration of salary issues for staff, how hoteling project is going, real estate initiative progress, AQSS, discussion of expansion of Research Park

Chancellor – UWS President search and orientation, important ongoing issues for campus beyond her tenure as chancellor, reflections on governance

Meeting adjourned at 4:39 p.m.

Minutes submitted by Jake Smith, Secretary of the Academic Staff