Recording

Transcription

Chancellor Rebecca Blank called the meeting to order at 3:31 p.m. with 149 voting members present (109 needed for quorum). Memorial resolutions were offered for Professor Emeritus Frances Patton Bretherton (Faculty Document 2982), Professor Emeritus Phillip Harth (Faculty Document 2983), Professor Emeritus Standish Henning (Faculty Document 2984), Professor Emerita Noah Hershkowitz (Faculty Document 2985), and Professor Emeritus James Pawley (Faculty Document 2986)

Chancellor Rebecca Blank encouraged everyone to take time off during the holidays to relax and spend time with family and friends. The very high vaccination rate on campus has resulted in a low number of positive COVID-19 tests, except for a slight increase after the Thanksgiving holiday. As required by executive order, UW-Madison will implement a vaccination mandate by early January, allowing for medical and religious exemptions.

Fall commencement will be Sunday, December 19, in person and livestreamed. The speaker will be Manu Raju, the chief congressional correspondent for CNN and a 2002 UW-Madison alum. 

The Hostile and Intimidating Behavior policy, passed by the Faculty Senate in 2014, allows discipline-- up to dismissal-- of faculty who engage in this type of behavior. The policy has been used in a handful of cases. Blank encouraged faculty to continue sharing information about the policy and to file complaints when warranted. 

A search for a new Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration will launch next week. The finalists for the new UW System president should be announced in the next couple months. The search and screen committee for a new UW-Madison chancellor was announced. It will be chaired by Regent Karen Walsh.

UC Chair Eric Sandgren reported that the Faculty Senate will approve an additional year of the academic calendar on a rolling basis to regularize the process for creating it. A committee of UW-Madison faculty and members of the community will review both the religious observances memo and the academic calendar. Lastly, a shared Outlook calendar will be available that lists both important academic dates and religious observances. 

He also discussed how to strengthen shared governance through communication, being more proactive, and maintaining continuity by developing long-term issues.

The Faculty Senate Minutes 2021-11-01 were approved by consent. Also approved by consent were changes to Faculty Policies and Procedures, standardizing membership information for the Campus Diversity and Climate Committee; Lectures Committee; and Committee for Women in the University (Faculty Document 2987). Ombuds Rick Nordheim presented the Ombuds annual report for 2020-2021 (Faculty Document 2988), Professor Beth Larson (Kinesiology) presented the Committee for Women in the University annual report for 2020-2021 (Faculty Document 2989), Professor Kristen Malecki (Population Health Sciences) presented the Campus Diversity and Climate Committee annual report for 2020-2021 (Faculty Document 2990), and Professor Jordan Rosenblum (Center for Jewish Studies) presented the University Lectures Committee annual report for 2020-2021 (Faculty Document 2991). There were no questions on these reports.

University Committee member Erica Halverson moved approval of amendments to Policy UW-879, the Evening Midterm Exam Policy. The amendments were approved (Faculty Document 1585 Rev). The changes will take effect with the Spring 2022 semester.

University Committee member Fernando Tejedo-Herrera moved approval of removing the Honorific Research title program (Faculty Document 1489i). The Senate voted to end the program.

Professor Dietram Scheufele (Life Sciences Communication and chair of the Committee on Honorary Degrees) moved to convene in closed session pursuant to Wis. Stats. 19.85(1)(c) and (f) to consider the recommendation of the Committee on Honorary Degrees was approved by consent at 4:23 p.m. Professor Scheufele presented background information on the honorary degree nominees. Senators voted by paper or electronic ballot. The nominees were approved with 119 votes cast. Professor Scheufele moved to reconvene in open session. The motion was seconded and passed at 4:33 p.m., at which point Chancellor Blank adjourned the meeting.