Academic Staff Assembly Minutes 12-13-21
Approved 02-14-22
ACADEMIC STAFF
ASSEMBLY MEETING MINUTES
272 Bascom Hall
Monday, December
13, 2021
3:30 to 5:00 p.m.
Provost
Scholz called the meeting to order at 3:31 p.m.
Memorial
Resolution for Ann Gordon-Walker (ASA #771)
Heather
Daniels read the memorial resolution for Ann Gordon-Walker.
Guests:
Mark Walters, Chief Human Resources Officer; Karen Massetti-Moran,
Director of Total Rewards, Office of Human Resources; and Meghan Owens,
Compensation Admin Director, Office of Human Resources
Mark,
Karen, and Meghan provided an update on the implementation of the Title and
Total Compensation Project. The project was implemented approximately a month
ago, and OHR is looking at issues that have surfaced as the implementation
settles. OHR is currently focused on issues with the IT job group, as well as
animal care and grants administration. In order to
create the salary structures, there was analysis of the jobs and their duties,
with subsequent evaluation compared to the market. We used benchmarks of public
higher education, private education, and private sector positions, including
healthcare. The goal was to achieve consistency in salary grades that provide
competitive salaries. There are 21 unique salary grades. When looking at salary
surveys, there are two organizations that we are utilizing: the College and
University Professional Association-HR (CUPA-HR),
which aggregates higher education salary data, and Willis Towers Watson, which
provides data on healthcare and other private industries. Data from these
organizations are used to help determine the market matches for our standard
job descriptions. At this time, almost 67% of academic
staff and limited appointees are either at the midpoint or below. We need to
look at these data more closely and look at the long-term compensation
strategy. The quartile data by job group was also presented. Salary survey data
is only available on a yearly basis, and OHR will look at those refreshed data
sets in the next year to see where we are and whether or not
we need to make adjustments.
Since
November, OHR has been receiving a great deal of feedback from various
stakeholders about areas of concern with the structure. Currently, there are
close to 200 issues on a log that OHR is keeping track of. The highest priority
at present is the IT job group. OHR will also provide updates on the TTC
website about these issues, and they are building a resolution process to
communicate changes to those impacted. HR professionals have been collecting
and will continue to collect feedback from employees, supervisors, and
leadership. Employees who have concerns are encouraged to talk to their HR
representative or to academic staff governance.
The
TTC Appeals process is underway, and a webpage has been built out by OHR as a
resource for employees that includes the policy, a description of what can and
cannot be appealed, details of the 5 steps in the process, employee guides, and
links to the automated system. There are currently 82 title changes resulting
from informal resolution, with 61 of those being for academic staff or limited
appointees. There are 122 formal appeals either in draft or pending review. Of
these, 98 are academic staff appeals. The current deadline for formal appeals
to be submitted is December 31, though this may change based on the outcome of
the resolution from the Assembly.
Guest:
Bruno Browning, Ombuds Office
Bruno
Browning provided highlights from the annual report of the Ombuds Office. The
Ombuds provide a confidential environment for all UW-Madison employees to
explore workplace concerns and to offer resources, options, and strategies to
address those concerns and empower employees. The Office collectively has over
150 years of UW-Madison experience in various roles. The Ombuds Office has seen
an increasing number of visitors each year. There were 273 visitors in fiscal
year 2021, and the Office is on track to see more than 300 this fiscal year.
More than half of the visitors were academic staff. A majority of the issues
that Ombuds deal with relate to evaluative relationships (i.e.
employee-supervisor).
Automatic Consent
Business
The
Academic Staff Assembly minutes of Monday, November 8, 2021, were approved.
Reports
ASEC
Chair Tim Dalby reminded attendees that the deadline for Academic Staff
Excellence Awards nominations is Monday, January 24. The Nominating Committee
is working on slates for standing committee elections for next year, and Tim
encouraged those who are interested in serving to put their interest forward
via the Committee Interest Survey. The Academic Staff Institute will be held on
April 13. Tim expressed appreciation for ASEC members, the Assembly, and
administration for working together on a variety of issues. In
particular, Tim recognized the service of Mark Walters, who will be
retiring at the end of the month, and Leslie Petty, who is taking a new position
and stepping down from ASEC.
Nathan
Schulfer, academic staff appointee to the Budget
Committee, presented the annual report of that committee (ASA #772). The
committee is in its fifth year, and the committee met with a
number of individuals to understand the impacts of COVID on the budget
over the past year, as well as impacts in the areas of research and state
relations. The committee has also formed a subcommittee to evaluate how the
Budget Committee can be more effective in meeting its charge.
Nominating
Committee Candidate (ASA #773)
The
Assembly voted to elect Kelly Krein to the Academic Staff Nominating Committee.
Resolution Urging
Extension of the Informal and Formal TTC Appeals Deadlines (ASA #774)
Andrew
Turner, ASA District #455 Representative, moved approval of Academic Staff
Document #774, Resolution Urging Extension of the Informal and Formal TTC
Appeals Deadlines. Seconded. Approved.
Resolution on
State Pay Plan Distribution (ASA #775)
Mallory
Musolf, ASEC Vice Chair, moved approval of Academic
Staff Document #775, Resolution on State Pay Plan Distribution. Seconded.
Approved.
Provost
Report
Provost
Scholz reported that the semester has been both remarkable and challenging in a number of ways. We have made it through the semester with
low infection rates, and the vaccination rates are at 95% or more for both
students and staff/faculty. There was a federal executive order that was going
to impose a vaccine mandate, but a court case in Georgia has stayed the
implementation of this mandate. The campus mask mandate goes through
mid-January at this point, and classes are planned to be largely in-person in the
spring as they were in the fall. Commencement takes place on Sunday, December
19. Provost Scholz encouraged those who are able to
take time for themselves and recharge, and he expressed his gratitude to
everyone in their efforts to ensure that the semester went as well as it did.
Meeting
adjourned at 5:09 pm.
Minutes submitted
by Jake Smith, Secretary of the Academic Staff