Academic Staff Assembly Minutes 02-14-22
Approved 03-14-22
ACADEMIC STAFF
ASSEMBLY MEETING MINUTES
272 Bascom Hall
Monday, February
14, 2022
3:30 to 5:00 p.m.
Provost
Scholz called the meeting to order at 3:31 p.m.
Guest:
Rebecca Blank, Chancellor
Chancellor
Blank reported on COVID cases declining on campus, in Dane County, and across
the state. There are a number of strategies in place for
the spring semester. For COVID testing, there is a combination of antigen
testing available at Memorial Union and Union South, as well as PCR testing at
the University Club. We are continuing to require indoor masking at present and
making N95 and KN95 masks available to faculty and staff. Dane County has
announced that it is ending its current mask mandate after it expires on March
1. UW-Madison will be discussing what will happen with the campus mask mandate in light of this news. Chancellor Blank reminded everyone
that booster appointments are currently available through University Health
Services. She encouraged individuals who are able to
do so to get their booster doses and, for those who have received boosters
outside of UHS, to upload their status to help get a better picture of where
the university community is at.
The
Title and Total Compensation Project has been implemented after a number of delays. For the first time, we have a way to
compare staff salaries to those at other institutions. Based on feedback from
ASEC and others, the timeline for TTC appeals was extended. The Office of Human
Resources is providing school/college/division HR reps training on a number of issues related to TTC. We will continue to look
at areas where we’ve had appeals, as well as job categories that may need
further work. On compensation in general, we ran the performance bonus program,
with $5 million allocated through December. There was also the discretionary
compensation fund, with $4 million in base adjustments allocated for staff between
December and March. Finally, the state approved 2% increases, which were
effective in January. There will be another 2% increase coming in January 2023.
Jay
Rothman has been named as the new UW System President. He has been the CEO of
the law firm Foley and Lardner LLP since 2011. He has a great deal of
management experience running complex organizations and has worked closely with
business and political leaders. He starts in his new role on June 1. Chancellor
Blank plans to meet with him in March to discuss issues for UW-Madison.
Applications for the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration have closed,
and the search firm has a good level of interest in this position. The semifinalist
interviews will be conducted in March, with the finalist interviews scheduled
for April. Applications for the Chancellor position will close on March 11. Semifinalists
will be interviewed in April, with finalist visits scheduled for early May.
There will be an opportunity for the campus community to engage with the
finalists. Chancellor Blank’s last day on the job will be May 31, and it is
expected that the new Chancellor will be named by then.
Chancellor
Blank addressed the Board of Regents on Thursday and delineated a number of achievements that the campus can be proud of
over the last ten years, as well as noting staff’s contributions to those
accomplishments. There are also a number of challenges
that the institution faces, which the new Chancellor and the Board will have to
work on in the years ahead. A video of the presentation is available on the
Board of Regents website and on the Chancellor’s blog.
Guest:
Joshua Schiffman, Director, Employee Assistance Office
Joshua
Schiffman provided an overview of the Employee Assistance Office (EAO). The
office provides a confidential venue in which to work through either personal
or work-related concerns. EAO provides individual or group counseling,
management and co-worker consultation, customized trainings based on
departmental/unit needs, crisis response, and grief/loss support, in addition
to navigating referrals to other resources. EAO has recently added a new staff
counselor. Currently services are offered in a virtual format, although for
individuals who don’t have confidential space in their office, EAO offers a
dedicated space in the Lowell Center to have those confidential interactions. In
2021, 57% of the clients that EAO saw were academic staff, with the majority of
those being new clients. Another option for employee assistance services is LifeMatters, which is a third-party provider that the
university works with to provide services at any time, including outside of
conventional business hours.
Automatic Consent
Business
The
Academic Staff Assembly minutes of Monday, December 13, 2021, were approved.
Reports
ASEC
Vice Chair Mallory Musolf reminded attendees that the
deadline for applications for the Spring Academic Staff Professional
Development Program is Monday, March 21. Registration for the Academic Staff
Institute is now open. This will be held on April 13 at Union South.
Jenny
Dahlberg presented the ASPRO report. There is still a discounted promotion to become
a member, and Jenny encouraged interested individuals to contact her with any
questions about joining. There are over 30 bills currently in the Legislature
that ASPRO is tracking. There are seven that ASPRO has registered opposition
to, largely centered around legislation influencing curricular decision-making.
ASPRO has also registered in favor of some legislation, such as the proposal
for the new Engineering Building.
Beth
Larson, Co-Chair of the Committee for Women in the University, presented the
annual report of that committee (ASA #776). Beth highlighted some of the work
of the committee over the past year, including meeting with campus and UW
System experts to talk about needs and initiatives for women on campus. There
was an ad hoc committee that worked on policies to address challenges related
to COVID and used to support caregivers. The committee also fielded a survey to
guide future work and help identify priorities. Survey respondents indicated
childcare as the top challenge, which intersects with the other top four
challenges: compensation, gender climate, promotion/advancement, and racial
climate. The committee received many recommendations from open field questions,
and the committee has developed subcommittees to examine those recommendations
this semester.
Alissa
Oleck, Chair of the Nominating Committee, presented the Academic Staff
Executive Committee slate (ASA #777). Those running include Stephanie Elkins,
Alissa Ewer, Shane Hubbard, Julie Johnson, Albert Muniz, and Keith Poulsen. The
petition process for adding candidates to the slate will be sent out after the
Assembly meeting.
Academic Staff
Executive Committee Candidate (ASA #778)
The
Assembly voted to elect Shane Hubbard to the Academic Staff Executive Committee.
Resolution on
Prioritization of Staff Salaries by UW-Madison Leadership (ASA #779)
Veronica
Scott, ASA District #448 Representative, moved approval of Academic Staff
Document #779, the Resolution on Prioritization of Staff Salaries by UW-Madison
Leadership. Seconded. Approved.
Provost
Report
Provost
Scholz reported that 13 UW-Madison colleagues were recently recognized as
fellows of American Association for the Advancement of Science. The Provost recognized Kevin Niemi, former Assembly member and
ASEC Chair as an academic staff employee who was one of the fellowship
recipients. Turning to enrollment, this year we have seen an increase of 12% in
applications. It is the first year that we have received over 60,000
applications from students wanting to attend UW-Madison. Applications increased
in almost every category. The semester is off to a good start, with 92% of
classes being held in person. A number of meetings and
events are being held in person as well, and university sponsored travel is also
taking place. We have the capacity to do around 5,000 PCR tests per week, and
we continue to make antigen tests available. There is movement to revisit mask
mandates in light of the expiration of Dane County’s
mask mandate. There is also a great deal of thought and discussion about mental
health with respect to our students and our colleagues. Provost Scholz
emphasized the importance of self-care as we navigate the uncertainty and
disruption that has come about during the pandemic.
Meeting
adjourned at 5:00 pm.
Minutes submitted
by Jake Smith, Secretary of the Academic Staff